SPARTA News
August 2015
SPARTA President’s Corner
contributed by Randy Springs
During the month of July, I have had three close family members in the hospital, all three related to heart issues. After dealing with doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and all related areas, it has caused me to reflect on today’s medical care environment. You remember the town doctor in shows like “Little House on the Prairie” where the “doc” would make house calls and have everything he needed in his black bag? He would deliver babies and cover every medical need in the community. After searching the internet, I found over 300 cardiologists in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, and within that group, most specialize in a particular area.
The role of technology in health care is also changing rapidly. Most diagnostic imaging (x-rays, echocardiograms, CT scans, etc.) produces digital output now, making the transfer of patient information almost instantaneous. Medical charts and test results are available online for patient review. As I found out with my wife’s care, this is not always a good thing. Her test results at Duke were often accessible on my phone before the doctor presented her with the results. New medications were researched online for desired effects and possible side effects. My wife eventually asked me to keep my findings to myself until the doctor was available for questions.
As we develop more uses for information technology, we should keep in mind how we can validate and present our findings in the best format possible. In the systems area, we rely on automation and alerts in many areas, but with so much information available, getting the right information to the right personnel in a timely manner is essential.
See you on August 4th at LabCorp in the RTP.
Randy Springs
BB&T
Future Speakers
(subject to change)
August 4, 2015 - Luminex Virtual Tape by Bob Shapiro of Luminex
September 1, 2015 - Baseball at the DBAP
October 6, 2015 - SHARE Reports by SPARTA Members
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.
2015-2016 SPARTA
Board of Directors
Randy Springs - President
BB&T (919) 745-5241
3200 Beechleaf Court, Suite 300
Raleigh, NC 27604
Ron Pimblett - Vice President
MDI Data Systems 919-426-6518
866-634-3282
Raleigh, NC 27609
Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-641-6235
201 N. Eugene St.
Greensboro, NC 27401
Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
3060 S. Church St.
Burlington, NC 27215
Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute Inc. 919-531-4162
SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513
Meetings
Meetings are scheduled for the first Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in January), 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 1912 T.W. 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-RTP Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-RTP Group is maintained by Chris Blackshire; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Chris at chrisbl@nc.rr.com.
November 2014 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online
The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V489 (dated November 12, 2014) are available from www.cbttape.org.
If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).
Minutes of the July 7, 2015 Meeting
•Meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM by Randy Springs, the SPARTA President.
•The meeting was held at LabCorp in RTP, N.C.
•Fifteen (15) people were present of which Eleven (11) are 2015 members.
•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told
where they worked, and briefly described their job functions or
their job hunting challenges.
•The minutes of the June 2015 meeting was
approved as published in the July newsletter.
•The reading of the Treasurer's Report was given by Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, as published in the July newsletter. The current balance of $735.87 was approved as read.
OLD BUSINESS
•Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you want 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 at http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web site every once in a while to see any new or changed information.
•Tommy reminded everyone to leave the LabCorp
conference room clean.
•Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):
|
Date |
Company |
Speaker |
Topic |
|
Aug 4, 2015 |
Phoenix Software |
Ed Jaffe |
EJES Webinar |
|
Sept 1, 2015 |
Baseball Night |
Tommy Thomas |
Bulls vs Gwinnett Braves |
|
Oct 6, 2015 |
SPARTA
members |
Ed Webb and others? |
Aug
9-14 SHARE Topics |
|
Nov 3, 2015 |
Watson and Walker |
Cheryl Watson or Frank Kyne |
z Series Performance |
|
Dec 1, 2015 |
TBD |
|
|
If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett
(919-833-8426).
•The next SPARTA monthly meeting will be August 4,
2015 at LabCorp in the RTP.
•Food for the August 4 meeting will be sub sandwiches.
NEW BUSINESS
•The 2015 dues ($30) were due starting in March
2015. Please pay Tommy Thomas.
•Thanks to LabCorp (Tommy Thomas) for hosting the
meeting.
•There are currently 59 people on the SPARTA-RTP emailing list.
•Send any e-mail address changes to Chris
Blackshire so he can update the SPARTA-RTP Listserv. You will be
added by the moderator (Chris = SPARTA-RTP-owner@yahoogroups.com) sending you an invitation to Join
the list.
