WordPerfect comes of age in latest release from Corel
The core WordPerfect word processor, once a ubiquitous MS-DOS application, foundered in its Microsoft Windows transition. Users drifted away from the performance problems, bloated code and poor management that were the suite's hallmarks under the control of WordPerfect Corp. and then Novell Inc. After Corel acquired the word processor along with Borland International Inc.'s Quattro Pro spreadsheet and Paradox database manager, WordPerfect began to have the makings of a good suite. But only in WordPerfect Suite
GSA will plant IT evergreens
Many agencies likely will continue to cultivate their favorite information technology sources through greater use of blanket purchasing agreements and more sophisticated online procurement systems, several top federal procurement officials predicted. "The future is evergreen contracting," said Linda Hauenstein, business adviser for the Office of Acquisition in GSA's Federal Supply Service.
Dell 166-MHz Latitude notebook performs above par
At first glance, the exterior hasn't changed much, but closer inspection reveals improvements: an easier-to-use floppy drive and a CD-ROM drive that melds seamlessly into the chassis. The two Type II PC Card slots remain the same, but the speaker and microphone pickups are integrated better. In this year of ever-expanding LCD screens, the Latitude sports a respectable 12.1-inch, active-matrix display. It's not in the 13.3- and 14.2-inch realm but is plenty for most road
ICE-MAN is about feds adopting business methods
Beware of getting what you wish for. Lobbyists for information technology vendors and critics of federal IT have complained for decades about stodgy, inefficient bureaucracies, saying they should adopt modern business methods. To cut costs, the Clinton administration has pushed agencies to consolidate data centers. So the Agriculture Department and the Federal Aviation Administration took these messages to heart.
56-kilobit/sec modems can't transmit at rates that support hefty price
I got hold of two: the same brand that my Internet provider uses and another brand that I tested with a distant online service via a toll-free connection. My comments are for every user who ever fell asleep in front of a computer waiting for a file to download. For more than a year we've heard that this new modem technology could double the performance of 28.8-kilobit/sec modems over regular phone lines. It sounded terrific-faster downloads
Post-it software takes notes without the sticky stuff
If you find personal information managers too constraining and hunt for telephone numbers written in an assortment of matchbook covers, Post-it Software Notes is for you. Electronic imitations of 3M's little yellow sticky notes have been around for years. Now 3M has jumped into the software business with its own electronic version of the company's ubiquitous Post-it note.
DOD users to get free use of leading anti-virus packages
The Defense Information Systems Agency last week awarded departmentwide contracts for products from the nation's two leading anti-virus vendors. DISA chose McAfee Associates Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., and Symantec Corp. of Cupertino, Calif., to supply anti-virus software to DOD personnel for home and work use. The GCN Lab has reviewed both companies' products; Symantec's Norton AntiVirus received the Reviewer's Choice designation [GCN, July 14, Page 33].
Hill calls for 2000 czar
In the July 15 letter to the White House, the lawmakers also asked Clinton to publicize the year 2000 problem and issue an executive order directing "agencies to give highest priority to correcting the problem." The lawmakers-Reps. Steve Horn (R-Calif.), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Connie Morella (R-Md.) and Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.)-signed off by noting, "We look forward to working with you to ensure that Jan. 1, 2000, is not remembered as the day the government's computers
UltraSlate improves control of freehand drawing on computer
A good graphics tablet does two things to improve computer drawings. First, it gives fine control over pen movements. Drawing a smooth, freehand arc with a mouse is nearly impossible. With a graphics tablet it's easy. Second, and more impressive, pen pressure gives a range of expressiveness to your drawings, depending on which tool is selected. Change the width of a line by pressing harder or softer. Use the airbrush to make a line darker or
Take collaboration one step further with groupware enhancers
This is no ordinary groupware. Besides multimedia functions, the applications bring full client independence. You can't say that about conventional groupware. The idea is that webmasters shouldn't be tied to one operating system or one umbrella groupware package. You should have the power to substitute modules in the collaboration environment and distribute them across multiple machines without redoing your whole infrastructure. Chances are a multimedia collaborative environment will only supplement, not replace, your existing groupware, particularly e-mail
Personnel, payroll will merge
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps currently maintain their own service-unique pay and personnel data networks that are often slow, inaccurate and costly, service officials said. But the joint system is designed to efficiently manage the records of millions of active duty and reserve soldiers, sailors, pilots and Marines by providing one-stop personnel and pay transactions, according to a DOD mission statement.
Defense initiates policy to protect Web privacy
The goal is to protect the privacy of DOD Web site visitors while sustaining the integrity of the department's online services, said Air Force Capt. Jim Knotts, webmaster of DOD's main public site, DefenseLink, and deputy for technology integration within the department's Public Affairs Office. "To the extent that there is someone sitting in a dark room of the Pentagon trying to figure out what this person or that is visiting and where they've been, that's
For workgroups, HP and IBM deliver
In this issue and the next, you'll learn how the GCN Lab brought life-and eventually clients-to monochrome laser printers on a network running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. As we tried to get the first six printers running for this review of workgroup models, we sometimes thought NT must stand for "not today." We encountered rogue or missing software drivers, erroneous installation instructions, client conflicts and hardware failures. But in the end, most of the printers performed
Procurement czar Kelman to step down
Kelman, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, will leave government in mid-September to resume teaching at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. But Kelman said before he returns to Cambridge, he will close out several procurement reform initiatives, including final changes to Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15 and the General Services Administration's revamped Multiple-Award Schedule policy.
Here's the thing: You can only streamline IT acquisitions so far
Like many innovations, it is a variation on a theme. In this case the theme is based on the blanket purchasing agreements that agencies can negotiate with the holders of Multiple-Award Schedule contracts. To appreciate the incredible reach and simplicity of the new scheme, a brief digression into BPAs is necessary.
Guard against sexual harassment in IT industry
The fight kicked off an enhanced era of litigation by women, and occasionally men, who make allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace or who have been subjected to what the law calls a hostile working environment. Recent Aberdeen Proving Ground cases in the Army and the withdrawal of Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston's nomination as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have demonstrated that issues of sex, consent and authority, adultery and good
NIST tries smart engineering
Swee Leong, a manufacturing engineer with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said the federal government needs to protect itself and industry from faulty manufacturing data-the source of expensive production errors. Whenever a job order goes to the shop floor, it is accompanied by a manufacturing data package and assembled by a process engineer. It contains a numerical control program and lists of tools, fixtures, machines and operations.
Yes, a six-year plan
It also demands that agencies come up with systems performance measures and benchmarks to ensure that programs support agencies' missions. For whatever reasons-lack of time or more pressing concerns-agencies have been dragging their feet. Now Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is threatening to withhold fiscal 1998 dollars until agencies finish their plans.
Education will test GSA's data center services
Education officials said they plan to use the General Services Administration's governmentwide data center services contract to outsource the department's entire suite of student loan and financial aid systems, starting with the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Jerry Russomano, director of program systems service for Education's Office of Post Secondary Education, said NSLDS currently runs on an IBM Corp. mainframe environment managed by Raytheon E-Systems Inc. of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Missiles launch a net upgrade
"We figured technology was technology," said Hurley, assistant program executive officer for business, finance and management information. But good network management would be essential to keep missiles flying smoothly to their programmed targets. SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., got the task order in June 1996 and began taking stock of the LAN at the Program Executive Office for Cruise Missile Projects and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (PEO-CU) in Arlington, Va.
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