GAO assails Customs' handling of ACE project
The General Accounting Office last month slammed the Customs Service's billion-dollar Automated Commercial Environment project for its technical and management weaknesses. But Customs officials, while promising reform, said GAO exaggerated the problem. In a report released March 3, GAO said the Customs ACE program—an effort to modernize systems that process import data—has an unrealistic budget and lacks a systemwide architecture plan.
Sceptre's Soundx has all the right moves for the road
Monitor maker Sceptre Technologies Inc. has hit the ground running with its first notebook PC, the Soundx 7500, a rugged road warrior with sophisticated features. I carried the Soundx on a flight to Las Vegas, a train to New York and a road trip of nearly 1,000 miles. It booted up in airports, trains and automobiles, in hotel rooms and conference suites.
Agencies must keep pace with latest buying rules
No one who knows the procurement process thinks it is easy to change. Vast and complicated, it is like the Titanic: It doesn't turn easily. That's why legislative and regulatory changes sometimes have unintended consequences or bizarre beginnings. For example, the requirement for certified cost data came about because of a concern that defense contractors were sandbagging targets in incentive contracts. This small issue sprouted into a major
DOE halts classified computing
The Energy Department this month temporarily halted all classified computing work at three of its nuclear weapons laboratories while it reviews security measures. On April 1, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., began a stand-down of all classified computing except for those necessary for safety and security, lab director John C. Browne said.
DOD exec offers an off-the-shelf caveat
Here's how to buy commercial the Frye way DENVER—Commercial off-the-shelf products have been portrayed as a silver bullet that can solve many information technology problems, but their use is not a panacea, a Defense Department official said.
Gracey brings IT to the fore
Harold Gracey has worked in the Veterans Af-fairs Department for 16 years. He was chief of staff until July, when he became acting assistant secretary for information and technology. As the VA's first chief information officer, he has pushed for compliance with the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996.
Don't succumb to a Net-driven secrecy panic
Could the Internet provide an excuse for a new wave of government secrecy? That is a possibility. A dispute about the disclosure of risk management plans for chemical accidents is beginning to point in that direction. Let's begin with the law that generated the dispute. Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to implement a program to prevent chemical accidents. An EPA rule directs thousands of facilities to prepare risk management plans
IRS creates app workaround
What Opal toolkit does Because IRS programming resources are so heavily dedicated to year 2000 and modernization programs, the tax agency had to find a workaround for an antiquated green-screen application that tracks large cash transfers.
Future of DSL technologies is bright, advocates say
Digital subscriber lines are poised to take over the last mile of existing local telephone networks—at least according to DSL proponents. "There is more than light at the end of the tunnel," said John Freeman, an analyst at Current Analysis Inc. of Sterling Va. "It seems like we are emerging from the tunnel."
Lotus delivers Web-integrated 5.0 versions of Domino Server, Notes
Lotus Development Corp., after several missed deadlines, this month delivered the 5.0 releases of Domino Server and Notes, capping the company's most ambitious software effort to date. With the announcement, Lotus officials reported the Environmental Protection Agency will install the new version. The release, coming 18 months after Domino and Notes 4.6, is a one-stop shop for Internet messaging, electronic commerce, global collaborative computing and knowledge management, Lotus chairman Jeff Papows said.
Answers to Quiz:
RTC and CMOS. A ready BIOS will update the CMOS date code information without a hitch. 3. True. Most Pentium systems have updated BIOSes you can download for free from the manufacturers' Web sites. A 486 or older PC needs a software patch that corrects any errors. Again, most computer makers offer this for free.
Tracker Pro takes file management a step further
Tracker Pro is a one-of-a-kind utility. Similar utilities at the server level do data mining or knowledge management, but this seems to be the first designed for the desktop PC user. Tracker Pro periodically looks at your hard drive, network drives and the Web, tracking and organizing the data created by business programs, e-mail and personal information managers.
Win95 users have a few 2000 worries—after all
Microsoft Windows 95 users will have a closer shave with the year 2000 than expected. All current versions of the leading desktop operating system, it turns out, lack patches for several date-related items. Microsoft Corp.'s Web site recently notified users that Win95 "remains compliant with minor issues," with or without downloadable updates. Most of the company's other OSes are considered 2000-ready, if free downloadable patches are applied.
PTO awards $35 million support contract to Galaxy Scientific Corp.
The Patent and Trademark Office recently awarded the five-year, $35 million Information Technology Product Assurance contract to Galaxy Scientific Corp. of Falls Church, Va. Galaxy will handle PTO systems support services, including independent testing and assessment of applications and hardware, year 2000 analyses and testing, and data and records management, PTO contract specialist Dave Sibik said.
Focus in on the costs and quality of digital cameras
I've spent a couple of months working with two megapixel digital cameras and am impressed. But I have reservations. That is not a ringing endorsement. I own a dozen cameras, including studio view cameras and an aerial camera. To me, a digital camera's biggest fault is the delay while it stores images between shots. That's now a thing of the past. The fast memory in the two megapixel cameras
SSA revamps interface with Windows-like visual aids
The Social Security Administration has updated its national toll-free customer service by giving a graphical face-lift to dozens of older mainframe databases. Associate Commissioner Charles Wood said retrofitting the green screens with Microsoft Windows-like command buttons and drop-down menus, though technically challenging, was well worth the effort.
NASA supercomputer contributor forms Linux clustering company
Donald Becker, a 33-year-old NASA contractor who helped build some of the space agency's famous homegrown Beowulf supercomputers, has formed a company to bring Linux clustering to other government organizations. Becker is chief technologist of Scyld Computing Services LLC of Columbia, Md. The company was incorporated in December as a for-profit subsidiary of Universities Space Research Association, also located in Columbia.
Report: C4I heavy on vulnerability, thin on interoperability
The Defense Department has done too little to protect its command, control, communications, computers and intelligence infrastructure against attacks, a recent National Research Council study concluded. Nor has DOD succeeded in making C4I systems interoperable across the military services. The study, requested by Congress in the Defense Authorization Act of 1996, recommends that DOD's leaders place a higher value on defensive activities, retool their acquisition practices and set more practical standards for interoperability.
GCN INTERVIEW | Stephen Colgate, Justice's IT beat cop
| Colgate, assistant attorney general for administration, is responsible for Justice administration and management, including financial management, human resources, information technology, facilities and security. During two decades of government service, Colgate has worked his way up the management ladder. At Justice, he has been executive officer in the Civil Rights Division and assistant director of the budget staff. Before coming to Justice, he worked at the Treasury Department as director of finance and at the Federal
Sonic security appliances do job with little management
Sonic Systems Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., has introduced a network security appliance that extends its SonicWall products to as many as 1,000 users on enterprise networks. The SonicWall hardware security devices supply firewall services, virtual private networks, content filtering and applet blocking on small to midsize networks. The SonicWall Pro appliance will serve branch offices and larger single-site networks that cannot afford a full-time firewall manager.
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