But Wait, There's More. . .

• If you are trying to sort out the latest PTFs for OS/400 and its related systems programs that IBM has released, you need to check out the OS/400 PTF Guides that our partner, DLB Associates, has compiled for you. The two latest OS/400 PTF Guides are for June 29 and July 6. An archive of OS/400 PTF Guides published to date is also available on our site.
  

• An article in this month's issue of Business 2.0 has the AS/400 world stirring. In the story, The Technology Secrets of Cocaine Inc., author Paul Kaihla details how Columbian drug cartels have spent billions of dollars building sophisticated IT systems to improve the efficiency of their illegal activities. Kaihla starts his 2,800-word essay in Cali, Columbia, where, one dark and stormy night eight years ago, counter-narcotics agents stormed a condominium complex but failed to find any guns or drugs. "But what they did find sent shudders through law enforcement and intelligence circles around the world," Kaihala writes. Sitting in the condo was a $1.5 million AS/400 "mainframe" with six terminals. The AS/400 was flown back to the United States, where it was dissembled and analyzed by the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to Kaihala, the DEA's report on the AS/400, which was given the code name "Santacruz," is highly classified, but investigative research and interviews with former DEA, military, and State Department officials have revealed the mission of Santacruz, which was to sniff out moles within the drug cartel's organization. The cartel did this by housing a database of phone numbers of U.S. diplomats and agents based in Columbia, which was continuously correlated against the entire call log for Cali, which was leaked to the cartel by the local phone company. This setup effectively told the cartel who, when, and where anybody was using the telephone to contact drug enforcement personnel.
  
  
• Startup iSeries security consulting firm SkyView Partners recently formed a partnership with application development tools provider LANSA. As part of the partnership, Sky View Partners will provide iSeries and AS/400 security consulting services to LANSA customers, who are predominantly users of the OS/400 platform. SkyView Partners was formed earlier this year by former IBM AS/400 security architects Carol Woodbury and John Vanderwall, both of whom left OS/400 security utility provider PowerTech Group to form their own company. LANSA provides fourth-generation language development tools and other e-business templates to companies that develop their own OS/400 and Windows applications, as well as to independent software vendors that use them to create OS/400 and Windows applications.
  
  
• Aldon Computer Group and UniPress Software are joining forces to offer a unified change management, help desk, and incident tracking solution. Aldon, the Oakland, California, company that provides, among other things, change management software for OS/400, announced that it will integrate UniPress Software's Web-based FootPrint help desk software with its own suite of change management software, which includes Aldon/CMS, for the iSeries, and Aldon Affiniti, for cross-platform change management with a GUI. By linking incidents, tracked by FootPrint, in the Aldon change management lifecycle, it will make it easier to track incidents occurring in projects Aldon's software is managing and give IT managers better information to make decisions from, Aldon says.
  
  
• Elite Document Solutions, a startup provider of OS/400 document management software, from the Lake Forest, California, suburb of Orange County, has formed an alliance with Vanguard Systems, the Media, Pennsylvania, company that makes the OS/400 archive/retrieval and imaging system, IMS/21. Elite Document Solutions' software, eliteSUITE, provides users with the ability to merge OS/400 spool files with user-defined forms. As part of the agreement, eliteSUITE and IMS/21 will be integrated and sold as a bundled whole by the two companies.
  
  
• Midrange middleware vendor Jacada has joined forces with Align360, a consulting company that serves the banking, insurance, and financial services industries from offices in the South and Northwest. As part of the agreement, the companies will leverage each other's sales channels and jointly market and deliver complementary software solutions and consulting services to the banking and financial services marketplaces. In addition to consulting services, Align360 sells software that helps companies choose a methodology for implementing new business processes or solutions. Jacada sells the Jacada Interface Server, a multifaceted product that can give existing OS/400 or mainframe applications a GUI or prepare legacy data and business processes for participation in new e-business projects.
  
  

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LEARN SQL BY EXAMPLE Reader Feedback: A great book! Interestingly, it could have two completely different audiences. One is the audience of traditional AS/400 people like myself, that need to learn how SQL works. And the other is the experienced SQL person, who needs to know how SQL on the AS/400 is different. -- Jerry K. Buy your copy of iSeries and AS/400 SQL at Work direct from the author, Howard F. Arner, Jr. This is THE book to teach you SQL on the iSeries and AS/400 platform. Howard takes you from the beginning of the book to the end with information that is useful for beginners and experts alike. The book comes with a CD that has all of the sample data and queries used in the book and a FREE copy of SQLThing that you can use to work through the examples in the book, so you learn by doing. With Howard's expert guidance, you'll learn and understand many topics, including the following: Relational Concepts and Terms SQL Select Basics Manipulating Data with SQL Advanced Select Statements for Powerful Reports Cursors, Transactions, Journals, and Logging Debugging SQL Statements and Enhancing Performance Stored Procedures/Using Legacy Programs in SQL Embedded SQL in RPG Howard F. Arner, Jr., is a programmer who has published extensively on AS/400 integration and database topics. In his book, iSeries and AS/400 SQL at Work, Howard provides detailed coverage of SQL for business environments by using practical examples--available on the CD--to be performed by the reader. More advanced chapters teach how to become proficient in industry-standard SQL to manipulate AS/400 data, use scalar functions to summarize data, and integration of SQL into RPG and COBO. This is the perfect guide for beginners and advanced SQL users. Here's what readers are saying about iSeries and AS/400 SQL at Workby Howard F. Arner: Anyone working with AS/400 query should look into buying this book. Now using AS/400 query seems a little odd and very cumbersome. His writing is laid out very well and is easy to read. While reading this, I felt that he was actually there explaining the chapters to me as a one-on-one instructor. -- Jonathan Tripp, Deerfield Beach, Florida If you wondered how to call AS/400 programs from your Visual Basic program correctly, this book is your one source for how to do so. It's the first book on the market that answered all of my client/server questions when I deal with PC to AS/400 programming tasks. Not only does Howard do a good job of explaining how stored procedures work, but he gives some great coding examples on how to get you up and running correctly. Howard goes the extra mile and talks about performance, too--one thing that normally is lacking in many other books. -- Bob Butcher, Sidney, New York Learn how SQL can make your job easier and you more productive. Order your copy at SQLThing.com today!