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RAIN 07/18: Potpourri



All urls work

Louisville Courier-Journal 7/17/00
Coroner stuck keeping records the old way - on paper
Computer troubles have office running 'like it did in 1977'
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2000/0007/17/000717cor.html

by Leena Pendharkar
When Dora Thomas started working for the Jefferson County coroner in 1977 as
a secretary, she used paper forms and giant folders to keep track of the
deceased.
In 1989, the office bought computers. But since December, she has had to
rely mostly on forms and folders again.
The computer system was not year 2000 compliant. And a new system, installed
by the county, has had problems.
"This office is now running like it did in 1977," said Thomas. "I am so
frustrated."


Canberra Times 7/18/00
ASIO 'keeping 50-year-old files secret'
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news2/news6.shtml

by Honey Webb and AAP
Australia's spies were denying public access to documents more than 50 years
old, a parliamentary inquiry heard yesterday.
Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Dennis
Richardson said Australia had one of the most candid spying operations in
the world but it reserved the right to limit access to sensitive
information.
Australian Defence Force Academy historian Frank Cain said details about the
formation of ASIO, Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and
surveillance of the Australian Labor Party no longer needed to be kept
secret.


Czech News Agency 7/17/00
Czechs have personal files in Slovakia
http://www.centraleurope.com/czechtoday/news.php3?id=179223

PRAGUE, Jul 17, 2000 -- (CTK - Czech News Agency) Personal documents of all
men who either completed compulsory military service in the Czechoslovak
Army by 1992 or were unable to serve it for health or other reasons remained
in the Trnava military archives after Czechoslovakia's division in 1993,
Mlada fronta Dnes writes.
The paper adds, however, that only personal cards on the basis of which
soldiers in reserve are called to undergo military training, remained in the
Trnava (central Slovakia) archives. This means that personal files of the
almost all of the male population of the Czech Republic are being kept in a
country, which, unlike the Czech Republic, is not a NATO member.



Nando Times 7/17/00
White House won't give timetable on lost e-mails, judge says
http://www.nandotimes.com/no_frames/nation/story/0,4455,500229148-500331079-
501885389-0,00.html

by Greg Toppo
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (July 17, 2000 6:08 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A
federal judge accused the White House on Monday of failing to tell him how
long it would take to restore thousands of lost Clinton administration
e-mails.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said the White House never told him that
revised estimates for the project were vastly different from what
administration lawyers had reported in a lawsuit in the case.
White House officials earlier this year said thousands of e-mails, including
some from Vice President Al Gore's office, were not properly archived. As a
result, the messages were never reviewed by White House lawyers to determine
if they should be turned over to investigators under subpoena in cases
ranging from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Whitewater to campaign fund
raising.



ZDNET 7/17/00
Sign of Trouble: The problem with e-signatures
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2604099,00.html

by Jesse Berst
With apologies to Sam Goldwyn, an electronic contract isn't worth the paper
it's printed on.
But now under a new federal law, it's just as enforceable.
Note from Jesse: Be careful. E-contracting, and e-signatures will eventually
change the way business is done, but they'll be slow to catch on. Businesses
will get the first chances to sign on the digital line. Consumers will be
last.
The delay is for good reason.



Birmingham News 7/15/00
Jeffco sheriff indicted
Woodward, former lawyer charged with using database for voter background
checks
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/Jul2000/15-e413440b.html

by Vickii Howell and Val Walton
A federal indictment unsealed Friday charged Jefferson County Sheriff Jim
Woodward and his former lawyer with illegally using a criminal database to
run background checks on Bessemer voters.
The five-count indictment, returned under seal June 21 but opened Friday,
says Woodward and lawyer Albert Jordan conspired to use restricted criminal
background information to disqualify absentee votes cast in the Nov. 3,
1998, sheriff's race.



Washington Post 7/17/00
How sausage is made
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/columns/dotmil/A46926-2000Jul14.html

by William M. Arkin
In all, there are 94 videotapes. Some are as short as 45 minutes, a few go
on for several hours. The pattern is always the same: Gen. Wesley Clark
opens up the sessions, there is a weather and an intelligence briefing,
followed by staff updates and discussion. And then there are the fireworks.
They are tapes of the video teleconferences (VTCs) held during the 78-day
Yugoslav war last year. All of the critical planning and targeting was done
over such VTCs. It may have been a paperless war, but it is not without
records.


For this next story be sure to scroll to the bottom of the story.
Washington Post 7/17/00
Federal Diary
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/fedpage/A54643-2000Jul16.html

By Stephen Barr
Nixon Archivist
Dick McNeill retired July 14



Bergen Record 7/17/00
Deleted, but not destroyed
http://www.bergen.com/biz/files17200007172.htm

by Craig Crossman
Did you know that the files you delete on your computer are not actually
destroyed?
Anyone using a computer creates and deletes files. These files, such as
documents created in a word processor and information retrieved from the
Internet, are stored on a hard drive to be accessed at any time.
When a file is no longer needed, we delete it -- usually for two reasons.
First, deleting unwanted files frees precious disk space for new files we
may wish to save. Second, we delete files because we don't want their
contents to be seen.
Most Windows users know that files placed into the desktop Recycle Bin can
be resurrected by simply opening the bin and recovering them. This is a nice
safety feature in case of an accidental deletion or a change of mind.




Sacramento Bee 7/17/00
Wired Life: private use of e-mail at work may carry risk
http://www.sacbee.com/ib/news/ib_news04_20000717.html

by David Hoye
Seldom does a week go by that I don't receive at least one personal e-mail
message sent by someone using an Internet account provided by his or her
employer. It makes no difference to me, of course. But using a company
account to send personal e-mail is the kind of thing that can get you fired.

It happens all the time. Computerworld, for example, recently reported that
an unspecified number of employees at the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co.
were disciplined or fired as part of an ongoing crackdown on inappropriate
e-mail and Internet usage.
Surprisingly, this job-loss threat seems to faze few people. Over the years,
I've received everything from adult-oriented video clips to lists of dirty
jokes (all unsolicited, of course!) from people using corporate or
government Internet accounts. I once worked with a woman who didn't think
twice about using her company computer and e-mail account to send Bill
Clinton numerous electronic messages about how to handle the Monica Lewinsky
mess.



Deseret News 7/15/00
Sleuth tracks down pre-WWII Jewish policies
Survivors could claim the proceeds, Risk International chief says
http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,175019711,00.html?

by Elaine Jarvik
Terrell Hunt calls what he does "insurance archaeology - sort of "Indiana
Jones and the Lost Policy."
His current mission is to track down insurance policies taken out by
European Jews prior to World War II, policies that could now be claimed by
survivors and heirs of the Holocaust. In town Friday to address the 20th
annual Jewish Genealogy Conference, Hunt told his audience that the recovery
of Jewish assets is both possible and necessary to give survivors and heirs
"some sense of rough justice."
The effort to recover insurance assets follows similar efforts to reclaim
Jewish assets in Swiss bank accounts and to receive restitution for Nazi-era
slave labor.






Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
Manager, Records Management
Woodside Summit Group, Inc
Richmond, Virginia
Tel: 804-744-1247 extension 23
Fax: 804-744-4947
mailto:peter.kurilecz@woodsidesummitgroup.com

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