We've had similar issues wrapping our minds around OLAP and justifying a budget for the analysis services. Most of the documentation is, as you noted, product-specific.
http://www.cio.com/research/data/data_mining.htm l
http://www.datawarehousingonline.com/rdetail_dw. as p?ID=857&sub_category=OLAP
They aren't technical links, but they might point you to something useful. ORA has a book on accessing OLAP servers from Java that might have some useful background information.
For us, we've more or less settled on MSSQL and Crystal Analysis as our most-likely-to-be-viable-and-affordable platform. It's not best of breed, but it is the cheapest. We've looked for OSS/OLAP resources, but they aren't plentiful at this point (as far as we've found... someone please prove me wrong!).
We're mostly concerned with analysis of a data warehouse, so we may differ from what you want to do with OLAP. I'm sure an Oracle or DB2 shop would have more to say on OLAP as it pertains to their products.
Almost as interesting as the X programs is the B-52 mothership that launches them. There was an Air & Space article years ago (no online version at airspacemag.com) about it.
It's an aging early-model B-52B, evidenced by the non-pointy nose and is 49 years old. There are virtually no spare parts remaining for it, and most of the current inventory (Gs, Hs) don't have any parts commonality.
Plus, we never sold any of them to other countries, so it's not like there's a stockpile somplace else on the globe. The cost to replace it is prohibitive, given the structural reinforcements needed to carry the craft aloft. Also, the airframe is very young from an hours perspective. In fact, it's the lowest hour B-52 in the inventory.
The USAF has loaned an H-model to NASA to become the next generation launch platform, but I haven't heard much about it since the 2001 announcement.
It's a supremely important beast in the research arsenal. And, given our penchant for resurrecting C-64s as web servers and using mame to emulate decades-old cabinet games, it seems like the sort of thing that would interest the average computer geek.
Like so many things, it's the logistical details of maintaining an archaic aircraft against all odds (and lack of funding) that really become the story rather than the whizz-bang doodad that always gets the front page pictures.
Do you see any municipalities or counties taking advantage of the internet in terms of embracing the benefits of online court calendaring and legal notices? And, are there real prospects of that supplanting the print legal organs that have grown up around the "public notices" industry?
We all know it's possible, but I'm curious to know if anyone is doing it effectively and if there are judges who have a comfort level that allows them to accept a move from paper-based notification.
I don't recall where, but I'd read that a couple of years ago. The main support came from what happend to a small town about 40 miles outside Chicago that was essentially obliterated by a rapid, intense fire. I think it was the center of the activity mentioned as "north of Chicago" in the article. I'm glad to see the theory getting a little more publicity and play.
My oldest dog, Emma, then a 1-yr-old puppy, pulled all of the phone cable out from under our house. All of it. She found the box and went to work. Now that's dedication.
We tried to keep Emma from jumping on our kitchen door by putting hot sauce (Texas Pete, Tabasco and a delightful Habanero sauce... in that order). That's how we found out that she likes hot sauce.
I was driving my truck into our back yard to drop something off. With Georgia summers and no A/C, keeping the windows open is a must. Emma adores the truck. She just likes to sit in the bed while it's parked if we let her. My passenger window was open about 10 inches. She's a 45 lb dog. She jumped through the window opening and into the cab while I was rolling at about 2 mph into the back yard. These don't count the antics of the other three dogs or any of my now dearly departed cats.
The moral of the story is that smart, determined or bored animals will do what they ain't supposed to do. We cured Emma's phone phreaking by getting her a dog. She was much happier with a playmate, and a lot of her energy went into playtime with brother Harry. It didn't cure everything, but having something to keep her interested made a huge difference.
Cats are a tougher trick. Some just want to chew on stuff. Others won't even eat people food. The issue isn't as easy as getting them a playmate. Our best cat training method was a water gun. We couldn't be home every minute, but the water training seemed to take root really quickly. The best cat I ever had eventually learned the word "no."
