#IBM i System i AS/400

[acomsoftware]

Advanced Payment Management Features for IBM i System i AS/400

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[mckitterick]

[ ID: a post by Idandersen that reads:

I was talking to one of my old coworkers who works in machine learning for a big tech company a while back, and when the subject of "AGI" came up, he said something like (and I'm paraphrasing here): "These models require massive infrastructure, enormous amounts of power, and basically the entire internet as training data. Meanwhile, the human brain learns from the world around it and runs on sandwiches." I think about that a lot. /ID ]

@rametarin 's responses to these points are vital to understanding (if not exactly predicting) the near-future of AI. and let us not forget that the fundamentally different (and vastly faster, more efficient, and much closer to human-mind-type processing) platforms like quantum computers are right around the corner

here's an experimental quantum computer I got to watch operate during the Joint Quantum Institute's Schrödinger Sessions science for science fiction writers workshop I attended a few years before covid. a closer view of the monitoring computer's screens:

on the left is the heart of the system, an 8-qubit computer. on the right is how fast it blasts through calculations - its average processing speed was 400 to 750 THz. let me emphasize: the unit of measure here is terahertz, or trillions of cycles per second, vs our common digital computers whose processing speed is measured in megahertz, or millions of cycles/second

we're talking millions of times faster than today's computers. MILLIONS. and that's using only 8 qubits. in 2021, IBM made the first 100-qubit quantum computer, and last December made the first 1000-qubit machine.

once the software catches up with the processing capability of these godlike machines (and especially if they can combine that with a classical computer to better model the human brain), creating an artificial mind capable of AGI (artificial general intelligence) seems, to me, inevitable

now does that mean it'll be sentient or even capable of creative thought? who knows. but it'll be vastly smarter than us in every single way

if we give such an artificial mind the ability to rewrite its own code... well, I guess we'll see how this all turns out over the next decade

[retrocompmx]

Efemérides informática: 21 de junio de 1988

El AS/400 es un sistema informático de gama media desarrollado por IBM, lanzado inicialmente el 21 de junio de 1988. Fue lanzado como sucesor de los sistemas System/36 y System/38. Originalmente, incluía tanto el hardware (AS/400) como el sistema operativo (OS/400) todo en conjunto hoy se llama IBM i. #retrocomputingmx #IBMi #AS400 #computerhistory

[archiveosorg]

IBM i

IBM i – an operating system created by IBM, released in 1988 and became known as OS/400. In 2004, it was renamed to i5/OS and is currently called IBM i. https://archiveos.org/ibmi/

[programmersio]

Top 7 IBM i Solutions Providers for Enterprise Modernization

IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) systems continue to play a vital role in enterprises worldwide. However, as businesses evolve, modernizing legacy applications becomes crucial to maintaining efficiency, security, and competitiveness.

Here are the top 7 IBM i solutions providers specializing in enterprise modernization.

1. IBM

IBM, the original creator of IBM i, remains at the forefront of modernization efforts. With robust cloud solutions, AI integration, and security enhancements, IBM offers a comprehensive suite of modernization services. Their Power Systems and hybrid cloud solutions help enterprises transition seamlessly to modern environments while leveraging their existing infrastructure.

2. Programmers.io

Programmers.io is a leading IBM i solutions provider known for its expertise in application modernization, API enablement, and cloud migration. The company offers customized modernization strategies, helping businesses transition legacy systems into scalable, future-ready applications with minimal disruption.

3. Infoview Systems

Infoview Systems specializes in IBM i integration, API development, and cloud connectivity. Their expertise in IBM i connectors allows businesses to integrate their legacy systems with modern applications, unlocking new efficiencies and automation capabilities.

4. GlassHouse

GlassHouse provides end-to-end IBM i modernization services, including cloud migration, security enhancements, and managed services. With a focus on optimizing performance and reliability, GlassHouse helps enterprises extend the life of their IBM i environments while preparing for the future.

5. Procern

Procern is a trusted name in IBM i application development, migration, and support services. Their expertise in modernizing RPG-based applications and implementing DevOps practices ensures smoother transitions for enterprises looking to enhance their IBM i environments.

6. LANSA

LANSA is known for its low-code development platform, enabling businesses to modernize IBM i applications with minimal coding efforts. Their solutions help enterprises quickly transform green-screen applications into web and mobile-friendly interfaces, improving user experience and efficiency.

7. Profound Logic

Profound Logic specializes in IBM i GUI modernization, API development, and cloud enablement. Their suite of tools helps enterprises seamlessly transition from legacy interfaces to intuitive, web-based applications while maintaining the integrity of their existing IBM i systems.

Conclusion

Modernizing IBM i environments is essential for enterprises looking to stay competitive in today’s digital landscape. Whether it’s application transformation, cloud migration, or API integration, these top 7 IBM i solutions providers offer the expertise and tools needed to drive enterprise modernization forward. Choosing the right provider ensures a smooth transition and maximized ROI on IBM i investments.

[softwareappblogs]

Looking to modernize your legacy systems or develop robust AS400 applications? Programmers.io is a trusted AS400 application development company specializing in building, upgrading, and maintaining IBM i (AS400) systems. With expertise in RPG, COBOL, and other AS400 technologies, we deliver tailored solutions to enhance system performance, improve scalability, and drive business growth. Whether you need application modernization, custom development, or seamless system integration, hire AS400 app developers from Programmers.io to ensure reliable and cost-effective results.Partner with Programmers.io to unlock the full potential of your AS400 systems and achieve your business goals.

[robertreich]

The Truth Behind “Self-Made” Billionaires

Why do we glorify “self-made” billionaires?

