2012 Newsgroup postings (12/02 - 12/31) Lynn Wheeler

2012 Newsgroup Postings (12/02 - 12/31)

These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up
3270 response & channel throughput
Quagmire on the Potomac
Is the Fleet Steaming Forward ... Or Backward?
Query for IBM Systems Magazine website article on z/OS community
What is a Mainframe?
Real Hackers use Big Iron (Humor)
Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?
AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
3270s & other stuff
AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?
HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
What is a Mainframe?
U.S. Treasury, AIG are poised to sever ties
IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties
Search Google, 1960:s-style
What is a Mainframe?
HCF
OCC Confirms that Big Banks are Badly Managed, Lack Adequate Risk Management Controls
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Historians: The Paper Trail through History
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
There can be no System Security without System Integrity
UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
Stealth Target of Defense Spending Cuts: America's Highly Effective Socialized Medicine Provider, the VA System, and Military Benefits Generally
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Nate Silver is Not Just Wrong, but Maliciously Wrong
How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Regulator Tells Banks to Share Cyber Attack Information
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
What is holding back cloud adoption?
UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
Displaywriter, Unix manuals added to Bitsavers
What is holding back cloud adoption?
How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?
Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More
What is holding back cloud adoption?
Search Google, 1960:s-style
Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More
IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
Its the 30th birthday of the ARPANET transition to TCP/IP

These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 02 Dec 2012
Subject: These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up
Blog: Facebook

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#73 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up

from this morning:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2012/12/antifragile_book_interview_nassim_nicholas_taleb_on_how_chaos_and_disaster.html

when we were doing IBM's HA/CMP product ... we spent lots of time studying how things failed ... not just computers but associated environmental issues (power-outages, floods, earthquakes, etc) ... and how to mitigate such problems (at least using HA/CMP technologies and non-stop operation). Later we were brought in to small client/server startup that wanted to do payment transactions on their server, they had also invented this technology they called "SSL" they wanted to use, the result is now frequently called "electronic commerce". Part of effort was working out applying "SSL" to payment transactions including several operational and deployment requirements (which were almost immediately violated, contributing to lots of the fraud&exploits that continues to this day).

I did have final authority on the "payment gateway" (sits on the internet and handles transactions between commerce servers and the payment networks) and the protocol that runs over the internet with commerce server. I did a failure&diagnostics workup (including attack countermeasures) ... itemizing everything that might fail ... along with how to diagnose and repair. past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#gateway

At least with regard to the internet ... evolution of complex systems under constant duress ... is partial reflection of the lack of deep understanding of all the components and how they operate.

last decade $27T toxic CDOs, was new flow of funds to skim for wallstreet, in large part enabled by being able to pay for triple-A ratings ... previously little of mortgages went through the street (went directly to places like GSEs).
Evil Wall Street Exports Boomed With 'Fools' Born to Buy Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-10-27/evil-wall-street-exports-boomed-with-fools-born-to-buy-debt

CDS betting hides behind farce of being insurance ... but normal insurance requires insuree have interest ... wallstreet pushed it to the next level by betting on anybody's toxic CDO and being able to fix the (toxic CDOs) game ... making their CDS bets a sure thing. Old breakdown of just 9 largest banks exposure at $228.72T (approx. 3times the entire world economy)
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/derivatives/bank_exposure.html

wallstreet are the primary players with financial motivation for mortgages that failed (as part of the "fix" on the CDS bets that were being placed on the $27T in triple-A rated toxic CDOs). Loan originators didn't care since they unloaded everything immediately with triple-A, however they were motivated to make each mortgage as large as possible (increased their commission) ... which could increase probability of failure (but otherwise they didn't care). Real-estate speculators were interested in inflation since they got 100% ROI for every inflation point (with no-down, 1% interest-only payment ARMs) ... so larger loans help drives inflation ... but they had no immediate motivation for failed mortgages. wallstreet is the only primary player with direct financial motivation in failing mortgages. Some of the wallstreet institutions also are holding the failing triple-A rated toxic CDOs ... but they have the gov. to backstop the institutions ... while the individuals walk away with the enormous commissions&fees on the $27T ... as well as the CDS bets they were making.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

3270 response & channel throughput

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 04 Dec 2012
Subject: 3270 response & channel throughput
MailingList:

there was ibm se symposium spring 70 or 71 at the marriott off western end of 14th street bridge (since torn down). somebody from the ykt human factors group gave report on people's perception of "instantaneous" ... varied between about .1secs and .25 seconds. later human factors was that response was greater than expected ... attention began to wander ... and when response eventually ... it took about as long to refocus attention as time spent wandering ... impact on productivity was twice the delay in system response.

there was also presentation by harlan mills on super programmer.

thadhani in san jose did a lot of work measuring productivity and there was report published by Doherty & Thadhani. from (Mike's) IBM Jargon:

bad response - n. A delay in the response time to a trivial request of a computer that is longer than two tenths of one second. In the 1970s, IBM 3277 display terminals attached to quite small System/360 machines could service up to 19 interruptions every second from a user I measured it myself. Today, this kind of response time is considered impossible or unachievable, even though work by Doherty, Thadhani, and others has shown that human productivity and satisfaction are almost linearly inversely proportional to computer response time. It is hoped (but not expected) that the definition of Bad Response will drop below one tenth of a second by 1990.

... snip ...

Yorktown published report what they had the "best" human factors vm370 system inside the company with .2 system response. However, on the west coast, I had several systems with .11 system response with similar workload and configuration. When I complained, they said that it wasn't fair to include any my systems in such comparisons.

Note that the original 3272/3277 block terminals had .086 hardware response ... so to get .2second response seen by the user, you had to have .114 system response (or better).

the follow-on to the 3272/3277 (controller/terminal) was the 3274/3278 which had moved a lot of electronics from the terminal head back into the shared controller (saving on terminal manufacturing costs) ... and as a result drove up the hardware response time.

hardware     TSO 1sec.    CMS .25sec.     CMS .11sec.
3272/3277        .086        1.086         .336            .196
3274/3278        .530        1.530         .78             .64

It also significantly increased the protocol chatter on the coax cable. This also shows up later with ibm/pc terminal simulation. Those that were able to get 3277 terminal simulation card would see about three times the upload/download throughput compared to 3278 terminal simulation card (because of the difference in coax protocol chatter overhead).

In 1980, the santa teresa lab. (now silicon valley lab) was bursting at the seems and they were moving 300 people from the IMS database group to an offsite building. They had been offered "remote 3270s" which connected over 19.2kbit links ... but found the response horrible (being use to channel connected cms response). I got sucked into doing HYPERchannel support as channel extender to the remote building. The result was 1) they didn't notice any difference in response and 2) their mainframe systems in the datacenter improved throughput by 10-15%. It turns out that the NSC HYPERchannel boxes had lower channel busy to do the same operations (as 3270 controllers) ... and since the channels were shared resource ... the lower channel busy allowed for improved throughput of other activity.

This shows up later when LLNL was working on standardizing some serial technology as fibre-channel standard (FCS) ... and used similar approach to maximize concurrent transfer in both directions (i.e. download full I/O request to the remote end). Later some of the POK mainframe channel engineers got involved in FCS creating a new layer ontop that is called FICON. For FICON layer, they introduced piecemeal request transfer (basically simulation of the existing mainframe channel program convention) ... which drastically cut the effective throughput (compared to the underlying FCS conventions). Recently to partially approach the underlying throughput, they introduced an enhancement to FICON (that looks very similar to what I did in 1980 for HYPERchannel) that partially restores the throughput of the underlying FCS (improving over the original FICON throughput by approx. factor of three times).

recent posts mentioning 3277 and/or "bad response"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#12 Who originated the phrase "user-friendly"?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#13 From Who originated the phrase "user-friendly"?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#15 Who originated the phrase "user-friendly"?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#2 The PC industry is heading for collapse
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#15 Authorized functions
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#19 Writing article on telework/telecommuting
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#30 Inventor of e-mail honored by Smithsonian
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#38 Invention of Email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#74 HELP WITH PCOM - PASTE OPTION NOT WORKING CORRECTLY
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#88 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#3 printer history Languages influenced by PL/1
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#77 zEC12, and previous generations, "why?" type question - GPU computing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#15 cp67, vm370, etc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#37 Why File transfer through TSO IND$FILE is slower than TCP/IP FTP ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#37 PDP-10 and Vax, was System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#61 Should you support or abandon the 3270 as a User Interface?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#33 360/20, was 1132 printer history

recent posts mentioning FICON:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#90 Has anyone successfully migrated off mainframes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#28 NASA unplugs their last mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#43 Layer 8: NASA unplugs last mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#27 NASA unplugs their last mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#94 Time to competency for new software language?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#95 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#13 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#69 ESCON
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#39 The IBM zEnterprise EC12 announcment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#2 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#3 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#4 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#5 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#13 Intel Confirms Decline of Server Giants HP, Dell, and IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#28 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#43 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#67 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than any of the other countries in the world including the USA.?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#9 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than any of the other countries in the world including the USA.?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#13 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#19 How to get a tape's DSCB
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#44 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#46 history of Programming language and CPU in relation to each
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#48 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#51 history of Programming language and CPU in relation to each
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#70 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#72 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#6 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#11 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#21 Assembler vs. COBOL--processing time, space needed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#22 Assembler vs. COBOL--processing time, space needed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#24 Assembler vs. COBOL--processing time, space needed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#25 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#27 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#43 Regarding Time Sharing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#46 Random thoughts: Low power, High performance

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Quagmire on the Potomac

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 04 Dec 2012
Subject: Quagmire on the Potomac
Blog: Google+

re:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/GkH5nnSzXJH

Quagmire on the Potomac
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/30/quagmire

from above:
They call this acquisition behavior "concurrency," and my favorite, "spiral development," but it is really what one DOD manager called "acquisition malpractice"
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/02/dn-procurement-chief-knocks-early-f35-production-020612/
better to call it gross incompetence, if you don't want to address the broken ethics of it all.

... snip ...

If More Money Buys a Smaller Fleet, What Will Less Money Buy?
http://nation.time.com/2012/12/03/if-more-money-buys-a-smaller-fleet-what-will-less-money-buy/

More Than the Navy's Numbers Could Be Sinking
http://nation.time.com/2012/12/04/more-than-the-navys-numbers-could-be-sinking/

quote:
To put it simply, if naval exercises in the last two decades involving foreign diesel-electric submarines had been actual combat, most if not all, U.S. aircraft carriers would be at the bottom of the ocean: as many as 10 U.S. aircraft carriers have been reported "sunk" in these exercises.

... snip ...

this is over three decades old ... from early 80s ... gone behind paywall but lives free at wayback machine (apparently all but pg8)
https://web.archive.org/web/20070320170523/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953733,00.html
also
https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953733,00.html

and then Washington's Cult of Continuous Failure
http://www.phibetaiota.net/2011/09/lynn-wheeler-washingtons-cult-of-continuous-failure/

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Is the Fleet Steaming Forward ... Or Backward?

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 05 Dec 2012
Subject: Is the Fleet Steaming Forward ... Or Backward?
Blog: Facebook

Is the Fleet Steaming Forward ... Or Backward?
http://nation.time.com/2012/12/05/is-the-fleet-steaming-forwardor-backward/

3rd of three (1st two):
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#2 Quagmire on the Potomic

The Enduring Nature of Budget Combat in Versailles on the Potomac;
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/05/the-enduring-nature-of-budget-combat-in-versailles-on-the-potomac/
U.S. Navy trouble
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2012/12/us-navy-trouble.html

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Query for IBM Systems Magazine website article on z/OS community

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From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: Query for IBM Systems Magazine website article on z/OS community
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 5 Dec 2012 19:52:02 -0800

gabe@GABEGOLD.COM (Gabe Goldberg) writes:
z/OS folk have an eight year head start on VMers, with predecessor first versions announced 1964 and shipped 1965 -- so there should be plenty of stories. Please keep 'em brief, to fit almost 50 years into a short article.

old post about contacting people for stories about transition of os/360 to virtual memory (with a little earlier regarding HASP, ASP, etc)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#73

possibly the biggest programming for MVT to OS/VS2 SVS transition ... was hit to EXCP to scan passed channel program, make a copy substituting real addresses for the virtual address. as mentioned initial implementation was to borrow CCWTRANS from CP/67.

I also had some dust-ups with group designing virtual memory page replacement algorithm for SVS that carried into MVS. It wasn't until well into the MVS release cycle ... that it dawned on them that they were selecting high-use shared linkpack pages for replacement before lower use application data pages.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What is a Mainframe?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 06 Dec 2012
Subject: What is a Mainframe?
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/YipYAD

When I initially transferred to San Jose Research (on san jose plantsite), they let me wander around the plant site. I found that DASD engineering & DASD product test had numerous mainframes scheduled around the clock, 7x24 for stand-alone testing. At one point they tried MVS for concurrent testing ... but found in that environment with only a single DASD testcell, MVS had 15min MTBF (requiring manual reboot). I offered to do rewrite of I/O supervisor to make it bullet proof and never fail ... which significantly increased productivity, with anytime, on-demand concurrent testing (it also got me sucked into playing disk engineer ... including having to diagnose development problems). I wrote up an internal document describing the work and happened to mention the MVS 15min MTBF ... which brought down the wrath of the MVS group on my head (I think they would have had me fired if they could have figured out how to do it).

misc. past posts mentioning getting to play disk engineer in bldgs 14&15
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#disks

While 3880 disk controllers were designed for 3mbyte transfer of 3380 disk ... the actual processor in the 3880 was enormously slower than the 3830 controller. Early installations the replaced 3830 with 3880 using same identical 3330 disks saw significantly degraded throughput.

The slowness of the processor in the 3880 drover up elapsed time to perform operations was well as significantly increased channel busy time. Early multi-pathing (before hardware dynamic pathing was shipped) tended to be primary/alternate path (primarily for availability). I did some early tests comparing software dynamic load balancing compared to primary/alternate ... and the dynamic load balancing on 3880 (also) saw significant degradation. Turns out that 3880 tried to compensate for slowness by saving channel status ... assuming operations tended to be on same channel ... however, if 3880 had to switch to operation on different channel it could take more than millisecond or two.

When they finally got around to sending me the dynamic multi-pathing architecture document ... I realized that I could cut the hardware required to do the implementation significantly ... with only trivial change in the interface specs. When I sent in the alternate architecture ... the response was that it was too late ... they had already committed to the initial architecture

The 3090 design had been number of channels based on 3mbyte transfer 3380 and 3880 controller as fast as previous 3830 controller. When they found out how bad the 3880 channel busy really was ... they realized they would have to significantly increase the number of 3090 channels. This is folklore that the 3090 group attempted to charge off the additional 3090 manufacturing costs (for all the extra channels) to the 3880 group.

Later marketing attempted to spin the enormous number of 3090 channels as enormous i/o capacity ... when it was actually to compensate for the enormous increase in channel busy time for disk operations.

The deficiencies and limitation in channel architecture carries forward into the work that layered FICON on top of fibre-channel standard ... which enormously cut the throughput (compared to the underlying fibre-channel). Recent max configured z196 has peak I/O of 2m IOPS with 80processors and 14 system assist processors with 104 FICON channels. This is compared to recently announced fibre-channel for e5-2600 capable of over million IOPS (on single fibre-channel).

disclaimer: circa 1988 I was asked if I could help LLNL with some serial technology they were using and wanted to turn it into standard (what would become fibre-channel standard). I had previously work on stuff on and off for national labs going back to late 70s when benchmarked 4341 (before boxes had shipped) ... was looking at possibly ordering a very large number for a compute farm.

1980, STL (now silicon valley lab) was bursting at the seams and they were going to move 300 from the IMS group to offsite bldg (with connection back into STL datacenter). They had been offered "remote" 3270 and found it horrible compared to what they were use to with local channel-attached CMS service. I got con'ed into writing support for HYPERchannel as channel extender ... allowing local channel attached 3270s controllers at the remote bldg. They weren't able to notice the difference in response ... and a side-effect their mainframes back in the datacenter had increased throughput of 10-15%. It turns out the HYPERchannel boxes on the real channel had significantly lower channel busy than real 3270 controllers for the same operations. The HYPERchannel channel-extender paradigm for increased throughput then feeds into the fibre-channel standards work to maximize throughput and concurrent operation. misc. past posts mentioning my HSDT effort &/or HYPERchannel
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

Then FICON layer on top of fibre-channel severely regresses that throughput. More recently there is a enhancement to FICON (similar to what I did in 1980 for HYPERchannel, aka nearly 30yrs later) that increases FICON throughput by factor of 300% ... bringing it a little closer to the underlying fibre-channel throughput.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Real Hackers use Big Iron (Humor)

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 06 Dec 2012
Subject: Real Hackers use Big Iron (Humor)
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/2-Yxh3

from IBM jargon ...
Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticized the way products were [are] developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.

... snip ...

Later versions may have dropped the last sentence as it became harder to find copies of Nov1981 Datamation.

I was blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network in the late 70s and early 80s. Folklore is that when executive committee was informed of online computer conferencing (and the internal network), 5of6 wanted to fire me.

For other internal network I've intertwined it with recent blogging & discussions about where the internet came from.

This has been recently playing in number of places and I've been pontificating in a.f.c., ibm-main mailing list and facebook. Early reference from couple days ago
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#83

and Ed's work at the IBM science center along with this item:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson_Hendricks

In 1976, MIT Professor Jerry Saltzer accompanied Hendricks to DARPA where Henricks described his innovations to the principal scientist, Dr. Vinton P. Cerf. From that point on, Vint and other DARPA scientists adopted Hendricks -- connectionless approach. The result developed into the Internet as we know it today.

... snip ...

most recent on facebook
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#11

recent discussion of HASP/JES networking and even tho majority of internal network and bitnet was vm370 ... they stopped shipping vnet native drivers (just hasp/jes) although they continued to use the native drivers internally because they were more efficient
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#90
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#1

outside of US, the europe part (of bitnet) was earn ... old email from person charged with creating earn asking for help:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001h.html#email840320

old post with os system release 110.7 growing to occupy everything
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003j.html#38

lots of past posts mentioning BITNET &/or EARN
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#bitnet

Reference to San Jose Research having first internal corporate gateway to csnet (funded by nsf)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/internet.htm

this predated the nsf funding the NSFNET backbone. The NSFNET backbone (tcp/ip is the technology basis for the modern internet, NSFNET backbone was the operational basis for the modern internet, and CIX was the business basis for the modern internet) original started out to be interconnect for the NSF funded supercomputer centers. We had been working with many of the members that would become NSFNET backbone ... some old email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#nsfnet

Originally I was going to get $20M to do the backbone ... then congress cut back the NSF funding ... it finally when it was revamped and announced for bid as RFP ... internal politics prevented us from bidding. The director of NSF tried to help by writing the company a letter 3Apr1986, NSF Director to IBM Chief Scientist and IBM Senior VP and director of Research, copying IBM CEO), ... but that just made the internal politics worse (as did reference to what we already had running was at least five years ahead of all bid responses). misc. past posts mentioning nsfnet https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#nsfnet

Note the internal network was larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until sometime late '85 or early '86 ... almost entirely based on the non-NJE vm370 rscs/vnet (which also became the basis for BITNET&EARN). At the time arpanet/internet was changing from host/imps to tcp/ip on 1jan1983 ... there was approx. 100 IMP network nodes and approx. 250 connected hosts ... at the time, that the internal network was nearing 1000 nodes.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet

The VNET/RSCS had effectively a sort of gateway infrastructure in every node ... and as a result was able to do a driver to talk NJE to JES2. The JES2 NJE traces to HASP code that use to have source identifier "TUCC" (for the univ. it originated at). The NJE implementation defined nodes in the spare entries in the 255 entry psuedo device HASP/JES2 table (possibly 140-180 available node definitions) ... and would trash traffic where either origin or destination node wasn't in the local table. As a result JES2/NJE nodes had to be restricted to boundary nodes ... since they couldn't be trusted to not trash traffic passing through (with number of nodes well over 200 and rapidly approaching 1000). Well past the time that the internal network exceeded 1000 nodes, JES2/NJE got around to upgrading support to 999 nodes.

Eventually for customers & bitnet ... the company stopped shipping native vnet/rscs drivers ... only shipping the nje drivers ... even tho the native drivers were much more efficient and had higher throughput ... the native vnet/rscs drivers continued to be used internally ... because of the efficiency and throughput ... at least until conversion of the internal network to SNA in late 80s (at a time when it would have been significantly more efficient and cost/effective to have converted to tcp/ip ... akin to what bitnet-ii did).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 07 Dec 2012
Subject: Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?
Blog: Greater IBM

I had been blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network (larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until possibly late '85 or early '86) in the late 70s and early 80s. folklore is that when the executive committee (chairman, ceo, president, etc) were told about online computer conferencing (and the internal network) 5of6 wanted to fire me.

In the wake of that there was a "task force" investigation .. which somewhat spawned the internal, officially sanctioned online forums. periodically in the internal online forums there would be complaints that i was responsible for as many postings as the whole rest of the corporation.

also, somewhat as a result, a researcher was paid to sit in the back of my office for nine months, go with me to meetings, etc, taking notes on how i communicated, face-to-face, telephone, online, etc; they got logs of all my instant messages and copies of all my incoming and outgoing email. The result was research report but also Stanford phd thesis in "computer mediated conversation" (joint between language and computer ai) ... as well as some number of papers and books.

from IBM Jargon:
Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticized the way products were [are] developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.

