is presently fighting off an incurable lung cancer, think I maybe winning (mesothelioma)
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GCN Home > web stories
01/23/07 -- 02:01 PM
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/42994-1.html
VA, DOD to develop e-health record system
Joint inpatient electronic health record will let doctors share medical data seamlessly
By Mary Mosquera, GCN Staff
The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments will collaborate to develop a joint inpatient electronic health record system for hospitalized active duty military personnel and veterans. The system will let physicians share medical data seamlessly, VA secretary Jim Nicholson said today. VA and DOD currently can exchange only certain data
Initially, VA and DOD will examine their clinical and business processes to lay the groundwork for development of the inpatient electronic health record. Once the departments complete a feasibility study of their requirements, they will announce how they plan to proceed, said William Winkenwerder Jr., DOD assistant secretary for health affairs.
When implemented, the joint record system will be an example for other large health care providers.
“We will, in effect, become the model for other large providers to emulate. [The system] will be able to be synthesized for use in other health systems,” Nicholson said in announcing the project at a meeting of the American Health Information Community, led by Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt.
The integration of the two departments’ systems, committed to migrate to AHIC interoperability standards, constitutes an important step forward for a health care system based on value and putting the patient at the center, Leavitt said.
VA and DOD intended the announcement to be a surprise, Winkenwerder added. “DOD and VA have come to a fork in the road, and we’ve taken it. After years of holding hands, we decided to get married,” he said.
VA has been planning to modernize the platform for its Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture program (VistA) electronic health record. DOD has updated its outpatient electronic health record, the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and has early efforts toward an inpatient record, according to Winkenwerder.
“Our vision is an end-to-end inpatient system, particularly for the seriously wounded, that will be the same system that carries information back to VA,” he said.
A recent study by Harvard Medical School concluded that federal hospitals provide the best care available anywhere for some of the most common life-threatening illnesses.
VA and DOD operate a large percentage of federal hospitals.
More pretenders to the throne! eom
http://www.fujitsu.com/us/news/pr/fcpa_20070108-02.html
Fujitsu and Softex Combine Biometric and Password Management Security Into One Powerful Solution
PalmSecure™ and OmniPass™ Technology Protect Identities and Information
Sunnyvale, CA, January 8, 2007 — Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., one of the world’s leading suppliers of innovative computer products including hard disk drives, peripherals and biometric security solutions, and Softex Incorporated, a market leader in biometric/smart card enabled security software, today announced that the solution combining the Fujitsu PalmSecure biometric authentication device and Softex’s OmniPass Client and Enterprise Edition security software is now ready for the market. The collaboration between the two companies, which was first announced in September, will provide a powerful combination of biometric authentication tools for login security, access management and data protection for both client and server environments.
"Working together with Softex allows Fujitsu to provide both a unique biometric technology in PalmSecure and an identity management platform that allows Single Sign-On capabilities for a wide range of applications," said Joel Hagberg, vice president, marketing and business development, Fujitsu Computer Products of America. "With OmniPass, the adoption of our PalmSecure sensor is expected to grow beyond our already successful international deployments to banks, universities, hospitals and private residences, and will continue to be valued as a key component in the healthcare, government, and financial industries where strict regulations demand the latest in data protection and authentication."
The Fujitsu PalmSecure authentication device provides a highly reliable, non-invasive and easy to use biometric authentication mechanism that can be easily integrated into a user’s login security and access management environment. The PalmSecure sensor captures an image of the vein pattern inside a user’s palm, and generates a unique template for identity matching. When integrated with Softex OmniPass Client and Enterprise Edition security software, both individuals and enterprise customers can deploy a highly secure biometric login system with extended Single Sign-On capabilities that can be easily incorporated into an existing Windows®-based infrastructure.
"For a variety of high security applications, the PalmSecure device is the perfect method of making certain the user’s identity is accurate," said Gregg S. Philipson, vice president, sales, Softex Incorporated. "We are pleased to team with Fujitsu, allowing us to offer security solutions to meet the expanding needs of our enterprise and consumer customers."
This combined solution will be available for purchase through Fujitsu authorized distribution partners Avnet Technology Solutions and Bell Microproducts Inc. in January 2007.
The OmniPass Client Edition is designed to reduce the cost and complexity of managing multiple passwords and implements an authentication framework used to enable and secure verification of a user’s identity. Client Edition is a personal computer (PC) client application that can be used by consumers to securely login to websites and applications, as well as protect data on their system. To protect files and folders, the solution offers strong encryption to secure access to e-mail, VPN and digital certificates.
OmniPass Client Edition Key Features:
Secure Single Sign-On and enterprise class password management including support for Microsoft Internet Explorer® (including IE7) and Mozilla® (Firefox®)
Password manager supports Windows-based enterprise level applications including Oracle®, SAP®, web portals, and other applications
Reliable and simplified biometric authentication with the Fujitsu PalmSecure sensor
File, folder and file sharing encryption
Simple installation process and an easy to use user interface
The OmniPass Enterprise Edition security application is a server based back-end solution offering enterprise wide identity and password management, as well as data protection that can be easily deployed and managed by the IT department staff. When the OmniPass Enterprise Edition application is combined with the Fujitsu PalmSecure sensor, the result is a strong authentication and identity management system that can easily be integrated into the existing enterprise infrastructure.
