Worldwide Y2K Celebration Almost Glitchless
Cheers and fireworks greeted the dawn of a new millennium sweeping
from its starting point in the Kiribati Island chain in the Pacific Ocean
along the International Dateline to New Zealand, Australia, east Asia
and into the world's largest country, Russia, stunned by the sudden
resignation of President Boris Yeltsin but partying hard.
Conversation about the departure of Yeltsin buzzed through celebrations
in Moscow as a big fireworks display over the Kremlin marked the new
millennium. Vodka flowed.
The Times Square ball was raised at dawn in preparation for a bash
that is expected to draw 1.5 million people.
As the long-anticipated rollover reached Europe, government officials
and Y2K planners everywhere became more confident that their predictions
of little Y2K trouble are on the money.
Computer hackers failed in their attempt to bring down the Japanese Internet Y2K Coordination Center with a denial of service attack, IDG News reported. The would-be intrusion was aimed at bombarding the server with
phony requests in hopes of causing it to disable the center, a joint effort by Japan's Internet service providers and the Internet Association of
Japan.
The Associated Press reported that a Y2K bug shut down a radiation alarm
system in a Japanese nuclear plant early Saturday, but the plant remained
on-line and there were no leaks or threats to safety. While minor, the
glitch -
in the Shika Nuclear Power Station 170 miles northwest of Tokyo - occurred
just three months after Japan's worst nuclear accident.
Meantime automatic teller machines (ATMs) in New Zealand, Australia
and Asia were operating normally, the AP said.
Reuters reported that officials in Vladivostok on Russia's East Coast
said, "All our critical systems are working normally."
New Zealand, the first industrialized nation to bid farewell to 1999,
reported no Y2K-related events and told extra staff standing by that they could go home.
The new millennium's first baby was a boy, born in Auckland at 12:01 a.m.
local time, Reuters reported.
Midnight Greenwich Mean Time (7 p.m. EST) is considered a crucial
point because GMT is used by airport computer systems and most aircraft.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., flying
coast-to-coast in a commercial jetliner, expressed no worry that Y2K
bugs would endanger air travel. They are expected to be airborne at the
crucial time of midnight GMT.
The chief concern associated with Y2K is what will happen to the tens
of millions of computers when timing devices pass into 2000. The general
consensus among computer experts is cautious optimism that most machines
are Y2K ready.
The USS Topeka nuclear attack submarine easily sailed into 2000, its crew
reporting no ill effects in the sub's elaborate computer system, Federal
Computer Week reported.
Speaking for millions of U.S. military personnel
worldwide, Capt. Tim Taylor told the Associated Press, "All is quiet, can't
do better than that."
North America's major power plants plan to reduce output to 80 percent
for the hours before and after midnight to ensure a smooth correction
in the event of electric failure.