Judiciary Uses Web-Based Survey Tool

Intelligent Spatial Technologies ....................... 1Judiciary Uses Web-Based Survey Tool .......... 1Challenge ........................................................ 2I Have A Little Change In My Pocket ............... 3Rediscovering History via Database Technology .... 4Using Common Technologies Uncommonly toCreate a New Traveling Museum Exhibit ............ 5Radio Free Belfast (Maine) ................................. 6IBM Mainframe Access Changing ................... 7New On-Line License Renewal Service .......... 7Remember Our Troops This Holiday Season . 7Thanks to All the 2003 Authors ........................... 8

IN THIS ISSUE:

BY JACLYN CARSON & HON. JON D. LEVY,CHAIR OF JUDICIAL RESOURCE TEAM

Just imagine touring Augusta, equipped with a user-friendly “Smart Map” that fitsinto your jacket pocket, about the size of a small camera or personal assistant. Simplypoint the device toward the state capital building and learn its history. Intelligent SpatialTechnologies (IST) is researching and developing location based services (LBS) - dy-namic GIS-based applications driven by orientation and location sensors that run onmobile computing devices.

Intelligent Spatial TechnologiesA New Maine Company

BY PHILIP HELGERSON

Maine Judicial Branch’s Judicial Re-source Team (JRT) undertook a project toassess the workload of judicial resources inMaine’s trial courts. The team was taskedwith generating a new model for schedulingtrial courts and allocating judicial resources.The team learned on-line surveys can be avery efficient and effective way to gain valu-able information from the people most im-portant to your organization.

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VOLUME 6 • Issue 12 December 2003

TechnologyIS

A publication featuring the Information Services technology of Maine State Government

Maine

Chris Frank1 , founder and presidentof IST thought it would be great to offera hand held mapping device for usersto identify landmarks and facilities.With the help of the Target TechnologyCenter in Orono, Frank founded IST inApril 2003, as an opportunity to realizethe commercial potential of the innova-tive technology developed during hisMasters research into a sensor basedmobile spatial query system.

Location-based services are a pow-erful way to deliver information. LBSoffers users the ability to quickly locate,identify, and document specific features,buildings, conditions, or other informa-tion. Mapping utilities or facilities, forexample, could provide instant access

to a large database of information basedon location.

With applications that are mobile,flexible, and up to the minute, the LBSindustry is expected to grow rapidly inthe next five years as wireless carriersestablish their strategies.

An example of Maine’s emergingnew technology business community,Frank was one of three presenters rep-resenting “Maine’s Creative Future” atthe Maine Development Foundation’s(http://www.mdf.org/) annual confer-ence in Augusta.

Equipped with integrated geospatialpositioning, navigation, and wayfindinginformation, IST’s visionary device willdown-link specific information based onprecise location and positioning. Frankdeveloped this concept and the tools toaccomplish the vision while a graduatestudent at the University of Maine inOrono. By knowing where someone isand what direction they are facing, ISTis developing mapping systems that au-tomatically align to the user and in-stantly provide relevant informationabout nearby geographic objects.

As part of the National Center forGeographic Information and Analysis,(www.ncgia.maine.edu) Frank wasamong the researchers that moved intothe Target Technology Center when itopened in 2002. The NCGIA is an in-dependent research consortium dedi-cated to basic research and education

The JRT requested the assistanceof an outside consultant, Berry, Dunn,McNeil & Parker (BDMP) in conduct-ing this work. Starting in September2002, this project was unique in thatthe JRT used a collaborative approach,and sought to develop recommenda-tions that would promote collaborationamong the trial courts. This was ac-complished through the use of a webbased survey and one-on-one commu-nication. The survey was created tosolicit information from clerks, admin-istrators, judges, and Case Manage-ment Officers (CMOs) related to objec-tives identified in the JRT’s charter.

to support the process of filing a patentfor these innovative technologies, and haswon a subcontract with the University ofMaine to develop two prototype versionsof the SmartMap. Additional funding isbeing sought through several federalgrants.