OmniPass Enterprise Edition Key Features:
Standard Microsoft Management Console (MMC) for managing user accounts and settings
Choice of centralized or remote enrollment of biometric templates using the Fujitsu PalmSecure device
Support for multi-devices and multi-factor authentication including other biometric devices, smart cards, TPM chips and other hardware tokens
Encrypted file sharing in the enterprise
Integrated License Management
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Softex Incorporated
Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Softex has become a leading provider of computer security products and services. Softex serves many of the top tier OEM companies, such as Lenovo International, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Fujitsu, Motion Computing, Tatung, NEC-Packard Bell and Samsung, as well as many hardware vendors such as American Power Conversion, Targus and Fellowes. Softex is also a "Trusted Partner" of Phoenix Technologies for BIOS related software development and licensing.
For more information, please see: www.softexinc.com
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting device technologies, highly reliable computing and communications products, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of about 4.8 trillion yen (US$40.6 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006.
For more information, please see: http://www.fujitsu.com
About Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc.
Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. conducts engineering and marketing activities in Sunnyvale, CA and sales operations throughout the United States. Fujitsu Computer Products of America currently offers products and services including hard disk drives, scanners and scanner maintenance, Magneto-Optical drives, palm vein recognition technology, 10Gb Ethernet switches and degaussers. Fujitsu Computer Products of America is located at 1255 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085. For more information about Fujitsu products and services, call us at 800-626-4686 or 408-746-7000.
For more information, please see: http://us.fujitsu.com/fcpa
eamonnshute! - Not OT I would think - more like earth-mind boggling news to interest not just the chipmakers but us all, Good old Cambridge - another notch! - this one is about to change many dramatic laws of physics, and without doubt a little tricky to visulise - it could be reactive home furnishings or perhaps, who knows spherical tv's that you can also knock around as a football, or looking forward even plastic credit card sized pc's (including a Wave tpm of course)that you simply slot into provided public mainframes.
Dizzying thoughts
The future beckons!
;?)
Half of American Business PCs Can't Run Vista
12.06.06
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2069079,00.asp
By Peter Galli
About half of the average business PCs in North America are unable to meet the minimum requirements for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, while 94 percent do not meet the system requirements for Vista Premium.
Within these figures, 41 percent and 78 percent, respectively, require RAM upgrades to meet the minimum and premium system requirements of Vista, says a new study by Softchoice Research, which is expected to be released later this week.
In comparison, when Windows XP was released, some 71 percent of the PCs met its system requirements, Softchoice services consultant Dean Williams said in an executive summary of the report.
"At the time of release 71 percent of the PCs met the system requirements for Windows XP, whereas only 50 percent of the PCs included in this study meet the minimum requirements to run Windows Vista. This difference suggests that jump in system requirements to run Vista presents a significant barrier to adoption," he said.
About half of the average business PCs in North America are unable to meet the minimum requirements for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, while 94 percent do not meet the system requirements for Vista Premium.
Within these figures, 41 percent and 78 percent, respectively, require RAM upgrades to meet the minimum and premium system requirements of Vista, says a new study by Softchoice Corp., which is expected to be released later this week.
In comparison, when Windows XP was released, some 71 percent of the PCs met its system requirements, Softchoice services consultant Dean Williams said in an executive summary of the report.
"At the time of release 71 percent of the PCs met the system requirements for Windows XP, whereas only 50 percent of the PCs included in this study meet the minimum requirements to run Windows Vista. This difference suggests that jump in system requirements to run Vista presents a significant barrier to adoption," he said.
The inventory data used in the study represents a total of 112,113 desktops from 472 North American organizations in the financial, health care, technology, education and manufacturing sectors.
Twelve percent of the PCs surveyed will require CPU replacements to run Vista in its minimum configuration, while 16 percent will require CPU replacements to run Vista in its premium configuration, William said.
Vista's minimum CPU requirements have increased 243 percent from those of Windows XP, which in turn had a much smaller increase of 75 percent from Windows 2000's CPU requirements.
PointerRead what other research groups are saying about Vista.
"Ultimately, the rate at which the average business CPU's MHz rating is increasing has not kept pace with Vista: The CPU requirements for Vista have increased 243 percent from those of Windows XP, whereas the speed of the average business PC's CPU has only increased by 215 percent over roughly the same time period," Williams said.
Williams attributes the poor state of hardware readiness among North American companies to the sharp increase in the hardware resources required to run Vista; the fact that many organizations are maintaining longer hardware refresh cycles where they support PCs for more than five years; and a lack of easy access to the PC inventory information needed to implement an effective life cycle management process.
"Most organizations planning to deploy Vista within the next two years will have a PC life cycle that is affected by these factors, which, taken together, present a significant operational and financial stumbling block if not planned for well ahead of time," he said.
Preliminary user surveys suggest that 27 percent of organizations are planning to wait one to two years before undertaking a Vista rollout, with some 33 percent planning to wait between six months and one year.
"While these findings suggest that many organizations are considering a longer-term deployment schedule, the hardware purchasing decisions made today will undoubtedly impact the viability of a Vista rollout in the coming years," Williams said.
Microsoft estimates that 20 percent of PCs will be running Vista within the first year of its release, double the rate at which XP was adopted in the first year it was made available to the market, he said.
Microsoft has said it expects 10 times more seats of Vista to be deployed at launch, with deployment within the first year being twice as fast as that for any other version.
But Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who headlined the business launch of Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 at an event at the NASDAQ stock exchange late last week, is upbeat about the products and said customers will buy them.
