SPARTA News

June 2022

SPARTA President’s Corner

contributed by Randy Springs

As you know, SPARTA is a volunteer organization of IT professionals, mostly mainframe oriented, who meet monthly for networking and receiving updated information on various hardware and software platforms. Last month, we scheduled an IBM Fellow to present on DevOps, but when we met online for our scheduled meeting, we had only five members present to hear the presentation, so we asked the speaker to let us reschedule for a future meeting. Meeting information went out to a large number of our previous attendees in adequate time, but apparently the date conflicted with many personal schedules. We hope to avoid this in the future and would be open to suggestions for a different meeting time, possibly during the business day.

This month, we will again be holding our SPARTA meetings via Zoom format. Invite your fellow systems programmers to join us for networking and information. With the removal of mask mandates in NC, we can consider going back to our in-person meetings if we can find an appropriate venue.

For our June meeting, join us for a presentation from our own Ed Webb, retired from SAS, about the first in-person SHARE since March 2020.

Please join your colleagues online at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, on Zoom. Watch for meeting connection information coming your way soon.

Randy Springs
Retired (Truist)

Future Speakers (subject to change)

June 7, 2022 - SHARE 2022 Dallas Conference Report by Ed Webb of SPARTA

July 12, 2022 (Special Date) - TBD

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.

2021-2022 SPARTA

Board of Directors

Randy Springs - President

Retired (Truist)                  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Raleigh, NC 27604

Ron Pimblett - Vice President

MDI Data Systems

Land line 613 599 6970

Mobile 613 981 6919

190 Guelph Private

Kanata, ON K2T 0J7

Chris Blackshire - Secretary

Retired (Dell, Perot Systems, Nortel)  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Durham, NC 27713

Randy Springs - (Acting) Treasurer

Retired (Truist)                  (919) nnn-nnnn

see Randy

Springs earlier

Ed Webb -  Communications Director

Retired (SAS Institute Inc.)  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Apex, NC 27523

Mike Lockey -  Web Master

Guilford Co. Information Services  336-641-6235

201 N. Eugene St.

Greensboro, NC 27401

Meetings

Coronavirus Change: All meetings for the foreseeable future will be held online at 7 p.m. via the Zoom App. The link to meeting is sent to SPARTA Mailing list within 24 hours of the meeting time for security reasons. Stay safe.

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 T.W. Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building (1912 T.W. Alexander Drive). In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Bill Johnson. Bill 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 2021 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V502 (dated November 7, 2021) are available from www.cbttape.org.

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

Minutes of the May 3, 2021 Meeting

• The meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM by Randy Springs, the SPARTA President.

• This Twenty-fourth (April 2020 to May 2022) virtual SPARTA meeting was held via the Zoom Software.

• Five (5) people including the presenter were online at the virtual meeting.

• The Presentation was postponed because of the low turnout until a later date. The meeting continued with the business portion of the meeting.

• The Roundtable was not conducted.

OLD BUSINESS

• The minutes of the April 5, 2022 meeting as published in the May 2022 Newsletter were approved.

• The April 30, 2022 Treasurer's report (no April income or expenses) as published in the May 2022 Newsletter was approved. As of April 30, 2022, the current balance was $1,489.66.

• Call For Articles: 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 at 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.

• 2022 meeting dates, Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

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

• The next SPARTA monthly meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

• The 2021 dues have been suspended (motion passed in the March 2021 monthly meeting).

• Thanks to Randy Springs for online hosting the May 3 meeting via Zoom.

• There are currently 93 people on the SPARTA e-mail distribution list.

• Send any e-mail address changes to Chris Blackshire so he can update the SPARTA distribution List. The SPARTA meeting notices are being sent via a simple distribution list maintained by Chris.

• Randy Springs is looking for a new Treasurer volunteer. He projects about 2 hours per month is needed.
- Contact Randy if you want to help.

• LabCorp Meeting Place Update: No update needed from Bill Johnson.

• Mike Lockey will be sending the website bills to Randy for payment with an update in the next newsletter.

NEW BUSINESS

• We will continue meeting virtually with a 2022 in person meeting date TBD. Stay tuned.

• After the speaker dropped off Zoom, there was much discussion about how to get people to attend. The officers will make and send an email to the distribution list to ask the attendees for ideas to increase attendance.

• The Business portion of the meeting and the meeting itself ended about 7:40 P.M.

