iSOCIETY, System iPortal, and Truth

Attention System i users!

Several new marketing tools were announced today at the Fall 2006 COMMON conference Town Hall Meeting earlier today. The first is a user portal called iSOCIETY.org. "It's like facebook for adults" was one of the comments. You should go signup from the website. Temporarily, the site is isociety.common.org, but iSOCIETY.org is coming soon.

Second is the System iPortal. It's a single point of reference for System i information. You can search the web, code, blogs, etc... for all things System i related. No more Googling for: dns configuration and AS400 or iSeries or i5 or System i. Since I post a lot of Domino information related to System i, I've requested my blog to be added to the blog search. Some of you should do the same. Soon, I will also have a System iPortal search section on this site.

Perhaps the most anticipated announcement is a new marketing initiative by IBM focused on the System i. There will be some cool "viral marketing" television commercials. We were shown a preview of one of the two. Basically, it's IT guys that get fed up with all of the server sprawl associated with Wintel servers. It's something we Domino folks like to point to as well - being able to consolidate MS implementations onto a single Domino system. The i want control/truth features the ability to add your own comment about System i. See if you can find mine. It's a really slick site that can really help generate some buzz for the public to see how much the Systm i is loved. My only concern is related to the url that was on the preview commercial we saw. It's ibm.com/iwantcontrol/truth - it could be a little much for potential customers to remember.

iSOCIETY and System iPortal are excellent examples of what a dedicated customer base can do to spread the word about the best computer system on the market. The Truth marketing campaign should (hopefully) allow IBM to better position the System i as the amazing "integrated" system that it is. Keep up the great work to all who are involved - especially "Angus!"

Technorati: System i, iSeries, COMMON

Bad Memory From Childhood Revived?

Can anyone guess what it is about this that would bring back bad memories from the early 1990s? This is the road sign directly outside the Loew's Hotel in Miami Beach where I'm staying.



Hint... "Beachfront Avenue!!"

Welcome To Miami!

Well, Chris Moody and I arrived in Miami Beach this afternoon for the COMMON iSeries Conference. What do you think of the weather? This is a shot from the balcony of the hotel room.



There were some cool lightning bolts that I couldn't get, though. This storm came fast and left just as quickly. It is humid here - even worse than in South Carolina. I'm pretty pumped about the trip. My presentation with Kim Greene on Domino Domain Monitoring is on Tuesday.

Chris and I have been just hanging out this afternoon. We're watching some football now. After he and I ate, I hung out with 4 iSeries people. One of them has her own consulting firm and the other three work for IBM in Rochester, MN.

PC/104

Is anyone out there familiar with coding embedded applications for the PC/104? Or do you know someone who is?

http://www.pc104.org/

I have a friend working on a way cool medical app that needs to xmit data received via IR to a PC/104 and then have the PC/104 call a web service to transmit the data. He's now trying to find someone to work on the PC/104 web service application.

Now Playing: "I Wish You Were Here" by Balance of Power

Interesting News Story

Iraqi Official Testifies to Links Between Saddam and Al Qaeda

Barham Salih (A deputy prime minister of Iraq) said, "The alliance between the Baathists and jihadists which sustains Al Qaeda in Iraq is not new, contrary to what you may have been told." He went on to say, "I know this at first hand. Some of my friends were murdered by jihadists, by Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives who had been sheltered and assisted by Saddam's regime."

A Kurdish politician who took his high school exams from inside a Baathist prison, Mr. Salih said he was the target of the alliance between jihadists, Baathists, and Al Qaeda in 2001, when a group known as Ansar al-Islam tried to assassinate him. In 2002, envoys of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two Kurdish parties sharing sovereignty over northern Iraq between the two Iraq wars, presented the CIA with evidence that the organization that tried to kill Mr. Salih had been in part funded and directed by Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard.

Those words directly contradict a recent report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that declassified a 2005 CIA assessment of Iraq's pre-war ties to Al Qaeda and found that none existed. In an interview after the speech yesterday, Mr. Salih said he was unaware of the CIA assessment. But he added, "There were links between Ansar al-Islam and Al Qaeda. The information at time [in 2002] was quite different. Now, we could not prove this in a court of law, but this is intelligence."

