May
2007
SPARTA
PresidentÕs Corner
by Brad Carson
Welcome to May and the some warmer weather. Due to the Memorial Day holiday
this month we will be having our meeting one week earlier on May 22nd instead
of the 29th. So mark your calendars (or Blackberry's, PDA's, whatever) for this
change.
Our speakers last month were from IBM and they came to talk to us about
Threadsafe processing in CICS/TS. For those of us running CICS, it was a very
good session. Getting a good understanding about all the TCB switching that
occurs in CICS threadsafe processing was an eye-opener for me. I now understand
why there were BIG changes to the DB2 attachment facility in CICS.
By the time you read this we will have completed our z/OS 1.7 migration on our
PROD LPAR. It has been an uphill climb to get here. Of course now we have to
begin work on upgrading DB2 and MQ since both of those have end of service
dates next year. We will also be ready to start a z/OS 1.9 install once that
has stabilized, probably early next year. There is always something to keep all
of us busy.
We have a new DB2 systems programmer here at LabCorp and as we get him up to
speed, he is going to have a lot of fun with our DB2 V8 installation and
migration. The rest of my gang can't wait to get him in the on-call rotation!
Not much is going on at DDA right now. We are all still waiting to see what IBM
wants the FLEX users to do. Right now all I've seen is something that is going
to cost a heck of a lot more than the FLEX platform. This isn't the way a small
software developer should be treated, but I believe that IBM doesn't really
care about the small developers much any more.
This month our presentation will be from Jim Ott of Triangle Systems on
"Latest Updates to IOF Version 8". I look forward to seeing you on
the 22nd at LabCorp.
Future Speakers
(subject to change)
May 22 - IOF Update by Jim Ott of Triangle Systems
June 26 - TBA
We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations donÕt have to
be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can
start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.
2007-2008
SPARTA
Board of Directors
Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 336-436-8294
Burlington, NC 27215
Ron Pimblett - Vice President
Dignus, LLC 919-676-0847
8354 Six Forks Road
Raleigh, NC 27615
Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-641-6235
201 N. Eugene St.
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
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 LabCorpÕs Center for Molecular
Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the
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 e-Mailings
The
February 2006 CBT Tape Online
The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V471 (dated February 28, 2006)
are available from www.cbttape.org.
If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Brad Carson at
LabCorp or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of DirectorÕs list for contact info).
Minutes of the April 24th, 2007 Meeting
¥Meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.
¥Twelve (12) people were present; nine (9) were members.
¥Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and
briefly described their job function and recent happenings at work.
¥The minutes of March 2007 meeting were accepted as published in the April 2007
newsletter.
¥Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's report. As of April
15, 2007, the balance is $1565.34. Motion was made and approved to accept the
Treasurer's Report as published in the April 2007 newsletter.
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 site is available. To access the SPARTA Web site, point your
Web browser to this URL: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any
comments or suggestions about the Web site to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the
site every once in a while to see any new or changed information.
¥Brad Carson reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean.
NEW BUSINESS
¥Future Speakers and Topics:
(subject to change)
May 2007 IOF Update by Jim Ott of Triangle Systems
June 2007 TBA
If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.
¥The May 22nd
¥Food for the May meeting will be pizza, drinks, and dessert.
¥Brad reminded everyone to pay their annual dues ($20 annually).
¥It was discussed and agreed that the current officers would be nominated for
their current positions. The nominations were open to the floor; no new
nominations were made. The nominations were approved and accepted.
¥A motion was made to accept the nominations as the 2007-2008 SPARTA Board of
Directors.
The motion was approved and accepted.
¥The 2007-2008 SPARTA Board of Directors are:
President Brad Carson
Vice President Ron Pimblett
Secretary Mike Lockey
Treasurer Tommy Thomas
Communications Ed Webb
¥Thanks to Tommy Thomas of LabCorp for hosting the meeting.
¥Please remember to invite others to the meeting.
¥The business portion of the meeting ended at 8:05 p.m.
¥Ed Addison and Byron Baldwin of IBM provided two presentations about CICS TS
3.2
Ed talked about "Threadsafe in CICS Transaction Server"; topics
covered were:
-Exploiting the Open Transaction Environment (OTE)
-OPENAPI Support
-Program and Task Related User Exit (TRUE) definitions
-Threadsafe commands
-Steps for ensuring threadsafe
-Checking Concurrency
-Threadsafe Problems
Byron talked about "IPCONN Overview"; his presentation was a
technical overview of the changes to CICS to CICS connectivity.
