30th Anniversary of the Platinum Db2 Tip of the Month

If you have worked with Db2 as long as I have you probably have fond memories of the Platinum Db2 Tip of the Month... but I know there are a lot of you out there who have no idea what I'm talking about. So let me explain.

First of all, there used to be a software company called Platinum Technology, Inc. They were headquartered in Oak Brook Terrace, Illinois and made some of the earliest Db2 for z/OS management products. Platinum was acquired by CA in 1999 and most of those good old Platinum Db2 tools are still available from CA today (albeit updated and modified, of course).

Well, back in the day, Platinum was one of the most innovative marketers in the world of Db2, and they used to mail out a monthly tip about how to use Db2 more efficiently. Even though they sold and marketed their tools, they were promoting Db2 itself (which made sense, because if Db2 thrived, so would their tools). 

And yes, I said mailed. With a stamp. In a mailbox and delivered by a postal worker. This was well before the days of email and the Internet. So each month, Db2 DBAs would eagerly anticipate receiving the latest tip of the month from Platinum... I know I did... until I joined Platinum and started writing the tips!

So the point of this blog post is just to commemorate the occasion, as this month, November 2018, marks the 30th anniversary of the first tip, which was mailed out to Db2 users in November 1988.

And here is what that tip was:

This is the type of thing that the tips covered, among many other tricks and techniques. 

And no, I do not still have this first tip in its original version (although I do still have a stack of original tips). This image comes from the 50th Monthly Tip book that Platinum published compiling the first fifty tips.

Here is the cover of that book:

Thanks for taking this trip down Db2 memory lane with me... hope you enjoyed it! How many of you "out there" still have copies of the Platinum Monthly Db2 Tips?

Unboxing My Book: A Guide to Db2 Performance for Application Developers

Just a quick blog post today to show everybody that my latest book, A Guide to Db2 Performance for Application Developers, is published and ready for shipping!  I just got my author's copies as you can see in this video:

Hope you all out there in Db2-land find the book useful.

If you've bought a copyu and have any comments, please feel free to share them here on the blog.

Published and Available to be Ordered: A Guide to Db2 Performance for Application Developers

The print version of my new book, A Guide to Db2 Performance for Application Developers, can now be ordered directly from the publisher. (If you want the ebook, it can be ordered from the same link below).

Just click on the book cover below and you can order it right now! The link provides more details on the book as well as options for buying the book.

 



Quick information about the book: The purpose of A Guide to Db2 Performance for Application Developers is to give advice and direction to Db2 application developers and programmers to help you code efficient, well-performing programs. If you write code and access data in a Db2 database, then this book is for you. Read the book and apply the advice it gives and your DBAs will love you!

The book was written based on the latest and greatest versions of Db2 for z/OS and Db2 for LUW... and, yes, the book covers both.

If you buy the book and have any thoughts for me, drop me a comment here on the blog!

What Do You Think of the New Design?

Regular readers should have noticed that the logo and basic design of the blog has been "spiffed" up a bit. I did this because the blog has been around for a long time now... my first post was in October 2005! So it was time for a bit of freshening.

Generally speaking, I think blogs are mostly for conveying information, so perhaps I haven't paid as much attention as should have to the look and feel of this blog. But hopefully I fixed that (at least somewhat) for now.

Also, please note that I have not removed any old content. Everything that was here before stays here, even the posts from over a decade ago. I am a big believer in keeping stuff available... some might call that being a packrat, but I wear that label proudly.

So I tend to err on the side of not removing content... I figure, you should note the date of everything you read on the Internet anyway... right?

Let me know what you think of the new look!

Submit an Abstract to Speak at the IDUG Db2 Tech Conference 2019

Hey Db2 people, have you done something interesting with Db2? Have you worked on a cool application or figured out a nifty way of managing your databases? Do you want to share your experiences, know-how, and best practices with other Db2ers? Have you ever wanted to put together a presentation and deliver it to a bunch of like-minded Db2 folks? 

Well, there is still time to submit a proposal to speak at next year's IDUG Db2 Tech Conference in Charlotte, NC. The Call for Speakers is open until October 19th, so if you are interested in presenting, time is running short!

You will have to put together your thoughts and an outline of what you want to present. Start with the category of your presentation. According to IDUG, some of the most popular are:

• New Db2 releases: migrating and effective usage
• Analytics & Business Intelligence
• New Technologies: Mobile Applications, Cloud, xAAS …
• Performance, Availability & Security
• Application Development and Data Modelling
• Db2 and Packaged Applications (ERP, ...)
• User Experiences and Best-Practices: what did you achieve with Db2?
• Db2 and non-standard data types (JSON etc..)
• DevOps, Automation, Efficiency, Tuning stories

But feel free to submit an abstract on any relevant, technical topic. Oh, and you'll need to put together a short bio, too.

As somebody who has spoken at many IDUG conferences in North America, Europe and Australia, I can tell you that the experience is well worth it. Putting your thoughts together to build a presentation makes you reason things out and perhaps think about them in different ways. And speaking at an event is a great experience. Although you will be educating others as you speak, usually the speaker learns a lot, too. 

If your abstract is selected, you get to attend the conference for free (the conference fee is waived, you or your company only have to pay the hotel and travel expenses). And that means you get all the benefits of attending IDUG including the ability to attend all five days of educational sessions, expert panels, and special interest groups. You also get free reign to visit all the vendors at the Expo hall, where there are usually a lot of goodies and snacks.

So go ahead, submit an abstract... or submit multiple abstracts, there is no limit to how many you can submit. 

And hopefully, I'll see you next year, June 2 thru 6, 2019, in Charlotte at the IDUG Db2 Tech Conference.