Posts by Javapapa

Re: If anyone knows of any other solutions, please reply.

Windows 7

Mac OS

Linux

Chromebook

Android

Ahh'll not be baack.

"A bit like a wrinkly grey-haired T-800, you find yourself rooting for it."

I am wrinkly, and definitely grey-haired, but after the IBM mainframe execs dragged the glorious AS/400 brand through the dirt (let's call it e-server iSeries; no, just iSeries; no call it "i for business", no, just call it "i"), I feel no desire to root for IBM anymore.

I do miss the stone cold consistent TLA commands compared to the childish Unix/Linux nonsense, but the RPG language not at all. A good ride, and thank you Dr Frank Soltis for all the fish.

No one works in Washington except contractors

The bureaucrats simply approve invoices. Outsourcing went into high gear under Reagan and the feds started buying COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf) hardware. You would be amazed by the amount of whitebox computers purchased, some even assembled in the suburbs.

Don't they have accountants in Japan?

Or is it the old "the nail that sticks up is soon hammered down" culture regarding reluctance to warn the boss of bad news?

You are not the customer...

...unless you bought a box of software (or download equivalent).

The OEMs are the customer.

That fact explains Microsoft's behavior.

Waiting for bendable wrist cuff

Like the military use. I usually know exactly where I am, but it would be so cool to tap the map to confirm airstrike targeting. Or summon Uber.

Oh, like an AS/400?

Beautifully integrated, if you didn't mind extreme vendor lock-in and IBM's goal of 40% profit margin before taxes.

Or the loss of IT empire because one admin could support hundreds of users.

In my day sonny,

We bought IBM AS/400's with integrated everything, and we LOVED it!

Too bad we didn't know then we were hyperconverged.

Fawlty Software

Manuel, you nitwit, I said "test the patch", not "mess the batch"!

?Que?

NASA history

Told quite well in a book titled "Digiral Apollo". Chapter on rope wranglers was fascinating - they literally hard coded the small program segments with wire bundles.

Easy fix

Relabel buttons "Download, eh?"

Corporate rollouts to 20,000? Meh.

IIRC, Amazon rolled out a major order entry, inventory search, payment & shipment tracking system to over 200 million desktop users last year.

I believe their end user operating system platform used a bunch of capital lettered components glued together with a poorly named language, what was that, oh yes, now I remember, HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

No need to call the bouncer over, I'm getting my coat. Please leave my Chrome running on Win 7 when I get back from paying the Hypocrite Tax.

Real world experience with a Leaf

Automotive journalists get to drive lots of cars, but don't get to live with them for long.

Into my fifth month driving a base model Nissan Leaf in Houston. Currently using the "trickle charger" at home, plan to install a 220 volt 30 amp circuit soon for a L2 6.6 kW/hr charger. My daily commute is less than 40 miles on a combination of level urban streets and Interstates with overpasses. I arrive home with 50% or more of remaining charge; plug-in overnight, ready to go next morning.

Wife's Tiguan is our intercity vehicle. Tesla installs charging stations between cities, very few Level 3 CHAdeMO equivalents for Leaf or Volt drivers. Nissan dealer is three blocks from office building, with three other L3 chargers within a 3 mile radius, one near restaurants.

Love the torque, love the silence, love the wide variety of fuels used to power the grid. Leasing to mitigate risk of premature battery decline or range obsolescence. Unknown maintenance costs for the electronics, expect the motor itself to be long lived.

The best design compromise single car drivers is probably a plug in hybrid with small engine optimized for charging the battery when needed, simplifying the drivetrain. Chevy Volt is a good example, BMW i3 is another. Not impressed with complexity of the Prius.

For the naysayers, consider the serendipity of cross over technical advancement. Laptops created a mass market for lithium ion batteries, which made the Tesla roadster possible.

I have probably purchased my last ICE powered vehicle.

Who needs proof?

Having a flimsy excuse (or being unwilling to show technical details of the evidence chain) is better than no excuse to take them off-line. Heck, we should mess with their minds just for them tolerating a supreme leader with a bad haircut.

Flashback memory

We used tired batteries from our tactical radio in Vietnam to read at night in our basecamp after the noisy diesel generators shutdown.

Expect a spike up in December

When all the students come home and surf the net on their parents' XP desktops.

CoreOS Blog graphics styling?

Terrible choice of thin line font and very light gray text color, IMHO. Does anyone know if a Chrome or Firefox extension exists to force text to be rendered full black? I remember the early days when IE or NN would allow overriding the designer's intent.

