Congress digs in with GPRA
With the first reports required under the Government Performance and Results Act in hand, lawmakers are working to take GPRA to the next step. Their aim: Make sure agencies create clear business strategies, measurable goals and annual performance reports. "The leadership in Congress has made an extraordinary commitment to this effort. All of us are serious about changing the quality of management in the federal government," Rep. Steve Horn (R-Calif.) said. "Management needs to be
Don't shortchange NGI
That's a subject of debate between the administration and Congress. It appears--as it often has lately--that the Clinton administration is less in favor of something than Congress is agin' it. Just as Clinton caved in on management of IRS, so he is letting Congress set the agenda for NGI by not strongly defending the administration's $105 million budget request for NGI research.
Copper in chips and diamonds in drives lead to a shiny future
Fundamental technology rarely jumps so far and fast that it affects the computers you will buy in the next few months. But several such advances have occurred recently and, together, they could drive radical performance gains. No. 1: IBM Corp. plans to make silicon chips with copper microcircuits. Chip advances generally require either making components smaller so signals travel shorter distances or timing multiple operations within a single clock tick. The IBM plan is more
SSA balances service, citizen privacy at PEBES site
Any citizen with World Wide Web access could request and receive from http://www.ssa.gov a Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement. Until then, PEBES could be requested online, but the results were sent via regular mail. A PEBES is a year-by-year listing of a worker's earnings history and future Social Security benefits. It is a valuable financial planning tool and essential for anyone who is counting on Social Security benefits after they retire. During fiscal 1996,
PTO net suffers growing pains
If completed as planned in November, the PTO Integrated Network will have more than 20 ASX 1000 10-gigabit/sec backbone switches from the Pittsburgh company, plus 150 PowerHub 7000 closet switches. "This will be one of the biggest PowerHub installations in the country," said PTO computer engineer Wes Clark, who oversees the network.
Standard unifies facilities data
A free CD-ROM with a Tri-Service Spatial Data Standard is bringing a semblance of order out of confusion for military facilities managers. The Tri-Service CAD/GIS Technology Center in Vicksburg, Miss., developed the spatial data standard to stop the practice of military bases spending up to $250,000 apiece to develop their own data models and schema for displaying computer-aided design and geographic information system data.
System helps keep bases safe
At the center of this heightened state of security is the Tactical Automated Security System, an intrusion-detection system designed to monitor the perimeter of a military base. TASS, a high-tech approach to handling force protection, lets Defense installations leverage limited base security personnel, said Capt. Nate White, TASS program manager.
Remedy your ticket troubles
The Mountain View, Calif., company's flagship product, Action Request System, extends online help throughout an enterprise via unlimited read licenses. Users can submit requests and query the system for answers or status updates. One feature in the Action Request System is Remedy Help Desk. It automates problem management, resolution, reporting and measurement. The ARWeb component helps users help themselves by submitting requests and updating database information through their World Wide Web browsers. It dynamically translates
You must have statistical smarts to get the most from Analytica
Given a good palette and brush, a skilled artist paints a masterpiece. The same tools can produce a mess in the hands of an amateur. That pretty much sums up Analytica, a visual modeling tool whose mathematical gloss can be dimmed by the user's ignorance of statistical theory. The program relies on flowcharts to map every factor that goes into making a decision. For example, an analysis on the value of enforcing a seat belt
Software glitches mar performance of Omniwriter - Loading the CD-RW recorder'ssoftware is a laborious task, complete with mystifying error messages
CD-recordable drives can make CD-ROMs but can't erase or reuse them. CD-rewritable drives make disks that are reusable for nonarchival storage or backup. The Omniwriter reads and writes both these types of disks as well as reads ordinary CD-ROMs. But it's not yet an all-purpose CD resource. Because recent GCN surveys have shown that almost half of federal desktop PC users still use Microsoft Windows 3.x, I decided to test the Omniwriter CD-RW kit's Windows
Senate likely to keep notebooks off its floor
During a terse committee discussion last month, the committee's chairman, Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), and its ranking minority member, Sen. Wendell Ford (D-Ky.), told Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) that they both would vote against his request. Enzi said he wants to use his notebook on the floor to take notes and prepare for speeches.
Cyberattacks on DOD networks are rising fast
"We have evidence that our known network and computer-communications vulnerabilities are being exploited by real-world attackers," Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minihan, NSA's director, said at the Association of Former Intelligence Officers' annual conference last month. NSA is responsible for foreign signals collection and U.S. information systems security. NSA's Information Systems Security Organization helps to assess the vulnerabilities of communications and information systems and to design products and processes for protection.
GSA rolls out requirements for Seat Management buy
The General Services Administration has released the first of two requests for proposals for the multibillion-dollar Seat Management Services contract. GSA will use the first phase of the buy to validate bidders. The agency plans to release the second RFP by mid-November. Under what program manager Wanda Smith called a very ambitious schedule, GSA hopes to award contracts March 2 that would let federal agencies outsource their desktop computing needs.
Draft RFP puts TSM at Phase 1
Although IRS this month released a draft request for proposals for its souped-up Tax Systems Modernization program, it laid out details for only the first of five phases. IRS will use the bids to refine its requirements and seek vendor proposals for the following four phases, according to the draft RFP.
Follow DOD's lead, set stringent Web privacy policy
The Defense Department has updated its World Wide Web policy. Must reading for all federal agency webmasters, it was signed in July by Clifford Bernath, principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs, and Anthony Valletta, acting assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and intelligence. The DOD policy is an exhaustive, reasonable document based on considerable practical experience. It provides an excellent balance of freedom and responsibility in a clear and cogent
DOD panel mines JWID gold
A Defense Department panel has recommended four information technology prototypes evaluated at the 1997 Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration for rapid acquisition and fielding to active duty forces. JWID '97, sponsored by U.S. Atlantic Command, was held July 7 to Aug. 1 at 45 sites worldwide with the participation of eight allied nations. DOD conducts the exercise annually to discover so-called golden nugget applications. The nuggets are command, control, communications, computer and intelligence apps that DOD
DMS gets mail guard, firewall
The initial release of Gauntlet Firewall for DMS, funded by the National Security Agency under a contract awarded last spring, is a Fortezza-enabled X.400 mail guard and firewall. Trusted Information Systems of Glenwood, Md., will augment it with software upgrades for X.500 directory services next year. A Defense Information Systems Agency official said X.500 support is a requirement for DMS firewalls.
Win98 direct upgrade is in the works, but be aware of pesky bugs
Recent GCN surveys show there are still a lot of Microsoft Windows 3.x users--46 percent--in the government [GCN, Sept. 15, Page 10]. I'm not convinced that Windows 98 will be a terribly useful upgrade for them. I also doubt most Windows 95 users will gain much from an early switch to Win98, except for the opportunity to discover exciting new bugs.
Time machine tests 2000 code
Blue is the color code for systems certified to run properly before and after the century rollover. The time machine is a Defense Department-owned Unisys Corp. mainframe whose system clock is set forward. The time machine shows whether Air Force applications will fail when 2000 arrives. Nothing about this Air Force Standard Systems Group project is secret. SSG officials at Gunter Annex know the status of every automated information system at Maxwell Air Force Base,
Internet Explorer 4.0's shell integration leaves Rat's whiskers in a snit
The Rat has already confessed to being a masochist. Who else would spend his days braving asbestos-clogged wireways and his nights provoking flames from computer chauvinists? Other than fellow rats, that is. It appears that some of the cyberrodent's less fortunate relatives are in the news because of their masochistic work habits. Check out the Packet Rat's cousin, a former lab rat trained to pull network wires, on the San Jose Mercury News' World Wide
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