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RAIN 02/03: Weekly Update 01/31 Part 1



There are 13 stories in this posting


Government Computer News 1/21/02
For Army recruiters, paper goes the way of the dinosaur
http://www.gcn.com/21_2/dod/17776-1.html

By Dawn S. Onley
GCN Staff
The Army Recruiting Command is throwing out paper procedures and automating how it manages information about recruits.
In November, the command, based in Fort Knox, Ky., began fielding the second  implementation of the Army Recruiting Information Support System, a document management system for quicker and more accurate record-keeping. Its database holds information such as an enlistee’s date of birth, Social Security number, medical records, driver’s license and work history.


Government Technology 1/31/02
North Dakota Automates Medicaid Transactions
http://www.govtech.net/news/news.phtml?docid=2002.01.31-3030000000005799

BISMARCK, N.D. -- The state's Information Technology Department (ITD) is hosting a new system for the Department of Human Services that will automate collecting and processing the state's Medicaid forms and transactions.
The MediClaim solution will automatically process HCFA-1500 (Health Care Finance
Administration) forms and UB-92 forms, said Bill Roach, coordinator of electronic
document management system (EDMS) of the state's ITD.



The Birmingham News 01/26/02
8 of state's original Carnegies still stand
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/...tml_standard.xsl?/base/news/10120401102448511.xml

TOM GORDON
News staff writer
Carnegie libraries were sources of great pride for the communities in which they
were built.
That pride may explain why eight of Alabama's 14 Carnegie public library
buildings are still standing, though only two in Eufaula and Union Springs are still
lending books.
Four of Alabama's 14 libraries each with $10,000 grants were built in Jefferson
County. The first of the four came in Ensley where a crowd that showed up for
the July 12, 1906, opening ceremonies was so large that planners scrubbed
much of the program.


New York Times 01/31/02
Agency Will Sue for Records of Cheney Energy Meetings
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/31/business/31GAO.html?ex=1013483177&ei=1&en=6736f033029a1856

By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 — The General Accounting Office said today that it would sue the White House to try to force Vice President Dick Cheney to release documents detailing contacts between corporate executives and the administration's energy task force.
In a letter to the White House and Congressional leaders, David M. Walker, the comptroller general of the United States and director of the accounting office, said he
intended to ask a federal judge to order Mr. Cheney to give Congress the identities of
energy industry executives who helped the Bush administration formulate a national
energy policy last year. Mr. Walker said he was also seeking the subject that each
executive discussed with task force members. Mr. Cheney was the chairman of the task
force.


Washington Post 01/31/02
Editorial: Not Worth Fighting About
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A454-2002Jan31.html

THE GENERAL Accounting Office has decided to sue the White House. The issue is whether the GAO is entitled to review records from the vice president's task force on energy
policy. At the request of Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), it has been looking into whom the task force met with and sought advice from. The answer to this question is no big secret: The task force got a lot of input from energy companies -- including Enron -- and its recommendations reflected that input. But the White House is going to the wall to avoid having to disclose its contacts. It claims the GAO has no legal authority to examine White House policymaking exercises and
that, if it tries, it will be intruding on the core constitutional function of the
executive branch. Meanwhile, the GAO is going all-out to force this disclosure.
Neither side is acting much like a grown-up.



Washington Post 01/31/02
GAO Lawsuit
With Herman Schwartz
American University Law Professor
http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/02/freemedia_schwartz013102.htm

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002; Noon EST
On Wednesday, The General Accounting Office (GAO) decided to sue the White House -- the first time the government agency has brought a lawsuit against the executive branch -- for access to documents from President Bush's energy task force.
Herman Schwartz, professor of law at American University, was online to take
your questions and comments on the GAO lawsuit.



Dallas Morning News 01/31/02
Court records will be put on Web
Free system expected to reduce requests for case information
http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/city/collin/stories/network_31pla.ART.Zone1.Edition1.59464.html

By CURTIS HOWELL / The Dallas Morning News
Come Monday, Collin County court records will hit the information superhighway, and anyone will be able to access them – for free.
The Collin County Commissioners Court unanimously approved free Internet access to district court case records, both civil and criminal, Monday.
"It is a huge step forward," said Brenda Sheppard, coordinator for the 219th State District Court. "It should reduce the number of calls I get by 50 percent or more, and I get 50 to 100 a day."



Technology Review 02/2002
Cryptographic Abundance
http://www.techreview.com/articles/insight0102.asp

by Tom Berson
My 82-year-old mother never was very good at arithmetic. She now has lost the ability to balance her checkbook. Yet this morning, at the touch of a button on her browser, she performed a fairly sophisticated arithmetic operation on her way to establishing a secure session with the e-commerce site where she orders her medications. This operation is called “modular exponentiation.” If Mom knew its nine-syllable name she
would have been afraid to push the button. Fortunately, and crucially, the operation is hidden from her, as it is from most of us. It is part of a cryptographic system, a
system designed to provide confidential communication.


Government Technology 10/2001
Cutting the Spam
One company is working to delete unwanted mass e-mails from the
Internet.
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/sup_story.phtml?...05000000000012&id=3030000000003202&issue=10:2001

By Nevin Mays - October 2001
If you use e-mail, chances are, at some point you've received unwanted
bulk e-mail. It is called spam, and it's frustrating. Spam is like junk mail for
the computer, except in this case it costs the receiver, but is virtually free to
the sender. Junk mail the old-fashioned way costs the mailer for the paper
and postage. Spam costs the receiver time and resources to rid his or her
inbox, or a network of inboxes, of spam. In severe cases, spam can crash a
network and cause major backups in servers. For three years one nonprofit
has been working to stop it.


WashTech.com 01/31/02
Weeding In the Garden Of Good E-Mail
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A72-2002Jan30.html

By Leslie Walker
A group of Internet companies is starting public tests this week of a new form of commercial email, one that places a special digital seal inside electronic messages in an attempt to signify they come from a "trusted sender."
The idea is to separate legitimate advertising pitches from junk e-mail. Rather than using software to sort through the good and bad, the "trusted sender" program aims to identify messages from merchants that agree to abide by a set of marketing rules. Eventually their specially stamped messages could be allowed to bypass filters that block "spam" -- unsolicited commercial e-mail.



Chicago Tribune 01/28/02
For sale on eBay: The Enron ethics manual and much more
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0201280116jan28.story?coll=chi-technologylocal-hed

By William Hageman
They may not exactly be laughing all the way to the bank, but some former Enron employees are at least smirking these days.
They have found a way to make money off their old employer, which went bellyup
last month in the largest bankruptcy in American history, and get in a few digs
at the company for good measure.



Managing Information 01/31/02
http://www.managinginformation.com/news/content_show_full.php?id=337

New e-Government Initiatives Drive Need for Electronic Document Technologies
There are now many e-government initiatives mandating the adoption of electronic document technologies across most of the EU. This not only facilitates the increasing
demand, and obligation, to provide citizens with access to public records, but also helps streamline government document management processes and self-fulfilment
services via the web.
In the UK alone, the Modernising Government plans will mandate that all public records be managed electronically by 2004, with full service delivery by 2005. The recently unveiled Model Requirements for the management of electronic records (MoReq) addresses the need for a comprehensive specification for electronic records management first presented at the first DLM Forum in 1996.





Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Va