Checking in with Geo-Location Applications

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

I have been regularily checking in to Foursquare for the last 2 or 3 months and have yet to work out what it is all about. OK, I have all sorts of badges and I am mayor of some strange places but the question is why? I can post to Twitter and Facebook everywhere I go but I am sure my friends and followers would soon get sick of that.

I know there are other sites out there such as Gowalla but, from what I can see, these are very much the same as Foursquare. The reason I chose to use Foursquare was that I have a Windows phone and I can use Winmosquare.  Gowalla does not have a Windows mobile client, you have to use the mobile web site.

Before anyone says there are iPhone apps available, I have a Windows mobile for a reason; I prefer Windows Mobile over iPhone!

Maybe there is a gap in the market for a decent location aware application?

I originally wrote this a few days before Facebook Places was announced so I will be interested to find out how this is going to work, especially the links with Foursquare and Gowalla.

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Gold Card Travel

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

I travel a lot on business and one thing I always do is to sign up for any loyalty scheme that I think may be useful.  Today showed how useful this can be as I made the journey to one of my clients sites in The Netherlands.  I used my KLM gold card (soon to be platinum) to go through the fast track security lane and then to get into the lounge at Newcastle Airport.  When I picked up my hire car from Hertz at Amsterdam, I showed my Number #1 Club gold card and got a free upgrade from a Fiat Panda to a Volvo V50.  Then tonight when I checked into my hotel I showed my Flavours gold card and was upgraded to a junior suite.  Finally when I return on Thursday night, I will use my KLM gold card (soon to be platinum) to gain access to the Crown lounge at Amsterdam where I can have free food and drink.

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Do you need to talk EDI?

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

More and more companies are now specifying that all of their customers and suppliers must use electronic methods to replace all paper documents, faxes and emails used in the supply chain process. I have many years of implementing EDI and B2B solutions and integrating these with your existing business applications. From orders to invoices and everything in between, whether the EDI standard is Tradacoms, Edifact, Ansi X12 or a flat file transfer, I have the experience to be able to successfully implement the right EDI or B2B software, hardware and services solution for your business.

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Are you up to date with PTFs?

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

You should be ordering and applying cumulative PTF (Program Temporary Fix) packages regularly but did you know that many PTFs never make it as far as a cumulative package. You should also be ordering and applying Group PTF packages on a regular basis

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I’m back

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

Well after about two months I am back.  The reasons I have been away include taking a few weeks holiday and re-organising my internet access and domains setups.

Even tonight I am having problems accessing the internet as the WiFi in the hotel is up and down as usual.  At the moment it is down and I am writing this on my mobile phone and will upload it later.

Thats it for the moment and I will write a bit more about what I have been doing shortly.

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AS/400 and OS/400 no longer exist!

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

For years the hardware I have worked on has been called the AS/400 and the operating system has been called OS/400, but not any more. The hardware has undergone a number of name changes from AS/400 to AS/400e, iSeries, System i and now Power Systems. Similarily, the operating system name has changed from OS/400 to i5/OS and is now simply called i. So we are now running IBM i on Power Systems! IBM i also runs on some older versions of AS/400 and iSeries hardware.   See the full details here …

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Dont get stuck on an out of date operating system

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

Have you upgraded to Version 6 Release 1 of IBM i yet and if not, why not? V6R1 has been available for over a year now and provides loads of new features which can be used by everyone. If you are on V5R4 or V5R3 you can upgrade directly to V6R1 but versions before V5R3 require a two step upgrade. IBM currently support V6R1 and V5R4 only. Support for V5R3 was withdrawn on 30th April 2009 and for V5R2 on 30th April 2007. If you have not already done so, you should plan to upgrade to V6R1 during 2009.  Learn more here …

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A Normal Week

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

At the moment my main client is an American company called Warnaco who are based in Holland about 100km south of Amsterdam. In Europe, Warnaco are the distributors of Calvin Klein underwear, jeans and accessories. In the US, they also distribute brands such as Speedo and Chaps while they have a number of other brands in other areas of the world.

My main project is project management of the  implementation of links between Warnaco and its customers to allow exchange of electronic messages such as product catalogues, orders, despatch advices and invoices.  All software development is carried out on an IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) using RPG.

This week I am working with customers in Germany, France, Switzerland, UK and Italy. Warnaco itself has a multi-national staff and as an example, I am working in the IT department with people from UK, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Australia, Morocco, Ukraine and of course Holland. Its just as well they all speak good English as I have no language skils at all (typical Engish person!)

This has been a normal sort of week. I left home at about 7:45 on Monday morning, drove to Newcastle airport, took the KLM flight to Amsterdam, picked up a hire car and drove to the office. Total journey time was about 4 hours 45 minutes. Tomorrow, Thursday, I will leave the office at about 18:30 and should arrive home by about 22:30. Going home I gain an hour which is always welcome. When I am in the office I always try and start at about 8:00 and leave at about 18:30 so that I can get a full week in. On Friday I will work from home, mainly for Warnaco but I always try and spend a few hours on other projects or trying to find additional project work.

On Monday it all starts again …

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An Introduction

Posted on by Fred_Mitchell

Hello!

I am a Freelance IT consultant, based in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England.  I provide IT Consultancy, Project Management and Software Development (using RPG) services to all sizes of businesses.  I specialise in IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) servers and have an interest in all things IT related, particularly B2B, Cloud, Mobile and Geo-Location technology.

I plan to use this blog to tell you a bit about my life and about anything that crosses my mind. This could be about my work, tavels, the technology I work with, technology I would like to work with and my life in General.

That will do for starters, I am planning on blogging here regularily so look back soon.

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