Pepper may be more effective with cats (white or plack powder... depending on your carpet color). Just sprinkle a little around the cables. A scratching post or cat playhouse may be useful, too (after all, you've already spent a lot of money).
Really, it's a legitimate point. Business-oriented interviewers understand that more companies fail than succeed. It's a very valid thing to point out that you were willing to take a risk on something you felt was worthwhile, and even a 5-week stint can teach you something.
No one should be critical of you for falling down. They should only be critical if you didn't bounce back. How is it a negative to say "even after my first layoff, I kept my head together enough to find another job, move cross-country and try again."
Or as Grampa Simpson relates... "I think Rudyard Kipling said it best: If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss, yours is the earth is everything that is in it, and, which is more, you'll be a man, my son."
Unless QuarkXPress or Type Reunion is involved...
on
Mac v. Microsoft TCO
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
From my bad old days as a Mactinosh Systems Manager, I can attest to at least one thing... the only visits I made were to systems running QuarkXPress (which is... or at least was... notoriously breakable if you let graphic designers install anything) and Adobe Type Reunion. The general business apps (mostly Office, ironically) and internet apps just didn't create issues. I'm not really blaming the apps, since it was usually the result of an installation that overwrote a system extention. But, supporting PCs running QuarkXPress had way fewer issues. And, I don't think I've ever seen ATR on a PC.
Hold down shift... Extensions off... problem solved! Now, just make an empty system folder, reinstall Quark and move the new extenstions back to the production folder... presto!
Oddly, your call for more hemp (which I support... it's way too useful) is closer to reality than you might think. In many cases (percentages won't be suggested), the "trees" for even quality paper stock in the Southeastern United States are in a state much closer to hemp plants. If you tour the Weyerhauser facility in Louisiana, you'd think they're making paper from acres of pot.
Different regions have different logging routines. What most people don't know is that forestry is a leading industry in unusual places, like Georgia. It's not a pro or con argument, btw... just an interesting fact to tack on at the end.
Wow, Now That's Innovation
on
CNet on WinFS
·
· Score: 1
So Microsoft is going to make a filesystem that does essentially the same thing as Oracle Files? Will the innovation ever cease? But, I'm sure all the Windork developers where I work will hail it as a great advnacement, just like VB Script!
The DG reference is haunting, too, as I sit surrounded by 2 dozen off-the-books Data General systems and an equivalent number of Data General Clariions. DG couldn't market its way out of a moist paper sack. We were a big customer, too, who frequently made that point to them. I don't envy the Sun install base the eventual fate of the mother company.
My friend of 11 years who had hired me had to deliver the news. I have a great amount of respect for him because it was terribly difficult, but he did it directly and honestly. The added benefit is that I heard at the end of the day when it had been decided. The rest of the workforce heard the next morning when they came in for work.
The best one I've worked with was working on a 6-month contract. He got paid either way, but he worked his buns off for us. And, he was dead-honest. Putting one on a 6-month payroll, though, probably defeats the purpose unless you have several positions to fill.
We use our SAN extensively. Most of our HP-UX systems have the preponderance of their disks on it. A number of Windows systems do the same. However, the configuration and support of our HP XP disk systems is compex and expensive. In power alone, they have steep requirements.
But, we have technical needs that require consolidated storage. It's not for the understaffed or underfunded (we're on the edge of being both, too). It is a hassle, and it's difficult to do without a healthy support contract from your disk subsystem vendor. Also, cheaper second-market devices don't get supported without a big "recertification" fee to the vendor.
But, how much of that 2TB needs to be online? Can it be on 9.99 uptime systems? Can it be near-line? Does it need to be copied offsite for DR? Depending on those answers, you might be very happy with devices like the ones Raidzone sells (not an endorsement since I have no hands-on with them).
On the other hand, a NAS device with a reasonably affordable fast or gigabit ethernet (my network gurus assure me that those are two separate things... I think they might be high) backbone could allow iSCSI, NFS or CIFS mounting with no issue. In addition, you might be just as happy to have the device serve its own files rather than be mounted by other servers. It depends on what the data needs to do.