Well, being “self-made” is a seductive idea —it suggests that anybody can get to the top if they're willing to work hard enough. It’s what the American Dream is all about.

If Kylie Jenner can become a “self-made” billionaire at age 21, so can you and I!

Even as wages stay stagnant and wealth inequality grows, it’s a comfort to think that we’re all simply one cosmetics company and some elbow grease away from fortune.

Unfortunately, a nice idea is all it is. Self-made billionaires are a myth. Just like unicorns.

The origins of self-made billionaires are often depicted as a “rags-to-riches” rise to the top fueled by nothing but personal grit and the courage to take risks — like dropping out of college, or starting a business in a garage.

But in reality, the origins of many billionaires aren’t so humble. They’re more “riches-to-even-more-riches” stories, rooted in upper-middle class upbringings.

How much risk did Bill Gates take on when his mother used her business connections to help Microsoft land a deal-making software for IBM?

Elon Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine during the time of Apartheid South Africa.

Jeff Bezos’ garage-based start was funded by a quarter-million dollar investment from his parents.

If your safety net to joining the billionaire class is remaining upper class – that’s not pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

Nor is failing to pay your fair share of taxes along the way.

Along with Musk and Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, and Carl Icahn have all gotten away with paying ZERO federal income taxes some years. That’s a big helping hand, courtesy of legal loopholes and American taxpayers who pick up the tab, all while our tax dollars subsidize the corporations owned by these so-called “self-reliant” entrepreneurs.

Did you get a thank you card from any of them? I sure as hell didn’t.

Other common ways that billionaires build their coffers off the backs of others include paying garbage wages and subjecting workers to abusive labor conditions.

But portraying themselves as rugged individuals who overcame poverty or “did it on their own” remains an effective propaganda tool for the ultrawealthy. One that keeps workers from rising up collectively to demand fairer wages – and one that ultimately distracts from the role that billionaires play in fostering poverty in the first place.

Billionaires say their success proves they can spend money more wisely and efficiently than the government. Well they have no problem with government spending when it comes to corporate subsidies.

When arguing for even more tax breaks, they claim each “dollar the government takes from [them] is a dollar less” for their “critical” role in expanding prosperity for all Americans, through job creation and philanthropy. Well that’s rubbish.

50 years of tax cuts for the wealthy have failed to trickle down. As a result of Trump’s tax cuts, 2018 saw the 400 richest American families pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. And U.S. billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion during the first two years of a pandemic that was economically catastrophic for just about everyone else. They want to have their cake, everyone else’s cake, and eat it, too.

Behind every ten-figure net worth is systemic inequality. Inherited wealth. Labor exploitation. Tax loopholes. And government subsidies.

To claim these fortunes are “self-made” is to perpetuate a myth that blames the wealth gap on the choices of everyday Americans.

Billionaires are not made by rugged individuals. They’re made by policy failures. And a system that rewards wealth over work.

Know the truth.

[inform-decisions]

So, you’re using an IBM i server ... 

The IBM i

The IBM i users are loyal and outspoken group. And it’s no wonder. Occasionally, you discover a product that has you wondering if you’ve stepped into some kind of alternative universe. The very first product that gave me this impression was the ‘63 Corvette Stingray. Close second was the old AS400 from IBM. It was kind of like if you took an M1 Abrams tank and created a server with similar survivability. The stories of these things were legendary.

• One system was on the top floor of a building literally flattened by a tornado. After falling 4 stories, being buried by rubble and rained on, they only needed to dry it out to bring it back on line. • Another system ran for a whopping 18 years without anyone patching, updating or even backing it up with no issues. • Yet another was accidently walled up yet remained in service for years until someone tracing down the power and network wiring opened a wall to see what the wiring went to and found a shrouded AS400.

Who’s using the IBM i?

The IBM i software platform evolved out of this legendary AS400 and it is even more amazing. Whereas the AS400 was successful in manufacturing and distribution, the IBM i has moved into construction, banking and finance, health care, hospitality, and retail. Much of Las Vegas runs on the platform. It’s a software platform that scales from a small mom & pop shop up to a mission critical system for a multi-national companies. It’s virtually immune to the vast majority of malware, ransomware and Trojans. The IBM i is far more robust and vastly more resistant to outside or inside attack. It runs both on premise on IBM Power, ranging from IBM’s smallest to largest servers, and in the cloud, which, surprisingly isn’t how the small customers we’ve dealt with are running it; those firms are buying IBM Power9 servers, which also tend to be more robust and less vulnerable than their Intel based alternatives.

Leaving the platform?

The IBM i is the closest thing to a software platform superhero that I’ve yet seen and likely the safest and most powerful server platform available. Yet, as new generations enter the IT world, many have diverse backgrounds that lack specific knowledge of the ‘i’. Likely the best server platform they’ve never heard of. As the pool of RPG developers dwindles, many feel the pressure to leave this secure environment for Cloud based solutions.

Is the Cloud in your future?

In response, IBM has recently introduced new end-to-end solutions that better connect the IBM i to the cloud. One of the key growth areas for the platform is when it’s used by software providers to provide Software as a Service, or Cloud-based solution. Additionally IBM and its many partners are finding new ways to provide value to their clients by providing cloud services, whether it’s backup in a cloud or fully hosting customers. IBM is dedicated to making the combination of IBM i and Power Systems as good in that cloud environment as they have always been if you physically have the box on site.