There are some things we should take home from this. First, we must always keep this in mind. Secondly, to think that the government of Iraq under Saddam Hussein didn't know Al-Qaeda was there is just nonsense. Let's get real here! It appears that this may be some much-needed evidence. I guess those who would rather put politics ahead of national security will just say that this is a very timely release of this information less than 2 months before the elections. It's the same playbook everytime!

Now Playing: "Open Skies" by David Crowder Band

Technorati: Iraq

The Path To 9/11: ABC

As we all know, there was some controversy surrounding the airing of this documentary based off of the 9/11 Commission Report, the book Dereliction of Duty, other books/reports, and eyewitness interviews. Most of the hubaloo was generated by the Clinton spin machine - undoubtedly not wanting to tarnish the legacy of the magnanimous Bill Clinton. There appeared to be a coordinated effort for all of them to start griping about the docudrama at the same time.

But, I digress. Since the first commercial I saw for this documentary a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to watch it. I'm glad I watched both nights. There were a lot of things that I had forgotten about during the Clinton Administration, so that was good to see. I didn't really have any expectations going in other than seeing the failures of the Clinton Administration that were already well-known and documented.

So, what did I get out of it? First of all - WOW! It was great to watch. It was in no way made in a manner to lay all the blame on a single person. One of the main problems regarding the Clinton Administration was that it considered the war on terror nothing more than "a law & order problem." Personally, I think the documentary painted Richard Clarke as almost a hero. He really was unrelenting in wanting to do something about Bin Laden, et. al. My wife came out thinking that Clarke came across as just acting like he wanted to do something but knowing all the while that he couldn't. That's possible, but regardless this documentary painted him as one who had a passion to stop terror but had his hands tied by the CIA, FBI, and Executive Branch. John O'Neill was the FBI agent who was also passionate to stop terrorism. But both Clarke and O'Neill ran into the brick walls that were George Tenet (CIA) and The Administration. One group saw legal grounds for killing Bin Laden while the CIA wasn't convinced. So, Tenet never gave a go-ahead. And Bill Clinton just wanted to play nice with "area interests" so he warned Pakistan of a missile launch to get Bin Laden. Pakistan then told Bin Laden to clear out...

All in all, this was a great documentary/docudrama. It's estimated that about 96% is true, so it's not like they were setting out to scandalize anyone without facts. And I don't know where the idea came from that suddenly ABC is an arm of the vast right wing conspiracy out to defame Bill Clinton. That's just too funny!

Now Playing: "Sacrificed Sons" by Dream Theater

Technorati: Path To 9/11

Remembering 9/11 - 5 Years Later

I posted the lyrics to this song last year and they still get me. I'm not sure of any song that better describes what happened. Monday will mark the 5th Anniversary of 9/11. I'm certain we all remember where we were. I was sitting at work when my mom called to tell me that a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought she was crazy until I turned on Fox News in our server room and got my colleagues in there watching. Then hearing reports that the Pentagon was hit. Then the second plane hit the other tower and a plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Then the towers fell...

Last year, Dream Theater released a song titled Sacrificed Sons. The lyrics by James LaBrie are below. The song starts with news clips from 9/11. At first I thought it was going to be a rant about how we have sacrificed sons and daughters in Iraq, but Dream Theater took a different path that I'm proud of...

Dream Theater
Sacrificed Sons

[left: This has all the appearances of an extraordinarily well coordinated and
devastating terrorist attack—

right: —terrorism against our nation will not stand; the government
will hunt down those resposible—

left: —terrorism means striking terror into the hearts of people, that has been
accomplished—

right: —looking in awe, amazement, shock and grief and anger at what they
were seeing in front of them—

middle: There has just been a huge explosion... you can see, uh, a billowing smoke rising, there was a cascade of sparks and fire and we see this extraordinarily big, frightening scene behind us—

left: —there is panic on the streets, there are people screaming and running—

right: Good lord, there are no words.

left: —3000 Palestinians [unintelligible] chanting "God is good"—

right: —This is just a horrific scene and a horrific moment, but just look
at that. That is about as frightening a scene as you will ever see.

left: But there are times in your life that are life changing, where your
life can never be the same and this appears certainly to be one of them.]

Walls are closing
Anxiously
Channel surfing
Frantically

Burning City
Smoke and fire
Planes we're certain
Faith inspired

No clues
A complete surprise
Who'll be
Coming home tonight

Heads all turning
Towards the sky
Towers crumble
Heroes die

Who would wish this
On our people
And proclaim
That His will be done
Scriptures they heed have misled them
All praise their Sacrificed sons
All praise their Sacrificed sons

[Instrumental Break]

Teach them
What to think and feel
Your ways
So enlightening

Words they preach
I can't relate
If God's true Love
Are acts of Hate

Who would wish this
On our people
And proclaim
That His will be done
Scriptures they heed have misled them
All praise their Sacrificed sons
All praise their Sacrificed sons

God on high
Our mistake
Will mankind be extinct
There's no time
Time to waste
Who serves the truth
For Heaven's sake

Stored Name and Password on Web (SnTT)

I know my users probably hate me for this, but it's a quick security option to prevent the web browser from storing (or even prompting) to save the username and password from the login form used by your server. In Domino, it's really simple. In your login form (domcfg.nsf), put the following line of code in your HTML Attributes of both the username and password fields:

"autocomplete=\"off\""

Now Playing: "A King and A Kingdom" by Derek Webb

Technorati: Show-n-tell thursday

More on the Spratt/Norman Race

Here are a couple of other links for the Spratt/Norman race.

First, Greg Simmons decided to jump on the bandwagon and post about the race. Some in the SCDP might even say he plagiarized me!! It's really bad when the SC Democratic Party is stooping to saying Norman is just following talking points. Isn't that basically what Spratt is doing as well?

Secondly, Spratt and Norman have agreed to a debate in Rock Hill!

The first debate of the Spratt/Norman race is on for Sunday at The Freedom Center in downtown Rock Hill.

Winthrop's own Scott Huffmon is the moderator. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and the event is open to the public. Thirty minutes have been set aside for the candidates to answer audience questions submitted on note cards.

Now Playing: "Cut & Move" by Day of Fire

Technorati: John Spratt, Ralph Norman, South Carolina

What users hate about IT pros

Hat tip to Jeff for the link to this article. It's a pretty standard list, but what intrigues me is on the second page:

Brian, a director at a national industry association, says his pet peeve is his IT department sets limits on his e-mail storage. Employees have 25MB of storage space for messages, which Brian quickly consumes because he receives more than 100 e-mails every day, many with attachments.
"I don't think [e-mail storage] should be unlimited, and I understand why the size needs to be monitored, but it doesn't seem like the storage capacity has adjusted to the inflated use of e-mail," he says.

First of all, it sounds like you're running Exchange! I know people who had low limits on Exchange before being migrated to Domino. But, to be fair, I know a guy who has a 100 MB quota on his Notes mail. But regardless of the platform, it's probably not your IT department's call to have a 25 MB quota. "Brian" in this article is a director. Perhaps if Brian and the other directors and higher ups would increase the IT budget then more space could be used. By the way, e-mail storage is "unlimited" where I am. Even with archiving for all mail over 1 year old, I still have 9 mail files over 2 GB (just for the past year - their archives are that big too!). The largest is almost 5 GB for a graphics designer.

The article is pretty good, so go take a look. I know I have a great story about the jargon...

Now Playing: "When The Light" by Day of Fire

Some Thoughts from John Spratt

My best friend went to "Ben Bernanke Day" on Friday in Dillon, SC - the birthplace of our Fed Chairman. My friend was able to speak with John Spratt. In the course of the conversation with my friend who lives in York County now (John Spratt represents the 5th Congressional District of South Carolina with both York and Dillon Counties), the topic of the upcoming Congressional election arose. Here's what John Spratt had to say:

There are a lot of people who historically vote Republican moving down from the Charlotte, NC area to Fort Mill, Rock Hill (my town), and Indian Land. I'm losing a lot of votes in York County.

As I have previously mentioned, this race could be as close as 4 percentage points. York County accounts for nearly 1/3 of all of the votes in this District. For Rep. Spratt to vocalize concern about this county doesn't bode too well. When I rode up our main "strip" this weekend (Cherry Road), I saw a lot of Ralph Norman signs outside of the businesses along the road. But in that 4 miles of road, there wasn't a single John Spratt sign. That was great! I read something that John Spratt said that really upset me. He said that when he's in Washington, DC that he already has a seat at the table. But if Norman is elected he'll still be in the back of the room.