In an interview with eWEEK after the event, Ballmer acknowledged that most people will upgrade when they replace their hardware, but he also predicted that some will accelerate their hardware upgrade cycle.
lifejacket84 - Newbie clickstar is pretty much the same as all the other wouldbe contenders, merely running off a 640 x 360 res' windows media player, (you need to press your nose to the screen) whereas WXPress gives out full video quality res'. eom/
HHS call for e-health records answered
By Mary Mosquera, GCN Staff
Responding to the Health and Human Services Department’s call for employers to promote health IT, several large companies announced today that they are collaborating to develop Web-based employee personal health records. They expect the records to become available next year.
Applied Materials Inc., BP America Inc., Intel Corp., Pitney Bowes Inc. and Wal-Mart are funding a nonprofit institute to develop Dossia, a Web-based framework through which U.S. employees, dependents and retirees can maintain lifelong personal health records. Together, the companies will provide this benefit to more than 2.5 million individuals.
The use of health IT based on recognized standards leads to better health care for patients at lower cost and with less hassle, said HHS secretary Mike Leavitt.
"The leadership of these companies in offering personal health records is encouraging, and I hope more employers will make similar commitments soon,” he said today in a statement.
“People will be able to more conveniently monitor their health, assure that they have appropriate health screening tests, take care of existing health conditions, and share their health information with health professionals to enhance the quality and consistency of health care they receive," said Julie Gerberding, director of HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Individuals will be able to maintain comprehensive and up-to-date health histories of themselves and their families, said J.D. Kleinke, CEO of the Omnimedix Institute, the nonprofit group in Portland, Ore., that is developing the system.
Dossia gathers health information on behalf of the individual from various sources and stores it within secured databases. Dossia's open architecture will support multiple personal health applications, which lets users organize and summarize their information in ways that are most useful to them.
Health records will be secure and private, accessible only by the individual or by others to whom they have granted permission. Records also will be portable, so individuals can use the records even if they change employers, health plans or doctors.
The Patient Privacy Rights Foundation in Austin, Texas, however, denounced the plan to store their employees’ records in a centralized data warehouse linking hospitals, doctors and pharmacies.
“This is a prescription for disaster. Will these companies guarantee that employees’ personal health information will never be used against them or disclosed without informed consent?” said Deborah Peel, founder and chairwoman of Patient Privacy Rights. . Wal-Mart Stores plans to apply market pressure and incentives to get hospitals and doctors on board and will insist that health care providers adopt electronic records and prescribing as a condition of future business, she said. . “Electronic health records are essentially a good idea. But American health consumers have said repeatedly that they do not want their employers or their insurers to have access to their records,” Peel said.
She recommended that a neutral third party, such as a health banking repository, should house patient data. Employees should control access to their own data.
Dossia is based on the Connecting for Health Common Framework, a set of design and policy standards established by a collaboration of consumer, physician, insurance, IT and privacy groups. The Markle and Robert Wood Johnson foundations fund Connecting for Health.
Partners G&D certainly moving EHR forwards apace.eom/
Giesecke & Devrient Receives Electronic Health Card Certification for Trial Regions
Munich/Berlin, December 5, 2006 – Ever since last December, the laboratories of Gematik, the company founded by the German government to establish and administer the infrastructure of the nation's forthcoming electronic health care insurance cards, have been testing the smart cards of various manufacturers to assess their functionality and compliance with specifications. Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has become one of the first smart card manufacturers to pass the tests and be given the green light to issue its health care smart cards in the designated test regions.
The electronic health care card is the driving force behind the modernization of the German health system. It will interconnect 80 million patients, 130,000 physicians in private practice, 55,000 dentists, over 2,000 hospitals, 21,000 pharmacies, and over 300 health insurance companies. The e-health care cards play a key role in the complex interaction of the various centralized and decentralized components of the overall telematics infrastructure.
The electronic health care card developed by G&D was tested by Gematik to ensure its compliance with the designated specs in addition to its functionality and interoperability. For example, the card must enable doctors to store electronic prescriptions and patients to get them filled at a pharmacy with no trouble at all.
Another condition for the limited certification was that the cards had to fulfill the corresponding requirements laid down by Germany's Federal Office for Security in Information Technology.
As a leading manufacturer of smart card solutions, G&D was actively involved in developing the standards for the electronic health insurance cards from the outset. “Our work with Gematik was very constructive throughout every phase of the project. We are pleased that G&D has become one of the first companies authorized to issue health care smart cards in the test regions. Beginning rollout of the cards as early as this December will mark the gradual implementation of our card-based health care system,” explains Hans Wolfgang Kunz, group executive for Giesecke & Devrient’s Government Solutions business unit.
About Giesecke & Devrient:
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a technology leader in the field of smart cards, providing smart card based solutions for telecommunications, electronic payment, health care, ID, transportation, and IT security (PKI). G&D is also a leading producer of banknotes and security documents and is dominant in the field of currency automation. Based in Munich, Germany, the G&D group has subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. In fiscal 2005, the Group employed some 7,500 people and generated revenue of €1.24 billion. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.gi-de.com.
