GSA Technology Council

Kaci turned to me the other day and said “Hey Mr Gadgetman, I want a new PDA, cell phone, and an iPod…” As she asks the question, I am beginning to think that I am going to get the chance to play the expert. This will be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate my considerable professional expertise. I will be holding forth on the subject of my technical superiority and she will be drinking from the cup of the ancients. This was my dream, but she continued her question. “I want a new PDA, cell phone, and an iPod… but I want them all in one.” The cup springs a leak.

Kaci has this way of taking simple questions, especially the stuff I know well and somehow turning them into unanswerable Zen koans. When she asks me about her next gadget, she asks the impossible. What’s worse is that she knows it. Before she asks me she has thought about the problem for hours, researched the internet, and has come to a conclusion herself. The device she wants does not exist. That doesn’t stop her from asking me.

While it might be that she thinks I have an inside track to some secret inventor’s workbench in the land of tomorrow, I think it far more likely that she derives perverse pleasure in setting technology monkey traps for me. She knows I can’t help myself. If someone asks me a question for which I think I should know the answer, I am going to give an answer, even if I have to spend hours at the keyboard trying to formulate the answer. In this case, I am struggling with the answer to her dream Personal Digital Assistant. I am drowning in her requirements. She wants a cell phone that has a full-sized PDA color screen, stylus input, and a 40 Gigabyte hard drive? It’s a trap!

First I have to be respectful and acknowledge the puzzle before me. “You want them all in one?” I ask. “You want a cell phone, a new PDA, and an MP3 music player and you want them all in one device?” “Yeah” she says. “It will be cheaper. I don’t want to pay for them all.” Now I twist in the trap “Really? I would be surprised if you could get them all in a package you would be happy with.”

Let’s face it. Does anyone really want all of those gadgets in one device? My PDA is an MP3 player, but not a very good one. The speaker is so small that my favorite bands sound like they are performing in the bottom of a coffee can. And although the manufacturer claims you can play music while you work, all of the other programs struggle like a mouse in a sticky trap if music actually when playing. And when I have turned the volume up so I can hear some soft ballad, the alarm for my next appointment goes off like an air raid siren in my ear. I love my PDA but it makes as good a music player as my accountant wife would make a bricklayer.

My real complaint with combining these devices is that the battery life would be measured in seconds, not hours. PDAs are like cats. They nap quietly most of the day and wake up only when bothered. The people who make them know that you are far more likely to carry your assistant if it is small. That means they are built around the smallest battery possible, just about one normal working day’s worth of juice. If you ask it to stay awake and play music all day, your PDA is very likely to be forced into torpor before you drive home.

Still I struggle with Kaci’s problem. Is it solvable? With certain compromises, I think it’s possible. Devices do exist that combine the features of a cell-phone, MP3 player, and PDA. They probably will not deliver the battery life or overall convenience she imagines, but it is possible. If she is willing to give up the 40 Gigabyte drive in an iPod, she could have an ok, but not great memory based music player, a good PDA, and a good cell-phone. With one swift turn, I can see myself wriggling out of her word trap. I dream of escape.

She must sense my excitement. For, without a concern in the world, she tosses her hair back and turns to me. “Oh, I forgot, I want it to have Wi-Fi as well.”

SNAP! The trap closes. My vision darkens. I lose hope. She wants that which is not.

-Phil Yanov,
(c) ThinkHammer Communications, (www.ThinkHammer.com) used with permission.
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BI-LO has become the first major retailer to move from a hardware-centric to a software-centric self-checkout platform. ECR Software Corporation (ECRS) today announced that BI-LO Holdings has agreed to license QUICKcheck, ECRS’s Java-based open self-checkout software platform.

As part of BI-LO’s strategic transformation to an efficient, flexible, and responsive regional supermarket operator, the QUICKcheck platform allows BI-LO to recapture and extend their current hardware investment while reducing cost through the elimination of hardware manufacturer reliance. Asset Enterprises, a POS solution provider based in Greenville, SC, and an ECRS Business Partner, designed and implemented the BI-LO solution based on ECRS” QUICKcheck product line.

BI-LO and Asset Enterprises plan to retrofit BI-LO”s entire fleet of Optimal Robotics hardware with the new open software platform. This migration to a next generation self-checkout solution makes BI-LO the first major retailer to install a third party application into a pre-existing, traditional self-checkout environment. QUICKcheck’s unique plug-in software customization capability will allow BI-LO to differentiate and enhance their customers’ experience, and to move quickly in response to changes as market conditions dictate. The QUICKcheck solution will also be installed at Bruno’s, another BI-LO LLC subsidiary.
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Google looks unstoppable. The new Google Maps website is oh, so cool. We used it to point the way to the meeting this week and everyone seemed to like it. I checked it out using my home address and got good results there as well.

Drivers could volunteer to donate their daily driving logs (anonymously) to an online database that would use the driving data to detect new roads and improve the accuracy of existing road pathways. Since my very old GPS still doesn’t know about the new section of I-85 in Spartanburg, I’d be one of the first to benefit. -Phil Yanov
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The board of directors of Hewlett-Packard Company today announced that Carleton S. Fiorina has stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Robert P. Wayman, HP’s chief financial officer, has been named chief executive officer on an interim basis and appointed to the board of directors. Patricia C. Dunn, an HP director since 1998, has been named non-executive chairman of the board, also effective immediately.
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Google has release a new product into the Beta stream… Google Maps. Google maps feature draggable, zoomable maps, with a great looking interface and dropped shadows. It looks so good you wonder how they can do it in a browser.