... snip ...

before ms/dos there was seattle computer,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS
before seattle computer there was cp/m,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Computer_Products
before cp/m there was cp67/cms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M
before cp/m, kildall worked on cp67/cms at npg (gone 404, but lives on at the wayback machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20071011100440/http://www.khet.net/gmc/docs/museum/en_cpmName.html
npg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Postgraduate_School
cp67/cms (aka precursor to vm/370)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/CMS
before cp67/cms ... there was virtual machine, interactive computing cp/40
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/cp40seas1982.txt
at the IBM science center
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#545tech

note before IBM/PC was announced there was period where Boca claimed it wasn't interested in doing any of the software and an internal group was formed on the west coast (not far from Monterey, Kildall, etc). Then at some point Boca changed its mind and wanted software "control" ... not necessarily doing it themselves ... but non-Boca internal groups would have been competition.

note that after CTSS,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatible_Time-Sharing_System

some of the folks went to the science center on the 4th flr and did cp/40 and then cp/67. Other of the folks went to the 5th flr and did multics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics

some number of the people that started work on multics returned to bell labs and did unix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIX

also, GML was invented at the science center in 1969 ("G", "M", and "L" selected for the letters of the inventors last name). A decade later GML morphs into SGML
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Generalized_Markup_Language

after another decade, SGML morphs into HTML at CERN
http://infomesh.net/html/history/early/

and the first webserver outside Europe is at the CERN "sister" location on the SLAC VM370 system:
https://ahro.slac.stanford.edu/wwwslac-exhibit

some network related posting over in (linkedin) "Enterprise Systems" group:
http://lnkd.in/2-Yxh3
partially reproduced
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#6

Reference to San Jose Research having first internal corporate gateway to csnet (funded by nsf)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/internet.htm

Originally I was going to get $20M to do the backbone ... then congress cut back the NSF funding ... it finally when it was revamped and announced for bid as RFP ... and then internal politics prevented us from bidding. The director of NSF tried to help by writing the company a letter 3Apr1986, NSF Director to IBM Chief Scientist and IBM Senior VP and director of Research, copying IBM CEO), ... but that just made the internal politics worse (as did reference to what we already had running was at least five years ahead of all bid responses). misc. past posts mentioning nsfnet
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#nsfnet

Note the internal network was larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until sometime late '85 or early '86 ... almost entirely based on the non-NJE vm370 rscs/vnet (which also became the basis for BITNET&EARN). At the time arpanet/internet was changing from host/imps to tcp/ip on 1jan1983 ... there was approx. 100 IMP network nodes and approx. 250 connected hosts ... at the time, the internal network was nearing 1000 nodes.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet

Eventually for customers & bitnet ... the company stopped shipping native vnet/rscs drivers ... only shipping the nje drivers ... even tho the native drivers were much more efficient and had higher throughput ... the native vnet/rscs drivers continued to be used internally ... because of the efficiency and throughput ... at least until conversion of the internal network to SNA in the late 80s (at a time when it would have been significantly more efficient and cost/effective to have converted to tcp/ip ... akin to what bitnet-ii did

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series  Halt & Catch Fire
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2012 11:32:41 -0500

Bill Marcum <bill@nowhere.invalid> writes:
IBM had the XT370 (I think that's what it was called). It supposedly executed some 360/370 programs using a CPU that was a 68000 with custom microcode.

a couple 68k ... as add-on boarad in xt/370 circa 1984 (code-name "washington") ... later available also in pc/at as at/370.

majority of 360/370s all had been some native processor engine with microcode emulating 360/370 ... so it wasn't unusual.

note that 79/80 time-frame there was large effort to converge the large number of different microprocessor engines and embedded processors to 801/risc ... the follow-on to 4331&4341 ... aka the 4361&4381 were going to have 801/risc as native engine ... the follow-on to s36&s38 combo, aka the as/400, was going to be 801/risc ... etc. for various reasons most of the efforts failed and business as usual continued with various cisc processors. the only one that sort-of survived was 801/risc "ROMP" which was going to be the follow-on for the displaywriter ... when that got canceled, the group looked around and decided to retarget to unix workstation market. they go the company that had done the AT&T unix port for ibm/pc (PC/IX), to do one for ROMP. This became the PC/RT and AIXv2.

washington started out with "384k" bytes of 370 memory running a highly modified version of vm370 with cms. All I/O was done via inter-processor communication with the 8088 (later 286 for pc/at) ... and then the ibm/pc performed the real I/O using pc devices. Some ssues were

1) vm370&cms (and cms applications) had gotten quite bloated by that time and most application would page-thrash in the memory left after vm370 fixed-storage requirements. I got blamed for delay in shipping washington (xt/370) when they had to upgrade from "384k bytes" to "512k bytes" because of all the page thrashing measurements I had run.

2) the 68k provided approx. 100kips equivalent 370 ... a little less than 370/125 (120kips) ... which wasn't a lot ... especially since a lot of cms & cms applications had gotten processor bloated.

3) cms & cms applications tended to be rather disk intensive (use to mainframe disks) with 16mill I/O and being able to multiple block transfers per I/O. xt/370 mapped all disk I/O into pc/xt hard disk with 100mill per block transfer. lots of PC-based applications (similar to CMS applications) were significantly more conservative of memory, disk i/o and processor resources.

later there was 7437 (code-name A74, for dept in POK that did the box, same dept that had also earlier done the "graphics 3270" ... a large tektronics tube hooked into side of 3277) with a custom cisc chip for faster processor (350kips), 16mbytes of memory and faster disks. old A74 announcement
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000e.html#email880622

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

3270s & other stuff

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 08 Dec 2012
Subject: 3270s & other stuff
MailingList:

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#1 3270 response & channel throughput

one of the characteristics of the 3272/3277 with electronics in the head ... was that Beausoleil (in pok) was able to do the 3270 graphics tube ... which was a (ibm branded) large tektronics screen that plugged into the side of 3277 head (sort of much less expensive 2250/3250)

The previously mentioned work on HYPERchannel channel extender for the STL (now silicon valley lab) sort of made me the corporate expert. As a result I got called into several places running HYPERchannel with IBM gear ... including NCAR ... which had implemented sort of network accessed filesystem for their supercomputers using IBM disks&processor as server. some hyperchannel &/or hsdt related postings
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt
old email on cluster scale-up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#medusa

Later when national labs. were encouraged to spin-off technology as national competitiveness got dragged into various filesystem spin-offs ... LANL with DataTree, LLNL with Unitree, and NCAR with Mesa Archival ... in fact IBM disk division was providing lots of the funding for the Mesa Archival startup ... and I sort of got tasked to be the IBM interface ... they were moving from IBM-mainframe/HYPERchannel (& IBM CKD disks) to RS6000/HIPPI.(and san jose disk arrays). I had already been sucked into play with LLNL on turning the serial stuff they were using into fibre-channel standard and their filesystem into unitree (our ha/cmp effort provided funding for much of port to unix). some ha/cmp related posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hacmp

The RS/6000 group had a different issue. The PC/RT workstation had 16bit PC/AT bus and had done their own 4mbit token-ring card. For RS/6000, it moved to microchannel ... but the group was told they couldn't do their own cards ... they had to use cards being done for PS2. Joke was that RS/6000 wouldn't be able to run any faster than PS2. A typical example was that the PS2 16mbit token-ring (microchannel) card had lower per card throughput than the PC/RT 4mbit token-ring card. This extended to graphics ... which was mess for something that was suppose to be high-performance unix workstation. As a gambit ... they did the rs/6000 model 730 ... which was a vmebus machine ... since there were no products being produced internally ... they were allowed to rebrand SGI graphics for the machine. old pc/rt, rs/6000, 801/risc, somerset, aim, power, rios, power/pc, etc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#801

As an aside ... executive we reported to when we started our HA/CMP effort ... later went on to head up Somerset (the power/pc, AIM effort) and then president of MIPs. We decided to leave after the HA/CMP cluster scale-up work was transferred and we were told we couldn't work on anything with more than four processors (within 3weeks after we were told we couldn't work on anything with more than four processors, it was announced as the IBM supercomputer). SGI/MIPS executives got personal machines ... so when he became president of MIPS ... he asked me to take it home and configure it for him ... it stayed at home ... until I had to return it when he left as MIPS president.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series  Halt & Catch Fire
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2012 09:51:47 -0500

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#8 AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire

PC-based IBM-compatible mainframes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-based_IBM-compatible_mainframes

from above:
Personal Computer XT/370

In October, 1983, IBM announced the IBM Personal Computer XT/370. This was an XT with three custom 8-bit cards. The processor card (370PC-P),[1] contained two modified Motorola 68000 chips,and an 8087 modified to emulate the S/370 floating point instructions. The second card (370PC-M), which connected to the first with a unique card back connector contained 512Kib of memory. The third card (PC3277-EM), was a 3270 terminal emulator required to download system software from the host mainframe. The XT/370 computer booted into DOS, then ran the VM/PC Control Program. The card's memory space added additional system memory, so the first 256Kib (motherboard) memory could be used to move data to the 512kb expansion card. The expansion memory was dual ported, and provided an additional 384Kb to the XT Machine bringing the total ram on the XT side to 640 kb. The memory arbitrator could bank switch the second 128 kb bank on the card to other banks, allowing the XT 8088 processor to address all the RAM on the 370PC-M card. [2] Personal

Computer AT/370

On April 2, 1986, IBM announced the IBM Personal Computer AT/370, with similar cards as for the XT/370 and updated software, to support both larger hard disks, and DMA transfers from the 3277 card to the AT/370 Processor card. The system was almost 60% faster than the XT/370. [2]

IBM 7437

As of November 1988, IBM was shipping a workstation version of the System/370 hardware intended to run IBM's VM/SP operating system. It was a freestanding tower, that connected to a MCA card installed in a PS/2 Model 60, 70, or 80.[3]

Personal/370

Later, IBM introduced the Personal/370 (aka P/370), a single slot 32-bit MCA card that can be added to a PS/2 or RS/6000 computer to run System/370 OSs (like MUSIC/SP, VM, VSE) parallel to OS/2 (in PS/2) or AIX (in RS/6000) supporting multiple concurrent users. It is a complete implementation of the S/370 Processor including a FPU co-processor and 16 MB memory. Management and standard I/O channels are provided via the host OS/hardware. An additional 370 channel card can be added to provide mainframe-specific I/O such as 3270 local control units, 3400/3480 tape drives or 7171 protocol converters.

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 09 Dec 2012
Subject: IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
Blog: IBMers

IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
http://www.businessinsider.com/email-ibm-employees-2012-12

IBM has a big problem
http://betanews.com/2012/12/06/ibm-has-a-big-problem/

I've commented before part of this started with the change in corporate culture after the FS failure. misc. past posts mentioning FS this reference had corporate culture change started downward slope with failure of Future System failure (and many careers became seriously oriented towards "managing information up the chain") Ferguson & Morris, "Computer Wars: The Post-IBM World", Time Books, 1993:
... and perhaps most damaging, the old culture under Watson Snr and Jr of free and vigorous debate was replaced with sycophancy and make no waves under Opel and Akers. It's claimed that thereafter, IBM lived in the shadow of defeat

... snip ...

another quote from the book:
But because of the heavy investment of face by the top management, F/S took years to kill, although its wrongheadedness was obvious from the very outset. "For the first time, during F/S, outspoken criticism became politically dangerous," recalls a former top executive.

... snip ...

The downward slope continues including company going into the red about the time the book was written. Other past posts and references to the FS failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

After moving to SJR on main san jose plant site ... they let me wander around. I found the disk engineering and product test were running "stand-alone", pre-scheduled, 7x24 around the clock with large number of mainframes. They had tried MVS for multiple concurrent testing ... but found MVS had 15min MTBF in that environment even with only a single DASD testcell (requiring manual reboot). I offered to rewrite I/O supervisor making it bullet-proof and never fail ... allowing anytime, on-demand, concurrent testing, significantly increasing productivity. I then wrote internal-only document describing the changes ... and happened to mention the MVS 15min MTBF and found the wrath of the MVS organization brought down on my head (I think they would have had me fired if they could figure out how). I attributed it to culture change and executive managing information flow upwards (making MVS look better than it actually was).

Articles from later half of 90s, major corporate CEOs were lobbying congress to change treatment of retirement funds from liability to asset ... resulting in one-time boost in value calculated per share; which then tends to increase share price ... giving big bonus to those executives with bonus plans tied to share price. Unfortunately this is one time change ... so later CEOs have to come up with other mechanisms to juice share price ... like share repurchase programs (share price at least partially related to total corporate value divided by number of shares ... so CEOs either increase total corporate value ... including change to treating retirement plans as asset and/or reducing number of shares).

Who Stole the American Dream?
https://www.amazon.com/Who-Stole-American-Dream-ebook/dp/B007MEWAX2

has a number of quotes from former IBM vp (and head of research) Ralph Gomory ... like loc.4213-16:

In this new era of globalization, the interests of companies and countries have diverged. In contrast with the past, what is good for America's global corporations is no longer necessarily good for the American people.

... snip ...

"Age of Greed" points out that executive compensation tied to stock price and rising stock market can provide for enormous executive compensation even when the individuals are mediocre or incompetent (especially if the executives are boosting quarterly reports by keeping worker compensation flat).
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Greed-Triumph-Finance-ebook/dp/B004DEPF6I/

recent posts mentioning "Who Stole the American Dream" and/or "Age of Greed":
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#3 We are on the brink of a historic decision [referring to defence cuts]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#30 Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#37 Romney's Opponents Intensify Attacks as Voting Nears
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#40 Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#45 You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#57 The Myth of Work-Life Balance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#62 Railroaded
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#70 Regulatory Agency logo
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#62 Why Is Finance So Big?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#48 IBM cuts more than 1,000 U.S. workers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#91 The Fractal Organization: Creating sustainable organizations with the Viable System Model
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#16 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#73 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#84 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#16 Hierarchy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#29 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#31 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#37 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#38 Other Than In Computers, Civilization Basically Stopped Progressing In The 1960s
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#46 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#77 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#1 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#65 Thousands Of IBM Employees Got A Nasty Surprise Yesterday: Here's The Email They Saw
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#66 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#23 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than any of the other countries in the world including the USA.?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#29 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#32 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#34 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#39 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#4 Another Light goes out
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#9 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than any of the other countries in the world including the USA.?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:52:16 -0500

jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> writes:
How? There were cable length constraints back then.

could put 2780 or model20 with printer and card reader ... driving telecommunication line back to the datacenter.

datacenter big fat "bus&tag" channel gray cables had max run length of 200ft ... this might be daisy-chained with multiple controllers (but still limited to max of 200ft). as size of disk farm grew ... processors tended to move from one end of the room to center of room ... with 200ft now being radius of area covered. some datacenters then expanded to multiple flrs expanding from circle 200ft radius to sphere 200ft radius. bus&tag had end-to-end handshake on every byte transferred, 3330 disks having 300kbyte/sec transfer (that should be 2314 at 300kbyte/sec, not 3330 which was 800kbyte/sec) and 200ft. 2305 fixed head disks with 1.5mbyte/sec transfer was more likely limited to 20ft-60ft channel cable length.

data-streaming (multiple-byte transfer per end-to-end handshake) with 3880/3380 increased disk data transfer rate to 3mbyte/sec (over 3330, factor of ten times that should be 10 times 2314 at 300kbyte/sec) and doubled max channel length to 400ft. part of the issue was that large datacenters had increasing number of loosely-coupled systems ... with all disks connected to all systems ... which resulted in multiple centers of overlapping circles/spheres.

recent mention of LLNL and fibre-channel standard
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#25 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#27 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#43 Regarding Time Sharing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#46 Random thoughts: Low power, High performance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#1 3270 response & channel throughput
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#5 What is a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#9 3270s & other stuff

1980, IBM STL (no silicon valley lab) was bursting at seams ... and they were moving 300 people from IMS group to offsite bldg (connections back to STL datacenter). They had tested "remote" 3270 (19.2kbit/sec telecommunication link) at the remote site ... and found it horrible human factors ... being used to local, channel-attached CMS 3270 support. old post about just the degradation from local channel-attach 3272/3277 to 3274/3278 and significant impact on productivity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001m.html#19 3270 protocol

I got con'ed into doing the support for HYPERchannel channel-extender ... basically interface to campus collins digital radio (microwave), went from roof of STL to repeater tower on hill behind the bldg, to roof of bldg12 on the main plant site ... to the off-site bldg. This allowed for putting in "channel-attached" 3270s at the remote bldg ... and the IMS people didn't notice the difference between the 3270 response in STL and 3270 response at the remote bldg. Part of this support involved "downloading" the mainframe channel program to channel simulator at the remote bldg ... which the "channel-attached" 3270 controllers connected ... and the link between the sites then ran full-duplex (concurrent asynchronous transfer in both directions). A side effect was that the affected STL systems increased throughput by 10-15%. The issue was that the HYPERchannel boxes that directly connected to mainframe channels had much lower channel busy for the same operations as native 3270 controllers. Removing 3270 controllers from direct connection to the real IBM channels ... allowed other devices sharing the same channels to increase their throughput.

In the 80s, LLNL was running some serial, asynchronous stuff and in 1988, I was asked if I could help with getting it standardized as fibre-channel standard. Part of the paradigm of downloading complete I/O programs was included as part of fibre-channel to maximize concurrent asynchronous throughput ... and minimize end-to-end serialization.

In the 90s, some of the IBM mainframe channel engineers got involved in fibre-channel effort ... defining a layer on top of fibre-channel that significantly cut effective throughput (basically lots of end-to-end serialization) ... which was eventually adapted as FICON and is the current mainframe channel implementation. More recently (approx. 30yrs after I did the original HYPERchannel channel extender support), there was an enhancement to FICON (approx. the same as the >30yr old HYPERchannel support) that increased FICON throughput by approx. factor of three times (partially closing the throughput gap between the underlying fibre-channel and FICON).

I've periodically mentioned recent z196 max I/O throughput benchmark with max configured z196 (80 processors and 14 system assist processors) with 104 FICON getting 2m IOPS. By comparison there was a recent announcement of a (single) native fibre-channel for e5-2600 getting over million IOPS.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#4 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#5 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#13 Intel Confirms Decline of Server Giants HP, Dell, and IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#28 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#43 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#9 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than any of the other countries in the world including the USA.?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#13 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#44 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#46 history of Programming language and CPU in relation to each
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#48 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#70 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#72 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#6 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#21 Assembler vs. COBOL--processing time, space needed

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2012 16:53:34 -0500

hancock4 writes:
Could you describe kind of applications these machines ran? Were they intended to run programs that previously ran on the mainframe, and if so, how did they handle the mainframe I/O like the card reader and tapes?

Were they intended to be a developer's too, that is, to code and compile programs on a PC first, before porting up to the mainframe?

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#8 AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#10 AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire

xt/at/370 was personal vm370/cms ... basically cms interactive computing; software development&test, creating documents, etc. As periodically mentioined, constrained computer resources and "bloated" software compared poorly with similar PC-based software

7437 was suppose to do vm370/cms personal computing as well as more resource intensive like engineering design

it wasn't until you got to personal/370 (and then personal/390) that you could get to anything like server and/or production work ... emulated channel interface was available that allowed connection of "real" 370 control units.

the referenced wiki page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-based_IBM-compatible_mainframes

also talks about some number of the software emulators like FLEX-ES ... I know of some number of shops that ran FLEX-ES on high-end sequent machines (at least before IBM bought sequent and shut the whole thing down) for production work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequent_Computer_Systems

disclaimer: before IBM bought sequent, we did some consulting for both FLEX-ES and Sequent's CTO Steve Chen (i.e. previously of Cray, X-MP, Y-MP, SCI, Chen systems, etc).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Chen_%28computer_engineer%29

I've recently commented about work on standardization for some serial technology that was being used by LLNL ... I/O oriented as fibre-channel
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#12 HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

... however about the same time, SLAC was involved in some other standardization work ... also fiber-optic serial technology ... but this was generalized bus ... I/O bus as well as memory bus ... as SCI or scalable-coherent-interface.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Coherent_Interface
and
http://slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-4781.pdf
http://slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-4798.pdf
http://slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-5656.pdf
http://slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-5699.pdf

having been asked to help LLNL with fibre-channel standardization, we also get asked to help with SCI standardization.

Several companies used it as basis for NUMA machines ... data general and sequent both do 256 intel processor machine, Convex does 128 HP risc processor machine (convex later bought by HP)

At least highend Sequent machines had emulated ibm mainframe channels (even before IBM bought them) ... and I know of at least one high-end application that made use of ibm 3590 tapes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_3590

Later, a former sparcstation engineer is doing a simplified SCI as slic-chip ... and wants to do a distributed 10,000 processor complex ... driven by SUN's object oriented operating system (SPRING/DOE). Some past refs:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000e.html#48 Where are they now : Taligent and Pink
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002j.html#76 Difference between Unix and Linux?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002m.html#60 The next big things that weren't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#46 Computer Science Education: Where Are the Software Engineers of Tomorrow?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#3 Microsoft versus Digital Equipment Corporation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#33 Making tea
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#17 Opinion: The top 10 operating system stinkers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009h.html#60 Architectural Diversity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009m.html#32 comp.arch has made itself a sitting duck for spam
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#29 search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#30 search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#71 Multiple Virtual Memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#75 Check out June 2011 | TOP500 Supercomputing Sites
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#50 The real reason IBM didn't want to dump more money into Blue Waters
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#94 Time to competency for new software language?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:48:45 -0500

jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> writes:
All disks were connected to all CPUs? Did each CPU have a controller or was the controller the central "mediator".

200 feet sounds long. I don't remember our specs.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#12 HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

previous post said 300kbyte/sec for 3330 (that should have been 300kbyte/sec for 2314) ... it was 800kbyte/sec for 3330

3330
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/storage/storage_3330.html

3830 disk controller could connect to four different channels ("two channel switch" plus "two channel switch additional") ... allowing connection to four different processors.
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/dasd/GA26-1592-5_Reference_Manual_for_IBM_3830_Storage_Control_Model_1_and_IBM_3330_Disk_Storage_Nov76.pdf

3330 also had "string-switch" ... sort of mini-controller ... which allow a string of 3330 disk drives to connect to two different 3830 disk controllers. If both 3830s were, in turn connected to four different channels ... it would provide for being able to access the same 3330 disk drives from eight different systems.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 10 Dec 2012
Subject: Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?
Blog: Greater IBM

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#7 Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?

Note that part of the reason that the number of internet nodes exceeded the internal network in the mid-80s was that the communication group was fighting hard to preserve the terminal emulation paradigm (and their terminal emulation install base), blocking client/server and distributed computing (i.e. workstations and PCs starting to appear as internet nodes ... while they were restricted to terminal emulation on the internal network).

In the late 80s, a senior disk engineer got a talk scheduled at an annual, internal, world-wide communication group conference and open the talk with the statement that the communication group was going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division (which has since come to pass). The issue was that the communication group had stranglehold on datacenters with strategic ownership of everything that cross the datacenter walls. The disk division was seeing the leading edge of data fleeing the datacenters to more distributed computing friendly platforms with drop in disk sales. The disk division had come up with a number of solutions to address the problem which were constantly being vetoed by the communication group (with their strategic ownership of everything that crossed the datacenter walls).

In the late 80s, the communication group was also spreading mis-information internally justifying the conversion of the internal network to sna/vtam ... as well as making claims how sna/vtam could be used for the NSFNET backbone. Somebody in the communication group had collected many of the mis-information emails especially from various levels of upper management and redistributed the collection to select individuals.

a co-worker at the ibm cambridge science center (4th flr, 545 tech sq, next to MIT campus) was responsible for the vm-based networking support
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson_Hendricks

and from above:

In 1976, MIT Professor Jerry Saltzer accompanied Hendricks to DARPA, where Henricks described his innovations to the principal scientist, Dr. Vinton P. Cerf. From that point on, Vint and other DARPA scientists adopted Hendricks' connectionless approach. The result developed into the Internet as we know it today.[6]

... snip ...

mainframe based tcp/ip was fiddled in various ways ... in effect hobbling throughput. original vm/370 based mainframe tcp/ip support got something like 44kbytes/sec throughput using nearly full 3090 processor (later mainframe tcp/ip tended to be hobbled in various other ways). However I did the rfc1044 enhancements for the original vm/370 tcp/ip product and in some tests at cray research between cray and 4341 ... got 4341 channel throughput using only modest amount of 4341 processor (possibly 500 times improvement in bytes moved per instruction executed). misc past posts mentioning rfc 1044 support
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#1044

as previous mentioned bitnet, which started of with vm370 based vnet/rscs transitioned over to internetworking protocol for bitnet-II misc. past posts mentioning bitnet &/or earn
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#bitnet

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:01:18 -0500

Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
If you wanted the RESERVE CCW opcode to work then they better all be on the same controller.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#12 HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#14 HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

possibly the largest mainframe "loosely-coupled" operation in the late 70s was the internal virtual-machine based HONE system ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hone

HONE had originally been created after the 23Jun1969 unbundling announcement were application software, system enginneering services, and other stuff started being charge for. The issue was that SEs had previously gotten a lot of their training as part of large SE group on customer site (sort of apprentice training) ... and with 23Jun1969 unbundling announcement ... nobody figured out how to not charge the customer for this form of SE training.

Several HONE datacenters were established around the country supporting remote access by SEs in branch office for running test operating systems in virtual machine (aka "HO" is for "hands-on"). Once HONE was in place ... there was deployment of (mostly APL-based, first cp67/cms cms\apl and later vm370/cms apl\cms) sales&marketing support applications ... and fairly quickly the sales&marketing support applications began to dominate all HONE activity (and the guest operating system testing started to disappear).

In the mid-70s, the various US HONE datacenters were consolidated in Palo Alto (trivia: bldg has different occupant now ... but is located next to the new bldg. that facebook initially moved into ... before their more recent move to the old SUN campus).

The vm370 cluster/loosely-coupled coordination was not done with reserve/release but with a special DASD channel program that emulated the mainframe compare&swap serialization instruction (basically would do initial read of "lock" map ... update the "lock" map in memory and then do a search-data-equal on the originally read image ... and if succeeded, it would rewrite the record with the updated information). The DASD compare&swap channel program worked across any number or processors (w/o requiring compare&swap) ... with any kind of channel path to each individual disk.

This was coupled with front-end that could do logon steering (select which system for logging onto) for load-balancing as well as available/fall-over.

Later in the early 80s, US HONE datacenter was replicated first in Dallas and then another in Boulder ... with load-balancing and fall-over across the distributed environment.

for whatever reason, vm cluster (loosely-coupled) support didn't ship in product until 30yrs later
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009p.html#43 From The Annals of Release No Software Before Its Time
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009p.html#46 From The Annals of Release No Software Before Its Time

mid-80s, NCAR (in boulder) did a kind of network-attached-storage using hyperchannel as both inter-processor communication as well as device channel. large ibm dasd farm with the controllers connected to hyerpchannel A515 "remote device adapter" (aka mainframe channel emulator). supercomputers would contact the ibm mainframe (over hyperchannel) requesting access to data. mainframe would setup data on dasd (staging from tape if necessary) and downloading DASD channel program into the corresponding A515 ... and then respond to the supercomputer with the handle for invoking the channel program (in the specific A515). data-transfer would then occur between the ibmdasd/a515 and the requesting supercomputer (over the hyperchannel network) ... with only the ibm mainframe only involved in the "control path" (put not the actual data path).

The hyperchannel network infrastructure allowed large number of clustered processors to access the same ibm dasd controller ... over a single controller channel interface. IBM FE complained about the configuration since their "stand-alone" diagnostics didn't support hyperchannel operation. As a result a second channel interface was used on all the ibm dasd controllers that directly connected to (real) ibm mainframe channels ... a major purpose was for IBM FE stand-alone diagnostics to run.

Recent posts mentioned having done hyperchannel channel-extender support in 1980 for the IMS database group in STL (now silicon valley lab):
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#1 3270 response & channel throughput
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#5 What is a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#9 3270s & other stuff
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#12 HCF [was Re: AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series "Halt &Catch Fire"]

above also mentions that the approach to downloading channel program that I did in 1980 effectively shows up in original fibre-channel standard ... but not used by low-throughput IBM mainframe FICON layered ontop of fibre-channel ... but then approx. 30yrs later, FICON was enhanced with something similar ... getting approx. 300% throughput improvement (compared to original FICON) ... bringing FICON a little closer to the throughput of the native fibre channel.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What is a Mainframe?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 10 Dec 2012
Subject: What is a Mainframe?
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/YipYAD
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#5 What is a Mainframe?

The issue was that they used a dirt cheap processor in the 3880 for control operations ... that was much, much slower than processor used in 3830 controller. The enormously slower processor significantly increased the overhead and elapsed time for every operation (other than pure data transfer which had a dedicated hardware path).

To try and marginally compensate for the slow 3880 control operations ... they tried caching a bunch of information that was channel interface specific (making it almost as fast as 3830 with non-cached operation). In effect, 3830 switching between channels was approx. the same as staying on single channel. The 3880 caching made single channel operation almost as fast as 3830 operation ... but switching to a different channel was still horribly slow (aka basically the base 3880 thruput before the caching for single channel interface fix was created).

Because I was responsible for the operating system in dasd engineering and product test labs ... one of the ways they sucked me in was anytime anything went wrong ... they would say it was my problem ... then i would have to come in and diagnose what was really going on. Part of having real operating system (that never failed, unlike standard production MVS 15min MTBF) was they starting using spare cycles of other production work (dasd and controller testing tended to use only 1-2% of processor).

One monday morning, I got a call asking what i had done to their system over the week ... the production throughput had degraded enormously (they claimed they had made absolutely no changes). Eventually diagnosing the problem ... over the weekend they had swapped a 3830 (that managed 16 3330 drives) with an early 3880 (this was six months before first customer ship). The 3880 controller was enormously slower than the 3830 ... handling the same exact 16 3330 drivers, drastically increased channel busy, and because of some games it was playing ... resulted in having to do double the SIOs for each operation. Turns out 3880 was signalling operation end before actually complete (to try and make elapsed time for single operation as close as possible to 3830) ... however, on production system with queued/pending operations resulting in the software attempting to redrive the interface (with queued operation). However since the 3880 was actually done ... it had to reflect control-busy (SM+BUSY) for the SIO ... indicating operation wasn't started .... that required software to put the attempted operation back on the queue. Then when the 3880 controller finally actually finished ... it had to generate an extra interrupt (CUE, since it had previously signaled SM+BUSY) ... and the software now has to repeat the whole redrive operation.

The slowness of the 3880 was unrelated to any erep/logrec issue ... it was purely a characteristic of the extreme slowness of the jib-prime microprocessor chosen for the 3880. there was a lot of irate comments from the engineers that the choice of the jib-prime microprocessor had been forced on them by a high level executive bean-counter attempting to save a couple pennies ... and the couple pennies saved on each 3880 manufacturing ... enormously increased the manufacturing cost of every 3090 for the added channels attempting to compensate for the enormous increase in channel busy as a result of the choice of the slow jib-prime microprocessor

One of the other side-effects of presenting early operation completed ... was certain kinds of errors weren't detected to final cleanup. They initially tried to present an "unsolicited unit check" to indicate an error (unassociated with any operation, since the controller had already presented final complete operation). I had long arguments that "unsolicited unit check" was violation of channel architecture ... finally having to escalate conference call with POK channel engineers. After that the san jose engineers wanted me in on all conference calls with POK channel engineers.

... past posts being sucked into playing disk engineer in DASD engineering lab (bldg.14) and DASD product test lab (bldg 15)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#disk

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

U.S. Treasury, AIG are poised to sever ties

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 11 Dec 2012
Subject: U.S. Treasury, AIG are poised to sever ties
Blog: Facebook

U.S. Treasury, AIG are poised to sever ties
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/us-treasury-aig-are-poised-to-sever-ties/2012/12/10/2980e096-431c-11e2-9648-a2c323a991d6_story.html

At the time, there was story that AIG was in negotiations to pay 50-60cents on the dollar for the booked CDS bets, then the sec. of treasury steps in and says that it is illegal for AIG to pay less than 100% on the dollar ... with majority of gov. money going to pay CDS bets at face value (and sec. of treasury just happened to previously been the CEO of the largest recipient of the face-value payoffs). A "real" bankruptcy would have also paid less than face-value for the CDS bets. The agreement that the sec. of treasury forced AIG to sign also included stuff about AIG couldn't later sue the companies placing the CDS bets. Some number of the CDS bets were that particular CDOs would fail ... and those placing the bets had purposefully constructed the CDOs to fail (like all your neighbors conspiring to burn your house down after taking out fire insurance on your house). Treasury also fought hard to prevent public release of the terms of the AIG agreement.

TARP funds had originally been appropriated to buy "toxic assets" but it was only $700B ... when there had been $27T in triple-A rated toxic CDOs done during the bubble
Evil Wall Street Exports Boomed With 'Fools' Born to Buy Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-10-27/evil-wall-street-exports-boomed-with-fools-born-to-buy-debt
and just the four largest TBTF were still holding $5.2T toxic assets "off-book" at the end of 2008. The TARP funds then were twisted for other purposes (like AIG) and the federal reserve enlisted to provide tens of trillions in near zero money (with several TBTF being granted bank charters to feed off the federal reserve trough ... as well as federal reserve buying toxic assets); those institutions then use the spread on the zero money to pay off TARP.

99 bank modernization act (GLBA) is better known for repeal of Glass-Steagall (enabling too-big-to-fail) ... but rhetoric on flr of congress was that primary purpose was institutions that didn't already have bank charter couldn't get one (eliminating new competition for banks). Roll-forward to the bailout, feeding at the federal reserve trough requires bank charter ... and magically several institutions now are given bank charters (including the institution that the sec. of treasury had been ceo of ... institution also receiving the biggest slice of the AIG face-value payoff on CDS bets) ... which should have been violation of GLBA

past posts mentioning AIG:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#51 independent appraisers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008n.html#19 Blinkylights
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009.html#63 CROOKS and NANNIES: what would Boyd do?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#28 How to defeat new telemarketing tactic
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#38 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#48 How to defeat new telemarketing tactic
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#53 How to defeat new telemarketing tactic
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#55 Who will give Citigroup the KNOCKOUT blow?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#65 is it possible that ALL banks will be nationalized?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#10 Who will Survive AIG or Derivative Counterparty Risk?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#11 Congress Set to Approve Pay Cap of $500,000
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#16 The Formula That Killed Wall Street
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#18 HSBC is expected to announce a profit, which is good, what did they do differently?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#22 Is it time to put banking executives on trial?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#28 I need insight on the Stock Market
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#42 Bernard Madoff Is Jailed After Pleading Guilty -- are there more "Madoff's" out there?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#61 Quiz: Evaluate your level of Spreadsheet risk
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#62 Is Wall Street World's Largest Ponzi Scheme where Madoff is Just a Poster Child?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#63 Do bonuses foster unethical conduct?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#64 Should AIG executives be allowed to keep the bonuses they were contractually obligated to be paid?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#73 Should Glass-Steagall be reinstated?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#74 Why is everyone talking about AIG bonuses of millions and keeping their mouth shut on billions sent to foreign banks?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#0 What is swap in the financial market?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#8 The background reasons of Credit Crunch
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#13 Should we fear and hate derivatives?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#17 Why is everyone talking about AIG bonuses of millions and keeping their mouth shut on billions sent to foreign banks?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#23 Should FDIC or the Federal Reserve Bank have the authority to shut down and take over non-bank financial institutions like AIG?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#31 Should FDIC or the Federal Reserve Bank have the authority to shut down and take over non-bank financial institutions like AIG?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#35 Architectural Diversity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#43 Architectural Diversity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#2 CEO pay sinks - Wall Street Journal/Hay Group survey results just released
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#29 What is the real basis for business mess we are facing today?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#38 On whom or what would you place the blame for the sub-prime crisis?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#5 Do the current Banking Results in the US hide a grim truth?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#7 Just posted third article about toxic assets in a series on the current financial crisis
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#8 Just posted third article about toxic assets in a series on the current financial crisis
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#33 Treating the Web As an Archive
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#76 Undoing 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009h.html#17 REGULATOR ROLE IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT FINANCIAL SCANDALS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009i.html#54 64 Cores -- IBM is showing a prototype already
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009i.html#60 In the USA "financial regulator seeks power to curb excess speculation."
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009i.html#74 Administration calls for financial system overhaul
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009i.html#77 Financial Regulatory Reform - elimination of loophole allowing special purpose institutions outside Bank Holding Company (BHC) oversigh
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#12 IBM identity manager goes big on role control
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#30 An Amazing Document On Madoff Said To Have Been Sent To SEC In 2005
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#35 what is mortgage-backed securities?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#71 64 Cores -- IBM is showing a prototype already
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#75 64 Cores -- IBM is showing a prototype already
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#81 64 Cores -- IBM is showing a prototype already
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009k.html#2 Big Bonuses At Goldman Should Be Applauded, Not Criticized
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009m.html#89 Audits V: Why did this happen to us ;-(
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009n.html#56 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#25 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#44 Outsourcing your Computer Center to IBM ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#48 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#56 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#84 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009p.html#2 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009p.html#51 Opinions on the 'Unix Haters' Handbook
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009q.html#77 Now is time for banks to replace core system according to Accenture
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#15 search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#28 search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#56 search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#54 The 2010 Census
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#28 Our Pecora Moment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#31 In the News: SEC storms the 'Castle'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#32 In the News: SEC storms the 'Castle'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#67 The Python and the Mongoose: it helps if you know the rules of engagement
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#34 Idiotic programming style edicts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010l.html#38 Who is Really to Blame for the Financial Crisis?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010n.html#36 Idiotic programming style edicts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010q.html#29 Ernst & Young sued for fraud over Lehman
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#38 On Protectionism
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#52 Are Americans serious about dealing with money laundering and the drug cartels?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#40 Fight Fraud with Device ID
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011h.html#40 Delinquent Homeowners to Get Mortgage Aid from Government
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011j.html#41 Advice from Richard P. Feynman
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#4 Geithner, Bernanke have little in arsenal to fight new crisis
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#5 AIG's Bank Of America Suit Puts Trashy Paper On Display
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#54 50th anniversary of BASIC, COBOL?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#74 computer bootlaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011m.html#2 computer bootlaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011m.html#18 computer bootlaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#79 The men who crashed the world
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#62 Civilization, doomed?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#76 How Pursuit of Profits Kills Innovation and the U.S. Economy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#77 How Pursuit of Profits Kills Innovation and the U.S. Economy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#72 The men who crashed the world
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#31 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#32 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#52 Goldman Exec Quits In A Scathing NYT Op-Ed About How The Firm Abuses Its Clients
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#30 Senators Who Voted Against Ending Big Oil Tax Breaks Received Millions From Big Oil
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#42 Who Increased the Debt?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#57 speculation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#59 Why Hasn't The Government Prosecuted Anyone For The 2008 Financial recession?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#70 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#94 Naked emperors, holy cows and Libor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#38 Four Signs Your Awesome Investment May Actually Be A Ponzi Scheme
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#39 History--punched card transmission over telegraph lines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#50 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#1 STOP PRESS! An Auditor has been brought to task for a failed bank!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#20 General Mills computer

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 11 Dec 2012
Subject: IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
Blog: IBMers

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#11 IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees

Note that FS was axe'd in the mid-70s because (at least) 1) lots of pieces were pure vaporware (and didn't actually exist) and 2) the objective to make it horribly complex (as barrier to entry for competition) also made it horribly slow ... one of the final analysis was that if an FS machine was made out of the fastest then available technology (aka 370/195), the eastern airlines System/one reservation system ... that ran on real 370/195 ... would have the throughput of a 370/145 running on the fastest available FS machine (approx. 30 times throughput slowdown). The killing off of 370 efforts during the FS period and lack of new product offerings is credited with giving the clone processors market foothold.

analysis that 3081 was a Q&D effort after death of FS (even tho it took nearly 8yrs to get out) was done with very expensive left-over technology from FS ... and was slower and cost significantly more to manufacture than its clone processor competition
http://www.jfsowa.com/computer/memo125.htm

also by a senior executive ... includes references to the FS disaster (and general theme very similar to previously referenced Ferguson & Morris, "Computer Wars: The Post-IBM World", Time Books, 1993)
https://www.ecole.org/en/session/49-the-rise-and-fall-of-ibm

from above:
After 40 years of unrivalled success, IBM is now in serious trouble. What has happened? Jean-Jacques Duby explains how the company's values and the cogs and wheels of its internal management system doomed IBM to failure, in the light of long developments in the technical, economic and commercial environment. But why there should have been such a sudden shock remains a mystery. Perhaps IBM's mighty power had delayed its downfall, making this all the more brutal as a result, like the earthquake which follows the sudden encounter of two continental plates.

... snip ...

past posts referencing FS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 12 Dec 2012
Subject: HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties
Blog: Financial Crime Risk, Fraud and Security

HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties; Banks Settle with Feds over SARs Violations
http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/hsbc-scb-agree-to-aml-penalties-a-5345?rf=2012-12-11-eb&elq=0d602c5fec4549b08bede5fb507aa1c7&elqCampaignId=5303

DOJ Refuses to Indict HSBC For Money Laundering Explicitly Because It is Too Big To Fail
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/doj-refuses-to-indict-hsbc-for-money-laundering-explicitly-because-it-is-too-big-to-fail.html

HSBC to Pay $1.92 Billion to Settle Charges of Money Laundering
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/hsbc-said-to-near-1-9-billion-settlement-over-money-laundering/?ref=business

from above:
State and federal authorities decided against indicting HSBC in a money-laundering case over concerns that criminal charges could jeopardize one of the world's largest banks and ultimately destabilize the global financial system.

... snip ...

lots of statements over the past couple years about failing to bring criminal charges against TBTF ... resulting in references to too-big-to-jail

A dream SEC chief; With a record of challenging Wall Street, Neil Barofsky says he'd take it "in a heartbeat." Here's what he'd do
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/06/a_dream_sec_chief/

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:07:44 -0500

Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> writes:
In WWII, radio had a quarter century to develop and not only was there a more concrete definition of the role radio could play in war, but the technology had improved. Other than transistors, there wasn't a lot of difference between radio use in WWII and radio use in the Viet Nam era. Well, probably radar improved, but that's only because WWII caused radio to be improved, and maybe some of the work wasn't finished by the end of that war.

Technology and War
https://www.amazon.com/Technology-and-War-ebook/dp/B003LL3LFQ

pg180/loc2811-13:
every Panzer should come equipped with two-way radio. Their armored divisions thus acquired very great tactical and operational flexibility such as has rarely been equaled before or since. This flexibility, possibly even more than the tanks themselves, constituted the true core of the new style in warfare.

... snip ...

pg190/loc2968-71:
The Germans, followed by others, also pioneered in using direct radio communications between aircraft and land units down to division level, a vital step if effective air-ground cooperation was to be achieved. As in the case of armor, there is a tendency in the literature to overlook the role played by communications in favor of more spectacular characteristics of performance. However, communications did as much as any other factor to explain the changes that took place in the conduct of air warfare from the First World War to the Second.

... snip ...

pg228/loc3599-3602
If the British constructed the first operational air defense radar system, it was the Germans who led in the field of electronic navigational aids for bombing. If the Allies built the most powerful internal combustion aircraft engines, the Germans pioneered the revolutionary jet and rocket engines. If the Allies' lead in electronics tended to widen during the last years of the war, it was the Germans who consistently came up with the most powerful tanks as well as the best artillery and machine guns.