Contact:
Andrea Bockholt
Press Manager/Corporate Communications
Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Prinzregentenstr. 159, D-81677 Munich Tel. +49 (0) 89 4119-2422, Fax +49 (0) 89 4119-2020, Mobile: +49 (0)160-3 64 02 54 mailto:andrea.bockholt@gi-de.com http://www.gi-de.com
Market hovering in expectant mode!! eom
Just thro' 3.52 - another threshold.eom
Well somebody loves us 3.32 @ 358k. eom/
1260! - Market open at 2.75 traded 70k looking promising! eom
2.70 @ 150k solid support thro' the day. eom
Good support at 2.50 eom
85K @ 2.25 Be madness for these wavx surges not to happen in these bouyant world markets.eom/
Microsoft claims Vista's adoption will be twice as quick as XP's
By John Sherwin: Monday 09 October 2006, 12:05
MICROSOFT has high hopes for it's up-and-coming Vista operating system and is expecting business customers to adopt it twice as fast as any previous release of Windows.
It says ten times as many business desktops will be deployed at release compared to any previous Windows version.
We’d put this down as more than a tad optimistic. Nevertheless, Brad Goldberg, general manager of the Windows Client Business Group at Microsoft remains buoyant, claiming the company "has made a concerted effort to give customers the tools and training they need to adopt Vista across their businesses".
He went on to say that the Vole had "put test versions of the OS into as many people’s hands as possible, with at least five million users having access to Vista RC1".
Microsoft’s expectations seem at odds with a survey taken in August by Computerworld US, which found that just 17 per cent of IT professionals are considering rolling out Windows Vista in the first year. Forty-one per cent have no plans to roll out Vista, and 35 per cent will begin testing Vista only after it ships.
Mmmmm! - movement a door opening somewhere? - 2.10 @ 100k eom
Havn't seen this before!
Dell and Symantec team up on email security solution
Frank Washkuch Jr. 20 Sep 2006 19:36
Anti-malware giant Symantec and PC maker Dell announced today they are teaming up to provide a new email solution known as Secure Exchange.
Billed as simple to deploy and manage with extensive archiving capabilities to meet compliance requirements and controls to combat internal and external threats, the solution contains software, hardware and services from the two vendors.
The product, to be supported and sold for about $55,000 by Dell, is comprised of the computer manufacturer's PowerEdge servers and PowerVault storage and Symantec's Mail Security 8200 Series, Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange and Enterprise Vault products.
Dell is taking the lead role because it has overseen the migration of about four million Exchange and Active Directory mailboxes.
"Dell has a long history of helping customers with Exchange," Brad Anderson, senior vice president of the company's Enterprise Product Group, said today on a conference call announcing Secure Exchange. "This has led to a rich set of experiences on how to provide better solutions. What we have done is taken those lessons - all those experiences - and put them together."
Jeremy Burton, group manager of the Enterprise Security and Data Management Group at Symantec, said the solution provides security, as well as the ability to retain important business records that quickly can be produced for an auditor or judge.
"We believe email is the next mission-critical application," he said. "That holds your precious data. Everybody uses email."
Burton said studies show that 79 percent of companies accept email as a form of business transactions and, perhaps more alarmingly, three-quarters of companies' intellectual property is contained in emails at one time.
Click here to email Dan Kaplan.
First rate presentation Steven! - Must have touched a few nerve endings there, with upto the minute facts IMHO great job!.eom
Northrop Grumman Wins $500 Million New York City Broadband Mobile Wireless Contract
McLEAN, Va., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New York City's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) a five-year $500 million contract to provide the city's broadband public-safety wireless network, the most comprehensive network of its kind.
Ahem! - are we talking ticking clocks here? - from yesterdays release
"For the power user of integrated VoIP telephony, we plan to make accessing landline phones, or making calls to another PC more seamless and secure," said Paul Arena, Chairman and CEO of i2Telecom.",
This effort will enhance the city's existing mobile wireless communications network with high-speed data and video capabilities, and deploy several new, advanced wireless applications to support first responders and transportation personnel.
"Our team has more than 50 years of experience designing, integrating, and operating some of the world's most complex and secure communications systems," said James O'Neill, president of Northrop Grumman's Information Technology sector. "We have leveraged significant experience and capabilities developed by our public safety and intelligence businesses to provide the best solution for New York City. Cities like New York are now looking to partner with knowledgeable systems integrators to help them with their most demanding communications challenges."
"Northrop Grumman's solution will provide our emergency responders with quick access to critical information in the field, enabling them to be better prepared to protect our city and its residents," said Commissioner of the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Paul Cosgrave. "This decision comes at the end of a lengthy evaluation, including a pilot implementation in lower Manhattan during which equipment was tested and evaluated."
Northrop Grumman's New York City solution uses standards-based mobile broadband wireless technology, known as the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, provided by IPWireless of San Bruno, Calif. This technology delivers broadband mobility, high capacity, reliability, and scalability -- all suited to meet the real-time, fail-safe requirements of the program.
"For New York City, we have specifically designed and engineered a robust, secure, broadband mobile wireless communications solution that significantly streamlines and improves both emergency and normal daily operations," said Paul Chelson, Northrop Grumman wireless program manager. "This solution will provide critical information for emergency responders who protect and serve the residents of New York City."
Northrop Grumman has developed interoperability solutions and integrated security capabilities to meet the full range of first responder and public safety wireless communications requirements. Working with a team of primary communication technology providers, communication installers, and experienced radio-frequency system designers, the company is deploying secure broadband mobile wireless capabilities to city, state, and federal customers. Northrop Grumman is also involved in a variety of public safety solutions at the state and local level.