•The business portion of the meeting ended about 7:50 p.m.
PRESENTATION
What's New for IOF Software by Jim Ott and Frank Schubert of Triangle Systems.
• Agenda
- Why IOF (Interactive Output Facility)?
- Why IOF Archive?
- PDS Options
- Demo ARC
• Overview IOF: Provides a comprehensive interface to the JES2 subsystem of the following:
- Batch jobs
- JES2 queues
- JES2 devices
- The system log
- The extended MCS console
- Initiators
- Running tasks, TSO users, and jobs
- Alternate machines in a sysplex
- Enclaves
- UNIX processes
- Health Checker
- Workload Manager
- NJE Nodes
- JES2 Spool Volumes
- Job Classes
- IOF provides full-screen terminal support in the ISPF, TSO, and CICS environments
• Why IOF Archive?
IOF/JAMS: Job Archival Made Simple
- Archival provides the ability to save JES2 jobs into z/OS data sets to be used for browsing or printing
- Archiving does not delete the job from the JES2 spool
- Archive can be run Manually or Automated
- Requires no complex data base, proprietary data format, or specialized security protocols
- Naming - specify Prefix, Category, and Suffix (24 characters total)
- IOF Archive is easy to use
- Repro - Source Archive Printout
- Migrate spool to data set to save spool space
- JOBEXIT Statement: Allows a REXX exec to be invoked to allow even more selection flexibility
• ARC Demo
- Choose a category - many levels (24 character name max)
- - Example: prefix.category.jobname.datetime.suffix
- Search ability by name or date or time
- Results looks like it did in the spool
- Format is the same as it was in the spool format
- No User training as in: nothing new to learn - looks just like the normal spool output
- Can terse the output to save disk space (but it slows down the retrieval)
- Easy to send software vendor the results of an error
- - Get sequential file that looks like the printout
- - Can Print
- - Make a copy
- - Can FTP or Email
• PDS Options
- Can manipulate a copy of a PDS easily
- Can selectively print any item (or the complete PDS)
- Can selectively copy any part
- Have snap facility
- Have Help for browse, prt, cpy, snd, brz commands
- Purge parm: purge by job name, versions, or age parameters
- Samples: Examples of Bulk Archiver run JCL given
• Summary of new IOF/JAMS
- Technical staff can set up bulk archival runs
- Technical staff can automatically manage the number of archived versions
- Individual users can archive their own jobs
- Easy for users to review archived jobs
IOF Archive: Get it off spool and give it an easy, categorized, search name
IOF Information - IOFINFO@Triangle-Systems.com
IOF Online Documentation - http://www.triangle-systems.com/iofdoc.shtml
IOF Newsletters -http://www.triangle-systems.com/newsltr.shtml
• Speaker Contact Information:
Jim Ott
Triangle Systems, Inc.
PO Box 12752
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Tel: 919-544-0090
email: jim.ott@triangle-systems.com
web: www.triangle-systems.com
Frank Schubert
Tel: 919-544-0090
email: IOFTech@triangle-systems.com
• The presentation and meeting ended about 8:55 P.M.
Treasurer’s Report for August 2015
contributed by Tommy Thomas
The balance in the account is $694.31 as of July 15, 2015.
SPARTA Financial Report
3/01/2015 through 07/15/2015
|
INCOME |
|
|
|
|
|
Opening Balance |
289.87 |
|
Total Deposits |
|
|
Dues |
770.00 |
|
TOTAL INCOME |
$1,059.87 |
|
|
|
|
EXPENSES |
|
|
Food |
356.56 |
|
Web Site |
0.00 |
|
Petty Cash |
235.00 |
|
xfer to Petty Cash |
0.00 |
|
Bank Service Charge |
0.00 |
|
TOTAL EXPENSE |
$600.56 |
|
|
|
|
BANK BALANCE Fidelity |
459.31 |
|
PETTY CASH |
235.00 |
|
TOTAL CASH |
$694.31 |
Items of Interest
SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2015
contributed by Tommy Thomas and Chris Blackshire
Aug. 4 - Subs
Sept 1 - Baseball Night (choose your own)
Oct. 6 - BarBQ
Nov. 3 - Pizza
Dec. 1 - Subs
Rehabilitating the Perception of Mainframes
contributed by Ed Webb
Barry Schrager, a significant contributor to IBM mainframe history as the designer and primary author of the ACF2 security product (now CA-ACF2), decries the ongoing replacement of mainframe systems by so-called modern systems.