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What is a Mainframe?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 12 Dec 2012
Subject: What is a Mainframe?
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/YipYAD
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#5 What is a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#17 What is a Mainframe?

before ms/dos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS
there was seattle computer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Computer_Products
before seattle computer there was cp/m,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M
before cp/m, kildall worked on cp67/cms at npg (gone 404, but lives on at the wayback machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20071011100440/http://www.khet.net/gmc/docs/museum/en_cpmName.html
npg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Postgraduate_School
cp67/cms (aka precursor to vm/370)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/CMS
before cp67/cms ... there was virtual machine, interactive computing cp/40
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/cp40seas1982.txt
at the IBM science center
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#545tech
lots of cp/67 starting in the 60s (gone 404, but lives on at the wayback machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20090117083033/http://www.nsa.gov/research/selinux/list-archive/0409/8362.shtml

note that after CTSS,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatible_Time-Sharing_System

some of the folks went to the science center on the 4th flr and did cp/40 and then cp/67. Other of the folks went to the 5th flr and did multics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics

some number of the people that started work on multics returned to bell labs and did unix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIX

also, GML was invented at the science center in 1969 ("G", "M", and "L" selected for the letters of the inventors last name. A decade later GML morphs into SGML
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Generalized_Markup_Language
after another decade, SGML morphs into HTML at CERN
http://infomesh.net/html/history/early/
and the first webserver outside Europe is at the CERN "sister" location on the SLAC VM370 system:
https://ahro.slac.stanford.edu/wwwslac-exhibit

SLAC also hosted the bay area vm370 user group meetings ("baybunch") during much of the 70s and 80s. there were numerous vm370 installations in the bay area ... including Tymshare which offered commercial online service. In Aug1976, Tymshare provided their vm370/cms based online computer conferencing service free to SHARE as vmshare:
http://vm.marist.edu/~vmshare
sometimes(?) "404" ... but also at wayback machine
http://vm.marist.edu/~vmshare/

the large commercial vm/4300 installations were sort of the leading edge of the distributed computing tsunomi ... at the time of the great arpanet switch-over to tcp/ip on 1Jan1983, there were approx. 100 IMP network nodes and 255 connected hosts ... but the internal network (larger than arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until late '85 or early '86) was rapidly approaching 1000 nodes ... in large part because of the big influx of vm/4300 nodes ... misc. past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet
misc. old 4300 email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#43xx

One of the co-workers at the science center was responsible for vm-based networking support
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson_Hendricks

In 1976, MIT Professor Jerry Saltzer accompanied Hendricks to DARPA where Henricks described his innovations to the principal scientist, Dr. Vinton P. Cerf. From that point on, Vint and other DARPA scientists adopted Hendricks -- connectionless approach. The result developed into the Internet as we know it today.

... snip ...

This was also the support that was used for (US univ) BITNET (and EARN in Europe) ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#bitnet

One of the reasons for internet passing the internal network in number of nodes was that communication group was fighting hard to preserve their terminal emulation paradigm (and install base), fighting off client/server and distributed computing (i.e. workstations & PCs starting to appear as internet nodes)

late 80s, a senior disk engineer got a talk scheduled at internal, annual, world-wide, communication group conference and opened the talk with statement that the communication group was going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division. The issue was that the communication group had stranglehold on the datacenter (trying to preserve terminal emulation paradigm, fighting off client/server and distributed computing) and the disk division was seeing drop in sales as data was fleeing the datacenter to more distributed computing friendly platforms. The disk division had come up with a number of solutions ... which the communication group was veto'ing with their "strategic ownership" of everything that crossed the datacenter walls. misc. past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#emulation

re: 3830/3880; needed new support for 3mbyte 3380 data transfer and data-streaming channels. while 3880 had much slower processor for control operations ... 3880 had separate dedicated hardware path for the faster data transfer (disk drive to controller) ... and data-streaming channel convention (controller to channel/processor)

original bus&tag channel (from 360 days) had end-to-end (processor to controller) hand-shake for every byte transferred. data-streaming channel relaxed the requirement allowing multiple bytes transfer per end-to-end handshake; increasing maximum channel length from 200ft to 400ft and increasing max. channel transfer rate to 3mbyte/sec.

the 3830 manual (from bitsavers) ... original support for 3330 drives ran 800kbyte/sec transfer ...
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/dasd/GA26-1592-5_Reference_Manual_for_IBM_3830_Storage_Control_Model_1_and_IBM_3330_Disk_Storage_Nov76.pdf

3880 support for 3380 3mbyte/sec transfer nearly 4times faster.

2314 and 2303 head per track drum (360s) had 300kbyte/sec transfer. there was 2301 head per track drum ... which was almost the same as 2303 but transferred four heads(trracks) in parallel for datarate of 1.2mbyte/sec ... however had shorter channel cable limitations.

3330 was 800kbyte/sec with 200ft channel cable limitation. there was a 2305 fixed-head per track disk ... which had transfer of 1.5mbyte/sec ... but also had shorter channel cable limitation. there was a different model of 2305 which had same number of heads ... but half the number of tracks (and half the data capacity) ... each track had pair of heads offset by 180degrees ... and transferred in parallel for 3mbyte transfer rate ... with 2byte interface over a pair of (1.5mbyte/sec) channel cables (limited channel cable distance). Because the heads were offset 180degrees and transferred in parallel ... avg rotational delay was only a quarter of a revolution (rather than avg rotational delay of half a revolution with a single head per track).

3880 supported the new 3mbyte/sec "data-streaming" channels ... that also doubled the channel cable length restriction to 400ft .... as well as the 3mbyte/sec 3380 data transfer disks.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

HCF

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: HCF
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:46:53 -0500

Ben Pfaff <blp@cs.stanford.edu> writes:
Cite? I haven't heard that particular claim before, only that NT's architect had previously worked on VMS.

I seem to remember some postings from <jmfbahiv> it was somewhere in beteween.

and periodically posted:

note that after CTSS,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatible_Time-Sharing_System

some of the folks went to the science center on the 4th flr and did cp/40 and then cp/67. Other of the folks went to the 5th flr and did multics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics

some number of the people that started work on multics returned to bell labs and did unix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIX

after another decade, SGML morphs into HTML at CERN
http://infomesh.net/html/history/early/

and the first webserver outside Europe is at the CERN "sister" location on the SLAC VM370 system:
https://ahro.slac.stanford.edu/wwwslac-exhibit

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

OCC Confirms that Big Banks are Badly Managed, Lack Adequate Risk Management Controls

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 13 Dec 2012
Subject: OCC Confirms that Big Banks are Badly Managed, Lack Adequate Risk Management Controls
Blog: Google+

re:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/AFwkvQ3QQDW

other recent reference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#20 HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties

OCC Confirms that Big Banks are Badly Managed, Lack Adequate Risk Management Controls
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/quelle-surprise-occ-confirms-that-big-banks-are-badly-managed-lack-adequate-risk-management-controls.html

from above:
Recall that this blog has inveighed repeatedly that the officialdom had a clear and easy path to prosecuting bank executives by using Sarbanes Oxley.

... snip ...

A Straightforward Criminal Case Against Wall Street CEOs and Senior Executives
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/03/a-straightforward-criminal-case-against-wall-street-ceos-and-senior-executives.html

Note with regard to fraudulent financial filings, possibly because GAO didn't believe SEC was doing anything, it started doing reports on public company fraudulent financial filings ... even showing an uptic after sarbanes-oxley (aka chose 1) SOX had no effect on fraudulent filings, 2) SOX encouraged fraudulent filings, 3) if it hadn't been for SOX, all filings would now be fraudulent).
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-395R .
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-678 .
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-06-1079sp

in theory under SOX all the executives and auditors would be doing jail time

HSBC's Settlement Leaves Us In A Scary Place
http://compliancex.com/hsbcs-settlement-leaves-us-in-a-scary-place/

Stories dating back a couple years referencing how TBTF drug cartel money laundering is turning Mexico into Colombia: GLBA -> repeal glass-steagall -> TBTF -> too-big-to-jail -> big upswing in drug cartel money laundering -> big upswing in cartel drug violence

Neil Barofsky: Too Big to Jail -- Our Banking System's Latest Disgrace
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/neil-barofsky-too-big-to-jail-our-banking-systems-latest-disgrace.html

Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213

misc. past posts mentioning too-big-to-jail:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010m.html#24 Little-Noted, Prepaid Rules Would Cover Non-Banks As Wells As Banks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010q.html#58 Programmer Charged with thieft (maybe off topic)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#50 What do you think about fraud prevention in the governments?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#52 Are Americans serious about dealing with money laundering and the drug cartels?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#49 The men who crashed the world
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#16 Wonder if they know how Boydian they are?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#35 The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#37 The $30 billion Social Security hack
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#88 Defense acquisitions are broken and no one cares
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#9 JPM LOSES $2 BILLION USD!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#20 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#14 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#25 This Is The Wall Street Scandal Of All Scandals
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#37 If all of the American earned dollars hidden in off shore accounts were uncovered and taxed do you think we would be able to close the deficit gap?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#30 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#0 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#55 U.S. Sues Wells Fargo, Accusing It of Lying About Mortgages
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#10 OT: Tax breaks to Oracle debated
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#73 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:06:12 -0500

hancock4 writes:
While the physical footprint of the mainframe has decreased, many companies now have servers for web-based applications and data communication terminals taking up that space.

slac had this massive room for ibm mainframe that then transitioned to (physically) small mainframe sitting in small corner of the room

... which was then replaced with a couple racks of i86 processors.

then the room started filling up with racks of i86 processors ... the early "GRID" massive computing infrastructure. The "GRID" supercomputer revolution was going on about the same time as the big upswing in the big cloud operators ... both paradigms taking effectively the same approach.

the major vendors of GRID i86 servers ... tried to better monotize their investment by marketing as supercomputers for financial industry (what is largely behind high frequency/velocity trading) ... and then to other industries. Effectively the same technology is also marketed as cloud computing.

The big cloud operators and the big GRID operators have tended to have custom build or "white box" (off-brand) blade servers ... claims by the big cloud operators that they can do blades for 1/3 the cost of brand name blade servers. Recent press item is that the brand name server vendors (HP, DELL, IBM, etc) are no longer the biggest part of the i86 server chip market.

for little drift, recent references to SLAC had the first webserver outside europe on their vm370 (mainframe) system:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#7 Why former IBMers who left maybe years ago for any reason are still active on the Greater IBM Connection?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#13 AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#22 What is a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#23 HCF

recent posts that max configured z196 mainframe with 80processors is rated at 50BIPS and goes for $28m ($560,000/BIPS) ... while e5-2600 blade have ratings of 527 BIPS ... IBM has base price of $1815 for a e5-2600 blade ($3.44/BIPS):
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#50 Layer 8: NASA unplugs last mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#94 Can Mainframes Be Part Of Cloud Computing?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#0 Burroughs B5000, B5500, B6500 videos
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#36 Should IBM allow the use of Hercules as z system emulator?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#38 Should IBM allow the use of Hercules as z system emulator?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#4 Think You Know The Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#20 Mainframes Warming Up to the Cloud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#35 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#52 How will mainframers retiring be different from Y2K?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#62 What are your experiences with Amdahl Computers and Plug-Compatibles?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#11 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#16 Think You Know The Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#84 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#34 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#66 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#95 printer history Languages influenced by PL/1
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#96 The older Hardware school
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#41 Cloud Computing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#20 X86 server
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#27 PDP-10 system calls, was 1132 printer history
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#28 X86 server
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#42 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#51 Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#56 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#81 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#87 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#88 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#13 Intel Confirms Decline of Server Giants HP, Dell, and IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#31 Still think the mainframe is going away soon: Think again. IBM mainframe computer sales are 4% of IBM's revenue; with software, services, and storage it's 25%
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#43 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#67 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than any of the other countries in the world including the USA.?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#13 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#44 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#70 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#72 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 16 Dec 2012
Subject: Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/RsuUyw
an
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#72 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#6 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#11 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#29 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing

recent article is that brand name vendors (IBM, HP, DELL, etc) are no longer the major customer for i86 server chips ... its the big cloud service providers ... who have also been major driver for high performance, 64bit, multi-core, power efficient, cost-effective chips. from throughput standpoint, risc chips have had significant advantage over i86 chips for decades with speculative execution, branch prediction, out-of-order execution, etc. For the last couple generations i86 chips have closed that throughput gap by going to risc cores with hardware layer that converts i86 instructions to risc micro-ops ... giving e5-2690 527BIPS (two 8-core chips, 33BIPS/processor) ... IBM base price for e5-2600 blade is $1815 ... aka say $3.44/BIPS

It wasn't until z196 that some of that (RISC) technology starts to appear ... with approx. half of the performance increase of z196 processors over z10 processors being the introduction of out-of-order execution ... Z10 max configuration of 64processors at 30BIPS (469MIPS/processor) to z196 max configuration of 80 processors at 50BIPS (625MIPS/processor). Further improvements in out-of-order execution (and other risc technologies) is credited with about half of improvement of z196 (625MIPS/processor) to zEC12 101 processors at 75BIPS (743MIPS/processor). IBM price for 80processor z196 is $28M or $560,000/BIPS

from 29nov2012

Amazon Announces 2 New EC2 Instance Types: Cluster High Memory With 240GB RAM And High Storage With 48TB HDD Space
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/29/amazon-announces-2-new-ec2-instance-types-cluster-high-memory-with-240gb-ram-and-high-storage-with-48tb-hdd-space/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

from article:
The first is meant for application that need to deal with large-scale, in-memory processing. This "Cluster High Memory" instance type will offer a massive 240 GB of RAM and two 120GB SSDs. The second, the "High Storage" instance is, as the name implies, focused on storage and will come with 117 GB of RAM and 24 hard drive for a total of 48 terabytes of HDD space.

... snip ...

x86-64
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64

details how x86-64 is compatible superset of earlier i86 and is radically different than IA-64 which was designed by Intel and HP. Trivia: primary person at HP responsible for IA-64 was previously at IBM (before going to HP in the early 80s) and was responsible for dual-address space mode for 3033 (among other things).

also from article:
Linux was the first operating system kernel to run the x86-64 architecture in long mode, starting with the 2.4 version in 2001 (prior to the physical hardware's availability).[46][47] Linux also provides backward compatibility for running 32-bit executables. This permits programs to be recompiled into long mode while retaining the use of 32-bit programs.

... snip ...

System z
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_z
z/Architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z/Architecture

above mentions restricting code execution to the first 2GB (31bits) for each virtual address space ... except 64bit version of Linux what allows code to execute from 64bit address ranges (possibly implying that Linux has been the most successful at adapting to 64bit ... regardless of the hardware platform).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:48:51 -0500

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:
The discs for use in data centres tend to be smaller in capacity than consumer discs, but faster, more reliable and of course more expensive. That being said the leading edge of consumer discs are 4TB now so data centre discs are probably going past the 1TB point (it's been a while since I last looked).

amazon cloud with 2tb disks from 29nov2012:

recent article has the brand name server vendors are no longer biggest customer of i86 server chips ... its the big cloud operations (buy more server chips than server vendors)

past articles are that the big cloud operations have done extensive reliability and life-time costs studies to select most cost effective components ... also comments that they do blade assembly/manufacturing for 1/3rd the price of brand name blades (more expensive isn't necessarily most cost effective &/or lowest lifetime costs).

recent posts mentioning cloud operations:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#6 Cloud apps placed well in the economic cycle
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#74 IBM Doing Some Restructuring?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#41 Layer 8: NASA unplugs last mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#50 Layer 8: NASA unplugs last mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#83 Why are organizations sticking with mainframes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#4 Can Mainframes Be Part Of Cloud Computing?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#19 Can Mainframes Be Part Of Cloud Computing?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#20 Mainframes Warming Up to the Cloud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#40 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#15 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#81 Should the IBM approach be given a chance to fix the health care system?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#26 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#34 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#66 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#41 Cloud Computing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#20 X86 server
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#42 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#47 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#51 Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#52 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#13 Intel Confirms Decline of Server Giants HP, Dell, and IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#48 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#56 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#69 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#70 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#6 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#11 Mainframes are still the best platform for high volume transaction processing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#58 ISO documentation of IBM 3375, 3380 and 3390 track format
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#25 Search Google, 1960:s-style

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 16 Dec 2012
Subject: Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/kDEeS6

old reference gone 404 ... but lives on at the wayback machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090117083033/http://www.nsa.gov/research/selinux/list-archive/0409/8362.shtml

slightly related ... and at NPG

In the 60s, online computer service bureaus were formed ... a couple of them moving upstream to also providing online financial information to the financial industry (lots of instances were major wallstreet firms were all using common computer for sensitive activities).

In the early 70s, the science center had ported apl360 to cp67/cms for cmsapl and was offering online services to both internal and external users (including students and staff at some Boston area univ). One of the groups that started using the service was Armonk business planners who loaded the most valuable corporate asset onto the system (detailed customer information) for business modeling applications. Security was specifically an issue since there were number of non-employees (including univ. students) using the same machine.

Financial system exploits have tended to run around 70% insiders. Countermeasure to insiders fraud are rules about not sharing userids/authentication as well as audit trails (unique individual tracking and audit trails deterrent to fraudulent activity), and multi-party operations. As collusion and other exploits for multi-party operations were developed ... there have been other countermeasures like staggered vacations (varying the participants in multi-party operation).

Role-based access control (RBAC) has been developed to simplify multi-party operations (work out roles and associated access permissions ... so that certain kinds of operation requiring multiple parties ... eliminating single individuals having sufficient combination of permissions to complete an operation on their own).

Gov. "orange book" security has been replaced with common criteria and protection profiles ... I've gotten some push back on retaining the "orange book" era information in my merged security glossary and taxonomy. Note in past couple years I've been at presentation where it was pointed out that 60 of 64 common criteria security evaluations have undisclosed deviations. Supposedly original orange book and current common criteria certifications were to allow customers to be able to make informed product comparisons ... but with undisclosed deviations ... it is difficult to make apples-to-apples comparison.

disclaimer: we've got a couple dozen patents in the area of authentication, financial transactions, and security.

i'm not sure if all these URLs are still good:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600145529/Bank-workers-biggest-ID-theft-threat.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1026-2002Dec2.html
http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/167100202
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5015565
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-08-2005/0002986646&EDATE=
http://news.com.com/Banks+face+growing+threat+of+identity+theft+from+insiders/2100-1029_3-6137940.html
http://www.securitypronews.com/insiderreports/insider/spn-49-20070308IdentityTheftJumpsBy50Percent.html
https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/17179-PCI-and-the-Insider-Threat.html

old reference to working on HA/CMP cluster scale-up and meeting in Ellison's conference room
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/95.html#13

a couple weeks later, the effort was found by other organizations in ibm, transferred, we were told we couldn't work on anything with more than four processors ... and then announced as ibm supercomputer ... some old email up until just before transfer and being told we couldn't continue to work on cluster scale-up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#medusa

we decide to leave as consequence ... however two of the other people in the ellison meeting also leave ... and show up at a small client/server startup responsible for something called the "commerce server". We are brought in as consultants because they want to do payment transactions on the server ... the startup has also invented this technology called "SSL" they want to use; the result is now frequently called "electronic commerce".

Partial as result of having been involved in doing "electronic commerce", in the mid-90s we are asked to participate in the x9a10 financial standard working group which had been given the requirement to preserve the integrity of the financial infrastructure for all retail payments (*ALL*, retail, face-to-face, attended, unattended, electronic, ACH, check, payment card, stored value, internet, etc). Part of this activity we do end-to-end, detailed threat & vulnerability analysis of the various payment mechanisms. The result is the x9.59 financial transaction standard ... some past references
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/x959.html#x959

Note that in the financial world ... much of the transaction, security, authentication, auditing, etc ... has moved up into DBMS/RDBMS. At the 2008 celebration for Jim Gray (year after his disappearance) part of the testimonial was his work in formalizing DBMS transaction definition ... giving financial auditors a higher level of confidence in trusting the integrity of computer records
https://web.archive.org/web/20110607225340/http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/IPRO/JimGrayTribute/pressrelease.html

from above:
Gray is known for his groundbreaking work as a programmer, database expert and Microsoft engineer. Gray's work helped make possible such technologies as the cash machine, ecommerce, online ticketing, and deep databases like Google.

... snip ...

I had worked with Jim at SJR doing the days of the original SQL+relational implementation before he moved on to Tandem.

one of the other refs from above:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5015565

from above:
A soon-to-be-released study reveals what some identity theft experts have hinted at for years -- the crime is largely the work of insiders. In a study of more then 1,000 identity theft arrests in the United States, Michigan State professor Judith Collins has discovered that perhaps as much as 70 percent of all identity theft starts with theft of personal data from a company by an employee.

... snip ...

and one of the others from above urls

Leading Cause of Data Security Breaches Are Due to Insiders, Not Outsiders; Ponemon Study Reveals That the Most Likely Threat to Data Security Is Not the Outsider, But Rather Negligent, Incompetent or Malicious Corporate Insiders
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leading-cause-of-data-security-breaches-are-due-to-insiders-not-outsiders-54002222.html

this is just breaches related to PCI
http://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/17179-PCI-and-the-Insider-Threat.html

from above:
According to this section, there were 219 instances out of the total 761 breaches where insiders contributed to the breach. That computes to almost 30% of all breaches. That is almost twice the 17% quoted as a highlight in the front of the report and used to justify the downplaying of the insider threat. So the insider threat is still substantial and should not be ignored.

... snip ...

we were tangentially involved in the cal. state data breach legislation having been brought in to help wordsmith the cal state digital signature act. several of the participants were heavily involved in privacy issues and had done numerous privacy surveys ... the number one issue was account fraud (from data breaches) resulting in fraudulent financial transactions against individual accounts. The issue was that little or nothing was being done about the problem; normally security is motivated by self-interest ... but in these cases, most of the breaches were occurring at the institutions which had nothing at risk ... the risk was against individual (accounts). There was some hope that the publicity from the breach notifications would result in corrective industry action (also allowing individuals to close their accounts). The referenced PCI effort occurred after the passage of the cal. state data breach legislation. Since then about half the federal data breach notification bills that have been introduced has cited industry efforts like PCI for eliminating most data breach notification requirements.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:43:46 -0500

Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
There are tradeoffs[1]. These days the trend is towards RAID and virtual volumes; the OS doesn't see the underlying hardware. What I find not simply surprising but appalling is that IBM is still simulating [E]CKD on fixed sector devices instead of adding FBA support to z/OS.