The Northrop Grumman team has an in-depth understanding of public safety requirements and has successfully installed many metropolitan wireless systems, automated vehicle location systems for first responders and traffic management systems for highways and city streets.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With more than 120,000 employees, and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation
-0- 09/12/2006
Redbeard! - Much practical sense given - another hard blow for the longs, we'll surely miss you RIP. eom
Sooooo! - WAVX Last: 1.99 Change: +0.065(+3.39%) Volume: 23.17 k Last Trade: 12:57
Could be a wavx normalisation in sight - s'pose holidaytime taking precedence. eom
internet! - Not sure the rest of the trading world is totally fired up to wavxd at present, certainly traction hasn't occured today in any real sense as yet, as both my UK accounts here can't even give an online quote at present, so next weeks trading may provide a truer market perspective. eom
Well Barge!
Your a tonic! - Ka-boom or not, an excellent straight from the heart wellcrafted post, pretty much says it as it is - and certainly encapsulates our wavoidism mantra, the reason we're (the longs) are still here, and not forgetting our fallen comrades that are'nt....
Keep telling it as you see it, this journey still has a way to go, we need yours and likeminded posters valuable imput.
Regards Boom
Lots of goodies flowing through that CC, sure will need to hopefully see Unclevers backup copy. eom
For the first six months of 2006, Wave's net revenues rose to $1.4 million, compared to net revenues of $335,000 in the year-ago six month period.
Contactless Payments (7/24/2006)
http://www.cardweb.com/cardtrak/news/2006/july/24a.html
New research has found that more than 100 million Americans would use contactless cards to pay for small ticket everyday items. The survey by Ipsos Insight and Peppercoin reveals that more than 50% of respondents would use contactless cards to buy gasoline, items from fast food restaurants or corporate cafeterias, or groceries. More than 40% would use contactless cards to pay for convenience store items and transit fares and nearly 40% would use contactless cards to buy coffee or pay for parking. The poll also determined that high income consumers ($50K+) are more likely to use contactless cards. Additionally, depending on the specific market, between 13% and 22% of respondents indicated security concerns would keep them from using contactless cards.
1.45 eom
Excellent news! - dominoes anyone?. eom
Who is Trust Company of America?
A truly independent service provider, Trust Company of America specializes in supplying high quality back office services to the financial services industry.
Utilizing advanced technology and responsive client support, we develop effective software, tools, and processes for industry professionals ranging from independent investment advisors to direct participation program sponsors, as well as 401(k) plan sponsors and IRA account holders, among others.
Our solutions encompass the entire financial spectrum, from processing deposits through trade processing and generating quarterly statements. Our expertise extends from the large and transparent stock, bond, and mutual fund markets into the non-traditional areas of real property, limited partnerships, non-traded real estate investment trusts, and other direct participation programs.
Our commitment to client satisfaction is evident in our willingness to customize any service, product, or offering to meet the specific needs of each unique client.
Established in 1972 as an investment asset custodian, Trust Company has a solid history of assuring a safe and secure environment for investors. We also derive great satisfaction from providing our clients with comprehensive service offerings, backed by a commitment to high-touch support
Jaybeaux! - Yes Giesecke & Devrient amongst our many other partners are continuing to forge bonds ahead of the field, as this latest release shows. eom/
Giesecke & Devrient and Nokia to provide secure application management services for NFC enabled mobile devices
New global joint venture to allow mobile operators, transport operators, retailers, banks, credit card companies, and providers of digital services and media worldwide to offer their services and applications to consumers’ Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled mobile devices
Munich/Helsinki, June 27, 2006 – Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), the world’s second largest producer of smart cards, and Nokia, a world leader in mobile communications, today announced an agreement with intent to form a joint venture. Giesecke & Devrient will own 57 and Nokia 43 percent of the new company. The joint venture will provide services to the NFC ecosystem by enabling consumer applications, such as credit cards or transport tickets, to be securely and easily downloaded over-the-air to NFC enabled mobile devices. Over-the-air management of the consumer applications is a critical part for the emerging NFC ecosystem, and the joint venture will work closely together with other stakeholders when bringing these services to the market. The joint venture is expected to commence operations in the fourth quarter 2006.
"With the new platform and the services running on it, we are combining two technologies of the future – cellular phones and secure, contactless smart card technology," said Dr. Karsten Ottenberg, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of G&D. "Giesecke & Devrient believes that the secure chip management platform offers vast potential for new global markets. And we enjoy a solid first mover advantage."
"NFC holds great promise for new and intuitive mobile services for consumers. Nokia is committed to bring open solutions to the market enabling the NFC ecosystem creation," said Dieter May, Vice President and Head of Nokia Ventures Organization. “The new company will play an important role, as its services will be available to all stakeholders looking to introduce NFC enabled mobile services to their customers in an easy-to-use and secure way.”
OTA Platform
The joint venture will implement and operate a secure and versatile service platform to manage the over-the-air transactions with consumers’ NFC enabled devices. The service platform will be operated in a white-label mode with in-built interfaces to the IT systems of the actual service providers, such as banks issuing credit cards. The over-the-air services will be offered to all parties in the NFC ecosystem, where mobile operators and other service providers are exploring the opportunities to cooperate in launching new services to consumers.
Open to all ecosystem stakeholders
The new company’s services will be available and open to any NFC enabled devices from all vendors. Company’s global scale, neutrality and openness are corner stones for cost efficient services benefiting all stakeholders in the NFC ecosystem. The company service offering will also help to harmonize how the applications are provisioned to consumers, thus preventing the fragmentation of the related NFC services.
