Halloween is tomorrow night, and for all you System i types planning on dressing up as something really frightening this year–such as a ghost, a goblin, or a PHP programmer–Zend Technologies has a few tricks and treats in store for you. For starters, you’ll get new features around the MySQL and SQL Server databases, and WYSIWYG functionality. You also gain the capability to install Zend Core for i5/OS directly from Windows. Now if that doesn’t scare you, nothing will.

For some time now, Zend has been working on the upcoming version 2.5 release of Zend Core, as well as

Interested in catching some bugs? Then you might want to check out Mantis/400, a new bug tracking and help desk application for the System i. Originally developed in PHP for the MySQL database, Mantis was recently ported to run under i5/OS and DB2/400 by a group of individuals from the System i community, the open source community, and IBM and Zend Technologies.

Mantis is a free Web-based bug tracking system and help desk application that was created in 2000 by a group of PHP developers for an internal project. The group sought to create a bug tracking application

mrc software last week announced the launch of m-Power 2.0, a new release of its Java-based development tool often used for writing Web and BI applications for the System i. With the new version, mrc is letting developers add Web 2.0-style functionality to their application, such as the capability to pop open a small, temporary window that displays pertinent information when a user places her cursor over a link on a Web page.

There are many reasons to modernize older applications. Let’s start with the biggest reason: the 5250 interface. Let’s face it–they’re not pretty. And while green screens are

IBM unveiled updates to its line of disk and tape products last week, including the roll-out of a new LTO 4 drive, the addition of bigger 15,000 RPM drives to its enterprise-class DS6000 disk arrays, and new data management features in its flagship DS8000 arrays. The IT giant also announced the acquisition of NovusCG, a Virginia company that develops software that allows organizations to more effectively manage the growth of their data and their storage resources.

The most compelling new storage features unveiled were added to the DS8000 Turbo product line, IBM’s top-of-the-line disk arrays for enterprise-class customers. IBM

Stations Casino, a $1 billion casino franchise based in Las Vegas, has picked Original Software to provide testing and security capabilities for its large collection of i5/OS applications, Original announced last month.

Stations Casino operates more than a dozen casinos used primarily by Las Vegas residents, including Palace Station Hotel & Casino, Boulder Station Hotel & Casino, Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel. The company, which employs more than 14,000 people, has a partial ownership in several casinos in Henderson, Nevada, and runs an Indian casino near Sacramento, California.

Like many casino and resort operators, Stations has trusted the IBM

With another Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) deadline looming just weeks away, it’s critical that you get your System i compliance plans on track. To that end, the System i security experts at PowerTech Group published a new white paper last week that analyzes the requirements and impacts PCI is having on the System i server.

PowerTech’s new white paper, titled “PCI Compliance for IBM System i (AS/400),” takes a look at each of the 12 main requirements of PCI, and maps those requirements into i5/OS terminology. This is quite useful, as the System i is a

The System i was once referred to as a “farmer’s box” by the CEO of a major ERP software developer. And now that Lawson Software has expanded its partnership with Mercatus to use IT to manage cows, pigs, and other livestock, the server may be more appropriately called a “rancher’s box.”

For years, Lawson has partnered with the Norwegian company Mercatus, which specializes in providing IT solutions to the European agriculture and aquaculture industries. Now, the two companies are expanding their partnership to introduce to the United States a new livestock management solution based on Lawson’s M3 Food and Beverage

Third quarter revenues for System i and mainframe emulation and modernization tools vendor NetManage declined by about 7.5 percent to $8.7 million, but profit rose by nearly half a million dollars, according to its SEC filing last week. The company also announced plans to expand into China, a potentially lucrative growth area for the System i-focused vendor.

For the third quarter, which ended September 30, NetManage revenues came in at about $8.7 million, compared to $9.4 million for the third quarter of 2006. Net income increased to $493,000, or $0.05 per share, compared to a profit of $33,000 in the

Oracle J.D. Edwards and PeopleSoft customers that need tax and regulatory updates for their ERP applications can now obtain them at significantly less cost through third-party maintenance provider netCustomer, which last week announced that these updates are ready for 2007.

There are some very good reasons that J.D. Edwards World and EnterpriseOne customers should pay Oracle 22 percent of the cost of their initial ERP software license fee, year in and year out. For some organizations, paying this annual maintenance fee gives them the peace of mind that Oracle will be there to help them if anything goes wrong

Abacus Solutions, a purveyor of new and refurbished servers based in Atlanta, Georgia, this week announced plans to expand the range of System i-related technical services that it performs on its clients servers.

Abacus sells a range of new and used servers, including System i, p, and x gear from IBM, servers from Sun and HP, and storage from EMC, Hitachi, NetApp, LeftHand Networks, and Pillar Data Systems. It also sells software products from various vendors, and provides a range of technical services.

On Sunday, Abacus announced the expansion of the technical