SPARTA News January 2005

January 2005

SPARTA Chapter President’s Corner

- by Brad Carson

Welcome to 2005 and we start with an unusually warm January. By the time you read this we will probably be freezing our backsides off. I hope that everyone enjoyed Ed Webb’s presentation at our November meeting. Now that we are starting a new year I want to remind you that we will be collecting our annual dues starting this month. Please see Tommy Thomas to renew your membership.

We have begun our work toward installing z/OS 1.6 at DHTS. We have a few vendor products that will have to be upgraded before we get very far in this install. Just when we thought we were getting over our last DR test (October), we’ve been told to start planning for another one next month! Well here we go again, this time we are going to try and run our DR from here without flying to Sterling Forest. We’ll just send the tapes this time. I’ll let you know how things go in a future newsletter.

At DDA I’ve been reworking the backups there to try and get around an issue with the Unixware tar command. It seems to have a problem copying file greater than 2 Gig to tape. We use tar to copy all the “faketape” and zipped volume images to one DLT volume for DR purposes. Looks like I’ll have to change the Flex-ES configuration to limit the size of these virtual tapes to 2 Gig to get around this problem. Gee, more tape mounts to handle from z/OS. Oh well, this is the life with a SCO based Unix system.

This month our speaker will be Bill Reeder from IBM to talk to us about “Where and when z/Series Linux is the best fit”. I look forward to seeing you all at LabCorp on the 25th.

P.S. Be sure to ask for Tommy Thomas when you arrive at LabCorp. Chicken, drinks, and dessert will be provided.


Pay Your $20 Dues This Month!


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


Jan. 25 - Linux on IBM zSeries by Bill Reeder of IBM
Feb. 22 - TBA

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 as noted below.

2004-2005 SPARTA
Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President
Duke Health Technology Solutions 919-668-0545
2424 Ervin Road, Suite 9000
Durham, NC 27710


Duane Reaugh - Vice President
DTS Software 919-833-8426
2913 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609-7841

Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-641-6235
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. 919-361-7267
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 usually 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 Tommy Thomas. Tommy 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.

July 2004 CBT Tape Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V466 (dated July 25, 2004) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Brad Carson at Duke Health or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the November 30th, 2004 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.

•Sixteen (16) people were present; fourteen (14) were members.

•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job function.

•The minutes of October 2004 meeting were accepted as published in the November 2004 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's report. As of November 18, 2004, the balance is $1305.81. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report.

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.

•The SPARTA Web page is available. To access the SPARTA Web page, point your Web browser to this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

•Brad Carson reminded everyone to leave the conference room clean.


NEW BUSINESS

•Future Speakers and Topics:
(subject to change)

Jan. 2005: CMG - Jim Horne of Lowes

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Duane Reaugh.

•Thanks to Tommy Thomas of LabCorp for hosting the November meeting.

•The January 25th SPARTA meeting will be held at LabCorp in the RTP.

•Food for the January meeting will be chicken, drinks and dessert.

•Brad reminded everyone that there is no meeting in December.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:40 p.m.

•Ed Webb of SAS Institute talked about Migrating from z/OS R4 to z/OS R6 at SAS. Some of the topics Ed discussed were:

Migration Overview

IBM Enterprise Servers at SAS

Migration Path Decision - Why and When

Pre-ServerPac Planning and Actions

ServerPac Installation

ServerPac "Bugs"

ServerPac Enhancement Requests

Build z/OS Test System

Common Operational Data Sets with R4

Use of Symbolics

Master Catalog Updates

PARMLIB Changes

PROCLIB changes

Post-ServerPac Changes

Post-Implementation Gotchas

Future Plans for z/OS at SAS

The meeting ended at 8:50 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for January 2005

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $ 1321.99 as of January 12, 2005.

Financial Report
2/01/2004 through 01/12/2005

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2005

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

Jan 25 - Chicken
Feb 22 - Subs
Mar 22 - BBQ
Apr 26 - Pizza
May 23 - Chicken
Jun 28 - Subs
Jul 26 - BBQ
Aug 30 - Pizza
Sep 27 - Chicken
Oct 25 - Subs
Nov 29 - BBQ

The Firefox Browser

contributed by Chris Blackshire

What is Foxfire?
Firefox 1.0 empowers you to browse faster, more safely, and more efficiently than with any other browser. Join more than 16 million others and make the switch today - Firefox imports your Favorites, settings and other information, so you have nothing to lose.

