DOS software will be with us forever. It seems that Microsoft can never get away from it no matter how many names they put on the OS. Since I’ve had some down time, I decided to work on an annoying matter. I have probably blogged before that I have some older expense files written with a C/Pascal code generator called DataBoss which had its own proprietary file system. These files are well past the window … New Life for Old SoftwareRead more
Information Technology
Posts relating to the IT industry
Posted inInformation Technology
Vendor Management Systems = Price Fixing and Wire Fraud
Price fixing is rampant in IT since Vendor Management Systems were introduced. Indeed, price fixing is the primary reason the systems were adopted. Recently I had an interesting discussion with a pimp about a contract opening. They had posted the contract opening on Dice and tagged the entry as “market rate”, but when the called me, they were offering a billing rate well below half of market rate. Several other pimps had called about this … Vendor Management Systems = Price Fixing and Wire FraudRead more
Posted inInformation Technology
Substring Exists in String
Today I got to burn about three hours looking online for an answer to what F$LOCATE() makes a simple task. What simple task you ask? Why, I was trying to verify one string existed inside of another string while working in Bash under Linux. You see, I learned to write software on robust systems. Yes, I know, the Linux/Unix developer motto is “test nothing, just let it fail”, but I was taught to write good … Substring Exists in StringRead more
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Plausible Deniability or Just Plain Lazy?
Years ago, pimps actually did a tiny bit of work for their massive margins. They actually read resumes rather than using a GREP utility searching for keywords. They also engaged in “creative writing” when they were low on placement quota. Of course this required that pimps be fluent in the native language of the country where they made money. Today, most pimps are too lazy to even use a GREP utility. They go to on-line … Plausible Deniability or Just Plain Lazy?Read more
Posted inInformation Technology
Russian Cold War Construction Practices
If you are my age or a little older, you have some childhood memories of the cold war. Too young to understand it at the time, you remember parents watching the news during the Cuban Missile Crisis, duck and cover exercises, and news reel type shows about Russia and Communism in general. Most of them won’t be clear memories, just remembrances. One memory, which seems to be stronger than the rest, was that of Russian … Russian Cold War Construction PracticesRead more