Chicago Computer Guide This Week
For January 24-30, 2002

CONTENTS:
I.    This Week's Calendar of Events
II.   Strategies For Maintaining H1-b Status in a Slowing U.S. Economy
III.  Cyber Terrorism
IV.   Obituaries, 2001
V.    Chicago Computer Company News
VI.   Chicago Computer Dealers


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I. This Week's Chicago Computer Events

Event:  American Business Women's Association (ABWA) Meeting*
Date: January 29, 2002
Place: Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce: One IBM Plaza,
330 N. Walbash, Suite 2800, Chicago
Time: 5:45pm - 7:30pm
Information: Contact Melinda Sigal at 773-755-2400 or via
                   email at msigal@magicnet.net 
The American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) is a 
national association dedicated to providing business training 
for women of diverse background through education for 
career advancement and personal development.


Event: Midwest Entrepreneurial Forum*
Date: January 29, 2002
Place: Illinois Institute of Technology, Rice Campus, 
           201 East Loop Rd, Wheaton, IL
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Information: Contact Tim Boivin at 847-632-0040 or 
                    email at tim.boivin@techimage.com
GPSLink, a Web-based software solution that helps corporations 
streamline their employee relocation process, will present its
business model to an MEF Panel of business experts.


Event: The Internet Executives Club Mixer &
           Town Hall Meeting*
Date:  January 31, 2002
Time:  5:30pm - 8:00pm
Place: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, One N. Wacker, 
           14th Floor, Chicago
Information: Contact Tadia Wille at 847-955-9217 
                   or via email at twille@internetexecutivesclub.com
IEC Mixers offer an excellent opportunity for members and their 
guests to meet and network with each other in an informal setting. 
This meeting will also be the Club's annual Town Hall meeting. 
This is an opportunity for interested members to give feedback 
on how we should grow the club and provide more benefits to 
our members.

*Courtesy: http://www.techvenue.com


II.  Strategies For Maintaining H1-b Status in a Slowing 
     U.S. Economy
     By Elizabeth Mallor Walder

    One of the most important considerations that an H-1B worker 
must remember is that he or she must not expose themselves to
the 3 and 10-year bars on reentry or the visa-voiding provisions 
of the Immigration and Nationalization Act: If the foreigner has
remained in the U.S. for more than 180 days without legal 
nonimmigrant status and voluntarily departs the U.S., he or she 
may be subject to being barred from seeking admission to the 
U.S. for three to as much as ten years. 
Click here for more: http://www.chicago-computer.com/janwalder.htm.


III. Cyber Terrorism
Rich McDilda

If you are a news nut like I am, then no doubt you have seen
the latest and greatest threat to all peace loving web servers, 
the worm virus, popping up here and there. Just what is it that 
drives people to unleash such havoc on the rest of the world, 
exactly? This month, I wanted to take a look at the mindset of 
the modern cyber-terrorist, and what, if anything, you can do 
to protect yourself from them.
For more go to, http://www.chicago-computer.com/janused.htm


IV.  Obituaries, 2001
By Paul Robertz

This is the twelfth year in a row my annual obituary column has 
appeared here. In case this is the first one you have seen, I 
enjoy listing older computer hardware that has lost all commercial 
resale value in the past year. Most of the deceased hardware is 
still fully functional, but became terminally ill when newer operating 
systems and its manufacturer ceased to support it.
Click here, http://www.chicago-computer.com/janobit.htm 
for more.

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V. Chicago Computer Company News


Net56 Awarded Five Year Outsourcing Contract With 
Deerfield School District 109

    PALATINE, IL --(INTERNET WIRE)-- Net56, Inc. www.net56.com 
announced it has been awarded a five-year outsourcing contract, 
with Deerfield, Illinois School District 109. Beginning this month, 
Net56 will be responsible for the entire Network and Operations 
for Deerfield District 109 business offices and the four elementary 
and two middle schools in the district. Within the scope of the 
contract, Net56 will also provide Thin Client Technology, Web 
Development, Web Hosting services as well as Consulting.
   Regarded as exceptionally avant-garde by the district, this 
outsourcing contract is a significant and strategic step in using
technology more effectively in providing teachers, students and 
the community with a resource they can trust and rely on.
   "This is a bold a move for us. We've made an unprecedented 
decision for the District. When we realized what Net56 could do 
for us, we went from ‘this is interesting' to ‘got to have'", stated Al 
Chickerneo, Network Administrator for District 109. The outsource 
contract will center on four areas:

- Provide high availability, scalability and security by replacing and 
  relocating all servers to the Net56 hardened data center in Palatine, 
IL

- Achieve a stable and redundant network infrastructure to ensure 
  network performance and information integrity throughout the District

- Launch an innovative web site to involve the community by 
  encouraging community development, a connected learning
  community and promote engaged learning

- Establish Thin Client technology to enhance learning by creating 
  and enriching a personalized learning environment while relieving 
  the district of the technology management burden and freeing 
  resources to educate

