I'm still here...

No worries! I guess it's just a busy time of the year. We're all doing pretty well and I hope to post more frequently. I'm actually working on a series of posts to start on December 14 (I think). We're working on i5/OS upgrades on 3 servers at work. It's only from v5.3 to v5.4 and it's supposed to be easy peasy. Two guys are going to upgrade one of them today.

Not much going on with Domino except for working on some Domino applications. As with most larger SMBs, our users just need functional access to corporate data from the web. We don't need no stinkin' 2.0!! I've come up with a fairly cool template (IMHO) that's integrating Julian's "Google Suggest" for customer lookups (well, we do have some 2.0, eh?) and straight HTML views. I'm incorporating document locking as well.

OK, back to my work on the December series...

Now Playing: "Song of the Redeemed" by Charlie Hall

Got My Hands On The Latest Version Of Lotus Notes!

Now that I have your attention... I decided to crack open an OS/2 box that was in my cubicle. I thought I would share with you what I found:


Beautifully shrinkwrapped copy of Lotus Notes "Express" Release 3.30 for OS/2!


Here you can see the reasons to use Lotus Notes. The copyright date at the bottom is 1995!


I had to open the disc - here it is...


And here is the listing of the 6 templates that ship with the software. They are stunning!

Now Playing: "Christmas In The Air" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Technorati: Lotus Notes

Domino 7.0.2 HTTP Hotfixed

As of Friday we have been running with no problems on Domino 7.0.2 for our production mail server. Lotus worked on a hotfix and delivered it Friday for my company and "other customers clamoring for the fix." I discussed the issue here. We were getting an "HTTP crash on Locking handle when creating NMemBlock". I did test a hotfix that didn't work.

After further investigation, it was discovered that the issue was with the HTTP UserCache and how it was working with LTPA tokens in an SSO environment. Since we use LTPA we were receiving the error. It's been almost a week now and it's working well. Whew...

I don't really want to start a rant here, but the last major Domino server issues we had were when we went to 7.0 this time last year and revolved around the HTTP task. Thankfully this time the fix took a week instead of 2.5 months!!

OpenNTF Mail Experience 7.0.2a Beta is out

Cool stuff! Love the Web 2.0 UI. Check it out here. Thanks Bruce and Vince!

HTTP 1.0 and Domino 7.0.2 (New notes.ini Setting)

Lotus has re-worked the caching for HTTP 1.0 in Domino 7.0.2. So, if you have DWA users who have HTTP 1.0 enabled, keep an eye out for issues. To determine if this updated cache mechanism is the issue, you can enable a new setting in your Domino 7.0.2 server's notes.ini:

iNotes_WA_PreferWebEngineCacheControl=1 - This will revert the HTTP 1.0 cache behavior back to that of Domino 7.0.1.

Now Playing: "Some Things Never Change" by Bride

Technorati: Lotus Domino

It's Been A Long Week

Well, not counting the 7.0.2 issues this week, it hasn't been a good week. On Sunday, my Aunt Cassie passed away. I have mentioned her situation previously back in July. She bravely fought cancer for 7 years - perhaps one of the strongest, gentlest women anyone could know. My dad is from a family of 8 children and his sister's family was probably the closest to our family. Aunt Cassie was a lot like a grandmother to my brother since she kept him during the days until he was 4. It was a tough loss, but Aunt Cassie isn't suffering any more and is much better off. She was a wonderful Christian woman. The funeral was today, on her birthday. It was especially tough. I was privileged to be one of the pallbearers. Parts of the funeral service got to me, but when we had to stand up at the end to get ready to take the casket it was really tough to choke back the tears. To those of you who I have spoken with about this, thank you so much for your kind thoughts and prayers. They are cherished! As I also mentioned in July, my grandmother is not well either - we did get her into an assisted-living facility. She has been in the hospital this week as well, so that has also been trying for our family.

Domino http Question

Does anyone know if cache lookups would be disabled if I set the user cache to zero in the server document?

Hotfix Coming for Domino 7.0.2 HTTP Issue

Cliff's Notes: I'm going to load a Domino 7.0.2 hotfix, an STLINKS hotfix, and Sametime 7.5 CF1! Talk about a patched system...

I will (hopefully) be receiving a hotfix tonight for the http issue with Domino 7.0.2. IBM was able to package a fix for the System i today and I'm awaiting an e-mail with information on how to get it.

Meanwhile, after going to 7.0.2 on my cluster and production mail servers IM from Domino Web Access "broke". A couple of weeks ago I received "Hotfix #16" for STLINKS. After upgrading Domino to 7.0.2 I have to reload those files. Basically you have to reload stlinks.jar and stlinks.js and all language files in the '/[Domino Data]/domino/html/sametime/stlinks' directory as well as the STLinksSA.jar file in the location of the executables. On the System i, it is in '/QIBM/ProdData/Lotus/Sametime' directory. The symptoms are that when you send or receive an IM the chat window is blank. I've just loaded this and it's fine.

Also, I will be loading Sametime 7.5 CF1 onto my production IM server. It was fine on my test server (but so was Domino 7.0.2...). At least I can back out of CF1 more easily than 7.0.2! I'm applying it as I post this.

