INFO-VAX Tue, 08 Apr 2008 Volume 2008 : Issue 197 Contents: Re: Computer operating systems Re: DNS root files updated Re: Does POWER_OFF really work ? DS10L Lottery for April 08 Human Resource (HR) headache coming up Re: Human Resource (HR) headache coming up Re: Immediate:TOLAS Programmer in McHenry, IL - DIRECT CLIENT Requirement Re: OpenVMS Integrity + Blades Testimonials - Financial and Telecom Markets Re: OpenVMS Integrity + Blades Testimonials - Financial and Telecom Markets Mark Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Re: System Programming Resources for Alpha Architecture Re: yet another compress question Re: yet another compress question Re: yet another compress question Re: yet another compress question Re: yet another compress question Re: yet another compress question ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:02:24 -0400 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?= Subject: Re: Computer operating systems Message-ID: <47f980aa$0$90270$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> David J Dachtera wrote: > George wrote: >> Are you crazy about different operating systems like C++, >> java in computers? >> If you want to check about that please visit >> http://some.spammer.site/ > > C++ and Java are programming languages, not operating systems. Consider not reposting the spammers URL. Arne ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:40:11 -0500 From: David J Dachtera Subject: Re: DNS root files updated Message-ID: <47FADB0B.B238003B@spam.comcast.net> JF Mezei wrote: > > This past february, there was an update to the DNS root file. > > Mr Hoff has a good page on this on his HoffmanLabs web site. > > http://64.223.189.234/node/791 > > If your run your won DNS server, you may wish to look into this. > > (the L-root-servers.net was changed) Thanx for the heads-up, JF! I used the code in Hoff's web page to update my little Alpha (Jensen) which serves as my home-LAN DNS server. David J Dachtera (formerly dba) DJE Systems ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 08:09:36 -0700 (PDT) From: DaveG Subject: Re: Does POWER_OFF really work ? Message-ID: <7d100b3a-159d-44c1-9382-53fad6556728@l64g2000hse.googlegroups.com> On Apr 3, 10:28=A0am, DaveG wrote: > On Apr 2, 10:43=A0pm, Michael Austin wrote: > > > > > > > BobH wrote: > > > VAXman- =A0@SendSpamHere.ORG wrote in > > >news:47f22222$0$5615$607ed4bc@cv.net: > > > >> In article , BobH write= s: > > >>> VAXman- =A0@SendSpamHere.ORG wrote in > > >>>news:47f16c09$0$5615$607ed4bc@cv.net: > > > >>>> In article <47f15559$0$3857$c3e8...@news.astraweb.com>, JF Mezei > > >>>> writes: > > >>>>> VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote: > > > >>>>>> 'Twould be fine with me too but the power-hour wasn't about light= > > >>>>>> pollution, it was a gesture about conserving energy. =A0Power > > >>>>>> companies generate electric based on average demands. =A0I really= > > >>>>>> doubt that they made any fuel consumption changes based on a mino= r > > >>>>>> brief hour dip on the grid. > > >>>>> Not sure how authoritative, but I heard the city of Toronto notice= d > > >>>>> an 8% drop in electrical consumption during that hour. > > >>>> Could be but the generators were still turning! > > >>> They may well be spinning, but the amount of energy they use is > > >>> proportional to the amount of power they are outputting. =A0The whee= ls > > >>> on a car may turn at the same speed down hill and uphill, but downhi= ll > > >>> the engine may be near idle, while uphill it is consuming gasoline a= t > > >>> a much greater rate, even theough it is turning, along with the > > >>> wheels, at the same speed. > > >> Gas turbines aren't enormously efficient! =A060% at most. =A0A 7% dip= in > > >> the grid for an hour didn't affect anything significantly! > > > Except for the fact a large majority of the generating plants are > > actually coal-fired and you have to keep them coals hot. And in the case= > > of hydro or nuclear, you can't even shut the spillways or do whatever it= > > takes to cool down a nuclear plant for 1 hr... Again, a 1hr 7% reduction= > > did very little to conserve any real energy. =A0When you think about it,= > > electricity is only uses real energy at the point at which it is > > generated. =A0Once AC is generated, it cannot be stored for "a rainy day= ". > > =A0 It is used as it is generated and only as it is generated - well may= be > > a few seconds to cross the grid... =A0 Having visited many power plants > > during my days as a DEC Field service eng, trust me, 7% was not even > > worth it... =A0The only way to make it worth it is 7% permanent reductio= n. > > > And IIRC, POWER_OFF did work on the 8800's...- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - > > While what you and others have said is no doubt true, I think the > purpose of the earth day excercise was more a public awareness thing > than coal Vs nuke Vs hydro and thermodynamics, etc. > > If it got people thinking about not leaving a light on when not needed > or similar, then it accomplished something. > > As I mentioned earlier in this thread it's a start.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - Replying to my own post..... I've been using the term "earth day" when the correct term is "earth hour". My mistake. