System i Addict

I found this blog somehow. You know how you wander around the web and all of a sudden you have found something you like. The we used to be like that every time I got on in the begining, but now I can search and find what I like, thanks Google.com .  I found myself reading this post and thinking I had written it, so I wanted to share someone elses view on Mac, Microsoft, and how is all does not make sense we are all working on Windows and at home on our Macs.

” After that month I was ruined forever on Windows. Now, I am completely and utterly disgusted at how Windows operates and “functions”. Worse than anything is the pile of crap that was let loose on the public under the name of “Vista”. Vista is slow, buggy as can be, and annoys me to death. On the otherhand, OSX (The Mac OS), is fast, EXTREMELY stable, and seems to be one step ahead on the things I am trying to accomplish.” 

Link to Matt’s Blog 

Well, I asked and I shall receive. someone delivered System i tools for Linux. It’s about time. Help/Systems has put out some tools for the System i that can run on the Linux.

I will try to get my head around what it does and what the cost is over the next few weeks.

“Robot/CLIENT acts as agent software running on non-System i servers, including Windows and UNIX. It checks server operational status, receives job status information, launches processes, monitors server applications and services, and transfers data. With Linux support, users can integrate their Linux servers into their System i procedures.”

Link to Search400 Blog

I have taken the bait thrown out by the richeous dudes @ Search400.com and will let you all know that Vision Solutions, whom I have disdain for, has added a former Microsoft board member to their board of directors. While I could spend all day why Microsoft is now like the Titanic, and no one is concerned with it ability to sink, I will not. And I could spend the rest of that day telling you how Vision Solutions has a horrible reputation for treating employees of newly acquire companies like “poop”. I will not, but it seems odd that they would add someone like Robert J. Herbold to the BoD at a time like this.

Robert J. Herbold, while I do not know much about him and at this point think this is one of those pay no attention to the man behind the curtain moves it smells of political glad handing. I do wish Robert J. Herbold luck I don’t know what he can do to improve the over all tarnished standing of a company they gobbles up other small competition just because they can’t beat them….oh now the move all makes sense….

I faxed you $200 dollars this morning. Don’t spend it all in one place.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday. You were busy when I call so I hope the message got to you. Must be all the party people over wishing you a happy birthday!

OK so I am game now. I want to install Domino 8 on Ubuntu. I have been looking around and wanted to share this with you all. I am going to get it working it’s only a matter of time. Maybe I will even make an install script and post it. Don’t hold your breath.

Link to Forums –>Domino on Ubuntu

Link to Forums –> Lotus Domino Installation for Ubuntu

If you have a link or some details please share them here.

Make sure you Install Ubuntu

apt-get install gawk
apt-get install libstdc++5
apt-get install ldconfig

I think you will need Java too?

I have an idea on Idea Jam that I would like to see get as high as we can make it. While I try to make my case on that site I will present it here too and maybe you will click over and vote on it.

While IBM/Lotus support Lotus Domino on a few good platforms, they all cost money. Currently Domino can run on System i, System p, Linux (Redhat & SUSE), Window Server (Yuck), and Solaris (which is still not really free but we can cover that later).

I would like to see Domino running on a complately free and stable version of Linux. Redhat and SUSE can get expensive. We all know i & p are and IBM product and they can be expensive yet stable enviroements. And Solaris is just a huge mess right now. I don’t even think Sun knows what to do with it. They call it FREE but it ain’t free, OpenSolaris is FREE but you still have to pay for Sun Solaris. I degrees.

Ubuntu will always be FREE and is pretty darn stable. In 2005 IBM decided it would support DB2 on Ubuntu Server and to that I say then they should support it for Domino as well. I think you would start to see Ubuntu and Domino as the killer server package. I also would hope the Ubuntu community would see this as the “Killer App” and make more things in Ubuntu to make it the bast damn package out there, then you would see shops that normally run Windows or other Linuxes move to Ubuntu for FREE.

So go vote it up and if you are a Lotus professional then you need to pay attention to Idea Jam.

Thanks to Bruce and the gang for getting Idea Jam up. Gale too. You guys rock and if not for your efforts we would have to place to keep our ideas. I would just lose them all over the place. Plus Idea Jam is all written for Domino, so take that ASP junkies!

So IBM, not known for thier marketing prowless, need I remind you about OS/2 and the most reliable platform the System i, has a little ditty on YouTube now promoting Note & Domino 8. I will let you all know I am in love with Lotus Notes 8. It is very easy to use, it has somethings I think are missing, but over all it’s going to do really well.

