Posted by John Patrick on Aug 29, 2005 in
Hiking
It is hard to believe that August is almost over. Where did the summer go? For me the months of June, July, and August were probably the busiest ever with two trips to Norway, two to Dallas, Washinton, San Francisco, Wyoming, Zaragoza, Spain, Philadelphia, and a handfull to New York City. In spite of all this travel for speeches and board meetings, it was a really great summer. Seeing a lot of family and friends for my 60th was quite special, and I was able to get in quite a few geocaching hikes.
I began geocaching in 2003 but this summer was the most active with the addition of twenty-two caches and twelve benchmarks to the "found" list. (Total caches found stands at 37 — in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, Arizona, Hawaii, and Norway). We also picked up eight travel bugs, put five new bugs in circulation, and placed a new cache. Geocaching is a sport that has a lot to offer, is a lot of fun, and I think it will be one of the "next big things". I have a story about geocaching in the works, but for now, I will just share a bit about one day of geocaching, our last for the summer, that took place this past week. On Friday afternoon we found three caches and one benchmark. (read more)
Posted by John Patrick on Aug 27, 2005 in
Internet Technology 
According to a story in the Washington Post, the U.S. Copyright Office is about to launch a new web-based program to allow artists to register certain works for copyright protection. This is good. It was also reported that the new web site is going to require the use of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. This is bad.
Industry experts of all kinds have come forward to argue that the Copyright Office plan would be a very bad precedent and that the application process should work with any and all browsers. I would say it differently. Governments — and businesses, hospitals, universities, and all of us — should create content and applications for the web using open Internet standards. Open Internet standards are those developed collaboratively by a representative group of companies, organizations, and experts. It is open Internet standards that make the Internet work the same on all corners of the earth and make web content readable by anyone anywhere.
No doubt some will advance conspiracy theories that Microsoft is attempting to lock-up the Federal government with proprietary technology and then use the combined leverage to force all of us to use Internet Explorer. I do not subscribe to that. In most situations like these it comes down to paths of least resistance. It is easier to build an application for one browser, test it for one browser, and tell the users to just use one browser. But, does that make it right? No.
The web is for all of us. Some of us like Opera, some like Firefox, some like Internet Explorer, some like Safari, and some like various Linux browsers that are available. That’s ok. Competition is good. If it were not for Netscape, Microsoft would not have developed IE beyond it’s humble beginnings. If it was not for Opera and Firefox, Microsoft would not be developing IE 7. The competition will result in better and better browsers. The burden is on web content and application developers to use the open Internet standards and to do cross-browser testing. If the standards are followed, the testing should be simple. People should be able to use whatever browser they want — as long as their browser was built to support the open industry standards. The market will decide which ones they like best. We don’t all drive the same car or use the same kind of PC. There is no reason we should all be using the same browser.
Epilogue: One reason that I am involved with Opera Software is that they have a deep commitment to open industry standards. See story about their new browser.
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Posted by John Patrick on Aug 24, 2005 in
Hiking The word "benchmark" normally refers to a test or comparison. For example, in the information technology field a benchmark would reveal the speed of an IBM mainframe computer performing certain tasks compared to another type of computer doing those same things.
There is another type of benchmark that may be less familiar to most of us which is based on "geodetic control points". These benchmarks are typically brass or aluminum disks which are permanently affixed to a rock or monument — in other words to something that is not supposed to ever move. Surveyors and civil engineers use the benchmarks as reference points to enable them to design roads, buildings, bridges, or to make maps. The benchmarks are created and maintained by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) — as of this writing there are 736,425 benchmarks in their database. The benchmarks are also in the geocaching.com database and provide a great extension to the sport of geocache hide and seek.
