According to Hamre, the power grids and other critical public services likely will be the first systems to fail in these countries because of the Year 2000 bug.

CNN: Y2K failures abroad threaten U.S. security

How the Year 2000 Bug Will Hurt the Economy.

FORBES: Y2K fear merchants

That seems to be the case with the hype that is portraying the Year 2000 computer bug as the biggest threat to civilization since Godzilla destroyed Tokyo.

FORBES: Y2K fear merchants

For anyone who has been in seclusion in the High Sierras for the last several years and missed the hype, the Year 2000 computer bug, or Y2K as acronym-enamored technologists like to call it, is the result of a computer programming convention that represents dates with only two digits for the year.

FORBES: Y2K fear merchants

And on New Year's Day 2000, the bug will blossom in earnest as computers everywhere are all at once unable to determine what day it is.

CNN: CONTROLLING DESKTOP PESTS