WHO says pen and paper have had their day? A friend of Feedback鈥檚 who works
for a techno-conscious multinational company recently took part in a video
conference linking offices on either side of the Atlantic.
When she logged on, the meeting was already in full swing, but there was a
slight problem: her American colleagues had accidentally pressed the mute
button, and although she could see them arguing away happily, she couldn鈥檛 hear
a word. They couldn鈥檛 hear her either, but didn鈥檛 notice.
Her solution? She grabbed a pen and wrote 鈥淚 can鈥檛 hear you!鈥� in large
letters on a piece of paper, which she held up to the camera in the hope that
someone would see..
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Is it a reflection of the regard in which British opinions are held that it
took several minutes before the Americans noticed?
贬贰搁贰鈥橲 a story that brought nostalgic tears to Feedback鈥檚 eyes.
Reader Duncan Simpson was helping to compile a database of lab and office
equipment detailing whether or not they were Y2K compliant. One entry sparked
his interest. This was an Amstrad PC1215-50, an ancient British computer dating
back to the early 1980s (when Feedback was the proud possessor of one).
Simpson reasoned that the chances of it not having a problem next January
seemed remote, until he read the footnote on the database entry: 鈥淭his computer
has no internal battery and reverts to 1960 every time it is switched on.鈥�
So it should breeze into the next millennium blissfully unaware. Aaaaah!
TALKING of millennium compliance, on 22 August last year Feedback told how
University College London had come up with a clever way of checking which
computers are unlikely to handle the 2000 date change. All the user has to do is
check the unique release date of the PC鈥檚 internal BIOS software against a
good/bad list provided by UCL.
In November, a representative of the British government鈥檚 Action 2000 group
met with the UCL team and expressed interest in taking over its work. The
following January, having heard nothing, UCL鈥檚 Robert Clark e-mailed Action 2000
to see if it was still interested. He got back a brief message saying the group
鈥渨ould have someone on the case soon鈥�. At the time of writing, there is still no
action from Action 2000.
Meanwhile, Action 2000 continues to berate businesses which are not moving
fast enough on checking their computers for millennium compliance.
ELSEWHERE, eagerness to demonstrate compliance is getting out of hand. The
American arm of Sanyo has a website detailing its products
(www.sanyousa.com/products/home_appliance).
One of these is a simple plastic breadboard. Below the picture of the
breadboard there is a box with the legend: 鈥淭his product is Y2K compliant.鈥�
AND to conclude this theme for now, here鈥檚 a nice comment from the Queensland
Tourist and Travel Corporation. When Andrea Dobbyn received her copy of the
firm鈥檚 lively newsletter Ecotrends, it was a little late. Tony
Charters, manager of environmental tourism, sent a letter with the magazine
apologising for the delay, which was caused by glitches in the mailout.
鈥淭hank you for your patience in the face of the previously unsuspected Y1999
bug,鈥� he concluded.
闯础笔础狈鈥橲 funeral industry does $33 billion worth of business a year and
is certain to grow over the next few decades, The Nikkei Weekly tells
us. For reasons that aren鈥檛 explained, the newspaper says that annual deaths in
Japan are forecast to double by 2036.
For those with a bent of mind for such things, this opens up attractive
commercial opportunities. The point is not lost on Japan鈥檚 railway companies,
several of which are diversifying into the funeral business as a way of using up
idle land and providing jobs for surplus employees. Agricultural cooperatives
are also entering the field. Of some 2200 coops nationwide, 719 now arrange
funerals as a sideline.
The death bonanza is attracting multinational companies too. The American
firm Service Corp International already operates funeral parlours in the US,
Canada and Australia. Now, with so many deaths forecast in Japan, it is hoping
to move into the Far Eastern market as well.
Truly, we both live and die in a global village.
THE forthcoming Edinburgh Science Festival (which runs from 3 to 18 April)
promises something for everyone this year. In the talks section alone, the
advance press release tells us: 鈥淭he subjects being covered include Formula One
racing cars, artificial intelligence, food allergies, the solar eclipse,
disposing of the dead, toilets, and the new Scottish Parliament.鈥�
Feedback would like to offer the organisers a challenge to beef things up
even more. How about providing an extra speaker who would speak on all of these
themes at once and show the intimate relationship that undoubtedly exists
between them?
FINALLY, on 21 November last year Feedback was puzzled by the 鈥渂est before鈥�
date on a packet of Edam cheese which said 鈥淛an 99 AD鈥�. Several readers promptly
pointed out that this was useful information for the many people in the world
who use non-Christian calendars.
Fair enough. But what calendar does KP Foods, the manufacturer of Hula Hoops
snacks, use? The 鈥渂est before鈥� date on a packet of the delicacy sent in by P.
Taylor is: 鈥�38023BBZ.鈥