The Target Technology Center is oneof seven Applied Technology DevelopmentCenters2 established by the Departmentof Economic and Community Develop-ment. Each Center is independently op-

erated as a non-profit cor-poration. Like the othercenters, the Target Cen-ter offers office space andshared equipment and fa-cilities at a reasonablecost, and delivers person-alized training and busi-ness support services toits client firms. Compa-nies like IST can operatefrom offices located at the

center, or can choose to take part as “Af-filiates,” participating in programs andresources, but maintaining a company lo-cation elsewhere.

Nationally, companies that have hadthe benefit of business incubator pro-grams achieve higher success and growthrates than other firms, and have a highersurvival rate. According to the NationalBusiness Incubation Association, morethan 80% of incubator graduate firms arestill in business five years after gradua-tion from their centers.

Curious to learn more? Visit thesewebsites:www.i-spatialtech.comwww.targetincubator.orgwww.atdcmaine.orgwww.ncgia.maine.eduwww.maine.eduand/or contact the author by calling207-624-9802 or e-mailing Philip.Helgerson@Maine.gov.

1 Mr. Frank also has a Bachelors of Science degree inSpatial Information Science and Engineering as well asa minor in Computer Science. As entrepreneur and presi-dent, Chris is the driving force behind IST. He is dedi-cated to establishing a successful technology companyin Maine and creating exciting opportunities for othergraduates to work in this field.

2 For more information see A Public/Private Collabora-tion Promoting Maine Businesses By Philip Helgerson,Maine IS Technology Newsletter, November 2003 http://www.state.me.us/newsletter/nov2003/a_public.htm

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Intelligent Spatial Technologies, cont.

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in geographic information science and re-lated technologies, including geographicinformation systems (GIS). University re-searchers occupy about a third of the spaceat the center. The University presence atthe Target Center also includes computertechnology researchers who use a “super-computer” in the center, made up of morethan two hundred PC’s linked serially tocomprise a high speed, high capacity com-puting capability that ranks among thefastest and biggest in the world.

The Target Technology Center offeredChris Frank the opportunity to transitionhis research and development into a com-mercial venture. Target Center directorDebbie Neuman, explains, “Chris movedhis office from the research spaces at oneend of the building, down the hall to incu-bator space, where he has now started In-telligent Spatial Technologies.” With thehelp of the Target Center, Frank has re-ceived seed grant funding from the MaineTechnology Institute, and commercializa-tion assistance from technology businesscounselor Meriby Sweet. Frank has re-ceived help in developing a business planfor his idea, and has received help fromWoody Higgins, who has an on-site officeof the Maine Patent Law Program, offer-ing assistance in intellectual propertymatters.

While Frank fine-tunes the technology,he also takes part in scheduled businesstraining programs in entrepreneurshipand business management, at the center.Everything is in one convenient location,close to campus, down the hall from hisresearch colleagues, and across the hallfrom other emerging entrepreneurs.

SmartMap version 1 will be ready forcommercialization in 2004, and sales of theproduct will support investigation intomore complex research issues and devel-opment of the next phase of products. ISTwas recently awarded a MTI seed grant

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BY LESTER DICKEY

Challenge

What comes next in the followingseries: j31, a31, s30, o31, n30, ____?

For an additional challenge, but nochance for the pizza, what comes nextin the following series: A, C, F, J, O,___?

Please e-mail Lester Dickey withyour answer and your name, phonenumber, and the organization for whichyou work. Or call Barbara Buck at624-9501. The winner will be drawnfrom all the correct entries and will re-ceive a FREE donated pizza, eitherfrom CJ’s Pizza or from the EDOCCafeteria. All answers must be in nolater than the 14th of the month.

Last month’s challenge brought 48submissions, with 41 being correct an-swers. The winner, chosen by randomdrawing, is Nick Zaharchuk of BIS.

