SPARTA News March 2003
March 2003
SPARTA Chapter President’s Corner
- by Brad Carson
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to attend the February meeting. I want to thank Tommy Thomas for handling the February meeting for me. It's been a pretty tough month for the family and I; the sudden loss of my other brother Craig has made us all do a little soul searching. Things are doing better now. The Navy has been a big help to my sister-in-law down in Pensacola, FL.
This month I've been very busy with two major tasks, 1) OS/390 2.10, and 2) redefining all of our EMC DASD to support Parallel Access Volumes (PAV). OS/390 2.10 has been keeping all of us busy checking/verifying all vendor software. We should have it running on our QA/AD system by the end of the month. The PAV work is requiring us to redefine all of the Devices and Controllers on our two EMC 8730 SYMS, that’s 8192 devices and 256 control units. Lots of work in HCD for someone (me).
On our CICS front, I've finally turned the 3270 WEB bridge on in our CICSTEST region on the QA/AD system. Now the developers are going to start looking at adding WEB support to some of our key CICS applications. This should prove to be an interesting undertaking by that group. Unfortunately I've been selected to serve on our CICS standards committee because of this. Gee, more documentation that no one will read.
This month we will have a presentation on Share in Dallas, TX by SPARTA Members Ed Webb, Chris Blackshire, and Duane Reaugh. I look forward to seeing you all on the 25th at LabCorp RTP. Chicken, drinks, and dessert will be provided.
Remember: Dues for 2003 are payable at the March meeting! Thanks to those who have already renewed for 2003.
Future Speakers
(subject to change)
Mar. 25 SHARE 100 Conference Report by Duane Reaugh, Chris Blackshire, and Ed Webb
April 29 OS/390 and z/OS Limits by Jim Horne of Lowes
We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Duane Reaugh by phone or e-mail as noted below.
2002-2003 SPARTA
Board of Directors
Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 919-361-7270
1912 Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Duane Reaugh - Vice President
DTS Software 919-833-8426
2913 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609-7841
Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-412-6235
201 N. Eugene St. 336-227-2021 (Home)
Greensboro, NC 27401
Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
231 Maple Ave, Koury Ctr 3rd Fl. 919-572-7507
Burlington, NC 27215
Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute 919-531-4162
SAS Campus Drive 919-362-0232 (Home)
Cary, NC 27513
Meetings
Meetings are scheduled for the last Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in December), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.
These monthly meetings are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Brad Carson. Brad will escort you to the conference room.
Call for Articles
If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.
Newsletter Mailings
The SPARTA chapter policy is to mail a copy of the monthly chapter newsletter to each SPARTA member, NaSPA national, each advertiser, persons who have requested a copy, and to other chapters who send us a copy of their newsletter. The newsletter is mailed about the 20th of each month so you can prepare for the meeting. The mailing list is maintained by Mike Lockey at (336) 412-6235; if you have corrections or problems receiving your newsletter, call Mike.
Jan. 2003 CBT Tape Online
The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V457 (dated January 15, 2003) are available from www.cbttape.org.
If you need a complete tape, contact Brad Carson at LabCorp or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).
Minutes of the February 25th, 2003 Meeting
•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer. Neither Brad Carson nor Duane Reaugh were able to be at the meeting.
•Ten (1) people were present; all were members.
•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job function.
•Minutes of the January 2003 meeting were accepted as published in the February 2003 newsletter.
•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer’s report. As of February 25, 2003, the balance is $739.08.
OLD BUSINESS
•Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don’t really need to write the article, it can be an article that you read that you would like to share with the membership.
•You can access the SPARTA Web site, just point your Web browser to this URL: www.netpath.net/~mlockey/sparta.html. Please send any comments or suggestions about the SPARTA website to Mike Lockey (mlockey@netpath.net). Be sure to check our website every once in a while to see any new or changed information.
•Tommy reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean; wipe off the conference table and remove all trash when the meeting is over.
•Mike Lockey found information and prices from GoDaddy.com to host the SPARTA web site and for registering a domain name. He will discuss it at the next meeting.
•Annual dues of $20 are to be paid now.
NEW BUSINESS
•Future Speakers and Topics:
March 2003 - SHARE Conference Reports
April 2003 - TBA
Other ideas:
- New release of IOF - Triangle Systems
- CMG Conference - Jim Horne of Lowes
- TDMF - Ken Frump
- UNIX Services for OS/390
- IBM New Announcements
- CICS Web Bridge
If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Duane Reaugh.
•Annual dues of $20 are to be paid now.
•A nominating committee has been formed and has put together a list of nominees for the 2003-2004 SPARTA Board of Directors. If you are interested in being on the board, see Brad Carson or any current chapter officer.
•Food for the March 2003 meeting will be chicken, sodas, and dessert.
