Defense Department Briefs
Intelligent Electronics Inc. in Exton, Pa., and IPI GrammTech in San Antonio will run the Air Force's Non-Appropriated Funds (AFNAF) purchasing program under a 10-year contract. The AFNAF program provides computer equipment to Air Force and other military service organizations that have non-appropriated fund budgets generated by collecting recreation facility fees. The Future Now, a Cincinnati computer reseller that will manage the contract for Intelligent Electronics, offers a full range of PCs, software, peripherals and
C2 rating aside, NT isn't secure
Even as Microsoft Corp. begins capitalizing on the National Security Agency's recent C2 certification of Windows NT, computer security experts warn that NT can be penetrated easily by unauthorized users with basic programming skills. Industry sources say the vulnerabilities in Windows NT and other C2 operating systems create a golden opportunity for computer-literate moles throughout the Defense Department.
Federal PCs run on track, but tangles of red tape trip users
It's not how fast it is, how it much holds or what it costs. Red tape remains the single biggest obstacle to trouble-free PC operation in the federal government, readers told us in a recent survey. GCN surveyed 100 government PC buyers who bought and maintained from one to more than 500 systems in the last 12 months. We asked them to tell us what they bought, how they bought it and how well their
Smile, say 'ease,' and snap with Kodak's new Dew Digital Camera 40
Kodak's new Digital Camera 40 takes a nice color picture and is very easy to use, but there are quirks in the software that pulls images into your Windows PC or Macintosh. You'll find the little black camera handy for snapping and quickly reviewing up to 48 photos or for capturing images to post on your agency's Internet Web page--just step down the resolution a bit to reduce transfer times.
Caught in the Web?
Dr. Dorian in Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. It's time for agencies to pause and gain a little perspective on the World Wide Web. So compelling has the WWW become that some 70,000 individuals, businesses and government agencies have constructed home pages. No one knows the amount of labor and dollar costs spent on the Web by government alone.
What's really behind the Windows 95 curtain?
Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system made its debut last week amid the most hoopla since Dorothy landed in Oz. Is it worth it? Yup. If you've got the hardware to handle it properly. I didn't like Win95 at all the first time I saw it, or the second. But after months of use, I find it hard to switch back to Windows 3.11. Whether you like Microsoft or not, within a year this will be
Latest MacWorld Expo is eclipsed by the Win95 cloud
BOSTON--A small but vocal group of Apple Macintosh users in the Defense Department wants to stave off government adoption of Microsoft Windows 95. At MacWorld Expo here earlier this month, they called Macs cheaper overall, more powerful, easier to maintain and easier for new users than Windows PCs. "I've had a semi-career change," said Col. Jeffrey I. Roller, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the Air Force hospital at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. "I'm
Census to outsource
The Census Bureau won't be buying much new hardware for the next decennial census. Bureau officials plan to rent their large iron and rely on existing PCs and workstations for analysis work. "Since technology changes so rapidly, we don't want to have equipment packed up in mothballs, sitting on the shelf" after the 2000 census, said Arnold Jackson, the bureau's IT director.
