As Y2K Headlines Fade, Problems Popping Up & Possibility for Trouble Isn't Totally Going Away
The Y2K bug's biggest risk was never to power grids, missile systems or telephone exchanges but rather to the complicated backroom systems on which the world's corporations and governments run.
And that's why the vast majority of Year 2000 computer problems won't turn up for days, weeks or even months, information technology experts say.
For early examples, consider a few of the failures from Monday, the first U.S. business day of the new millennium.
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Tuesday, Jan. 4th: Y2K World Round-Up
Y2K task forces were scaled back and business went on unhindered today, another nearly glitch-free day of the new year.
Still, some lives were drastically altered by the dreaded millennium computer bug--or fear of it. In Thailand, a squid vendor who took her life savings out of the bank before the New Year, just in case, lost it all in a house fire, a newspaper reported.
Vietnam, with its fairly low reliance on technology, said it entered the new millennium safely. The country has only 500,000 computers for a population of 76 million.
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Serious Y2K Bug Still a No-Show as Americans Head Back to Work on Monday
Americans returned to work and businesses and government offices reopened without major computer problems today as the nation's Y2K chief predicted a smooth transition for most of the country but cautioned that some small retailers still could have difficulties.
On the first day that most Americans logged on to their office computers, the U.S. banking system opened so smoothly that billions of dollars in extra currency--distributed to banks to avert any financial panic--was shipped back to the Federal Reserve.
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The Year 2000 Morning After: World-Wide and U.S. Y2K Round-Up
The new millennium dawned this morning and the world's computers hummed along as if it were just another day, the feared Y2K bug barely noticeable.
"It's like the systems knew we're on the watchout," said Sergiu Iliescu, in charge of the rollover in Romania, which reported even fewer incidents than usual in the country's ill-equipped computer industry.
Only a few other sporadic glitches popped up today, while experts warned that it could take days, weeks or months before problems are discovered.
From nuclear power plants to ATMs to airplanes, few problems surfaced as the year 2000 began in the South Pacific and swept west before ending in the American Samoa.
"The Mouse That Didn't Roar," read a headline in today's Bangkok Post.
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Happy New Year! It's Here!! Welcome Year 2000!!! Y2K Rolls Into the State of Utah
Utahns celebrated the new year in force at First Night 2000 celebrations in Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, and St. George. The Year 2000 rolled into Utah with fireworks and parties but without any apparent technological headaches.
Gov. Mike Leavitt was so relaxed Friday that he spent the hours before midnight catching up on work, editing his State of the State speech in the Y2K command center adjacent to the Capitol. He's set to deliver the speech in three weeks.
Utah Power, the Utah Transit Authority, Intermountain Health Care, the Department of Corrections and Hill Air Force Base also reported everything was running smoothly after midnight. By 1 a.m., 76 of the approximately 120 cities, counties and agencies expected to check in were reporting all systems normal.
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Y2K Rolls Into the U.S. With No Major Problems
Americans jubilantly greeted the dawn of the 21st century with fading concerns over a computer glitch that once threatened to disrupt everyday life. Computers controlling everything from airlines and electric power grids to military operations rolled over dutifully.
"Much of the world has entered the new century without evidence thus far of significant Y2K problems," John Koskinen, the president's chief computer-problem troubleshooter, proclaimed in a statement early Saturday.
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Computers Silently Switched to 2000 in Country After Anxious Country
Computers silently switched to 2000 in country after anxious country, but the dreaded Y2K bug's first bite was barely felt.
Japan reported the failure of a computer linked to radiation monitoring devices at a nuclear power plant, but said it wasn't considered serious enough to shut the facility. In Spain, minor Y2K glitches at two nuclear plants were quickly fixed.
Experts said many Year 2000 computer troubles still might take days or weeks to develop. But as the new year was completing its victory lap around the globe, crossing into the United States without a stumble, the prevailing feeling about Y2K was one of anticlimax.
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World Wide Y2K Round-Up: So Far, So Good!
So far, so good as far as Y2K is concerned.
Planes that can carry anyone anywhere in the globe within a day's time are flying on, apparently unaffected by the Year 2000 computer bug.
There also were no immediate reports of problems with the earthbound computer equipment that makes airline travel safe, from radar systems that track planes in the sky to runway lights that help them return safely to the ground.
All was well at midnight Greenwich Mean Time, or Universal Coordinated Time. In aviation circles, it's the standard used to track planes as they cross time zones, receive weather information from forecasters and are scheduled for fresh crews and supplies.
In London, at midnight, Queen Elizabeth the Second toasted the New Year with a glass of champagne and kissed her husband, Prince Philip, on the cheek. They linked arms with Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, to sing "Auld Lang Syne."
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Latest Update: No Major Glitches Reported as Y2K Makes it Way Through Asia & Into Europe. Japan Does Report Nuclear Reactor Bug
Was the Y2K bug's bark worse than its bite? The year 2000 is arriving around the world with little evidence of any computer glitches. Russia, which is already several hours into the new year, reports no major problems. No problems either in China, where two flights on government-run airlines, both in the air as 1999 passed into 2000, landed safely after midnight. In Japan, a radiation alarm system shut down at a nuclear plant -- but the problem isn't seen as serious enough to shut the plant down.
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Y2K Arrives: Americans Watch & Wait as Country by Country Clocks Turn Over to 2000 Without Hitch
Americans watched as country by country clocks turned over to 2000 without a hitch, leaving a nation of revelers-in-waiting increasingly confident today that they might celebrate a smooth New Year.
"All is quiet, can't do better than that," said Capt. Tim Taylor, a spokesman for the nation's millions of soldiers stationed here and abroad. He said there was nothing to report following the first New Year rollovers around the world--from Australia to the U.S. territory of Guam.
President Clinton opened the nation's millennial celebrations under sunny skies, without mention of any potential technical problems.
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It's Here! New Year Comes Without Signs of Y2K Chaos in Early Time Zones
A world remade by technology today began the rollover to the year 2000 with no early signs of cyber-chaos, after years of preparation and billions of dollars spent to fix a simple but widespread computer bug.
"The lights are still on. The situation is normal," said Basil Logan, chairman of New Zealand's Y2K readiness commission.
The millennium began at the stroke of midnight on a tiny, normally uninhabited island in the South Pacific, the renamed Millennium Island in Kiribati. An hour later, New Zealand entered the new year with no reported problems other than congestion on busy phone lines.
From electricity to airlines, few, if any, problems were immediately reported in other nations first in the path of Y2K worry.
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Y2K Arrives in Some Parts of the World
The Year 2000 is here -- at least in some parts of the world -- and so far that nasty Y-2-K bug hasn't bitten.
The new year first arrived at a string of islands in the South Pacific, and then a while later in New Zealand -- where there are no reported problems other than congestion on busy phone lines.
The head of New Zealand's Y-2-K readiness commission says, "The lights are still on. The situation is normal."
Sydney, Australia, was one of the first major cities to ring in the year 2000, and there's no sign of anything troubling there.
On Guam -- the first civilian piece of American soil to greet the new year -- the U-S military says everything is under control.
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When Does the "New Millennium" Officially Begin?
There has been a lot of debate and argument on
the official beginnings of the "New Millennium" --
Does it begin January 1, 2000 or does it begin
January 1, 2001? Here's information to help you decide for yourself!
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