I'm sorry, but I would rather have someone who represents this district and not just towing the Democratic Party line. Under John Spratt's leadership our district has seen thousands of textile jobs lost. Not that I'm in favor of government intervention in business, but if John Spratt was at the table he must have been drinking some Kool-Aid or something because he didn't help those factories stay in business. Many people may refer to John Spratt as a "moderate", but I believe when push comes to shove that he would vote "D". He has spent 20 years in Washington, but now it is time for some change.

Technorati: John Spratt, Ralph Norman, South Carolina

T-Minus 5 Hours!

NCAA Football!!! Specifically, my USC Gamecocks kick off tonight at 8:00. My pal Jay Hardwick has some notes over at his blog. This should be an interesting season. As I stated at Jay's site, if our offensive and defensive lines have improved we should do well. Last year our offensive line just didn't keep it tight the whole game. Blake Mitchell took way too many hits. If he's improved some and has more time in the pocket, then both he and Sidney Rice should have great years!

Now Playing: "Dogs of Peace" by Dogs of Peace

Technorati: Gamecocks

First Picture of Peanut #2

Here's the first picture of our child on the way!! We're at about 12 weeks along, so it will be about 2 more months before we find out the child's sex.



Now Playing: "Solitary Shell" by Dream Theater

BES 4.1 Update

Ted has posted about Sametime on BlackBerry and MDSS problems. That reminds me that I've been needing to post an update.

Since my last upgrade failed again, I decided to punt. Since we got the new xSeries for our BES, I'm just migrating the accounts from the old server to the new server. But, this also means that I'm having to wipe and reactivate every BlackBerry we have! I've done 56 so far (out of only 106), so that puts me over the halfway point. According to RIM, I should have been able to upgrade if I would restore a pre-upgraded database. Unfortunately, this restore would have to be from April. Since we've added maybe about 30 BlackBerries since then, I decided it may be best to just cut over slowly.

In Ted's first post, he talks about the installation procedure for getting "Enterprise Messenger" (Sametime) loaded on the server. To accompany his post, here are some screen grabs I took a couple of weeks ago. I've been waiting for the right time to post...



In Ted's second post, he mentioned that his MDS Services (MDSS) install is not going well. When I was speaking with RIM, I actually had a problem loading MDSS on the brand new system with a clean Domino 7.0.1 install and BES 4.1.1! They said that I could either press on to get it installed or, as they suggest, run MDSS on a separate system in the domain. All of the Enterprise Browser functionality will work fine without MDSS. So, if you don't have plans to develop and push out custom applications, then you don't need to load MDSS. RIM stated that MDSS is a huge resource hog and it may be best for my environment to not install it.

Finally, our mail server crashed for a bit today and BES 4.1 with Domino 7.x performs failover!! I checked out the console and could see that it was redirecting requests over to our cluster server. Then it had a specific time that it was waiting for to retry the primary server. This worked well and was a much-needed enhancement!

Technorati: BES, BlackBerry

Curt Stone Has A New Blog

Our old pal Curt Stone has a new blog at "Curt's Island".

Now Playing: "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" by Dream Theater

A Small World

We started back our Thursday morning men's Bible study today after taking off for the summer. We have a new guy to the area and the group. He said he does computer work at BoA, so I asked him what kind. "I administer AS/400s." I said - "me too!" That was pretty crazy to start a Thursday morning.

Now Playing: "Glasgow Kiss" by John Petrucci

Camaro: Made In Canada!

So much for "American Muscle" - Chevrolet will be building the 2009 Camaro, but it will be built in Oshawa, Ontario!

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2006/08/cruising_with_t.html

The 2009 Camaro should be pretty awesome - time to start kissing up to the wife... :)

Technorati: Camaro

Go Get Sametime 7.5 GOLD!

It's official - check out Adam Gartenberg's post for all the details. Here's a screenshot from Passport Advantage Online!

I'm downloading now...



Now Playing: "In The Name Of God" by Dream Theater

Technorati: Sametime

Does Anybody Know When Lotusphere Registration Opens?

:)

By the way, I'm not making it this year... We're probably going to send 2 others. I'll miss you all!