The only big caveat is to find something structured around what you need to do with the data, and buy two or three of them. Even if redundancy isn't simple or obvious, you'll find a way to do it eventually. And you'll be much happier that you did.
We just picked this up, too. Each "late" is an "occurance," which add up to verbal warnings, written warnings and dismissal at 7 occurances.
I think it's just that companies are trying like mad to shift the base definition of work, given that ecomomic circumstances keep most of us as a captive audience. When the economy picks up and we all start to bail, they can "negotiate" a more relaxed environment again, which won't do more than return to the status quo of a couple of years ago. I agree that it seems short-sighted to treat your employees like children... any of your employees.
That said, I'd also add that my group is extremely lucky that our managers stood up to say "we work on infrastructure, so we can't work 8 to 5 like everyone else." They could have just as easily said "a 40-hour week? my people will be thrilled! no more late nights and long weekends!" Other departments weren't happy with that ("why does I.S. think they're special?"), but they don't have to show on several weekends a year for routine maintenance and system outages.
We run Courier on FreeBSD and Debian for our non-Exchange accounts. All of the servers really do have their own merit. I'd give you a lot of good reasons, but they really end with "it's the one we picked." Not a ringing endorsement, huh? But we are very happy with it (plus Exim + Squirrelmail + Spamassassin).
Here's two good guides:
http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200308/courier-imap. ht ml
http://talk.trekweb.com/~jasonb/articles/exim_ma il dir_imap.shtml
Both are easy to follow, and managing the mail store is as easy as managing filesystem space.
However...
I'm going to echo two other comments and add one other option:
1) pay someone else to do it I know, you don't get control and don't learn about the software firsthand. If those are must-haves, skip to #2. If they aren't, even Oracle offers hosted solutions.
2) Communigate Pro We looked at it, and we liked it a lot. It's pretty cheap, very mature and it runs on just about any OS you'd want (including my beloved FreeBSD). You can go get a fully-functional demo to run indefinitely with 5 users. The admin interface is complete if not stellar, and that's something that few of the other solutions mentioned will get for you.
3) Merak Mail Server (as a true wildcard) It runs on Windows (egad, I know), but consists of open source pieces. And, it is obscenely affordable. http://www.merakmailserver.com/
Never say "no" to business, unless it just isn't something you do or you are uncomfortable with the character/solvency of the customer.
Instead, say "yes" with a price that makes it profitable. "Yes" may include the cost to farm it out to someone, too. This assumes you've made careful notes during discovery so you're quoting accurately on the scope of the project. And keep a list of those prospects who say no to your quote! As long as you've dealt with them in a fair and upfront manner, they're still potential customers.
Ask some other questions of the business customers, too. What's their industry? Who is their competition? How do they make their money?
A former boss once said "you have to make it hurt just a little bit, or the customer doesn't believe they're getting something of value." Not only is he right, he's still in the business of providing sitebuilding at a profitable level. I can't argue with that.
I'll hand this much to IBM. They put out *tons* of documentation for free. It's not a ground-up overview followed by specific, real-world instruction. But, having attended more than a few AS/400 classes (no, it's not a mainframe... it's a midrange), I can tell you the instructor says "Here's your CD of Rebooks. Read them from cover to cover. This class is only to give you an overview of what you will find in them."
So, you don't go interview someplace and say "it's ok... I read the manual." But it's a starting place. And, you'd certainly sound more credible in an interview if you said "I have years of OS experince in open systems. My zSeries knowledge comes from reading Redbook X, Y and Z, and I want to learn more." Chances are, the mainframe guys have the books on their bookshelf. And, knowing the mainframe people, they refer to them.
I'm not suggesting this is cost-effective, but maybe it would pay to consult with an intellectual property lawyer? It's a cop-out answer, I know. But assets are normally liquidated from dead companies by the last holder of the company. Maybe it's a trivial venture to purchase the rights (via a foundation, new or existing) to the now-deceased company from the former owners? Someone has to still be holding the bag... even a VC.
