Deep Thoughts with Richard Schoen

Well I am not personally a huge Twitter fan, but my wife told me that I could use Twitter as sort of a mini-blog where I could share short (140 char) items with anyone who would be crazy enough to follow me.  I don’t plan to use it as a play-by-play site like some folks do, but I will post short web URL link tips and techniques related to Windows, iSeries and other business items I find to be relevent. Besides who would really want to know what I’m doing all the time. Here’s my Twitter link http://www.twitter.com/richardschoen

I just returned from the COMMON 2009 conference in Reno and the main thing I learned from listening to IBM at the opening conference is that they no longer consider the iSeries more than just an OS running on a Power systems box. Why is this a significant event ? Well, we’re starting to see a small although very real shift from some customers towards selecting ERP and other business systems that run on platforms that don’t include OS/400.

While RJS will always remain committed to the native iSeries platform we want to make sure our customers know that even if they do select another platform, our document imaging, electronic forms, workflow and report delivery products are all very capable products running in an iSeries or Multiplatform environment as well. Hopefully for those of you committed to the iSeries, you will be on the platform a long time, but if Windows or some other platform is in your future, feel free to give us a call and we can discuss how your information delivery investment is protected by continuing to choose RJS as your valued information delivery provider.

IBM’s announcement of the System i blades is probably one of the most compelling statements by IBM that the System i landscape is changing and I believe it’s for the better. 

First and foremost this is an improvement on the scenario we have used for the past ten years on the iSeries with the integrated xServer cards.  They have always been one step behind current technology and have been seen as a second class way of deploying Windows on the iSeries.  However I’ve used the integrated server cards for years and found them to be very stable.

From a practical perspective the new Blade cards will allow shops such as RJS to truly consolidate their iSeries, Windows, Linux or AIX environments all together in a shared chassis with shared disk and less cables.  RJS is planning to implement one of the Blade Centers internally to consolidate our own server sprawl. I’ll post updates as we move forward.

Some say this is the end of the System i.  I say it’s just the beginning of a new way of life where our System i servers live harmonious with all of the other servers in our shops. Only time will tell for sure. Goodbye to cable and server sprawl.

I can’t say I agree with the new name change to “i”, but read about the cool new Blade Server technology here at the IBM i web site.

I recently wrote an article for IBM Systems magazine that is the start of a series on using .Net with the AS/400, iSeries , System i or whatever you may call it today. This first article is an introduction to using .Net with the System i platform and will hopefully stimulate your interest in using the .Net technology with your System i to write compelling Windows and Web based applications. Click here to read the article. Your career depends on staying up with current technologies and .Net is a powerful technology for writing System i applications.

On August 2nd I did an online interview to talk about the “Paperless Office” with Bruce Teichman from All Covered a nationwide information technology (IT) services company focused solely on unique needs of small business. Bruce Teichman hosts a weekly radio show, “Technology Means Business”. The show streams live on the Internet at www.radiosandysprings.com each Thursday at 10 am.  Give it a listen to learn more about how document management technology can help companies achieve the concept of the “paperless office”.

OK, I don’t usually hang out at sites such as youtube, but……. I was down at my inlaws a few weeks back and was reading the local Madison, WI newspaper and it talked about a local film producer doing a series of shorts on Chad Vader.  If you grew up in the Star Wars generation as I did, you will probably find these funny.  If not, feel free to not watch Chad Vader.

Last year in one of my posts I discussed the possibility of getting Carpal Thumb from a Blackberry device. I read yesterday that this phenomenon has been formally named “Blackberry Thumb”. If you don’t believe me, read more. http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/99/105403.htm?pagenumber=1

Once again it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog site. It’s been a busy year so far, but that’s no excuse to neglect sharing my life observations.

Just the other day I read an article on blogging and it said blog or die. Basically it said if you have something to say, then say it, otherwise don’t bother having a blog site.

My pledge to you the few that have actually read my blog site is to start updating the blog site at least weekly with a tip or bit of information that I have found to be useful from the web.

If you have any topics you would like me to speak to or comment about online, shoot me an email at: richard@rjssoftware.com

Apparently even this new medium of communication is not free of its share of issues. I have been seeing comments lately being posted on the site that are not relevent to anything other than advertising. It looks like the Spammers have invaded Blogspot. To be sure, if this site is to remain open to free, anonymous posting then there will be some spamming on the site. I just thought until recently that spam was limited to email and adware popups that were getting installed on our computers because of the Internet Explorer special features It looks like open blogs are now a target as well. I would consider closing the site to anonymous posting, but I don’t think that’s the right answer. I just wanted to comment on the sad and irritating methods some people will go to when they want traffic to their web sites. On the up side of that comment, we’ve been getting a lot of visitors t the site. Let me know your thoughts.

OK, we’ve been doing cross platform Java development for just over a year now. I can still recall the moment I finally gave in to the dark side. Although in my case Darth Vader isn’t my father.

Along the way we’ve discovered a new tool called Grasshopper from a company called MainSoft. Yes I know it sounds wierd, but this tool is an add-in for Microsoft Visual Studio that utilizes the open source .Net Common Language Runtime project called MONO.

So what ? What does this tool really do for me as a Microsoft or Sun Java software developer ? Basically this tool lets our developers ride the fence in between the Microsoft, IBM and Sun worlds and allows us to maximize on our skills as Microsoft, IBM and Sun developers.

Let me explain. Our company background is AS/400 and iSeries so naturally we have applications that still run on the iSeries to support. We also have several VB programs along with developers who know VB well. Thirdly we have developers who are developing cross platform code in Java for the portability.

Using a tool like Grasshopper allows us to utilize our existing VB and C# skills to generate web applications using the Microsoft .Net languages and philosophies, yet the compiled executables can run on iSeries, Windows, Unix or Linux by simply installing and using the Apache Tomcat Web Application server.

This approach is limited to web applications and web services, but a lot of what we’re doing today involves web applications and web services. Imagine an aspx web application running natively on the iSeries under Tomcat. Believe me it works and it’s cool stuff.

Tell me your experiences after trying the Grasshopper product. Have fun and go develop cross platform.