Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-GA, has a new gig. He has joined the conservative Washington think tank American Enterprise Institute as a senior fellow doing research on how the Internet and information technology will have an impact on health care and other issues. Anne Beighey, director of the project Gingrich will work on, said part of his work will focus on how the increase in health information on the Internet and advances in information technology may help improve health care. While his initial focus will not be on policy issues surrounding health care, he may examine such issues as medical records privacy and other issues as part of his work, said Beighey, who served as a special assistant to Gingrich while he was in the House.

    The Father Gore fallout continues. "The day I made that comment, I was tired from staying up all night inventing the camcorder," quipped the beleaguered veep, who was defended by President Clinton at his press conference last Thursday. "Well, you know, he came a lot closer to inventing the Internet than I did. I will say this about it. First of all, you remember he was talking about the Information Superhighway 20 years ago. And he did have a lot to do with supporting the development of it and supporting the government research that led to these developments. And keep in mind, I think when I became president in 1993 there were still only 50 or 60 sites on the Internet, and now there are millions and millions." (According to the Commerce Department, there were actually 26,000 unique domains in 1993, Clinton's first year in office.) Some of those scientists who did create the Internet praised Gore, with ARPANET pioneer Robert E. Kahn saying Gore's coining of the phrase "information superhighway" was a help, and Dave Farber, a professor of telecommunications at the University of Pennsylvania, saying "Gore did not technically create the Internet, but without him there is a good chance it would not be where it is today." ICANN CEO Mike Roberts says Gore shouldn't have made the comment, but "his opponents have made a mountain out of a molehill. Nobody gets the credit for the creation of what we know as the Internet. I think he had the major inside-the-Beltway role in turning the Internet from a research tool into something pointed squarely to education and the economy at large." No-longer-plaid-clad presidential hopeful Lamar Alexander struck what we can only hope is the final Goreternet joke: "It is true that I, Lamar Alexander, invented plaid. I created, myself, the fabric that makes our nation great."

    Network Solutions has announced its new government relations and corporate communications team lineups. Christopher Roosa joins as director of Internet Affairs, and Brian O'Shaughnessy becomes senior manager of corporate communications.

    Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold is thinking of leaving Microsoft, according to TechDirt.

    Los Angeles CIO John Hwang listed his top 10 Y2K lessons at the California Y2K emergency and business continuity event March 16: