Has anyone else tried the new Mission to Space ride at Disney World? It's also an articulated cetrifuge ride.
It was the most incredible ride I've ever been on. It will definately make your inner ears confused and it seems to mess with your brain in other ways. It made me feel sick for the rest of the day.
People seem revere pilots and astronauts for their bravery and reflexes. I'm most impressed by their ability to tolerate motion sickness.
You are able to allocate files with any record length (or even a length which varies per record) on an MVS box. (Allocated with RECFM=VB,LRECL=xxx)
Sure, then you can get about 32760 bytes per record. Except when one of the applications that touches the data requires a specific data set organization, carriage control, blocking, etc.
Not totally true either. Files are allocated with a primary and 15 secondary extents (chunks of space) on a mainframe. When the primary fills, MVS starts writing to a secondary until all of those fill. At this point, MVS can add additional volumes to the file allocation, using the 16 space extents per additional volume. Volumes are less likely to be filled up due to SMS (System Managed Storage). This handles the placement of files on disk volumes automatically, using ACS (Automatic Control Statements) Routines -- basically code-like policy statements. SMS distributes file placement on groups (pools) of disk volumes to ensure performance and space policies are met. If designed properly, SMS can fail over to a "spill" pool of volumes in an emergency.
I admit it that seems almost self-evident if you just approach it with a knowlege of antique IBM disk hardware and an open mind. But don't tell me you've never seen a batch job fail because the space wasn't set up correctly ahead of time.
Files are limited to 8 uppercase characters per qualifier in the native "mainframe" environment. Qualifiers are separated by periods, allowing for a maxium of 44 characters. (example: SLASHDOT.SUX.BILLGS.BALLZ)
Yes, you've pointed out one place where MVS allows combinations of 8 uppercase characters. Now how many places do you think there are that don't? It's by far the exception, rather than the rule.
However, in the USS (Unix System Services) environment, those restrictions do not hold.
I was specifically excluding that from my discussion of MVS. It will be interesting to see if MVS apps and users will slowly migrate to the USS side, or if they'll just end up running Linux on the same hardware.
What you have to understand is that the reputed stability and scalability of mainframe systems is largely a cultural phenomenon within business. Though the hardware itself is rock-solid, and the software has been debugged over a period of 40+ years in some cases, it still is quite primitive underneath. For anyone who looks at a mainframe (i.e. System 370 MVS) architecture after using a 64-bit Unix, or even NT, its really quite scary. For example, you have to tell the OS how big your file is ever going to get before you can write to it. Files are usually record oriented with fixed maximums like 80 characters per line (this comes from punched cards). File allocations and volumes and are constantly on the verge of filling up without admin intervention. All names are limited to 8 uppercase characters. And so on. Of course there are additional utilities that can handle much of this automatically, but configuring them means learning an even larger set of complex utilities with even more options. And it still requires knowledge of the underlying implementation model. So when a business decides it's big enough to need a mainframe, it fully expects to have a full-time staff dedicated to servicing it. Operators to handle print, tape, and job scheduling. Regular hardware maintenance from the manufacturer. Systems analysts and programmers to configure and run the utilities. And they're also educated not to expect any significant processing to happen faster than overnight! "Interactive" sessions can have a response time of 2 or 3 seconds. On the other hand, if you propose a system based on PC-compatible systems (no matter how powerful), they expect to be able to hire the staff straight out of the local community college. They expect a ratio of servers to admins much greater than one. PC and Unix hardware has also gotten darned reliable, even if the mainframe has an extra 9 or two on it. IBM in its newer systems is moving more and more functionality into the unix side (it comes with a unix runtime layer built-in), while also marketing running multiple instances of Linux simultaneously with the traditional OSes.
Please forgive my additional questions, they are technical in nature. I'm sure you're getting a lot of communication on this subject lately.
I understand that the HTTP redirection is not really spam or spyware, it is more of a configuration page. I have applications that regularly download via HTTP: 1. Operating system updates (e.g., Windows Update) 2. Real-time data (e.g., stock quotes) 3. Critical data (e.g., drug interaction updates) How does your product ensure that one of these HTTP connections (i.e. one not coming from a browser operated by an administrator) does not return the parental controls option page instead of the actual data requested?
The product is now open to receive configuration settings from a remote site (the external website is able to disable the 8 hour reminder). What authentication mechanisms are in place to ensure that the reconfiguration of the router by the remote site is, in fact, authorized? Note that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) compliance requires 512 bit encryption on data transfers. Can I continue to recommend this product in a HIPAA environment?