"Bob Thomas, the publisher of Enterprise Executive magazine (which also hosts the MainframeZone page on Facebook), presented the following statistics on the use of the mainframe:
71% of all Fortune 500 companies have their core business on the mainframe
23 of the world’s top 25 retailers use a mainframe
92% of the top 100 banks use a mainframe
10 out of 10 of the top insurers use a mainframe
More than 225 state and local governments worldwide rely on a mainframe
9 of the top 10 global life and health insurance providers process their high-volume transactions on mainframe.
That’s why I was so shocked at former OPM [Federal Office of Personnel Management] Director Katherine Archuleta’s statements that she failed to address the vulnerabilities found by the Inspector General’s office because her agency was focusing on replacing the “old legacy” systems, which I interpreted to mean, mainframes. This is not unusual in the Federal Government since the major contractors are pushing the concept moving work off the mainframe rather than enhancing and improving operations on the mainframe. It should not be the contractors that are having the major influence on this—it should be our Government's IT leaders."
Read the rest of Barry's provocative comments here.
z/OS 2.2 Books and Migration Workflow Are Available
contributed by Ed Webb
IBM has released the new books for z/OS 2.2 including the popular z/OS 2.2 Migration book.
And Marna Walle of IBM has announced the availability of the z/OS 2.2 Migration Workflow for importing into z/OSMF to manage your Migration tasks. Read her blog post and follow the link to the Migration Workflow files.
Check out the Technical Agenda for SHARE in Orlando
contributed by Ed Webb
SHARE returns to the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort August 9-14, 2015.
See the Technical Agenda details at SHARE or download the SHARE App.
Introducing mindSHARE – the New and Improved SHARE Blog
contributed by Ed Webb
"The blog formerly known as the SHARE President’s Corner has a new name and a new look! We are excited to introduce mindSHARE: a new blog that is your source for the latest content and perspectives on enterprise IT from experts within the SHARE Community."
See the first entry in this
SHARE blog post
and subscribe today.
Need-to-Know COBOL V5 Migration Strategies
contributed by Ed Webb
"An increasing number of users are migrating to COBOL 5.1 (otherwise referred to as COBOL V5) due to several compelling benefits. Migrations can yield cost savings and enable software to catch up to hardware. The technology allows application developers to simultaneously handle business logic and performance issues in applications. With COBOL V5, they can better manage performance aspects and focus on the business logic, as the optimization framework and runtime library infrastructure was designed to increase the performance of business-critical COBOL applications. This is a significant benefit because increasing the performance of COBOL applications provides savings in CPU utilization and enhances the ability to meet service-level agreements."
Read rest of this SHARE blog entry for the list of strategies and sources for more info
here.
Humor
Never Squat With Your Spurs On!
contributed by Chris Blackshire
Will Rogers, who died in a 1935 plane crash, was one of the greatest political sages this country has ever known.
Some of his sayings:
1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.
2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.
3. There are two 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 into 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.
Puns
contributed by Chris Blackshire
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whisky-maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber-band pistol was confiscated from an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist-camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.
21. A vulture carrying two dead raccoons boards an airplane. The stewardess looks at him and says,
'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says, 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again
that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says, 'Are you sure?'
The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'
25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root-canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
Mechanic vs Doctor Story
contributed by Chris Blackshire
Allan, a mechanic, was removing a cylinder head from a Harley-Davidson motorbike, when he spotted a world-famous heart surgeon in his garage. The heart surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike.
Allan shouted across the garage, 'Hey Doc can I ask you a question?' The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to Allan. Allan straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, 'So Doc, look at this engine. I also can open hearts, take valves out, fix'em, put in new parts and when I finish this will work just like a new one. So how come I work for a pittance and you get the really big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work?'
The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over and whispered in Allan's ear, 'Try doing it with the engine running.'
Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
7 p.m.
Location: LabCorp in the RTP
Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto 1912 T.W. 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:
Luminex Virtual Tape
Speaker:
Bob Shapiro of Luminex Software
SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194
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