Those are more than a fair points to make, and I'd certainly have a hard time disagreeing about Boeing having some significant government support from defense contracts. I'd completely forgotten about the A300 and the standard cargo palette issue.
And, I certainly wouldn't want to fly in a world where only one multinational company made all the planes. In retrospect, I could have been more clear that I was looking at the issue from a Boeing perspective, and they certainly see new model development as more of a gamble, given the fact that the failure of a commercial airliner program could mean thousands of jobs in Everett and significant losses that shareholders alone must cover (which is never good for that executive career path;). Even if the bottom line can be padded by DoD sales, the executives in charge of the commercial airliner unit have to be in the black, at least as far as the shareholders are concerned.
I thought about the fly-by-wire issue when writing my first post, but the thought that popped into my head was the (not unusual for any new development) crash of the A320 in Paris during its debut. It's not fair to view the A320 program based on that one incident, but the risk in development of non-traditional control linkages is why Boeing avoided the issue. In that regard, they didn't gamble, but that's as much a fear of irritating the FAA as much as anything. Heck, I also recall that there was nearly a wholesale pilot union revolt across the U.S. carriers with the 2-man crewing trend. I think Boeing felt they were already pushing the comfort level enough.
And in the interest of equal time, I hope Boeing chooses something besides the brittle, flammable insulation on its electrical wiring in future projects. It's the Hindenburg all over again (TWA 800 == Hindenburg... Kerosene vapor == Hydrogen... burning insulation == doped-up zepplin skin, which were both the real and deserately-hidden causes because they pointed to a significantly larger design flaw).
+ Roosevelt hid the details of the concentration camps for 18 months in WW2 despite the pleadings of his SecTreas (and close friend) + Bush, Part One successfully covered up his drunken car crash prior to his election run (possibly because his mistress was in the car) + Bush, Part Two successfully covered the fact that he was AWOL for 17 months in 1970-71 + The Feds successfully covered from the American people the drug purchasing aspect of the "Iran-Contra" scandal (known around the world as the "Iran-Contra-Drug" scandal) + No one knew about Eisenhower's, Roosevelt's or Kenedy's mistresses until after their terms in office. + The U.S. government successfully covered the fact that there were no Iraqi troops massing on the border of Saudi Arabia in 1990 + Anyone hear of The Greenbriar? That took decades to come out. + What's that? A cover-up of nuclear fallout tests on U.S. troops and citizens? + And another one on syphilis in African-American men being allowed to run its course for the benefit of the study in the 1940s and 1950s? + Tacit Blue was a complete unknown + The recovery of K-129 was pretty dark + How about the Japanese nuclear weapons research facility in Korea during WW2 and how it related to the Korean War? + Agent Orange? + Gulf War Syndrome? + Massive WMD programs in Iraq? Well, this one may not be covered very well;)
Of course, they aren't secrets anymore, but they were covered for years or decades. It's a fallacy to say the U.S. government is horrible at cover-ups.
That doesn't mean there are little alien corpses in Dayton, OH. It does mean that our vigilance is required to keep as much as possible in the open.
We knew about the F-117 because of amateur avaition enthusiasts sending pics to Aviation Week, but the program had been around for years. Don't underestimate the desire of people in power to keep you in the dark, or bureaucrats to willingly allow it to save a pension.
Charlie Parker! + The Cole Porter Songbook + Jazz at the Philharmonic, 1949 [LIVE]
And, with Dizzy Gillespie + Bird and Diz
With the added benefit of getting to know the Cole Porter songs. Ok, it's not that experimental stuff from the 60s and 70s, but man is it sweet. I credit The Bird with helping me land my wife of 11 years!
Slashdot Mirror
No really. I want to make a joke... badly! But I... I... I... pah!
Besides, I *know* all my systems hate me! Except for the old DG3704 in the corner.. it's different... not like the other machines.
