June 15, 2018
June 15, 2018 | Volume 14 Issue 24
- LEAD ARTICLE: TechTip: Watson APIs - Natural Language Classifier
- FEATURED ARTICLE: Ethical Hacking: What It Is and Why You Should Do It Against Your IBM i
- FEATURED ARTICLE: Improve Your Database with Normalization
- NEWS HIGHLIGHT: Profound Logic Customers and Employees Shine Bright at COMMON POWERUp18 Conference
- WHITE PAPER: 3 Compelling Drivers for Implementing an HA Solution on an IBM i Cloud with MIMIX
- MC VIDEO SHOWCASE: Design an Invoice in 10 Minutes
- EVENT: Query, Reporting, and Analytics for IBM i Users

TechTip: Watson APIs – Natural Language Classifier
You would think it would be easy to tell what language you were using, but apparently for Watson that’s not the case. Or am I misunderstanding what this is? Hmmm, which could it be?
By Dave Shirey
OK, so maybe I misunderstood this one a bit. Honestly, when I first looked at the API’s name, I thought it was related to figuring out what language you were using, whether it was Indo-European or Slavic or something else. My mistake.
The Natural Language Classifier is used to determine the intent behind a text selection, returning a confidence score to indicate how strongly it feels. In this way, it is related to the Tone Analyzer and the Personality Insights.
IBM Reports 2020 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results
Seiden Group Offers Free Application Profiling Tool for PHP on IBM i

Ethical Hacking: What It Is and Why You Should Do It Against Your IBM i
Not all hacking is bad. In fact, ethical hacking can reveal vulnerabilities before they’re exploited.
By Carol Woodbury
If you don’t believe a vulnerability exists, sometimes you need proof. Ethical hacking is a way to prove your system has a vulnerability that can be exploited. Once you have the proof, you may be more motivated to obtain funding for your security project and/or it may be easier for you to convince management to do so. Let’s take a look at what ethical hacking is.
What to Do When Your AS/400 Talent Retires
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small.
This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business?
This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
- Why IBM i skills depletion is a top concern
- How leading organizations are coping
- Where automation will make the biggest impact
Enjoy!
Download your copy today!
2019 State of IBM i Modernization
The annual Profound Logic ‘State of IBM i Modernization Survey” takes a look at the trends and attitudes that shape the IBM i modernization market. We reached out to the IBM i community, and the response was outstanding: close to 800 people, nearly 300 more than last year, took the survey. This enthusiasm resulted in very interesting findings for how businesses plan to use and modernize the platform in the coming year.
As you read through each section of the survey, you will see our summary of the results and suggestions for the future. We hope the survey will help your business better understand what is possible for your IBM i platform in the coming year.
Node Webinar Series Pt. 1: The World of Node.js on IBM i
Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.
Part 1 will teach you what Node.js is, why it's a great option for IBM i shops, and how to take advantage of the ecosystem surrounding Node.
In addition to background information, our Director of Product Development Scott Klement will demonstrate applications that take advantage of the Node Package Manager (npm).
watch now!
What Most IBM i Shops Get Wrong About the IFS
Can you trust all of your users all of the time?
A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six month later.
A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:
- How phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated
- Three little-known ways malicious programs can reach your IFS
- Why the IFS is IBM i’s “Typhoid Mary”
You’ll also learn why some of the most common malware solutions still leave IBM i systems vulnerable—and what you can do to protect your organization.
Easiest Way to Save Money? Stop Printing IBM i Reports
The thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing.
Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:
- Automated report distribution
- View online without delay
- Browser interface to make notes
- Custom retention capabilities
- Seamless product integration
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Improve Your Database with Normalization
A quick guide to the basics of database normalization—a critical step in refreshing an older IBM i database
by Rafael Victoria-Pereira
Editor's note: This article is excerpted from chapter 5 of SQL for IBM i: A Database Modernization Guide, by Rafael Victoria-Pereira.
Most people take a quick look at the normal forms definitions—the “steps” to achieve normalization Nirvana—and dismiss the whole thing as being an academic and convoluted waste of time. Actually, normalization is, for the most part, easy and mostly common sense with some business knowledge thrown in. Once you understand the fundamental concepts, you’ll see that it’s useful and a great way to tackle aging and “broken” databases. Let me start by introducing a few key concepts that will be used later to define each normal form.