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,
High-end desktop tool is low on accurate feedback
Pros and cons: + Powerful text tools – Output not WYSIWYG Real-life requirements: Windows 9x or Windows NT, Pentium Pro or Pentium II processor, 64M RAM, 25M free on hard drive; Mac requirements not tested Almost five years ago, I installed QuarkXPress 3.0 on a brand-new Apple Power Macintosh. It seemed gloriously faster than the desktop publisher I had been using on an old Classic Mac.
Agencies face winding road to EC, digital signatures
If Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) has her way, federal agencies are in for a major change in lifestyle. Eshoo represents Silicon Valley in more ways than one. Her bill, the Electronic Commerce Enhancement Act, HR 2991, mandates electronic forms and digital signatures for applications and communications with federal agencies. For harried information technology managers, passage of the bill would be a mixed blessing. True, we would get a charter to implement modern technology over the objections
DOD COMPUTINGBRIEFING BOOK
Backup telecom. Diane Fountaine, the Defense Information System Agency's deputy manager of the National Communications System, told Congress late last month that the nation's emergency telecommunications infrastructure will suffer little or no interruption come 2000. Just the same, DISA is putting contingency plans in place, Fountaine said. NCS, which DISA manages, is an affiliation of 23 federal agencies that maintains the emergency comm infrastructure.
Site licenses change way agencies buy, use software
Grady Tucker remembers the old days when agencies would order one shrink-wrapped copy of each software application for each PC. "Resellers would ship the pallets of thousands of software boxes, and the government would store all the manuals and diskettes in warehouses,'' said Tucker, a manufacturer's representative in Gaithersburg, Md. Times have changed. Site licensing, CD-ROM and remote distribution, combined with online manuals, have streamlined software buys and earned agencies big discounts.
Graphics software
More and more images are appearing in agency documents and presentations and on Web sites—and for many reasons: the demands of a more visually sophisticated audience, low-cost high-resolution color printers and flexible, feature-full graphics software. Agency publications managers find that images are easy to include, enhance their products and make information a lot easier for their readers to apprehend. This buyers guide is an overview of presentation, paint and draw programs, and some business graphics applications,
State Web site gathers tips on embassy blasts
The State Department is using the Web to gather tips about the recent bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa. A special agent with the Diplomatic Security Service said State officials hope the site will encourage anyone with information about the parties responsible for the bombings to contact the department. "Leads are coming in from all over the world," said the agent, who asked not to named. "We're looking into all leads or passing them on to
Packages help create art for Web pages
Users who only occasionally create Web graphics will like Ulead PhotoImpact the best. High on everyone's hate list is the Program Shuffle. The shuffle keeps Web graphics designers doing constant calisthenics. It goes something like this: Create text along a path in Adobe Illustrator. Import it into Adobe Photoshop. Whoops, not quite right, go back to Illustrator.
Government buying is moving, shaking
GORMLEY: Sales last year for IT were $2.8 billion and this year through May 22 are $3.2 billion. We feel we're probably going to do at least $4 billion in sales this year. I think what we're seeing is that while we increased buying by about a $1 billion last year, we're seeing that the addition of services to the IT Schedule is starting to really kick in.
Services try out cargo ID technology that would boost logistics operations
The U.S. Transportation Command is testing four automated identification technology prototypes to improve the data flow, timeliness, accuracy and reliability of its logistics operations. The tests began last month and will run through October, Gen. Walter Kross said. The former USTRANSCOM commander spoke at a June Freight Identification Technology Strategies Workshop in Reston, Va.
Tight-lipped Justice starts hardware, software rollout of JCON II
Justice wants to position itself to take advantage of new technologies, deputy CIO Mark Boster says. The Justice Department has brought up the first 700 PCs and 12 servers on the new Justice Consolidated Office Automation Network, but Justice officials are saying little else about the replacement for current office automation systems.
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