Stories by Gary H. Anthes

When five 9s aren't enough

One of the largest financial systems in the world is hidden in a nondescript building near Washington. The owner, Visa International Inc., hasn't put its name on the building, nor will it allow a reporter to say exactly where it is. The secret data center is a fireproof, earthquakeproof concrete fortress with 5,000-pound doors and a basement full of backup gear, but it has fake windows to make it look like any of hundreds of ordinary office buildings in the area.

Interoperability across E-Markets

The death of business-to-business e-commerce has been greatly exaggerated, says Sandy Kemper, who in July was elected chairman of the Global Trading Web Association, the board council for the Global Trading Web (GTW).

The Learning Curve

A learning curve shows the relationship between the cost of producing an item or performing a task and the number of units produced or tasks performed over time. Its slope reflects how quickly a person or an organization improves with experience.

Premier 100: ROI for IT projects necessary evil

Making IT investments with no financial return in sight went out of style with the dot-com collapse, according to members of a panel at Computerworld Inc.'s Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference. Now, they said, it's time for IT managers to put the R back into ROI.

ICANN Preparing for Online Election of Directors

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the Internet domain-name system, is in the final stages of preparation for a worldwide election of five new at-large members of its board of directors.

Toysmart, FTC Overruled on Sale of Customer Data

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Massachusetts today denied a motion by Waltham, Mass.-based Toysmart.com to approve a settlement the company reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last month to sell its customer data.

Microsoft Security Executive Promises Improvements

The man who receives more complaints about the security of Microsoft Corp.'s software than anyone on the planet declared here this week that the company's products are improving in quality and will continue to become more secure.

Phantom Works: Boeing's Advanced Research Unit

A technician reaches behind a panel in the cockpit of a Boeing airplane and feels around for a part that needs to be replaced. He unsnaps it and tries to pull it out, but the part bangs into one obstruction and then another.

Senate to Speed Review of Computer Export Controls

The U.S. Senate yesterday voted 86-11 to reduce from six months to 60 days the time it takes to approve new export controls for high-performance computers. It mirrors a similar vote by the U.S. House of Representatives in May.

Bell Labs Offers Free Access to Plan 9 Code

Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Bell Labs Innovations yesterday made available the third release of Plan 9, an operating system geared toward distributed computing. For the first time, Plan 9, conceived in the late 1980s, will be offered without charge or licensing requirement from Bell Labs' Web site.

The Robots Are Coming!

John Dolan says he wants to build a robot that can be flushed down the toilet - literally - to inspect sewer pipes. Tucker Balch proposes building a disposable robot airplane that could be dispatched by a forest ranger to check out a suspicious column of smoke. And Branislav Jaramaz envisions a RoboChef that can move around the kitchen and cook a meal. But he worries, "Who is going to build the robot to clean the mess behind this one?"

Lucent developing new chips for wireless devices

Lucent Technologies has announced a venture that plans to produce integrated semiconductor modules for use in next-generation wireless devices, such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants.

The Invisible Workforce

Gavin Simpson first tasted the bitterness of rejection years ago on the playground, looking for pickup basketball games. "He waited and he waited and he waited," recalls his father, Wendel. "Sometimes the kids just looked right past him and asked someone to go out and find another player. My God, that hurt!"

Food Distribution Groups Set Up B-to-B Exchange

Two food distribution trade groups, whose members conduct $800 million in annual business, announced today that they are teaming to build a business-to-business Internet exchange for their members.

Safeway Gives Away the PDA

Meta Group analyst Gene Alvarez says Safeway has trumped other grocery chains that try to hook shoppers with product discounts and "loyalty" cards. "With those, you're buying loyalty with margin," he says. "I'm loyal for this transaction only."

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