Now Playing: "One Thing Left To Do" by Guardian

Guess What? BES 4.1 Upgrade Hosed Again!

Now I'm getting an SQL error regarding an ambiguous column name on the MachineName column. Looking at RIM's online support, I see that I will have to restore a pre-upgrade-attempt db to fix this. The problem with that is the first upgrade attempt was in April! And we've added many more users since then. I tried modifying that column to equal the machine name. I even removed a secondary record, but it was a no-go. I'll be calling them again tomorrow to see if there's some way to bypass this. It should be a mere matter of correcting data in the SQL databases, but since this is a RIM upgrade I'm probably SOL. I've uninstalled 4.1 (again) and am going through the 4.0 install and service pack installations. I can tell already that I will not have a "happy heart" (as we tell our 2 year old she should have) when I call support in the morning!

Upgrading from 4.0.3 to 4.1 Tonight

OK, so I had a pretty terrible upgrade experience in April and I was waiting for SP1 to be released. It appears that SP1 definitely corrected the errors I was having. See links at the bottom of this post. Since then I have also acquired a new IBM xSeries to run the BES. I have loaded Domino 7.0.1 and BES 4.1 SP1 on this new xSeries and am using BESMgmt2 SQL db. My old BES has Domino 6.5.4 and BES 4.0.3 and is using BESMgmt1 SQL db.

Here's my planned upgrade procedure for tonight - does it sound OK?

BES A = current/old BES at 4.0.3
BES B = new BES

1. Upgrade BES A to 4.1 SP1 so that my BESMgmt1 SQL db is upgraded.
2. Start BES A.
3. Redirect BES B to BESMgmt1 db from BESMgmt2.
4. Both BES A and B should now be displayed in the BlackBerry Manager app and in the same BB Domain, right?
5. Click my account on BES A and choose to move it to BES B.
6. This shouldn't require re-activation, right?

Anyway, let me know what you think...

BES 4.1 Upgrade (and Downgrade)
BES 4.1 Service Pack 1 Available

Now Playing: "Echoes Pt. 1" by Dream Theater

Technorati: BlackBerry

CoComment Enabled

CoComment is now enabled with the HaloScan comment system I use. The only caveat is that it doesn't automatically track the name of the post - you get a number.

Now Playing: "Hey You" by Dream Theater

A Sampling of Notes Domino 7.0.2 Fixes

Looks like it should be out in September. Here are some fixes that we may have seen at my site or could benefit from.

http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/r5fixlist.nsf/Public?OpenView

SPR# RWAH6HPQ8B - This iSeries specific fix allows daylight savings time and standard time changes without recycling the Domino server. (Me: It's about time for this one - I always have to end and restart the Domino servers on iSeries because they will lock up when the time changes.)

SPR# MHOL6J7QYH - Failover did not work when the primary server was down. This regression was introduced in 6.5.5.

SPR# KYOE6M37ES - Fixed a Microsoft Internet Explorer freeze when trying to download an attachment which contained '?' in the file name.

SPR# FMWI6MBM6M - Fixed a problem that an attachment could not be downloaded if it contained a backslash in its name."

SPR# DWHR6PQCT4 - When choosing not to install the DWA 7 Control (ActiveX), the user was constantly presented with a warning of this. This change of behavior occurred due to the new ActiveX block support in IE 6 SP2. Without offering a way to continue to use the ActiveX on a subsequent page, there is now no way to ever install the ActiveX. Answering affirmatively that you want to continue to try to use the ActiveX allowed the user to then click the blocked ActiveX bar and install the ActiveX (which refreshes the page).

A new Notes.ini, iNotes_WA_ConfirmBlockedActiveX=0, has been added in 7.0.2 to disable this confirmation box. This setting results in the inability to install the DWA Control from normal DWA view and document pages. However, the DWA control may now be installed from the DWA Preferences page, within the Basics panel!!

SPR# DPOL6LMEBW - A scheduled agent running on AS400, which entered an infinite loop, would not terminate when the "Max LotusScript/Java execution time" limit was reached. The agent would continue to run indefinitely. This problem has been fixed in 7.0.2.

SPR# MKAA677PAK - Updated the Rooms and Resource Manager task (RnRMgr) to take a new command line parameter of "-?" (or "/?"). This paramter will cause RnRMgr to print out a description of all of its supported console commands and a brief description of what they do.

