Navy’s IT Expansion
Will Provide Schools
With Donated Computers
Casino industry experts predict the introduction of Barona Casino’s coinless Las Vegas-style slot machines is a hint of what’s to come.
Starting this month, the Lakeside casino, owned by the Barona Band of Mission Indians, will begin using a voucher in/voucher out technology for its slot machines. Under the voucher system, players will insert cash or a voucher into the machine. When cashing out, players will receive a printed voucher that can be used in any machine throughout the casino.
The new voucher technology will eventually replace traditional coin-operated slot machines around the world.
“Barona Casino is going to be an incredible experience for the casino industry. The voucher in/voucher out technology is 21st century and represents the future of slot machine gaming,” said Bob Bittman, vice president of product development of Reno, Nev.-based International Game Technology (IGT), one of the slot machine manufacturers supplying Barona with machines equipped with the new voucher system.
“While the technology is significant, what is truly remarkable is that Barona Casino was able to accelerate the introduction of this technology to the casino floor by encouraging competitors to work together to develop a voucher system that is compatible to nearly a dozen different slot machine manufacturers.”
Besides IGT, Barona Casino officials also worked with Bally Gaming Systems and Sierra Design Group to develop the next generation slot machine technology.
Russ Ristine, vice president of systems development for Bally Gaming Systems, said the voucher system will create a whole new wave in casino gaming.
“The gaming player at Barona Casino will be able to play Las Vegas games in a way you can’t play in Las Vegas,” he said. “The main benefit to the player is a much better tested system and a much more convenient way to play because they won’t have to be inconvenienced by coins anymore.”
More than 88 percent of Barona’s games will operate with the new voucher technology.
Barona Casino, which has invested about $40 million on the new voucher system and machines, will still continue to offer a mix of coin-operated slot machines.
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A Naval Idea: The Pacific Fleet’s consolidation of information technology resources is expected to not only be a boon for local Navy commands but also for local schools.
“What it means for the Navy is leveling the playing field for a significant number of users, which will increase efficiencies, which is important in a downsizing environment,” said Michael Blaksley, regional information technology service center director for the Pacific Fleet and for San Diego-based Navy Region Southwest.
Before the consolidation, all commands purchased their own IT products and services.
Now, the commands will buy new IT products and services as a whole.
The Navy will be donating some of its older computer equipment, such as 486 and lower-end Pentiums computers, to local schools.
“It’s really exciting to be able to do this and to be able to make an investment back into the community,” Blaksley said. “These are still operationally capable machines. They have the ability to do rudimentary IT tasks, such as word processing and spreadsheets. They’re not going to teach whiz-bang video games, but they’re useful.”
Some of the Navy’s IT equipment will be transferred to San Diego schools this month.
Bits & Bytes: Brian Douglass, co-founder and CEO of Digital Outpost in Carlsbad, said the firm plans to digitally compress more music Internet concerts after its recent success with international pop group U2’s new Pop Mart concert tour broadcast. The concert will be broadcast on the ‘Net using Burst.Com, Inc.’s new broadband delivery technology. San Francisco-based Burst.Com, which has a strategic alliance with Digital Outpost, develops Faster-Than-Real-Time and Burst-enabled video and audio delivery software.
The U2 concert will be available for free for three weeks starting June 8 at (www.U2.burst.com). Douglass said Digital Outpost also has a couple of digital compression contracts in the works for feature films.
San Diego’s MusicMatch Inc. has introduced a version of its computer-enabled jukebox software for Apple Computer Corp.’s line of machines. MusicMatch’s jukebox software allows computer users to record CDs, download music from the Internet, organize songs into play lists and transfer them to portable digital music players.
The Titan Corp. is taking its electronic food pasteurization technology to Brazil. Titan’s subsidiary, Surebeam Corp., has entered into a $50 million joint agreement with Tech Ion Industrial Brasil S.A. to create Surebeam-Brazil. The joint venture is expected to operate the world’s largest system dedicated to enhancing food safety and preservation. This is the second international agreement Surebeam has struck since January. That’s when the company formed a joint venture with Mitsubishi to establish a food pasteurization and medical production sterilization facility in Japan.
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