The answers to last month’s Chal-lenge: A “pear” would cost 12 cents (3cents per letter). A “plum” would cost 5cents (5 cents per vowel).

Gifts for you - Best wishes forHappy Holidays from the

Newsletter Editorial Board!

Looking for better project managementskills?Check out http://www.gantthead. com/Gantthead/default/.

What’s Your Stress Level at Work?Take this quiz to find out: http://quiztime.natsem.com/workstressquiz.cfm

Telephone long distance charges gettingyou down?Visit http://www.skype.com/. Skype usesP2P (peer-to-peer) technology to con-nect you to other users – not to sharefiles, but to talk for free with your friends.The technology is extremely advanced -but super simple to use... You’ll bemaking perfect quality free phone callsvia your computer to your friends in notime!

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I Have a Little Change In My Pocket . . .

BY GINNIE RICKER

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BDMP worked closely with the JRT to develop a compre-hensive survey instrument.

Web based survey tools offer the following benefits.• Security – Surveys are sent via e-mail using the Blind

Carbon Copy (BCC) field. This ensures everyone on thelist will not get the e-mail addresses of all other partici-pants.

• Reliability – The survey tool only allowed users to sub-mit data once. Therefore, there could not be multipleresponses from one participant.

• Easy way to analyze large number of results - Report-ing survey results is the final step in the survey processand involves the creation of a report which is automati-cally created by the push of a button from the data thatwas submitted by participants.

• Easy to notify individuals of survey using e-mail – Noti-fication of the survey and reminders to get participa-tion are sent via e-mail.Through this project, the JRT learned to:

• Keep it straightforward and simple – If your questionsare unclear or ambiguous you will get misleading re-sponses from participants.

• Only allow web based responses – If you allow partici-pants the ability to submit their responses on paper,the administrator will spend a significant amount of timemanually entering the results into the survey tool.There were over ninety survey participants represent-

ing State of Maine Judicial Branch including clerks, Supe-rior Court Justices, District Court Judges, and Case Man-agement Officers. The data from the survey helped the Ju-dicial Resource Team to identify changes to current pro-cesses that would promote collaboration among the trialcourts. As a result of the survey, and the analysis of cur-rent operations, the JRT was able to present its recom-mendations to the Supreme Judicial Court. Its work wasconcluded in late September 2003.

Jaclyn Carson, a ManagementConsultant, at Berry, Dunn,McNeal & Parker, has recentlycompleted a process assessment as-signment with the Judicial Re-source Team. Questions? Jaclynmay be reached by e-mailingjcarson@bdmp.com or by calling541-2267.

Judiciary Uses Web-Based Survey Tool, cont. from Page 1

Want to save some money for your agency? How about usingaudio or web conferencing services rather than traveling? For aslittle as .08 cents per minute per caller, you can host a meeting withparticipants from around the world, the state or even the city. Youcan have a 1-800 number, so you can pick up the entire tab, or youcan have a long distance number, so the participants pay.

Below are some Questions and Answers (Q&A) aboutthe new audio/web conferencing services that have recentlybeen contracted for. See http://www.state.me.us/newslet-ter/july2003/new_meeting_services.htm for more informa-tion.

