Don't fear privacy protectionarm yourself with fairness checks
Horror stories are making individual data privacy a hot issue. But privacy is such an amorphous concept that people responsible for personal data are often not sure to how to approach it. Of the myriad issues that fall under the broad heading of privacy, information privacy quandaries are the ones federal and state agencies are most likely to face.
The server's the crux of the LAN matter
The GCN Lab recently surveyed the desktop computing landscape [GCN, Oct. 20, 1997, Page 23]. Now here's a map for what's down the network road. At the hub of enterprise networks, servers direct the flow of data to computers, peripherals and other servers. They receive data from all those sources and others such as digital cameras, remote-access servers and mainframes.
Microsoft gives Web Access easy, more flexible Outlook
Web e-mail access has shifted from quirky to picky in Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook Web Access. This function within Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 has improved significantly over Version 5.0 [GCN, Aug. 11, 1997, Page 47]. The new Outlook Web Access not only is significantly more reliable, it also has a calendar component.
8(a) vendors' share of the IT pie is shrinking
Federal agencies are buying fewer systems products and services these days from minority-owned and small businesses in the 8(a) program, according to Federal Procurement Data Center figures. Companies in the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program won about $2.1 billion worth of prime systems contracts during fiscal 1995, according to FPDC figures reported by Eagle Eye Publishers Inc. of Vienna, Va.
DLA shares its online catalog
The Defense Logistics Agency has posted an electronic commercial catalog called E-Cat for online comparison shopping. "Our main thrust is the military, but we intend to serve the entire government," said Roger McMillan, E-Cat program manager at DLA's Defense Logistics Information Service in Battle Creek, Mich. The E-Cat pilot began in April 1997. When it went live on the Web in December, E-Cat had seven vendors and handful of military customers. E-Cat is now accessible
Nuke systems get $2.5b in race against time
The Clinton administration considers numerical simulation so important to nuclear safety and reliability that it plans to spend nearly $2.5 billion on development through 2004. Energy Department managers in charge of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative see it as a race against time. The scientists who designed the nation's nuclear weapons are aging right along with the weapons, said Gilbert Weigand, deputy assistant secretary for strategic computing and simulation.
Delays in IT upgrades were OK, Customs says
The Customs Service's systems infrastructure modernization is five years behind schedule because of planning and programming delays, Customs officials said. Customs began migrating from its Automated Commercial System to the newer Automated Commercial Environment in 1994. The service also started designing new systems to simplify import-export procedures that same year.
They're mad about MiniCAD
Several federal building designers have found a computer-aided design package that matches their Macintosh operating systems for ease of use--once they get past the user manual. Two federal users of MiniCAD 7.0 from Diehl Graphsoft Inc. of Columbia, Md., said they design visitor centers for their agencies. "I'm looking for tools to manipulate forms," said Steven Ferretti, exhibit design manager at the Agriculture Department's Office of Communications. "The more I use [MiniCAD], the more flexible
Keep a grip on the reins
Stepping away from your own point of view can give you a new perspective on your own problems. It happened to me--and I suspect some federal systems chiefs, too--at the recent Information Processing Interagency Conference in New Orleans. Steven Junk, vice president for information systems at Sears, Roebuck & Co., spoke at length about his company's travails in using systems to bring the old-line retailer into the '90s.
Design in Motion packs FreeHand 8.0 for Web page creation
Macromedia Inc. once again has released a new suite with its upgraded FreeHand drawing program. This time, the suite is Web-oriented. FreeHand 7.0 [GCN, May 26, 1997, Page 34] came bundled in the FreeHand Graphics Studio, which included xRes, Extreme 3D and Fontographer. The new Design in Motion suite, of which FreeHand 8.0 is part, has other new components: Flash 2.0 and Insta.HTML 2.0. Each program comes on its own CD-ROM and has a
Play encryption game with tokens, keys and a new way to bluff
Government users who want to secure Internet transactions and e-mail have focused either on the National Security Agency's Capstone technology or on RSA Data Security Inc.'s encryption products. Other players deserve a look, especially by agency engineers who work on homegrown encryption schemes. There's even an alternative security plan that could get around the laws forbidding export of high-end encryption.
DEA eyes global NT network
The Drug Enforcement Administration, one of few federal agencies that are opening new offices, has set out to build a 10,000-seat network running Microsoft Windows NT. Congress and the Justice Department agreed last year on special funding for the network, said Ned Goldberg, chief of operations and support in the DEA Office of Information Systems.
Defense wants PKI now
To jump-start development of a public-key recovery system, the Defense Department plans to require its vendors to use strong encryption, deputy Defense secretary John Hamre said recently. Because it wields significant buying clout, Defense's more stringent requirements should boost government and industry efforts to build systems for managing encryption keys, Hamre said last month at an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association event in Washington.
Folder switch in Windy City leaves Windows 98 scan in general shock
The Rat sent his spies to the recent Spring Comdex to see what they could see. As usual, the cyberrodent's legions did not fail him. They managed to record some of the events leading up to the ill-fated Microsoft Windows 98 demo during Bill Gates' keynote. As the Rat is sure you've heard, the soon-to-be-launched operating system crashed spectacularly while trying to operate a scanner attached to a Universal Serial Bus port.
A DOD director finds good in date code crisis
VAIL, Colo.--Army officials need a broader perspective on information technology, speakers said last week at the Small Computer Program's Spring Program Status Review here. "We, in some cases, are not the right people to be managing PCs" because of the difficulty of maintaining technical expertise, said Col. Dean R. Ertwine, deputy for systems acquisition at the Communications-Electronics Command Management Center at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
Broad DMS requirements set
Specifications for the Defense Message System medium-assurance requirements will be inclusive enough to attract competitive vendors, a program official said last month. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Defense Information Systems Agency came up with the requirements. DISA has yet to approve the task force specifications, but Dawn Hartley, DISA's chief engineer, said the specs will be open and broad enough to attract commercial vendors.
Get rid of the termination-for-convenience clause
It is always amusing to watch the reaction of a businessperson or corporate lawyer who first learns about some of the standard clauses in a government contract. Shock, outrage and disbelief are the usual reactions to terms and conditions that the government and its contractors take for granted. One of the most amazing clauses is the one that lets the government--but not the contractor--terminate a contract for convenience.
$1,528 flat-panel monitor pales in comparison to its predecessor
Sometimes the second generation just isn't as bright as the first. That's the case with Compaq Computer Corp.'s new flat-panel monitor. The 14 1/2-inch TFT450 is about $1,000 cheaper than its 15-inch predecessor, the TFT500, which earned a Reviewer's Choice designation [GCN, Sept. 15, 1997, Page 39]. But the TFT450 lacks its forerunner's crispness and consistent brightness. When I filled the screen with a single color and looked at it straight on, the top
OCC tries hand at fix-it shop
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has an idea that could help large agencies save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year: fix your own computers instead of sending them back to the manufacturer for repair. The idea, a rarity among federal agencies, surfaced when Bell Atlantic Corp.'s computer maintenance contract with OCC expired in late 1994.
Usefulness of apps has gotten lost in all the razzmatazz
Be truthful: Have computers made your office more productive? Or do you and your co-workers spend most of your time upgrading software, learning new versions, and seeking or providing help? Computers certainly have boosted productivity for government scientists and engineers who deal with big numbers. Computers are essential to their work.
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