[1] E.g., whether to spend money on faster drives or more cache.

no argument from me

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:28:46 -0500

Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
And still wrong. Both major parties are heavily influenced by the large corporations and the wealthy. Both major parties pay lip service to small businesses, and neither really cares.

there are periodic references to congress ... as kabuki theater
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki

look at the 1603-1629 period ... aka last sentence in the 1st paragraph of the period.

CBO has last decade decrease in tax revenue of $6T (compared to baseline which had all federal debt retired by 2010) and increase in spending of $6T (compared to baseline) for a $12T budget gap (much of that momentum continues today) most of it occurring after congress allowed fiscal responsibility act to expire in 2002 ... which required spending be match by revenue. in the middle of last decade, us comptroller general would include in speeches references to nobody in congress was capable of middle school arithmetic (for what they were doing to the budget).

something over $2T of the increase in spending last decade went to DOD ... little over $1T appropriated for the two wars and there is little or nothing to show for the other trillion (or even where it went). the total life-cycle costs for the two wars is estimated to be over $5T (taking into account long term veterens benefits and health care costs).

there are all sorts of terrorist activities in the two wars occurring nearly every day with significant lost of life (including thousands of americans) ... having relatively little press coverage (number of lines/minutes of press coverage per death).

Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay
http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/twinkie-ceo-admits-company-took-employees-pensions-and-put-it

The lack of SEC doing anything has shown up in many places. Possibly because even GAO didn't think SEC was doing anything, they started doing reports of public company fraudulent financial filings.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-395R .
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-678 .
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-06-1079sp .

even showing uptic after SOX ... in theory, at least after SOX (passed in the wake of Enron&Worldcom supposedly to prevent it in the future), all the executives and the auditors should be doing jail time. similar:

Too-big-to-fail and moral hazard has also morphed into too-big-to-jail with references to the drug cartel money laundering turning Mexico into Colombia and major factor in upswing in cartel related violence (also number of lines/minutes of press coverage per death).

recent posts mentioning congress as kabuki theater and/or too-big-to-jail:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#16 IBM cuts more than 1,000 U.S. Workers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#36 McCain calls for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#61 Why Republicans Aren't Mentioning the Real Cause of Rising Prices at the Gas Pump
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#16 Wonder if they know how Boydian they are?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#35 The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#37 The $30 billion Social Security hack
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#58 Word Length
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#88 Developing a Disruptive Mindset
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#15 Born Fighting
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#17 Let the IRS Do Your Taxes, Really
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#25 Time to competency for new software language?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#31 Rome speaks to us. Their example can inspire us to avoid their fate
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#88 Defense acquisitions are broken and no one cares
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#9 JPM LOSES $2 BILLION USD!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#20 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#46 Why America Is Slouching Towards Third World Status
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#32 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#33 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#34 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#39 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#64 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#1 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#14 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#41 Lawmakers reworked financial portfolios after talks with Fed, Treasury officials
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#86 Should the IBM approach be given a chance to fix the health care system?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#25 This Is The Wall Street Scandal Of All Scandals
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#12 The Secret Consensus Among Economists
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#37 If all of the American earned dollars hidden in off shore accounts were uncovered and taxed do you think we would be able to close the deficit gap?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#55 CALCULATORS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#66 Singer Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#30 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#32 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#0 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#55 U.S. Sues Wells Fargo, Accusing It of Lying About Mortgages
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#10 OT: Tax breaks to Oracle debated
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#73 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#20 HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#24 OCC Confirms that Big Banks are Badly Managed, Lack Adequate Risk Management Controls

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:09:37 -0500

"sam" <sam@nospam.com> writes:
Just like when the Japs were actually stupid enough to do Pearl Harbor, fuckwit.

for the fun of it ... one of the lines was with the attack on Pearl Harbor met that US wasn't coming to the assistance to some other attacks going on (but hasten US entry into the war)

BBC - The Fall of Singapore: The Great Betrayal 2012
http://forums.vr-zone.com/chit-chatting/2195584-yt-bbc-the-fall-singapore-the-great-betrayal-2012-a.html

from above:
Pearl Harbor and the Fall of Singapore: 70 years ago these huge military disasters shook both Britain and America, but they conceal a secret so shocking it has remained hidden ever since. This landmark film by Paul Elston tells the incredible story of how it was the British who gave the Japanese the knowhow to take out Pearl Harbor and capture Singapore. For 19 years before the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, British officers were spying for Japan. Worse still, the Japanese had infiltrated the very heart of the British establishment - through a mole who was a peer of the realm known to Churchill himself.

... snip ...

British Lord responsible for Pearl Harbor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK4dreccM_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IM8K7f-qmw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYFX2QN9S0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPodNJSCots

WW2: The Fall of Singapore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_ju8Kfd7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYePA8NqSNQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6j8j2tjCkI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H6Ddbcp-Xs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKcReP9rIEY

over on facebook somebody posted soemthing related to "antifragility", I jumped in with side-track from "The Generals" ... then the author of antifragility also jumped in. started with:
http://edge.org/conversation/understanding-is-a-poor-substitute-for-convexity-antifragility

I side-tracked
The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today
https://www.amazon.com/The-Generals-American-Military-ebook/dp/B007V65TAM

pg90/loc1328-32 "What was astonishing was the speed with which the Americans adapted themselves to modern warfare," the most famous German general of the war, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, commented. "The Americans, it is fair to say, profited far more than the British from their experience in Africa, thus confirming the axiom that education is easier than re-education." Another German officer, Maj. Gen. Friedrich von Mellenthin, wrote, even more explicitly, "I don't think the British ever solved the problem of mobile warfare in open desert. In general the British method of making war is slow, rigid and methodical." ... snip ...

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:27:42 -0500

Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:
Previously there were too many dependencies on CKD to make the change easy. Now, however, VSAM has replaced ISAM, PDSEs have replaced PDSs, and there is a new load mudule format, so TTRs aren't imbeded in everything. Perhaps there's hope.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#29 Search Google, 1960:s-style

circa 1980, I was told that even if I provided fully integrated & tested FBA support for MVS ... I still needed a $26M business case to cover publications, education, training, etc. I wasn't allowed to use life-cycle as the business case, I could only use incremental new sales ... however, the claim was that they were already selling as much CKD as possible and any FBA support would just result in the same amount of disk ... just FBA instead of CKD.

somewhat later ... the big explosion in midrange and vm/4341s ... locked MVS out. 3380s CKD was the high-end disks for datacenters ... but the only mid-range disks were FBA 3370s. You could get situation were MVS customer upgraded some 370 to 4341 continued to use existing CKD disks ... but there was nothing for new orders. You could attach high-end 3380s to 4341 in datacenter ... but big part of the explosion in mid-range 4341s were outside the datacenter ... even in areas w/o typical raised floor provisioning (where 3380 was gross overkill).

Eventually they were forced to come up with CKD 3375 ... CKD layered on top of FBA 3370 ... to try and help MVS in the mid-range market explosion.

however, the other problem in the mid-range market explosion with company having hundreds of 4341s out in distributed departmental areas ... was that typical MVS operation had dozen or more support people. Big part with the mid-range 4341 explosion was drastic reduction in cost of hardware as well as reduction in infrastructure provisioning costs ... to make it practical, it also required massive reduction in people support costs.

misc. past posts mentioning CKD, DASD, FBA, multi-track search, etc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#dasd

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Historians: The Paper Trail through History

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Historians:  The Paper Trail through History
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:36:39 -0500

hancock4 writes:
from the NYT: "The Pentagon Papers were a landmark, in her view, not just in the antiwar movement, but in a "Xerox revolution" that allowed citizens to seize hold of official documents, and official knowledge, and turn them to their own purposes as never before. Ms. Gitelman's argument may seem like an odd lens on familiar history. But it's representative of an emerging body of work that might be called "paperwork studies." True, there are not yet any dedicated journals or conferences. But in history, anthropology, literature and media studies departments and beyond, a group of loosely connected scholars are taking a fresh look at office memos, government documents and corporate records, not just for what they say but also for how they circulate and the sometimes unpredictable things they do. "

full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/books/noting-the-history-of-the-paper-trail.html?ref=books&_r=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IZw2CoYztk

in early 70s, after 370s were shipping, but before 370 virtual memory was announced ... IBM had a "pentagon paper" like event ... when copy of internal 370 virtual memory specification document leaked to some industry publication.

there was big investigation trying to find the source of the leak ... but they didn't do anything better than highly suspect that it originated out of the vm370 development group. However one of the results was that all corporate copying machines were retrofitted with serial number "under the glass" ... so that it appeared on all copies ... at least in the future ... being able to track source of a copy to a specific machine.

this is copy of overviews of Jim Gray talk when he was at Tandem on "Approaches to Fault Tolerance" ... and was made on a copying machine in San Jose Research ("IBM-SJ-086").
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/grayft84.pdf

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:33:55 -0500

scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
[*] Defense, over one trillion a year[**], needs to drop by 50%, but the republican ideologues and lobby would throw a fit. Do we really need 1500 new F-35's, or are new-build/upgraded F-16's/F-15's (at 10-50% the cost) sufficient for any conceivable threat (in conjunction with the small number of F-22s already built). There's no reason that a carrier cannot float for 75 years instead of 50, so the carrier new-build program can slow down substantially (even assuming we need a dozen CBGs floating around).

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#30 Search Google, 1960:s-style

for the fun of it ... web site that goes into more detail. Last year I was exchanging messages with somebody in vancouver BC and happened to quote several references on this website ... they then said they wanted to forward to somebody in Canadian gov. turn out it was the prime minister. more recently there are claims canada is backing out of F35.
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/

their f35 reading list:
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/p/f-35-reading-list.html

and recent: Canada still confused about acquisition costs for F-35
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2012/12/canada-still-confused-about-acquisition.html

winslow wheeler (and before you ask, we aren't related)
http://nation.time.com/2012/12/03/if-more-money-buys-a-smaller-fleet-what-will-less-money-buy/
http://nation.time.com/2012/12/04/more-than-the-navys-numbers-could-be-sinking/
http://nation.time.com/2012/12/05/is-the-fleet-steaming-forwardor-backward/

one of the recent things to come out is that naval war games dating back to the 80s ... our carriers being regularly sunk by diesel/electric submarines ... results that were surpressed in summaries/reports. assumption is that the carriers will pretty much have to be kept far away from any serious threat ... and the range of the carrier f35 is limited ... so that, in turn, makes them pretty much useless.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:12:11 -0500

Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:
I have head it said several times by non-partisan sources that US business taxes are higher than most other developed countries.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#30 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#34 Search Google, 1960:s-style

there are multiple ways of doing the comparison, like top tax bracket versus effective corporate tax collected versus corporate taxes as percent of total tax collected versus corporate taxes as percent of GDP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_tax_in_the_United_States

above has comparison of corporate tax collected by country sliced & diced in several ways.

part of the reason that congress is called most corrupt institution on earth is the amount of money they've received for 70,000+ page tax code with enormous loopholes. the current speaker of the house at the start of the last new congress ... made some statements about the most prized committee appointments were on committee dealing with the tax code ... because they became the recipients of the largest amounts of money from special interests. part of Kabuki theater is nobody in congress really wants the tax code fixed ... because that would stop the enormous amounts of money flowing into their pockets. there are claims that the largest business ROI is money spent on congress for tax loopholes ... the ROI can be thousands of times more than they have to pay for the loopholes. The appearance of conflict with strong opposing sides to the tax issues can enorously increase the funds flowing into congressional pockets.

Facebook compares corporate, individual tax burden in 1950, today
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/03/facebook-posts/facebook-post-compares-corporate-individual-tax-bu/

from above:
In 1950, corporations paid $3 in taxes for every $1 by a worker. Today, they pay 22 cents for every $1 by a worker.

... snip ...

Corporate Tax Rates, Then and Now
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/04/corporate-tax-rates-then-and-now/

from above:
Corporate Taxes as a Percentage of Federal Revenue 1955 . . . 27.3% 2010 . . . 8.9%

Corporate Taxes as a Percentage of GDP 1955 . . . 4.3% 2010 . . . 1.3%

Individual Income/Payrolls as a Percentage of Federal Revenue 1955 . . . 58.0% 2010 . . . 81.5%

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:21:51 -0500

Patrick Scheible <kkt@zipcon.net> writes:
Generally agreed, but there are plenty of members of Congress who resent the amount of money they must raise for their reelection campaigns. The money doesn't go to them personally, that would be illegal, it's just what they have to raise if they want to get reelected or elected to another office. Their opponents certainly will.

Maybe if conflict of interest rules were strengthened to prohibit voting on any issue that was championed by one of their donors.

Or if congressional districts were smaller, so campaigning could be done person to person instead of by expensive media ads.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#30 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#34 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#35 Search Google, 1960:s-style

or if they cared about re-ellection ... recent post over in facebook about "spending being the problem" ... that showed graph out to 2040 (but w/o very fine break-out; aka current majority party in the house was responsible for part-d, and now complaining about the "entitlement" programs ... but by far the most egregious and enormous of the entitlement programs is the long term $40T part-d unfunded mandate that they passed in 2003, which comes to swamp all other budget items):
CBO reported that tax revenues were decreased by $6T last decade (compared to baseline, which had all federal debt retired by 2010) and spending increased by $6T last decade (compared to baseline) for $12T budget gap, momentum of which continues today. This happened after congress allowed fiscal responsibility act to expire in 2002 (required spending to match revenue). The first major legislation was medicare part-D in 2003 ... which comptroller general characterized as unfunded mandate that long term comes to be $40T, totally swamping all other budget items (afterwards the comptroller general would include in speeches that nobody in congress was capable of middle school arithmetic for medicare part-d and other things they were doing to the budget).

CBS 60mins did segment on the behind the scenes that were done to get medicare part-d passed ... including inserting a sentence at the last minute that prevented competitive bidding and they also prevented CBO from distributing report on the effect of that sentence until after the vote. 60mins showed side-by-side drugs, part-d was three times the price of identical drugs from VA (that allows competitive bidding). 60mins also followed the 18people from the party in power responsible for getting part-d passed ... afterwards all had resigned and were on drug industry payrolls

... snip ...

also there was recent item about colbert and super-pac money
http://www.colbertsuperpac.com/

... there is apparently a way to launder the money in such a way that it doesn't have to be reported.
http://ivn.us/editors-blog/2012/12/18/colbert-super-pac-donates-over-700000-to-charity/

from above:
The donation, originating from P.O. Box "Bite Me," highlights the ease with which extremely large sums of untraceable cash can change hands with little to no oversight or regulation.

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 19 Dec 2012
Subject: Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/kDEeS6
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#28 Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe

one of the reasons that we were brought in to help wordsmith the cal. state digital legislation is because in the mid-90s we had been brought in to the x9a10 financial standard group that had been given the requirement to preserve the integrity of the financial infrastructure for all retail payments (aka *ALL* ... part of what we had to do end-to-end, detailed, threat and vulnerability analysis). We had been brought in to x9a10 because prior to that we had been brought in as consultant to small client/server startup that wanted to do payment transactions on their server, the startup had also invented this technology called "SSL" they wanted to use; the result is now frequently called "electronic commerce".

I got to specifying a lot of the stuff for "electronic commerce" ... not all of it was adopted; I semi-facetiously put in requirement that anybody allowed to touch an ecommerce server be required to have an FBI background check (note FBI background checks are required for people that have access to some of financial datacenters).

I did have sign-off authority for the payment gateway (sat between the internet and payment networks) and the protocol between the payment gateway and ecommerce servers. I only could recommend for the ecommerce servers and the client-browsers. Almost immediately some of the recommendations were violated which account for a lot of the internet related vulnerabilities that we now have.

There can be no System Security without System Integrity

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 19 Dec 2012
Subject: There can be no System Security without System Integrity
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/Qj8bVj

Coke Gets Hacked And Doesn't Tell Anyone
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-04/coke-hacked-and-doesn-t-tell.html

A little x-over on integrity from the "Mainframe Experts" group "Is it possible to hack mainframe system" discussion:
http://lnkd.in/vJMNrd
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#63 Is it possible to hack mainframe system??

... and related discussion in this group "Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe"
http://lnkd.in/kDEeS6
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#28 Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#37 Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe

... above mentions being tangentially involved in the (original) cal. state data breach notification legislation. Since then about half of the federal breach notification bills introduced have effectively been federal-preemption that would eliminate most requirements for notification.

Still claims that insiders are the majority ... although external attacks are increasing. Strong authentication & audit trail as deterrence for insiders ... has side effect that strong authentication will go long ways to blocking external attacks. Insiders can also use the possibility of external attacks as obfuscation and misdirection.

One of the most secure systems ... designed for EAL7 ... has been capability-based system that has gone through several generations and implementations (current version on non-mainframes). It originally started as 370 based system at vm370-based online service bureau TYMSHARE ... when M/D bought TYMSHARE, GNOSIS was spun off in independent business as KeyKOS (disclaimer I was brought in to do audit of GNOSIS as part of the spin-off). As KeyKOS, it had benchmarks that it could outperform TPF on transactions (on same hardware) w/o compromising integrity and security.

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 19 Dec 2012
Subject: UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
Blog: Financial Crime Risk, Fraud and Security

UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
http://compliancex.com/ubs-faces-potential-libor-fine-of-1-billion-twice-what-barclays-paid/

UBS fined $1.5 billion in growing Libor scandal
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre8bi000-us-ubs-libor/

still no TBTF executives going to jail ... behind the too-big-to-jail ... reference that TBTF & TBTJ are "officially" above the law
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/where-is-judiciary-chairman-patrick-leahy-on-big-bank-crimes-and-obama.html

another on above the law and too-big-to-jail

The Geithner Doctrine Not Only Puts Banks Above the Law, It Also Serves to Excuse Their Bad Behavior
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/quelle-surprise-the-geithner-doctrine-not-only-puts-banks-above-the-law-it-also-serves-to-excuse-their-bad-behavior.html

from article:
But the FT account makes clear that Geither had been told that the banks were manipulating the market to make money, not out of safety concerns:

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York was warned as early as mid-2008 that banks may have been misreporting their Libor borrowing rate to aid their own trading positions, much earlier than previously known. Tim Geithner, then president of the New York Fed and now US Treasury secretary, was told by a senior colleague in a May 2008 email of her concerns about banks' deliberate misreporting.

... snip ...

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Stealth Target of Defense Spending Cuts: America's Highly Effective Socialized Medicine Provider, the VA System, and Military Benefits Generally

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 19 Dec 2012
Subject: Stealth Target of Defense Spending Cuts: America's Highly Effective Socialized Medicine Provider, the VA System, and Military Benefits Generally
Blog: Facebook

also google+
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/3Wu9CpiAiB3

possibly related to VA drug competitive bidding has drugs 1/3rd the cost of part-d (which precluded competitive bidding):

Stealth Target of Defense Spending Cuts: America's Highly Effective Socialized Medicine Provider, the VA System, and Military Benefits Generally
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/stealth-target-of-defense-spending-cuts-americas-highly-effective-socialized-medicine-provider-the-va-system-and-military-benefits-generally.html

Medicare part-d was one of the first major acts passed after congress allowed fiscal responsibility act to expire in 2002 (required spending match tax revenue). Comptroller general characterized part-d as coming to be a long-term, unfunded, $40T mandate eventually swamping all other budget items. CBS 60mins did segment on the behind the scenes manipulation that got the sentence for no competitive bidding into the bill at the last minute (afterwards the 18 people primarily responsible had resigned and were on drug industry payrolls).

recent posts mentioning part-d:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#6 We are on the brink of a historic decision [referring to defence cuts]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#36 McCain calls for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#40 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#61 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#68 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#0 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#41 Lawmakers reworked financial portfolios after talks with Fed, Treasury officials
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#51 Is this Boyd's fundamental postulate, 'to improve our capacity for independent action'? thoughts please
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#63 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#81 Should the IBM approach be given a chance to fix the health care system?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#37 If all of the American earned dollars hidden in off shore accounts were uncovered and taxed do you think we would be able to close the deficit gap?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#74 Unthinkable, Predictable Disasters
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#79 Romney and Ryan's Phony Deficit-Reduction Plan
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#85 Singer Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#33 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#38 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#71 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#0 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#36 Search Google, 1960:s-style

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:26:39 -0500

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#30 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#34 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#35 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#36 Search Google, 1960:s-style

so is this another benefit for the drug industry?

aka, medicare part-d was one of the first major acts passed after congress allowed fiscal responsibility act to expire in 2002 (required that spending match tax revenue).

cbs 60mins segment was something of expose of what was done getting the part-d act through ... primarily the efforts of 18 specific people that were members of the majority party at the time ... they insert a one line sentence at the last minute that precludes competitive bidding. then 60mins lines up identical drugs under part-d (no competitive bidding) and from the VA (that has competitive bidding) ... with the drugs under part-d are three times the cost as the identical cost under VA. the "18" also prevent CBO from distributing report on the effect of the one sentence change (no competitive bidding) from being distributed until after the bill passes. After the bill passes, all 18 resign and are on drug industry payrolls.

comptroller general characterizes part-d as long-term, $40T unfunded mandate that comes to swamp all other budget items. the current graphs about what happens to entitlement programs out through 2040 ... tend to show everything all lumped together ... as justification for privitizing entitlement programs ... when the biggest component happens to be unfunded part-d. I've frequently commented that in the middle of last decade the comptroller general includes in speeches that nobody in congress was capable of middle school arithmetic (for what they were doing to the budget, including part-d).

CBO came out with report that last decade, the tax revenue was reduced by $6T (compared to baseline which had all federal debt retired by 2010) and increased spending by $6T for a $12T budget gap (compared to baseline which would have eliminated all federal debt) ... again comptroller general making references that nobody in congress was capable of middle school arithmetic.