Q What does it cost to establish an audio conference call?Right now I pay a $15.00 charge per setup.A With Premiere Conferencing there is no setup fee.Q What about cancellation fees? Sometimes multiple par-ties cancel at the last minute.A With Premiere Conferencing there is no cancellationfee.Q Our agency uses audio conferencing services all the time,it is so time consuming calling to set up a meeting.A With Premiere Conferencing each agency has the abil-ity to have a dedicated number with moderator and par-ticipant pass-codes. They also provide access to setup con-ference calls via their website, or you can call their cus-tomer support desk.Q I have documents that I want to share with the partici-pants of a call. How can I do that?A With Premiere Conferencing you can establish a webconference (Premiere offers several different levels of webconferencing), using your phone for the verbal communi-cations and the web for sharing documentation.Q When will BIS bill us for the use of these services?A BIS will no longer be providing audio conferencing ser-vices. Agencies that want to utilize these services will es-tablish an account with Premiere Conferencing. As partof the account setup, the agency will include the billingprocess that works best for them.Q What is the annual fee for this service?A There is no annual fee. This is a pay per use service.Premiere Conferencing specializes in these services. Thisis their business!!!Q Okay, I want to save my agency M-O-N-E-Y, I want tohave multiple choices of how to have a meeting AND I wantmy own number. How do I do it?A Please go to http://inet.state.me.us/bis/services/index.html select the three items under Communications.Read the information that has been provided. Print or savethe New Account Setup Form, fill in the information, andsubmit to the names listed on the form.

Should you have any other questions, please contact thecontract administrator, Lavana Snyder at Lavana.Snyder@maine.gov or 624-9511.

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Don’t Forget:Donations for this year’s Head Start Holiday partyare still being accepted by Barbara Buck at 145State House Station or call 624-9501. Please putDecember 10 on your calendar and join us at theArmory to see for yourselves what happiness anddelight you have helped bring to these less fortu-nate children in our area.

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Rediscovering History via Database Technology

BY BRUCE J. BOURQUE

For 25 years I have been recording my research of Native history into databases. This has included Native history of the Maritimepeninsula, a region spanning Maine and the Maritime Provinces, bounded on the north by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the south bythe northwest Atlantic Ocean. This was the homeland of the Wabanakis, a group of eastern Algonquian-speaking communities ancestralto the modern-day Penobscots, Passamaquoddies, Maliseets and Micmacs.

http://www.maine.gov/museum/anthropology/index.html

The geographicrange of this data-base extends west-ward to Montrealand southwestwardinto Massachusettsto take in Nativecommunities whosemembers retreated northward intotraditional Wabanakis territory un-der pressure of English colonial ex-pansion. The cultures of all thesepeoples, shaped by similar environ-ments and histories, shared much.However, they are neither uniformnor static.

During the first half of the seven-teenth century, those living to thesouth and west practiced agricultureand had contact primarily with theNew Englanders, while those to thenorth and east were traditionallynonagricultural and had contacts pri-marily with the French of NouvelleFrance and Acadia. During the laterseventeenth century, Native popula-tions tended to shift northward to-ward the French, or at least awayfrom the English, altering the ethnicand linguistic composition of estab-lished communities and even creat-ing new ones.

My original intent in compilingthese data was to resolve some long-standing issues surroundingWabanaki ethnicity that had con-fused anthropologists and historiansfor over a century. Prior to this re-search, it was customary to discussthe history of these peoples at thelevel of purported “tribes”, whichwere generally seen as rather stablesociopolitical groupings that survivedintact and in place from prehistoryinto the late twentieth century(Speck 1941; Snow 1976, 1980; Prins1999). Upon closer examination ofprimary sources, however, this pic-ture of stability breaks down in theface of evidence for immigration,

population movement, and ethnic re-alignment during the colonial period.

It was in hope of elucidating thesedynamic processes that I began togather the data included in this data-base. I soon realized, however, thatsuch a corpus might lend itself to manyother uses, including genealogy, demo-graphics, political and economic his-tory. It is in order to facilitate thesebroader uses of the data that we planto make it accessible on the website ofthe Maine State Museum.

The current sample is comprehen-sive but probably not exhaustive. Forthe colonial period, much data comesfrom obvious sources, such as Englishand French colonial documents, mis-sion records and land deeds. After theSeven Years War, Indians no longerdefended French interests or threat-ened English control of the region. Nolonger a significant focus of attentionby the larger society, they entered aperiod of marginalization, when pre-vailing popular opinion held that theywould soon disappear as distinct com-munities.

