SPARTA News

September 2024

SPARTA President’s Corner

contributed by Randy Springs

This month, we will again be holding our SPARTA meetings via Zoom. We might go back to our in-person meetings if we can find an appropriate venue. Let us know if you have any suggestions for a meeting location.

For our September meeting, join us for a presentation from Ed Webb, former senior systems programmer at SAS, and a participant of many SHARE and GUIDE activities for more than four decades. Ed recently attended SHARE in Kansas City and will provide an overview of the conference and discuss the technical sessions he attended on current IT topics.

Invite your fellow systems programmers to join us for this informative and interesting online meeting.

We hope to see you online on Tuesday, September 10, [Special Date because of Labor Day] on Zoom. Watch for meeting information coming your way soon.

Randy Springs
Retired (Truist)

Future Speakers (subject to change)

September 10, 2024 (Special Date) - SHARE 2024 Kansas City Report by Ed Webb of SPARTA

October 1, 2024 - TBA by TBD of Unknown

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.

2024-2025 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 3 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 distribution List is maintained by Chris Blackshire; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Chris at chrisbl@nc.rr.com.

August 2024 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V507 (dated August 7, 2024) 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 August 13, 2024 Meeting

• The August 13, 2024 meeting was called to order at 3:00 PM by Randy Springs, the SPARTA President.

• The August 13, 2024 meeting was cancelled because of speaker availability issues.

• This Forty-fourth (April 2020 to August 2024) virtual SPARTA meeting was held via the Zoom Software.

• Fifteen (15) people were present at the virtual meeting.

• The business portion of the meeting followed the presentation.

• The meeting started at 3 PM to accommodate the speaker's availability.

OLD BUSINESS

• The minutes of the July 9, 2024 meeting as published in the August 2024 Newsletter were approved.

• The minutes of the last meeting as published were approved.

• The July 31, 2024 Treasurer's report as published in the August 2024 Newsletter was approved. As of July 31, 2024, the current balance is $805.46.

• 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 want 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.

• 2024 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, September 10, 2024 (postponed to avoid the Labor Day week).

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

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

• There are currently about 100 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 are interested.

• Randy Springs has setup a SPARTA group on LinkedIn. Please join.

• There was discussion about a possible 2024 in-person meeting, depending on vaccinations and room availability. Stay tuned.
- Randy will contact Bill Johnson to determine the LabCorp meeting place status.
- Jay Hall will look into using a NCSU Centennial Campus room.

NEW BUSINESS

• There was significant discussion about how to increase attendance at SPARTA meetings. After discussing ending SPARTA given lack of participation, the attendees decided to keep trying for another six months.

• We will continue meeting virtually for now with a future in-person meeting date TBD. Stay tuned.
• The Business portion and the meeting ended about 4:10 P.M.

• The Presentation started at 3:12 PM after attendee introductions.

• Presentation Topic: Customizing z/OSMF Using Plugins

By Jerry Spencer of DTS Software LLC

• Agenda
• Download The IBM Sample Plugin
• Install The IBM Sample Plugin
• Overcome My Personal Issues
• Understand The IBM Sample Plugin
• Create Your Own Plugin
• Wrap Up

• Presentation Access - See Below for a full outline of the presentation.

See the SPARTA webpage for all recent presentations including this July one with the presentation recording.

• Contact Info:
Speaker: Jerry Spencer
DTS Software
4350 Lassiter at North Hills Ave #230
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: 919-833-8426 x 0165
E-mail: jerry@DTSsoftware.com
Web site: https://www.dtssoftware.com

• The presentation and questions/answers ended about 4:00 P.M.
• The August 13, 2024 monthly meeting ended about 4:12 P.M. after a short business meeting.

Treasurer’s Report for August 2024

contributed by Randy Springs

The balance in the account is $805.46 as of August 31, 2024.

SPARTA Financial Report
08/01/2024 through 08/31/2024

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2024

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Sept 10, 2024 Pizza (date avoids Labor Day holiday week)
Oct 1, 2024 Chicken
Nov 5, 2024 Subs
Dec 3, 2024 BarBQ

Install Your Order z/OSMF PSI-style

contributed By Ed Webb

Marne Walle, the IBM expert on z/OS Installation, recently provided this detailed information about the z/OSMF locations for material that was previously in the Install Your Order (IYO) book (pdf) that came with a ServerPac order. This summary is definitely worth a review by anyone installing z/OS via the new z/OSMF Portable Software Instance (PSI) method.

