Route Fifty

Revised uninstaller is a polished polishing package

Quarterdeck's CleanSweep, an uninstaller program released shortly after Microsoft Windows 95, was rough around the edges. Version 3.0 has evolved into a polished package that's almost indispensable. I'm always amazed at how quickly a computer fills with extraneous or duplicate files. I bought my present PC just two months ago, and it already holds more than 7,000 files. Unresolved registry entries and icons that connect to nothing sprout up like garden

By William M. Frazier, GCN
February 24, 1997

Don't write your passwords down-Master them

John McCormick, a free-lance writer and computer consultant, has been working with computers since the early 1960s.

By John McCormick, GCN
February 24, 1997

GSA awards 3 Virtual Data Center contracts

With data center closings and consolidations slated to begin next year, the General Services Administration last week awarded a trio of contracts to provide agencies with ADP outsourcing options. Computer Sciences Corp. and two teams-Unisys Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services of Dallas, along with GTE Corp. and SunGard Data Systems Inc. of Philadelphia-each won multiyear contracts to offer data center services to agencies on a task-order basis. These indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts

By Kevin Powers, GCN
February 24, 1997

Training shortfall postpones DMS start-up until summer

The Defense Information Systems Agency gave a pop quiz for the Defense Message System late last year, and many of those who will operate the system came unprepared. DISA judged that "the amount and level of training for people in the field probably needed to be expanded," said Jerry Douglas, DMS advanced programs director for Lockheed Martin Corp., the prime contractor for the $500 million program. Additional training will likely push

By William Jackson, GCN
February 24, 1997

Let's all show a little bit more self-restraint

Fairness and respect are useful principles for resolving government contract problems. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn had it right. Even while knocking out the moral underpinnings of the Soviet Union, he was a critic of Western society's overly legal focus. Though many of his points missed the mark, the following passage deserves a look: "Western society has given itself the organization best suited to its purposes, based, I would say, on the letter of

By GCN
February 24, 1997

Life's changing fast with the Internet-and the intranets

Now that we've survived the Internet hoopla of the last couple of years, many of us are seeing our agencies begin to rely heavily on intranets. An intranet is really just an Internet accessible only by those within an agency or office. I don't understand why we coined two such similar-sounding words. Do you? The main purpose of most intranets will be to disseminate internal information. It's a fast and easy

By GCN
February 24, 1997

Given a gift? Look out for Uncle Sam

Like so many other things in Washington, "friendship" is not easily defined. Rules prohibit government employees from accepting gifts, but an exception exists for gifts that are based on personal hospitality or friendship. Unfortunately, application of the exception presents complicated issues. Generally speaking, eligibility for the "personal friendship" exception has been progressively and significantly narrowed over the years.

By GCN
January 27, 1997

Don't abandon BBSes for the glitz of the Internet

Why listen to the radio when you can watch television? After all, radio is a less sophisticated technology. It has less immediacy. It communicates only to your aural sense where TV appeals to both sight and sound. Shouldn't we shut down radio stations because they are redundant, less effective than TV, and a waste of resources?

By GCN
January 27, 1997

McShan leaves government after 30 years

When Clyde McShan II began government work in 1965 as an auditor in the Agriculture Department, he had no idea his career would lead him down a path of systems integration and cutting edge technology. But it did. In his three decades of government service, McShan rose to the rank of deputy chief financial officer at the Commerce Department before retiring and taking a job in the private sector last month. He said that his

By John Breeden II, GCN
January 27, 1997

Road worriers, you can beat travel travails

Notebook computer users like to share horror stories about $5,000 notebooks left on planes or LCD displays that cracked like an egg after a fall or froze up--literally--in the car overnight. More nightmarish are tales of crucial presentations gone awry in front of senior agency managers. Anyone who displays external video probably has had such experiences. There are ways to protect yourself against them.

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, GCN
January 27, 1997

Apple-Next merger makes Jobs the Jezebel at Microsoft's cotillion

While the rest of Washington recovered from the Inauguration, the Rat's attention stayed focused somewhere out West. In fact, he's been transfixed since Christmas, waiting for a wandering star to settle over Cupertino, Calif. Some irritated readers have called the Rat to task for his disrespectful comments about Apple Computer Inc., and he pleads guilty. But like most techies, the Rat is a true apostle of the Next cult. To him, word of the Next

By GCN
January 27, 1997

IRS sets plan to outsource returns processing

In an outsourcing report mandated by Congress last year, IRS laid out its plans for farming out systems work. But before massive outsourcing can begin, IRS must modernize some critical systems itself, the report said. ''Regardless of the merit and cost benefit of outsourcing, the long lead time associated with outsourcing dictates that the IRS develop and implement a near-term plan to replace the deteriorating, noncentury date-compliant core systems which process more than 90 percent

By Christopher J. Dorobek, GCN
January 27, 1997

Phaser 350 is the newly crowned king of transparencies

Last year, I lauded the Phaser 340 as the best color printer for transparencies. It performed better than most color laser printers and cost much less. Now the Phaser 350, which combines ink-jet and color laser processes, costs a little less and gives even higher resolution. It's the heir-apparent to the 340 and just as brilliant at output, but color laser printing is finally catching up. Still, the Phaser 350 has an edge color lasers can't

By Michael Cheek, GCN
January 27, 1997

Leading fax package adds features for phones and mailboxes

Because the fax qualities remain outstanding in Version 7.5, I'm going to concentrate on its two new features: TalkWorks telephony software and Internet faxing. TalkWorks was available in previous versions as a cost-added option. Originally it supported few modems, but simultaneous voice-data modems now are common on new PCs. Plug one of these into a single phone line, and you'll have a fax/telephone answering machine with multiple mailboxes, eavesdropping capability and call screening. This could

By William M. Frazier, GCN
January 27, 1997

New survey reveals agency e-mail flaws

Though agencies rated e-mail as their most cost-effective communications tool, most federal messaging systems do not meet the White House's business-quality standard, a new General Services Administration survey found. The Electronic Messaging Program Management Office's survey takes a sweeping view of the messaging and mail applications used throughout the government. Interestingly, small federal agencies reported a wider e-mail user base than the larger departments.

By Kevin Powers, GCN
January 27, 1997

This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. / Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Accept Cookies