Hard to determine righteousness or unrighteousness when you can't read the reasoning without performing SelectAll to invert the colors. Or is it just me?

Let's just call them IB

Pretty soon there won't be any Machines to sell. Serves them right for treating the AS/400 brand with benign neglect.

I remember Multiplan

It was available when Datapoint was desperately trying to stay alive and "office automation" was all the rage. The paperless office and all that jazz.

Heck, I even remember spread "sheets" - pads of wide, columnar oriented accounting paper forms. I sold Monroe electronic calculators to minions who cross footed sums of rows with sums of columns as a error detection technique.

Watching the keynotes

Pretty obvious to me that no one presenting keynotes at OpenWorld or JavaOne has ever studied Steve Jobs and his style and grace when presenting, let alone his dedication to weeks of rehearsal. Battery failure of a hand held slide controller? Hundreds of words on a slide? Pitiful repeat of a claim as a desperate plea for applause?

New market opportunity: SJaaS

Proud to be a Rackspace customer

Texas history has a defining moment when Colonel Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword, allowing each volunteer to decide if they would stay and fight, or leave. The Alamo defenders, out numbered over 10 to 1, held off Santa Anna's army for 13 days, giving Sam Houston vital time to assemble his militia.

Rackspace is a Texas company.

Trolls, you are on notice.

Seniors have their moments

I say balderdash to big buttons and simplified screens.

I'm 66. I want to say, "Computer, <command in native language>" and not have to touch anything, hold anything in my hand, wear funny glasses, or attach a Bluetooth dongle to my ear. I want this unseen, ever ready servant to be in my car, in my office, and in my home, with the nearest display, speaker, lock, machine, applicance or vehicle automatically activated. Siri, Galaxy, Cortana: you ladies are getting close, but more interfaces and AI services are yet to be created.

There is your roadmap kids. Get cracking.

Chinese takeout

100 minutes is a little long to wait for Shanghai cuisine to be delivered to San Francisco.

Unless "takeout" means delivering something hotter than Gen Tso's chicken.

Certs vs Experience

BS degree in Finance (quit laughing, I have).

Forty years of IT experience, over half as a direct contractor.

Self taught in RPG, SQL, Databus, Java, Javascript, HTML, CSS, NoSQL.

Exactly one certification - Sun Java Programmer.

Exactly one paid formal training for a product (Obsysdian) which was eclipsed by Java.

Attended a few conferences when I could justify the opportunity cost, never paid to go.

Many viewings of conference keynotes and tech talks on Youtube, Vimeo, or conference sites.

Many viewings of tech talk slideshows on Slideshare.

Hundreds of books (my expense) on software development and database design.

Subscriptions (my expense) to ComputerWorld, BusinessWeek, Fortune, JavaWorld, Database, Programming Languages back when print was king.

Many, many monthly user group meetings (my expense or free). Still go.

Purchased compiler licenses (my expense) of VisualBasic, Databus, Smalltalk.

Hundreds of downloads of open source software.

Made friends with other professionals; was an instructor/mentor to others.

Get the picture? Invest in yourself. No one else cares more about your career than you.

Regrets? Some, mainly not seeking masters degree and not going to more conferences.

Switching providers

In the Colonies, when switching providers, we often have to talk with a rep from a third party company which provides legal protection against charges of "slamming" on part of new provider. Been a while, so don't know if still in effect.

Btw, all governments are or quickly become oligarchies. In fact, the leader of our Revolution was one of the richest men in the American colonies, so knock it off, ok? At least we get to choose from the fortunate few with the stamina to run for election and endure a form of Question Time which we laughingly call debates. Representative republics with divided power and terms of office do tend to reflect the will of the people. Can't help it if the people are insane.

God save the Queen, y'all!

Price regulation

King Louis XIV, in an attempt to please the masses, and protect them from the evil bakers, sets the price of bread below production costs + profit, but leaves expensive luxury goods (ie, cake) alone.

Reports soon come in that the masses are even more PO'ed, as there is now no more more bread.

Marie Antoinette responds, "Then let them eat cake."

No wonder they cut their heads off. One way to eliminate faulty thinking.

Cycles

The politicians enable the spies, the spies monitor the politicians (explaining why Hoover remained in power for 48, count 'em, 48 years).

Took a clean living Mormon from Idaho to make reforms in 1975. Don't be surprised that no one else is stepping forward.

Open source vs closed source

With Five Eyes, all bugs are exploited.

Anyone know what this is?

23.671402, 58.117301

Located southwest of GHQC compound.

GoTinder hackers

Apply here http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/loebner-prize.html for your $100,000 Turing Test prize.