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Seeking APL\360 Reference Card

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:58:16 -0500

"Charles Richmond" <numerist@aquaporin4.com> writes:
Okay, someone here *must* have one of these stashed away somewhere. Lynn or Joe Morris... how about it??? I have some APL-Plus reference cards, but *not* an APl\360 Reference card. A nice scan of the card would be more than sufficient. Of course, if you really *want* to send me the cardboard... that'd be great too!!! :-)

I know, I know... discussing computer folklore on *this* computer folklore group is a departure from the norm. But I thought I'd try it anyway.

found apl\360 users reference aug1968 ... but there is already copy on bitsavers

found IBM AIDS Reference Summary, jan 1973 ... internal tools mostly APL available on HONE.

Boston & Main schedule, winchester, woburn, lowell, oct1971

list of APL Applications card 4th edition, May 1979

two vmshare user's guide, january 1980

half dozen REX Reference summary first edition, nov. 1980, corresponds to rex v2.08 (aka internal before REXX release to customers).

exec 2 card ... as defined rc7268, O'hara, Daniels, Ryniker,

summary of PRY requests, michael hack, oct1978

and two 360/67 reference data "blue cards".

also "songs of the i.b.m." 1931 edition and the SHARE songbook

as well as half dozen flowcharting templates

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:15:52 -0500

Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@btinternet.com> writes:
Then make sure that both the extra taxes and Obamacare arrive. They are set to start after the next presidential election.

as comptroller general commented ... the big problem with entitlements is medicare part-d that comes to be long-term, unfunded $40T mandate (that comes to swamp all other budget items) that was passed shortly after congress allowed the fiscal responsibility act (required that spending match revenues) to expire in 2002 ... gift for the drug industry ... cbs 60mins did expose on how the bill snaked its way through the process and the 18 members&staff primary responsible (all belonging to the majority party at the time) ... including inserting the one liner at the last moment that precludes competitive bidding (apparently inflated drug costs by factor of three times ... at least compared to identical drugs from VA that allows competitive bidding) ... also finding those 18 had resigned after the bill passes and are on the drug industry payroll.

there is something from today ... implying that the same party responsible for the medicare part-d (and non-compete provision) may be getting ready to gang up on the VA (possibly another drug industry gift ... eliminating competitive bidding there also?; if you eliminate VA competitive bidding ... then it eliminates the comparison how egregious the lack of competitive bidding in medicare part-d is).

misc. past posts mentioning medicare part-d:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#0 Oldest Instruction Set still in daily use?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#3 Oldest Instruction Set still in daily use?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#9 Oldest Instruction Set still in daily use?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#14 Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#48 z9 / z10 instruction speed(s)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#34 The 2010 Census
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#35 The 2010 Census
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#46 not even sort of about The 2010 Census
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#66 They always think we don't understand
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#75 origin of 'fields'?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#78 origin of 'fields'?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#72 77,000 federal workers paid more than governors
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#14 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#20 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#28 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#29 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#33 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#37 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011j.html#40 Advice from Richard P. Feynman
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#59 computer bootlaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#57 The Mortgage Crisis---Some Inside Views
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#42 Speed: Re: Soups
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#73 How Pursuit of Profits Kills Innovation and the U.S. Economy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#136 Gingrich urged yes vote on controversial Medicare bill
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#137 The High Cost of Failing Artificial Hips
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#6 We are on the brink of a historic decision [referring to defence cuts]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#36 McCain calls for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#24 ExplicitTacit
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#40 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#61 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#68 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#0 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#41 Lawmakers reworked financial portfolios after talks with Fed, Treasury officials
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#51 Is this Boyd's fundamental postulate, 'to improve our capacity for independent action'? thoughts please
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#63 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#81 Should the IBM approach be given a chance to fix the health care system?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#37 If all of the American earned dollars hidden in off shore accounts were uncovered and taxed do you think we would be able to close the deficit gap?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#74 Unthinkable, Predictable Disasters
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#79 Romney and Ryan's Phony Deficit-Reduction Plan
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#85 Singer Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#2 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#33 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#38 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#71 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#0 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#36 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#40 Stealth Target of Defense Spending Cuts: America's Highly Effective Socialized Medicine Provider, the VA System, and Military Benefits Generally
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#41 Search Google, 1960:s-style

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:55:07 -0500

picture of last 30years:
http://johnhively.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/3107/
and
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2011/10/journal-why-the-us-middle-class-is-broken.html
from here (now moved to archive?)
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/09/04/opinion/04reich-graphic.html
part of this article
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/jobs-will-follow-a-strengthening-of-the-middle-class.html

other are Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel"
https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Societies-ebook/dp/B000VDUWMC
and "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed"
https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Succeed-Revised-ebook/dp/B004H0M8EA

along with

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Nations-Fail-Prosperity-ebook/dp/B0058Z4NR8

has some compare&contrast w/Diamond's "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed"

basically goes into more historical detail about inclusive versus exclusive ... usually translating to equality and inequality. misc. recent posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#1 The war on terabytes
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#3 We are on the brink of a historic decision [referring to defence cuts]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#30 Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#45 You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#87 The PC industry is heading for collapse
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#24 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#77 The PC industry is heading for collapse
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#48 IBM cuts more than 1,000 U.S. workers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#31 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#34 The never-ending SCO lawsuit
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#35 The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#36 The never-ending SCO lawsuit
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#57 speculation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#60 Candid Communications & Tweaking Curiosity, Tools to Consider
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#70 Disruptive Thinkers: Defining the Problem
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#2 Did they apply Boyd's concepts?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#32 Back to the future: convict labor returns to America
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#35 Inequality and Investment Bubbles: A Clearer Link Is Established
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#70 The Army and Special Forces: The Fantasy Continues
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#80 The Failure of Central Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#84 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#80 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#3 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#10 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#15 Imbecilic Constitution
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#18 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#27 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#32 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#38 Other Than In Computers, Civilization Basically Stopped Progressing In The 1960s
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#44 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#46 How do you feel about the fact that today India has more IBM employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#1 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#10 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#48 Thousands Of IBM Employees Got A Nasty Surprise Yesterday: Here's The Email They Saw
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#85 Naked emperors, holy cows and Libor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#81 GBP13tn: hoard hidden from taxman by global elite
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#7 Is there a connection between your strategic and tactical assertions?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#40 Core characteristics of resilience
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#42 The IBM "Open Door" policy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#45 If all of the American earned dollars hidden in off shore accounts were uncovered and taxed do you think we would be able to close the deficit gap?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#13 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#17 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#53 CALCULATORS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#85 Singer Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#29 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#34 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#39 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#65 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#83 Protected: R.I.P. Containment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#71 Is orientation always because what has been observed? What are your 'direct' experiences?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Nate Silver is Not Just Wrong, but Maliciously Wrong

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 20 Dec 2012
Subject: Nate Silver is Not Just Wrong, but Maliciously Wrong
Blog: Google+

re:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/gXvCEyRD5M5

Nate Silver is Not Just Wrong, but Maliciously Wrong
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/cathy-oneil-why-nate-silver-is-not-just-wrong-but-maliciously-wrong.html

from above:
What is not reasonable, however, is for Silver to claim to understand how the financial crisis was a result of a few inaccurate models, and how medical research need only switch from being frequentist to being Bayesian to become more accurate.

... snip ...

As the financial crisis was unfolding, there were dueling business articles ... those that blamed the crisis on bad models and those that said that the business managers had forced the risk departments to fiddle the inputs until the desired results were obtained. There were then articles about how difficult it was to calculate value on large numbers of mortgages packaged in CDOs ... followed by testimony at the congressional hearings into the role that the rating agencies played ... that the sellers were paying the rating agencies for triple-A when both the sellers and the rating agencies knew that the toxic CDOs weren't worth triple-A

In the late 90s, we were asked to look at improving the integrity of the supporting documents in securitized mortgages (toxic CDOs), however paying for triple-A trumps supporting documents ... allowing loan originators to even move to no-documentation loans.

recent posts mentioning triple-A toxic CDOs:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#21 Zombie Banks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#32 Wall Street Bonuses May Reach Lowest Level in 3 Years
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#19 "Buffett Tax" and truth in numbers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#65 Why Wall Street Should Stop Whining
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#67 How Economists Contributed to the Financial Crisis
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#95 Bank of America Fined $1 Billion for Mortgage Fraud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#30 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#31 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#32 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#36 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#37 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#38 The Death of MERS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#45 Fannie, Freddie Charge Taxpayers For Legal Bills
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#46 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#48 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#49 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#52 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#54 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#5 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#32 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#42 China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Is Already Doing A Whole Lot More Than Anyone Expected
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#52 Goldman Exec Quits In A Scathing NYT Op-Ed About How The Firm Abuses Its Clients
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#20 Are mothers naturally better at OODA because they always have the Win in mind?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#23 Are mothers naturally better at OODA because they always have the Win in mind?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#40 Who Increased the Debt?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#42 Who Increased the Debt?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#53 GOLD STANDARD GOOD OR BAD?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#58 Word Length
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#31 Rome speaks to us. Their example can inspire us to avoid their fate
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#63 One maths formula and the financial crash
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#66 Predator GE: We Bring Bad Things to Life
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#69 Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#74 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#75 Fed Report: Mortgage Mess NOT an Inside Job
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#80 The Failure of Central Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#84 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#87 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#6 Adult Supervision
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#7 Adult Supervision
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#8 Adult Supervision
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#20 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#22 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#28 REPEAL OF GLASS-STEAGALL DID NOT CAUSE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS - WHAT DO YOU THINK?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#71 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#76 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#25 US economic update. Everything that follows is a result of what you see here
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#32 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#75 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#77 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#28 Why Asian companies struggle to manage global workers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#65 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#43 Core characteristics of resilience
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#75 What's the bigger risk, retiring too soon, or too late?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#64 Singer Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#66 Singer Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#45 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#48 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#50 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#51 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#53 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#54 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#56 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#1 STOP PRESS! An Auditor has been brought to task for a failed bank!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#6 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#12 Why Auditors Fail To Detect Frauds?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#20 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#55 U.S. Sues Wells Fargo, Accusing It of Lying About Mortgages
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#7 Beyond the 10,000 Hour Rule
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#14 OT: Tax breaks to Oracle debated
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#26 Why bankers rule the world
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#69 Can Open Source Ratings Break the Ratings Agency Oligopoly?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#73 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#0 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#18 U.S. Treasury, AIG are poised to sever ties

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 20 Dec 2012
Subject: How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?
Blog: IBMers

I had sponsored Boyd's briefings at IBM in the 80s ... one of his briefings was Organic Design For Command and Control ... play on the culture moving from leaders to managers and the downside of the change.

I had originally asked that the briefings be done through employee education ... where they originally agreed ... but as I supplied more information ... they changed their mind explaining that it wouldn't be in the interest of the IBM company to expose general employees to the briefings because IBM spends a large amount of money training managers in the handling of employees (recommended I limit the audience to senior members of competitive analysis departments).

Ferguson & Morris writes about some of this ... including big corporate culture change after the failure of Future System effort, "Computer Wars: The Post-IBM World", Time Books, 1993:
... and perhaps most damaging, the old culture under Watson Snr and Jr of free and vigorous debate was replaced with sycophancy and make no waves under Opel and Akers. It's claimed that thereafter, IBM lived in the shadow of defeat

another quote from the book:
But because of the heavy investment of face by the top management, F/S took years to kill, although its wrongheadedness was obvious from the very outset. "For the first time, during F/S, outspoken criticism became politically dangerous," recalls a former top executive.

The change in culture from leaders to managers is a theme that also shows up in this recent book:
https://www.amazon.com/The-Generals-American-Military-ebook/dp/B007V65TAM

Part of Boyd's briefings in the early 80s was that US corporate culture was starting to be contaminated by former military officers moving up the corporate ladder. At entry to WW2, US military was faced with fielding large numbers with little or no training. To leverage the scarce experience that they did have, they created a rigid, top-down, command&control structure. He contrasted the 11% officers (growing to 20%) in the US military needed to maintain rigid, top-down, command&control structure, Boyd would compare that to the 3% officers in the German army.

Besides the major culture change in the wake of the FS failure (and move to make no waves and sycophancy) ... there is the increasing influence of a rigid, top-down, command&control management infrastructure (rather than leadership)

I had been blamed for online computer conferencing in the late 70s & early 80s on the internal network (larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until late '85 or early '86). Folklore is that when the executive committee was informed of online computer conferencing (and internal network), 5of6 wanted to fire me. Part of the activity was referred to as "tandem memos" ... from IBM Jargon:

Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticized the way products were [are] developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.

... snip ...

There was also discussion of the deleterious effect of the rise of MBAs in conjunction with the increasing "management" culture (at the expense of "leadership").

misc. past posts & URLs from around the web mentioning Boyd
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:32:28 -0500

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#44 Search Goole, 1960:s-style

gets to little more computer related

Glenn Hubbard, Leading Academic and Mitt Romney Advisor, Took $1200 an Hour to Be Countrywide's Expert Witness (gone 404, but lives on at wayback machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140504010711/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/glenn-hubbard-leading-academic-and-mitt-romney-advisor-took-1200-an-hour-to-be-countrywides-expert-witness-20121220?print=true
In other words, the Dean of the Columbia University business school testified that the fact that Countrywide claimed to have conducted thorough due diligence when in fact it was pressuring underwriters to approve 60 to 70 mortgage applications a day and failing to verify any income levels or other key information (to say nothing of the outright falsification of such data, which also went on on a mass scale) -- he testified that these issues were irrelevant.

... snip ...

"Inside Job" references how leading economists were captured similar to the capture of the regulatory agencies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(2010_film)

CEO of countrywide #1 on times list of those responsible for the financial mess
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877339,00.html

60mins did a story about consultants ... as the economy was crashing some consultant advised wallstreet to tieup as many economic & business experts as possible ... either directly with retainers or indirectly with grants/contracts with their organizations/institutions

more computer related ... referencing:
https://www.amazon.com/The-Signal-Noise-Predictions-ebook/dp/B007V65R54

Why Nate Silver is Not Just Wrong, but Maliciously Wrong
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/cathy-oneil-why-nate-silver-is-not-just-wrong-but-maliciously-wrong.html
What is not reasonable, however, is for Silver to claim to understand how the financial crisis was a result of a few inaccurate models, and how medical research need only switch from being frequentist to being Bayesian to become more accurate.

... snip ...

As the financial crisis was unfolding, there were dueling business articles ... those that blamed the crisis on bad models and those that said that the business managers had forced the risk departments to fiddle the inputs until the desired results were obtained. There were then articles about how difficult was to calculate value on large numbers of mortgages packaged in CDOs ... followed by testimony at the congressional hearings into the role that the rating agencies played ... that the sellers were paying the rating agencies for triple-A when both the sellers and the rating agencies knew that the toxic CDOs weren't worth triple-A

one of the fiddling inputs to obtain desired business results

How Wall Street Lied to Its Computers
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/how-wall-streets-quants-lied-to-their-computers/

accompanying the above ... were a series of articles about giving risk managers much more corporate power to resist the enormous influence exerted by the business people to subvert the models.

aka lots of the articles about problems with the models were obfuscation and misdirection

recent posts mentioning some of above:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#72 Chris Dodd's SOPA crusading
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#67 How Economists Contributed to the Financial Crisis
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#82 Mathematics < Integrity = Financial Fraud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#95 Bank of America Fined $1 Billion for Mortgage Fraud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#5 Too big not to fail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#31 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#32 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#46 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#13 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#63 One maths formula and the financial crash
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#7 Adult Supervision
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#20 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#28 REPEAL OF GLASS-STEAGALL DID NOT CAUSE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS - WHAT DO YOU THINK?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#59 Why Hasn't The Government Prosecuted Anyone For The 2008 Financial recession?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#67 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#76 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#77 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#17 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#60 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#4 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#48 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#58 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#45 Nate Silver is Not Just Wrong, but Maliciously Wrong

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:22:51 -0500

Ibmekon <Ibmekon@disneyland.com> writes:
Four years after Banks destroyed the Irish economy - no-one has been convicted of anything - and we find the boards were stuffed with "public interest" members of the "ruling class".

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1221/1224328082658.html?via=rel

DOJ Refuses to Indict HSBC For Money Laundering Explicitly Because It is Too Big To Fail
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/doj-refuses-to-indict-hsbc-for-money-laundering-explicitly-because-it-is-too-big-to-fail.html
HSBC's Settlement Leaves Us In A Scary Place
http://compliancex.com/hsbcs-settlement-leaves-us-in-a-scary-place/

Neil Barofsky: Too Big to Jail -- Our Banking System's Latest Disgrace
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/neil-barofsky-too-big-to-jail-our-banking-systems-latest-disgrace.html
Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213
UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
http://compliancex.com/ubs-faces-potential-libor-fine-of-1-billion-twice-what-barclays-paid/
UBS fined $1.5 billion in growing Libor scandal
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre8bi000-us-ubs-libor/

another on above the law and too-big-to-jail

from above:
Recall that this blog has inveighed repeatedly that the officialdom had a clear and easy path to prosecuting bank executives by using Sarbanes Oxley.

... snip ...

Note with regard to fraudulent financial filings, possibly because GAO didn't believe SEC was doing anything, it started doing reports on public company fraudulent financial filings ... even showing an uptic after sarbanes-oxley (aka chose 1) SOX had no effect on fraudulent filings, 2) SOX encouraged fraudulent filings, 3) if it hadn't been for SOX, all filings would now be fraudulent).
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-395R
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-678
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-06-1079sp

in theory under SOX all the executives and auditors would be doing jail time

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Regulator Tells Banks to Share Cyber Attack Information

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 22 Dec 2012
Subject: Regulator Tells Banks to Share Cyber Attack Information
Blog: Financial Crime Risk, Fraud and Security

Regulator Tells Banks to Share Cyber Attack Information
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-21/regulator-tells-banks-to-share-cyber-attack-information.html

from above:
Attacks starting last week have hit PNC, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI), according to two executives at companies providing security to some of the targeted banks. They asked not to be named because they weren't authorized to discuss clients and didn't want their companies to become targets of computer assaults.

... snip ...

We were tangentially involved in the cal. state breach notification act ... having been brought in to help wordsmith the cal. state digital signature legislation.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subpubkey.html#signature

Big problem was that breaches were major contributor to account fraud (fraudulent financial transactions against individual accounts) ... and there was no press and little or nothing was being done about them. It apparently was hoped that the notification would allow individuals to take countermeasures (close the affected accounts) and possibly any associated publicity might provide motivation for the institutions to take corrective action. The cal. state breach notification act only applies to notifying residents of cal. (that might have information involved in breaches). Several other states have since passed similar legislation. However, at the federal level (since the cal. state data breach notification legislation), the "notification" bills that have been introduced (none yet passing) have been divided between those similar to the cal. legislation and those that would effectively eliminate notification (and preempt any state legislation).

In the mid-90s, a few years before the cal. state notification legislation was passed, industry conferences had the consumer dial-up online banking operations giving presentations about why they were converted to the internet (primarily eliminated the consumer support costs associated with their proprietary dialup online infrastructures ... which would be offloaded to ISPs). At the same time, the commercial/cash-management dialup online infrastructures were saying they would never move to the internet because of a long list of threats and vulnerabilities ... pretty much had covered everything that has happened in the years since then.

Despite the presentations at the time, the business/commercial dialup online infrastructures have pretty much all moved to the internet also. Various regulators over the past several years have made a number of recommendations ... including recommendations that businesses have a isolated, dedicated PC that is only used for online banking (and is never used for any other purpose), aka at least a partial return to the days of dialup online banking (pre-internet).

Note sometimes the press articles about external attacks and educating customers has been obfuscation and misdirection when "insider" exploits are bigger problem than external threats.

A similar theme is education for consumers about looking for external signs of skimmers on ATM and point-of-sale machines ... which doesn't catch the scenario when the crooks have compromised the manufacturing process and have the skimmers added during the making of the machines.

recent posts mentioning insider threats/exploits:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#91 Operating System, what is it?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#10 Does the IBM System z Mainframe rely on Security by Obscurity or is it Secure by Design
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#24 Does the IBM System z Mainframe rely on Security by Obscurity or is it Secure by Design
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#77 U.S. banks on high alert against cyberattacks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#79 history of Programming language and CPU in relation to each other
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#23 Does the IBM System z Mainframe rely on Security by Obscurity or is it Secure by Design?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#63 Is it possible to hack mainframe system??
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#28 Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#37 Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#38 There can be no System Security without System Integrity

recent posts mentioning breach notification:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#35 Israel vows to hit back after credit cards hacked
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#3 zSeries Manpower Sizing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#6 The 15 Worst Data Security Breaches of the 21st Century
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#49 Do you know where all your sensitive data is located?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#63 Fans of Threat Modelling reach for their guns ... but can they afford the bullets?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#17 Data theft: Hacktivists 'steal more than criminals'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#29 Visa, MasterCard warn of 'massive' security breach
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#37 The $30 billion Social Security hack
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#79 What's the takeaway on Audit?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#82 Fighting Cyber Crime with Transparency
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#30 US Senate proposes national data breach notification act
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#31 US Senate proposes national data breach notification act
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#35 US Senate proposes national data breach notification act
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#80 Firms told to own up to cybercrime attacks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#86 Should the IBM approach be given a chance to fix the health care system?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#56 Failing Gracefully
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#61 The Myth of Password Complexity & Frequent Change Rules
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#64 The Myth of Password Complexity & Frequent Change Rules
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#68 The Myth of Password Complexity & Frequent Change Rules
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#19 SnOODAn: Boyd, Snowden, and Resilience
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#10 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#14 The growing openness of an organization's infrastructure has greatly impacted security landscape
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#47 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#10 Does the IBM System z Mainframe rely on Security by Obscurity or is it Secure by Design
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#58 2012 History Conference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#63 history of Programming language and CPU in relation to each other
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#23 Does the IBM System z Mainframe rely on Security by Obscurity or is it Secure by Design?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#28 Some interesting post about the importance of Security and what it means for the Mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#38 There can be no System Security without System Integrity

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2012 10:40:48 -0500

Patrick Scheible <kkt@zipcon.net> writes:
Is that why the economy was so much worse in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s than it is today?