SPR# LMEF6MXLXZ - Open collection always reads from server - does not make use of cache.ndk. This problem was a regression introduced in 6.5.5 and 7.0, and fixed in 7.0.2. (Me: This could be why view performance has been seeming really slow - opening the views wasn't making use of local cache apparently!(

SPR# TKIE3ZA457 - This fix resolves the issue of replication problems when a user sends a message to themselves from a mail file replica which is not on their home server and keeps a copy in the Sent folder.

SPR# GPKS63AGBN - Fixed a problem where performing a Design Replace, always disabled the Out of Office Agent. This regression was introduced in 6.5.2.

SPR# MPAA6JZKAZ - "Contact","Of" and "Phone" fields are blank in Phone Message when "To" field is not filled first and "," is pressed. This problem has been fixed in 6.5.6 and 7.0.2.

SPR# EHET5TDP2U - Fixed a crash on the Macintosh client with over 1000 fonts installed. This regression was introduced in 6.0.

SPR# BSPR67HN6W - Using a server based, Notes.ini variable (ADMINP_EXCHANGE_ALL_UNREAD_MARKS = 1), this fix will allow the exchange of unread marks when the Administration Process based replication is used to create and populate a replica between servers. Please note that the amount of time to perform the initial replication by the administration process will increase due to the additional work required to exchange all the unread marks.

SPR# EFEN6LVQMD - @Error was returned if @DBLookup returned data more than 64K bytes long. Prior to this regression, @DBLookup was allowed to return data that long, but the result of the formula couldn't be longer then 64KB. This fix repairs the problem, which was a regression introduced in 7.0.1.

Note: "A fix for this SPR has been developed but is currently undergoing testing. IBM reserves the right to remove this fix from the targeted release if it does not pass quality assurance tests. Please consider this information to be provisional. Do not base irreversible business decisions on this information until this notice has been removed."

Now Playing: "The Great Nothing" by Spock's Beard

Technorati: Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino

Updated: Domino Web Access Warning

In my ongoing quest to stop DWA warnings, we have found 3 new options that can help if all else fails. I have updated my Domino Web Access Warning page with the following information.

- Clear out Java Cache by running C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_0X\bin\javacpl.exe
---Click “Delete Files” then click “OK”.
---*if there are different versions, do this for each version or uninstall older versions and leave only the newest copy.
- Clear out Windows temp folders.
--- C:\Temp--- C:\Documents and Settings\USER PROFILE\Local Settings\Temp
--- C:\Documents and Settings\USER PROFILE\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
--- C:\Winnt\Temp
--- *Clear out the Temp/Temp. Internet Files for each user listed in the Documents and Settings folder.
- Reset IE to default settings.
--- Right Click on the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop or go to Control Panel and open Internet Options.
--- Click on the Programs Tab. Then click the Reset Web Settings button. Uncheck
“Also reset my home page” then click “OK”.

Now Playing: "The Water" by Spock's Beard

Technorati: Lotus Notes

Ralph Norman For Congress

If you're in South Carolina's 5th District, then you should really consider whether you want John Spratt to remain in Congress this November 7. The last time John Spratt saw a formidable opponent was in 1994 and 1996 against fellow Rock Hillian Larry Bigham. That election data can be found here. Representative Spratt only won by 4 points in 1994. This tells the conservatives in South Carolina that he can be beaten!! We need to get the turnout in November to vote in another Rock Hillian, Ralph Norman.

Just yesterday, The State newspaper published an article titled GOP eyeing Spratt seat

Even with staunch party support, the hurdle Norman faces is high. Spratt was re-elected with 63 percent of the vote in 2004 and 86 percent in 2002. His last close race was in 1994, when he won with 52 percent of the vote.

Voters were angry in 1994, just as they are now.

Now Playing: "The Light" by Spock's Beard

Technorati: South Carolina, Ralph Norman, John Spratt

Neal Morse on YouTube

There are some Neal Morse concert video clips on YouTube. Neal was the former frontman for Spock's Beard and is amazing. He plays guitar and keys amazing! His drummer in the studio is also none other than Mike Portnoy!!

There are actually a LOT of videos...Neal Morse search I'll embed a couple below...

