Test shuts down power at German Dept of Justice
LINK for those who read German
The Berlin newspaper "tageszeitung" from Dec. 11, 1999 reports on a Y2K test conducted at the federal Department of Justice.
The workers had been asked to not use their computers from 14.00 on Friday.
Good thing, since the tests managed to shut down the power in the building. No one wants to make an official statement on the subject, since the official German policy is that
"Everything is going to be all right".
-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), December 17, 1999
I don't speak German, but here's the translation of the Babel Fish:
Millennium bug in the Ministry of Justice: computer
simulation of the change of year led to power failure
A test run to the thousands of years change in the Federal Department
of Justice ended yesterday with a failure. As several coworkers of
the Ministry acknowledged, it came in the afternoon into consequence
of a computer simulation to a total power failure. The coworkers had
gotten the statement not to use computers starting from 14 o'clock no
more. An official statement on the part of the Ministry was not to be
received yesterday no more.
The Jahr-2000-Problem specified among experts Millennium bug occurs,
since many older computers count only on a to two places year. They
interpret the change of " 99 " on " 00 " therefore as backspace into
the year 1900. For years specialists search to the appropriate weak
points in the computer systems. Only on Thursday the state secretary
of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Brigitte Zypries, had
explained, expects the Federal Government " no relevant disturbances
".
The Babel Fish has a wonderful sense of humor, and doesn't always
translate perfectly. Anyone who is fluent in German feel free to
correct any errors.
Don't hold it against the virtual fish, however. It should be noted
that the actual Babel Fish
would translate perfectly.
As for the story itself, it can only be interpreted as a bad sign.
How I hope this sad scene isn't repeated throughout Germany or Europe
or Asia or any other part of the world, for that matter.
-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), December 17, 1999.