• Presentation Topic:Pipeline for DevOPS was postponed for a future date.

by Rosalind Radcliffe of IBM

• Contact Info:
Rosalind Radcliffe
IBM Fellow, CIO DevSecOps CTO
Email: rradclif@us.ibm.com
Phone: 919-695-5180 Work Mobile
Twitter: @RosalindRad
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosalind-radcliffe/

• The May 3, 2022 monthly meeting ended about 7:40 P.M.

Treasurer’s Report for May 2022

contributed by Randy Springs

The balance in the account is $1489.66 as of May 31, 2022.

SPARTA Financial Report
5/01/2022 through 05/31/2022

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2022

contributed by Chris Blackshire

June 7, 2022 - Chicken
July 12, 2022 - Subs (July 4 holiday is Monday before the usual July 5 meeting)
Aug 2, 2022 - BarBQ
Sept 13, 2022 - Pizza (Labor Day holiday is Monday Sept 5)
Oct 4, 2022 - Chicken
Nov 1, 2022 - Subs
Dec 6, 2022 - BarBQ

A New IBM Z Server Time Protocol Guide Is Available in Draft

contributed By Ed Webb

"Server Time Protocol (STP) is a server-wide facility that is implemented in the Licensed Internal Code (LIC) of the IBM Z platform. It provides improved time synchronization in a sysplex or non-sysplex configuration.

This IBM Redbooks publication is intended for infrastructure architects and system programmers who need to understand the IBM STP functions. Readers are expected to be generally familiar with IBM Z technology and terminology.

This book provides planning and implementation information for Server Time Protocol functions and associated software support for the IBM z16, IBM z15, and IBM z14 platforms."

Here's a look at the new draft IBM Z Server Time Protocol Guide.

SHARE 2022 Columbus Hotel and Early Registration Is Still Available!

contributed By Ed Webb

"Join us for SHARE Columbus, August 21-26, 2022, for a week-long program of unmatched education, face-to-face networking opportunities, live technical sessions and receptions."

Early Registration for this in-person full-week SHARE Conference ends on Friday, June 24, 2022. The hotel cut-off date for reservations is Friday, July 22, 2022, or whenever rooms sell out, whichever occurs first.

Details on Registration and Hotel and Travel are available at SHARE Columbus.

June 12 Change to IBM Software Electronic Delivery Servers

Contributed by Ed Webb

"On 12 June 2022, IBM is planning to change the public IP addresses for the IBM software download servers used for z/OS, z/VM, and z/VSE product and service orders submitted from Shopz, z/OS, z/VM, and z/VSE service orders submitted from ServiceLink, and z/OS service orders submitted from SMP/E RECEIVE ORDER. Customer action might be required to ensure uninterrupted downloads of products and service.

..., on 12 June 2022, public IP addresses will be changed for the IBM download servers used for:
z/OS, z/VM, and z/VSE product and service orders initiated from Shopz,
z/OS, z/VM, and z/VSE service orders initiated from ServiceLink, and
z/OS service orders initiated from SMP/E RECEIVE ORDER."

See more information here.

On June 4, 2022, IBM made similar IP address changes to the IBM Electronic Fix Distribution and IBM Fix Central system. Here's the recent notice about this change.

Humor

Funnies

contributed by Chris Blackshire

At my age I'm good at multitasking.
I can listen, ignore, and forget all at once.

Wouldn’t it be fun if we could put ourselves in the dryer and come out wrinkle free and two sizes smaller!!!

I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life.
It’s just too intelligent to come here.
--- Arthur C. Clarke

If men could get pregnant, abortions would be available at Jiffy Lube.
--- Betty White

What’s the difference between black eye peas and chick peas?
Black eye peas can sing us a song.
Chick peas can only hummus one.

Imagine a world where dogs took bad owners to the pound.

Mainframe Refresher Quiz

contributed by Chris Blackshire

1. What are zIIP, zAAP and IFL?
2. What does RDBMS stand for?
3. What is z/OS?
4. What is IBM's security management product for its mainframe?
5. What is IBM's family of relational database management system products?
6. What is zAware?
7. What are name/token services (NTS)?
8. What is the term for the representation of a business transaction or unit of work?
9. VSAM stands for
10. What is the P/390?

To see the correct answers: https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/quiz/A-mainframe-refresher-quiz
How many did you get right?

