The Internet Alliance has expanded its Internet State Coalition with the addition of Emily T. Hacket, state policy director, and Ron Teixeira, policy manager, to the team. Both Hacket and Teixeira have state and federal experience and will be working to connect state, federal and international activities. "The Internet State Coalition is the only one of its kind in the United States. It is politically active in 49 of the 50 states, excluding California," said Internet Alliance Executive Director Jeff Richards. "My expectation is that Emily will help us decide what to do about California." Hacket has an extensive resume, previously working as Secretary to the Federal Trade Commission, the White House, Office of Management and Budget, and the Domestic Policy Council. As policy manager Teixeira is expected to "connect-the-dots" of Internet state, federal and international issues on a daily basis. Teixeira was a legislative director of delegate Peter Franchot in the Maryland General Assembly.

     Now that Wyoming's CIO Larry Stolz has retired, it seems the natural course of action would be for the state to launch a nationwide search much like the one Washington state is currently in the midst of. But that is not the case. Since Wyoming does not have a conventional CIO like most of the states, state officials have decided to hold off and upgrade the position. Stolz's primary role was within the Department of Administration and Information, but he worked on the state's technology and information issues in a greater capacity. "It is still up in the air. They are trying to figure out exactly what the position will do," said Eric Curry, spokesman for Gov. Jim Geringer, R. "They have had a few meetings with the Wyoming Business Council. Once they figure out exactly what it will be they will start the search for the person."

     The Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, which combats cyberterrorism for the White House, has hired John Tritak as the new director to replace Jeffrey Hunker, who will be working at the National Security Council. As director, Tritak will aid in the development of "an integrated National Infrastructure Assurance Plan to address physical and cyber threats to the Nation's communications and electronic systems, trasportation, energy, banking and finance, health and medical services, water supply, and key government issues."

     According to a recent independent poll, Sen. Slade Gorton, R-WA, has a narrow 2-point lead over Rep. Jim McDermott, D-WA, in a potential year 2000 race for Senate. Seattle-based Elway Research surveyed 405 registered voters and found Gorton, a strong Microsoft defender, with 41 percent of the vote and McDermott with 39 percent. Although McDermott has not officially entered the race for Senate, these latest statistics may spark a campaign.

     The line separating Hollywood and Silicon Valley have become a bit skewed as of late, and the recent barrage of book tours featuring a trio of Silicon Valley exposes is not making it any easier to decipher. Hailed as "three of the most exciting young voices of Silicon Valley," Po Bronson, Gary Rivlin and Kara Swisher have been promoting their books on Silicon's celebrities. There's "The Nudist on the Late Shift, and Other True Tales of Silicon Valley," "The Plot to Get Bill Gates, an Irreverent Investigation of the World's Richest Man... and the People Who Hate Him," and "AOL.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web," respectively. And the crop of writers and books continues to grow.

     Cable industry veteran Robert Sachs has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the National Cable Television Association. Before taking the job recently vacated by Decker Anstrom, who announced he was leaving to head the Weather Channel, Sachs served as vice president of corporate and legal affairs with Continental Cablevision Inc. and MediaOne. Most recently he was a consultant with the Continental Consulting Group LLC, which he co-founded. Sachs' resume also includes serving as an aide to former Sen. Charles Goodell, R-NY, and former Rep. Timothy Wirth, D-CO, and consultant on telecommunications policy to the Carter Administration.

     In an attempt to increase General Electric's Internet visibility, chairman and chief executive of the company, John F. Welch Jr. will join the board of NBC Internet, according to a Bloomberg News report. NBC Internet is being formed from the expected merger of Xoom.com and Snap.com, "a joint venture of NBC and CNET with Internet assets from GE's NBC television division." Expected to serve as chairman of NBCi's board is NBC chief executive Robert Wright.

     Hewlett-Packard Co. made two historic landmarks and perhaps set two precedents when it hired Carleton "Carly" Fiorina to be its president and chief executive. Succeeding Lewis Platt, who is currently the company's CEO and chairman, Fiorina became the first outsider ever hired by the computer company as its top executive, and has made Hewlett-Packard the largest company to be headed by a woman. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the appointment "signals the Palo Alto., Calif., company is serious about continuing to revamp its stodgy image."

     Acknowledging the pace of Internet growth and its tremendous influence on the computer industry, Intel has created a new business division and rearranged some of the other units in order to keep up with the apparent demand. "Our mission has been to be the preeminent building block supplier to the computing industry," said Michael Sullivan, Intel spokesman. "And now we want to be the leading building block supplier to the Internet economy." The new business unit will be divided into four categories: clients, servers, network infrastructure and Internet services and solutions. Former general manager of the Enterprise Server Group, Intel Vice President John H. F. Miner will head the new Communications Products Group and will answer directly to president and chief executive officer Craig R. Barrett. Some things will not change however, and Mark Christensen will continue to head Intel's Network Communications Group.

     Former vice president of advanced computer products at Compaq Computer Corp., Trey Smith has been named senior vice president of engineering and technology and chief technology officer for the high speed Internet service provider Road Runner. Prior to this appointment, Smith represented Compaq on Road Runner's technology committee.

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