So for all you FreeBSD fans. Go download Beta 3 and try to debug it.Link 

Here is the best part to the post:

“We have confirmed with inside sources that the B8 S4 will debut with a brand new 3.0-liter TFSI bi-turbo producing 330-hp. With this powerplant Audi can nearly match the B7’s 340-hp output while providing even better performance figures. Manufacturer published (conservative) 0-60mph drops from 5.4 seconds to very low 5’s, while the accompanying combined fuel economy rises from 17 mpg to over 20 mpg.”

I know what I like and David likes anything from Audi with over 300HP. This should end up being the most fun S4 ever produced. I like the V8 they put in them now, but the idea that a V6 can kick like that is amazing.

Link to AudiWorld.com Story and Pics

So with so few companies moving to Windows Vista for so many of the right reasons and if you really want to make an upgrade you could move to MacOSX, but I digress. Many people and CIOs are passing on Windows Vista and waiting now for Windows 7. Lets all hope that the screw that one up too.Link to Post 

Link to Story on BSD NewsletteriXsystems, an enterprise-class hardware solution provider, announced this week its acquisition of PC-BSD. PC-BSD is a fully functional desktop operating system running FreeBSD version 6, with a KDE desktop interface and graphical system installer. Its PBI system, developed exclusively for PC-BSD, lets users download and install their applications in a self-extracting and installing format.I have spent a few hours on the phone with the fine people @ iXsystems and they have the interest of BSD in mind. Now I urge the good people at iXsystems to do everything in their power to make PC-BSD the finest desktop and notebook system out there.

Just this week I had a techie look at me and make the old complaint that nothing runs on a Mac and they only own 3% of the market. I then pointed him out of the 80’s and gave him the usual tongue lashing!

ITWorld.com is reporting that in Japan, one of may favorite places other than the US, had Leopard sales push it into record territory.

“OS X Leopard, which is the first major update to the Apple operating system in more than two years, took a 53.9 percent share of the market, according to figures from Japan’s BCN. The company takes point-of-sales system data from 2,200 retailers across the country and uses that to estimate nationwide sales. “

So with that said. I am pretty happy. I would like to see what the numbers look like in the US right now. I have seen plenty of people in Airports this week with Mac and probably half of them has Leopard on them. The tide is still shifting. With the sorry showing Vista has had and the slow but steady movement Macs are having on home users it only a matter of time before MacOSX and Apple invade companies and IT Directors/CIOs of old are replaced with more educated, more open minded and more security conscious professionals.

It is dying under the Microsoft thumb, progress is slow, the Windows OS is pathetic, and it’s not moving in the right direction right now. Windows has to many limitations that large data centers can live with and over the next five years I predict and movement away from MS to more robust OSes.

I think this is positive movement in the right direction.

The Mac is Dead, long live the Mac!

UPDATE: So we are on thr way back from Charlotte, NC and we are in the ariport. In the section waiting to go to Airtran to Atlanta there were 10 people with laptops out not counting me. 7 of them were Macs and the other 3 were DELLs. It’s time for a shift. The world is shifting and small companies are moving to Apple while large lumbering companies are staying with XP, no VISTA. I am looking around right now waiting for the plan to Denver and it’s half and half. Five years ago you might have seen 1 Mac to a sea of other Windows laptops.

I need a Lotus Developer who wants to contract, some travel. Send me your details. I will hook get back to you. Lotus Script - Travel - Reasonable Rate.

david dot vasta at gmail dot com

Fisrt of all, Happy Veterans Day to all the fine Americans that have ever served in the Military. I am still looking for a buddy of mine that I served with on all three of my ships. If anyone knows where Patric Stewart from San Antonio, TX is or if Pat is reading this please contact me. I miss you my brother. I have found a new site that has connected me with a number of people from the Navy - http://navy.togetherweserved.com.

Next, while I was traveling on Sunday to S.C. and was in the Denver Airport when a Hurst and a while government van pulled up to the tarmac for a plane on concourse C. At first the site was a bit odd and then it hit you when the Air-force Airmen in full dress got out of the van, you knew what was going on and my heart sank. I was on the phone with Kelly and had to hang up because I could not talk anymore. I didn’t want to stare but I wanted to show some respect so I headed over to the window nearest the detail on the ground. A few other guys were standing there and at that point no one had a dry face. We all talked a bit and shared our pasts. I was able to stay until the plane arrived, but had to board my flight, but from my seat I could see the detail.

While I am not anti-war I am sad to see anyone give their all. I support the military 100%, I support the Navy, Marines, Army and Air-force. They go to work and do the jobs we all want them to do but never want to know about. If asked today I would go back and serve again if they think that could use me, I am not in great shape, and metal ship can be hard on the knees.