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 10:44:37 -0400 From: "David Turner, Island Computers" Subject: DS10L Lottery for April 08 Message-ID: <2xLKj.32309$r76.17403@bignews8.bellsouth.net> Yep It's that time again We're giving away: Alphaserver DS10L 6/466 2MB Cache 512MB Memory 30GB IDE 7200RPM Disk Dual On Board IDE controller No CDROM or FLoppy Dual 10/100 Ethernet Permedia 2 8MB Graphics card We can preload VMS 7.3-2 ~8.3 (no Licenses) Shipping within the US (except for Hawaii) is $35 Shipping worldwide is additional (varies between $100-$200) depending on location Send your application to: dturner@islandco.com with "Alpha DS10L" in the subject line Drawing is on April 30th '08 -- David B Turner ============================================= Island Computers US Corp PO Box 86 Tybee GA 31328 Toll Free: 1-877 636 4332 x201, Mobile x251 Email: dturner@islandco.com International: 001 706 993 1787 Fax: 912 786 8505 Web: www.islandco.com ============================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 00:11:49 -0700 (PDT) From: gorecroot Subject: Human Resource (HR) headache coming up Message-ID: Source: http://www.gorecroot.com HR in India had just about forgotten post y2k and dot com vaporization. 7 years is definitely a long time in Software and BPO parlance. We had all but forgotten that not long ago belts had to be tightened. Hardcore professionals, professional recruiters, and long term players enjoyed the digestion process. Coming up now are the following challenges: 1. An industry force that believes that salaries grow 20 - 30% every year (perhaps twice a year would be good as well) 2. At least for India based companies, the government is talking about having the Techies pay some corporate tax 3. HR that is grapling with attrition issues - not really the rate, but the way it is done HR in other verticals are commenting and do I see a smirk: You reap what you sow. Perhaps it is time to go back, close the loop and pull some good basics from Industrial Relations days. Human Resource Management was (when it started a few decades back in India) just the better dressed + business drink version of good old Industrial Relations. Am just quoting someone who has been in business for 3+ decades now. Did we lose sight of objective somewhere in the middle? Somewhere when people were looked in 5 performance bands, Comments anyone? Any talking industry wide clean up acts yet? Isn't it about time? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:27:05 -0700 From: "Tom Linden" Subject: Re: Human Resource (HR) headache coming up Message-ID: On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:11:49 -0700, gorecroot wrote: > Source: http://www.gorecroot.com > > > HR in India had just about forgotten post y2k and dot com > vaporization. 7 years is definitely a long time in Software and BPO > > parlance. We had all but forgotten that not long ago belts had to be > tightened. Hardcore professionals, professional recruiters, and > > long term players enjoyed the digestion process. > > Coming up now are the following challenges: > 1. An industry force that believes that salaries grow 20 - 30% every > year (perhaps twice a year would be good as well) > 2. At least for India based companies, the government is talking about > having the Techies pay some corporate tax > 3. HR that is grapling with attrition issues - not really the rate, > but the way it is done > > HR in other verticals are commenting and do I see a smirk: You reap > what you sow. Perhaps it is time to go back, close the loop and > > pull some good basics from Industrial Relations days. > > Human Resource Management was (when it started a few decades back in > India) just the better dressed + business drink version of > > good old Industrial Relations. Am just quoting someone who has been in > business for 3+ decades now. Did we lose sight of objective > > somewhere in the middle? Somewhere when people were looked in 5 > performance bands, > > Comments anyone? Yes, that adjective form of India is Indian. > > Any talking industry wide clean up acts yet? Isn't it about time? -- PL/I for OpenVMS www.kednos.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2008 13:12:37 +0200 From: "CyberCityNews" Subject: Re: Immediate:TOLAS Programmer in McHenry, IL - DIRECT CLIENT Requirement Message-ID: <47f8b025$0$89169$157c6196@dreader1.cybercity.dk> yyyc186 wrote: > When is EDS going to smell the coffee?? They have been opening this > up to a cattle call since November 2007 and offering illegal alien > wages the entire time. They still haven't filled it. > > Here's a hint. > > When they triple the billing rate they are offering, they will "start" > to get people interested. It won't get interesting for anyone with > TOLAS skills until they quadruple it. > > Normally I don't rant like this (well, in here anyway), but with these > cattle calls I've been getting about 200 phone calls per month from > pimps who feel some God given right to waste my time. Sometimes > getting 3-4 calls from the same pimp (most of whom speak very little > English) wondering why I won't leave my current contract and come work > for them at 1/10th the billing rate I currently have at a client > site. (No, I'm not making this up.) > > LOL - it is true. Some Indian outsourcing company got some contracts and is now trying to fill the positions for the services they sold. "Selling short" - SOP for these guys Dweeb > > On Apr 3, 7:17 pm, recruiter.lok...