Networking: Digital doctors' records

CHICAGO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Old-fashioned medical claims processing -- doctors handwriting codes for procedures on hardcopy files -- is gradually being replaced by digital physicians networks, electronic archives that maintain all patients' medical histories, experts tell United Press International's Networking.

Last week Providence, R.I.-based Digital Physicians Network announced that it had debuted a new tool for physicians, surgeons and other healthcare providers to "transform" the process of coding case files intended to improve the accuracy of claims and streamline billing.

"It sounds pretty basic, but it can actually be fairly complex," a spokesman for Merge Healthcare, another software developer for the healthcare, field told Networking.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051031-084858-1880r

The Web: Carriers dragging feet on e911?

CHICAGO, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A number of telecom carriers may not meet next month's Federal Communications Commission deadline to implement 911 emergency call services for Internet telephony, experts tell United Press International's The Web.

The deadline of Nov. 28 may have to be extended -- by up to two years -- and a number of companies are petitioning for an extension right now.

"The telcos have been dragging their feet on this forever," Robert Schwaninger, an attorney who practices before the FCC in Washington D.C., told The Web.

The primary concerns are technical. Originally, Internet-telephony providers, which route calls over the Internet, thought they could use technology to locate callers through "triangulation" of signals, so fire and police authorities could be directed to them in an emergency, said Schwaninger.

"They realized it's not good in dealing with tall buildings," he said.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051026-100142-7617r

Wireless World: 'WiFi before you fly'

CHICAGO -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport this week debuted a wireless Internet system throughout all its terminals, outflanking Boston Logan and other major U.S. airports by providing WiFi for travelers from the curb of the cabstand to the tarmac near the departing aircraft, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

The Atlanta project is said to cover all 5.8 million square feet of the airport -- extending the concept of WiFi beyond simple hotspots and making wireless online access nearly ubiquitous for travelers.

"The real power of WiFi is the ability to discover and connect with other people in proximity that you might want to meet," said Charles Ribaudo, co-founder of Jambo Networks Inc., a WiFi-services developer in Dallas. "Until recently, people have been using WiFi just to access the Internet."

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20051028-125503-9572r

Networking R&D going global

CHICAGO, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- R&D in networking hardware and software is accelerating, as several new development projects have been announced this month in Bangalore and Pune, India, and at least one foreign firm has located operations in the United States, experts tell UPI's Networking.

Last week Cisco Systems, which first established operations in India in 1995, broke ground on a brand-new, 1 million-square-foot R&D facility in Bangalore, budgeting $50 million for the project and planning to hire 3,000 scientists, engineers and researchers. The technical teams will work on projects spanning the San Jose, Calif.-based company's entire networking technology portfolio.

Another leading networking firm, Apptix, a provider of messaging and collaboration software, on Oct. 11 launched a new applications-development center in Pune, India, where it expects to "quadruple" the workforce of the town in the coming year.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051024-101748-6755r4.

Wireless World: Libraries embrace wireless

By Gene J. Koprowski
Oct. 21, 2005 at 11:23AM

A library patron ambles out the door, book in hand, without stopping by the librarian. Is this theft? No, it's the new checkout procedure, made possible by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, experts tell United Press International's Wireless World.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20051021-100605-6553r.htm

Feds bolstering online banking security

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051019-094741-5281r

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI

CHICAGO, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Federal banking regulators are ordering financial institutions to bolster their Internet security by the end of next year, hoping to halt identity theft. But experts tell UPI's The Web that the measures still may not be strong enough, and may, in the words of Mark D. Rasch, senior vice president and chief security counsel of Solutionary Inc., a Bethesda, Md.-based IT developer, inspire "false confidence" among consumers.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council sent a letter last week to U.S. banks indicating that it was no longer permitted for banks to allow access to online banking accounts with just one form of technology authentication -- a PIN number or a password -- because hackers are too savvy to be stopped by such trifling security.

Networking: E-mail is the 'new telephone'

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051017-090220-7468r

Networking: E-mail is the 'new telephone'
By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Ten years ago Mark J. Grossman's office was alive with the sound of ringing phones and chatter from account executives placing sales calls. "The prevailing sound today is 'click, click, click,'" said Grossman, who heads Grossman Strategies in Bohemia, N.Y.
E-mail is the new telephone -- the dominant communications medium for many businesses today -- as employees labor away, typing on PCs rather than dialing for dollars, experts tell UPI's Networking.

FEMA computers hampered during Katrina

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051010-090814-4456r


By GENE J. KOPROWSKI

CHICAGO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Faulty federal computer networks may have been partly to blame for the government's lackadaisical response to major storms last summer -- and Hurricane Katrina this year, experts tell UPI's Networking.

A new federal audit of the information technology infrastructure at the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicates that the government's computers were "overwhelmed" during last year's hurricane season and that the problems may have hampered disaster response efforts.

The report, which covers the 2004 hurricane season, may help the government interpret this year's hurricane recovery effort too, experts said. The report was presented to FEMA Director Michael Brown in the weeks before Katrina hit.

The Web: Anti-phishing 'posses' hunt criminals

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051005-100210-6605r


By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last Friday signed into law the first state legislation that penalizes fraudsters who steal online identities through "phishing" scams, but Internet companies and banks are not waiting for the law to stop the cyber-criminals and are actively taking covert measures to protect their customers, experts tell UPI's The Web.
"We generally find that law enforcement is so involved with other issues that phishing is low on their priority list," said Hugh Hyndman, chief operating officer of Toronto-based Brand Dimensions, an online brand consulting company, in an interview with The Web.