Posted: November 14, 2008 via FrankenNews Service

Rumors have IBM Chief Scientist Dr Frank Soltis set to retire in early December 2008.

While currently unsubstantiated these rumors if true would bring to a close an historic career with IBM's Rochester plant which included the lead roll in creating the BEST computing system ON THE PLANET, the system now known as IBM i.

Recently Dr Soltis has enjoyed touring the globe and meeting with the close knit user community of the platform. This included last year's world tour with Frankeni's own DrFranken which included a stop at the OCEAN users group in southern California.

Should his retirement become reality, the Frankeni team would like to be amoung the first to wish Dr. Frank all the best in his retirement from IBM. As the Webmunster commented yesterday on the midrange.com discussion list, Dr Frank has many opportunities to enjoy that may even include racing at Indy! Heck I'd love to go 235 MPH myself... just not in the Old Red Dodge..

The Frankeni team would also like to offer the prestigious position of Chief Scientist at Frankeni to Dr Frank. While the position doesn't pay much, it offers endless opportunities to discover even more ways to utilize the hardware and softare he created over the years. Besides we're pretty sure he'd be able to clue us in on a lot of stuff we're puzzled about!

The team has compiled all the handouts we have received over the years from Dr Frank's presentations and have posted them here. Please alert us to any discrepancies you may notice.

Stay tuned to Frankeni.com for updates to this important story and the status of our offer to Dr Frank.

Posted: October 24, 2008 via FrankenNews Service

See DrFranken & WebMunster at iSeries DevCon 2008!

DrFranken and the WebMunster will be speaking at iSeries DevCon 2008 NEXT WEEK in Orlando, Florida. The conference runs October 27-29 with jumpstart sessions on Sunday the 26th.

While the pair will present separately for most of the conference, they'll team up on Wednesday for another presentation of the COMMON Gold Medal winning session "Pimp My i."

See the Hear the Team Speak page for other upcoming events.

Posted: April 04, 2008 via FrankenNews Service

Frankeni mourns loss of a friend.

The news hit the team like a medicine ball to the chest: Longtime COMMON speaker, contributor, mentor, and friend Al Barsa Jr. passed away at what became his final COMMON conference last evening.

Despite a fall a week ago that left him with 150 stitches and a broken nose, Al presented all his sessions, a total of 7 session hours, at the 2008 annual conference in Nashville TN. When first seen with his black and blue eye and nose before the conference got started, Al told DrFranken: "The other guy was the chairman of HP!"

Al was seen at all the iSocial events as well, speaking to many attendees throughout. At the close of the Wednesday event DrFranken enjoyed a joke told the way only Al could tell it and laughed when Al poked fun of COMMON staff members as he often did.

The team extends our deepest sympathy to Al's family and Friends.

A Pillar of the IBM i community Al will be sorely missed. The frankeni team suggests contributsions to the COMMON Education Foundation (CEF) in his memory.

Posted: March 31, 2008 via FrankenNews Service

Awards presented at COMMON Opening

We reported a few months ago that DrFranken & WebMunster won gold speaker medals and Best New Session for "Pimp my i" at the Anaheim conference. The awards were officially presented during Sunday's Opening Session here in Nashville.

Chris Maxcer over at his "Maxed out" blog on System i Network had a summary of the Opening Session and made mention of the awards which were given out.

Sure, Chris was just summarizing the session, but heck, pretty much any time you can see your name in "lights" so to speak is a good thing. He had this comment on the Best New Session award:

"Judging by audience reaction, though, more than a few attendees appreciated Best New Session - 2007 winners Larry Bolhuis and Kevin Mort, who delivered, "Pimp My i, Extreme System i Engineering"."

Pretty cool stuff.

Posted: January 30, 2008 via FrankenNews Service

New Feature: The Team Speaks!

Ever wonder where you can hear members of the team speak about all things i? Wonder no more! Now you can find us around the country by checking out the newest section on Frankeni.com: The Team Speaks It's updated as our schedules change. If you'd like to hear us speak click the 'Contact Us' link on the left and drop us a note.

Posted: December 26, 2007 via FrankenNews Service

New Feature: FrankenWeather!

Ever wonder why the Dr. is in his lab working on Frankie and friends? Well he lives in MI and the weather isn't always perfect! Check out the weather at the lab coutesy of the Dr's Christmas present, a weather station, here: FrankenWeather It's updated automatically.

Posted: November 27, 2007 via FrankenNews Service

The Dr's Blog.

Haven't seen Dr Franken in print in a while and wondering what he's thinking? Check out his opinions at The Dr's Blog Be sure to check back regularly for updates.

Updates: November, 2007 via FrankenNews Service

Dr. Franken and iGor LIVE at iSeries Devcon.

iGor and the Dr. presented "Pimp My i - Extreme System i Engineering" at iSeries Devcon in Las Vegas, NV on October 31st. The presentation was to a nearly packed house and drew rounds of applause from the audience. It may have even generated a few donations to the cause!

DrFranken meets Dr Frank Soltis when he presents "Pimp My i - Extreme System i Engineering" at OCEAN in Southern California on March 18, 2008

Posted: October 22, 2007 via FrankenNews Service

Dr. Franken & WebMunster Go GOLD at COMMON,

"Pimp My i" Earns Best New Session!

The Franken i Team announces that Dr. Franken and the WebMunster have earned gold medal speaker awards for "Pimp My i - Extreme System i Engineering", presented at the COMMON Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.

The session was also named "Best New Session" at the conference.

The Franken i Team would like to thank all of our contributors, friends and supporters, as well as everyone in attendance for helping to make this happen.

Dr. Franken and WebMunster also give a special "shout out" to iGor for his contributions to the session.

We'll be back in action for the 2008 COMMON Annual Meeting & Expo in Nashville, TN - March 30-April 3.

Posted: April 28, 2007 via FrankenNews Service

Dr. Franken Honored...

COMMON Annual Conference - Anaheim, California, USA

At the Opening Session at COMMON's Spring 2007 conference in Anaheim California Frankeni.com's own DrFranken was awarded COMMON's Highest Honor, the Distinguished Service Award. The award is given "For long-term commitment and leadership in the development and delivery of COMMON's Education Curriculum."

Congratulations DrFranken!