@gmail.com wrote: >> Greetings!!! >> >> My name is Lokesh Narayanaswamy and I represent the Allied Solutions >> Group, Inc. an Inc 500 Company with headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio. >> We provide IT consulting service for our clients' across the United >> States and UK; your resume matches to one of our client's current >> needs in McHenry, IL. >> >> I found your resume on the Job board and wanted to check with you >> regarding your availability for new project assignments. If you are >> currently seeking or will be available to start a new assignment in >> the next month or two please send me a copy of your updated resume in >> Word format to discuss the available opportunities. Your resume will >> not be sent anywhere without your permission. >> >> Specifically, the opportunity that I would like to discuss with you >> is for TOLAS Programmer in McHenry, IL. >> >> Type: 6 months contract to hire >> Job Description >> >> Client is looking for a TOLAS Programmer >> >> Main Skills: TOLAS, VMS VAX, Alpha Cluster. Knowledge of DCL >> >> Notes: US Citizens, Green Card, TN Visas, or EAD Holders only. This >> is an immediate need. Onsite is preferred, Remote is a slight >> chance- only if they are awesome. >> >> And also provide me the answers to the following questions: >> >> Desired position. >> Primary Skills >> Location (city and state, Contact number/Alternate number/ best time >> to contact) >> Are you willing to relocate, do you have any location restrictions? >> (If any provide it) >> Expected pay rate. >> Are you willing to work on W2? >> IF C2C please provide me your employers details: >> Work Authorization status? >> Date of availability. >> It's an exciting time at ASGI. We offer a competitive salary, >> Medical/ Health Insurance, Paid Holidays, Vacation, and Sick Days. >> To learn more about our company and this opportunity, please give us >> a call. >> >> Regards, >> Lokesh Narayanaswamy >> Allied Solutions Group, Inc. >> ------------------------------------ >> Ph: 440.550.4032 >> >> Fax: 440.550.8029 >> >> E-mail: lokesh.narayanasw...@alliedgroups.com >> >> Web:www.alliedgroups.com >> >> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: >> >> This email may contain confidential, proprietary or legally >> privileged information. It must not be used by anyone who is not the >> original intended recipients. If you are not the intended recipient >> of this message and are notified that disclosing, copying, >> distributing or taking any action in reliance on the content of this >> information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail >> in error, please notify the sender and destroy all copied of the >> transmittal. Thank you ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:15:52 -0600 From: Dan Notov Subject: Re: OpenVMS Integrity + Blades Testimonials - Financial and Telecom Markets Message-ID: JF Mezei wrote: > Main, Kerry wrote: > >>> The VMS licence for the blade is the cheapest level of licence. IIRC >>> £700 per core for FOE >> Just want to emphasize that the larger blades are not just for small-med >> businesses when you consider their spec's: >> >> - dual core (4 cpu) >> - 96GB memory >> - dual FC connectivity >> - 2 x dual GB network (4 ports total) > > Doesn't HP make most of its money on the blade cabinet ? > > For instance, say a blade box has 16 slots for CPU cards. > At what point does buying a Blade solution become more cost effective > than buying individual 1U servers ? 4 ? 8 ? 10 ? > Try for yourself, if you can stand to use Flash: http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/downloads/BladeTCO112607.swf Also, please note that this is an X86 tool comparing equivalent blade and rack servers. Most TCO analyses I've done points to 4 blades where SAN is included in the mix. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:13:14 -0600 From: Dan Notov Subject: Re: OpenVMS Integrity + Blades Testimonials - Financial and Telecom Markets Mark Message-ID: Tom Linden wrote: > On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:15:52 -0700, Dan Notov wrote: > >> JF Mezei wrote: >>> Main, Kerry wrote: >>> >>>>> The VMS licence for the blade is the cheapest level of licence. IIRC >>>>> £700 per core for FOE >>>> Just want to emphasize that the larger blades are not just for >>>> small-med >>>> businesses when you consider their spec's: >>>> >>>> - dual core (4 cpu) >>>> - 96GB memory >>>> - dual FC connectivity >>>> - 2 x dual GB network (4 ports total) >>> Doesn't HP make most of its money on the blade cabinet ? >>> For instance, say a blade box has 16 slots for CPU cards. >>> At what point does buying a Blade solution become more cost effective >>> than buying individual 1U servers ? 4 ? 8 ? 