Netscape, DOD at odds over software pricing
In discussions, the Defense Department has not persuaded Netscape Communications Corp. to change a $50 million software agreement, even though Netscape is now offering its client and browser free to private-sector buyers. The Defense Information Systems Agency made a $50 million client-server agreement with Netscape in September 1997 to let more than 2 million DOD users download the company's browser and some software. But on Jan. 22, Netscape began offering free downloads of Netscape Navigator
VSATs supply global sky links
The need for flexible and affordable bandwidth is pushing the Army to use a new global commercial satellite communications service for two-way telemedicine applications. The Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) at Fort Detrick, Md., recently awarded a $1 million contract to Hughes Global Services Inc. of Los Angeles.
USDA rule proposal draws abundant online comments
If sheer numbers qualify electronic government applications as successful, then the Agriculture Department is onto something. Using the World Wide Web as its conduit, USDA set up a system to receive and post comments on proposed organic produce and livestock standards. The public has participated in record numbers in a process that usually attracts mostly well-funded, special-interest groups.
Commerce plan maps out future of Internet Domain Name System
We can all breathe a sigh of relief. The Internet Domain Name System isn't going to collapse in chaos after all, thanks to a recent Commerce Department proposal that's on the fast track toward worldwide acceptance. Owners of .gov and .mil addresses won't be affected by the proposal, because registration for those domains is handled internally at http://registration.fed.gov and http://www.nic.mil.
Call center delivers messages
The Postal Service delivers millions of messages each day, not all of them letters. There's a lot of other traffic between post offices, distribution centers and the USPS's new call center. "We have 40,000 post offices out there," said Bob Winkleman, call center program manager. "We have an online system, but we don't have online service available everywhere immediately."
Some work plans call for a double dose of NT 4.0 and Win95
As a GCN Lab reviewer, I wanted the efficiency and stability of Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. I also needed the compatibility and device support of Windows 95. So I decided to have both. When we recently upgraded our lab technology, I installed a 300-MHz Pentium II computer with 128M RAM and an 8.4G hard drive--definitely the right configuration for a power user, developer, network administrator or reviewer.
Energy shoots for 100 teraFLOPS by 2004
It's 100 teraFLOPS or bust. That's how President Clinton described the government's quest for more powerful, high-performance computers when he unveiled the Energy Department's PathForward program earlier this month. Speaking before a group of scientists and researchers at Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Clinton said the PathForward team by 2004 would build a computer with a processing power of 100 trillion floating-point operations per second. The president earmarked $517 million in his
Cohen nominates Money for ASD(C3I)
In a turnabout, Defense Department Secretary William Cohen has decided to leave the role of chief information officer in the hands of the assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and intelligence. As part of the decision, Cohen has recommended Arthur Money, the Air Force's CIO and acquisition executive, as the next ASD(C3I).
Feds must nail down network server safety
As in the commercial world, vulnerability is a watchword in virtually every federal program. Vulnerability comes in different shapes and sizes and presents many levels of risk. It increases as agencies move documents from paper to electronic formats, as they open more external network access points and as they integrate a growing variety of communication modes into their distributed systems.
OMB moves up 2000 deadline
With pressure mounting to make sure federal systems can handle dates come 2000, the Office of Management and Budget has moved up by eight months the deadline for agencies to finish date code fixes. In a memorandum to agency chiefs, OMB Director Franklin D. Raines said he wants all systems 2000-ready by March 1999. OMB had previously set a deadline of November 1999 for agencies to complete all systems date code work.
It might pay to skip Windows 98 and wait for NT 5.0
Two-and-a-half years after Microsoft Windows 95 revolutionized the graphical interface, its Windows 98 successor offers little more, at least on the surface. Microsoft Corp.'s newest operating system is set for delivery this spring if schedules hold firm. After examining the latest beta version and others that came before, I believe this upgrade offers few enhancements important enough to warrant a switch by most government users. For one thing, Mickey Mouse waves back at you
Solar panels can juice up your notebook battery life
Off the grid doesn't necessarily mean out of luck. Say you're working at your notebook computer, with no electrical outlet nearby, when the low-battery light starts flashing. Just step to a sunny window or go outdoors, connect SunWize Technologies' Portable Energy System (PES) and keep working. One of the PES solar panels can extend notebook battery life as much as twofold.
Marine Corps wants to hand over some net operations to contractors
Marine Corps brass are weighing the advantages of turning over the day-to-day running of nontactical networks to vendors. The Corps wants to outsource part of its information technology and infrastructure work in the National Capital Region, perhaps within the next three months. If it works in the National Capital Region, the Navy will consider outsourcing the Corps' East Coast, West Coast and Okinawa, Japan, network operations, said Col. John Bouldry, director of plans and policies
IT funding hurdles result in stale federal systems
Male, pale and stale. That's the epithet some wags apply to the federal information technology work force. Actually, this group is probably equal to others when it comes to racial and gender diversity, and maybe better. But the word stale is a particularly sharp barb. We are expected to bring modern IT to our agencies. A failure to keep up with IT can cripple agency effectiveness.
Put NCs to work with Lotus eSuite
Lotus Development Corp.'s eSuite, heralded for more than a year as the working environment for the network computer, is one of the most innovative products in recent years. But innovative doesn't equal perfect. Known first by the code name Kona, the suite has Java applets that let users do basic office tasks. Not only are the applets innovative in how they work separately but also in how they unite to form a user-friendly framework.
Which way now, IRS?
No matter how amicable it may look, the departure of IRS chief information officer Arthur Gross isn't good news. It seems like the result of a chasm between Gross and new IRS commissioner Charles Rossotti on how systems modernization should proceed. The two officials' public statements about Gross' departure were all moonlight and roses. Neither alluded to widely reported differences in opinion. Rossotti has told Congress he envisions a radical makeover of IRS, including splitting
Lawmakers push for electronic signature use
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) represents Silicon Valley, that fabled land of great wealth, gridlocked traffic and our national future that stretches from Palo Alto to South San Jose. Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) is chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection. Eshoo and Tauzin have introduced a bill, HR 2991, to require federal agencies to make their forms available to the public online and, more importantly, to have the capacity
VRML earns ISO's blessing
Government employees who assisted in the birth of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language in 1994 are surprised by how fast VRML grew up. Last December, the language received the blessing of the International Standards Organization as VRML97. "We're all very happy," said Don Brutzman, assistant professor in the interdisciplinary academic group at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Brutzman sits on the board of directors of the nonprofit VRML Consortium and is a technical
IT fares well in '99 budget plan
The $1.7 trillion spending plan, the first balanced budget in years, reflects the Clinton administration's push for a streamlined government. "The administration has an ambitious agenda to continue reinventing government so that it is more effective, more efficient and more responsive to the American people," the budget policy statement said.
Sim model speeds decisions
Engi described his systems as combining protein computers--human experts--with silicon computers. Both are necessary in his global approach to making infrastructure models for government officials who respond to hot spots domestically and overseas. As yet, the Energy Department lab has no paying customers for the decision-support technology. But Engi is convinced the work his team is doing with dynamic simulation language models will prove invaluable to U.S. and international policy-makers.
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