The 'i' stands for integrated

As the platform continues to evolve, becoming increasingly robust, embracing modern technologies, and giving many of the world’s top organizations a competitive edge, so do IBM partners, like inFORM Decisions. They complete the platform by providing integrated software designed to function as a packaged whole. inFORM Decisions has software to digitize, manage and distribute spool and database files. From complex spool file bursting and distribution requirements, electronic document automation to workflow, we have the products that you might need, as well as the IBM i, iSeries, AS400, Power Systems experts to help with the installation and development.

Unleash your systems power

inFORM Decisions has been a Document Automation provider specializing in state of the art Document Automation solutions for the IBM i – AS/400 arena since 1994. We believe that the IBM I / Power Systems will be relevant for a long time offering the stability and security that you’ve come to expect from IBM. inFORM Decisions experts can show you how to unleash your systems power and recoup countless hours of productivity! inFORM Decisions is committed to the IBM i platform forever!

Additional reading: Improve your AP Process iPDF from inFORM Decisions is now even more powerful

Helpful Videos: Videos & Webinars

Call (800) 858-5544 / (949) 709-5838 or visit us at www.informdecisions.com for more information about our acclaimed iDocs suite of IBM i products.

[transparenttriumphzombie]

Danielle Bunten Berry (February 19, 1949 – July 3, 1998), formerly known as Dan Bunten, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E., one of the first influential multiplayer video games, and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold.

In 1998, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association. In 2007, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose Bunten as the 10th inductee into its Hall of Fame.

Bunten was born in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas as a junior in high school. She was the oldest of six siblings. While growing up in Little Rock, Bunten's family didn't always have enough money to make ends meet, so Bunten took a job at a pharmacy. She also held a leadership role with the Boy Scouts.

According to Bunten, one of her fondest childhood memories involved playing games with her family. She was quoted saying, “When I was a kid, the only times my family spent together that weren’t totally dysfunctional were when we were playing games. Consequently, I believe games are a wonderful way to socialize.”

While attending the University of Arkansas, she opened up her own bike shop called Highroller Cyclerie. Bunten acquired a degree in industrial engineering in 1974 and started programming text-based video games as a hobby. After she graduated from college, she was employed by the National Science Foundation, where she created urban models before starting a job at a video game company.

In 1978, Bunten sold a real-time auction game for the Apple II titled Wheeler Dealers to a Canadian software company, Speakeasy Software. This early multiplayer game required a custom controller, raising its price to USD$35 in an era of $15 games sold in plastic bags. It sold only 50 copies.

After producing three titles for SSI, Bunten, who by then had founded a software company called Ozark Softscape, caught the attention of Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins. M.U.L.E. was Bunten's first game for EA, originally published for the Atari 8-bit family because the Atari 800 had four controller ports. Bunten later ported it to the Commodore 64. While its sales - 30,000 units - were not high, the game developed a cult following and was widely pirated. The game setting was inspired by the novel Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein.

Along with the success of M.U.L.E., Berry also had close ties with the games Robot Rascals, Heart of Africa, and Cartels & Cutthroat$. Throughout her career, she was involved in the creation of 12 games, 10 of which revolved around multiplayer compatibility. The only two which didn't have a multiplayer focus were Seven Cities of Gold and Heart of Africa.

Bunten wanted to follow up M.U.L.E. with a game that would have been similar to the later game Civilization, but after fellow Ozark Softscape partners balked at the idea, Bunten followed with The Seven Cities of Gold, which proved popular because of its simplicity. By the time the continent data were stored in the computer's memory, there was little left for fancy graphics or complex gameplay - the game had only five resources. It was a hit, selling more than 150,000 copies.

The follow-up game, Heart of Africa, appeared in 1985 and was followed by Robot Rascals, a combination computer/card game that had no single-player mode and sold only 9,000 copies, and 1988's Modem Wars, one of the early games played by two players over a dial-up modem.  Modem Wars was ahead of its time, as few people in the late 1980s had modems in their homes.

Bunten departed EA for MicroProse. Allegedly, Trip Hawkins, CEO of EA, did not feel that pushing production of games onto a cartridge based system was a good idea. The shift was important to Bunten, as computer games had previously been distributed on floppy discs, and a changeover to a cartridge system would allow games to be played on Nintendo systems. This was a significant factor in her decision to leave. She then developed a computer version of the board game Axis and Allies, which became 1990's Command HQ, a modem/network grand strategy wargame. Bunten's second and last game for MicroProse was 1992's Global Conquest, a 4-player network/modem war game. It was the first 4-player network game from a major publisher. Bunten was a strong advocate of multi-player online games, observing that, "No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.'"

A port of M.U.L.E. to the Mega Drive/Genesis was cancelled after Bunten refused to put guns and bombs in the game, feeling it would alter the game too much from its original concept. In 1997, Bunten shifted focus to multiplayer games over the Internet with Warsport, a remake of Modem Wars that debuted on the MPlayer.com game network.

Less than a year after the release of Warsport, Bunten was diagnosed with lung cancer presumably related to years of heavy smoking. She died on July 3, 1998. At the time, she was working on the design of an Internet version of M.U.L.E..

The game's primary premise consisted of players playing with and against one another to establish total control over a planet. The name of the game stands for Multiple Use Labor Element. The game was originally made for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 but was later developed to be compatible with the Commodore 64, NES, and IBM pcjr. The game has a maximum of four players. Players are given different options and choices, and are allowed to create their colony the way they see fit. This can be done by changing races and giving respective colonies different advantages that will impact the way the game is played and determined later on down the line.

Ultimately there are two ways in which players can win the game. The first way is by having the most amount of money out of all four players, and the second way is by being able to survive the colony itself. The game focuses heavily on going out and retrieving resources that can be used to benefit their character. Items such as food, energy, and crystite are some of a number of in-game items that players are able to retrieve and use to better themselves. In order for a player to be able to access these items, they will first have to have access to a M.U.L.E. The acquisition of these items has a direct reflection on what the player will be allowed to do. For example, if a player doesn't have enough food, they will have less time during their turn.