10 ? >>> >> Try for yourself, if you can stand to use Flash: >> http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/downloads/BladeTCO112607.swf >> >> Also, please note that this is an X86 tool comparing equivalent blade >> and rack servers. >> >> Most TCO analyses I've done points to 4 blades where SAN is included >> in the mix. > > I looked at that analysis. When they say 1U Intel server do they mean > Itanium? As I mentioned above, this is for x86 severs (XEON/Opteron), not Itanium. > The prices quoted on the perpherals were unrealistically high. The > prices for > port and cables for both ethernet and SAN are between 6 to 10 times > higher than > market. List prices are used throughout, YMMV of course. > It looks like the price for the configured 1U servers is about $14.5K @ > , makes > 8 DS10L's look pretty attractive, ore even a couple of ES40s. > > Can't comment on power costs, again for DS10Ls it would be small > > Software costs, don't know what this is based on. > > I think I could build an 8-cluster DS10L with a 2TB HSG80 for a total > outlay of > of about $10K including console server and it would probably consume about > 1200W at most. Again, these are new systems, ProLiant/BladeSystem, not Integrity/Alpha/whatever. ------------------------------ Date: 08 Apr 2008 02:29:03 GMT From: VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG Subject: Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Message-ID: <47fad86e$0$5626$607ed4bc@cv.net> In article <47fac881$0$90276$14726298@news.sunsite.dk>, =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?= writes: >Bill Gunshannon wrote: >> PHP is more like a steaming, stinking pile of dung than any usable >> computer programming language. > >Within its intended area of usage it is actually an OK language. > >It is possible to write quite well structured code using PHP. > >PHP' bad reputation comes mostly from the fact that 14 year olds >can write pretty feature rich web apps in it - and did so. And even >though the result looked very good for the end user, then programmers >tasked with maintaining and extending it got a nightmare. ...as I've learned in the past few days. I've been mopping up while some script kiddies continue to pull the equivalent of the Mr. Creosote cyber- style on some web sites. It's not been a fun 4 or 5 days. -- VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)COM "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?" http://tmesis.com/drat.html ------------------------------ Date: 08 Apr 2008 11:59:51 GMT From: Simon Clubley Subject: Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Message-ID: On 2008-04-07, Arne Vajhøj wrote: > > Within its intended area of usage it is actually an OK language. > > It is possible to write quite well structured code using PHP. > > PHP' bad reputation comes mostly from the fact that 14 year olds > can write pretty feature rich web apps in it - and did so. And even > though the result looked very good for the end user, then programmers > tasked with maintaining and extending it got a nightmare. > AIUI, it's not so much the fact that it's a easy to use language for beginners that's the problem, but the fact that it's a easy to use language with security tacked on afterwards that's the problem. > Arne Simon. -- Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP Microsoft: Bringing you 1980's technology to a 21st century world ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:07:52 +0100 From: Tom Wade Subject: Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Message-ID: >>> I'm learning Php, and I find a lot of similarities (is that a genuine >>> English word ???) with DCL. >> PHP is more like C than DCL > > PHP is more like a steaming, stinking pile of dung than any usable > computer programming language. Isn't that precisely what the previous poster said ? :-) --------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Ireland ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:42:36 -0700 From: "Tom Linden" Subject: Re: Php invented by a former DECcie ? Message-ID: On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:07:52 -0700, Tom Wade wrote: > >>>> I'm learning Php, and I find a lot of similarities (is that a genuine >>>> English word ???) with DCL. >>> PHP is more like C than DCL >> PHP is more like a steaming, stinking pile of dung than any usable >> computer programming language. > > Isn't that precisely what the previous poster said ? :-) Good point. What do you guys use? I looked at your www do you use VMS for your mail server? > > --------------------------------------------------------- > Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie > EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 > A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 > Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer > Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" > Ireland -- PL/I for OpenVMS www.kednos.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2008 13:32:58 -0700 (PDT) From: mattst88@gmail.com Subject: Re: System Programming Resources for Alpha Architecture Message-ID: <19ec7227-cbf1-40ef-91b6-bb6e4bfe18d4@8g2000hse.googlegroups.com> On Apr 6, 12:54 am, "Tom Linden" wrote: > On Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:59:43 -0700, wrote: > > I've made a nice little collection of alpha programming related links > > on my site:http://mattst88.com/?page=links#alpha > > Hope you find them useful. > > In the VMS world SDL was something useful. Why are you posting this here? > > -- > PL/I for OpenVMSwww.kednos.com I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. I posted a collections of relevant links I've gathered about programming for alpha. What did I do wrong? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 04:31:37 -0700 (PDT) From: parnold@bellfruitgames.co.uk Subject: Re: yet another compress question Message-ID: <40b87771-db17-451e-88a7-0ff7b499ad78@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com> Thanks to everyone for their replies. I'm making some kind of progress but not there yet. The 1f 9e means it contains vms private data. Things are made more difficult by the fact that I don't have a vax so can't run any original code and all source code I've found doesn't compile on a pc without a lot of modification. Regards Paul ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:32:22 -0700 From: "Tom Linden" Subject: Re: yet another compress question Message-ID: On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:31:37 -0700, wrote: > Thanks to everyone for their replies. > > I'm making some kind of progress but not there yet. > The 1f 9e means it contains vms private data. > > Things are made more difficult by the fact that I don't have a vax so > can't run any original code and all source code I've found doesn't > compile on a pc without a lot of modification. What is the source written in? Ask someone with a VAX to run it. Just for kicks did you try changing the 'e' to 'd' ? > > Regards > Paul -- PL/I for OpenVMS www.kednos.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 05:39:07 -0700 (PDT) From: parnold@bellfruitgames.co.uk Subject: Re: yet another compress question Message-ID: <1e143401-5d1f-4dc3-bdb7-fa5915cd93c7@a9g2000prl.googlegroups.com> The source is written in C but there is some vms specific stuff to do with vms descriptors etc. Also, my compiler doesn't like the function declarations, the style is generally : function( var1, var 2 ) char var1 int char2 etc Changing the 9E to 9D doesn't work as the 9E adds some additional info and changes the initialisation of the decompressor slightly. I don't know anyone with a vax but if anyone on here would be kind enough to try decompressing a file for me I'm more than happy to send it. I have about 20 files in total but if I could get one done it'd be a starting point. Thanks Paul ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:41:03 -0700 From: "Tom Linden" Subject: Re: yet another compress question Message-ID: On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:39:07 -0700, wrote: > The source is written in C but there is some vms specific stuff to do > with vms descriptors etc. > Also, my compiler doesn't like the function declarations, the style is > generally : > function( var1, var 2 ) > char var1 > int char2 > etc > > Changing the 9E to 9D doesn't work as the 9E adds some additional info > and changes the initialisation of the decompressor slightly. > > I don't know anyone with a vax but if anyone on here would be kind > enough to try decompressing a file for me I'm more than happy to send > it. > I have about 20 files in total but if I could get one done it'd be a > starting point. > > Thanks > Paul > So me the program you want to use to decompress and a file and I will try -- PL/I for OpenVMS www.kednos.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 07:55:40 -0500 (CDT) From: sms@antinode.org (Steven M. Schweda) Subject: Re: yet another compress question Message-ID: <08040807554058_2020CE0A@antinode.org> From: parnold@bellfruitgames.co.uk > I don't know anyone with a vax but if anyone on here would be kind > enough to try decompressing a file for me I'm more than happy to send > it. Finding a VMS system to use is pretty easy. One example: http://www.testdrive.hp.com/ http://www.testdrive.hp.com/current.shtml You won't see a VAX there, but VMS is (largely) VMS, and the IA64 systems are faster than VAXes. (You will find descrip.h, for example.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steven M. Schweda sms@antinode-org 382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818 Saint Paul MN 55105-2547 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:42:51 -0400 From: "Richard B. Gilbert" Subject: Re: yet another compress question Message-ID: <-sWdnY5oSJ3262banZ2dnUVZ_siknZ2d@comcast.com> parnold@bellfruitgames.co.uk wrote: > The source is written in C but there is some vms specific stuff to do > with vms descriptors etc. > Also, my compiler doesn't like the function declarations, the style is > generally : > function( var1, var 2 ) > char var1 > int char2 > etc > > Changing the 9E to 9D doesn't work as the 9E adds some additional info > and changes the initialisation of the decompressor slightly. > > I don't know anyone with a vax but if anyone on here would be kind > enough to try decompressing a file for me I'm more than happy to send > it. > I have about 20 files in total but if I could get one done it'd be a > starting point. > > Thanks > Paul > There's a commercial service in New York that specializes in recovering data from weird media or damaged media. They MAY also be able to deal with strange compression schemes. Muller Media Conversions 21 Locust Street Manhasset, NY 11030 http://www.mullermedia.com/ 1-516-833-3067 For the price of an envelope and a stamp or a phone call, you can find out if they can help. Tell Chris I sent you. ------------------------------ End of INFO-VAX 2008.197 ************************