    The District had come to a crossroads in terms of security, 
reliability and innovation encountering issues that required regular
outside assistance.
    Network weakness were identified to include an inadequate 
data center facility which fell short of best practice, a lack of
redundancy in the structure of the network and technology staff 
were not being used effectively in support of education goals as
their time was largely spent troubleshooting network related 
problems.
"Technology has become an integral part of payroll, purchases, 
and curriculum and student services and if we tried to upgrade to
what is required for the stable and secure system we can depend 
on, it would cost us more than the District could afford. The use
of technology in our everyday lives is becoming as important as 
electricity, heat and water and we have an obligation to make it 
as dependable, efficient and cost effective as possible. The term 
is economy of scale, and Net56 meets our goals stated Dr Pekoe,
Superintendent Deerfield Schools.
The District realizes its web presence was under developed which 
has led to under utilization. The District needs a means of 
communicating and educating students, parents, community members 
and staff in the vision, goals, accomplishments, and current events 
of the District.
For more information on Net56, Inc., visit the company's website at 
www.net56.com, or call (847) 934-8100.

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Hurricane Electric Offers Services in Chicago 


    FREMONT, Calif./PRNewswire/ -- Hurricane Electric, a leading
Technical Service Provider, announced that they will now offer 
direct connections and collocation in the Chicago area.
    "It's the next logical step," said Mike Leber, president of 
Hurricane
Electric. "We offer services on both coasts, so we decided to bring our
services to Chicago because it is a centrally located major 
metropolitan 
hub."
     Hurricane Electric is offering a T3 (45 Mbps) out of Chicago for 
$4,995 a month as part of their "Welcome to the Windy City" special. 
Fractional T1's and T3's, T1's, OC3's, OC12's and IP over metropolitan 
Ethernet providers are also available. A T1 (1.544 Mbps) from 
Hurricane Electric in Chicago will run $650 a month.
      Hurricane Electric's Chicago facility is located at Switch and 
Data,
427 South La Salle Street, home of the former Western Union building, 
located across the street from the Chicago Board of Trade and 
Ameritech Tandem.
       Customers that collocate their equipment at Hurricane Electric's 
Chicago facility will enjoy every amenity they could ask for, including 
a 
24/7 knowledgeable staff, high tech security, HVAC environmental 
systems, digital surveillance, and conditioned uninterruptible power.
        The facility is connected via a "meet me" room to Ameritech, 
AT&T local, Level(3), Qwest and XO Communications and has 3 
fiber entry points for increased redundancy to eliminate a single 
point of failure. A "meet me" room is a space where major providers 
connect to each other.
         Established in 1994, Hurricane Electric expanded their network 
and their facilities in the last year by opening a new collocation 
facility 
in Fremont, CA and acquiring Lightning Internet Services in New York 
this past week. Hurricane Electric now offers services in the New York 
and Chicago areas along with the Silicon Valley.
         Hurricane Electric also offers web hosting plans, ranging from 
$9.95 to $299.95, to customers internationally including Chicago. A 
new rate plan for Hurricane Electric web hosting was announced this 
month to include more traffic and storage. Pricing and information can 
be found at http://www.he.net/spaceservices.html.

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Tellabs Launches Performance Probe Software To Help 
Wireless Carriers Optimize Call Quality

    NAPERVILLE, Ill./PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tellabs introduced a 
new performance probe software package for its voice-quality
enhancement system to help wireless carriers optimize call quality 
as they reduce operating costs. The new Tellabs 3150 Performance 
Probe software measures voice signals that route through the Tellabs 
3100 Voice-Quality Enhancement system, enabling wireless carriers 
to cost-effectively monitor and optimize voice quality for customers 
in real-time.
     The new Tellabs 3150 Performance Probe software measures 
and displays speech levels, noise levels, echo and delay every five 
seconds -- enabling carriers to proactively analyze, evaluate and 
improve voice-quality performance in their network before customers 
complain. In addition, the software's automated measurement function 
helps reduce operating costs by minimizing the time and resources 
needed to identify and troubleshoot voice-quality performance issues.
    "Call quality is the most influential factor in determining overall 
caller satisfaction and our customers tell us they need Tellabs' help 
to monitor their networks' voice performance," said David Powell, 
senior vice president of Tellabs' Network Enhancing Technologies 
Solutions group. 
"The new Tellabs 3150 Performance Probe software adds voice-quality 
measurement features to the Tellabs 3100 Voice-Quality Enhancement 
system to help wireless carriers optimize call quality and increase the 
bottom line."
     The Tellabs 3150 Performance Probe software provides voice-quality
performance thresholds that carriers can customize to suit their 
specific
network parameters and configurations. This threshold capability 
provides
customers with information to rank voice performance across their 
network 
and prioritize corrective-action initiatives.
     The Tellabs 3150 Performance Probe software will be available as 
an 
added feature to the Tellabs 3100 Voice-Quality Enhancement system in 
February 2002. More information about the Tellabs 3150 software, 
including a screen shot, is available at http://www.tellabs.com .

