Book shows rosy future due to, or in spite of, IT
Vice President Al Gore's campaign will be highly attuned to nurturing growth of the so-called new economy. Sustenance of this new economy, Gore assumes, will be based on certain hopeful trends. A cornerstone of new-economy thinking is that the computing and communications industries—where technology is rapidly converging—will continue to be one of the main thrusters pushing an unprecedented and long-term economic boom. If the economy remains sound, it will be an uphill struggle for any
No two organizations are alike, but these 10 rules help everyone
Although the steps to take in deploying system management can differ from one organization to another, some are cross-organizational. Here's our Top 10:
Unravel 2000 marks date code errors in Oracle apps
If Oracle database applications are not yet on agencies' year 2000 radar screens, they should be, said David Ghosh, chief executive at Ravel Software Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Oracle Corp.'s date-data types simplify date handling in its development environment. But agencies should examine their Oracle Forms for hidden two-digit year dates that could affect arithmetic operations, Ghosh said.
EPA CIO tackles data quality flaws in indexing project
IT workers and data gatherers at EPA offices will help write the data accuracy plan, agency CIO Al Pesachowitz said. The Environmental Protection Agency's chief information officer has a new charge: improve the data quality of EPA's Sector Facility Indexing Project. "There has been a big controversy about the SFIP's data quality," CIO Al Pesachowitz said. "Either the sources or the states have made mistakes in reporting or correcting the records.
NIH changes online shopping to let the seller beware
When users log in, they fill out a form describing what they want to buy. The National Institutes of Health has unveiled what it believes is an easier way for federal buyers to buy hardware and software online. The system, called Procurement Vehicle Management, rejects the standard shopping cart method of online purchases in favor of a system that puts the burden on the vendor—not the buyer—to pick the right
Create network-centric apps
Tim Hoechst, an evangelist for network computing, says the federal government eventually will reap maintenance benefits and save money by adopting a network-centric computing model. Hoechst, vice president of technology for Oracle Corp.'s government, education and health sectors, joined Oracle in 1989 after graduating from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in computer science.
DOE earns kudos for building fast supercomputer from spare parts
An international survey has ranked a home-brew Energy Department supercomputer as one of the 500 fastest in the world. Last month, the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Avalon grabbed the 315th spot on the top 500 list at the Supercomputer '98 conference in Mannheim, Germany. Four Los Alamos employees in April built the Avalon over a three-day period, said Michael Warren of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at the Los Alamos, N.M., lab.
Highly rated and intuitive Suite 8, speech software harmonize
Pros and cons: + Speech processing speeds up word processing + Lots of extras in the package – Separate installation required for speech program Real-life requirements: Win95 or Windows NT, 133-MHz or faster processor, 64M RAM, 60M free on hard drive Corel WordPerfect Suite 8 makes a perfect match with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, from Natural Speech Co. of Newton, Mass.
Panda Software supplements a network's security
Pros and cons: + Compatible with existing virus protection; daily virus updates – Works only with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange – Updates require much user interaction Real-life requirements: Win95 and Outlook or Exchange When it comes to computer viruses, you can't be too careful. Panda Software has a virus scanner that installs itself seamlessly into Microsoft Outlook or Exchange and gives good virus protection plus something few scanner programs can boast: It
DESKTOP COMPUTING - Power User weighs the chips and dips into the Pentium debate
Many readers sent e-mail asking for advice after a column on how I chose a PC for my office [GCN, March 23, Page 55]. I don't believe Intel Inside and Pentium MMX mean much when it comes to purchasing decisions. In the real world, there's no more reason to pay extra for a Pentium MMX PC than to insist on a V-6 engine vs. an equally powerful four-cylinder model in a car that's just for commuting.
New Yorkers can argue anywhere with video hearings
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York has decided to expand its pilot video system linking the court in Manhattan to remote sites on the circuit. The videoconferencing demonstration began in October 1996. Second circuit judges have heard arguments from court sites in Albany and Mineola, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., and even from a copy center outside Rochester, N.Y.