Consumer experience
Once an application, for example a credit card, has been securely provisioned to the NFC enabled phone, customers can pay by simply waving their phone at a point-of-sale reader. This convenient, fast transaction comes courtesy of the phone's built-in NFC technology. It imbues mobile phones with the functionality found in standard contactless smart cards that are used worldwide in credit cards and tickets for public transit systems. In addition to being compatible with existing contactless card acceptance infrastructure, an NFC enabled phone provides other benefits to consumers, such as capability to view transactions and data on the phone display and to buy tickets directly to the phone anywhere anytime. An NFC phone can also be used to access services by simply touching with the phone a service poster embedded with an RFID chip.
NFC leadership
Nokia, a founder member of the NFC Forum, has been actively involved in the NFC ecosystem development and related first projects for three years, and G&D is one of the first companies in the world to provide over-the-air application management solutions for NFC enabled devices. The new company will be well positioned to provide its services to the market, leveraging both Nokia's expertise as the global market leader in mobile phones and G&D's extensive experience in smart card based solutions and services.
Press information
Giesecke & Devrient and Nokia will host two Press conference calls today, Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 1.00pm and 7.00pm Central European Summer Time to discuss this announcement. The first conference call is mainly targeted to European and APAC audience, and the second to Americas. Conference call
number: +358 7180 71870, Conference ID: 34071, PIN-code: 142004.
About Giesecke & Devrient:
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), based in Munich, Germany, is an international technology group operating subsidiaries and joint ventures throughout the world. Founded in Leipzig in 1852, G&D began as a printer of securities, and later specialized in banknote production. The company has been developing solutions and complete systems for automatic currency processing since 1970. Today, G&D is also a technology leader in smart cards, and a solutions provider in a wide range of fields, including telecommunications, electronic payments, identification, health, transportation, and IT security (PKI). In fiscal 2005, the Group employed more than 7,500 people and generated a revenue of €1.24 billion. For more information, visit our Web site at www.gi-de.com.
For what its worth!!
I think the company has to have my backing on this, OK whitewash scenarios or whatever and I know its a thin line we're treading - but we've come this far, and solidarity amongst ourselves is the word here. IMVHO. eom/
Test Drive: Vista makes new strides
Beta 2 boosts its look and performance, but be prepared to upgrade hardware
By John Breeden II, GCN Staff
Last month, Microsoft Corp. officially released the second beta version of its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system. It’s built to be a more polished preview of the OS that will ship for enterprises late this year, and for consumers early next year. There is still work to be done, a fact even Microsoft admits [see GCN Insider, Page 33]. But based on reviews in the GCN Lab, Vista is a compelling product that agencies will want to start evaluating sooner rather than later. Whereas the first beta of Microsoft Windows Vista was more or less a proof of concept [GCN.com, Quickfind 586], the second beta is loaded with features that feel more like a finished product. Microsoft has made significant improvements in two main areas: usability and security.
The overall user interface is a leap ahead of Windows XP. At a recent meeting with GCN, Microsoft officials said one of its development goals with Vista was to “eliminate the bottleneck between the user and his data.” In other words, the more transparent the OS, the better the user experience. Vista pretty well achieves this level of transparency, although its level of flair depends on which of four modes you run it in.
In Windows Classic mode, the screen and menus look pretty much like they did in Windows 2000. If you want to drill down through several menu layers to find the right tool, feel free. There is also a Basic interface, which looks like Classic mode but features easier menus. These two modes are here solely to ease the transition to Vista.
The Standard mode employs Vista’s new Windows Driver Display Model graphics technology, which means windows open quickly and programs generally run smoothly. For example, we opened a large folder of images and the thumbnails displayed almost instantly—a huge improvement over XP running on the same system.
But the way most people will want to experience Vista is through the new Aero interface. Aero is about the best way we’ve seen to manage and display information. A bit of warning, though: The Aero interface is resource-intensive. Your experience will depend on your hardware. Running Vista and Aero on a 1.7-GHz laptop with 512MB of RAM, for instance, the system tended to bog down, a problem we didn’t have running similar programs with XP.
Microsoft is recommending Aero users look for what they’re calling a “Vista Premium Ready PC,” which includes a CPU of at least 1 GHz, 1GB of RAM and an Aero-friendly graphics processor with 128MB of its own memory. We’d say that for Aero, these are definitely minimum requirements.
On a “premium” PC, Aero is a much-improved way to work. Unless you’re overtaxing the processor, thumbnails are everywhere you need them to be. Hovering the mouse over minimized applications will display small high-resolution thumbnails showing exactly what the information looks like. And the thumbnails are live. While burning a CD in a minimized window, we were able to hover over the app in the task bar and see how far it had progressed. This capability works even for minimized videos.
Building on the live thumbnail concept, if you press the Windows and Tab keys, Vista will put all your running applications into a scrollable 3-D view. As you scroll your mouse, the 3-D windows cascade down the screen like a waterfall—just click on the one you want. With 10 windows open, this worked extremely smoothly in the GCN Lab.
Vista definitely makes it easier to find the tools you need, but it also does the same for data. You no longer need one folder for your business presentations and one for your personal records, for example. Vista can help store your data however you want, no matter how your brain works.
Many ways to tag documents
The OS will reference documents based on file type, name and even terms within the documents. Office 2007 programs (also now in beta 2) will let users add metadata describing each document they create. With our beta version of Vista, we could do this tagging by hand.