Why Use Firefox?
Popup Blocking
Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks ....
Tabbed Browsing
View more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. ....
Privacy and Security
Built with your security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware ....
Google Search is built right into the toolbar, and there is a plethora of other search tools ....
Live Bookmarks
RSS integration lets you read the latest news headlines ....
Hassle-Free Downloading
Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop ....
Fits Like a Glove
Simple and intuitive, yet fully featured....
S, M, L or XL-It's Your Choice
Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet. ....
Setup's a Snap
At only 4.7MB (Windows), Firefox takes just a few minutes to download over a slow connection and seconds over a fast connection. The installer gets you set up quickly, and the new Easy Transition system
imports all of your settings - Favorites, passwords and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers - so you can start surfing right away.
A Developer's Best Friend
Firefox comes with a standard set of developer tools including a powerful JavaScript ....

What Platforms Can Run Foxfire?
Firefox System Requirements
Windows: Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP (Recommended), Windows Server 2003
Linux / UNIX
Mac

Learn more at URL: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/


Novell Attracting Linux Developers at Record Clip

contributed by Chris Blackshire

In response to Novell's entry into the Linux arena, the company announced that it has attracted more than 10,000 developers to its developer program in the last six months. At the same time, registered users of Novell(r) Forge, the company's hosted site for open source projects, have expanded 60 percent since Novell's January 2004 acquisition of SUSE(r) LINUX. Novell continues to expand its work with top-tier hardware vendors such as IBM, conducting joint training and other customer-focused activities that complement existing technology bundling agreements. Novell's channel partners have also embraced Novell's Linux strategy at a rapid pace, increasing their Linux solutions business significantly over the last year.

"There are two sides to an IT department," Jack Messman, Novell's chairman and CEO, told The New IBM LinuxLine. "There is the infrastructure/operations side and then there is the applications development side. We really never had an offering or a reason to see the application development side. But we do now." The growth of Novell's developer and partner ecosystem, Messman said, will provide new options in the breadth of Linux solutions to be deployed.

In a survey conducted in the spring of 2003, the percentage of Novell solution providers doing business in Linux was just over 15 percent. Today, 55 percent of all channel partners profiled in Novell PartnerNet indicate they support Linux as a platform. "Partners will be critical to Novell's success in expanding into the Linux market," said Hal Bennett, vice president for business development at Novell.


IBM z/OS 1.6 Migration Books

contributed by Ed Webb

A migration book of interest is the z/OS V1R6.0 Summary of Message and Interface Changes (http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com/epubs/pdf/e0z2h350.pdf). Also IBM has a series of customized books for migrating from supported releases to z/OS 1.6. For example, one is devoted to moving from z/ OS 1.4 to 1.6. These customized versions are available online at http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/bkserv/zos_migration_manuals.html.

Humor

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

Contributed by Chris Blackshire

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things--God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else--the small stuff." "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."


Will Rogers Quotes

Contributed by Ed Webb

Will Rogers, who died in a plane crash with Wylie Post in 1935, was probably the greatest political sage this country has ever known. Enjoy the following:

1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.

2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

3. There are 2 theories to arguing with a woman...neither works.

4. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

5. Always drink upstream from the herd.

6. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

7. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket.

8. There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.

9. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

10. If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

11. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back.

12. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

ABOUT GROWING OLDER...

First ~ Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

Sixth ~ I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.

Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.

Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

Tenth ~ Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.

And finally ~ If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.



Senior Moments

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Three old guys are out walking.
First one says, "Windy, isn't it?"
Second one says, "No, its Thursday!"
Third one says, "So am I. Let's go get a beer."

A man was telling his neighbor, "I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect."
"Really," answered the neighbor. "What kind is it?"
"Twelve thirty."

Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
A couple of days later the doctor spoke to Morris and said, "You're really doing great, aren't you?"
Morris replied, "Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.'"
The doctor said, "I didn't say that. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur. Be careful.'"

And the best........

A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.
After catching his breath he ordered a banana split. The waitress asked kindly, "Crushed nuts?"
"No," he replied, "arthritis."

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

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 Tommy Thomas. Tommy will escort you to the conference room.

Free Food: Chicken, Drinks, Dessert

Program:

Linux on IBM zSeries

Speaker:

Bill Reeder of IBM

SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194











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