DISA buys 180,000 licenses for Navigator
The Defense Information Systems Agency has bought 180,000 licenses for the Netscape Navigator World Wide Web browser. With the purchase, DISA aims to encourage adoption of the Defense Information Infrastructure Common Operating Environment. Copies of the software will be available for free to program managers building systems designed for compliance with the DII COE, DISA said in a statement.
Browsers solve the puzzling Case of the File Format Jugglers
Web browsers can do lots more than just read and display Hypertext Markup Language documents. That's good news if you're looking for creative ways to share agency information over the Internet. But it's bad news if you're a network manager maintaining Web clients for dozens of end users.
200-MHz Pentiums faster? Not so you'd notice
Does a 24-MHz advance in Pentium clock speed mean dramatically better performance? The answer is no. A brand-new 200-MHz Pentium PC will give you about 8 percent better performance than a 166-MHz Pentium, and most users won't see much difference. The GCN Lab tested Dell Computer Corp.'s Optiplex GXMT 5200 and EPS Technologies Inc.'s Evolution GXL 200, both looking the same and configured almost the same as their previously tested 166-MHz counterparts [GCN, April 29,
AF grounded when software shuts down without warning
Halfway through a huge training exercise in Florida last March, Air Force computer operators got a chilling preview of what the year 2000 date-code problem could do to military readiness. As part of Internal Look '96, a joint service exercise based on a hypothetical conflict in the Persian Gulf, the operators were rushing to complete an air tasking order early in the morning of March 21. Equivalent to the master plan for the air component
New SQL Server 6.5 still serves only Windows NT environments
SQL Server 6.5 builds on an already-solid database server foundation. But it's still joined at the hip to Microsoft Windows NT and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), and it still lacks support for Unix and other non-Microsoft operating systems. You can run it not just on Intel but on PowerPC, Alpha and Mips platforms--under NT, of course--in single and multiprocessing architectures.
GSA to shutter data centers; Unisys gets jobs
The General Services Administration will shut its three main data centers and turn future work over to Unisys Corp. GSA officials will use the agency's present GSA Systems (GSAS) contract with Unisys as the vehicle for outsourcing the mostly mainframe applications that support the Public Buildings Service and the Federal Supply Service.
Dime-store losses
Imagine you own a race horse worth, say, $100,000. If he gets a cold or a stiff leg, you're going to call the vet. You'll spend thousands of dollars and whatever time it takes to get him fixed up and back on the track. On the other hand, if your dime-store goldfish starts swimming on its side, you toss it down the hopper.
Spring Comdex had little worth sinking your incisors into
This month's Spring Comdex, ousted from Atlanta by preparations for the Olympics, moved to the Windy City. If there's one thing that the combination of Comdex and Chicago brings to the Rat's mind, it's Spam. Chicago's great meat-packing heritage was matched by the sheer volume of gelatinous computer by-products presented to Comdex visitors.
Justice office foils Clinton's FOIA policies
For any administration, getting agencies to march to the same beat is not a trivial concern. For example, the Clinton administration has been very supportive of computer networks and has been good about making government information available on the Internet. The policy direction has clearly and consistently favored citizen access to data, computers and computer networks.
Army Sustaining Base program threatened with an early death
The House Appropriations Committee this month approved a Defense spending bill that guts funding for the Army's Sustaining Base Information Systems program next year and reduces it to nothing in 1998. Budget-cutting threats by Congress have been a springtime ritual for SBIS since 1993, when the Army awarded the 10-year, $474 million contract to modernize more than 50 Army administrative and support systems. But this year the Army itself is considering eliminating the troubled program
It should not matter if you buy through EDI: Rules are rules
For more than two years, the government has been gearing up for electronic commerce. The administration is a strong EC supporter, as reflected in the National Performance Review. In response to White House prodding, the General Services Administration has implemented a policy for progressive growth toward a paperless procurement system.
Supreme Court rules agencies need not protect contractors
The Supreme Court rarely hears a government contract case, but when it does, the ruling always makes waves. The high court recently decided the case of Hercules Inc. v. United States, a controversy with its roots in the Vietnam War. Hercules Inc. and Wm. T. Thompson Co. made Agent Orange defoliant during the Vietnam War. Hercules wanted all the business, but the Defense Department also wanted to hire Thompson. Thompson only took the contract after
A little education goes far inencouraging valued workers
Have you ever been given an assignment for which you had no training or experience? How did you feel? Was the experience frustrating, maddening or depressing? It can be quite discouraging to take on a new responsibility without training and coaching. Employees who must quickly get the impression that management doesn't care; consequently their motivation and morale can plummet.
Enterprising NASA searches for faster hailing
Whenever Capt. James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise told Lt. Uhura to open a channel, he could hold an intergalactic conference over a two-way, real-time video channel. NASA hasn't quite gotten to that point, even for pushing data packets through space. The space agency has been testing a combination of asynchronous transfer mode switching with its Advanced Communications Technology Satellite. In one experiment, NASA wanted to deliver the power of a Cray Research Inc.
DOD Brief
Lt. Gen. John S. Fairfield, Air Force deputy chief of staff for communications and information, thinks the security and authentication features of the Defense Message System won't be necessary for all users, all of the time. "We are mandating x.400 [and DMS security features] for official messaging," Fairfield recently told GCN, "but we are waiting to see if a certain percentage of unclassified traffic could remain on SMTP [Simple Message Transfer Protocol]. The Defense Department
Net propaganda has this junkie crying, 'Enough, already!'
I'm sick of the Internet--a startling confession from a self-professed junkie of the Internet. I've come to this point after being bombarded for so long with so much propaganda about the Internet, it's become more than I can stand. I confess. I look at www.nbc.com or www.cnn.com instead of simply turning on my television set to get my daily news fix. I go to www.missionimpossible.com to read the latest about Tom Cruise's movie. I still
Beware of persistent security holes in some Java releases
Are you responsible for a network using Navigator 2.0 browser from Netscape Communications Corp., Mountain View, Calif.? If so, consider disabling its implementation of Java from Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, Calif. I've been hearing a lot of talk about security holes that let users innocently download hostile Java applets from World Wide Web sites. Your firewall could even be bypassed with a Java connection to on-line hackers who could download your confidential files over
Air Force buy will be first to include COE
The Air Force's Global Combat Support Systems program will be the first major systems procurement to use the Defense Department's Common Operating Environment from the get-go. Final price proposals for GCSS-AF, formerly known as the Base Level Systems Modernization II or BLSM, were filed with the Standard Systems Group in Montgomery, Ala., by at least six bidders late last month. A single award for the 10-year contract, said to be worth more than $400 million,
Federal contract investigations
Last month, I described some excessive criminal investigations and tactics relating to federal contracts. Now I would like to give some practical suggestions for avoiding such problems and for surviving an investigation. These suggestions do not substitute for legal advice, of course. A compliance program can push potential whistleblowers into disclosing their concerns in-house before they relay them to the government. A good compliance program also explicitly prohibits racial and sexual discrimination and creates mechanisms
Energy, NRC to scrap 13 years of planning
The Energy Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that if a system project bogs down long enough--in this case 13 years--technology likely will find a better way. So now, after years of fits and starts, an NRC-DOE panel is looking at tossing out plans to build a Licensing Support System in favor of using the World Wide Web to process DOE's application to operate a high-level radioactive waste disposal site.
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