Four Hundred Monitor, September 13
September 13, 2023 Jenny Thomas
The team at IT Jungle has been part of the “work at home” crew since the beginning. Not to age ourselves, but this goes back a couple of decades, so long before we all sheltered in place for the pandemic. Now granted, some jobs, like news writing for instance, do require some solitude, but companies that formerly had employees gathering in an office are looking to re-establish that as the norm – including IBM. Our Top Story this week is about IBM requiring all software division employees who work within 50 miles of an office to report to work at least three days a week. And this is a global mandate. No word on how employees are taking the news, but given IBM’s AI aspirations, it might be a good idea to show up and prove why you can’t be replaced by a computer.
Top Stories From Around The Jungle
(ComputerWorld) IBMers get a new mandate to report to work.
(Yahoo!Finance) IBM is joining forces with Nvidia and Salesforce to create rules for ensuring safety when it comes to AI.
(Bleeping Computer) Another major IBM-related data breach, this time involving Johnson & Johnson.
(TechCrunch) Here comes more new AI features from IBM.
(Binghamtonhomepage.com) The birthplace of IBM has officially been shuttered.
Redbooks, White Papers, Blogs, Podcasts, and Other Resources
(ServiceExpress) This article offers strategies on how to address data center sustainability without compromising perfection.
(OpenText) A modernization case study with Micro Focus Visual COBOL.
(Zebra) Mobile device security is an important consideration for every business. This blog offers some tips before you buy your next tablet.
(System i Developer) Join our friends at SiD next week for the Summit Deep Dive Workshops for IBM i developers. Choose from 13 interactive, half-day online workshops with Paul Tuohy, Susan Gantner, Jon Paris, or Mike Pavlak. Cement new skills in SQL, RPG, open source on IBM i, APIs/web services, Db2 for i and more. The series begins September 19 and runs through October 31.
(thryv) This blog makes the case for improving employee productiveness with better communication.
Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings
September 19 – Online Workshop – Getting to a Modern Database on IBM i, a half day online workshop with Paul Tuohy, covers the design and definition of a modern database and the steps necessary to re-define an existing database with DDL — without having to make any program changes.
September 19 – Online Meeting – QUSER welcomes Simon Hutchinson to their September online meeting. He will be making two presentations: Temporal Tables and Tricks with Spool files.
September 21 – Webinar – The modern IBM i is more than DevOps. It’s modernizing RPG, Database, Fields, and SYNON. Which is the topic of this webinar from ARCAD Software. This webinar will help you get started on the path to IBM i modernization no matter where you are starting. From modern processes with DevOps to modernizing the backend – RPG fixed- to free-format, moving from DDS to DDL, field expansion, and if you’re SYNON, modernizing code that was created in the 70s with a code generator.
September 21 – Online Workshop – RDi Quick Start for PDM Fans, a half day online workshop with Susan Gantner, helps you get started (or re-started) quickly using RDi’s new PDM perspective. This simplified interface includes a table that allows you to “work with members” (or objects or libraries) in a form that looks and feels much like PDM — but with many cool added features.
September 26 – Online Workshop – Data Structures & Arrays for Today’s RPG Apps, a half day online workshop with Jon Paris, covers Nested Data Structures, Multi-Dimensional Arrays, Dynamic Arrays, Templates, Modern Indicator usage, Data Structure I/O, and more.
September 28 – Online Workshop – Intro to Open Source on IBM i, a half day online workshop with Mike Pavlak, introduces you to the fundamentals of using Open Source Software on IBM i. Mike will cover concepts and terminology, how to install and manage open source tools, and survey several open source projects and languages.
October 3 – Online Workshop – Foundations in SQL on IBM i, a half day online workshop with Paul Tuohy, covers SQL terminology and concepts, including basic syntax for Data Manipulation Language (DML) and Data Definition Language (DDL), as well as the many SQL functions and compare/contrast some of them with RPG built-in functions. We’ll look at accessing data from multiple tables using JOIN and UNION. We’ll look at the use of subselect (a SELECT within a SELECT) and the use of Common Table Expressions (CTE) to accomplish more complex data access.
October 5 – Online Workshop – RPG Procedures & SRVPGMs by Example, a half day online workshop with Susan Gantner, covers how and why to use ILE procedures, modules, service programs, binding directories, binder language, and activation groups.
October 10 – Online Workshop – Python for RPGers, a half day online workshop with Mike Pavlak, explores the implementation, syntax and application use cases of Python on IBM i.
October 9-11 – Virginia Beach, Virginia – Join COMMON for NAViGATE, which will feature more than 100 sessions presented by industry expert speakers, an expo of leading solution providers in the IBM i space, and limitless networking opportunities to connect with peers and experts to maximize your learning opportunities.
October 12 – Online Workshop – API Enable Your Application with Web Services, a half day online workshop with Jon Paris and Paul Tuohy, takes you step by step through the basics of creating and consuming web services using either RPG or SQL along with JSON or XML and HTTPAPI or IWS. Learn which approach is right for you.
October 16 – Webinar – The inaugural event for a new IBM i user group – iMUG, IBM i Midrange User Group – will be held online and will feature three-time IBM Champion for Power and IBM i developer Simon Hutchinson who will present: “Simon’s Top 10 SQL Favorites.” The webinar will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern standard time, and you can get more details at this link.
October 17 – Online Workshop – A to Z of Embedded SQL in RPG, a half day online workshop with Paul Tuohy, takes you from the basics of a simple SELECT statement, to using a cursor, to using a paging cursor, to using SQL to maintain your data, to wrapping SQL functions as RPG subprocedures, to accessing the web with SQL, to the proper use of dynamic SQL… and much, much more.
October 19 – Online Workshop – Is Code for IBM i Right for You?, a half day online workshop with Susan Gantner and Jon Paris, introduces you to Code for IBM i, an open source extension to Microsoft’s Visual Code Studio. This new IDE supports developers working on IBM i applications that use languages like RPG, COBOL and CL as well as PHP, Node.js, Python and other open source languages.
October 24 – Online Workshop – PHP for RPGers, a half day online workshop with Mike Pavlak, focuses on the fundamentals of PHP. It moves on to exhibit a simple use case for an application and then decompose the application with a LOT of nifty tools and features.
October 26 – Online Workshop – Coding a Modern RPG Application, a half day online workshop with Paul Tuohy, takes you through the structure and code behind a modern RPG application, exploring the details of each of its many layers.
October 31 – Online Workshop – SQL Procedures, Functions and Triggers, a half day online workshop with Paul Tuohy, shows you how to use SQL to allow other languages (and platforms) to take advantage of existing IBM i code or to access SQL capabilities from RPG or COBOL applications.