Almost more disurbing... check out the JuJu in the Products section of the company's site. Creepy!
We've had similar issues wrapping our minds around OLAP and justifying a budget for the analysis services. Most of the documentation is, as you noted, product-specific.
m l
. as p?ID=857&sub_category=OLAP
http://www.cio.com/research/data/data_mining.ht
http://www.datawarehousingonline.com/rdetail_dw
They aren't technical links, but they might point you to something useful. ORA has a book on accessing OLAP servers from Java that might have some useful background information.
For us, we've more or less settled on MSSQL and Crystal Analysis as our most-likely-to-be-viable-and-affordable platform. It's not best of breed, but it is the cheapest. We've looked for OSS/OLAP resources, but they aren't plentiful at this point (as far as we've found... someone please prove me wrong!).
We're mostly concerned with analysis of a data warehouse, so we may differ from what you want to do with OLAP. I'm sure an Oracle or DB2 shop would have more to say on OLAP as it pertains to their products.
Almost as interesting as the X programs is the B-52 mothership that launches them. There was an Air & Space article years ago (no online version at airspacemag.com) about it.
It's an aging early-model B-52B, evidenced by the non-pointy nose and is 49 years old. There are virtually no spare parts remaining for it, and most of the current inventory (Gs, Hs) don't have any parts commonality.
Plus, we never sold any of them to other countries, so it's not like there's a stockpile somplace else on the globe. The cost to replace it is prohibitive, given the structural reinforcements needed to carry the craft aloft. Also, the airframe is very young from an hours perspective. In fact, it's the lowest hour B-52 in the inventory.
The USAF has loaned an H-model to NASA to become the next generation launch platform, but I haven't heard much about it since the 2001 announcement.
It's a supremely important beast in the research arsenal. And, given our penchant for resurrecting C-64s as web servers and using mame to emulate decades-old cabinet games, it seems like the sort of thing that would interest the average computer geek.
Like so many things, it's the logistical details of maintaining an archaic aircraft against all odds (and lack of funding) that really become the story rather than the whizz-bang doodad that always gets the front page pictures.
Do you see any municipalities or counties taking advantage of the internet in terms of embracing the benefits of online court calendaring and legal notices? And, are there real prospects of that supplanting the print legal organs that have grown up around the "public notices" industry?
We all know it's possible, but I'm curious to know if anyone is doing it effectively and if there are judges who have a comfort level that allows them to accept a move from paper-based notification.
I don't recall where, but I'd read that a couple of years ago. The main support came from what happend to a small town about 40 miles outside Chicago that was essentially obliterated by a rapid, intense fire. I think it was the center of the activity mentioned as "north of Chicago" in the article. I'm glad to see the theory getting a little more publicity and play.
My oldest dog, Emma, then a 1-yr-old puppy, pulled all of the phone cable out from under our house. All of it. She found the box and went to work. Now that's dedication.
We tried to keep Emma from jumping on our kitchen door by putting hot sauce (Texas Pete, Tabasco and a delightful Habanero sauce... in that order). That's how we found out that she likes hot sauce.
I was driving my truck into our back yard to drop something off. With Georgia summers and no A/C, keeping the windows open is a must. Emma adores the truck. She just likes to sit in the bed while it's parked if we let her. My passenger window was open about 10 inches. She's a 45 lb dog. She jumped through the window opening and into the cab while I was rolling at about 2 mph into the back yard. These don't count the antics of the other three dogs or any of my now dearly departed cats.
The moral of the story is that smart, determined or bored animals will do what they ain't supposed to do. We cured Emma's phone phreaking by getting her a dog. She was much happier with a playmate, and a lot of her energy went into playtime with brother Harry. It didn't cure everything, but having something to keep her interested made a huge difference.
Cats are a tougher trick. Some just want to chew on stuff. Others won't even eat people food. The issue isn't as easy as getting them a playmate. Our best cat training method was a water gun. We couldn't be home every minute, but the water training seemed to take root really quickly. The best cat I ever had eventually learned the word "no."