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Shut Off Windows. Turn On Desktop Security

GLENVIEW, IL -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- In the most recent survey on 
cybercrime by the FBI and the Computer Security Institute 81% of 
corporate respondents said the most likely source of attack was from 
inside the company. Yet, to date, no simple cost-effective way to 
secure or 'lock-down' Windows Internet desktops has evolved
 ...until now. With the latest version of ActivatorDesk software from 
R. Lee Heath, businesses, schools, parents, or anyone may easily 
secure desktops even by shutting off the Windows interface in 
favor of a simpler to use, more secure, and uniform desktop 
design. 
    Shut Off Your Windows to make your desktops secure? "Yes", 
says renowned inventor and Lemelson MIT Prize nominee, Roger 
Lee Heath. "One of the biggest problems with safe use of Windows 
is that it is installed wide-open with almost no security at all. Then 
the second resulting problem is that it generally takes a 'rocket 
scientist' to setup comprehensive desktop security. The average 
person just cannot deploy proper desktop policies enforcement 
easily", says Heath, "Yet the desktop is where virtually all serious 
tampering and abuses originate." 
     Unlike some lock-down security schemes, ActivatorDesk allows 
not only control of what programs may be accessed, but also what 
web sites may be accessed. For example, anyone may import a list 
of Favorite web sites from Internet Explorer or Netscape then turn 
these on as the only safe web sites that may be visited. An on-board 
portal server already has over 16,000 of the most popularly visited 
safe website links built-in. This security can even be configured on a 
user by user basis, auto-aligning itself with existing Windows user 
accounts. It may also be the key to increasing productivity, as IDC 
Research reports that 30 to 40% of all Internet use in the workplace 
is not related to business. 
    In addition, there is an increasing urgent concern about internal 
Windows desktop and network integrity because regular Windows 
security passwords have now been cracked. According to research 
by PC Magazine, "Your password-protected PCs and data files 
aren't nearly as secure as you might think. Software that can detect 
your passwords is readily available." ActivatorDesk answers this with 
its own stand-alone secure password system to form 'two factor' 
desktop logins complimented by a host of desktop security settings 
that also go beyond the standard Windows security features. 
    Even though the software is still in beta a CPU Magazine review 
by Warren Ernst has just recommended ActivatorDesk, "Because a 
genuinely different browser and Internet security scheme doesn't 
come along every day." At least one security consultant or vender 
of the software has received an order to install ActivatorDesk to 
lock-down 5,000 desktops according to Heath. Heath also indicated 
a California based medical company is deploying the software for 
HIPPA compliance purposes complimenting their own web services. 
    ActivatorDesk is powered by a very fast reliable database and 
personal portal server on each desktop that also maintains desktop 
security settings. The Windows desktop may be retained, or select 
elements, like the Start Button, Desktop Icons, or the Tray may be 
shut off. Or the entire Windows interface may be turned off leaving 
a simple 'Agent' desktop program that may be conveniently dragged 
anywhere and combines most conventional Start and Programs 
Menu functions with most Task Bar and Task Manager functions 
all in one. The result is a desktop even 'cleaner' than Windows
XP, with enhanced functionality, security, and a simple familiar 
interface regardless of the version of the Windows OS used. 
This may substantially impact training costs and refocus desktops 
as dedicated to the primary purpose of productivity or education. 
    The company is currently developing a centralized control 
system so many desktops may be automatically monitored and
controlled from just one or multiple locations. "We are hoping to 
make this available in the second quarter,"Heath  indicates. 
    "The central control will also allow for remote monitoring and 
management capabilities of all web sites visited and programs 
run. It will even report back the versions of software running 
network-wide. At that time, the desktop or client may well be 
out of beta and the central management on its way to full 
release status. Then we intend to make available a version 
of the central management server system to run on the Linux 
OS as well", Heath said. 
    It does not stop there. Heath is about to formally market a 
web-based email system called ActivatorMail service that 
includes 'intelligent' anti-virus, anti-spam, and optional anti-porn 
filtering features. The system has taken over four years to refine 
and develop. The idea is to further enhance safety, productivity, 
and reduced costs by simply pointing and/or restricting the 
secure desktops to a safe email system. There is no special or 
expensive software to install or setup as all mail is processed 
before it is put into a mailbox for download, yet the system is 
compatible with conventional readers like Outlook and Eudora. 
   The current desktop client software may be downloaded free 
from the ActivatorDesk website and used as fully functional,
but will 'nag' for a paid registration after 30 days. For more 
information visit: http://www.activatordesk.com 

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VI. Chicago Computer Dealers

Click here at http://www.chicago-computer.com/deals.htm for our list 
of computer dealers and some of the lowest prices in town!

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