This Old House meets George Jetson at hub of R.Fink's burrow
The Rat, like all truly well-adjusted network professionals, is a masochist. But there's a limit to the delightful agonies in a standard work day--even the standard workday of a network manager. So the Rat decided to install his own enterprise network at home. Everyone knows that living on the bleeding edge of networking means being the first on your block with a Fast Ethernet switch in your hall closet. However, the Rat didn't count on
4 agencies earn A's on 2000 report card
Of 24 agencies that responded to a congressional survey, only seven are effectively preparing their systems to deal with dates after Dec. 31, 1999, a House subcommittee reported last week. All but two Cabinet agencies--the Energy and Transportation departments-- responded to the survey orchestrated by Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology.
Technology goes one step beyond ISDN for Internet connections
INTERNAUT By Shawn McCarthy In the Dr. Seuss book, On Beyond Zebra, a boy tells his friend about the fantastical letters he's invented that go beyond the standard alphabet. In that spirit, let's tackle the technologies that are "On Beyond ISDN" for Internet access. Unlike the Seuss book, these are very real and can compete with Integrated Services Digital Network and leased T1 lines as standard Internet connections.
In new enterprise license deal, DISA hands out IBM AntiVirus
The Defense Information Systems Agency is distributing IBM Corp.'s AntiVirus software free to users across the Defense Department, even though DISA has an enterprise license for similar software from Norman Data Defense Systems Inc. DISA licensed the IBM product in a June 13 deal with Indelible Blue Inc., a Raleigh, N.C., reseller on the General Services Administration's Multiple-Award Schedule. The one-year agreement, worth $200,000 to $500,000, allows DISA to distribute AntiVirus [GCN, Aug. 28, 1995,
Corel corrals Win95 update with a little spit and polish
POWER USER By John McCormick Looking for a couple of worthy product upgrades ? I recommend U.S. Robotics Corp.'s Sportster Voice modem and Corel Corp.'s Office Professional 7 suite for Microsoft Windows 95--the update to WordPerfect Suite 7. Many users of the original WordPerfect, expecting the word processor to go down the tubes after its long WordPerfect Corp.-to-Novell Inc.-to-Corel odyssey, gave it up in favor of Microsoft Office. Then, to their chagrin, a fast-spreading macro virus
Everything old is new again between FASA and small businesses
I was right. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act and small business don't mix. As I noted in this column when the law first raised its head, there are problems applying FASA to buys involving small businesses, especially in the area of the simplified acquisition procedures [GCN, Aug. 7, 1995, Page 75].
Take care of your hardware and it will take care of you
It's time to take a look at hardware dependability issues. I've been running some my hardware almost continuously for two years or longer. So why has it lasted? My Fortress uninterruptible power system from Best Power of Necedah, Wis., is still going strong after four or five years, despite lots of brownouts and electrical storms. The fact that so little of my computer hardware has gone down is due in large part to this high-quality
The Internet will get its voice, perhaps with help from ISDN
Could agencies' communications costs start falling through the basement far in advance of the General Services Administration's planned post-FTS 2000 rollout? It isn't official yet, but the Federal Communications Commission apparently will not stand in the way of voice telephony over the Internet. Meanwhile, there's a groundswell of pressure for regional Bell companies and other telephone service providers to cut their unnecessarily steep rates for Integrated Services Digital Network connections.
Welcome side effect
In just a few days, the Information Technology Management Reform Act will take effect and the Brooks Act will disappear. Numerous groups have issued reports on the new law, from the Association for Federal IRM (AFFIRM) to the Industry Advisory Council of FGIPC. The act builds on reforms already passed, the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Acts. But unlike FASA I and FASA II, the ITRMA is specifically about computer systems and how agencies use them.
