Well, I guess it depends on your definition of the word "system". In recent years, I've designed, coded and implemented sets of new COBOL programs and CICS screens that automate processes that were still being done by hand. To me, that's a new system, especially since the user sees this development as something brand-new, not a addition to an existing set of screens. However, at the core, these new programs and screens have to interface with legacy files to manipulate data. If you require a system to be entirely new, even down to the data, you might disagree that this is a "new" system. But as far as the users are concerned, it's new.

------RM

Well, gee... I must be imagining the over 100 new COBOL programs I've written over the past seven years. You see, I do this for a living, and make a pretty decent living at that. I work for an insurance company. The policy and billing management systems are implemented in COBOL on an IBM mainframe, and if we want to keep pace with our competitors, new development is essential. Recently we upgraded the web interface external clients use to access our billing data. While that involved a lot of web design and Java programming, at its core was a set of brand new COBOL programs that fetch the data from the legacy system. (And send it back as XML. Yeah, COBOL can do that.)

I graduated from college in 1989, and didn't study COBOL because everyone told me it was a dead language. When I entered the job market in 1991, every job opening I found required COBOL experience. I was lucky to get a job with a consulting outfit that was willing to train me, and that was the beginning of an 18-year career programming COBOL, CICS, and occasionally DB2. Throughout that career, I would hear again and again that COBOL was a dinosaur language and was going away. Meanwhile, I continued to design and code new programs and systems in this supposedly dead language.

So you'll have to forgive me if I don't worry too much about the "death" of COBOL.

------RM

Seriously. I read on the web and hear on the news how Anonymous "crashed Visa.com and Mastercard.com"! Oooh! What a terrifying demonstration of their power! Let me check... Nope, both sites still up. Supposedly their next target was Amazon.com. If that was even true in the first place, the attack was ineffective.

C'mon folks -- These guys are a joke. They're not an awe-inspiring force of Internet destruction. They're an annoyance, a mosquito buzzing in your ear. So they took down a website for a moment or two. Like those sites have never been down before. The sites come back up, the world goes on. I doubt the majority of credit card customers were even aware anything had happened.

Face it, the only reason these kids are gaining so much attention is because the story sounds good on the news.

------RM

They use hover-cover.

(Now to see if I'm the only person in the universe who still gets that reference.)

------RM

Well, actually, yes. I use Genius. A lot.

Look, it's not perfect, but for folks like me, who don't have either the time or the desire to craft a playlist for each mood I may happen to be in, it's a godsend. Before Genius came along, my options were either to listen to a specific album or artist, or shuffle the whole damn iPod. I'd do that occasionally, but the end result was heavy on Beatles and J-Pop. I obvious like both genres, or my iPod wouldn't be full of the stuff, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood for either. The Genius playlists do a decent job of segregating my collection into various flavors of rock, J-Pop, and anime soundtracks.

It's just a matter of convenience for this casual listener. I can understand why a more hardcore music collector (like say, someone who has 300+GB of music) might not find Genius sufficient. But then, I find it hard to believe such a collector would be satisfied with any automated playlist generator.

------RM

I'm not so sure. $33 million sounds like a lot, but it was the total for 27,000 players. That's an average of about $1,200 each. A nice check, but these guys aren't exactly high rollers. I'd be surprised if more than a tiny minority had the funds to open offshore accounts.
------RM

I dunno, man. Watching this today, I thought it was incredibly cool. But when I was in college 20 years ago, I was a different person. It was a difficult time for me, socially, and my dorm room was the only place I could "get away" when I needed to. I think I might have been a little bitter if I was told I had to let someone in to wire up lights, and essentially be kicked out on show night ('cuz it's not like you could study or sleep in there when the show was on). I find it hard to believe that with as many as 240 students affected, there wasn't at least one poor schmuck who just wanted to be left alone.

I guess I'm just saying that I hope this wasn't crammed down everyone's throats without giving them a choice.

------RM

So let's look at the AAA exclusives for PS3: Resistance, Motorstorm, Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Now the AAA exclusives for PS3: Zelda, Wii Sports(!?!), Wario Ware (?????).

This is why Nintendo is winning this war, folks. Sony and Microsoft have narrowed their focus to the testosterone-junkie market, leaving all the little kids, old folks, and females to be served by the DS and Wii.

My wife is the big gamer in our house. She owns almost console ever made. Yet until Ratchet & Clank comes out, there won't be anything on the PS3 to grab her attention.

------RM