Thanks again, Marsh Ray
cc: kmc
Christine Lee wrote:
> > > > -----Original Message----- >From: Marsh Ray [mailto:marsh@mysteray.com] >Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 4:21 PM >To: sales@belkin.com >Subject: Routers > >Dear Sir or Madam, > >I heard the wildest rumor today, and am seeking some clarification. Is >it really true that Belkin routers will misroute http connections to >advertisement sites? > >I have always held your products in high regard and am having a hard >time beliving this. > >Regards, > >Marsh Ray >Belkin customer since 1997 >
For example try to do such a thing in vbscript :
ssh unixprod "pg_dumpall |gzip" |gunzip
>/opt/backup/postgres_daily_backup.dmp (If you
wonder, it'll open an ssh connection to a machine
named unixprod, ask postgresql to dump all bases
to stdout, compress the stream , then decompress
the stream on the other end and finally redirect
it to a file).
Sure, vbs can be a pain, but what part of that do you need vbscript for? That works unmodified on Windows' CMD.EXE (BTW, ssh is runs on Windows, too). I do almost exactly that command to back up my OpenBSD firewall to my XP notebook.
It's the schools' fault anyway . .. for failing to teach the critical reasoning skills necessary to evaluate relative risks. I've got a K in school now. Which would you rather have, a kid who encounters the occasional 2 GHz photon, or one that's never seen a computer? They get far more natural radiation on the playground anyway.
I'm a big believer in CPA's. I once went down to the post office at 9 PM on April 15. There were free accountants volunteering there to help people like me. To make a long story short, my taxes got done that year for free, and they even re-filed for me things that I had filed sub-optimally in two preceding years. Instead of my calculations that had me paying a few hundred dollars, I left with refunds totalling over $1000. Every year I pay maybye $75 for a professional to file my simple return. It takes her maybe 20 minutes, whereas I would waste most of a weekend day, and still not be confident in taking some deductions to which I am entitled.
My guess is that IBM wanted the new Personal Computer to have a layout more like the Selectric Typewriter than their EBCDIC-based 3270 series mainframe terminals, which used a whole 'nother series of weird protocol keys.
The Control key was used mainly (only?) by ASCII systems at the time, and IBM systems consistently used EBCDIC. Probably the same goes for the Escape key.
What bugs me about using emacs and vi on pc keyboards is they both make heavy use of control and esc. Nearly the most difficult keys for a right-handed touch-typist to reach. If I can manage to swap CapsLock with Ctrl, I'll use Ctrl-[ instead of esc in vi.
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Has anyone else tried the new Mission to Space ride at Disney World? It's also an articulated cetrifuge ride.
It was the most incredible ride I've ever been on. It will definately make your inner ears confused and it seems to mess with your brain in other ways. It made me feel sick for the rest of the day.
People seem revere pilots and astronauts for their bravery and reflexes. I'm most impressed by their ability to tolerate motion sickness.
Sam possesed the ring for a short time. He even used it in the book. He too, then, was exceptional in giving it up voluntarily.
You are able to allocate files with any record length (or even a length which varies per record) on an MVS box. (Allocated with RECFM=VB,LRECL=xxx)
Sure, then you can get about 32760 bytes per record. Except when one of the applications that touches the data requires a specific data set organization, carriage control, blocking, etc.
Not totally true either. Files are allocated with a primary and 15 secondary extents (chunks of space) on a mainframe. When the primary fills, MVS starts writing to a secondary until all of those fill. At this point, MVS can add additional volumes to the file allocation, using the 16 space extents per additional volume. Volumes are less likely to be filled up due to SMS (System Managed Storage). This handles the placement of files on disk volumes automatically, using ACS (Automatic Control Statements) Routines -- basically code-like policy statements. SMS distributes file placement on groups (pools) of disk volumes to ensure performance and space policies are met. If designed properly, SMS can fail over to a "spill" pool of volumes in an emergency.
I admit it that seems almost self-evident if you just approach it with a knowlege of antique IBM disk hardware and an open mind. But don't tell me you've never seen a batch job fail because the space wasn't set up correctly ahead of time.
Files are limited to 8 uppercase characters per qualifier in the native "mainframe" environment. Qualifiers are separated by periods, allowing for a maxium of 44 characters. (example: SLASHDOT.SUX.BILLGS.BALLZ)
Yes, you've pointed out one place where MVS allows combinations of 8 uppercase characters. Now how many places do you think there are that don't? It's by far the exception, rather than the rule.
However, in the USS (Unix System Services) environment, those restrictions do not hold.
I was specifically excluding that from my discussion of MVS. It will be interesting to see if MVS apps and users will slowly migrate to the USS side, or if they'll just end up running Linux on the same hardware.
