IBM Systems Magazine, Power Systems - IBM i digital edition, February 2009 - 56

ENDPGM An eclectic take on the IBM i world Ready for a Fight Web site (https://www.cafepress.com/zen_baptist) provides instant confirmation that he lives up to his self-appointed, triple-barreled title. IBM i is Ken Jack’s weapon of choice The site is a combination of online T-shirt shop and Zen monastery; proof of the perfect balance of dharma and sense of humor that makes the ZBC so unique. Divided into several BY GARY J. EVANS categories—including For the Warrior, Programmers, A Fistful of Zen, Domestic Violence and others—the messages emblazoned o you buy your T-shir ts from the Zen Baptist on the items for sale provide a window into the issues ZBC is Commando? Maybe you should. As you might most passionate about. suspect, a Zen Baptist Commando (ZBC) isn’t a W het her inf luenced by his job, his family or his person to be taken lightly. Opinionated? Likely. Intelligent upbringing, Jack’s got a message. Sometimes, that message and thoughtful? Certainly. A warrior, ready to spring into is uncompromising, but moving: “The kids see it/The kids action whenever necessary? Bet on it. He’s the kind of person hear it/The kids feel it/Domestic abuse IS child abuse.” Other you want on your team. times, it’s humorous: “RPG—it’s not a role-playing game.” And Think of what the ZBC name implies: meditation and sometimes, the message is profound: “When you are deluded enlightenment; power and speed; devotion and passion. You and full of doubt, even a thousand might guess that a person who sported books of scripture are not enough. such a moniker would be thoughtful, When you have realized understanding, clear headed and of strong opinions and even one word is too much.” possess a willingness to stand up for what For all his interests, though, the he believes in. You’d be right. ZBC clearly has reserved a special spot As the world’s first, foremost and indeed in his heart for the IBM i, a platform only ZBC, Ken Jack says, “a Zen Baptist on wh ic h he’s be e n de ve lopi ng Commando is a kind of modified Quaker exclusively for more than 15 years. who’s not afraid of a fight.” But also, he “What I like about the i is that it’s points out, can be “goofy and playful.” quicker and easier to develop on The ZBC lives up to everything his than other platforms. The operating name suggests. A software developer system defines objects as either data by trade, Jack works for TMW Systems, or instructions, so it’s naturally virus a leading developer of dispatch and resistant. You don’t need a database transportation solutions for the trucking administrator, because it pretty much industry. Jack uses IBM i to help TMW Ken Jack, Zen Baptist Commando regulates itself,” Jack says. develop an industry-leading enterprise He cont i nues, “R PG has a lot resource software called TL2000, which of features that other languages don’t, like automatically he says “probably sounded pretty futuristic when it was first initializing variables, and opcodes that perform multiple named that back in 1986!” RPG IV, SQL and command-line functions, reducing the lines of code needed in the average processor are all part of his arsenal. program. DB2* for i externally described files beat it all out Beyond this, the ZBC is a black belt in Isshinryu Karate. of anything else.” According to Verticalfist.net, this form combines several schools In other words, IBM i is fast, flexible and powerful, efficient of martial arts, and “epitomizes the powerful, lightning-fast yet simple. Is it any wonder a Zen Baptist Commando would techniques that enabled the weaponless Okinawans to endure keep it at his weapon of choice for so long? the rein of the Chinese empire and to defeat the sword-wielding Samurai of Japan.” Furthermore, he trains in Ryukyu Kobudo, another ancient Gary J. Evans runs the Ann Arbor, Mich., Okinawan form of martial arts that focuses on weapons like ofﬁce of HookLogic, a software company out of nunchaku or the 6-foot staff. Manhattan. He’s spent nearly a decade shaping the But perhaps the clearest vision into the psyche of the Zen way companies utilize data to improve the bottom Baptist Commando can be found online. A quick trip to Jack’s line. Gary can be reached at garyjevans@gmail.com. D 56 FEBRUARY 2009 ibmsystemsmag.com/ibmi PHOTO COURTESY OF KEN JACK

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IBM Systems Magazine, Power Systems - IBM i digital edition, February 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IBM Systems Magazine, Power Systems - IBM i digital edition, February 2009