The interesting thing about benchmarks and horizontal control points is that a majority of them are located in the open (though largely ignored by the general public). Like geocaching, searching out the locations of benchmarks and documenting them allows the enthusiast a sense of accomplishment — it is fun. Some "benchmarkers" share pictures of the various areas where the benchmarks are placed. I have found this really helpful. Some benchmarks are really hard to find even though they are "in plain view". Most of them were placed at least fifty years ago and many have been covered over with dirt, leaves, moss, or in some cases have been destroyed by construction projects. They are also hard to find because the latitude and longitude were established using maps — there were no handheld GPS’s back then. I have found one that was 300 feet from where it was supposed to be.
In the third week of August 2005, 901 benchmarks were logged by 371 users.
Overall, 68,083 benchmarks have been found. Impressive but it is less than ten percent of the marks in the database. There is still plenty of time to find an undiscovered piece of American history! (read more)
Posted by John Patrick on Aug 23, 2005 in
Hiking 
One accomplishment for the summer has been to place a new geocache in Ridgefield, Connecticut. We named it Nutmeg and Laurel (after the state nickname and state flower) and it is hidden not far off of a trail which is near the Ridgefield "rails to trails" hiking path. Details about the cache can be found here. If you are not yet into the sport of geocaching, you may want to visit geocaching.com. (A story about the subject is coming up soon). If you find the cache you may also find some travel bugs. If you are the first to find the Nutmeg and Laurel cache we will have a prize for you.
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Posted by John Patrick on Aug 17, 2005 in
IBM 
The folks at IBM tell me that readership at the Mainframe Blog is growing. This is not surprising. There are a lot of us "old timers" out there that have fond memories and many people around the world who are using, developing, extending, exploiting, and loving mainframes. You might say it is somewhat of a cult. The initial posts at the Mainframe Blog have been by current or formers IBMers, but knowing IBM’s passion for collaborative innovation, it would not surprise me to see the blog opened up over time to a wide variety of points of view across the industry and customer base.
The Main Mainframe blog
Mainframes and the virtual datacenter
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Posted by John Patrick on Aug 16, 2005 in
IBM We all have our favorite mainframes. For many it will surely be the new and sophisticated mainframe Z9. For me there are four mainframes that standout among my memories. First was the GE 225 at Lehigh University where I was an electrical engineering student (1963-1967). The programming language used was called WIZ and it was very similar to BASIC. Programs were literally written on paper and then punched into "IBM Cards" using a keypunch. The deck of cards was then "submitted" through a plastic window. Hours later (sometimes days) the results of the program, known as a "printout" were placed in bins where students could pick them up.
I was fortunate to be able to go to graduate school at the University of South Florida part time while I was serving in the U.S. Army at the U.S. STRIKE Command in Tampa, Florida (STRIKE stood for swift tactical retaliation in any known environment). My masters thesis was in operations research and GPSS was the programming language I used to build simulation models. Like using the GE 225, programs were created on punched cards and submitted through a window — this time to an IBM System 360 Model 65. The model 65 was a giant of computing at the time — many times faster than the GE 225. Mainframe #3 is one I got to know up close and personal. (read more)
Posted by John Patrick on Aug 11, 2005 in
IBM 
A little more than five years ago (see "in the news") IBM announced that it would begin installing and supporting the Linux operating system on its mainframe computers. A lot has happened with Linux and with mainframes since then, but first of all, what is a mainframe? Is it a "main" frame, a main "frame", or something else? The wikipedia offers a history and perspective on mainframes, but my recollection is slightly different. IBM computers used to be constructed in steel "frames" that would fill a large building — and required a lot of plumbing to provide the circulating water to keep them from overheating. In one of the frames was a "console" — think of it like the keyboard of a PC — which provided many dials and switches — like an airliner cockpit — that enabled the "system operator" to control the computer and tell it what to do. That particular frame was the "main frame".
Today’s most sophisticated mainframe, the Z9, stands a mere 6 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 3,836 lbs, and occupies a footprint of 27 square feet. I was in the room at the Hotel W last month when the Z9 was announced. It was quite impressive to see the sleek space-age system on stage with the power to replace thousands of separate servers. More than a billion dollars was invested in the engineering and development of the machine.