The Unequal State of America: a Reuters series
http://www.reuters.com/subjects/income-inequality

has an inequality graphic by year & state "See inequality grow"

one of several articles in the series

The Decline of the "Great Equalizer" ; Massachusetts, home to America's best schools and best-educated workforce, has seen income inequality soar. Why? The poor are losing an academic arms race with the rich.
http://www.reuters.com/subjects/income-inequality/massachusetts

Redistributing Up ; The federal government has emerged as one of the most potent factors driving income inequality in the United States - especially in the nation's capital.
http://www.reuters.com/subjects/income-inequality/washington

from above:
The top 5 percent of households in Washington, D.C., made more than $500,000 on average last year, while the bottom 20 percent earned less than $9,500 - a ratio of 54 to 1. That gap is up from 39 to 1 two decades ago. It's wider than in any of the 50 states and all but two major cities. This at a time when income inequality in the United States as a whole has risen to levels last seen in the years before the Great Depression.

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2012 11:29:55 -0500

... for a little topic drift ... during the last decade ... there was push in washington to "privatize social security" ... basically a big gift to wallstreet ... similarly to the way that mortgages were packaged so they could be sold through wallstreet ... with wallstreet skimming big percentage ... and lots of retirement plans morphed into 401k (study that wallstreet was able to take bigger percentage of individual plans compared to what they were able to skim off when dealing with large institutional funds).

recent blog entry on the state of social security fund
http://johnhively.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/it-makes-no-sense-to-reduce-social-security-benefits-heres-why/

from above:
Cuts in social security benefits are on the table in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Why cut social security benefits when it has a $2.5 trillion dollar surplus that collects $118 billion a year in interest?

... snip ...

the above then slides into:

Breakdown of the $26 Trillion the Federal Reserve Handed Out to Save Incompetent, but Rich Investors
http://johnhively.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/breakdown-of-the-26-trillion-the-federal-reserve-handed-out-to-save-rich-incompetent-investors-but-who-purchase-political-power/

from above:
The folks at http://criminal.laws.com/rico define racketeering this way, Racketeering is classified as a crime that takes place through or while undertaking an illegal business or commercial venture. The activity of Racketeering is neither specific to solely illegal nor legal business operations. A wide array of the types of Racketeering exists.

... snip ...

which is funny since several times during the last decade, I would ask why hadn't the gov "rico'ed" lots of parties involved in the financial mess

a few past posts mentioning rico
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008q.html#12 Blinkenlights
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008q.html#58 Obama, ACORN, subprimes (Re: Spiders)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008q.html#66 Blinkenlights
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010q.html#58 Programmer Charged with thieft (maybe off topic)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#27 The Zippo Lighter theory of the financial crisis (or, who do we want to blame?)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#22 Slouching toward Weimar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#44 New Scandal at DoJ as Illegal Guitars End Up In Hands of Mexican Drug Lords
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#53 50th anniversary of BASIC, COBOL?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#60 50th anniversary of BASIC, COBOL?

there has been claim that last decade, financial services sector grew by a factor of three times (as percentage of GDP). this has there was $27 Trillion in CDOs done during the period
Evil Wall Street Exports Boomed With 'Fools' Born to Buy Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-10-27/evil-wall-street-exports-boomed-with-fools-born-to-buy-debt

redirecting mortgages into triple-A rated toxic CDOs and flowing them through wallstreet potentially is $4T-$5T of new revenue that wallstreet skims off the $27T ... and goes a long way to accounting for the claim that financial services grew by factor of three times during the period.
Evil Wall Street Exports Boomed With 'Fools' Born to Buy Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-10-27/evil-wall-street-exports-boomed-with-fools-born-to-buy-debt

to futher increase their take ... they purposefully package the triple-A rated toxic CDOs to fail ... and then make CDS bets that the triple-A rated toxic CDOs they sold their customers, would fail. This gets into the "AIG bailout" ... AIG was negotiating payout of 50cents on the dollar on these CDS bets, when the sec. of treasury steps in and declairs that it is illegal for AIG to pay less than face value and forces AIG to sign a document that it would take the bailout, pay off the CDS bets at face value, and not be able to sue those placing the CDS bets. The biggest recipient of AIG payout happened to also be an institution that the sec. of treasury had previously been CEO.

recent posts referencing $27T in triple-A rated toxic CDOs done during the last decade:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#32 Wall Street Bonuses May Reach Lowest Level in 3 Years
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#19 "Buffett Tax" and truth in numbers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#65 Why Wall Street Should Stop Whining
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#95 Bank of America Fined $1 Billion for Mortgage Fraud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#30 US real-estate has lost $7T in value
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#45 Fannie, Freddie Charge Taxpayers For Legal Bills
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#46 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#54 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#32 PC industry is heading for more change
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#42 China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Is Already Doing A Whole Lot More Than Anyone Expected
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#23 Are mothers naturally better at OODA because they always have the Win in mind?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#40 Who Increased the Debt?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#58 Word Length
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#31 Rome speaks to us. Their example can inspire us to avoid their fate
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#63 One maths formula and the financial crash
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#66 Predator GE: We Bring Bad Things to Life
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#69 Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#75 Fed Report: Mortgage Mess NOT an Inside Job
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#80 The Failure of Central Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#87 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#6 Adult Supervision
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#20 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#28 REPEAL OF GLASS-STEAGALL DID NOT CAUSE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS - WHAT DO YOU THINK?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#71 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#76 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#26 US economic update. Everything that follows is a result of what you see here
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#32 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#75 Interesting News Article
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#14 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#28 Why Asian companies struggle to manage global workers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#65 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#56 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#12 Why Auditors Fail To Detect Frauds?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#7 Beyond the 10,000 Hour Rule
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#69 Can Open Source Ratings Break the Ratings Agency Oligopoly?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#73 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Seeking APL\360 Reference Card

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2012 12:24:16 -0500

Al Kossow <aek@bitsavers.org> writes:
just uploaded S210-0007-0_APL_360_Reference_Card.pdf

it will probably show up on the mirrors tomorrow

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#42 Seeking APL\360 Reference Card

I'm trying to use "all-in-one" as scanner (linux system) ... i can't get it to scan more than 15in long ... the reference cards are on the order of 20-25 inches. I try scanning from both ends and then use one of the panarama programs to try and stitch the two images together. the problem is I can't get the stitching to retain character image quality ... they get blurred.

1) is there some way to override max length?

2) is there some (better) way to stitch images together (I've been trying to use hugin).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What is holding back cloud adoption?

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 24 Dec 2012
Subject: What is holding back cloud adoption?
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/rXqaNV

There was recent article that the brand name vendors (ibm, hp, dell, etc) are no longer the major customer of server processor chips ... it is the large cloud operations that are major buyers of server processor chips (directly for cloud provisioning). Implication that there has been major shift from corporations buying servers from traditional vendors, to corporations moving to the large cloud service operations (aka drop off in corporations buying servers either for traditional server operation or for in-house cloud operation ... but a move to cloud service providers).

In the later half of the 70s when POK was diligently trying to kill off vm370[1] ... there were users trying to counter the effort with presentations at SHARE that vm370 was large revenue growth for IBM ... that it enabled customers to easily deploy new kinds of applications (relatively) quickly (compared to the batch operating systems) ... with case history of customers going from 370/135 vm370 to multiple vm370 370/168 over relatively short period of time.

In that sense, the cloud service providers are filling that role of corporations being able to deploy new applications quickly and at very little upfront investment (with fairly rapid growth potential).

[1] From the early to mid-70s, IBM had the Future System effort that was going to replace 360/370 and was completely different. During the period internal politics was suspending and/or killing off 370 product development (the lack of new 370 products during the period is credited with giving clone 370s a market foothold). The Future System effort had large parts that were effectively vaporware and eventually it was killed off. In the wake of the demise of Future System, there was mad rush to get products back into the corporate product pipelines. As part of this, POK convinced the corporation to kill off the vm370 product, shutdown the vm370 product development group and transfer all the people to pok for mvs/xa development (or otherwise mvs/xa wouldn't make ship schedule nearly 7-8 yrs later). Part of the plan was not to tell the people in the vm370 product development group until the last possible minute to minimize the number that might escape. The information leaked early ... and some number escaped and joined DEC (joke that head of pok was one of the largest contributors to DEC VAX/VMS). In any case, Endicott managed to salvage the vm370 product mission, but had to recreate a development group from scratch.

misc. past posts mentioning future system
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

article from today: "2012: The year cloud computing took a bite out of IT; As new public cloud plays leap in and the private cloud slowly evolves, we're on the brink of a shift to cloud computing for critical business workloads"
http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/2012-the-year-cloud-computing-took-bite-out-of-it-209731

and

"IT shifts from owning to outsourcing data center space; Multi-tenant data center demand may be outpacing supply"
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/011513-kaspersky-identifies-39red-october39-cyberespionage-265829.html

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 24 Dec 2012
Subject: UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
Blog: Financial Crime Risk, Fraud and Security

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#39 UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid

never ending stream:

Quelle Surprise! UBS Gets a Cost-of-Doing-Business Fine for 'Epic' Libor Fraud (Updated)
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/quelle-surprise-ubs-gets-a-cost-of-doing-business-fine-for-epic-libor-fraud.html

UBS Libor Manipulation Deserves the Death Penalty
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-23/ubs-libor-manipulation-deserves-the-death-penalty.html
and
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-24/does-libor-manipulation-deserve-death-penalty

older reference that brings up using RICO

from July 2012

The Fed Knew LIBOR Was Corrupt in 2008. So Why Didn't It Act?
http://www.slate.com/blogs/spitzer/2012/07/17/libor_scandal_and_bernanke_the_fed_knew_libor_was_corrupt_in_2008_so_why_didn_t_it_act_.html

from above:
But there is dispute about whether the Fed did inform all the relevant parties that the rate was being rigged. Mervyn A. King, governor of the Bank of England, said he did not receive a warning in 2008 that the rate was being gamed. Instead, King says, the Bank of England just got an email from Tim Geithner, who was president of the N.Y. Fed at the time, suggesting reforms to the LIBOR system. Yet it is uncontroverted that, at the time, the Fed had evidence of LIBOR's integrity problems.

... snip ...

Libor scandal: Ben Bernanke says system flawed
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18873944

above includes URL of June 2008 email to/from Bank of England and New York Fed:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_07_12_federalreserve.pdf

also at Google+
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/ZE1L96Yt6ZU

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2012 12:09:18 -0500

also google+
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/BmoARckVVs9

tv playing in the background, I'm not paying any attention ... am using my computer doing other stuff. Something catches my ear and turn around to check. Leverage (season finale) is playing ... and there are these (false) flashbacks ... staged events to look like something else, all obfuscation and misdirection. They are after the world LEO agencies' file on the investigation of the crimes in the financial mess where 1000 make off with 1/3rd of the world's wealth. It all leads up to the team walking off with the physical disk containing the file (the world LEO agencies decided to deep six the investigations and not prosecute).

Number one on times list of those responsible:
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877339,00.html
Wharton article (behind paywall, but lives free at wayback machine) estimating 1000 responsible for majority of the mess:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080606084328/http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1933

however, it pretty much ignores that the fact that many regulators (and LEOs) just watched as it all was happening.

some recent references to death penalty for some of the crimes
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-23/ubs-libor-manipulation-deserves-the-death-penalty.html .
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-24/does-libor-manipulation-deserve-death-penalty .
http://rt.com/programs/keiser-report/episode-379-max-keiser/

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Seeking APL\360 Reference Card

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2012 12:11:00 -0500

sidd@situ.com (sidd) writes:
gimp ?

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#42 Seeking APL\360 Reference Card
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#52 Seeking APL\360 Reference Card

yes, well ... I've used gimp for lots of stuff, including merge&fading multiple pages from one of boyd's briefings to form html background
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html

>
BODY {
background:
url(organic.jpg)
repeat;
}
a:visited {background-color: transparent; color: purple;}

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Displaywriter, Unix manuals added to Bitsavers

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Displaywriter, Unix manuals added to Bitsavers
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2012 12:48:55 -0500

hancock4 writes:
P.S.S. Previously discussed in this newsgroup was the IBM 6670 [office systems] printer. It had amazingly high quality output.

... aka a ibm copier3 with a computer interface added.

sjr (bldg. 28 on main plant site before they built research bldg on top of the hill) got several around the bldg. for departmental printing.

modified the device driver ... to print "seperator page" from (colored) paper loaded in the alternate paper drawer with random selections from "quotes" file.

group in sjr then did the 6670 modifications to support all-points-addressable printing ... aka "sherpa" or "apa6670" old email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006p.html#email820304
in this post (also gives some time-line of laser printers)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006p.html#44

one of the primary people in the sherpa group, later left and joined a new company in silicon valley called adobe (forming the advanced technology group, he is still there). adobe formed dec1982
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Systems

we were once in something of a dustup with people doing a corporate audit ... who were demanding that all the demo programs (games & other stuff) be removed from online systems ... doing an after hrs walkthru looking for classified material left out/unsecured ... they found an output on one of the departmental 6670s with the following quote on the separator page:

[Business Maxims:] Signs, real and imagined, which belong on the walls of the nation's offices:
1) Never Try to Teach a Pig to Sing; It Wastes Your Time and It Annoys the Pig.
2) Sometimes the Crowd IS Right.
3) Auditors Are the People Who Go in After the War Is Lost and Bayonet the Wounded.
4) To Err Is Human -- To Forgive Is Not Company Policy.

and claimed that we had done it on purpose to ridicule them.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What is holding back cloud adoption?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 27 Dec 2012
Subject: What is holding back cloud adoption?
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/rXqaNV
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#53 What is holding back cloud adoption?

note some of the cloud stuff is related to "the whole system" and synergy ... discussed in the SHARE LSRAD report ("Towards More Usable Systems"). I scanned the report and got permission to make it available on bitsavers ... scan of the cover
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lsradcover.jpg

LSRAD cover

scanned report (in "share" section at bitsavers):
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/share/

Cloud megadatacenters are talking about several hundreds of thousands of processor chips ... with millions of cores (processors). I've blogged quite a bit recently about "E5" blades compared to mainframes ... and numerous of the individual megadatacenters likely have more processing power than the aggregate processing power than all existing mainframes combined.

E5-2600 have ratings of 527BIPS and IBM has base list price of $1800 for E5-2600 blade (compared to 30BIPS for 64 processor z10, 50BIPS for 80 processor z196, and 75BIPS for 101 processor zEC12).

This is recent announce of 100,000 chip E5
http://vr-zone.com/articles/how-intel-secured-the-chinese-supercomputer-deal-feat.-ivy-bridge-ep--xeon-phi-/18457.html

Depends on how you define firmware. The major mega-datacenters (majority of server chips now) run linux ... also from recent post in a.f.c.:
Several billion new Linux computers sold every year, but exact numbers are _very_ hard to find.

The most reliable stats are probably to take the numbers of "real MMUs" sold; approx 3.2 billion estimated for 2012, and subtract other OSes.

MS, 400M, max. Apple OS'es, similar amount. All others, 100M; and that is being generous (google is within the Linux camp here).

OK, round up to a billion. Which leaves 2.2Billion Linux machines.

Linux has a ~2/3 market share on house alarms, almost 100% on set-top boxes, ~50% on car control computers etc. And 400M++ on android phones alone.

... snip ...

part of the issue is a max z196 with 80 processors rated at 50BIPS goes for $28M or $560,000/BIPS. E5-2600 rated at 527BIPS and IBM base price at $1800 or $3.42/BIPS.

There was huge migration off mainframe in the late 80s and through the 90s ... which basically leaves various high value enterprise stuff where the risks of migration failure is greater than the hardware cost savings. In any case, there is global estimate that there are no more than 10,000 mainframe systems now. If you assume every one of those is a max. configured z196, that comes to 500TIPS ... which is on the order of large supercomputer or aggregate of processing in a mega-datacenter. Realistic is many of those 10,000 are much less than max configured z196 so aggregate of 5-10TIPS might be realistic aggregate processing power (for all mainframes in the world today).

Recent news items are that IBM annual mainframe hardware sales is around $5B/year (about the equivalent of 180 max. configured z196 systems). Also, news is that IBM total revenue from mainframes is 6.25 times the direct hardware sales (aka the rest is software, services, and storage). So on the average, a customer buying a $28M z196 will be paying IBM 6.25*$28M or $175M ... which works out to $175M/50BIPS or $3.5M/BIPS (compared to $3.42/BIPS for e5-2600). Other news items is that the big cloud mega-datacenters build/manufacture their own blades for about 1/3rd the price of brand name blades ... bringing things closer to $1/BIPS (compared to $3.5M/BIPS for mainframe).

The big mega-datacenters having brought the cost of hardware down so radically then have been the pioneers in optimizing other datacenter costs ... power, cooling, people, administration, etc. With lots of "on-demand" capacity they have been behind the push for chips being able to drop to new zero power when idle and then instantaneously power-up.

recent posts mentioning the 6.25 multiplier
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#52 I.B.M. Mainframe Evolves to Serve the Digital World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#81 Blades versus z was Re: Turn Off Another Light - Univ. of Tennessee
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#25 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#44 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#70 Under what circumstances would it be a mistake to migrate applications/workload off the mainframe?

Late 80s, senior disk engineer got a talk scheduled at the annual, world-wide, internal communication group conference and opened with the statement that the communication group was going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division. The issue was that the communication group had stranglehold on datacenters, they had corporate strategic ownership for everything that crossed the datacenter walls and were working hard to preserve their terminal emulation paradigm and install base; fighting hard to hold off client/server and distributed computing. The disk division was starting to see the leading edge of data fleeing to more distributed computing friendly platforms with the drop off in disk sales. The disk division had come up with number of solutions to address the problems, but they were constantly being vetoed by the communication group (which had corporate strategic responsibility). past posts mentioning terminal emulation paradigm
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#terminal

while operationally there may be lots of similarities between public and private clouds ... there can be significant administrative and security differences .... recent news item (aka the question is less about moving to cloud ... but whether it is a public cloud or a private cloud):

Financial services and the public cloud: Go or no go?
http://gigaom.com/cloud/financial-services-and-the-public-cloud-go-or-no-go/

from above:
This is not to say that big finance firms aren't moving to cloud at all. Just look at State Street, the Boston-based financial services giant that has $23 trillion (that's trillion with a "t") worth of assets under management for customers including mutual funds, pension funds and non-profits. Since it won't use AWS, State Street built its own private cloud for internal use, using a lot of open-source software and racks of its own design. (Other than that Perretta won't say much about the State Street cloud.)

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 27 Dec 2012
Subject: How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?
Blog: IBMers

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#46 How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?

Gray (note that linkedin can strip trailing period from URLs)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_M._Gray,_Jr.
leveraged Boyd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategist%29

for make-over of the marine corp. Boyd was credited with the battle plan for desert storm ... although there has since been lots of criticism that it lacked follow through. In the last decade, one of the comments about the problems with the current conflicts is that Boyd had died in 1997. there is annual Boyd conference in the fall at Marine Corps Univ. (Gray didn't make it this year, but he was there last year) ... and there are other periodic get togethers in the area (one just two weeks ago). another Boyd reference:
http://thediplomat.com/the-naval-diplomat/2012/08/26/introducing-john-boyd/
Tribute to Boyd that appeared in proceeding of the naval institute
http://radio-weblogs.com/0107127/stories/2002/12/23/genghisJohnChuckSpinneysBioOfJohnBoyd.html
This quotes Boyd
http://feraljundi.com/5612/leadership-narcissism-and-toxic-leaders/

There is lots of discussion here that things have gotten much worse since WW2
https://www.amazon.com/The-Generals-American-Military-ebook/dp/B007V65TAM
Ricks' blog
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/

National Security Dilemmas has couple references to Boyd
https://www.amazon.com/National-Security-Dilemmas-Opportunities-ebook/dp/B005CWH8UQ
but also pg169/loc2912-14:
"Unfortunately, American understanding of and sound practice in strategy is desperately rare. Strategic thinking and behavior are endangered activities in the United States. This is hardly a stunningly original insight. However, familiar though the criticism should be, it loses none of its bite for reason of longevity."

other minor Gray trivia
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/hall_of_honor/2008/index.shtml
his picture is on the wall at cryptologic museum
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/museum/index.shtml

and Boyd trivia ... was known as "40sec Boyd" when he was instructor at Nellis ... open invitation to fighter pilots all over the world ... he would give them position of advantage and reverse the position in 40secs or less ... and his training manual is still used by govs all over the world ... and while head of light-weight fighter design was responsible for much of F15, F16, and F18 ... by the 90s, the air force had pretty much disowned him ... but he had been adopted by the marines. His effects are at the Quantico Marine Corps library.

During desert storm, US NEWS & WORLD REPORTS had article titled The Fight To Change How America Fights about Boyd mentioning Boyd's (recent crop of majors & cols) Jedi Knights. From Generals

pg374/loc5176-78:
In the wake of that head-slapper, Cheney established his own competing planning operation. Doing so, he said, "sent the signal to everybody, the Joint Staff, out in the field and Central Command: 'Guys, get your act together and produce a plan, because if you don't produce one that I'm comfortable with, I'll impose one."

and pg359/loc5013-15:
Despite the existence of SAMS, the flaws of Army generalship tended to remain the same in the 1980s and '90s as in earlier decades. Most notably, the complaints about micromanagement by senior officers that plagued the Army in the 1950s and '60s would continue into the rebuilt Army of the 1980s and '90s.

Various Boyd biographies and other articles directly mentioned him doing the battle plan for desert storm (even tho Rick's Generals only indirectly refers to the events)

My introduction to Boyd started with this time article (gone behind paywall but mostly lives free at wayback machine ... except for some reason, pg8)
https://web.archive.org/web/20070320170523/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953733,00.html
also
https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953733,00.html

one of the co-workers at IBM got Spinney's number and called him up, and Spinney suggested he talk to Boyd instead ... that started the process where I would sponsor Boyd's briefings at IBM. Boyd would tell story about spending 18months preparing for the article and making sure that every piece of information had permission in writing. It came in handy when the SECDEF tried to get Spinney prosecuted ... and when he couldn't, the SECDEF tried to have Boyd banned from the pentagon for life.

