Best i Blog Bets: A Top 10 List
October 31, 2011 Alex Woodie
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You’re a smart and well-read member of the IBM i community. Your Web browser’s homepage is naturally set to www.itjungle.com so you’ll be sure to get the latest IBM i news, product reviews, and tech tips. But you understand that the Web is World-Wide, and there are lots of other good sources of IBM i insight and opinion beyond our humble website. So bust out the bookmarks–here are the top 10 blogs for the IBM i community. 1. You and i ibmsystemsmag.blogs.com/you_and_i/ IBM i chief architect Steve Will shares his inside view of the platform’s development at the IBM lab in Rochester, Minnesota, with readers through this blog. One of the great things about Will (and his blog) is he isn’t afraid to get technical, but he doesn’t overwhelm the reader with too much information. He obviously has mastered the technology, because he’s able to explain much of it in simple terms. This is a great place for getting the scoop on new features that Rochester will add in future releases of the OS. 2. In My Humble Opinion This blog provides a forum for anybody in the midrange community to get things off their chests. It is written mostly by David Gibbs, the administrator and moderator for the midrange.com mailing list and forum, but there are plenty of entries by other people. In July, Gibbs launched a new blog hosting service at ibm-i.org. The service, which is based on WordPress, provides a platform for anybody involved with the IBM i server to launch their very own blog. One of the first to take Gibbs up on his offer was Roxanne Reynolds-Lair, who launched her ibmicio.ibm-i.org/ blog this summer. 3. iDevelop ibmsystemsmag.blogs.com/idevelop/ Jon Paris and Susan Gantner–the ultimate power couple of RPG development–share their thoughts and opinions on recent IBM i programming trends from this IBM System Magazine blog, which they co-write. 4. iCan ibmsystemsmag.blogs.com/i_can/ Dawn May, a senior IBM i architect, combines an expert’s grasp of the IBM i OS with an engaging writing style in this blog. May covers everything from the intricacies of managing spool file output to her trip last week to Copenhagen for the Power System Technical University. 5. Angus’ Blog Trevor Perry, a.k.a. Angus the IT Chap, dishes out heaps of commentary and provides his unequivocal viewpoints on all things IBM i at this blog. If you’re tempted to revert to old habits and call it “the AS/400,” do yourself a favor and check out Trevor’s blog, flog yourself three times, and go about your way. 6. Mow Your Own Lawn One of the most vocal of the Young i Professionals, Aaron Bartell is smart and engaging and full of ideas on how to get the most out of your IBM i investment–and opinions on what IBM should do to evolve IBM i to make it the best platform. Bartell is also a frequent poster at 174.79.32.155/blog/, which is hosted at the YIP’s secret website. 7. Tom’s Blog Everybody’s favorite IBM i systems management software vendor may have a mechanized robot as its mascot, but this Minnesota company has a very personable and folksy side, too. The company’s vice president of technical services, Tom Huntington, describes his worldwide travels to Help/System customers and his work with the platform at this well-written blog. 8. The PowerTech Blog Robin Tatum at PowerTech has an engaging way of connecting everyday events with discussions of IT security preparedness. Plus, he posts great photographs of the places he visits as a manger with PowerTech at this blog. 9. Alan Seiden’s Information Technology Alan Seiden shares his experience with programming and running PHP on the IBM i server at his blog site. 10. HarrisData Blog Henry and Lane Nelson, the sibling co-founders of IBM i ERP software developer HarrisData, aren’t afraid to share their opinions on a variety of topics, including how Oracle‘s M&A strategy is great for pleasing Wall Street but lousy for helping customers, the pitfalls of security in the cloud, and a number of other topics.
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