•The March SPARTA meeting will be held at LabCorp in RTP.
•Thanks to Tommy Thomas of LabCorp for hosting the February meeting.
•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:50 p.m.
•There was a round table discussion by those in attendance. One of the topics talked about was Disaster Recovery.
•The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Treasurer’s Report for February 2003
contributed by Tommy Thomas
The balance in the account is $ 1026.32 as of February 28, 2003.
Financial Report
3/01/2002 through 02/28/2003
INCOME
Opening Balance 693.15
Dues 810.00
Misc. 11.00
TOTAL INCOME $1514.15
EXPENSES
Food 302.25
Petty Cash 160.00
Bank Service Fees 21.00
P.O. Box 38.00
TOTAL EXPENSE $521.25
BANK BALANCE 992.90
PETTY CASH($160) 33.42
TOTAL CASH $1026.32
Items of Interest
Catalog Search Interface
contributed by Ed Webb
Look in SYS1.SAMPLIB at members IGGCSIxx for three programs and a REXX Exec that use a documented, supported interface to access your ICF catalogs. Review these examples, they work, and see if you can use them to improve your catalog reporting without struggling with the static reports from IDCAMS.
SHARE Proceedings from August 2002 Now Available
contributed by Ed Webb
San Francisco Proceedings of SHARE are now available Online. You can access the session presentations from SHARE in San Francisco at http://proceedings.share.org/sanfrancisco/
Access to IBMLink on the Internet Changes in April 2003
contributed by Chris Blackshire
“All of the IBMLink ServiceLink applications (SRD, ETR, SIS, ASAP, AST, PCR, and PSP), which provide electronic application capability for (various IBM) Services Offerings, are now available on IBMLink 2000 at http://www.ibm.com/ibmlink/link2.”
IBMLink 2000 provides the strategic Internet access to ServiceLink. United States access to the existing Internet ServiceLink applications on http://www.ibmlink.ibm.com/ will be discontinued on April 16, 2003. We encourage you to get an IR user ID today and begin migrating to the new IBMLink 2000. You might notice a slight difference in the way you navigate through the applications with the new "look and feel", but the functionality of the applications and the way you have been using them to run your business is the same. Further improvements are underway to continue to enhance your IBMLink experience. More information on how to access IBMLink 2000 can be found in the Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) application in IBMLink. There are two documents you should read: "Getting Started" and "Frequently Asked Questions". These documents will explain how to do an initial logon, how to use the new IBMLink Portal function, and display some general use questions and answers.”
SPARTA Food Agenda for 2003
contributed by Chris Blackshire
Mar - Chicken
Apr - Deli tray (something different for the sub rotation turn)
May onward - repeat BarBQ, Pizza, Chicken, sub rotation
Humor
Colonoscopy Humor
contributed by Duane Reaugh
A physician claims these are actual comments from his patients made while he was performing colonoscopy procedures.
1. "Take it easy, Doc, you're boldly going where no man has gone before."
2. "Find Amelia Earhart yet?"
3. "Can you hear me NOW?"
4. "Oh boy, that was sphincterrific!"
5. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
6. "You know, in Arkansas, we're now legally married."
7. "Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?"
8. "You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out. You do the Hokey Pokey...."
9. "Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!"
10. "If your hand doesn't fit, you must acquit!"
11. "Hey, Doc, let me know if you find my dignity."
12. "You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?"
13. "Could you write me a note for my wife, saying that my head is not, in fact, up there?"
Senility Prayer
contributed by Chris Blackshire
God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.
Now that I'm 'older' (but refuse to grow up), here's what I've discovered:
1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and All Bran.
3. I finally got my head together; now my body is falling apart.
4. Funny, I don't remember being absent minded... 4. Funny, I don't remember being absent minded...
5. All reports are in; life is now officially unfair.
6. If all is not lost, where is it?
7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
8. Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant.
9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few...
10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents.
11. Accidents in the back seat cause kids.
12. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
13. The only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're in the bathroom.
14. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.
15. When I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone decide to play chess?
16. It's not hard to meet expenses... they're everywhere.
17. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
18. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter..... I go somewhere to get something and then wonder what I'm here after.
19. I AM UNABLE TO REMEMBER IF I HAVE MAILED THIS TO YOU OR NOT!
20. Funny, I don't remember being, . . . absent minded...
Now I think you're supposed to send this to 5 or 6, maybe 10, oh send it to a bunch of your friends if you can remember who they are. Then something is supposed to happen, I think. Maybe you get your memory back
Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Location: LabCorp in the RTP
Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Brad Carson. Brad will escort you to the conference room.
Free Food: Chicken, Drinks, Dessert
Program:
SHARE 100 Conference Report
Speakers:
Duane Reaugh, Ed Webb, and Chris Blackshire
SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194
First Class Postage
Phillips Software