What you have to understand is that the reputed stability and scalability of mainframe systems is largely a cultural phenomenon within business. Though the hardware itself is rock-solid, and the software has been debugged over a period of 40+ years in some cases, it still is quite primitive underneath. For anyone who looks at a mainframe (i.e. System 370 MVS) architecture after using a 64-bit Unix, or even NT, its really quite scary. For example, you have to tell the OS how big your file is ever going to get before you can write to it. Files are usually record oriented with fixed maximums like 80 characters per line (this comes from punched cards). File allocations and volumes and are constantly on the verge of filling up without admin intervention. All names are limited to 8 uppercase characters. And so on.
Of course there are additional utilities that can handle much of this automatically, but configuring them means learning an even larger set of complex utilities with even more options. And it still requires knowledge of the underlying implementation model.
So when a business decides it's big enough to need a mainframe, it fully expects to have a full-time staff dedicated to servicing it. Operators to handle print, tape, and job scheduling. Regular hardware maintenance from the manufacturer. Systems analysts and programmers to configure and run the utilities. And they're also educated not to expect any significant processing to happen faster than overnight! "Interactive" sessions can have a response time of 2 or 3 seconds.
On the other hand, if you propose a system based on PC-compatible systems (no matter how powerful), they expect to be able to hire the staff straight out of the local community college. They expect a ratio of servers to admins much greater than one.
PC and Unix hardware has also gotten darned reliable, even if the mainframe has an extra 9 or two on it.
IBM in its newer systems is moving more and more functionality into the unix side (it comes with a unix runtime layer built-in), while also marketing running multiple instances of Linux simultaneously with the traditional OSes.
Hi Christine,
Thank you for your kind and timely response.
Please forgive my additional questions, they are technical in nature. I'm sure you're getting a lot of communication on this subject lately.
I understand that the HTTP redirection is not really spam or spyware, it is more of a configuration page. I have applications that regularly download via HTTP:
1. Operating system updates (e.g., Windows Update)
2. Real-time data (e.g., stock quotes)
3. Critical data (e.g., drug interaction updates)
How does your product ensure that one of these HTTP connections (i.e. one not coming from a browser operated by an administrator) does not return the parental controls option page instead of the actual data requested?
The product is now open to receive configuration settings from a remote site (the external website is able to disable the 8 hour reminder). What authentication mechanisms are in place to ensure that the reconfiguration of the router by the remote site is, in fact, authorized? Note that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) compliance requires 512 bit encryption on data transfers. Can I continue to recommend this product in a HIPAA environment?
Thanks again,
Marsh Ray
cc: kmc
Christine Lee wrote:
> >
>
> -----Original Message-----
>From: Marsh Ray [mailto:marsh@mysteray.com]
>Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 4:21 PM
>To: sales@belkin.com
>Subject: Routers
>
>Dear Sir or Madam,
>
>I heard the wildest rumor today, and am seeking some clarification. Is
>it really true that Belkin routers will misroute http connections to
>advertisement sites?
>
>I have always held your products in high regard and am having a hard
>time beliving this.
>
>Regards,
>
>Marsh Ray
>Belkin customer since 1997
>
It's the schools' fault anyway . . .
for failing to teach the critical reasoning skills necessary to evaluate relative risks.
I've got a K in school now. Which would you rather have, a kid who encounters the occasional 2 GHz photon, or one that's never seen a computer?
They get far more natural radiation on the playground anyway.
I'm a big believer in CPA's. I once went down to the post office at 9 PM on April 15. There were free accountants volunteering there to help people like me. To make a long story short, my taxes got done that year for free, and they even re-filed for me things that I had filed sub-optimally in two preceding years. Instead of my calculations that had me paying a few hundred dollars, I left with refunds totalling over $1000.
Every year I pay maybye $75 for a professional to file my simple return. It takes her maybe 20 minutes, whereas I would waste most of a weekend day, and still not be confident in taking some deductions to which I am entitled.
My guess is that IBM wanted the new Personal Computer to have a layout more like the Selectric Typewriter than their EBCDIC-based 3270 series mainframe terminals, which used a whole 'nother series of weird protocol keys. The Control key was used mainly (only?) by ASCII systems at the time, and IBM systems consistently used EBCDIC. Probably the same goes for the Escape key. What bugs me about using emacs and vi on pc keyboards is they both make heavy use of control and esc. Nearly the most difficult keys for a right-handed touch-typist to reach. If I can manage to swap CapsLock with Ctrl, I'll use Ctrl-[ instead of esc in vi.
Does one really want their IO channels maxed-out? (at least for locally-connected devices).
If the IO channel is maxed-out, then the channel is being a bottleneck.
If the channel is the bottleneck, then wouldn't you prefer a different channel anyway?