"IYO (Installing Your Order) [PDF] was specific for the deprecated CustomPac ServerPac.  The book was broken up into several different places, where it was applicable to the z/OSMF Portable Software Instance ("z/OSMF ServerPac") install path.

If I look at an old IYO here's where I'd expect to find the materials in that book, in the new locations, by Chapter:

1. Chapter 1 General Information:  this should be found in the general z/OSMF Software Management documentation, but also to learn about the installation path, we recommend using this Content Solution, https://www.ibm.com/support/z-content-solutions/serverpac-install-zosmf/
2. Chapter 1 Order Content:  this is found in the provided Workflow called "Your Order" which you'll see as the first Workflow once your deployment jobs have run successfully.  You can also see what you have ordered on Shopz, from your packing list.
3. Chapter 3 Preparing to Install:  Not applicable to the z/OSMF Portable Software Instance path.
4. Chapter 4  Running the Installation Jobstream:  these jobs were specific to the CustomPac install, and therefore were "covered' by the z/OSMF Software Management deployment task itself.  For help during the deployment in z/OSMF, you use the User Interface itself, or the Help on the upper right hand corner.   
  5. Chapter 5 Post-Installation Tasks on the Driving System:  these jobs ended up as Post Deploy Workflow steps.  All the documentation for each of the jobs was put on the General tab, inside the instructions, or inside the job itself.  
6. Chapter 6 Preparing the Target System for IPL.   these jobs ended up as Post Deploy Workflow steps.  All the documentation for each of the jobs was put on the General tab, inside the instructions, or inside the job itself. 
7. Chapter 7 IPLing your System (and Shutting Down):   these instructions ended up as directions at the end of the Post Deploy Workflow steps.  All the documentation for each of the jobs was put on the General tab.  
8. Chapter 8  Post-Installation Tasks on the Target System:   these jobs ended up as Verify Workflow steps.  All the documentation for each of the jobs was put on the General tab, inside the instructions, or inside the job itself. 
9. Chapter 9  Verifying the Installation:  these jobs ended up as Verify Workflow steps.  All the documentation for each of the jobs was put on the General tab, inside the instructions, or inside the job itself. 
10. Chapter 10  Completing the Installation:  These jobs ended up as part of z/OSMF Software Management itself.  Many of these jobs weren't even applicable anymore.  
11. Appendix A:  This information was provided in Shopz, in a new document called 'View Product Information For Your Order' under the section called "Installation Documentation"."

New No-Charge z/OS Products, Latest IBM Ansible Core released, and more

Contributed by Ed Webb

Planet Mainframe, which now own Cheryl Watson's Newsletter, recently published this overview of recent IBM offerings for z/OS, and they're free!

"IBM has announced that starting July 1, 2024, the Open Enterprise SDK for Python, Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU), and Open Enterprise Foundation for z/OS (OEF) will be added as bypassable requisites to z/OS 3.1.

These technologies, which many IBM Z clients have adopted to modernize their mainframe strategies, are crucial for accelerating application modernization with open-source tools. ZOAU enhances interaction with Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) facilities and data sets via z/OS UNIX System Services and offers Python integration points."

Read the sumaries and find links to details about these newly available enhancements in this Planet Mainframe posting.

Status of Quantum Computing

Contributed by Chris Blackshire

You may be one of those waiting for the quantum computer, the arrival of which we have been told is imminent for several years. Already at this point, DTU Associate Professor Sven Karlsson begins to look a little strained, because among his partners are the two European companies AQT and IQM which produce and sell quantum computers.

“It’s a common misconception that the quantum computer doesn’t exist yet. It does already exist, so it’s not something we need to wait for. However, the current quantum computers aren’t yet all that large, which obviously limits how complicated the calculations can be, but they exist and are being used,” says Sven Karlsson.

One example is IBM’s quantum computers, which anyone can access via the internet. In addition, there are quantum computers in scientific laboratories, in supercomputer centers, at universities, and so on—worldwide. These are also among the customers to which AQT and IQM sell their products.

Mostly for experiments

It has not yet been possible to build quantum computers with many quantum bits. Quantum bits are used to process the information in the computer, and a low number of quantum bits therefore limits the complexity of the calculations the quantum computer can perform. Sven Karlsson therefore characterizes the current use as primarily experimental, making it possible to play with and understand the technology.