This Boatwains’ Mate gives all of you in the Millitary a nice long salute and would pipe for each of you until I was blue in the face.

So I hear what Ed is saying in this post all the time. There are people who will out and out lie to make Microsoft, IMHO, one of the most problematic and sinking companies of our time, look good and smell good. It’s sad. Large companies who want a tool/collaboration would always choose Lotus over Microsoft.

Link to Ed’s Post 

The Lie….”I was just in a Microsoft presentation where our company’s decision makers were told that the Microsoft share in email has grown from 52% to 86% here in the [sub-region of the USA], and that while companies are constantly converting “from Notes to Exchange” there has never been a conversion in the other direction.”

Read what Ed Says to that…. 

So I posted a little bit of info about SkyBus and have seen my mail box go nuts because of it. How can they do this? It’s a scam? So from the web site and if you don’t think it true then please don’t use them.

“Our fares are so much lower than other airlines because we keep our costs lower. For example, we book our flights only through the Internet, so there’s no expensive call center or 800 number to operate. We fly new, fuel-efficient jets so our fuel costs are lower. And we fly into smaller, regional airports where it’s less expensive (and more convenient) to land. We also allow each passenger to pick and choose the options he or she wants, making fares lower for those who don’t need the “extras”. These and other factors make it possible for us to give you great service at a price you’re sure to appreciate.

*Does not include taxes and fees of up to $7.90, and September 11th Security Fee of $2.50. Tickets are nonrefundable. Any changes will incur a $40 change fee. Limited availability per flight. ”They also seem to fly in to places that don’t have high gate fees. So Denver and Charlotte will never be on that list. the majority of your ticket on other airlines is the fuel and gate cost. Millions over the time frame of 2 to 3 years.  Denver and Charlotte have some of the highest gate cost in the country right now. Sadly they should consider lowering them to bring in more people but they won’t. The mayor of Denver is a moron and couldn’t find his you know what with both hands. Just like they have a toll road here that no one uses and they keep jacking up the price to cover the costs. Someone missed the supply and demand class all us normal people took in high school and college.So back to the topic. I will be the first one not to trust some company. I have emailed Skybus and they answer email, not that email is a test of trust, but I have also called some of the airports they fly to and they all said really positive things so it must be a good thing. Buy your tickets and enjoy cheap travel. I hope they get a Frequent Flyer system soon. I am going to need it. 

While this is not tech news it 1 degree from Audi news. APR the makes of many products to make your Audi and VW go fast is putting up 3 VW’s next year and to let you know they plan on winning they hired long time race driver and big time winner, Randy Pobst.

The post    APR Motorsports

APR, LLC, the world’s leading Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche performance engineering firm, is entering professional racing with the formation of APR Motorsport, LLC. APR Motorsport is excited to announce that it will campaign three Volkswagen GTI race cars in the Koni Challenge Sport Touring class of Grand Am in 2008.

Pulling off what might be the coup of the year in racing, APR Motorsport has signed ten-time national series champion Randy Pobst to drive for the team. Pobst, fresh off his third World Challenge Speed GT Championship in six years, narrowly missed the famed “double,” coming close to winning both the Speed Touring Car and GT Championship in the same year. Pobst narrowly missed out on this yet to be accomplished feat, only after being punted off the track in the final laps of the final Touring Car race of the season. In hiring Pobst, APR Motorsport brings one of America’s top talents back to the Grand American series, where Pobst has won two Daytona 24 Hour championships and has 9 Grand Am race wins.

This is an interesting study of numbers, frequency and history. A must read if your retirement plan includes the lottery.

“Everyone wants to get rich, especially if it only costs them $1. Fortunately, many local state governments host lotteries, allowing their constituents to donate cash into the budget in hopes of winning a multi-million dollar prize. In practice, most lottery drawings consist of a series of balls drawn randomly from a chamber which should guarantee a fair opportunity for everyone to win. Theories of rigged lotteries and fraud, however, run rampant across the Internet.1 The system is accused of not holding live drawings, publishing winning numbers prior to drawing them, permitting the tweaking of data archives to avoid payouts, intentionally modifying balls, or using balls with painted numbers whose natural weight affects their likelihood of appearance.”

Pretty cool that people are starting to get it that you don’t need Windows to use a computer, you can use Linux/Ubuntu or MacOS X. So make this a good thing for Wal-Mart and go buy one to show your support.

Link to WIRED Post

Order Yours Here

Installed it last night. I got to play with it for about 20 minutes. It’s worth every penny so far. Plus it’s pretty fast.