It has all of the expected features in that you can find a pizza parlor near your house and you can get directions to and from just about anywhere. They have even included a handy “link to this page” feature.

Google maps is avilable to tour at maps.google.com. Why not give it a whirl by looking at the map to today’s GSATC meeting: Map to GSATC Meeting at Crowne Plaza (Roper Mtn / I-385).

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Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Sybari Software Inc., a leading provider of security products that help more than 10,000 businesses worldwide protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam. Microsoft will use this acquisition to further provide its enterprise customers with new solutions to help protect them from malicious software.

“Enterprise customers face a complex set of attacks through their e-mail and collaboration infrastructure,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft. “Through this acquisition, we’re excited to be able to provide customers with a server-level anti-virus solution that delivers advanced file and content-filtering capabilities and the use of multiple scan engines. In this way, customers get choice, high-quality performance and the most up-to-date protection possible.” [More]
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REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 8, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Sybari Software Inc., a leading provider of security products that help more than 10,000 businesses worldwide protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam. Microsoft will use this acquisition to further provide its enterprise customers with new solutions to help protect them from malicious software.

“Enterprise customers face a complex set of attacks through their e-mail and collaboration infrastructure,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft. “Through this acquisition, we’re excited to be able to provide customers with a server-level anti-virus solution that delivers advanced file and content-filtering capabilities and the use of multiple scan engines. In this way, customers get choice, high-quality performance and the most up-to-date protection possible.”

The planned acquisition of Sybari Software will play a key part in Microsoft’s enterprise security strategy, providing anti-virus technologies that shield communications servers and supply customers with multiple-engine protection that can help with increased detection rates of malicious software. In a recent ICSA Labs survey, e-mail attachments were cited as the means of infection in 88 percent of virus incidents in corporate environments, a clear indication that further innovation is required.

“We’ve been able to provide sophisticated, comprehensive protection for millions of mailboxes worldwide, and we’re excited that through the addition of Microsoft’s expertise and contribution, these solutions will be available to even more businesses,” said Robert Wallace, president and CEO of Sybari Software. “We’re proud of the effectiveness of our antigen products in providing protection against malicious software.”

Sybari Software’s products provide an additional layer of messaging defense, helping stop threats before they reach end users. Sybari Software’s security solutions are deeply embedded within the server infrastructure they protect, providing a consistently high level of security while maintaining infrastructure reliability and performance.

In addition, Microsoft’s enterprise customers will see greater value from their security investments because a single Sybari Software product will work with multiple versions of Microsoft® Exchange and Lotus Notes. Therefore, when migrating from one version to the next, or deploying multiple versions long term, a company can see a lower cost of maintenance and support for the comprehensive protections that Sybari Software’s technology can provide. Sybari also provides solutions for Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows® SharePoint Services.

Microsoft’s goal for helping to secure collaborative environments is to enable businesses to foster collaboration among employees and with partners through technology without exposing their networks and assets to attack by malicious code. This acquisition will put Microsoft in a better position to make that happen by focusing on the following areas:

* Layered defenses. It is common practice in business networks to use a set of layered defenses to improve protection against malicious code. Similarly, effective protection of collaborative environments requires layers of defense.
* Integration with infrastructure. The layers must be tightly integrated not only with each other, but with the rest of the infrastructure in the network. Without such integration, a security solution can be unmanageable, have poor performance and let attacks through.
* Protection from the latest threats. Malicious threats evolve quickly. Defenses must be updated often, and be backed by worldwide networks of researchers who will identify and develop protection measures against the latest threats before they have a chance to impact businesses.

Terms of the acquisition were not announced. Sybari will maintain all current operations until regulatory approval.
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Sealevel Systems, Inc. has launched the first internal USB to RS-232 serial adapters, available in both one port and two port models. These devices are intended for mounting directly to a PC’s chassis, eliminating the need for external converters and providing a clean, professional installation. All models are USB bus powered, capable of data rates to 460K bps, and install inside the computer in a spare bracket location. The SeaLINK+232.PC single port serial adapter is available with either a low profile PC bracket or standard PC bracket, while the SeaLINK+2/232.PC two port model ships with a standard PC bracket. Sealevel includes a 14″ cable that connects SeaLINK devices to most motherboard USB box header connectors and uses only one USB port per serial port. Other cable options are available on a custom basis.

Contact Earle Foster at Sealevel, (864)843-4343, or earlef@sealevel.com.

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The Los Angeles city council wants to save millions of dollars each year by switching to open source software. Each savings of $100,000 equals one more policeman on the street. Story at NPR.
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Washington, DC — The Government Performance Project”s (GPP) “Grading the States” gives South Carolina a B grade on a scale of A-F for its management in the categories: Money, People Infrastructure and Information. The report praises South Carolina for its outstanding human resources administration and its competency in financial management but notes that it suffers from a revenue system that deprives infrastructure of much-needed cash.

These conclusions are based on the research released today by the GPP state report, the nation”s only comprehensive, independent analysis of how well each state government is managed. The project is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. South Carolina can be compared to the country”s other 49 states … [Continue]
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