http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfhindex.html All Four Hundred Newsletters. en-us 2011 Guild Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved February 8, 2012 IT Jungle IT Jungle http://www.itjungle/com/tfh/400-rss.html 20 http://www.itjungle.com/images/tfh/title_tfh.gif http://www.itjungle/com/tfh/400-rss.html 275 50 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story01.html IBM had the right idea back in April 1964 when it announced the System/360 mainframe, and it even had a name that reflected its understanding of what customers wanted. The idea was that a single line of machines, using different processor and storage technologies, would be united by levels of abstraction that would allow them to all run the same applications, but just on a different scale and with different price points. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story01.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story02.html There'll be no confetti dropping from the ceiling or champagne corks popping, but IBM's announcement that Rational Open Access: RPG Edition becomes available as a free PTF beginning February 14 deserves a little fanfare. Here's a technology with a lot of promise, the native GUI interface as some call it, that's finally available without blood, sweat, and tears poured into the ordering process. And, even better, without any licensing charges. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story02.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story03.html For the past two years RPG Open Access technology has been available, yet it remained unseen and even unheard by a great many people in the IBM i community. A combination of low visibility--partly related to a few ISVs taking the lead on some projects, while onlookers waited to see how the projects turned out--and limited budgets, which put a lot of IT and other expenditures on the skids. Application modernization projects have sprouted here and there, but let's just say it's not burning down the house. It's at a point, however, where we should see a green-screen fade. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story03.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story04.html If you want to become successful, every few years someone will write a book telling you how. Just follow these three steps, develop these seven habits, add stock options and voila, you too can be a screaming success. Or, if that doesn't work, it helps to have the good fortune to be born to rich, connected parents. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story04.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story05.html Rocket Software consolidated its position in the market for terminal emulation software last week when it acquired Zephyr Development Corp., a Houston, Texas, company that developed the PASSPORT line of terminal emulation and integration solutions for accessing and modernizing applications running on z/OS, IBM i, Unix, and OpenVMS servers. It was the second IBM i-related acquisition for Rocket in a month, and sends a strong signal of support for the platform. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story05.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story06.html Don't forget to mention COBOL programmers on the iSeries still writing green screens! http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story06.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story07.html Got a head full of ideas, but no job or maybe the wrong job? Maybe this will help. It's a listing of staffing priorities for 2012 compiled by the career data-mining specialists at Dice, with info based on data scooped from the brains of 1,200 tech-focused hiring managers and recruiters. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story07.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story08.html It's a new year and a new first quarter and a new and somewhat challenging economy in North America, and therefore IBM is offering financing deals in the United States and Canada. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story08.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story09.html It sure does look like IBM wants you to stop using Query/400 or any one of a number of third-party query tools that run in conjunction with the DB2 for i relational database at the heart of the IBM i operating system. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story09.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story10.html Here at The Four Hundred, we search far and wide and look high and low for things that matter to your Power Systems-IBM i shop. We may wander off on a tangent or two here and there as we think about the IT market (especially in the As I See It and Mad Dog 21/21 columns, which have this wandering as their purpose), but we take pride in the fact that we always bring it on home. http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh020612-story10.html February 6, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story01.html Steve Pitcher has a major beef with IBM. No, it's not about the confusing naming schemes that Big Blue has cooked up for his beloved IBM i platform (that's just a minor beef). The big one has to do with the fact that some key IBM Lotus Notes and Domino software doesn't run on the IBM i platform. But instead of quietly stewing about it, Pitcher has set out to change things, and judging from his experience at last week's Lotusphere conference, he's having success. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story01.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story02.html Being prepared for a disaster makes good business sense, especially with the recent spate of major disasters occurring recently in the United States. For IBM i shops, disaster preparedness requires a little extra planning and capability. One company that's growing its specialized IBM i disaster recovery (DR) service business is TECA Data Safe, which provides everything a company needs to recover its IBM i environment, including servers, bandwidth, and--most importantly--experienced staff. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story02.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story03.html You can't beat free. Earlier this month, Raz-Lee Security announced that it's giving away copies of its IBM i antivirus software, which is based on the open source ClamAV engine. The free version doesn't include some of the more advanced features that are available in the enterprise version of the software, but it will help IBM i shops detect and eliminate Windows malware that can infect and be distributed via the Integrated File System. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story03.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story04.html Symtrax last week unveiled Compleo Suite 5, a major new version of its line of output management software for IBM i and other platforms. With version 5, Symtrax has added a Web-based interface for the first time, providing an alternative to its Windows-based client. Better backups of critical documents, workflow capabilities, and new support for inputting additional document types round out this release. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story04.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story05.html It will be easier to automatically send emails from your IBM i applications using the latest release of KeyesMail, an IBM i-based email package developed by Computer Keyes. With KeyesMail version 9, the Woodway, Washington, company has rewritten the APIs to make them easier to use. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story05.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story06.html iSam Blue, a data protection company specializing in the backup and recovery field, has added a virtual backup storage solution to its repertoire of products and services. The addition is a result of partnership with Tributary Systems makers of Storage Director, a virtual tape library software product that consolidates tape libraries and accelerates backups in multi-server, multi-platform environments. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story06.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story07.html Integrated Print Solutions of Texas has acquired all the rights to OnePrint, a print protocol converter that it's distributed for the last 14 years, from its former business partner LogNet Systems of Israel. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story07.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story08.html Stallergenes, the second largest maker of allergy medicine in Europe, has tapped Magic Software and its iBOLT software to integrate a Lawson M3-based purchasing system running on an IBM i server into its SAP financial system, the software company announced last week. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story08.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story09.html RJS Software Systems, which has been on a product integration kick of late, last week announced that a new release of its Windows-based WebDocs document management and routing software can now be used directly with WebForms, its online forms offering, resulting in heightened usability. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story09.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story10.html T.L. Ashford and Associates last week unveiled a new overlay utility for Barcode400, its IBM i forms and barcode labeling software. The new utility is much easier to use and will make Barcode400 users more productive, the company says. http://www.itjungle.com/fhs/fhs012412-story10.html January 24, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhg/fhg020812-story01.html In qsort: A Better SORTA, I described the use of the qsort API. This time, we'll be looking at its companion API--bsearch--which, as its name suggests, is used to perform searches. http://www.itjungle.com/fhg/fhg020812-story01.html February 8, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhg/fhg020812-story02.html In my last article, Meet JSON, I introduced you to the concept of JavaScript Object Notation and how it's changing the way Web applications are being built. Let's explore JSON syntax a little further by building a really simple customer inquiry Web application. http://www.itjungle.com/fhg/fhg020812-story02.html February 8, 2012 http://www.itjungle.com/fhg/fhg020812-story03.html Handling the QSECOFR user profile is always problematic. On one hand, it's essential for the smooth operation of your system. Conversely, it can be a major issue if someone discovers its password. This week, I'll review some real-life QSECOFR security breaches I've encountered and what can be done if you encounter these situations in your shop. http://www.itjungle.com/fhg/fhg020812-story03.html February 8, 2012