Pepper may be more effective with cats (white or plack powder... depending on your carpet color). Just sprinkle a little around the cables. A scratching post or cat playhouse may be useful, too (after all, you've already spent a lot of money).
Really, it's a legitimate point. Business-oriented interviewers understand that more companies fail than succeed. It's a very valid thing to point out that you were willing to take a risk on something you felt was worthwhile, and even a 5-week stint can teach you something.
No one should be critical of you for falling down. They should only be critical if you didn't bounce back. How is it a negative to say "even after my first layoff, I kept my head together enough to find another job, move cross-country and try again."
Or as Grampa Simpson relates...
"I think Rudyard Kipling said it best: If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss, yours is the earth is everything that is in it, and, which is more, you'll be a man, my son."
From my bad old days as a Mactinosh Systems Manager, I can attest to at least one thing... the only visits I made were to systems running QuarkXPress (which is... or at least was... notoriously breakable if you let graphic designers install anything) and Adobe Type Reunion. The general business apps (mostly Office, ironically) and internet apps just didn't create issues. I'm not really blaming the apps, since it was usually the result of an installation that overwrote a system extention. But, supporting PCs running QuarkXPress had way fewer issues. And, I don't think I've ever seen ATR on a PC.
Hold down shift... Extensions off... problem solved! Now, just make an empty system folder, reinstall Quark and move the new extenstions back to the production folder... presto!
...To Big Corn
Oddly, your call for more hemp (which I support... it's way too useful) is closer to reality than you might think. In many cases (percentages won't be suggested), the "trees" for even quality paper stock in the Southeastern United States are in a state much closer to hemp plants. If you tour the Weyerhauser facility in Louisiana, you'd think they're making paper from acres of pot.
Different regions have different logging routines. What most people don't know is that forestry is a leading industry in unusual places, like Georgia. It's not a pro or con argument, btw... just an interesting fact to tack on at the end.
So Microsoft is going to make a filesystem that does essentially the same thing as Oracle Files? Will the innovation ever cease? But, I'm sure all the Windork developers where I work will hail it as a great advnacement, just like VB Script!
The DG reference is haunting, too, as I sit surrounded by 2 dozen off-the-books Data General systems and an equivalent number of Data General Clariions. DG couldn't market its way out of a moist paper sack. We were a big customer, too, who frequently made that point to them. I don't envy the Sun install base the eventual fate of the mother company.
My friend of 11 years who had hired me had to deliver the news. I have a great amount of respect for him because it was terribly difficult, but he did it directly and honestly. The added benefit is that I heard at the end of the day when it had been decided. The rest of the workforce heard the next morning when they came in for work.
The best one I've worked with was working on a 6-month contract. He got paid either way, but he worked his buns off for us. And, he was dead-honest. Putting one on a 6-month payroll, though, probably defeats the purpose unless you have several positions to fill.
We use our SAN extensively. Most of our HP-UX systems have the preponderance of their disks on it. A number of Windows systems do the same. However, the configuration and support of our HP XP disk systems is compex and expensive. In power alone, they have steep requirements.
But, we have technical needs that require consolidated storage. It's not for the understaffed or underfunded (we're on the edge of being both, too). It is a hassle, and it's difficult to do without a healthy support contract from your disk subsystem vendor. Also, cheaper second-market devices don't get supported without a big "recertification" fee to the vendor.
But, how much of that 2TB needs to be online? Can it be on 9.99 uptime systems? Can it be near-line? Does it need to be copied offsite for DR? Depending on those answers, you might be very happy with devices like the ones Raidzone sells (not an endorsement since I have no hands-on with them).
On the other hand, a NAS device with a reasonably affordable fast or gigabit ethernet (my network gurus assure me that those are two separate things... I think they might be high) backbone could allow iSCSI, NFS or CIFS mounting with no issue. In addition, you might be just as happy to have the device serve its own files rather than be mounted by other servers. It depends on what the data needs to do.