-CICS 3.2 allows CICS to CICS communications to use TCP/IP as a transport for
processing Distributed Program Link requests. CICS 3.2 has added new resource
definitions to define a TCP/IP connections. In addition, CICS 3.2 provides an
AUTOINSTALL function for the new definitions.
Both presentations are available in electronic form.
¥The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
TreasurerÕs Report for May 2007
contributed by Tommy Thomas
The balance in the account is $ 1542.00 as of May 13, 2007.
Financial Report
3/01/2007 through 5/13/2007
|
INCOME |
|
|
Opening Balance |
1149.11 |
|
Dues |
580.00 |
|
Misc. |
0.00 |
|
TOTAL INCOME |
$1729.11 |
|
|
|
|
EXPENSES |
|
|
Food |
0.00 |
|
Petty Cash |
|
|
Bank Service Fees |
|
|
P.O. Box |
0.00 |
|
Hurricane Tickets |
180.00 |
|
Web Site |
|
|
TOTAL EXPENSE |
$180.00 |
|
|
|
|
BANK BALANCE |
1549.11 |
|
PETTY CASH($175) |
(7.11) |
|
TOTAL CASH |
$1542.00 |
Items of Interest
contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire
May 22 - Pizza
June 26 - Chicken
July 31 - Subs
Aug. 28 - BarBQ
Sept. 25 - Pizza
Oct. 30 - Chicken
Nov. 27- Subs
April 2007
contributed by Mike Lockey
The presentations that Ed Addison and Byron Baldwin of IBM made to the
To download the PowerPoint Presentations click the following links:
ThreadSafe in CICS Transaction Server
http://www.spartanc.org/GSE_Threadsafe.ppt
CICS TS V3.2 IPCONN overview
http://www.spartanc.org/TCPIPENHANCEMENTS32.ppt
January 2007 SPARTA Presentations
contributed by Mike Lockey
The presentation that Kay Adams of IBM made to the
There is also an additional presentation that Kay provided.
To download the PowerPoint Presentations click the following links:
WhatÕs new in zSub Capacity Pricing
http://www.spartanc.org/Whats
New.ppt
SubCapacity Pricing and SCRT; Nuts and Bolts
http://www.spartanc.org/Nuts & Bolts.pdf
Tech Trivia
contributed by Ed Webb
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and
lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Redbooks of Interest
contributed by Ed Webb
Drafts
IBM System z Connectivity Handbook
Revised: April, 24, 2007
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg245444.html
IBM System z9 Enterprise Class Technical Guide
Revised: April, 24, 2007
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247124.html
Server Time Protocol Implementation Guide
Revised: April, 20, 2007
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247281.html
DB2 for z/OS Administration Tools for Enhanced Change Management
Revised: April, 23, 2007
More details are available at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247441.html
Redbooks
IBM TotalStorage 3494 Tape Library: A Practical Guide to Tape Drives and Tape
Automation
Published: April 20, 2007 ISBN: 073848606 546 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg244632.html
System Programmer's Guide to: Workload Manager
Revised: April 20, 2007 ISBN: 073848993X 364 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246472.html
Introduction to the New Mainframe: Security
Revised: April 26, 2007 ISBN: 0738489646 546 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246776.html
IBM System z Strengths and Values
Revised: April 20, 2007 ISBN: 0738489530 250 pages
Explore the book online at
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247333.html
Humor
Things YouÕd Love to Say Out Loud at Work....
contributed by Chris Blackshire
1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of s**t.
2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
3. How about never? Is never good for you?
4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way.
6. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.
7. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
8. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.
9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a damn word you're saying.
10. Ahhh... I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again...
11. I like you. You remind me of myself when I was young and stupid.
12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
13. I have plenty of talent and vision; I just don't give a damn.
14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!
20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.
22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
23. And your crybaby whiny-assed opinion would be...?
24. Do I look like a people person?
25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
26. I started out with nothing & still have most of it left.
27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?
29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.
31. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.
32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.
33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #1?
34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
35. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
36. Chaos, panic, & disorder - my work here is done.
37. How do I set a laser printer to stun?
38. I thought I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted a salary.
39. Who lit the fuse on your tampon?
40. Oh I get it... like humor... but different.
DonÕt
Forget the Next
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
7 p.m.
Location: LabCorp in the RTP
Take I-40 to
Free Food: Pizza, Drink, Dessert
Program:
IOF Update
Speaker:
Jim Ott of Triangle Systems
First Class Postage