Companies, countries battle to develop quantum computers | 60 Minutes
Watch at CBS News: Inside the quantum computer race
Watch at YouTube: Inside the quantum computer race

The Corporate Giants in Quantum Computing
Among the prominent entities in the quantum computing (QC) arena originating from the United States – Google, IBM, Microsoft, and AWS (Amazon) – only IBM boasts a legacy of over a century in technological innovation. The remaining trio, comprising Google, Microsoft, and AWS, has a (comparatively) shorter computing history.

The Top Quantum Computing Companies: A Full 2024 List

An Overview of the Quantum Computing Landscape

An increasing number of quantum computing companies are emerging globally with the goal of creating operational processors and the hardware and software that enable them. This article looks to provide a high-level overview of the landscape of quantum computing companies for now, and into 2024. The full list and a summary of each company:

1. IBM
2. GOOGLE QUANTUM AI
3. MICROSOFT
4. AWS Braket (Amazon)
5. ALIBABA GROUP
6. BAIDU
7. EVIDEN (Atos Computing)
8. INTEL
9. NVIDIA
[list continued with 70 more companies-ed.]

In the race toward quantum computing, North Carolina takes center stage

In 2018, IBM picked N.C. State’s Centennial Campus as the site of its first IBM Quantum Hub in North America.

Two years later, Duke partnered with the Maryland-based company IonQ to open the Duke Quantum Center inside downtown Durham’s Chesterfield building. Under their arrangement, IonQ has exclusive rights to the intellectual property the lab produces while Duke has received equity in the public company.

IBM and IonQ — and by extension N.C. State and Duke — are racing toward a common goal: to achieve what’s known as “quantum advantage,” the still-elusive moment when a quantum computer can perform a real-world task better than a classical computer. (The term “quantum supremacy” refers to a moment when a quantum computer achieves something a classical computer could never accomplish.)


Read more at: In the race toward quantum computing, North Carolina takes center stage

NC State Quantum Initiative Hosts 4th Annual Symposium
. The Symposium was held in person on June 13 -14, 2024 in the Duke Energy Hall at the James B. Hunt Library on NC State’s Centennial Campus.

Here's more about UNC Quantum Computing and the Duke Quantum Center.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a notable name that has made significant breakthroughs in quantum computing over the years. For example, by using its ‘127-qubit Eagle quantum computer', IBM has been able to solve complex problems that long stumped the leading classical methods. Despite the challenges of noise and errors in quantum systems, IBM was able to generate accurate results by using an ‘advanced error mitigation' technique that were verified by running the problem on a traditional supercomputer for lower levels of complexity.

In the time since its Eagle quantum computer was released, IBM has already developed a 433 qubit system known as ‘Osprey' and is expected to soon launch a 1,121 qubit system known as Condor. Each of these successive generations greatly improves upon its predecessor while widening the gap between what is possible with a traditional supercomputer. IBM states that, “As quantum processors scale up, each additional qubit doubles the amount of space complexity — the amount of memory space required to execute algorithms — for a classical computer to reliably simulate quantum circuits.”

While the potential abilities of a quantum computer cannot be replicated by more traditional approaches, IBM notes that it does not envision a future where only one exists. Rather, the company anticipates that both quantum and binary variants will continue to thrive in use cases geared specifically toward the strengths of each.

The quantum computer will not replace supercomputers. Instead, it will supplement them and be used for highly specific calculations. Nor will the quantum computer have its own user interface, but must be accessed via the supercomputers.

Humor

Wit and Wisdom continued

contributed by Ed Webb

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word: Excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
Boredom is the desire for desires.

On matters of style, swim with the current; on matters of principle, stand like a rock.
What you don’t know won’t hurt you, but it amuses a lot of people.
Don't argue with an idiot - people watching may not be able to tell the difference.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Time: 3 p.m.

Location: Online

Information about access to our online meeting will be sent to our e-mail list by Tuesday, September 10.

Free Food before meeting: Your Food at Your Home

Program:

SHARE 2024 Kansas City Conference Report

Speaker:

Ed Webb of SPARTA

SPARTA Corporate Sponsors:

August 2024 Presentation outline

• Presentation Topic: Cancelled Because of Speaker Issues

By Jerry Spencer of DTS Software LLC

The presentation minutes are shorter than usual as you can watch the entire recorded presentation on the SPARTA website.

• Agenda
• Download The IBM Sample Plugin
• Install The IBM Sample Plugin
• Overcome My Personal Issues
• Understand The IBM Sample Plugin
• Create Your Own Plugin
• Wrap Up

• Download The IBM Sample Plugin

The presentation and questions and answers ended about 4:00 PM and the meeting ended at 4:12 PM after a short business meeting.