For a little more IBM content ... Boyd's analysis was that the mcnamara "line" would never work ... which apparently got him a year's assignment running spook base. description of spook base (gone 404 but lives on at the wayback machine):
https://web.archive.org/web/20030212092342/http://home.att.net/~c.jeppeson/igloo_white.html

Boyd's biographies lists spook base as a $2.5B "windfall" for IBM (nearly $20B in today's dollars).

"Fight" still continues, several of Boyd's acolytes contributed to:
http://dnipogo.org/labyrinth/

from above (part of fighting bureaucracy):
• identify the decay -- moral, mental and physical -- in America's defenses,
• understand the various "tribes" that run bureaucratic life in the Pentagon,
• appreciate what too many defense journalists are not doing, but should,
• conduct first rate national security oversight instead of second rate theater,
• separate careerists from ethical professionals in senior military and civilian ranks,
• learn to critique strategies, distinguishing the useful from the agenda-driven,
• recognize the pervasive influence of money in defense decision-making,
• unravel the budget games the Pentagon and Congress love to play,
• understand how to sort good weapons from bad -- and avoid high cost failures, and
• reform the failed defense procurement system without changing a single law.

... snip ...

Spinney's specific theme about DOD/MICC's "continuous conflict" and "perpetual war":
http://chuckspinney.blogspot.com/p/domestic-roots-of-perpetual-war.html

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2012 10:29:19 -0500

Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More
http://techland.time.com/2012/12/28/today-in-time-tech-history-piston-less-power-1959-ibms-decline-1992-tivo-1998-and-more/
When it comes to dominating an industry, few companies have done so with the overpowering force of International Business Machines. From gigantic mainframes and tiny laptops to semiconductors and software, IBM ruthlessly called the shots for the entire industry after the computer became a commercial item about 40 years ago. So tight was IBM's market grip that it was practically impossible for any computer company to do business without being tied in some way to the Big Blue colossus.

How the mighty have fallen.

... snip ...

the original article has gone behind the paywall, but lives free at wayback machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20101120231857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977353,00.html

also google+
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102794881687002297268/posts/NpfhZxAQhDK

this reference has big part on Gerstner's resurrection of IBM
https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Intuition-Creative-Achievement-Publishing-ebook/dp/B0097D773O/

ibm system mag profile on me (although they muddled some details)
https://web.archive.org/web/20190524015712/http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/mainframe/stoprun/Stop-Run/Making-History/

reference to Gerstner in competition for next CEO of AMEX ... and Gerstner "wins"
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/15/why-jamie-dimons-2-billion-gambling-loss-will-not-speed-financial-reform/

AMEX Shearson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shearson

was in competition with KKR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg_Kravis_Roberts

to acquire RJR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RJR_Nabisco

KKR then hires away Gerstner to run RJR ... before IBM board hires him away to resurrect IBM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_V._Gerstner,_Jr.

Gerstner then goes on to be chairman of another large private equity company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlyle_Group

Note that slightly before IBM board hires Gerstner to resurrect IBM ... AMEX spins off large transaction processing business as "First Data" (claims largest IPO up until that time; also some really large mainframe datacenters ... one had 40+ mainframe CECs each at $30M+ ... constantly being upgrades, none older than 18months) ... the IBM system mag profile has me there as chief scientist the first part of the century. KKR then does reverse IPO of First Data (claims to have been the largest reverse IPO up until that time ... after having been the largest IPO 15yrs earlier)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Data

gerstner posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#gerstner
private equity posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#private.equity

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What is holding back cloud adoption?

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 29 Dec 2012
Subject: What is holding back cloud adoption?
Blog: Enterprise Systems

re:
http://lnkd.in/rXqaNV
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#53 What is holding back cloud adoption?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#58 What is holding back cloud adoption?

recent post in (linledin) "Old Geek Registry"
http://lnkd.in/64w-BG

about time magazine item from yesterday about list of stories published on 12/28 ... including the "fall of ibm" article from 28Dec1992: "How IBM Was Left Behind"
https://web.archive.org/web/20101120231857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977353,00.html

and old review of Gerstner's book on bringing company back from the brink
http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2012/02/10/review-of-who-says-elephants-cant-dance-by-louis-gerstner.html

The time magazine article from 28Dec1992 mentions ibm having been reorganized into 13 "baby blues" in preparation for breaking up the company and spinning off into independent units (before board bringing Gerstner to resurrect the company).

earliest reference i have to the adstar name (aka the disk division "baby blue") is april 1992. however, this reference has the reorg occurring on 5Dec1991 (and the new name just appearing some time in 1992).
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/rochester/rochester_chronology5.html

this is wiki entry for ADSTAR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADSTAR

but primarily refers to ADSM ... adstar distributed storage manager was later sold to Tivoli and renamed TSM (before IBM then buying Tivoli)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Tivoli_Storage_Manager

but had previously been called WDSF ... that was research division product adapted from the internal CMSBACK. I had originally done CMSBACK in the late 70s for internal datacenters ... which subsequently went through a number of internal releases (before being released to customers as WDSF). The TSM history only mentions CMSBACK going back to 1988 at Almaden ... but I had originally done CMSBACK approx. a decade earlier (when research was still in bldg. 28 on the main san jose plant site). some old CMSBACK email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#cmsback

other past posts mentioning backup/archive, cmsback, wdsf, adsm, tsm, etc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#backup
AMEX, Private Equity, IBM related Gerstner posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#gerstner

Note as the disk division senior engineer stated in the late 80s that the communication group was going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division (which has since come to pass) ... as previously mentioned upthread. The stranglehold that the communication group had on datacenters apparently also contributed to the downward slide going into 1992.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Search Google, 1960:s-style

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Search Google, 1960:s-style
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:12:12 -0500

Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> writes:
60mins did a story about consultants ... as the economy was crashing some consultant advised wallstreet to tieup as many economic & business experts as possible ... either directly with retainers or indirectly with grants/contracts with their organizations/institutions

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#47 Search Google, 1960:s-style

starting with "Inside Job"

Economists and the Powerful: Convenient Theories, Distorted Facts, Ample Rewards
https://www.amazon.com/Economists-Powerful-Convenient-Distorted-Economics-ebook/dp/B01B4X4KOS/
loc72-74:

Only through having been caught so blatantly with their noses in the troughs (e.g. the 2011 Academy Award–winning documentary Inside Job) has the American Economic Association finally been forced to adopt an ethical code, and that code is weak and incomplete compared with other disciplines.

... snip ...

Note the book starts out with cases of major universities firing and blackballing economists over the years, that happen to write papers that the rich&powerful found objectionable

post from today (how rich&powerful got peaceful demonstrations labeled terrorists)

Banks Deeply Involved in FBI-Coordinated Suppression of "Terrorist" Occupy Wall Street
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/banks-deeply-involved-in-fbi-coordinated-suppression-of-terrorist-occupy-wall-street.html

"Inside Job" wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(2010_film)

from above:
Roger Ebert described the film as "an angry, well-argued documentary about how the American financial industry set out deliberately to defraud the ordinary American investor."

... snip ...

Inside Job. The documentary. Online. For free.
http://www.theotherschoolofeconomics.org/?p=2499

there has been quite a few recent articles on how still nobody has been put in jail and the fines are relatively minor compared to the total amounts involved ... come to be treated as just part of the cost of doing (illegal) business. Going back a couple years, the articles about too-big-to-fail are turning mexico into colombia with all their money laudering for the drug cartels ... aka too-big-to-jail.

recent article calling for death penalty for some of the illegal activity

UBS Libor Manipulation Deserves the Death Penalty
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-23/ubs-libor-manipulation-deserves-the-death-penalty.html

other recent posts mentioning too-big-to-jail:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#16 Wonder if they know how Boydian they are?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#35 The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#37 The $30 billion Social Security hack
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#88 Defense acquisitions are broken and no one cares
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#9 JPM LOSES $2 BILLION USD!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#20 Psychology Of Fraud: Why Good People Do Bad Things
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#14 Monopoly/ Cartons of Punch Cards
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#25 This Is The Wall Street Scandal Of All Scandals
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#37 If all of the American earned dollars hidden in off shore accounts were uncovered and taxed do you think we would be able to close the deficit gap?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#30 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#0 General Mills computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#55 U.S. Sues Wells Fargo, Accusing It of Lying About Mortgages
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#10 OT: Tax breaks to Oracle debated
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#73 These Two Charts Show How The Priorities Of US Companies Have Gotten Screwed Up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#20 HSBC, SCB Agree to AML Penalties
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#24 OCC Confirms that Big Banks are Badly Managed, Lack Adequate Risk Management Controls
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#30 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#39 UBS Faces Potential LIBOR Fine Of $1 Billion -- Twice What Barclays Paid
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#48 Search Google, 1960:s-style

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 31 Dec 2012
Subject: Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More
Blog: Old Geek

re:
http://lnkd.in/64w-BG
other related posts mentioning the article:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#60 Today in TIME Tech History: Piston-less Power (1959), IBM's Decline (1992), TiVo (1998) and More

currently program director at m'soft in redmond ... his blog appears in the "blogroll" of lots of others that tend to deal with national security and related issues (search engine "blogroll tdaxp") ... for instance
http://amicablecollisions.blogspot.com/2008/05/tdaxp-book.html

for other drift ... discussion in linkedin "Enterprise Systems" "What is holding back cloud adoption" ... but strayed into decline of IBM in the late 80s and early 90s ... and the reference to reorg of IBM in preparation to breaking up the company
http://lnkd.in/rXqaNV
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#61 What is holding back cloud adoption?

My brother was regional marketing rep for apple ... (largest physical area in conus), when he would come into town for meetings at hdqtrs ... I would sometimes get invited to business dinners. I remember a number of times getting to argue about the MAC design with the developers (before the MAC had even been announced).

At customer calls, he would exclaim over how much he liked the IBM coffee mugs and would the customer be willing to trade the excellent IBM coffee mug for 2-3 Apple mugs.

In the early 70s, IBM had started the "Future System" effort that was going to completely different from 360/370 and. The internal politics was such that 370 efforts were being killed off and/or suspended and the lack of 370 products during the period is credited with giving the 370 clone processors a market foothold. A major objective of FS was to be extremely complex as a countermeasure to clone controllers ... but the complexity resulted in FS effectively being vaporware and if the machine had been actually built ... it would be extremely slow (one estimate was 370/195 application running on the fastest available FS would have the thruput of 370/145 ... about factor of 30 times slowdown). misc. past posts mentioning FS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

The combination of vaporware and very poor performance contributed to the FS failure ... but while it was failing resulted in radical change in the internal culture. From Charles Ferguson and Charles Morris, Computer Wars: The Post-IBM World, Times Books, 1993:

Most corrosive of all, the old IBM candor died with F/S. Top management, particularly Opel, reacted defensively as F/S headed toward a debacle. The IBM culture that Watson had built was a harsh one, but it encouraged dissent and open controversy. But because of the heavy investment of face by the top management, F/S took years to kill, although its wrongheadedness was obvious from the very outset. "For the first time, during F/S, outspoken criticism became politically dangerous," recalls a former top executive.

and
... and perhaps most damaging, the old culture under Watson Snr and Jr of free and vigorous debate was replaced with sycophancy and make no waves under Opel and Akers. It's claimed that thereafter, IBM lived in the shadow of defeat

... snip ...

One of the issues with the 23June1969 unbundling announcement was starting to charge for application software as well as "SE" services (the large number of young technical people). These young SEs got their experience and training mostly as sort of apprentice program as part of large technical group at the customer site. The problem after unbundling was how to provide that sort of training ... since those SEs couldn't be at the customer w/o being charged for. misc. past posts mentioning unbundle
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#unbundle

The initial effort was to deploy several (virtual machine) CP67 systems around the country to allow SEs at branch office to get operating system experience (HONE ... aka "hands-on network environment"). After I graduated and joined the science center ... one of my hobbies was providing highly enhanced CP67 (and later VM370) systems to internal datacenters (including the HONE systems). misc. past posts mentioning HONE
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hone

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Date: 31 Dec 2012
Subject: IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
Blog: IBMers

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#11 IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#19 IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees

I was blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network in the late 70s and early 80s ... folklore is that when the executive committee was told about online computer conferencing (and the internal network), 5of6 wanted to fire me. Part of the discussions became referred to as "Tandem Memos".

Jim Gray
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/a-tribute-to-jim-gray-sometimes-nice-guys-do-finish-first/
https://web.archive.org/web/20110607225340/http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/IPRO/JimGrayTribute/pressrelease.html

was departing from IBM Research (for Tandem) and palming off some number of stuff on me ... DBMS consulting with the IMS group, RDBMS/SystemR consulting with customers, etc. "Tandem memos" was kicked-off somewhat from a trip-report I distributed after one of my visits to Jim at Tandem.

For other computer conferencing reference ... there is this recent "What is a Mainframe" discussion in Enterprise Systems group
http://lnkd.in/YipYAD

mentioning the Tymshare online computer conferencing system from the early 70s and they made it free to IBM user group SHARE as VMSHARE starting in Aug1976 ... archive here:
http://vm.marist.edu/~vmshare
sometimes(?) "404" ... but also at wayback machine
http://vm.marist.edu/~vmshare/

One of the things I managed to arrange for was to get periodic tape dump of all VMSHARE files for making available on the internal networks. One of the most difficult problems was with the lawyers regarding contaminating IBM employees with information from IBM customers.

One of my hobbies was making production operating systems for internal datacenters ... including one of my long time customers (since when they started with cp67) was the internal HONE world-wide online sales&marketing support system ... and once past the lawyers (over contaminating IBM employees with information from IBM customers) it was fairly easy to get copies of VMSHARE available on internal systems ... including on the HONE systems (for all sales&marketing worldwide) misc. old email mentioning vmshare
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#vmshare
misc. old email mentioning hone
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#hone

There are discussions about 28Dec1992 time article about the near demise of IBM ... in this group .... but also in the "Old Geek" group
http://lnkd.in/64w-BG

and "Enterprise Systems" discussion about cloud adoption also wandered into the decline of IBM ... tracing back to the Future System failure ... hitting bottom in 1992 nearly resulted in IBM being split up (had been reorged into 13 "baby blues" in preparation) ... before the board brought in Gerstner to resurrect the company from the brink
http://lnkd.in/rXqaNV

this was the start of much of the stuff mentioned upthread that the former head of IBM research (and IBM senior VP) was referring to in the "Who Stole The American Dream" book.

late 90s, major corporate executives lobbied congress to change how institutional retirement funds were accounted for; the objective was one-time boost in executive bonus. There was even a suit against IBM CEO and IBM over the change. The issue for later CEOs was how to come up with other ways to boost their bonuses.

from IBM alliance
http://www.endicottalliance.org/docs/IBM_earnings_and_vapor.htm

Lots has been written about ratio of avg executive compensation to worker compensation having been 20:1 for a long time, exploding to 400:1 during the bubble (some industries spiked at 1000:1), and has since dropped back to between 200:1 and 250:1 ... much of it because of various executive bonuses tied to stock related activities.

Recent book "Economists and the Powerful"
https://www.amazon.com/Economists-Powerful-Convenient-Distorted-Economics-ebook/dp/B01B4X4KOS/

has chapter that covers 401k plans including collusion between financial industry and corporate executives pg57/loc1193-95:
According to economists' estimates, such collusion between asset management firms and companies is robbing a large proportion of the retirees of the company of a noticeable share of their retirement benefits. Losses for investors in small fund families with large 401(k) plans can reach more than 13 percent (Cohen and Schmidt 2009).

and pg57/loc1200-1206:
There are plenty of examples from other countries to copy: the US individual retirement account system is based on the Chilean pension reform of 1980/81 that in turn was based heavily on proposals made in the book Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman. In response to the Chilean system facing a likely collapse in a few decades time, it was substantially overhauled in 2008 to require mandatory participation of all citizens in exchange for universal pension coverage.

... snip ...

part of the financial industry motivation is that they skim significantly more off individual 401k plans compared to large institutional retirement funds (also behind financial industry lobbying last decade to privatize social security). This is similar to change in the mortgage industry ... packaging them as CDOs and selling them through wallstreet. Approx. $27T was done in triple-A rated toxic CDOs during the bubble ... providing wallstreet with possibly $4T-$5T new revenue in fees and commissions (that doesn't include the CDS bets that the CDOs they sold to their customers would fail ... after having been carefully constructed to fail)
Evil Wall Street Exports Boomed With 'Fools' Born to Buy Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-10-27/evil-wall-street-exports-boomed-with-fools-born-to-buy-debt

The IBM Alliance has a viewpoint ... as does lots of others ... as the book "Economists and the Powerful" refers to there having been enormous skewing of statistics in all sorts of ways ... so IBM Alliance taking a different viewpoint might seem relatively benign

However, the "Economists and the Powerful" book not only spends a great deal of time showing how data has been extremely skewed (especially by economists) in various ways ... but does have a section specifically dealing with 401k and retirement plans (sort of orthogonal to basic premise about how economists have been "captured" and significantly skewed statistics ... very similar to numerous stories over the past couple years about how the financial regulatory agencies have also been captured).

these two books referenced upthread deal more with what has happened to worker compensation over the past couple decades (including comments by former head of IBM research and senior VP)
https://www.amazon.com/Who-Stole-American-Dream-ebook/dp/B007MEWAX2 .
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Greed-Triumph-Finance-ebook/dp/B004DEPF6I/ .

this is recent blog that has repeated a graph that has been used in lots of blogs over the last year ... showing how worker compensation has gone flat:
http://johnhively.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/reaganomics-destroyed-the-economy/
the original is here (along with additional data) ...
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/09/04/opinion/04reich-graphic.html
part of this article
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/jobs-will-follow-a-strengthening-of-the-middle-class.html
random other blog reference to the same graph
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2011/10/journal-why-the-us-middle-class-is-broken.html

Stiglitz (Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy) references the enormous increase in the ratio of executive compensation to worker compensation including it spiking over 1000:1 in some industries during the bubble (way senior executive bonuses are calculated can be detrimental to both the company and the economy)
https://www.amazon.com/Freefall-America-Markets-Sinking-ebook/dp/B0035YDM9E

from the "Who Stole The American Dream" review on Amazon
This is a book full of surprises and revelations -- the accidental beginnings of the 401(k) plan, with disastrous economic consequences for many; the major policy changes that began under Jimmy Carter; how the New Economy disrupted America's engine of shared prosperity, the "virtuous circle" of growth, and how America lost the title of "Land of Opportunity." Smith documents the transfer of $6 trillion in middle-class wealth from homeowners to banks even before the housing boom went bust, and how the U.S. policy tilt favoring the rich is stunting America's economic growth.

... snip ...

which goes along with the comment in the "Economists and the Powerful" about where they came from

the issue is only partly the big explosion in the ratio of executive to worker compensation ... a common theme in the referenced material is that executive compensation plans tended to be so distorted that they have executives optimizing their own benefits to the significant detriment of their companies, the economy and the country.

the other side is that a large proportion of the activities are outright illegal ... but not prosecuted ... while other is border-line illegal but lots of lobbying resulting in extreme corruption.

I have discussions over in "Financial Crime, Risk, Fraud and Security" about specifically the too-big-to-fail are engaging in all sorts of illegal activity, but nobody going to jail ... leading to references regarding too-big-to-jail ... including money laundering for the drug cartels, consequences that mexico is turning into colombia and big factor in the explosion in related violence.

note that the previously mentioned include a lot regarding 401k plans ... including specific references to IBM including former head of IBM Research (went on to be president of MIT Sloan Institute).

for the fun of it ... wharton school article (gone behind paywall but lives free at wayback machine) that (only) 1000 were responsible for 80% of the financial mess
https://web.archive.org/web/20080606084328/http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1933

look at combination of congress, regulatory agencies, and federal reserve. there are articles that there are something like five financial industry lobbyists for every member of congress. "Economists and the Powerful" spends quite a bit of time describing how Federal Reserve was created to be under the control of the financial industry and relatively immune from other influence ... although not totally pg88/loc1765:
It became a little more widely known when Stephen Friedman, board member and former head of Goldman Sachs, was forced to step down in 2009 as the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He had overstepped by making large deals with Goldman shares while presiding over the board of a Federal Reserve, which was intimately involved in rescuing the financial sector (including Goldman) with large amounts of public money. The Friedman case exposed the fact that there are no safeguards against bankers using their control over the Federal Reserve Banks to promote the interest of banks at the expense of the public.

Jan 2009, I was asked to take the recently scanned "Pecora" hearings (30s senate hearings into '29 crash ... resulting in Glass-Steagall among other things), HTML'ize it with lots of internal x-hrefs as well as URLs corresponding with what happened this time and what happened then (some anticipation that the new congress had appetite to do something). After working on it for a couple months, I got a call saying that it wouldn't be needed after all (references to enormous amounts of wallstreet money being spread around capital hill).

Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley supposedly to prevent future Enron&Worldcom (particular egregious examples of corporate fraudulent activity) ... however, it requires SEC to do something. Possibly because GAO didn't believe SEC was doing anything, it started doing reports of fraudulent public company financial filings ... showing increase even after Sarbanes-Oxley (in theory under SOX all the executives and auditors should be doing jail time):
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-395R
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-678
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-06-1079sp

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Its the 30th birthday of the ARPANET transition to TCP/IP

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Its the 30th birthday of the ARPANET transition to TCP/IP
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2012 22:32:41 -0500

from google+
https://plus.google.com/u/0/114528586908817727732/posts/ZvKyzxmsXRM

some old posts related to the subject
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/internet.htm

as i've periodically mentioned TCP/IP is the technology basis for the modern internet, NSFNET backbone was the operational basis for the modern internet and CIX was the business basis for the modern internet.

misc. old email referencing NSFNET backbone
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#nsfnet

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

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