Much data for this period comesfrom provincial and state records, let-ters, travel accounts and sporting lit-erature. Another large contributioncomes from parish records and, afterMaine statehood in 1820, from the ac-counts of state-supported agents to thePenobscots and Passamaquoddies. Al-though fragmentary, these data helpdemonstrate the survival of Nativecommunities, the recovery of theirpopulations after a century and a halfof decline, their political struggles, andthe minor yet significant roles they be-

gan to play in theemergance of mod-ern economies of thisinternational region.

The databaseincludes few entriesbeyond 1850. Thisterminating date

was dictated by practical consider-ations and by the fact that Native com-munities began to achieve a degree ofofficial and public recognition duringthe latter nineteenth century. Thismakes tracking individuals and theircommunities less difficult than earliertimes. The format we have developedprovides a minimum of interpretation,which invites researchers to seek fur-ther information in the original source.

We have imposed judgment uponthe original record in only one respect,by adding the “standard name” cat-egory to help tame orthographic vari-ability (the shifting patterns of namegiving practiced in the region duringthe seventeenth and eighteenth cen-turies and differing French and En-glish pronunciations of Native names).Our interpretations are probablyflawed in some cases, but we have alsoprovided the category of “recordedname” to allow for other interpreta-tions. The “date” category will oftennot include the month or day that per-tains to the account, usually becausethese data do not appear in the origi-nal source. The rest of the categoriesare self-explanatory.

In cooperation with InforME, weplan to have the data base accessibleon the Maine State Museum’s websiteby summer 2004. We are also begin-ning development of a GIS interfacefor easier access to all entries by geo-graphic location.

Bruce Bourque received his Ph. D.in Anthropology from Harvard Univer-sity in 1971. After a brief period of

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Using Common Technologies UncommonlyTo Create a New Traveling Museum Exhibit

BY MARY N. CLOUTIER

Soaring ImaginationOn December 6, 2003 the Maine State Museum will open a new exhibit

called “Soaring Imagination” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wrightbrothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk. It will feature a full-size replica of a glidermade in 1911 by a 17 year-old boy from Lewiston named Harold Cooper thatwill hang in the Museum atrium. It will also include the tail section from theoriginal glider, as well as artifacts from the Maine State Museum, Library andArchives relating to the early days of flight in Maine. The tail section and otherartifacts will be on view from December 6, 2003 through May 1, 2004. Thereplica glider itself will remain on view for several years. See http://www.state.me.us/museum/whatsnew/index.html for more information.

In collaboration with a multinational,multi-ethnic and multidisciplinary team,the Maine State Museum is currentlyplanning a new traveling exhibit. Tex-tiles, Clothing and Costume of the Mari-time Peninsula will focus upon Nativetextiles of the Maritime Peninsula, a re-gion encompassing eastern Maine, theMaritime Provinces and southern Que-bec. This geographic region is not wellknown because it is divided by the U.S. -Canadian border. Nevertheless it washistorically a region of remarkably uni-form Native culture, and this uniformityis clearly manifest in the beautiful tex-tiles made there since prehistoric times.

The material culture of the region,both prehistoric and historic, has becomemuch better understood during the pastthree decades as the result of archaeo-logical and ethnohistoric research. Sim-ply put, “ethnohistoric” research enablessubject experts to link source data to-gether to rediscover facts. For example,obscure, recorded historical source infor-mation on Wabanaki may be found inprivate European collections, baptismalregisters, state archives, libraries etc.Starting in 1984, Bruce realized he couldnot understand if/how these bits and frag-ments of source material related to eachother, unless he recorded information onindividuals in a database.