From there, users can almost live in the Vista search pane, which can be found almost everywhere in the OS. Start typing in the information you’re looking for, not just the file name, and Vista does a good job of finding it. You can also sift through documents by metadata. For example, once you’ve rounded up a bunch of documents using the search tool, you can then use drop-down menus to display according to certain fields, such as author.
For searches you tend to perform over and over, Vista has upscaled XP’s Saved Searches to something called Search Folders (previously known as Virtual Folders). These XML-based folders look like regular data folders, but when you click on them, they launch a saved search and bring back the most up-to-date information.
Next-generation security
Vista beta 2 security is good—and largely unintrusive. From a user’s standpoint, it mostly requires prompts at the right times. For example, when you first connect your computer to a network, the system asks if it’s a public or a private network and explains why it’s important you answer correctly.
A public network might be one you use at work (not exactly what a network admin might call public) or connect to while traveling. A private network would be one you have at home where, for example, you don’t mind if family members share files or resources. The labels are a bit confusing but the OS gives clear examples of what it means by public and private. Once you answer, appropriate security settings are automatically configured. This one-button security configuration can be changed later from within the control panel, or you can search for “network security” from Vista’s search tool.
One of Vista’s most-talked-about security features is User Account Control, which offers fine-grained tools for managing security on user desktops. For example, admins can set a minimum security standard that must be met before a system is allowed to connect to a network. They can also control how Vista systems handle key drives from the group policy settings.
What Microsoft said it still needs to fine-tune in UAC—and we agree—is the end-user experience. When a new program needs to run, even if the user did not specifically launch it, the screen will darken and a window will pop up identifying the program and what it’s trying to do. You could say you don’t recognize that program and not allow it to run, or let it continue, which gives it a green flag in the future. If the application’s behavior changes in any way, such as trying to send data over the Internet, UAC will prompt you again.
Frankly, and Microsoft acknowledges this, UAC is currently too quick to pop up a security alert. You can train it over time, but before Vista ships, it will have to discern the difference between a potentially harmful user action and a routine, user-initiated task.
Vista allows more control over security than ever and, for the most part, the features are powerful. Remote administrators have basic access to programs but can elevate their security status and downgrade normal users as necessary. Moreover, every change to the OS made either by users or administrators is logged in great detail. This should go a long way toward audit compliance for government organizations and will really speed up the work of auditors trying to figure out who changed a system and when a change took place.
More to explore
Microsoft says millions of users will be able to test drive Vista beta 2 in the coming months. It’s definitely worth spending time with, because there are a slew of other new features.
For example, Microsoft put Vista’s accessibility tools (magnifier, speech recognition, etc.) in a central location called the Ease of Access Center. It’s a powerful addition for agencies striving to adhere to Section 508 accessibility requirements. We were especially impressed with the improved Narrator function, which reads menu items in a pleasing, natural voice.
The BitLocker Drive Encryption utility is also ready to roll in beta 2 (and is one of those programs that generates a UAC alert), but keep in mind it will only be available in Vista Ultimate and Enterprise Editions.
The OS intuitively walks you through preparing a drive to be encrypted. It needs at least two partitions, both formatted in NTFS. You then turn on BitLocker and a wizard helps you set up your drive encryption. BitLocker can also work with the Trusted Platform Module 1.2 on many of today’s PCs as an added measure of security. For non-TPM systems, BitLocker can run in a mode that requires a security key on a USB key drive in order to boot.
Bottom line: Vista beta 2 shows great promise. Predictably, it’s not yet ready for prime time, but in all the time we ran it, the OS was stable, secure and responsive. System requirements are an issue. Agencies will have to look hard at whether they want to time a PC refresh with the Vista release, or perhaps scale back some of Vista’s whiz-bang features to get the added security in place right away.
Is Vista worth the upgrade, especially now that XP has evolved into a more secure, stable OS platform? Based on our first look, we think so.
GCN chief technology editor Brad Grimes contributed to this review.
Oh thanks Awk! - nevertheless its certainly an encouraging position to for them to take now, whilst remembering that the health authorities lot, have never been big in taking the high road, simply preferring to adopt the perceived safe and tested. eom
Nice find BerthaB - First time I've personally seen a medical profession acknowledgement of trusted computing wherewithall, especially now at this time, that we and HIPAA have lost Dr David Brailer. eom/
The current strategy is to have members invite doctors into this and pay for their certificates. It also requires a hardware device, too, to hold the certificate — a USB token or smart card. We believe that the Trusted Computing Group’s Trusted Platform Module might also lend itself to this hardware model.
OT......... One Fast Lady eom
Wave to Present at AeA Micro Cap Financial Conference Tuesday, May 9th in Monterey, CA
Last Update: 3:00 PM ET May 4, 2006
LEE, Mass., May 04, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Wave Systems Corp. (WAVXWave Systems Corp Cl A
WAVX ) , a developer of trusted computing solutions and services, announced today that its President and CEO, Steven Sprague, will present at the AeA Micro Cap Financial Conference on Tuesday, May 9th at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, in Monterey, California. Mr. Sprague will make a brief corporate overview presentation during the morning's general session and will then review, in more detail, Wave's business, market and products and respond to questions in six small-group breakout sessions throughout the afternoon.
Wave's Embassy(R) Trust Suite software is designed to deliver solutions compliant with the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) ( www.trustedcomputingroup.org) specifications for trusted computing. Millions of PCs have been shipped by the computer industry embedded with a TCG-standard chip, called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). TPMs serve as a platform for secure services and applications offered by companies such as Wave. Wave has designed its trusted computing applications to work with all TCG-compliant TPMs commercially available.