The price of information
Agencies strained for dollars have precious few options for getting more. One area where costs are rising is in providing public access to agency data. Under federal policy, agencies for years have charged only the nominal costs of copying data, either on paper or magnetic media. But given the tremendous value into which some data gatherers are able to parlay the raw data, this question should be revisited: Are there circumstances in which the government
Distributed war games network will serve up intense conflicts
Pentagon brass are getting ready for the ultimate war exercise, one that will replicate the sudden and sweeping changes that occur in a major conflict. This exercise, however, will be carried out exclusively within the confines of an advanced global modeling and simulation network. Unlike current virtual war games, in which dedicated computers and networks simulate a few weapons systems in a narrowly defined combat environment, Defense Department developers foresee a simulation system that includes
Post-FTS 2000 RFP calls for fast services, many contracts
The draft request for proposals released last week for the post-FTS 2000 telecommunications program calls for bleeding-edge wireless and asynchronous transfer mode/Sonet services up 2.4 gigabits/sec. Such speeds now exist only on a handful of agency research networks. The General Services Administration plans to award a minimum of six contracts for services. The plums will be two contracts for comprehensive services similar to those supplied under the current FTS 2000 program by AT&T Corp. and
Pilot's tale of Bosnia rescue lands on Net
Even as Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady deflected reporters' questions about the details of his rescue from Bosnia, thousands of Internet surfers around the world were getting a vivid, blow-by-blow description of the mission as told by an Air Force pilot who took part in the mission. GCN has learned that the report, laced with expletives and Air Force jargon, included detailed descriptions of flight procedures, radio frequencies and weapons systems used by the Air
Defense Department Briefs
The Army will ease departing service members into the civilian world with digitized, interactive career counseling videos available at 40 Job Assistance Centers across the country. Using a digital file server program from Network Connection Inc. in Atlanta, 60 short films produced by the Army Career and Alumni Program will be accessible on PCs for up to 50 simultaneous users.
Flying Pickle
I fly a lot. I've got about a million miles in my frequent flyer accounts. Sometimes my suits take on that vague kerosene smell you notice inside jets. And I've spent many an hour bumping around in pea soup at night trying to land in crowded places like Boston or Los Angeles.
Postal Service gives digital signatures a dry run in-house
Through the award of a small contract to create electronic forms, the Postal Service hopes to learn a thing or two about digital signatures. Under a $692,000 contract, the service will use software from F3 Software Corp. to automate hundreds of paper forms used internally by the service. The electronic forms will bear digital signatures that meet the federal Digital Signature Standard issued by the Commerce Department last year.
Celebris GL for Win95
This Thursday, we'll witness the birth of Microsoft Windows 95, an operating system that's already too big for its britches. At least half our current Windows PCs just can't handle it. Win95 is feature-rich, graphically powerful and easier than its Windows 3.1x predecessors. To exploit it, a PC needs Plug and Play capability, true-color video at fairly high resolution and a bus architecture wide enough to shuttle lots of data fast. You can run Win95
The PC makers won't make you wait for Win95
The imminent release of Microsoft Windows 95 has PC manufacturers hustling to preload it with Windows 3.x, so that buyers can choose which one to install. A few PC makers, including Dell Computer Corp., plan to list Win95 PCs on their General Services Administration schedules by mid-September. Dell, Advanced Digital Systems Inc. and other makers with flexible, build-to-order manufacturing processes have begun accepting government orders for Win95 PCs.
White House retreats on clipper mandate
Cementing the Clinton administration's retreat from a centrally imposed encryption policy, a new joint defense-civilian board has pledged to accommodate a mix of commercial and federal methods for protecting electronic transactions. "This administration is not going to come out and say you have to use this or that product" to conduct electronic business with the government, said Deane Erwin, a co-chairman of the Security Infrastructure Program Management Office (SI-PMO) and director of materiel and logistics
Hill holds off on IT reforms until autumn
Changes in how the government buys computers are likely to be included in a broader, governmentwide procurement reform, not in the plan proposed by Sen. William Cohen, House and Senate staff members speculated last week. The Senate has adjourned for its summer recess, postponing final action on the fiscal 1996 Defense authorization bill. The Maine Republican succeeded attaching his Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1995 to that bill before lawmakers left town earlier this
DOD news briefs
Abraxas Software in Portland, Ore., has released a package of computer language tools aimed at designers of military field programmable systems. Known as MIL-LANG 6.0, the package includes mechanisms for integrating applications written in Ada, VHDL and Fortran-90. Field programmable systems make it easier to reconfigure software on military equipment by using standard and more flexible and computer languages. MIL-LANG 6.0 is available in versions for Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT, IBM OS/2, Macintosh and
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