This, and discoveries made duringfield (digs) research (documented digi-

Bruce Bourque is chief archaeologist and curator of ethnography at the Maine State Mu-seum, and also is a senior lecturer in anthropology at Bates College. His profession has beenaided exponentially by commonly available digital cameras, database software, and Internetbased e-mail.

tally) has allowed museums to build sig-nificant collections of textiles newly rec-ognized as originating from the region.Collections from the Maine State Mu-seum, the New Brunswick Museum, andthe Nova Scotia Museum will provide thebulk of artifacts for the Maritime Penin-sula exhibit.

The exhibit’s design process will in-volve extensive consultation (typically viae-mail, often with digital photos of arti-facts attached) with appropriate curatorsand specialists from the Unites States andCanada, as well as representatives fromIndian tribes of the region. The MaineState Museum will design and constructthe exhibit, and have already includedgraphics of delicate and rare artifacts intorequest for proposals seeking professionalexhibit designers and conservators (ex-perts in collections’ care.) They anticipatetechnology will also be employed as partof interactive museum exhibits explain-ing Wabanakis culture as far back as7,500 years ago.

Museum designers also plan to dem-onstrate linkages between costume andsociopolitical change (which was dramaticthroughout the eighteenth and nine-teenth centuries with the arrival of Eu-ropeans) using ethnographic garmentsand artifacts, paintings, first-hand ac-counts, and other media. They will de-fine “textile” broadly to include woven bas-ketry, snowshoes, and even birch bark ar-tifacts that involved an element of stitch-ing. After opening at the Maine StateMuseum, this exhibit will travel to theNew Brunswick Museum in St. John, andthe Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax.Other possible venues include the AmericanTextile Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts,and the Musée de l’Homme in Paris.

Questions? Contact Bruce Bourque bye-mailing bruce.bourque@maine.gov.Copies of his book, Twelve Thousand YearsAmerican Indians in Maine may be pur-chased at the State Museum store.

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Norwegian penny issued by King Olaf Kyrrebetween A.D. 1065 and 1080, found in 1957 atthe Goddard site in Brooklin. The Maine StateMuseum has conducted excavations at this im-portant archaeological site since 1980. The siteappears to have been a major Indian trading lo-cation around 7-800 years ago and it is thoughtthat the coin arrived there along with other arti-facts from the far north in connection with thistrade.

teaching at Skidmore College inSaratoga Springs, New York, he ac-cepted a position as archaeologist atthe newly-opened Maine State Mu-seum in 1972. Since that time he hasconducted archaeological researchthroughout the state. In 1980, he be-gan planning for a large exhibit titled“Twelve Thousand Years in Maine.Faced with the need for better infor-mation on Indians of the historic pe-riod than was then available, he be-gan examining primary historic ac-counts that have generated most ofthe data included in the data base.

Museum Database, cont.

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Radio Free Belfast (Maine) BY HAROLD E. NELSON

Maine’s city of Belfast did not play a part in bringing down the Berlin wall (as the title suggests). However early radio experimentsconducted there in the 1920’s by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) did contribute to advancements in radio technology. Myresearch started in May 2003, and it is just beginning to reveal the major radio complex that existed in Belfast 80 years ago.

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A Maine Radio Pioneer A native ofNorth Haven, Harold Henry Beverage1

had an interest in radio, a new technologythat was developing rapidly, and he be-came a HAM (amateur radio) operator atan early age. While working at the U. S.Naval Radio (Fabbri) facility at Otter Cliffson Mount Desert Island, Beverage experi-mented with an antenna concept called the“wave antenna”. It was a long wire sus-pended on poles with insulators, not un-like a telephone line. He found that if thewire was pointed in the direction of thetransmit source, reception was better thanif the signals broadsided the wire. The an-tenna was set in place just in time to re-ceive news from Europe that the Armisticehad been signed, ending World War I. Thiswire antenna, developed with his col-leagues Rice and Kellogg is still known asthe Beverage Wave Antenna, and is oftenused by HAM operators today.

The Belfast Array International Ra-dio Telegraph Company (IRTC ) operateda ship-to-shore radio service out ofRockland for a year, and in 1920 movedtheir radio facility to Belfast. Near the in-tersection of Congress Street and theRoute 1 bypass, IRTC built two radiomasts, anchored by 6 large concrete piers2 .