People have talked about the death of the mainframe for years but after seeing the Z9, you can be sure they are not going away for a very long time. In addition to the Z9, IBM announced an extension of it’s incredibly powerful virtualization engine software. The combination of the new mainframe and the new software will make it possible to turn a real datacenter into a virtual datacenter. This is a really big deal. CEO’s, CIO’s, and CFO’s are making plans to consolidate their datacenters using the new combo because virtual datacenters require fewer people, offer more reliability, and are much less costly to operate. Sounds good, but what is a datacenter and what is a virtual datacenter? (read more)
Posted by John Patrick on Aug 9, 2005 in
Conferences 
The conference circuit takes no summer break (see engagement calendar). MRO World was quite interesting in Dallas in July and coincidentally the Texas Association of State Systems for Computing and Communications Annual Meeting this week is also in Dallas. The Fall will be very active too. I plan to attend DEMOfall in Huntington Beach in September for sure. I will not be able to be there this time but another really good conference is Vortex. Take a look at John Gallant’s blog to learn about it.
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Posted by John Patrick on Aug 4, 2005 in
On Demand 
There are many things in the queue to write about but I can not resist commenting on an email I just received. Awhile back I was looking for some video conversion software and I found something I thought would be useful and purchased it at Sorenson Media. I then began to receive regular emails from them and subsequently decided I no longer wanted to hear from them. I clicked on the "unsubscribe" link in their email — at least they had one, unlike Circuit City and others. I then received the following from them in an email — "john@patrickweb.com will be removed from our mailing lists. Please allow 7-10 business days for this request to be processed". Seven to ten days? Most web sites provide email confirmation of a purchase within seconds and yet Sorenson needs 7-10 days to update their databaes? Seems that "7-10 days" has become part of a lexicon. It is like "I’ll get back to you on that". Hello? This is the 21rst century. Please stop using language that sounds like it is coming from another planet. How about, "We received your request. We regret that you have chosen to no longer receive our mailings and we immediately removed your email address from our list. You will no longer hear from us, but we do hope you will come back. You are always welcome at Sorenson Media".
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Posted by John Patrick on Aug 3, 2005 in
On Demand 
There are a number of stories about geocaching pending. I have to admit that August is a bit slow with only one speaking engagement, in Dallas, and a trip to Oslo, Norway for the tenth anniversary of Opera Software. I could not resist commenting about an email I received today from the BMG Classical Music Service .
I found BMG very useful some years ago — actually more like a decade ago — as I am a fan of classical music. Back then I subscribed to various CD specials for collections of music composed by Mozart, Beethoven, and others. With the advent of iTunes I find BMG to be an artifact. One thing I will say about them — they don’t give up. In fact they are clinging to the past big time.
Their email pushed their latest CD’s — no problem — but at the bottom said "If you wish to unsubscribe from this email and receive your Featured Selection information via postal mail, simply go to "My Account" and click the Update button under Preferences. Go to the Mailing Preferences section, select Postal Mail, and click Save. Please allow 10 business days for your unsubscribe request to be confirmed. You may contact BMG Music Service at the following address: BMG Direct, Inc., 6550 East 30th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46219-1194, Attention: Unsubscribe Requests". Postal mail? Allow ten business days? How about "Click here to unsubscribe"? Now — instantly.
I believe "opt-in" is the way to go but if a company chooses "opt-out" then at a minimum they should allow "click here to unsubscribe" and make it really easy. The BMG approach is a clear sign that they are clinging to the past. The issue is not stealing music. The issue is for companies to give us a way to buy music. iTunes is doing that . BMG is off in the weeds. A click on a link in their email resulted in …..
"In order to serve you better, we are currently upgrading our site.
We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.
Please return soon."
Right.
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