SPARTA News May 2008

May 2008

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

Welcome to May, mother nature is letting us have a bit of spring this year. We've enjoyed some very nice (if not a bit windy) weather the last few weeks. I hope it stays with us for a while. Last month we had a visit from Ralph Armstrong and Mike Lynch of BusTech to talk about the virtual tape systems for the IBM mainframe. We are using a couple of the BusTech MAS (Mainframe Appliance for Storage) devices here at LabCorp as an interface with an EMC Centera DASD array. We've been happy with these devices, there were some "growing pains" at first, but now we're running well with our MAS devices.

Our DB2 V8 migration hit a small roadblock last month. Due to an issue with a few of our older Web-based DDF apps using a product called Hibernate, we were forced to fallback to DB2 V7 in Production. After six weeks of testing in QAAD, an issue was found 2 and a half days into production! Investigation found that the Hibernate product must be at version 3 for proper support of DB2 V8 on z/Series. So now the developers are rebuilding their apps with the latest version of Hibernate and are thoroughly testing their code against DB2 subsystems on our QAAD LPAR. We gave them a deadline of our June outage on 6/15 to have everything ready for production (and tested). Let's see how this goes next month.

The differences between SyncSort and DFSort have been fun now that the DB2 V8 utilities require DFSort. The size of number of sortwork data sets had made a number of utility jobs abend on QAAD. The DBA staff had become very dependent on the way that SyncSort was handling the issue and had a bad case of heartburn of how DFSort is handling it now. With a little searching, we found that IBM came out with a small SPE in late February that updated the DB2 utility program to ignore user specified "SORTNUM xx" and "SORTKEYS xxxx" parameters in the utility SYSIN file and allocate more appropriate size sortwork files. Our testing has shown this to be working very well for us and didn't require any updates to JCL to implement. We dodged a bullet on that one.

We've tried to order z/OS 1.9 for our system, but are having some issues with ShopzSeries. It seems that we can't order SA for z/OS without some of the Omegamon FMIDs! I don't want to have Omegamon in my z/OS zones. It's a big enough pain living all by itself. Also found that MQ V7 is not yet available via Serverpac, and Websphere Transformation Extender required Websphere Application Server. We're having no problem running it now without WAS. After a few calls with IBM, they are in head scratching mode now trying to get this fixed for us. Hurry up and wait, I guess.

This month our presentation will be by Ovies Brabson and Bill Hampel of IBM to discuss Tivoli Omegamon XE for Mainframe Networks. I look forward to seeing you all at LabCorp on the 20th.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


May 20 (Special Date) Omegamon XE, and Netview by IBM speakers
June 24 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 Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.

2007-2008 SPARTA
Board of Directors

Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 336-436-8294
3060 S. Church St.
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 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 e-Mailings

The SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-L Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-L Group is maintained by Mike Lockey at (336) 641-6235; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Mike.

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 Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the April 29, 2008 Meeting

•Meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.

•Nineteen (19) people were present; thirteen (13) 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 2008 meeting were accepted as published in the April 2008 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer's report. As of April 16, 2008, the balance is $1418.85. Motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the April 2008 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 2008 - Omegamon updates
June 2008 - TBA
July 2008 - TBA
August 2008 - z10 processor by IBM
Sept. 2008 - SHARE Reports

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.

•The May SPARTA meeting will be held at LabCorp on May 20th (to avoid Memorial Day week)..

•Food for the May meeting will be pizza, drinks, and dessert.

•Thanks to Tommy Thomas for hosting the meeting.

•A final reminder to pay 2008 dues was given by Brad Carson.

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:55 p.m.

•Ralph Armstrong and Mike Lynch of BusTech discussed their virtual tape on disk solution. Their presentation is available in electronic form.

•Agenda
BusTech Company Overview
The Mainframe Storage Hierarchy
Mainframe Data Library
MDL Overview/Hardware Architecture
Operational Flow
Fast Locate
Performance
Redundancy and Serviceability
MDL Configuration
Device Configuration
MDL Software
Additional Features
SNMP
Encryption
Tape
Compliance
Scalability
Vaulting and Disaster Recovery
Summary

•Thanks to both presenters.

•The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for May 2008

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $1359.20 as of May 11, 2008.

Financial Report
3/01/2007 through 05/11/2008

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2008

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

May 20 - Pizza (May 27 = Memorial Day week)
June 24 - Chicken
July 29 - Subs
Aug. 26 - BarBQ
Sept. 30 - Pizza
Oct. 28 - Chicken
Nov. 18 - Subs (Nov. 25 = Thanksgiving week)


SHARE Schedule for August Online

contributed by Ed Webb

The session schedule for SHARE in San Jose during the week of August 10-15, 2008, is now online. Check out this webpage at share.org: http://shareew.prod.web.sba.com/displaymod/SingleConf.cfm?conference_id=19. Online Registration and Housing Requests for the summer SHARE are also available now at http://www.share.org/events/sanjose/index.cfm. Early registration for SHARE in San Jose ends Friday, June 27, 2008.


Humor


New Word Meanings

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.  
 
2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole. 

3. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. 

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly. 

5. Bozone ( n.) : The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.  

6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid. 

7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high 

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.  

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. 

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.) 

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.  

12. Decafalon (n.) : The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. 

13. Glibido : All talk and no action. 

14. Dopeler Effect : The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.  

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.) : The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web. 

16. Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.  

17. Caterpallor ( n.) : The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating. 


The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:

1. coffee , n. the person upon whom one coughs. 

2. flabbergasted , adj. appalled by discovering how much weight one has
gained.  

3. abdicate , v. to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. 

4. esplanade , v. to attempt an explanation while drunk. 

5. willy-nilly , adj. impotent.  

6. negligent , adj. absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown. 

7. lymph , v. to walk with a lisp. 

8. gargoyle , n. olive-flavored mouthwash.  

9. flatulence , n. emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller. 

10. balderdash , n. a rapidly receding hairline. 

11. testicle , n. a humorous question on an exam.

12. rectitude , n. the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists. 

13. pokemon , n.. a Rastafarian proctologist. 

14. oyster , n. a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishism's.

15. Frisbeetarianism , n. the belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. 

16. circumvent , n. an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.


Gentle Thoughts for Today

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car.

When I'm feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbor's rottweiler run to the end of his chain and gag himself.

A penny saved is a government oversight.

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement .

He who hesitates is probably right.

Did you ever notice that the Roman Numerals for forty (40) are "XL."

If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.

Did you ever notice that when you put the words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "Theirs."

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

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

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.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your days of youth, think of physics.

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

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

Yes, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's worse when you forget to pull it down.

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

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Special Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
7 p.m.

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: Pizza, Drink, Dessert

Program:

Omegamon XE, and Netview

Speaker:

Ovies Brabson, Bill Hampel of IBM

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



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