Squabbles over date code funding threaten fixes, year 2000 czar says
A budget battle could doom code work, says John A. Koskinen, chairman of the president's year 2000 conversion council. The budget battle between the Clinton administration and Congress could doom the government's year 2000 efforts, the administration's year 2000 czar said this month. "If this money gets tied up in the endgame, that's a real problem," said John A. Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on the Year 2000 Conversion.
Satellite kit lets you create fly-over simulations in 3-D
Satellite Tool Kit/Visualization Option 3.1 software can perform fly-over 3-D simulations, create real-time video and observe detailed renderings of terrain data. The add-on from Analytical Graphics Inc. of Malvern, Pa., works with the 2-D Satellite Tool Kit 4.0, which is downloadable free from the Web at http://www.stk.com. With STK/VO 3.1, users can view scenarios from several perspectives simultaneously by opening different windows. The interface lets them select map backgrounds without editing separate files.
This Exchange preps you for next year's OS
Exchange Server 5.5 stores directory information. REDMOND, Wash.—Installing Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 could ease the path to next year's Microsoft Windows NT Server 5.0 network operating system. In briefings at Microsoft's corporate headquarters last week, Exchange group product manager David Malcolm said the Active Directory Services component of NT Server 5.0 will pull user information from the current version of Exchange.
Army finishes tests on two combat notebooks
The Army last month completed a test of ruggedized notebook computers for combat vehicles. The 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas, evaluated computers from Litton Data Systems of San Diego, Calif., and Phoenix Group Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y. The Army used the notebooks on about 230 vehicles, including Humvees, M-1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
GAO exec: Feds must get it together on 2000
Independent reviews are the key to accurate date code data, GAO's Joel C. Willemssen says. The government still must establish priorities for year 2000 work, a General Accounting Office auditor told a House panel this month. Agencies also have not yet tackled the issues of ensuring that data exchange points are ready or developing adequate contingency plans, said Joel C. Willemssen, director of GAO's Civil Agencies Information Systems Division.
@INFO.POLICY | Agencies ought to get on TRAC with their data
How many dresses did Bloomingdale's sell last weekend? I don't know, but I am willing to bet that Bloomingdale's does. They also probably know where they were sold and the price, color, style and vendor of each dress. Businesses spend a lot of money installing point-of-sale terminals and bar code inventory systems so they have the ability to collect and use detailed information needed for better management. Some of them, like Wal-Mart, do it with legendary success.
DESKTOP COMPUTING
The RightStart data warehouse package from NCR Corp. of Dayton, Ohio, bundles all the components needed to build a data warehouse or data mart in 90 days, company officials said. Included in the $450,000 bundle are the NCR Teradata database management system, NCR WorldMark 4700 server and fixed-fee professional services. Contact NCR's federal and state division at 301-212-5000.
The latest monitors are well-priced sites for sore eyes
Optiquest's V95 19-inch monitor has 0.26-mm dot pitch and a maximum 1,600-by-1,280 resolution. Side bars and related stories Minor tweaking will correct some monitor ailments. Among 19-inch monitors, three perform as champs. Behind every outstanding monitor lurks the power of a graphics card. In the Be Prepared category, here's some advice: If anyone asks what kind of monitor you want, say, "a big one." Just as a large hard drive is preferable to a small one
As part of overhaul, Pentagon to get ATM backbone
Over the last 55 years, the Pentagon has accumulated more than 100,000 miles of copper and fiber cable. In the next decade, the cable will be torn out and replaced with new wire and a high-speed asynchronous transfer mode network that Defense Department officials predict will last for another half-century. The Defense Supply Service awarded the $110 million contract for rebuilding the Pentagon's information and telecommunications infrastructure to GTE Corp. GTE Government Systems will install the ATM
Smart Ship inquiry a go
All new apps must run under NT, Navy CIO Ann Miller says. The Navy's systems chief has begun an investigation into the computer failure that left the Aegis cruiser USS Yorktown dead in the water for several hours last fall. Navy chief information officer Ann Miller is conducting a detailed inquiry of the incident. The Yorktown is the Navy's test bed for its Smart Ship program, which seeks to reduce crew
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.
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