Gigabit Ethernet vs. ATM: Which one will survive?
BOSTON—Ethernet's inventor does not believe in peaceful coexistence, at least not among networking superpowers. "I think asynchronous transfer mode and Gigabit Ethernet are going to fight it out," Robert M. Metcalfe said this month at the Gignet conference. Metcalfe said he's putting his money on Gigabit Ethernet. He declared the ATM to the desktop campaign dead, adding that ATM is nearly dead on the LAN backbone and under attack on the WAN.
Voice recognition software is turning into standard fare with office applicationsuites
Lotus Development Corp.'s SmartSuite Millenium edition adds voice recognition and Web publishing to office applications. A headset and microphone come in the box to use with IBM Corp.'s ViaVoice Gold voice recognition application. Competitor Corel Corp. includes NaturallySpeaking from Dragon Systems Inc. of Newton, Mass., in one edition of its WordPerfect Suite 8. Market leader Microsoft Office does not yet have voice recognition software.
Plug-in for Acrobat Exchange and Windows rescues redaction process
Box Score B+ Redax 1.5 Digital Applications Inc., Aldan, Pa. tel. 610-284-4006 http://www.digapp.com Price: $279 Pros and cons: + Only product that redacts .pdf files + Easily customizes redaction codes – Redacts rectangular areas only Real-life requirements: Adobe Acrobat Exchange 3.0 or later, Windows 3.x, Win95 or NT, 16M RAM, 24M for NT, 486 or faster PC; System 7 or later, Power Mac, 16M RAM, 24M for System 8, less than
Users get immediate access to FERC documents
Between two databases, the commission has close to 2 million files available online. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is putting rulings online within hours of a commission decision. "People who want this information really need it badly," said Bo Pierce, software engineering team leader for the project.
FAA ascends to new IP levels
The Federal Aviation Administration's information technology office is turning to an IP load balancer to relieve strain on a Web server that gets nearly 2 million hits each week. "We have nine servers in the FAA that do Web service," said Gus Cornell, senior adviser for Web services. "Right now, one machine is shouldering most of the load, and it's nearing the limit of its capacity." The machine hosts the home page at http://www.faa.gov, through which
BorderManager lets users maintain local control over authentication, authorization
Novell Inc. last week issued a border-crossing passport between Novell NetWare or Microsoft Windows NT LANs and the rest of the networked world. The cross-platform BorderManager Authentication Service software uses the Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service, or Radius, protocol to exchange user information securely with Radius-compliant firewalls, remote-access servers and Internet-routing equipment.
Senate kills info warfare funds in DOD spending bill
"The funding is critical to DOD's information assurance," Wells said. The Senate's Defense Department oversight committees have thrown DOD's Information Assurance Program into budget limbo by slashing proposed fiscal 1999 funds that the department requested to protect its systems from cyberattack. The House last month approved the full $69.9 million request as part of the fiscal 1999 Defense appropriations bill. But the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services committees axed the
Federal CIOs need more authority, IT official says
Elected officials are often not equipped to make IT decisions, says Donald W. Upson, Virginia's secreary of technology. IRVINE, Calif.—Federal chief information officers need more decision-making power, an information technology manager told a gathering of IT professionals at the recent Management of Change conference. Elected officials are often ill-equipped to make IT decisions, said Donald W. Upson, Virginia's secretary of technology, at the Federation of Government Information Processing Council conference.
K6 test units prove average in lab test
Government computer buyers always confront a dilemma: power or price? Systems with the K6 processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., are a bargain pricewise but not necessarily powerwise. Other considerations for administrators buying network clients are expandability and ease of access. The GCN Lab examined three systems built on the 300-MHz K6 and one with a preproduction 333-MHz K6-2. The lab found almost no differences between the two generations of processors. Overall, AMD's K6
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