Digital Government
Sun lifts curtain on new Unix OS
NEW YORK Sun Microsystems Inc. last week introduced a new version of its Solaris operating system with which the company expects to expand its business in lowend and highend networked environments. With Solaris 7, Sun is targeting Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT and other Unix purveyors, calling i
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Fedwire
Guncheck system on track Attorney General Janet Reno last week announced that the FBI is on track to meet a Nov. 30 deadline to develop a controversial system that will run instant background checks on gun buyers. The FBI plans to have the National Criminal Instant Background Check System running
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LapLink versions prove solid, speedy
In an attempt to customize its offerings for different kinds of users, Traveling Software Inc. recently introduced two versions of its popular remoteaccess software: LapLink Tech and LapLink Professional. LapLink Tech is for systems administrators and technical support staffs, while LapLink Pro is
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Taking account of financial management systems (Part 2)
Why doesn't the government run like a business? The single biggest reason is that, in the decisionmaking process, penalties far outweigh any potential rewards. This environment takes risk aversion to extreme and counterproductive levels. It encourages 'safe' decisions that often result in governme
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Air Force signs volume software deal
Buying in volume pays off, according to the Air Force Standard Systems Group, which expects to save as much as $32 million over the life of a threeyear, Air Forcewide contract for Microsoft Corp. software. Under the contract, which was awarded to Lockheed Martin Federal Systems Division last week
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Microsoft gives NT new moniker, adds server
Microsoft Corp. last week announced a major change in the marketing of the next generation of its Windows NT operating system. Starting with the next release formerly known as 5.0 the operating system will be named Windows 2000 Built on NT Technology. Microsoft also announced the addition of a
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DOD to test online absentee voting
As part of the growing national interest in online voting, a Defense Department organization plans to test the use of digital ballots to make it easier for Americans stationed overseas to vote in stateside elections. The Federal Voting Assistance Program and five states have begun work on a pilot p
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Comm in combat
As part of an ongoing battle exercise this week off the coast of South Korea, the Navy is demonstrating for the first time its ability to use information technology to coordinate missile attacks and other battle activity with other services. The Navy's Fleet Battle ExperimentDelta (FBED) builds o
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Mandatory e-records management arrives
The National Archives and Records Administration has been circulating a draft bulletin on the scheduling of electronic records. The draft could benefit from many improvements. NARA's chatty document is intended to instruct federal agencies on what to do with their electronic records in the wake of
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NASA aids in virtual surgery
Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center have developed a computerbased tool that allows surgeons to practice reconstructive head and brain surgery and to visualize the outcomes more accurately. The 'software scalpel' works with 3D images of the head and brain that are created by combining a ser
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Industry Watch
RMS snags first ODIN pact Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., last month awarded the first delivery order under NASA's massive desktop outsourcing contract. Goddard, known as Code Y, awarded RMS Information Services Inc. a $19.6 million contract to take over the management of approximately
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Commerce finally rolls out financial management system
Millions of dollars and many false starts later, the Commerce Department said it is ready to roll out its financial management system departmentwide. Commerce Secretary William Daley approved departmentwide deployment of the Commerce Administrative Management System, which has been under developmen
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Managing corporate knowledge
As federal agencies struggle to comply with policies for creating electronic archives and with congressional mandates to specify annual performance goals and plans for achieving them, database technology will be the catalyst that propels users beyond simply managing data to managing corporate knowl
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Federal Bytes
TEN YEARS OF TELECOM. The General Services Administration this month held a ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of the FTS 2000 program. Most of those in attendance were employees or former employees of GSA and the two FTS 2000 vendors, AT&T and Sprint. Despite recent accusations by the vendo
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Roster
Neil Stillman, chief information officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, and his wife, Rona Stillman, the General Accounting Office's chief scientist for computers and telecommunications, confirmed that they both will be retiring from the federal government April 30. The Energy Depa
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Intercepts
HOPPING OFF. My Down Under mobile unit has picked up reports that Telstra, the Australian longhaul communications company, has abandoned plans to bid as a prime on the Defense Information Systems Agency's $4 billion Defense Information Systems Network Transmission ServicesPacific contract. I'm pe
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Being all he can be
The activeduty career of Brig. Gen. James Bryan, director for command, control and communications systems for the Pacific Command, definitely lives up to promises of the Army's ''Be all that you can be'' recruiting campaign a campaign he helped create. In the 1980s Bryan had a tour with the Army
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EDS and Lucent pitch VTC products to Army
Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Lucent Technologies plan to offer similar suites of products on the $75 million Army Video Teleconferencing1 contracts awarded last month, but they have developed marketing plans and solutions that will allow them to differentiate their offerings. EDS, which holds
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Agenda
November 3 Seminar on Virtual Private Networking. Baltimore. This free seminar, offered by Shiva Corp., is focused on explaining the benefits of VPN. For additional dates and locations, call (800) 4750832; Web, www.seminar.shiva.com. 35 Small Business Tech Expo. Hynes Convention Center. Boston.
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