The Seven Cities of Gold was originally intended to be another multiplayer game. It was originally a single player format, focused heavily on having the players travel around the map and collect items to help them strengthen their colony. Once they felt as though they had a solid colony, the players could battle each other to see who could overtake who After much consideration, Ozark Software came to the conclusion that this would not be doable. Instead, they went with a formula that had the game focus solely on developing a colony.

Ozark Softscape was a computer game development team consisting initially of Danielle Bunten, her brother Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson. Ozark was run out of Bunten's basement. The company was based out of Little Rock, Arkansas and had profound success with a few of their early titles. Ozark Softscape had a publishing deal with Electronic Arts for several of its groundbreaking games. In the early 1990s, Ozark Softscape left its partnership with Electronic Arts over a dispute to port some games to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It began a partnership with MicroProse to produce two more titles: Command HQ and Global Conquest. A dispute occurred over creating a follow-up to M.U.L.E. with Sega in 1993, and the company dissolved. The employees of Ozark Softscape moved to different areas of the software industry. 

Bunten was married three times. Bunten had three children, one daughter and two sons. After a third divorce, Bunten, who had until then been living as male, transitioned to living as a woman. Bunten underwent sex reassignment surgery in November 1992 and afterward kept a lower profile in the games industry. Bunten later regretted having surgery, finding that for her, the drawbacks of surgical transition outweighed the benefits, and wishing she had considered alternative approaches. She joked that the surgery was to improve the video game industry's male/female ratio and aesthetics, but advised others considering a sex change not to proceed unless there was no alternative and warned them of the cost, saying "Being my 'real self' could have included having a penis and including more femininity in whatever forms made sense. I didn't know that until too late and now I have to make the best of the life I've stumbled into. I just wish I would have tried more options before I jumped off the precipice."

After her transition in fall 1992, Bunten stayed out of the video game spotlight, mostly keeping to herself. She felt as though that after transitioning she was not as good at video game development as she had previously been, stating "So, I'm a little more than three years into my new life role as Ms. Danielle Berry, and her career looks to be somewhat different from old Mr. Dan Bunten's. For one thing, I'm not as good a programmer as he was." On July 3, 1998, Berry died of lung cancer.

Wheeler Dealers (1978)

Cartels & Cutthroats (1981)

Computer Quarterback (1981)

Cytron Masters (1982)

M.U.L.E. (1983)

The Seven Cities of Gold (1984)

Heart of Africa (1985)

Robot Rascals (1986)

Modem Wars (1988)

Command HQ (1990)

Global Conquest (1992)

Warsport (1997)

Although many of Bunten's titles were not commercially successful, they were widely recognized by the industry as being ahead of their time. On May 7, 1998, less than two months before her death, Berry was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association.

In 2000, Will Wright dedicated his blockbuster hit The Sims to Bunten's memory. In 2007, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose Bunten to be inducted into its Hall of Fame. Sid Meier, the mastermind behind the video game series Civilization, inducted her at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

Bunten was a true pioneer for the video game industry, especially its multiplayer aspect of it. She is regarded by many as one of the best designers to ever grace the video game industry. Her success has even led people to make the claim that the work she did with games like M.U.L.E and Seven Cities of Gold was the inspiration behind highly successful modern multiplayer games like World of Warcraft.

Bunten was known as someone who was very easy to talk to. If someone recognized her in public, she would be more than delighted to have a conversation with them.

[as400solutions]

Abacus Solutions Strives for More Than Just Security Compliance

The PaaS provider wants to go above and beyond to protect its customers

Companies across a variety of industries are beginning to understand the benefits of security compliance, both internally and within partnered organizations. To reflect an increase in IT security breaches, the number of regulatory standards for information security management has grown. Abacus Solutions recognizes this industry trend as the “new normal,” one that will become increasingly complex as more compliances are required for businesses to operate in the PaaS provider space.

When customers transition to the Abacus Cloud, they’re moving critical business applications from on-premise IBM i infrastructure to an AS/400 cloud environment. Chief Operations Officer, Thomas Harris, reflected on how ensuring the security of customer data became more than a checkbox to tick; it became a company culture shift. “Data security is critical to the ongoing operations of our customers. In order to meet the needs of our growing client base, Abacus needed to adopt a more security-centric culture,” Harris explains.

Currently, Abacus maintains both the SOC 2 (Type 1 and Type 2) compliance certification, determined by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), as well as the ISO 27001 certificate, established by the International Organization for Standardization, for secure management of financial information, intellectual property, and employee details. Abacus also maintains GDPR compliance for its international clients.

Achieving this security posture does not come without challenges. Keeping the SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certifications involves providing extensive proof of compliance and conducting audit walkthroughs with third party auditing agents. Annual surveillance audits, as required for the ISO 27001 certificate, are performed every year until the certification cycle is renewed every three years. Additionally, employees who grew accustomed to their own department’s approach to security, even documenting it that way, needed to align their processes to the newly adopted frameworks. Formalizing the company’s security practice in order to establish consistency across the board, and not just for certain activities and certain times of the year, was crucial to the success of the shift.

