NMCI and Other Nefarious Adventures

The updates are coming fast and furious. NMCI users on the west coast were notified today that their Netscape browser will be "updated to Netscape Version 4.76."

It is not clear if this was a typo or if there are other updates within Version 4.76 because most users already had Version 4.76 on their machines.

Several historical sites like this one and this one show this version as being released around late 1999 or early 2000.

Again, the concept of supplying unsupported and highly outdated software is beyond understanding.

More rumors from the east coast. Apparently in an effort to garner more monthly fees, NMCI has started digging in the weeds, looking for data circuits transiting base demarcs. A liberal interpretation of the NMCI contract allows EDS to charge for all data networks entering and leaving the boundaries of the facility.

In an effort to stem the fiscal hemorrhaging of the NMCI contract, EDS may start charging MCB Quantico and other facilities a monthly charge for data circuits even though the circuits were put in to service long before the NMCI rollout took place on the base. These include service-wide and joint networks such as the Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN), Defense Information System Network (DISN), Joint Training and Experimentation Network (JTEN) and several other DISA administered efforts. No word on how this confiscatory policy will be applied to tenant activities at these bases.

Speaking of DISA, it would be interesting to see the details of the agreement reached that allows NMCI to usurp the authority of the Defense Information Systems Agency. DISA is tasked with providing DoD interconnectivity and establishing the Global Information Grid. It would appear that NMCI has decided EDS is better positioned to provide this connectivity.

It is unclear what value NMCI is adding to these existing circuits they are now planning to tax. The base must still pay the telco recurring charges for these circuits as they always have. Since most, if not all, of the equipment used to terminate and transport these circuits is "legacy" equipment, NMCI is likely not maintaining or operating these networks. So whatever support systems the base had already established to perform O&M for these networks must still be maintained.

From Patuxent River, MD we have a report of a battery entering thermal run-away. If this is a fake, its a good fake.



The lower resolution image is here (click on thumbnail to see 640x480). Close examination of the full size image (4 Mpixel) shows no signs of Photoshop magic. If you'd like to see a larger version, be sure to check out the Moldy Oldies posting.

The owner was seen running out the door of his building trailing smoke behind him. He quickly tossed the laptop on the ground and someone snapped this picture.

Enjoy!

Only three years and five months after the final version of Internet Explorer 6.0 was released by Microsoft, NMCI has bravely stepped up to the risky precipice and decided to issue the world's most popular browser to its customers.

Users at several sites across the country received update notices this week stating that the software will be pushed to their computers. Other sites have already received the "new" browser either through a pilot program or via official push.

It is unknown if all users will get the bleeding edge "SP1" version (circa September 2002) or whether EDS will play it safe and go with the older 6.0 Final (circa October 2001). We can only assume the pushed version will contain the dozens of security patches released by Microsoft over the past three years.

Speculation amongst IT experts suggests that perhaps EDS required the past three years to figure out how to adulterate the title bar of IE 6.0 to read, "Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by Navy Marine Corps Intranet."

Users are breathlessly awaiting upgrades to the alternate browser installed on their desktops: Netscape Version 4.7, released September 1999. Although the currently installed Netscape makes for an interesting browsing experience, users who are used to new-fangled additions like cascading style sheets and XHTML would welcome a Netscape suite that was released in the current century. Firefox would be a welcome addition or replacement for Netscape.

A reader from Norfolk writes to say that NMCI is considering disabling the USB ports on NMCI seats.
This is supposedly in response to users attaching "thumb" drives and external hard disk drives in an effort to increase storage space without paying exorbitant NMCI lease fees for larger hard drives.
Although this would not be surprising, one would have to ask how they are going to deal with the USB mice if they completely disable the ports. Perhaps a restricted driver subset. Or, perhaps its just a rumor. You heard it here first.

Officially, NMCI stands for Navy Marine Corps Intranet

Unofficially, there are some better definitions:

NMCI: Need More Congressional Inquiries
NMCI: Navy and Marines Communicating Intermittently
NMCI: Need More Connectivity Infrastructure
NMCI: No More Connecting to the Internet
NMCI: Not My Connectivity Infrastructure
NMCI: Need More Cash Immediately (Instantly)
NMCI: Needlessly Managed Computers Installed
NMCI: Nerdy Men Causing Instability
NMCI: Navy and Marine Corps: Incommunicado
NMCI: Nincompoops Making Computers Inoperable