The Web site is at www.y2k.gov.
That's a simple enough address, but good luck to anyone trying to find the White House's Web site on the year 2000 computer problem if they don't know the address. We spent 10 minutes on the main White House Web site without finding a link to the Y2K site.
We also tried the Office of Management and Budget Web page to no avail. How about Vice President Al Gore's home page, which describes our second-in-command as "a nationally recognized leader in the areas of science, space and technology policy"? Surprisingly, no link there, either.
We finally found a link to the Y2K site in the "links" section of the Chief Information Officers Council Web site. Still, some critics may take the lack of links to the Y2K site from Web pages in the upper levels of the administration as an indication of the level of concern our leaders are directing toward the computer problem.
Once people find the Y2K site, sponsored by John Koskinen, President Clinton's special assistant on year 2000 conversion, they will find a wealth of useful information on how to deal with and fight the millennium bug.
Koskinen's Web team succinctly explains the Y2K problem to people unfamiliar with the issue. A Getting Started section includes a toolbox for making computer programs year 2000-compliant and a list of best practices for managers charged with correcting the Y2K problem in their organizations. Then the Web site directs viewers to information on how various industry sectors--from energy to health care to defense--are dealing with the challenge.
Each link to Y2K information is labeled with either a "T," for techies who know the difference between source and executable codes, or a "G," for generalists who wouldn't know UNIX from NT. The labels help steer non-techies toward information they will understand and techies away from information that is too basic.
The site includes a search engine for finding specific topics, such as end-to-end testing or leap-year rollover.
Finally, Koskinen attempts to jam a log into the Y2K rumor mill with a section that debunks year 2000 myths. For example, the site explains that pacemakers will not malfunction because they do not use date-sensitive information to operate.
"People overreact in the absence of information," Koskinen told IT industry executives at a breakfast seminar on Tuesday. He said the Web site will help get real information out to people.
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