The only big caveat is to find something structured around what you need to do with the data, and buy two or three of them. Even if redundancy isn't simple or obvious, you'll find a way to do it eventually. And you'll be much happier that you did.
We just picked this up, too. Each "late" is an "occurance," which add up to verbal warnings, written warnings and dismissal at 7 occurances.
I think it's just that companies are trying like mad to shift the base definition of work, given that ecomomic circumstances keep most of us as a captive audience. When the economy picks up and we all start to bail, they can "negotiate" a more relaxed environment again, which won't do more than return to the status quo of a couple of years ago. I agree that it seems short-sighted to treat your employees like children... any of your employees.
That said, I'd also add that my group is extremely lucky that our managers stood up to say "we work on infrastructure, so we can't work 8 to 5 like everyone else." They could have just as easily said "a 40-hour week? my people will be thrilled! no more late nights and long weekends!" Other departments weren't happy with that ("why does I.S. think they're special?"), but they don't have to show on several weekends a year for routine maintenance and system outages.
We run Courier on FreeBSD and Debian for our non-Exchange accounts. All of the servers really do have their own merit. I'd give you a lot of good reasons, but they really end with "it's the one we picked." Not a ringing endorsement, huh? But we are very happy with it (plus Exim + Squirrelmail + Spamassassin).
. ht ml
a il dir_imap.shtml
Here's two good guides:
http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200308/courier-imap
http://talk.trekweb.com/~jasonb/articles/exim_m
Both are easy to follow, and managing the mail store is as easy as managing filesystem space.
However...
I'm going to echo two other comments and add one other option:
1) pay someone else to do it
I know, you don't get control and don't learn about the software firsthand. If those are must-haves, skip to #2. If they aren't, even Oracle offers hosted solutions.
2) Communigate Pro
We looked at it, and we liked it a lot. It's pretty cheap, very mature and it runs on just about any OS you'd want (including my beloved FreeBSD). You can go get a fully-functional demo to run indefinitely with 5 users. The admin interface is complete if not stellar, and that's something that few of the other solutions mentioned will get for you.
3) Merak Mail Server (as a true wildcard)
It runs on Windows (egad, I know), but consists of open source pieces. And, it is obscenely affordable.
http://www.merakmailserver.com/
Never say "no" to business, unless it just isn't something you do or you are uncomfortable with the character/solvency of the customer.
Instead, say "yes" with a price that makes it profitable. "Yes" may include the cost to farm it out to someone, too. This assumes you've made careful notes during discovery so you're quoting accurately on the scope of the project. And keep a list of those prospects who say no to your quote! As long as you've dealt with them in a fair and upfront manner, they're still potential customers.
Ask some other questions of the business customers, too. What's their industry? Who is their competition? How do they make their money?
A former boss once said "you have to make it hurt just a little bit, or the customer doesn't believe they're getting something of value." Not only is he right, he's still in the business of providing sitebuilding at a profitable level. I can't argue with that.
http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/redbooks.nsf/porta ls/S390
I'll hand this much to IBM. They put out *tons* of documentation for free. It's not a ground-up overview followed by specific, real-world instruction. But, having attended more than a few AS/400 classes (no, it's not a mainframe... it's a midrange), I can tell you the instructor says "Here's your CD of Rebooks. Read them from cover to cover. This class is only to give you an overview of what you will find in them."
So, you don't go interview someplace and say "it's ok... I read the manual." But it's a starting place. And, you'd certainly sound more credible in an interview if you said "I have years of OS experince in open systems. My zSeries knowledge comes from reading Redbook X, Y and Z, and I want to learn more." Chances are, the mainframe guys have the books on their bookshelf. And, knowing the mainframe people, they refer to them.
I'm not suggesting this is cost-effective, but maybe it would pay to consult with an intellectual property lawyer? It's a cop-out answer, I know. But assets are normally liquidated from dead companies by the last holder of the company. Maybe it's a trivial venture to purchase the rights (via a foundation, new or existing) to the now-deceased company from the former owners? Someone has to still be holding the bag... even a VC.
