FEDERAL, STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT IT
HARDWARE: Lightweight Laptop Headed for Standard Configuration List. The three agencies charged with wrangling federal desktop and laptop computer purchases are closing in on a new lightweight laptop configuration for the current list of baseline computer models. Read more
[FCW.COM]
MANAGEMENT: How the Clinger-Cohen Act Continues to Ripple Through Federal IT Today. 20 years ago, a single piece of legislation took government technology out of the dark ages. The modern era of federal IT can be traced to one landmark event: the signing of the Clinger-Cohen Act on Feb. 10, 1996. Although they did not know it at the time, the vision then-congressmen William Clinger and William Cohen set forth would guide government technology for more than two decades and lay the groundwork for innovation that continues today. Read more
[FEDTECHMAGAZINE.COM]
LOCAL GOVT: Security, Strategic Planning Top Local Government IT Execs’ 2016 Priorities. The Public Technology Institute released its annual poll of local government executives’ key concerns for the year ahead. Read more
[STATETECHMAGAZINE.COM]
SDx: Is SDx the Model for IT Security? Is this the year when software-defined anything (SDx) becomes the template for federal agency IT security? It’s been knocking at the door for a while, and the spending outlook for government IT in President Barack Obama’s recent budget proposals could finally be the opening it needs. In calling for a 35 percent increase in cybersecurity spending to $19 billion, the White House also proposed a $3.1 billion revolving fund to upgrade legacy IT throughout the government. Venting his frustration, and no doubt that of many others in the administration and Congress, Obama talked about ancient Cobol software running Social Security systems, archaic IRS systems and other old, broken machines and software at federal agencies. Read more
[GCN.COM]
PROGRAMMING & SCRIPTING
JAVASCRIPT: JavaScript, Scaling and Microservices – a Team That Can’t Be Beaten. Today it’s all about scalability. An app capable of swiftly adapting to growing user numbers is most likely to become one of the front runners of the app game. How is JavaScript doing in this field? According to Johann-Peter Hartmann: “Historically, the involvement of JavaScript in this field happened purely by mistake.” Find out more
[JAXENTER.COM]
SECURITY PATCHES: Critical Fixes Issued for Windows, Java, Flash. Microsoft Windows users and those with Adobe Flash Player or Java installed, it’s time to update again! Microsoft released 13 updates to address some three dozen unique security vulnerabilities. Adobe issued security fixes for its Flash Player software that plugs at least 22 security holes in the widely-used browser component. Meanwhile, Oracle issued an unscheduled security fix for Java, its second security update for Java in as many weeks. Read more
[KREBONSECURITY.COM]
TYPESCRIPT: Stop Writing Spaghetti Code: Why You Should Use TypeScript. TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript created by Microsoft that compiles directly to regular JavaScript to enable JavaScript developers to code with type safety. This is important because coding with type safety allows developers to code more cleanly, resulting in easier maintenance and fewer bugs. Read more
[DZONE.COM]
HTML5: Google – Flash Ads Are Finally Going Out, HTML5 Ads Are In. Flash-based ads will no longer be accepted starting January 2, 2017. After taking many steps in this direction, Google announced Tuesday that it will finally stop serving Flash formatted display ads. As of June 30, 2016, advertisers will no longer be able to upload new Flash ads into AdWords or DoubleClick. The final hit will happen on January 2, 2017, when Flash ads will no longer be eligible to run on Google’s ad networks. All display ads are to be built in HTML5. Read more
[MARKETINGLAND.COM]
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NOW ON SLIDESHARE: Tech Update Summary from Blue Mountain Data Systems January 2016 http://www.slideshare.net/BMDS3416/tech-update-summary-from-blue-mountain-data-systems-january-2016.
IT SECURITY SUPPORT: Blue Mountain Data Systems is actively involved in implementing FISMA and NIST standards with Federal Civilian Agencies. Due to our extensive experience in this area, Blue Mountain has developed processes and organizational techniques to help ensure security deliverables are completed on time, and performed in the most efficient manner possible. We ensure that NIST-800-53 control requirements are treated consistently during definition, analysis, implementation, auditing, and reporting phases of a system. Find out more about Blue Mountain Data Systems IT Security Support Services. Call us at 703-502-3416.
BLUE MOUNTAIN DATA SYSTEMS HAS THE EXPERIENCE: 1994 to Present – U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Responsible to the Office of Technology and Information Systems for information systems architecture, planning, applications development, networking, administration and IT security, supporting the enforcement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act — ERISA. Within the EBSA, Blue Mountain is responsible for design, development and support for its various enforcement database management systems, as well as all case tracking and customer service inquiry systems. Blue Mountain also provides IT security services to the EBSA, in the form of FISMA Assessment and Authorization, System Security Plans, Risk and vulnerability assessments, monitoring and investigation support. Read more.
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