Because RCA had many overseas con-tracts, IRTC sold their Belfast facility toRCA in 1921. David Sarnoff, CEO of RCA,(who would later go on to create the Na-tional Broadcasting Corporation), visitedBelfast to inspect the site. RCA expandedtheir experimental/commercial radio relaystation in the ensuing years. Indeed, theold section of the Belfast Armory was builtby RCA when a larger facility was needed.

RCA also built two Beverage Wave an-tennas, one south from the Armory build-ing crossing Belfast Reservoir No. 2,probably served South America. AnotherBeverage extended 10 miles west-south-west from the RCA complex stretchingacross Dog Island to the foot of MoodyMountain in Searsmont.

My Beverage Exploration By pro-fession, I am a geodetic survey techni-cian for the Maine Department of Trans-portation (harold.nelson@maine.gov).My background in geodetic, plane, andengineering surveys greatly aided theeffort to locate the wave antenna lines.The U. S. Dept. of Agriculture office inBelfast had 1939 aerial photographs thatclearly showed both Beverage routes.Using Maptech software, I plotted theantennas on topographic maps electroni-cally, created “waypoints” along the routeand downloaded them into a GarminGPSIII-Plus handheld unit. GPS greatlyadded to the efficiency of the search, asone can easily get “turned around” in thewoods!

Last summer, I was greatly assistedby Mr. Bruce Clark, a HAM operator(who owns two Beverage antennas) infinding “guy-anchors”, or “backstays”and coils of Belfast’s Beverage wire onwhat we called the “Reservoir” line.Bruce and friends also retrieved artifactsfor the Belfast Historical Society for theirdeveloping radio display.

Belfast Relays Radio History OnMarch 14, 1925, the Belfast relay sta-tion made radio history! Live dance bandmusic from the Savoy Hotel in Londonwas sent by:

1) landwire to radio station 5XX inChelmsford England, then2) sent by longwave to Belfast.3) RCA station 1XAO Belfast caught thesignal on the 10 mile long “Dog Island”wave antenna, then4) sent the signal via shortwave to an-other RCA station in Van Cortland Parkin New York City.5) RCA then broadcast the program onAM broadcast band via station WJZ toNew York listeners.6) The program also was sent by landwireto Washington, D. C. where station WRCbroadcast the same.

Ongoing Research Bruce Clark, “ra-dio archeologists” friends, the Belfast His-torical Society, and I are continuing to fol-low up on ever unfolding leads on Belfastradio history. The American Telegraph andTelephone Company (AT&T) studied radiosignal strengths from Europe, later select-ing a site in Houlton for their Transoce-anic Radiotelephone Receiving Stationthat opened in 1927. At some point, RCAswitched to using AT&T Long Lines con-nections to relay radio received from over-seas, and AT&T owned a farmhouse andacreage along Woods Road in Belfast. Thefarmhouse still has giant concrete piersinside the cellar below a “radio room”. Be-cause of conflict between receiving anten-nas and transmit antennas being closeproximity, RCA may have operated remotetransmit antennas as far north as Brooksand Monroe.

Much more field research (e.g. inter-views with local people), and countlesshours in libraries needs to be done. Ku-dos to Bruce Clark for all his time alreadyspent in the Belfast Public Library, andgoing through microfilms of the Republi-can Journal newspaper archives.

1 The book, Genius at Riverhead, a Profile of Harold H. Bev-erage by Alberta I. Wallen, Published by North Haven His-torical Society, gives a good synopsis of his life and detailshow this technically oriented man got a job with the tele-phone company as a youth, graduated from the University ofMaine Electrical Engineering program in 1915, and went onto become the Chief Research Engineer at the Riverhead,Long Island RCA facility.

