Forgive me for the rough edges around this, but this is just a beginning of a bigger document I feel needs to be written.
The Year 2000 problem is much bigger than most people realize. Those people prediciting global catastrophe may very well be right, but a few steps can be taken to prevent most of the major problems from occuring.
For the most part, if your company hasn't already made significant progress on this problem by now, it's probably too late. That, however, doesn't mean that nothing should be done, software audits, backups, some idea of the potential (probable) impact would be a good thing to have a grasp of.
For the individual without a lot of influence with computers, the issues are considerably different. Certain preparations need to be made, to insure your safety should things go very wrong.
An ample supply of food should be on hand. Preferably food that requires low amounts of preparation, and will store well. An absolute minimum of 3 weeks of food, canned should be on hand. I'd recommend closer to 3 months. Should the disaster not occur, well, you haven't lost any money. If it does, you're at least prepared.
Proper supplies in case the heat or electricity fail during winter. Blankets, firewood, a gas generator, etc. Are all rather important items to have on hand.
For those without extreme anti-gun sentiments, a shotgun is an ideal weapon for defense. It requires low accuracy, and is very obvious. Other high-tech devices may be useful as well (taser, etc.) but may be less useful as time goes on. A shotgun can be stored for quite a while without any major problems.
Please e-mail me any suggestions or comments you may have, I'm open to input about this issue. My e-mail address is ryan@michonline.com