Global Air Force depends on IT
In that role, Donahue is helping to further the Air Force's goal of creating 10 permanent air expeditionary forces—at least two of which will be on call at any time. Information technology will play a crucial part in ensuring that these forces can hit targets anywhere in the world within 24 hours and run an air campaign within 36 hours. Donahue recently talked with GCN about Air Force plans for the forces. SideBars
Interior chooses a vendor for its royalty program
The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service awarded a $65 million contract last month to American Management Systems Inc. of Fairfax, Va., for Royalty Management Program support services. Under the contract, AMS will operate and maintain RMP's mainframe systems for the next seven years, said Milton Dial, project manager for the RMP Re-engineering Initiative. RMP runs its applications on a Hitachi Data Systems Corp. EX-90 mainframe, Dial said.
Making NT secure is possible
"People think NT is unsecure, and it's not. It's the people who set it up," Brezinski said. "What I'm doing is not sexy," Dominique Brezinski advised the people coming in to hear his talk on attacking Microsoft Windows NT security. But they filled the room anyway as he clicked his way through an NT server's directories, gathering bits of information as he went.
NASA scientists synthesize space station environment using 3-D collaboration
NASA's synthetic, multiuser collaboration environment for building the International Space Station drew attention at the Siggraph trade show in Orlando, Fla., last month. NASA engineers at Langley Research Center, Va., demonstrated crew rescue vehicle simulations with engineers at the John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss., using a real-time network- and application-independent modeling environment from Muse Technologies Inc. of Albuquerque, N.M.
New 450-MHz chip gives some oomph to Compaq Deskpro EP
Pros and cons: + Strong performance, especially for 2-D video – Hard drive slightly sluggish The 450-MHz Pentium II re-leased last week by Intel Corp. will be king of the desktop hill until its 500-MHz Katmai processor arrives early next year. Intel also last week unveiled 300- and 333-MHz Celeron processors, both with 128K of Level 2 cache.
LAB NOTES
The winner is … The GCN Lab staff was impressed by the right-brain skills of entrants in our summer haiku contest. The challenge: Sum up the frustrations of working with computers in a haiku. The lab's virtual blue ribbon goes to June Huber, a senior executive at the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service.
GSA sets up Office of Smart Card Initiatives
The General Services Administration will create a smart card office to promote the technology and a test center where agencies can evaluate and develop applications. The Office of Smart Card Initiatives will spearhead the use of smart card technology governmentwide, GSA Administrator David J. Barram said in a June memo to GSA managers and department heads.
VA simplifies veterans' hunt for benefit information
The IVR system lets callers access recorded information about a wide range of VA programs. The Veterans Benefits Administration is piloting an automated response telephone system that does the call routing over Sprint Corp.'s FTS 2000 network rather than on equipment at VBA premises. The proof-of-concept pilot will help the Veterans Affairs Department choose between owning its integrated voice response equipment or paying for network service in future applications.
VA extends an HR systems hand to other agencies
Agencies can use the program to cut costs. The Veterans Affairs Department and Andersen Consulting of Chicago will be partners in deploying human resources and payroll systems to agencies governmentwide. The partnership is designed to bring users into VA's HR LINKS program, a delivery model for human resources and payroll systems, said Sandy Weisman, associate deputy assistant secretary of VA for financial systems.
CORRECTIONS
The Visa Cash card pictured in the Aug. 10 issue of GCN with a story about smart-card pay for recruits at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is not the same Visa card being used in the program. NationsBank Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., issues the stored-value Visa Cash card for the Texas recruits.
GCN
E-mails I received from nearly 50 readers concurred with what some called my backward liking for older, smaller, easier word processors. Some responses appeared in print [GCN, July 13, Page 20, and July 20, Page 28]. It turns out that older is better for browser mail subroutines, too. Look at all the fuss over newly discovered e-mail security holes in Microsoft Exchange, Outlook Express and Outlook 98, as well as Netscape Communications Corp. browsers.
Micron plans federal PC leasing, disposal deal
SUN VALLEY, Idaho—Seat management features will be part of new lease arrangements that Micron Electronics Inc. will propose to the General Services Administration within the next two weeks. The Nampa, Idaho, PC maker is one of several vendors rushing to add lease arrangements to its GSA Information Technology Schedule contracts and blanket purchasing agreements. But Micron's lease deal, if approved, would also offer federal users trade-in rebates, technical refreshment and free, environmentally safe disposal of old
Compaq rolls out WBEM software
Compaq Computer Corp. will make its first Web-based enterprise management (WBEM) software available this month at no charge to current and new Compaq users. The Insight Manager XE release has WBEM capabilities that about 120 software developers, including Compaq, announced last year. Under WBEM, a Web browser can serve as the administrator's management console.
IRS commissioner forms systems modernization posse
Rossotti named a CIO and two deputy commissioners. IRS commissioner Charles Rossotti has turned to a career service officer, a systems executive and a former tax chief from Kansas for help reforming the IRS and its tax processing systems. Rossotti named Bob Wenzel, a career IRS executive, to the new post of deputy commissioner for operations. Paul J. Cosgrave, the IRS' current systems consultant, will take over as the next chief information officer. And
TECH REFRESH
Government Acquisitions Inc., an 8(a) reseller in Cincinnati, has added Compaq Computer Corp. desktop and portable PCs, servers and networking products to its General Services Administration Information Technology Schedule contract. Government Acquisitions puts a $2,074 price tag on the Compaq Deskpro EP with 333-MHz Pentium II processor, 64M of synchronous dynamic RAM, 3.2G removable and lockable hard drive, 24X CD-ROM drive and Accelerated Graphics Port accelerator from ATI Technologies Inc. of Thornhill, Ontario.
Web site matches workers with forgotten pensions
The Pension Search Directory on Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s Web site has helped 1,394 people receive more than $4 million in pension benefits, a PBGC official said. "The vast majority of workers receive their full pension, but sometimes people move and forget to inform past employers of their new addresses," said David M. Strauss, PBGC executive director.
Feds plan Web
The Clinton administration wants to present a single face to the public on the Web and has asked a group in the White House to make it happen. WebGov is still in the concept phase, said Greg Woods, deputy director of the White House's National Partnership for Reinventing Government. Woods and other federal managers want to create a Web site of Web sites—a site where the public can search, based on subject matter and other key words,
Truly interactive Web sites might soon be a government staple
Government transactions via the Internet may be closer than they appear in the rearview mirror. If pending legislation passes, agencies could have as little as 18 months to come up with a plan for placing their everyday business forms online, as well as legally accepting those forms with digital signatures. Any such plan would have to be implemented within five years.
DOD questions House's final '99 authorization bill
Provisions in the House Defense authorization bill would diminish the role of the Defense Department chief information officer, hurt interoperability efforts and hinder year 2000 initiatives, DOD officials told lawmakers recently. In an appeals package sent to Capitol Hill last month, Defense brass urged the House National Security Committee to delete provisions that they said would weaken DOD programs.
Dog tags get digital test drive
The Army this month completed testing on seven digital dog tag prototypes designed to carry a soldier's medical history into the battlefield. One of the products could be distributed to all Defense Department personnel and their dependents, service officials said. The 60-day test, which began June 15 at the Electronic Proving Ground in Fort Huachuca, Ariz., was designed to measure the performance of the devices against extreme heat, humidity and freezing temperatures, as well as vibration, shock,
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