2 One of the piers marked “1920” is still easily visible in thebackslope of Route 1 just north of Congress Street.

Original RCA relay station. Note the giant tuning coil to the right. Congress Street is in the background.Photo source: Republican Journal Newspaper Archives, Belfast, Maine

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IBM MainFrame Access Changing

BY JOHN C. TYLER

Currently, the Bureau of Information Services (BIS) hastwo pathways for IBM mainframe access for full screen andfile transfer functions. Their IP addresses are141.114.124.15 and 10.10.90.1 respectively. Early in 2004,we will be installing the next release of the IBM operatingsystem. In preparation for this upgrade, BIS has sched-uled the removal of the older 141.114.124.15 pathway onDecember 28th, as part of the regularly scheduled systemreset that occurs every Sunday. This change is part of aseries of cost saving measures. Retiring the older networkwill save the state money.

There are still a few users that directly point to the oldpathway IP address to get to mainframe applications, suchas NECSES or MFASIS. These users will lose connectivityafter December 28. (Users who use the new address oruse the names memvs.dafs.state.me.us or memvs.ddp.state.me.us will not be affected by this change.)

If you have any questions about your connection to theIBM, please contact the technical person responsible foryour PC.

John C. Tyler is a Senior Technical Support Specialist,in BIS’ Systems and Software group. He may be reached bye-mailing john.c.tyler@maine.gov, or calling 624-9446.

New On-Line License Renewal Service

BY RENEE LORING

Maine Professional Engineers benefit from improvedeGovernment service and delivery.

One need not be a computer expert to benefit from on-line ser-vice. With a computer and a few clicks of the mouse, Maine’s 6,000licensed engineers have the option to renew their licenses fromthe comfort of home or office, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week!

The Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, in part-nership with InforME, Maine’s eGovernment Portal, is delightedto now offer Maine engineers a convenient on-line service alter-native called On-line License Renewal service. The new serviceis available at: https://www.maine.gov/professionalengineersfor the 2004 renewal period.

By inputting a unique license number and last name, anengineer’s license record is quickly retrieved, and a paymentscreen is provided. Credit card payment is accepted throughsecure socket layer, ensuring security, and privacy of personalinformation. With instant access and payment, the renewal pro-cess is quick and easy!

Engineers are required to renew bi-annually, and may do sowithin the first three months of their renewal date. For moreinformation regarding the Board of Engineering, please visit:http://professionals.maineusa.com/

For more information about InforME, please visit: http://www.maine.gov/informe/

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During this holiday season, let’s notforget our troops overseas. The De-partment of Conservation’s InformationTechnology Manager, Tom Driscoll, is ahelicopter pilot with the 112th, stationedin Iraq and Kuwait.

Thanks to satellite dishes, like the one pic-tured here (“next to the admin tent – wherethe maintenance guys live at Udairi, ourmain camp in Kuwait”) Tom can commu-nicate with family and friends statesidevia e-mail.

Although an accomplished helicopter pilot, Tom seemsto have trouble convincing another type of transporta-tion into action! If you have experience motivatingmules, e-mail Tom to give him the benefit of your ad-vice, and to wish him well. tom.driscoll@us.army.mil

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Mary N. Cloutier (BIS), Editor Karen Knox (BIS), On-line Editor

Members:Janey Barton (BIS)M.D. Bowman (BIS)David H. Ellis (BIS)Melicent Versteeg (Maine Revenue Services)Robert Witham (BIS)Colleen Gesualdo (MDOT)Jeffrey W. Cotnoir (BIS)Susan Spinell (Maine Conservation Corps.)

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TRANSITIONS

Thanks to all the 2003 Authors

Joe Kilcoyne, Systems Section Manager for Production Services’Software Support, retired effective November 30, 2003. After morethan 37 years of service to the State, Joe’s last work day was Friday,November 14, 2003. Best wishes Joe in your retirement!

Drawing and lettering by Nicki Bistrais