Real Time View

With his opening words, “It’s not where we are headed but how fast we will get there,” the boss of all things NonStop, Jeff Kyle, set the tone for the latest NonStop Technical Boot Camp (NonStop TBC 22). “We are a platform and not a server; the platform we are perfecting for mission critical applications. We create the data and we transact the data!” Jeff referenced the ongoing expansion into new markets, including manufacturing, retail and transportation but equally as important for the NonStop community Jeff referenced digital transformation and highlighted how we are all going through this digital transformation on our way to modernization and yes, it’s truly all about the data. “NonStop as a platform is a critical component of digital transformation and the innovation we are bringing to NonStop (is a further illustration) of how NonStop is now a platform.” Among Jeff’s opening slides happened to be one titled, “The Data Realities of Digital Transformation” where the business object...

  NonStop Technical Boot Camp (TBC) 2020 is ending with NonStop future looking bright. But is it time to take another look at our usage and branding with the NonStop label? It was during the latest NonStop Technical Boot Camp that wrapped up a short time ago that someone posted to the community page. While I am not a big fan of virtual events and even as this wasn’t my first rodeo, so as to speak, nevertheless I am still not into this style of community gathering. Call me a tad old-fashioned if you like but then again, what is a virtual beer bust? I have been attending events since the mid-1970s – I gave my first user presentation at a database conference in Dallas in March 1977 – so I will make the claim that, for me, there is still no substitute for the real deal. Put it down to a couple of threads that were kicked-off early in the week. “Do you find NonStop platform is ignored by management?” And then there was “What is the future of HPE NonStop Tandem?” There was even the que...

There will be numerous highlights during the upcoming NonStop Technical Boot Camp; perhaps time is right to retire older NonStop systems! A short time ago I was assisted by one of the local parcel delivery company’s driver to move some unwanted office furniture to the curb to be picked up by our trash collectors. This has been a fairly regular routine over the three years we have been in residence in Windsor, Colorado. A small tip was all that was needed to encourage the driver to shift focus away from carting new furniture to the house to help us dump the old stuff. It is very true to say these days that furniture, like many other household items, lose value very quickly and as much as we might like the quality and the comfort, there is no residual value to talk about. We have been fortunate more than once to find new homes for some items, but furniture purchased almost two decades ago no matter how stylish it might be, is like fish and needs to be disposed without agonizing over th...

Crossing the lines, stepping outside the box and even lining up incorrectly are all familiar warnings; for NonStop architects, lines on whiteboards or napkins oftentimes convey complexity that needs expertise to address … I have been involved with the building of three homes. With each home, the engagement differed as the starting place varied, but there was always a blueprint on hand. In the southern suburbs of Sydney, Lilli Pilli, the home was already standing and it was down to details. However, I did get to finish out the lower level, lay the bricks for the backyard retaining pool and come up with the design of the swimming pool.  As for my home in Niwot, North East of Boulder, I started with a blank piece of paper and took many months before settling on the final blueprint of my dream three-level home. Every detail was covered in those blueprints when breaking ground commenced, but even so, when it came time to move in, there were additional lines drawn on the orig...

A trip to the west coast that crosses both the Rockies and the Sierras is always fraught with potential disaster but this time, a little snow didn’t deter us and things just went right for us … This time last year I wrote the post, What does Sydney bring to the table … as Margo and I were wrapping up a three month stay in that most magical of cities. We had made it “down under” for the traditional New Year’s fireworks celebration on Sydney Harbor, my daughter’s birthday, and the SIBOS Sydney 2018 financial institution conference. I had also managed to arrive in time for my High School fiftieth reunion even as we found time to visit the farm of my sister-in-law. In other words, this time last year a period of full immersion in all things Australia was coming to an end. But this year, it’s time to head to America’s West Coast. It’s early in the year but it’s an ideal time to spend a few days in Silicon Valley before heading south to tinsel town and to that other big tech cent...

You can tell a lot about an organization from their body language and when it comes to the NonStop team, they have to be pleased by all that transpired this week … Perhaps the best album that Bob Dylan ever created was Highway 61 Revisited. Many years ago Margo and I attended an event in New Orleans, the ATMIA annual conference for the financial community. As you can imagine it was focused on ATMs and it was the subject of the post, Covering all points on the compass, NonStop is hard to miss! ,but it had been our plan to drive up to Memphis via Highway 61 and that didn’t happen as the weather wasn’t the best and we were running up against the clock. The highway, or as it may be better known as route, 61 follows the Mississippi River north out of New Orleans and is often referred to as the Blues Highway and had been on my bucket list for decades. What made Bob Dylan’s album so memorable were tracks that included Like a Rolling Stone, Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row and y...

We are in the middle of yet another road trip, driving across the United States. This time, it’s a trip that will take us to the east coast to visit with former colleagues and good friends and as it’s been “in the works” for some time, actually pulling out from our driveway allowed us to let go and to breath. Our carriage of choice for this trip is our Jaguar F Type – a first expansive road trip for the small sports car but it’s the all-wheel-drive version shod in all-season tires (with the Mud and Snow rating) so we are hopeful that the snow that fell on us just a few days ago proves to be an isolated instance. “There's real life for you, embodied in that little cart,” said Toad to Mole and Rat in the book, Wind in the Willows. “The open road, the dusty highway, the heath, the common, the hedgerows, the rolling downs! Camps, villages, towns, cities! Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a hori...