We were doing a lot of these controls and safeguarding already; however, we were doing them in a decentralized, or departmentally-siloed, manner without a core framework to use. Using frameworks like the ones created by the ISO allows us to take ownership of a central process and get behind one methodology of security and compliance.” – Thomas Harris, Chief Operating Officer

As for its future compliance goals, Abacus is working on a domestic (US) privacy program to pair with its GDPR compliance, as well as becoming HIPAA compliant. Of the additional compliance certifications, Harris says, “It’s all part of our evolving stance towards privacy and security.” Abacus also intends to become ISO27701 compliant. This data privacy-centric certification isn’t a requirement for the business space it operates in, but it shows prospective clients how seriously Abacus takes privacy concerns.

Companies who are looking for an enterprise-level Platform as a Service provider should seek out those who, at a minimum, have SOC 2 Type 1 and ISO27001 certifications. Abacus believes it can be the ideal PaaS provider for businesses of all types and sizes by working to achieve security compliances beyond its industry requirements. And as more businesses pivot to remote work, providing secure ERP systems and highly secured environments in our hosted infrastructure can give them peace of mind. If you’re looking for a PaaS provider that will reliably secure your data, contact Abacus Solutions today.

[programmersio]

AS400 iSeries (IBM i) – A Comprehensive Overview

How many programmers/developers around you are familiar with or interested in learning about the AS/400 computer system? Few, or even none, may be aware of its origins. Despite being considered outdated, the latest IBM Power systems or IBM iSeries systems are still utilized by many organizations due to their robust and reliable system architectures. Although the AS400 is considered a legacy system, its modified versions have excellent operating systems and documentation.

Read more - https://programmers.io/blog/everything-to-know-about-ibmi-as400-i-series/

[strouja]

Weekend April 10 - April 12, 2020

I used to send out long emails to the hard-core cycling people about upcoming rides that I was leading and I would give a lengthy life update. Since we stopped group rides because of the coronavirus for the past month, I’ll give an mini-update here.

Friday Night

I did not plan on working Friday night but thought of a few things we should make sure worked before our upcoming release and did some hands on keyboard testing and updating our official documentation.  I did this till about8 pm.

I stopped work and then decide that my wife’s old MacBook Air from 2013 or so has her photos and documented backed up before we ship it back to Apple to get $160 credit for it. I got her a new MacBook Air that just came out that has intel 10th generation core i5 cpu, 16 GB of RAM (I wanted 32 but they did not have that) and 1 TB SSD.  I backed her documents and photos to my Synology Networked Attached Storage (NAS).

Then I decided to get on the NAS and actually find the back-ups. They were under my folder and not hers b/c of the way I  set it up.  I then decided to delete some old large files that were taking up space on the NAS that I will now longer need.  I had .ISO files for many variations of Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 2012 Server, Windows 2008 Server, Windows XP, Microsoft Office from many years ago.  I did all that clean up

Since my NAS was about 74% used I decided to take the 8 TB drive that was not being used in slot 8 and included it in my storage pool. 

Now I’m ready for bed and done fore the night.  I decide to do more work for IBM and pull out the laptop in bed and work for an hour or sol

I set my alarm for 10:10 on my phone to get up for 10:40 am Zwift race which I’m not looking forward to

Saturday

I get up before my alarm and make some coffee, water jug, and energy drink and start getting ready for the Zwift Race.  I get on 10 minutes before the race and try to get things sorted and talk to team on Discord and what not.

The race starts and it is full gas from the start. I am doing 400 watts and getting passed.  I settle in at 350 watts for several minutes and then to about 320 watts.  I find myself getting dropped from 1st group.

I push 300 watts for next 5 or 8 minutes in 2nd group and then start getting dropped.

I hang in 3rd group pushing near 300 watts and then find myself barely hanging on.

I then soldier on and then see i only did about 6 miles and we have to do 23 or 28 miles.  I decide after 20 minutes to pull the plug.  I am not up for an hour of going all out as this race would require.  I could not wait to get off the bike.

I recover on my stairs for a while, shower up, then take dog out for long walk.

Saturday afternoon I decide to take my new Trek Madone with Power2Max power meter on it and put on my Tacx Neo2 to see if it reads similar power to my Neo2.  My fuji bike with brand new generation 3 stages power meter reads 8 to 10% higher than my Neo2.

Since my Fuji bike that is on the bike trainer is 10 speed cassette and my trek is 11 speed I have to take my only 11 speed cassette of my Trek Madone.  I take off chain of Trek Madone and clean it with ultrasonic cleaner and degreaser. 

My cassette won’t come off and i text Luke Pingel and Ray Plewacki.  Luke immediately responds and helps me get it off and informs me I have to buy a new freehub as it has indents and the cassette won’t come off easily without a lot of prying. 

I manage to put newly cleaned chain and cassette on Neo2 and find that Neo2 read 245 watts vs 255 watts from the power2max on my trek.  I’ll do some more testing but my IT band on left knee is pretty bad right now and I can’t ride that hard at all now.

Saturday night I do some more testing and documentation for IBM.

Sunday

I wake up and do some more testing and find things are broken for IBM.  I chat w/ team on Slack and they give me an update on why things are broken

I get a call back from Yasir Saleem. He is an old buddy I worked with at IBM and we catch-up on the phone for about an hour or so.

I take Winston for long walk in the woods.  On the way back he finds a fox den and I never see him again on the walk.  As I’m waiting for him on the path I get a text from Linh that Winston is already home.

I get home and get William and Sophia to do the bike ride we talked about. We bring William’s friend Evan Gould.  I make sure all of our  tires are pumped up, we all have helmets and I wear high visibility 3M construction tee-shirt.

We bike to Vienna, then on the W&OD trail to Hunter Mill.  I discuss we can go to Herndon and buy smoothies or go up Hunter Station and come back.  Hunter Stations is an infamous bike hill that many riders hate because of its difficulty.  I explain this to everyone.

Since William only ate an apple this morning (we just biked 7.5 miles) and he was feeling nauseous  and Sophia did not want to go to Herndon, I take them up Hunter Station.  Evan and I go full gas up the hill, William faded and Sophia ended up walking up the steep parts.

We bike back to Vienna, William and Sophia get some food at Whole Foods. This takes 15 minutes.  We try to go to Jammin’ Java to get smoothies but it is closed, this was a place Sophia had in mind.  We bike back to Oakton via Courthouse Road again a go to Tropical Smoothies. We all get food and Sophia got food and a smoothie.   I wanted to buy bananas at Giant but they closed early for Easter Sunday.

We then bike home.

Sunday night

Now to watch Homeland with Linh, a series on Showtime.  Beforehand I do another test for IBM and the system is fixed and installs now.

Here is our ride on Strava

https://www.strava.com/activities/3291040390

Google photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jrCNgKiVFHNdRuXj7

[levysoft]

«La Terra è blu. Che meraviglia. È incredibile.»

Jurij Alekseevic Gagarin trascorse appena 1 ora e 48 minuti nello spazio, nel 1961. Avrebbe dovuto tornarci ancora, dopo qualche anno dalla storica missione Vostok 1, ma si schiantò a bordo di un piccolo caccia MiG-15UTI, il 27 marzo 1968, a soli 34 anni.

Pur non facendo parte in senso stretto del cosiddetto “club dei 27”, Gagarin resterà per sempre una vera rock star dello Spazio. Un eroe, ventisettenne all’epoca della missione Vostok 1, che deve la sua fama al coraggio di affrontare l’ignoto. Fu il primo uomo di sempre a volare nello Spazio, con un’attrezzatura che non garantiva affatto la certezza del rientro sulla Terra e senza avere un computer a bordo.

Alle 9:07 ora di Mosca del 12 aprile 1961 il maggiore Gagarin disse in radio “!” (andiamo!), spiccò il volo e compì un’intera orbita attorno alla Terra. Nel tragitto ellittico toccò un’altitudine massima di 302 km e una minima di 175 km, alla velocità di 27.400 km/h. Fu paracadutato di nuovo a terra alle 10:55, dopo un viaggio da “semplice” passeggero, interamente controllato attraverso un computer a terra.

La Vostok 1 non poteva essere comandata dal cosmonauta perché i test fatti precedentemente, con animali a bordo di navicelle analoghe, avevano evidenziato rischi connessi agli effetti negativi dell’assenza di gravità, che non garantivano il mantenimento delle capacità di pilotaggio. In caso caso di perdita di comunicazione radio a Terra, tuttavia, Gagarin avrebbe potuto sbloccare il sistema di controllo manuale e tentare il rientro.

Il computer dell’Apollo 11

Nella missione dell’Apollo 11 del 1969, invece, l’equipaggio ha potuto contare sull’aiuto dell’Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), sviluppato dal MIT, oltre che sull’efficienza di un voluminoso computer IBM a terra, con una potenza di calcolo notevolmente inferiore a quella di un moderno smartphone, ma all’epoca assolutamente all’avanguardia e capace di gestire il razzo Saturn V, le operazioni a Terra e le comunicazioni.

A cinque computer System/360 Model 75 installati al Mission Control del Manned Spacecraft Center di Houston erano inoltre affidati, nei momenti che hanno preceduto l’allunaggio, il monitoraggio e i calcoli di tutti i dati necessari per il volo, per la traiettoria di rientro in orbita, che è stata ricalcolata 400 volte nel corso della missione. Negli anni successivi IBM tornò nello spazio anche nel film “2001 Odissea nello Spazio”: nella finzione cinematografica il computer HAL 9000 faceva il verso all’acronimo dell’azienda statunitense, utilizzando le tre lettere precedenti, una traslitterazione per indicare appunto IBM.

L’interno della navicella Apollo 11 con i sistemi computerizzati, non arrivavano alla potenza di un moderno smartphone

Giornalista esperto di tecnologia, da oltre 20 anni si occupa di innovazione, mondo digitale, hardware, software e social. È stato direttore editoriale della rivista scientifica Newton e ha lavorato per 11 anni al Gruppo Sole 24 Ore. È il fondatore e direttore responsabile di Digitalic

[debaditya89-blog]

Automation : Emergence of a New Job Market and Disappearance of the Existing One

A photo showing robots in the automobile manufacturing industry.

Source: http://www.moltecinternational.com/markets/robotics.html

In the lifetime of every civilization there arrives a crucial juncture where the organisms that exhibit and conform to the “survival of the fittest” doctrine continue to thrive and the rest move into the dark corridors of oblivion.

 Automation and the new Industrial Revolution

In the globalized world of today, we as a nation are standing at a crucial juncture. The term – “Automation” , still a relatively new term in Indian households is the driving force behind a new Industrial Revolution. The 1st Industrial Revolution was originated by the invention of the steam engine by James Watt. Thus got initiated a new methodology of manufacture and production of goods. India could never really become a manufacturing superpower due to its inability to align itself to the waves of the 1st Industrial Revolution. That is history, lets travel back to the present. The new age Industrial Revolution is getting characterized by the availability of trillions of gigabytes of raw data generated by various industrial sectors. This data is getting processed, analyzed and results of these analytics are being utilized for production, sales and management across the globe.

 A general perception is that Automation is something which is solely associated with the fields of IT and Computer Science. But this is a gross misconception. Automation is impacting and will continue to impact every industrial sector from BFS (Banking & Financial Services) to the logistics industry, from IT to tourism, from healthcare to legal services. These new methods of production and service delivery will lead to greater production volumes within stipulated times, better quality products in terms of market competition. So, in a nutshell this is going to affect the entire design, production and delivery ecosystem in terms of efficiency, quality and quantity.

 The impact of Automation on various Industrial Sectors

In the Financial Services sector, the stock/securities trading companies have reduced the recruitment of financial consultants, market analysts and portfolio managers. Instead, they are using automated predictive-analysis based tools which use the concepts of Big-Data to analyze and predict the ups and downs of the stock market.

Regarding healthcare and legal services, I would like to mention the development of IBM WATSON. It is an Artificial Intelligence based expert-query system, which is up to 90-95% accurate till date. It has already started eating up consultancy based occupations like that of the doctors and the lawyers. It is expected that IBM WATSON and other AI based expert-query models will change the face of healthcare and legal consultancy occupations within the next decade.

Coming to the field of IT & ITES sector, all leading mass recruiters of graduate engineers, i.e. TCS, Cognizant have started decreasing their freshers’ intake systematically. Lots of iterative IT jobs like blackbox testing, recursive code development, log maintenance etc. are now being automated using various marketplace tools. These tools provide basic templates which can be edited and manipulated in accordance with client and project requirements. Low level back office processing and support systems are likely to be automated many folds in the recent future and spread among a much depleted workforce strength.

In the e-commerce industry, all major global players like Amazon, Alibaba etc. are using data analytics to analyze consumers’ purchasing trends and thus create customer target zones product wise. This helps in reaching out to the targeted customer base with attractive offers which a normal kinara shop dealing in multi-brand retail can never imagine of. Grey Orange Robotics Pvt. Ltd. is designing fully automated e-commerce warehouse systems. ‘Butler’ robots are being built which can fetch and store products in e-commerce warehouses. ‘Sorter’ robotics is being used to automatically scan and sort packages in these warehouses. These robotics-based technologies are being used by Indian e-commerce giants like Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong. These butler robots can pick up 600 items per hour, whereas a human labour can pick up to 100 items per hour. So, human intervention is being reduced to the minimal in order to increase efficiency in the delivery system.

Finally, coming to the avenue of government organizations, many of the low and middle-rung clerical jobs like certificate generation, registrations, stock maintenance and paperwork for seeking permissions are getting substituted by automated ERP systems. All these repetitive jobs are moving from the paradigm of manual-natured to automated ones.

So, basically what I have tried to harp upon is that across all industrial sectors, human intervention at multiple levels of the production ecosystem is getting replaced by advanced technologies of robotics, simulation, predictive analysis, machine learning and AI.

 The impact of Automation on the employment and job generation scenario

Mckinsey Global Institute reports that an estimated 400-800 million job roles or occupations will disappear into oblivion by 2030 across the globe. NASSCOM annual review report in early 2017 predicted a walloping 20-25% reduction in jobs in the IT industry over the next 3 years. The Indian IT and ITES allied services industry alone is set to lose 6.4 lakh low-skilled positions to automation by 2021. According to a World Bank report, automation threatens 69% of the jobs that exist today in India and it is pegged at 77% in China. This is a grave situation indeed. But just as any major transition in history has shown us, that during a transition chaos and problems will arise. In the same way, newer opportunities will also surface and the nations which will be able to embrace them swiftly will become the next global superpowers. PWC report states that AI will contribute an additional $15.7 trillion to the world economy by 2030. Given India’s strength and prowess in the field of technological education and a knack for studying mathematical solutions, AI and machine learning has the potential to add $950 billion to India’s GDP. These new technologies will require new skilled workforce. These fields will be the drivers of employment not only for the $150 billion IT industry, but will also provide automated tools required in all other majors industrial sectors. This represents the opportunity of the future. India is the fastest growing large economy today. India’s youth population will surpass that of other leading economies by a large margin by 2035. These favourable conditions along with opportunities which are on offer provide India with its biggest chance of being world economy’s biggest player. But the risks too are galore. According to the Economic Survey report of 2007-08, 93% of India’s workforce (including agriculture) was in the unorganized and informal sector . The latest Economic Survey report of 2017-18 says that approximately 69-70% of India’s workforce (excluding agriculture) is still in the unorganized sector. A majority of this unorganized sector labours are unskilled or semi-skilled. This workforce is bound to lose their jobs in the new production mechanism.

 The duty and role of the Government in the field of Skill Development

The Indian youth of today along with the unskilled labour force needs to undergo extensive skill development programmes and courses to generate the skilled labour force India needs today. If this skill development does not take place, then India’s huge youth force can turn out to be its greatest liability instead of being an asset. Just as newer skilled job roles will appear on the horizon, the older unskilled ones will disappear at the speed of lightening. It is the Government’s duty to devise skill-centric courses and programmes and revamp the existing syllabi in colleges and universities so that India can truly arrive at the global stage. The Universities and colleges need to devise their syllabi in such a manner which can cater to the needs of both the emerging job market and the fields of research in these emerging trends. For instance, a degree course in Economics can teach the students the art of data structuring and deciphering which will generate the socio-political or economic data which can be used for exploratory analysis, growth in production and increase in efficiency. Contrary to public perception, students from Social Sciences background can actually contribute immensely in the new job arena with the help of their domain knowledge. The students from Sciences and Engineering backgrounds should be encouraged to participate in larger number of data analysis, data exploration, computer programming and robotics related courses. Courses in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning are not only about coding, but they are also about the exploratory analysis to unearth the various relationships among the data, which can in turn help in increasing production and efficiency. The students from Commerce background should learn the art of industrial indices data, stock market data prediction using various automated tools, which will help them to land jobs in the future. In a nutshell, what I mean is that this new emerging job market will not be limited to technical expertise, but will also include domain level expertise. Thus it will be inclusive of people from social sciences, commerce, pure science and engineering backgrounds. For instance, if a Multi-brand Retail Company decides to conduct interviews on villagers hailing from rural Bengal to identify the various popular products amongst them in order to increase profitability by enhancing production and distribution selectively, they can think of building a Automated Voice Recognition System for the Bengali tongue. For building such a voice recognition system which would automatically analyze the interviews and produce results, we would need both computer programming expertise(students from engineering background) and domain level expertise to recognize the various dialects of the Bengali tongue(students from humanities background). Thus an interdisciplinary approach would be needed for these type of projects. The courses for undergraduate students should also be designed keeping in mind the interwoven nature of the requirements of real-life projects. But if the Government fails to perform its duty in the sphere of higher education, soon enough we will be left with massive swathes of unemployed youth. It is our immediate duty to focus on the Education (especially technical education and domain level expertise) sector in order to produce the skilled employable graduates that India needs to tame the tiger – Automation and take this nation to greater heights.

[abellasystems]

RPG Programming Language

RPG (Report Program Generator) is a high-level programming language used primarily for business applications and is typically used on IBM iSeries (formerly AS/400) and System i platforms. RPG has been in use since the 1960s and has evolved over time, with the current version being RPG IV.

RPG is known for its easy-to-read code and its ability to handle complex calculations and data manipulation. It is primarily used for developing business applications, including financial and accounting systems, inventory management, and order processing. RPG has a strong focus on data handling and provides built-in features for file handling, record-level access, and data conversion.

RPG IV supports modern programming concepts, such as object-oriented programming (OOP), which allows developers to create reusable code and modular applications. It also supports SQL (Structured Query Language) for database access and manipulation.

One of the benefits of RPG is that it can integrate easily with other programming languages and technologies, allowing RPG developers to leverage existing code and systems. However, one potential drawback is that RPG is a proprietary language and is primarily used on IBM iSeries and System i platforms, limiting its use in other environments.

Overall, RPG remains a popular choice for business application development due to its ease of use, strong data handling capabilities, and long history of use in the business world.

[tittafeedback]

Macports mingw icu

Macports mingw icu how to#

Macports mingw icu update#

Macports mingw icu windows 10#

Macports mingw icu code#

res files) can be copied to that location to provide new locale data or conversion tables etc. If a path is set, then single data files (e.g. dat package file makes the opposite trade-off: Platform-portable (except for endianness and charset family, which can be changed with the icupkg tool) and modifiable (also with the icupkg tool). This is convenient because it requires no install-time or runtime configuration, but the library is platform-specific and cannot be modified. dat file: By default, the ICU data is built into a shared library (DLL). Note: The ICU test suites can be compiled with this setting. Use of any of these macros should be replaced as noted in the comments for the obsolete macro. Beginning with ICU 60, you should define U_HIDE_OBSOLETE_UTF_OLD_H to 1 (via -D or uconfig.h, as above).

utf_old.h: All of utf_old.h is deprecated or obsolete.

Note: The ICU test suites cannot be compiled with this setting. Beginning with ICU 49, you should define U_NO_DEFAULT_INCLUDE_UTF_HEADERS to 1 (via -D or uconfig.h, as above) and include those header files explicitly that you actually need. All of utf_old.h is deprecated or obsolete. Often, none of them are needed, or only one or two of them.

utf.h, utf8.h, utf16.h, utf_old.h: By default, utypes.h (and thus almost every public ICU header) includes all of these header files.

Note: The ICU test suites cannot be compiled with these settings.

Consider marking the from- const char* and from- const UChar* constructors explicit via -DUNISTR_FROM_STRING_EXPLICIT=explicit or similar.

Consider marking the from- UChar and from- UChar32 constructors explicit via -DUNISTR_FROM_CHAR_EXPLICIT=explicit or similar.

Beginning with ICU 49, you should do the following: This can lead to inadvertent construction of a UnicodeString with a single character by using an integer, and it can lead to inadvertent dependency on the conversion framework by using a C string literal.

UnicodeString constructors: The UnicodeString class has several single-argument constructors that are not marked “explicit” for historical reasons.

+++ source/common/unicode/utypes.h (working -160,7 +160,7 UCONFIG_NO_CONVERSION source/common/unicode/utypes.h (revision 26606)

Macports mingw icu update#

You could temporarily (until you have more time to update your code) revert to the default “using” via -DU_USING_ICU_NAMESPACE=1 or by modifying unicode/uversion.h:

Macports mingw icu code#

If your code relies on the “using namespace icu ” that used to be in unicode/uversion.h, then you need to update your code.

Namespace (ICU 61 and later): Since ICU 61, call sites need to qualify ICU types explicitly, for example icu::UnicodeString, or do using icu::UnicodeString where appropriate.

Note that C99 compatibility is now required.

Macports mingw icu how to#

How To Build And Install On The IBM i Family (IBM i, i5/OS OS/400)ĭepending on the platform and the type of installation, we recommend a small number of modifications and build options.z/OS (Batch/PDS) support outside the UNIX system services environment.How To Build And Install On z/OS (OS/390).Running The Tests From The Command Line.How To Build And Install On Windows with Cygwin.Skipping the UWP Projects on the Command Line.

Macports mingw icu windows 10#

Re-targeting the Windows 10 SDK for the UWP projects.

Building with other versions of Visual Studio.

Running the Tests from within Visual Studio.

Running the Tests from the Windows Command Line (cmd).

This site uses Just the Docs, a documentation theme for Jekyll.

Updating MeasureUnit with new CLDR data.