Add to that, Exchange is a recovery nightmare. 'Nuff sed.
Those are more than a fair points to make, and I'd certainly have a hard time disagreeing about Boeing having some significant government support from defense contracts. I'd completely forgotten about the A300 and the standard cargo palette issue.
;). Even if the bottom line can be padded by DoD sales, the executives in charge of the commercial airliner unit have to be in the black, at least as far as the shareholders are concerned.
And, I certainly wouldn't want to fly in a world where only one multinational company made all the planes. In retrospect, I could have been more clear that I was looking at the issue from a Boeing perspective, and they certainly see new model development as more of a gamble, given the fact that the failure of a commercial airliner program could mean thousands of jobs in Everett and significant losses that shareholders alone must cover (which is never good for that executive career path
I thought about the fly-by-wire issue when writing my first post, but the thought that popped into my head was the (not unusual for any new development) crash of the A320 in Paris during its debut. It's not fair to view the A320 program based on that one incident, but the risk in development of non-traditional control linkages is why Boeing avoided the issue. In that regard, they didn't gamble, but that's as much a fear of irritating the FAA as much as anything. Heck, I also recall that there was nearly a wholesale pilot union revolt across the U.S. carriers with the 2-man crewing trend. I think Boeing felt they were already pushing the comfort level enough.
And in the interest of equal time, I hope Boeing chooses something besides the brittle, flammable insulation on its electrical wiring in future projects. It's the Hindenburg all over again (TWA 800 == Hindenburg... Kerosene vapor == Hydrogen... burning insulation == doped-up zepplin skin, which were both the real and deserately-hidden causes because they pointed to a significantly larger design flaw).
+ Roosevelt hid the details of the concentration camps for 18 months in WW2 despite the pleadings of his SecTreas (and close friend) ;)
+ Bush, Part One successfully covered up his drunken car crash prior to his election run (possibly because his mistress was in the car)
+ Bush, Part Two successfully covered the fact that he was AWOL for 17 months in 1970-71
+ The Feds successfully covered from the American people the drug purchasing aspect of the "Iran-Contra" scandal (known around the world as the "Iran-Contra-Drug" scandal)
+ No one knew about Eisenhower's, Roosevelt's or Kenedy's mistresses until after their terms in office.
+ The U.S. government successfully covered the fact that there were no Iraqi troops massing on the border of Saudi Arabia in 1990
+ Anyone hear of The Greenbriar? That took decades to come out.
+ What's that? A cover-up of nuclear fallout tests on U.S. troops and citizens?
+ And another one on syphilis in African-American men being allowed to run its course for the benefit of the study in the 1940s and 1950s?
+ Tacit Blue was a complete unknown
+ The recovery of K-129 was pretty dark
+ How about the Japanese nuclear weapons research facility in Korea during WW2 and how it related to the Korean War?
+ Agent Orange?
+ Gulf War Syndrome?
+ Massive WMD programs in Iraq? Well, this one may not be covered very well
Of course, they aren't secrets anymore, but they were covered for years or decades. It's a fallacy to say the U.S. government is horrible at cover-ups.
That doesn't mean there are little alien corpses in Dayton, OH. It does mean that our vigilance is required to keep as much as possible in the open.
We knew about the F-117 because of amateur avaition enthusiasts sending pics to Aviation Week, but the program had been around for years. Don't underestimate the desire of people in power to keep you in the dark, or bureaucrats to willingly allow it to save a pension.
All due respect to Davis and Coltrane, but...
Charlie Parker!
+ The Cole Porter Songbook
+ Jazz at the Philharmonic, 1949 [LIVE]
And, with Dizzy Gillespie
+ Bird and Diz
With the added benefit of getting to know the Cole Porter songs. Ok, it's not that experimental stuff from the 60s and 70s, but man is it sweet. I credit The Bird with helping me land my wife of 11 years!