March 30, 2009
Right after our first mainframe t-shirt was announced, Adrienne DiPrima (Miami-Dade County’s manager of mainframe technical support) contacted us about purchasing 100 of our “Mainframes Rule” t-shirts. She gave them out to data center staff members just before Christmas and just before Miami-Dade installed their new IBM z10 mainframe.
This is a photo of just part of the team (Adrienne DiPrima is in the middle of the front row).
Intending to mention this in my MainfameZone Blog, I recently asked Adrienne if she would tell me in a sentence or two how the t-shirts went over. Knowing how enthusiastic Adrienne is, I wasn’t surprised that her response ran quite a bit longer. Here is just part of her response:
“Our mainframe support team has really gotten into the spirit of the “Mainframes Rule” philosophy, which was greatly enhanced by handing out your wonderful t-shirts. On Fridays (casual day) you can always see at least a dozen of the shirts around the building. They are starting to feel the energy of the z-TEAM and people are actually looking forward to planning for new workloads on the mainframe, not only in the z/OS space, but in the z/Linux arena as well. We are now actively competing with other platforms in the department and we no longer play defense. We are planning a very pro-active strategy to prove that not only is the mainframe not dead — it’s a long way from retiring!”
That is what I call true Mainframe Esprit de Corps!
Mainframe Trivia Contest #8
March 17, 2009
The Mainframe Trivia Contest #7 is now over. Legent acquired Goal Systems in 1992 and Computer Associates then acquired Legent in 1995.
- Ron Kilsdonk, Sentry Insurance, Appleton, Wisconsin
- Gary Kirby, National City Corp., Cleveland, Ohio
- Jude Ricard, Yum! Brands Inc., Dallas, Texas
Mainframe Trivia Contest #8
Who invented IMS (Information Management System), IBM’s supberb transaction and hierarchical database management system?
· William Inmon
· Edgar Codd
· Vern Watts
· Michael Stonebraker
(I will randomly select three winners of this Mainframe Trivia Contest #8 who will receive the T-shirt pictured below. To participate, either answer via a Comment to this post - it will not be made public for others to see - or send me an Email to bob@mainframezone.com with Mainframe Trivia Contest #8 in the Subject line. Don’t forget to state your T-shirt size.)
March 9, 2009
The Mainframe Trivia Contest #6 is now over. The correct answer was "SPREAD" and the winners of the ”Mainframes Rule” T-shirts are:
- Sue Levetzow, Land’s End, Inc., Dodgeville, Wisconsin
- Carl Gehr, Edge Information Group, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Ben Sartain, UnitedHealthcare, Plymouth, Minnesota
Mainframe Trivia Contest #7
The Mainframe Trivia Contest #7 is now over. Legent acquired Goal Systems in 1992 and Computer Associates then acquired Legent in 1995.
- Ron Kilsdonk, Sentry Insurance, Appleton, Wisconsin
- Gary Kirby, National City Corp., Cleveland, Ohio
- Jude Ricard, Yum! Brands Inc., Dallas, Texas
One of the mainframe software vendors in the 1980s was Goal Systems International with products such as FAQS and FAVER. They were especially known for their excellent customer support and for the generous way they compensated the authors of their software products. Who was Goal Systems acquired by?
- Computer Associates
- Duquesne Systems
- Legent
- BMC Software
(I will randomly select three winners of this Mainframe Trivia Contest #7 who will receive a “Mainframes Rule” T-shirt as pictured below. To participate, email your answer and T-shirt size to bob@mainframezone.com with Mainframe Trivia Contest #7 in the Subject line.)