Novell banks on Green River to succeed NetWare, take on NT
Gregory Reade is the kind of systems decision-maker whose choices will determine whether Green River--Novell Inc.'s NetWare 4.1 successor, due in September--will keep Novell afloat in the networking software market. And Reade has decided to hedge his bets in upgrading the 250-user NetWare LAN he administers at Federal Reserve Board headquarters in Washington. He's moving the LAN users to Microsoft Windows NT Workstation.
You don't have to be a geek, baby, to write JavaScript my way
Remember back when java referred to coffee? For computer geeks, Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java now is the hottest programming language around. The rest of us geek-wannabes probably won't ever master its full complexities, but many of us will learn a scripting language subset known as JavaScript. Embedded JavaScript makes your Hypertext Markup Language Web pages more versatile and functional. It's a client-side scripting technology, born as LiveScript at Netscape Communications Corp.
Did system flaws play a role in the files affair?
Election years routinely bring allegations of political dirty tricks. The most serious charge leveled at the Clinton administration this year is that the acquisition of FBI files by the White House staff represents dirty tricks rather than mere bungling. Information technology may be at the root of this affair. At least, IT could be an important factor in proving or disproving what occurred.
Net managers gain flexibility
The success of the World Wide Web browser interface is spilling over into enterprise management, as leading hardware and software companies collaborate on browser-based network and systems management products scheduled for 1997 delivery. Heading up the initiative are BMC Software Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.
The right competition in government fosters cooperation
Government agencies should be more like the private sector. They would be better if they learned to compete in a competitive world. If government programs competed in the marketplace, they'd be more efficient and effective. Such is the advice government agencies get from well-meaning critics of bureaucracies. Frankly, most federal agencies already are quite competitive. For example, few companies compete as intensely Interior's Park Service and Agriculture's Forest Service.
It's so far, so good for nexar, the new kid on the PC block
Government buyers want inexpensive, speedy and expandable PCs. The Nexar covers those three bases, but it has no track record yet for reliability. Its maker pushed into the market only recently [GCN, June 10, Page 51]. But in two months of GCN Lab testing, the Nexar never gave us a moment's worry.
NASA IG heeds call of angry Mac users
NASA's inspector general has called a halt to Johnson Space Center's replacement of Apple Macintoshes pending a review of the center's PC-Windows-only standard for desktop computers. The review, expected to be completed any day, was spurred by complaints to NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin and inspector general Roberta L. Gross. Many complaints came from disgruntled Mac users in Houston who don't want to give up their computers for PCs that run Microsoft Windows.
Compu-crime unit finds cyber evidence
Last year, in the court-martial of an Air Force captain accused of downloading child pornography from government computers at Kadena Air Base, Japan, prosecutors used a forensics expert to nail their case. Computer forensics, that is. Howard Schmidt, director of computer crime investigations at the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, flew to Japan to explain how investigators had undeleted files, found hidden date and time codes, and generally dissected the suspect's hard drive to
Vendors, line up to endorse the Rat's Olympic Games
The Rat has been looking forward to the wave of Olympic media coverage as a good excuse to catch up on some burrow cleaning. The only thing Olympic about the Cyberrodent is that he occasionally gets mistaken for the Atlanta games' computer-generated mascot, Izzy. Of course, when the Rat hears "torch" and "Atlanta" mentioned in the same breath, he thinks back to his days serving under Gen. Sherman.
Briefing Book
Air Force Maj. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and named the new commander of the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. Kadish, the C-17 program manager at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will succeed Lt. Gen. Charles E. Franklin, the man for whom the Electronic Systems Command staff dubbed a field lab Fort Franklin. The service uses the lab to test systems ruggedness and interoperability.
For spending spree, the perfect desktop system is described
After enduring furloughs and budget uncertainties, some government employees now are thinking about their summer vacations. But you're probably preoccupied by the annual computer buying season. You might like to know what items seem to be most coveted by federal buyers and users. After exchanging several e-mail messages and phone calls, I've decided that government users are getting more sophisticated in their choice of tools. Yes, I said tools.
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