Now Playing: "Shout To The Lord" by Ruben Studdard (Hey, it was in LAUNCHCast's station)

What Have You Done For Me Lately (Spratt)?

OK, I understand that something needs to be done with Social Security if I want to get anything. Not that I am going to rely on the government, but I have to face the fact that it will be dried up by the time I retire. That will be a long time from now, but I would like to know what John Spratt would like to do for the Social Security of his grandchildren. Under his watch they won't have any and an increasingly larger number of voters won't have any either. Personally, I would like the government to step out of the retirement business and let me decide if I want to contribute to the welfare plan for retired persons. Social Security has become a means for the big gov-co officials to buy votes by means of scare tactics. We all know those evil Republicans just want to make the elderly suffer in poverty. Gimme a break.

Back to my question - what have you done for me lately as a young voter, Representative Spratt?

Another reason to support HR 25/S 25!

Now Playing: "Cryin'" by Vixen

Technorati: John Spratt, Ralph Norman,Election 2008

Domino 7.0.2 HTTP Issue

I was having some issues yesterday and upgraded to 7.0.2. It cleared up those issues, but now we have run into an issue with an "HTTP crash on Locking handle when creating NMemBlock" (from an SPR). In a nutshell, our production mail server has crashed 8 times today before 12pm. I have disabled my HTTP task and forced all Notes users to our cluster box. I understand that a hotfix does currently exist for platforms other than the System i (just our luck...) and an escalation request has been made to get it expedited for System i.

On a side note, I have been messing with Domino log/console filters today and have cleaned out some of the unnecessary messages coming into our console.

Will let you know how it goes, as always!

Now Playing: "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad?" by Derek And The Dominos

Rock Hill VFW Supports...Ralph Norman

On the way home from work I just passed the VFW on Main Street and there were over a dozen Ralph Norman signs along the sidewalk!! Lookin good...

Domino 7.0.2 on iSeries and Time Changes

As I briefly mentioned in the past, there was supposed to be a fix for the Domino software to allow for OS time changes without hanging the Domino server(s). This fix is in SPR# RWAH6HPQ8B for Domino 7.0.2- This iSeries specific fix allows daylight savings time and standard time changes without recycling the Domino server.

I just want to say a huge thank you to IBM for this. I have upgraded 3 of my cluster iSeries Domino partitions to 7.0.2 and they didn't have any problems with the time change this weekend. Now to get to my production partitions...

Now Playing: "Solid As The Sun" by Neal Morse

Technorati: Lotus Domino, iSeries

sKerry's non-Apology

Well, after saying Tuesday that no apology was necessary, John Kerry backpedaled and apologized yesterday. As VP Dick Cheney put it, "I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it."

Information on the apology can be found here. John Kerry said: "I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended,"

OK, that is not an apology. An apology is saying "I'm sorry for what I said." Jon Carry did not apologize for saying something bad. He was only sorry that his words were "misinterpreted" (they weren't) and that people were offended.

The spoken words Kerry gave in the speech leave no room for misinterpretation. He said: "You know education if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, if you don't, you can get stuck in Iraq," You simply cannot misinterpret that at all (unless you don't know what the definition of misinterpretation is...) He simply said that if you study you will do well and if you don't study you get stuck in Iraq. He said that!! Honestly... But, his office said that it should have been "You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush." If it was really that simple of a slip-up then why did it take you two days to come up with what you should have said?

Yeah, we "get" the joke. But even if that is what he meant to say it was a stupid joke. Think about it. If Kerry was saying that the President is dumb and that's the reason we're stuck in Iraq, then how bad off would we be if Kerry were in the Office? Remember, Kerry did worse in college than President Bush!

Now Playing: "Secret Weapon" by Petra

Technorati: John Kerry

I'm Glad....

that this guy will never be president.

I especially like the comments here:
John:

Kerry's over-the-top defense of his faux pas makes no sense, of course: whatever he may think of President Bush's policies, he clearly identified those who are "stuck in Iraq" as people who didn't "study hard...and make an effort to be smart." Further, a reader points out the vapidity of Kerry's opening sentence, "If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq ... they're crazy":

This is the same guy who came home from Vietnam and accused our troops of being war criminals, using Ghengis Khan tactics, and cutting off ears.

You bet your *** we think you'd slur the military because you've done it before.

One of the many problems with the "chickenhawk" argument is that it only takes one veteran to reveal how stupid it is. John McCain said today:

Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education. Americans from all backgrounds, well off and less fortunate, with high school diplomas and graduate degrees, take seriously their duty to our country, and risk their lives today to defend the rest of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They all deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service. The suggestion that only the least educated Americans would agree to serve in the military and fight in Iraq, is an insult to every soldier serving in combat, and should deeply offend any American with an ounce of appreciation for what they suffer and risk so that the rest of us can sleep more comfortably at night. Without them, we wouldn't live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks.

Paul:

Kerry hasn't just slandered Vietnam vets. Here's what he said on "Face The Nation" about our forces in Iraq, the ones he says you'd have to "be crazy" to think he'd ever disparage: "there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."