December 15, 2017
December 15, 2017 | Volume 14 Issue 18
- LEAD ARTICLE: TechTip: Watson APIs - Text to Speech
- FEATURED ARTICLE: Hidden Dangers of the Lesser-Known IBM i Special Authorities
- FEATURED ARTICLE: IBM i Security Event Logging and Active Monitoring: A Step by Step Guide
- NEWS HIGHLIGHT: RPG & DB2 Summit Opens Up Schedule for Several New Sessions in March
- WHITE PAPER: White Paper: Node.js for Enterprise IBM i Modernization
- MC VIDEO SHOWCASE: Design an Invoice in 10 Minutes
- EVENT: OCEAN Annual January Kick Off to a Great Year of Education with Steve Will & Kevin Adler
- MC PRESS MAGAZINE: A Small Intro to Big Data, Part 3: HFDS and the MapReduce Algorithm

TechTip: Watson APIs - Text to Speech
We looked at Watson Speech to Text; you talk and Watson converts the audio to a written document. Did you think there wouldn't be tit for tat? Now, we go the other way.
By David Shirey
In one sense, you might think this would be a mirror image of the Speech to Text article, but things like that happen rarely. Although the circumstances (text to speech versus speech to text) are opposite, there are some differences in what happens in this process. Let's look, shall we?

Hidden Dangers of the Lesser-Known IBM i Special Authorities
Everyone's aware of the dangers of *ALLOBJ, *SECADM, and *SPLCTL special authorities. But what about the rest? This article discusses the issues you should be aware of when assigning the other special authorities.
By Carol Woodbury
When discussing the concept of "least privilege access" that is, giving users only the authorities necessary to do their jobs it's obvious that only trusted users should be granted *ALLOBJ special authority. It's also obvious that *SECADM, which allows users to create user profiles and modify them when they have *USE authority to the profile, should be given only to the people who need to maintain user profiles. Since *SPLCTL is the *ALLOBJ of spooled files, obviously you only grant that special authority to users who are allowed to see all spooled files on the system. But who should be assigned the rest of the special authorities, and what vulnerabilities might you be causing when assigning these special authorities? Let's take a look.
What to Do When Your AS/400 Talent Retires
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small.
This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business?
This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
- Why IBM i skills depletion is a top concern
- How leading organizations are coping
- Where automation will make the biggest impact
Enjoy!
Download your copy today!
2019 State of IBM i Modernization
The annual Profound Logic ‘State of IBM i Modernization Survey” takes a look at the trends and attitudes that shape the IBM i modernization market. We reached out to the IBM i community, and the response was outstanding: close to 800 people, nearly 300 more than last year, took the survey. This enthusiasm resulted in very interesting findings for how businesses plan to use and modernize the platform in the coming year.
As you read through each section of the survey, you will see our summary of the results and suggestions for the future. We hope the survey will help your business better understand what is possible for your IBM i platform in the coming year.
Node Webinar Series Pt. 1: The World of Node.js on IBM i
Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.
Part 1 will teach you what Node.js is, why it's a great option for IBM i shops, and how to take advantage of the ecosystem surrounding Node.
In addition to background information, our Director of Product Development Scott Klement will demonstrate applications that take advantage of the Node Package Manager (npm).
watch now!
What Most IBM i Shops Get Wrong About the IFS
Can you trust all of your users all of the time?
A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six month later.
A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:
- How phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated
- Three little-known ways malicious programs can reach your IFS
- Why the IFS is IBM i’s “Typhoid Mary”
You’ll also learn why some of the most common malware solutions still leave IBM i systems vulnerable—and what you can do to protect your organization.
Easiest Way to Save Money? Stop Printing IBM i Reports
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- Seamless product integration
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IBM i Security Event Logging and Active Monitoring: A Step by Step Guide
Active monitoring and log collection are at the top of the list of effective security controls. IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) users have to solve some special challenges to implement this critical security control.
by Townsend Security
Editor's note: This article introduces the white paper
IBM i customers often run multiple back-office applications on the IBM i server and it is a well-known repository for sensitive information and an active target of cyber criminals and state actors. In this eBook we discuss the core requirements for a successful active monitoring strategy, how to identify sources of security information on the IBM i platform, and steps you can take to implement an IBM i active monitoring solution.