General Computer Trivia

contributed by Chris Blackshire

1. Question: When was the first [electronic] computer invented?
Answer: 1943.

2. Question: What was the name of the first [electronic] computer invented?
Answer: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).

3. Question: Who is known as the father of computers?
Answer: Charles Babbage.

4. Question: What was the first computer system that used color display?
Answer: Apple 1.

5. Question: What was the first mass-produced computer?
Answer: IBM 650.

6. Question: When was the first 1 GB disk drive released in the world?
Answer: 1980.

7. Question: What was the name of the first computer programmer?
Answer: Ada Lovelace.

8. Question: Who is called the inventor of the first modern electronic computer?
Answer: Konrad Zuse.

9. Question: How many generations of computers have been invented?
Answer: Five generations.

10. Question: Which popular company designed the first CPU?
Answer: Intel Corporation.

11. Question: What is the name of the first automatic electronic digital computer?
Answer: Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC).

12. Question: What does 'CD-ROM' stands for?
Answer: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory.

13. Question: Which computer hardware device performs the functions like click, point, drag, or select?
Answer: Mouse.

14. Question: What is the computer's main circuit board called?
Answer: Motherboard.

15. Question: What is the name of the system that manages and programs hardware resources for a computer?
Answer: Operating System.

16. Question: Which information storage is used to store short-term running programs and data in a computer?
Answer: RAM (Random Access Memory).

17. Question: Which input device is used to enter letters, numbers, and other characters into a computer?
Answer: Keyboard.

18. Question: Which output device is used to display information in visual pictorial form?
Answer: Monitor.

19. Question: Which part of the computer fetches, decodes, and executes the programming instructions?
Answer: CPU (Central Processing Unit).

20. Question: What is the name of the device that performs both input and output functions in a computer?
Answer: Modem.

21. Question: 'Laser', 'Dot Matrix' and 'Inkjet' are types of which output computer device?
Answer: Printer.

22. Question: What is the full form of UPS?
Answer: Uninterruptible Power Supply.

23. Question: Popular computer brands like Apple, Dell and Microsoft started their offices from which place?
Answer: A garage.

24. Question: Which two people co-founded Apple Inc. in 1977?
Answer: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

25. Question: What is the name of the first operating system designed by Microsoft?
Answer: MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System).

26. Question: Which computer company invented the first floppy disks, hard disk drives, and DRAMS?
Answer: IBM.

27. Question: Who are the founders of HP?
Answer: William Hewlett and David Packard.

28. Question: Who is currently the CEO of Microsoft?
Answer: Satya Nadella.

29. Question: What is the name of Apple's desktop operating system?
Answer: Mac OS.

30. Question: Which is the single most popular computer system ever sold?
Answer: Commodore 64.

31. Question: What was the name of the first IBM computer?
Answer: IBM 5150.

32. Question: Which company invented the USB port?
Answer: Intel Corporations.

33. Question: What is the full-form of famous computer company IBM?
Answer: International Business Machines.

34. Question: What type of application is MS-Word?
Answer: Word-processor.

35. Question: 'Firefox', 'Chrome', and 'Safari' are what type of computer software?
Answer: Web browser.

36. Question: In what type of application we can add slides, text, images, graphics, and videos?
Answer: Presentation software.

37. Question: '.xls' is a file extension used in which application?
Answer: MS Excel

38. Question: What application programs are used to organize, store, and modify data in computers?
Answer: Database Management Systems.

39. Question: Which programs are used to translate high-level language into a machine language code?
Answer: Programming language translators, assemblers, compilers, and interpreters.

40. Question: 'Adobe Photoshop' and 'PaintShop Pro' are examples of which type of applications?
Answer: Graphics software.

41. Question: What type of applications are available to users on a trial basis only for a limited period of time?
Answer: Shareware.

42. Question: What type of computer applications have an intersecting area called cells and can perform calculations with formulas and functions?
Answer: Spreadsheet.

43. Question: 'VLC media player' and 'Windows media player' are what type of programs?
Answer: Multimedia.

44. Question: What type of applications are available with a source code to modify and add features to it?
Answer: Opensource applications.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

7 p.m.

Location: Online

Information about access to our online meeting will be sent to our e-mail list by Tuesday, June 7.

Free Food before meeting: Your Food at Your Home

Program:

SHARE 2022 Dallas Conference Report

Speaker: Ed Webb of SPARTA

SPARTA Corporate Sponsors: