SPARTA News November 2008

November 2008

SPARTA President’s Corner

by Brad Carson

This month EMC will be giving a presentation on EMC® Disk Library for Mainframe. I look forward to seeing you all there are the 18th at LabCorp.


Future Speakers
(subject to change)


Nov. 18 EMC® Disk Library for Mainframe
Dec. 30 No Meeting. Happy Holidays!
Jan. 27 Overview of FDR by Innovation DP

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.

2008-2009 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 October 28, 2008 Meeting

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

•The meeting was held at LabCorp in RTP, N.C.

•Seventeen (17) people were present; fifteen (15) were members.

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

•The minutes of September 2008 meeting were accepted as published in the October 2008 newsletter.

•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer gave the Treasurer's Report. As of October 19, 2008, the balance is $1214.64; motion was made and approved to accept the Treasurer's Report as published in the October 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 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.

•Future Speakers and Topics:
(subject to change)

November TBA
December No Meeting
January Innovation DP - Overview of FDR
February TBA
March SHARE Conference Reports

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

•The November SPARTA meeting will be November 18 (a special date because of Thanksgiving) at LabCorp in RTP.

•Food for the November meeting will be subs, drinks and dessert.

Brad reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean.

NEW BUSINESS

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

•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:35 p.m.

•Kalena K Blue of IBM gave a presentation about z/VM Omegamon.
Agenda
Opportunity
z/VM Performance Toolkit Overview
z/VM Performance Toolkit Functions
ITM/Omegamon XE Architecture Overview
TEMS
TEP
Situations
TCR

•Bob Neill of IBM gave a presentation about Omegamon XE on z/VM and Linux agents
Operations Manager for z/VM

- Meeting ended at 8:35 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report for November 2008

contributed by Tommy Thomas

The balance in the account is $1134.86 as of November 10, 2008.

Financial Report
3/01/2008 through 11/10/2008

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2008

contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire

Nov. 18 - Subs (Nov. 25 = Thanksgiving week)
Dec. 30 - No meeting. Happy Holidays!


IBM Announces OpenSolariS Prototype for System z

contributed by Ed Webb

http://www.zjournal.com/index.cfm?section=news

November 03, 2008

OpenSolariS PROTOTYPE for IBM System z Available To The Open Source Community

IBM, Sun Microsystems and Sine Nomine Associates announced the availability of operating system prototype code based on OpenSolaris Operating System, running on an IBM System z mainframe, to the global OpenSolaris community. The prototype was completed by SNA with equipment and financial assistance provided by IBM and technical assistance provided by Sun. The download is available to the OpenSolaris community at http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/systemz/

In November of 2007, at the Gartner Data Conference, IBM, Sun and SNA demonstrated the early stages of the OpenSolaris-based prototype running on an IBM mainframe, illustrating the OpenSolaris operating system and the IBM mainframe's proven ability to virtualize the data center.

OpenSolaris runs as a guest on the mainframe's z/VM, which allows many virtual images to run simultaneously.

IBM has augmented z/VM functionality to enable OpenSolaris OS on System z. Now that the initial code for OpenSolaris on z/VM is available, the open source community has the opportunity to participate in the project and help extend the port.


Obama Plan A Booster Shot for Health Information Technology

contributed by Ron Pimblett

(by Kevin Janowiak (Oct 29, 2008 WASHINGTON - Poor penmanship kills people.)

Doctors are ridiculed for sloppy handwriting, but illegible prescriptions can cause serious mix-ups. More than a million Americans are harmed by medication errors every year, and hard-to-read instructions are part of the problem.

All the more reason for doctors to ditch paper for computers, said health advisors for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. The goal is for hospitals and clinics to abandon bulging file folders and advance to electronic medical records that can be shared across state lines.

Obama’s plan is to spend $50 billion over the next five years to promote the use of health IT. How that money gets doled out is still up in the air, but suggestions include paying physicians extra to use software and speeding up the certification time for new systems. Health IT squeezes out inefficiencies so the investment would pay for itself in the long-term, according to Obama advisor Deb Mizeur.

The most prestigious names in medicine poured fortunes into health information technology years ago, but many small offices still depend upon paper-based records.

Your neighborhood pizza parlor may use software to track orders. Your local clinic probably doesn’t.

A July study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that only 13 percent of clinic-based physicians use electronic medical records. That’s partially due to the high cost of software. Some doctors also worry that computers complicate their already hectic workday.

That number is bound to go up even if the government doesn’t intervene, according to John Sheils, senior vice president of the Lewin Group, a Virginia-based health care consulting firm. Sheils led an independent analysis of the candidates’ potential health care policies.

There’s already motivation to adopt health IT, he said, so federal funding is just a way to accelerate the change.

The Lewin study estimated that Obama’s $50 billion investment in health IT would yield $111 billion in savings over ten years - savings across the entire health system from city governments to insurance companies.

Humor


Obama Dialogue

contributed by Chris Blackshire

OBAMAPHORIA - The post-election rapture that swept over Obama's supporters worldwide.

OBAMANATION - A twist on "abomination," expressed by evangelicals and other conservatives who oppose Obama's stance on abortion, gay marriage and other social issues.

OBAMARAMA - The celebrations around the January 20th inauguration.

OBAMANOS - A play on "Vamonos," or "Let's go," among Obama fans in Mexico.

OBAMATOPIA - The political paradise that Obama's staunchest supporters hope he'll usher in.

OBAMALUJAH - Exultation shouted by his fans.

OBAMATRONS - The policy wonks who will occupy the West Wing of his White House.

OBAMASCOPE - Media scrutiny of the new leader. (Example: "One hundred days after Barack Obama took office, newspaper editors put the president's economic plan under the Obamascope.")

OBAMANATOR - Hollywood-inspired nickname for the new president, even if he's got what California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger contends are "skinny legs" and "scrawny little arms."

OBAMALICIOUS - Complimentary term used by those who like Obama's looks.

OBAMALOHA - Goodbye or hello, Obama-style, with a nod to Hawaii, his birthplace.

OH-BAMA - Joyful exclamation, via headlines in the Kennebec, Main, Journal, The Register Guard in Eugene, Oregon, and The Namibian, from the southern African country of Namibia.

BAMELOT - Description of his presidency, from a New York Post headline that played on the youth and freshness of John F. Kennedy's administration that came to be known as "Camelot."

OBAMERIKA - Headline from the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija.

BARACKSTAR - Description from those who believe Obama is "the Mick Jagger of politics" (from Slate.com).


Dog Training

contributed by Chris Blackshire

If a dog was the teacher you would learn stuff like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.

Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back in the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout;

Run right back and make friends.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.

Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.


The Wisdom of Larry the Cable Guy

contributed by Chris Blackshire

1. A day without sunshine is like night.

2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.

3. 42.7 % of all statistics are made up on the spot.

4. 99 % of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.

6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.

9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.

10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?

15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

20. Why do psychics have to ask you your name?

21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?'

22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.

23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Special Date: Tuesday, November 18, 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: Subs, Drink, Dessert

Program:

EMC® Disk Library for Mainframe

Speaker:

EMC

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



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