mr_genius

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 04:19 PM) Theres been alot of movement in the industry to get off of the mainframe since the workforce is getting extremely old and its hard to find talent with that skillset. However I believe that the mainframe is an extremely cost effective and powerful platform if you run it the right way. Indeed, they are very good at large scale parallel processing and can handle massive data flows. They are also reliable and very costly to completely replace. These legacy systems often touch many different aspects of an organizations processing. Just to rewrite all the reporting and data set capabilities of an old IBM system is expensive. Most large Banks and Insurance companies use mainframes due to the excessive data processing they need. As far as skills set, I don't see that as an issue. I definitely wouldn't replace a system for that reason. Procedural coding can definitely be learned. The hardest thing to replace are people that know the administration aspect or the hierarchical IMS systems. A lot of US mainframe programmers don't even have a computer science degree, they just learned on the job. Yea, the cloud model is pretty much like the dummy terminal / large parallel processing back-end schema. The end game in cloud, IMO, would be a system where a windows type of office computing environment ran like the old dummy terminals. On a side note, A lot of companies are using Java on their IBM systems now as well. There are also techniques to develop GUI interfaces to be used to process batch procedures on Z/OS system. I've even seen some slick .Net into Z/OS interfaces.

GOP Sen. Rand Paul Urges Cutting Aid to Israel http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/28/...5.shtml?tag=dis

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 12:20 PM) New Rule: Americans Must Realize What Makes NFL Football So Great: Socialism glad someone finally pointed that out

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 12:00 PM) Shoot, there are still fundamental disagreements on using the mainframe in the industry. Thats why I like it so much, things are very fluid. what have you been dealing with as far as mainframe?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 12:28 PM) Why are people who all understand what the cloud is arguing about it for so long. We should be all just yelling at microsoft. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8913084255008000794# a clip of what goes on at Microsoft meetings. that's the CEO giving an inspirational speech.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2011 -> 03:25 PM) From my "Things that I just had to post" file. To answer your next question, no this is not from the Onion. haha

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 29, 2011 -> 11:56 AM) And keep in mind, like I said, the cloud hype is a pet peeve of mine, so I find the new overuse of the word highly annoying. it's the new annoying buzzword. anyways, cloud isn't even a new schema, thin client has been around a long time. plus, people think everyone is going to just tap into the cloud and it will run everything they need on a super thin client - too bad there isn't even remotely enough bandwith to handle this if everyone started using it. edit: i'm not talking about internal virtualization agreed. but the industry needed a new buzzword to sell stuff. "it's a high tech cloud, not a server. you want to buy now?"

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 05:43 PM) Supreme Court curb stomped the appellate court. Did I write this opinion? Strikingly close to my argument about why the appellate court ruling would end in absurd results. yea and those are all good points.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 27, 2011 -> 05:14 PM) Ruling was to be out at 4:45, so it should be in the news any minute now. Emanuel won the appeal http://www.suntimes.com/3521480-417/court-...n-election.html

:cheers

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41249093 Not really a surprise. No job = no money to buy a house or pay mortgage. http://www.cnbc.com/id/41252294 Dan Rather investigates. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/h...e_b_813086.html

terrible play from the bears thus far.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jan 23, 2011 -> 07:18 AM) If only the shooter had been aborted. haha

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 12:27 PM) What do you think... has the President done enough to earn that honorary degree yet? They already gave one to Joe Biden. Don't get greedy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 02:47 PM) The real kicker is that effectively holding spending growth at 2% a year IS actually a spending cut in a growing economy. No, it really isn't. Spending is way too high and should be reduced at minimum 5% per year.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 09:11 AM) The tax hike is too much. That's around another 1500 dollars I don't have for my family now, and for a person that doesn't make 180k+ per year, like the politicians that passed it, that's a lot of money considering my we have a single income. And don't get me wrong, I'm not against tax hikes...what I am against is tax hikes that resolve nothing. They will raise taxes, fees, and whatever else to get more money and be just as broke as they were before...and that's where the disconnect between the government and the people supporting the government comes in. I would have NO problem with them raising taxes if they said, this not only balances the budget but creates a budget surplus in the future (and guaranteed it, versus merely claiming it). The issue is, they'll raise taxes by 70%, and spend 170% more than they raised them by, WHILE claiming they're cutting spending. In the end, we are in the SAME place as we were, but it's just costing me way more. the real kicker is they are not cutting spending, they decided they will actually increase spending 2% a year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 08:21 PM) No, it's supposed to convince you to become a vigilante. f*** yea

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 07:54 PM) Great comparison of Illinois's 2 percentage point tax hike and how that compares to what other states are doing. lol. was that supposed to convince me the tax hike was the right move?

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 08:31 AM) Anyone know when the new Illinois state tax of 5% takes affect? I've heard that it's retro-active to Jan 1 and I've also heard not until July 1. from what I've read, it's retroactive http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/01/14/inc...ctive-to-jan-1/

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2011 -> 11:05 PM) 9/11 troofer isn't a left-right thing. And this Zeitgeist film, what with it denying a historical Jesus, doesn't sound very Republican, either. I believe he was commenting on the dimwitted analysis within the linked article. Obviously 'Loose Change' and that other movie are not anywhere close to a conservative narrative.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 16, 2011 -> 09:35 AM) The NY Times is a socialist/communist rag that cannot be trusted. haha

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/opinion/...ef=charlesmblow

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 08:20 PM) What is wrong with these people. It's not a pep rally. Obama didn't look comfortable with the atmosphere at first. it really was more of political pep rally setting than a memorial service.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 05:36 PM) If someone wants to kill a Congressman, the Congressman being armed isn't going to make much of a difference. They can just walk up and shoot them. ^^^

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 12, 2011 -> 11:03 AM) I'd have been OK with the income tax going up a bit. But only if they left the corporate rate alone AND did a LOT more to cut spending and fix the structural financial problems. ^^^