About Wave Systems
Consumers and businesses are demanding a computing environment that is more trusted, private, safe and secure. Wave is a leader in delivering trusted computing applications and services with advanced products, infrastructure and solutions across multiple trusted platforms from a variety of vendors. Wave holds a portfolio of significant fundamental patents in security and e-commerce applications and employs some of the world's leading security systems architects and engineers. For more information about Wave, visit http://www.wave.com.
SOURCE: Wave Systems Corp.
Wave Systems Corp.
Gerard T. Feeney, CFO, 413/243-1600
info@wavesys.com
or
Jaffoni & Collins
David Collins, 212/835-8500
wavx@jcir.com
SecurityStockWatch.com - mench'for Wave Systems.eom/
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BF5313017%2D448D%2D448A%2D813D%2DD22E34864B2...
Investment Guide to Security Stocks(C) Now Available At SecurityStockWatch.com
RYE BROOK, N.Y., May 03, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The May 2006 Investment Guide To 350+ Security Stocks(C) is now available at SecurityStockWatch.com. "The War on Terror rages on and we face a variety of threats today in every phase of our daily lives, bioterrorism, suicide bombers, cyber attacks, identity theft, even dangers to our air, water and food chain. Spending for security is on the rise worldwide by Governments, commercial enterprises, and individuals, and the companies covered in our May 2006 report are the beneficiaries of much of this spending," said Deborah Gilbert, President of SecurityStockWatch.com .
For complete details about the Investment Guide To 350+ Security Stocks please see:
http://www.securitystockwatch.com/investmentGuide.html
Wave to Host Q1 Conference Call/Webcast Wednesday, May 10th, at LEE, Mass., May 03, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Wave Systems Corp. (WAVX : Wave Systems Corp Cl A
4:15am 05/03/2006
WAVX0.82, +0.02, +2.5%) announced today that on Wednesday, May 10th, at 4:30 P.M. EDT it will host a webcast/conference call reviewing recent corporate and industry progress as well as Wave's results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006. Wave's results will be issued after the market's close that day.
WEBCAST/REPLAY: available at http://www.wave.com and archived for 30 days.
TELEPHONE: via 212-346-6501 or 415-247-8511. Please call five minutes in advance.
About Wave Systems
Consumers and businesses are demanding a computing environment that is more trusted, private, safe and secure. Wave is a leader in delivering trusted computing applications and services with advanced products, infrastructure and solutions across multiple trusted platforms from a variety of vendors. Wave has developed a portfolio of security and e-commerce applications and employs some of the world's leading security systems architects and engineers. For more information about Wave, visit http://www.wave.com.
SOURCE: Wave Systems Corp.
Wave Systems Corp. Gerard T. Feeney, 413-243-1600 info@wavesys.com OR Jaffoni & Collins David Collins/Richard Land, 212-835-8500 wavx@jcir.com Copyright Business Wire 2006
Army announces ITES2 awards
By Dawn S. Onley, GCN Staff
04/14/06 -- 04:48 PM
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/40398-1.html
Despite several lengthy delays caused by reviews and evaluations, the Army awarded 11 contracts today under its $20 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Services program.
The contracts will run for nine years, including a three-year base period with two, three-year options. Army officials initially said they would award eight contracts, four to large businesses and four to businesses with fewer than 1,500 employees. But the winning vendors are comprised of eight large companies and three small businesses.
The eight large businesses winning the contract are:
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
CACI International Inc.
Computer Sciences Corp.
EDS Corp.
General Dynamics Corp.
IBM Corp.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Science Applications International Corp.
The three small businesses are:
Apptis Inc. of Chantilly, Va.
STG Inc. of Reston, Va.
QSS Group Inc. of Lanham, Md.
"ITES-2S will form a procurement cornerstone for the next decade as we build the Army IT enterprise. We look forward to working with all of the successful contractors in a strong partnership in the years ahead," said Kevin Carroll, the Army's program executive officer for enterprise information systems, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Carroll said previously that the process took longer than anticipated because officials wanted ample time to refine the performance-based contracting focus of ITES-2S.
The Army had previously selected 17 companies to compete for the ITES-2S contract.
ITES-2S is a consolidated contract vehicle for products and services, and serves as a follow-on to the original ITES-Enterprise Mission Support Services Solutions contracts. The services under ITES-2S include business process reengineering, information systems security, information assurance, IT services, network support, systems operations and maintenance, program management, enterprise design, integration and consolidation and education and training.
Also included under the contract vehicle is support "to analyze requirements, develop and implement recommended solutions, and operate and maintain legacy systems, and equipment," according to an announcement.
The Army, the Defense Department and other federal agencies are authorized to order off of ITES-2S by issuing individual task orders.
"It is anticipated that the ITES-2S solutions will enhance the Army Net-operations/Net-centric capabilities and holistically support the Army customers, with a goal of providing a common look and feel for Army applications at all levels of both the strategic and tactical Army enterprise," according to the announcement.
The Army is also expected to soon release a request for proposals for its $10 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Hardware program. ITES-2H will run for 10 years and calls for contractors to provide for the purchase and lease of commercial servers, desktops, notebooks, workstations, thin clients, storage systems, networking equipment, printers and peripherals, including cabling products, monitors, VTC products, scanners, software and warranty options. Also included are technology refreshes over the life of the contract.