Solid As The Sun


In The Fire


Bridge Across Forever - Acoustic


Now Playing: "In The Fire" by Neal Morse

Technorati: Neal Morse

Looking Forward To This Session At COMMON

This just looks hilarious!! I can say, though, that it may hit home. I have a tendency to come across as "defensive" sometimes. I really have to throttle back!

"Oh, by the way...YOU'RE WELCOME!" GUI Tips - Challenges of Application
Interacting and Communicating with Modernization

This session is inspired in part by the Saturday Night Live sketch, Nick Burns - Your Company’s Computer Guy. The reoccurring character of Nick is a caricature of the stereotypically condescending computer expert. "He'll fix your computer, and then he's gonna make fun of you". Nick Burns is the Systems Administrator for a large corporation, who is always on-call to support technical problems. He has minimal
patience for the problematic computer users he has to help, and has a tendency to mock and berate them. Sound familiar?

Do you or your team of iSeries and OS/400 users approach troubleshooting a problem by rattling off instructions to the dim-wit user seated at the computer in confusing technical jargon, and quickly get fed up by their relative technical ineptitude? Do you then sit at the keyboard and fix the problem yourself, gloating at the relative ease of the solution? If, you answered, Yes. Then "Oh, by the way...YOUR WELCOME!" is the session for you!

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:
1. Create and sustain rewarding work-life relationships.
2. Remain open to others in the face of awkward judgments or criticisms.
3. Present information in a way that makes us most likely to be heard.
4. Empathize with associates whose actions tend to aggravate us.
5. Connect with your co-workers and become a valuable resource for your company.

Now Playing: "All Creatures of our God and King" by David Crowder Band

How To Drive Site Traffic

First of all, you should go to Lotusphere and be included in Richard Schwartz's bloggregator. (See spike from December to January)

Then, be the first to mention that there is a public website with the Beta 2 available of the industry-leading corporate IM solution. This generated an Ed Brill post. (See spike from May to June)

Finally, be the first to write about the Notes Client for Linux - which also generated an Ed Brill post! (See huge spike from June to July and August is on track to be the same as July...)



Now Playing: "Taking Notes Podcast # 27 - Quickplace 8.0" by Bruce & Julian

Compilation from my Gospel of Judas Posts

I finally got around to compiling the information I blogged about in April on the Gospel of Judas. You can find the compilation at my website:

Gospel of Judas

Technorati: Gospel of Judas, Christianity

Web Document Locking Version 0.1 (SnTT)

I've just had to implement document locking for a web application. What follows are the notes I have made on what it will do and all of the steps to reproduce it in other applications. I say it's "Version 0.1" because I know there are some options I can do to streamline the code. I can probably set a field value to pass parameters back into a single WebQuerySave agent or at least merge the webLock and webUnlock agents. Thanks to devWorks and Jake Howlett for information on the onbeforeunload event. And thanks to Marc for Agent and Query parameter code. Please, only positive criticism of the code... :)

See limitations at link below for the extra pop up window from the onbeforeunload event. I need to trap for when the user clicks OK. If I can do so, then it shouldn't throw up the onbeforeunload event window a second time:
onBeforeUnload (devWorks Posting)

Locking Options:
If Locked – no edit button if locked by another user and red text displays who has it locked
Going into Edit Mode – Locks the document
Closing form by Any Action Bar Button – Unlocks properly with no unload prompts
Navigating away from the form without using action bar – Currently two pop ups will warn you if you click OK to proceed from the form. I hope to get it back down to just popping up once, but this is a big start. Clicking cancel will take you back to the form so that you can exit the document gracefully. Clicking OK will close the document, unlock it, and not save any other modifications. This pop up would display if the browser is closed, another view is selected, another address is typed in the address bar, etc...

Form Modifications:
Text somewhere on the form:
Document is being modified by [Computed Value]
[computed value] = @Name([CN];$Writers)
Hide-when for text: @IsNewDoc | ( !@If(@IsAvailable($writers)))

Hide-when sample for Edit Button:
@IsNewDoc | ( @If(@IsAvailable($writers)) & !@If($writers=@UserName) )

HTML Head Content: (In the below code, substitute the "[[" and "]]" with "<" and ">", respectively.)
@Implode(
("[[SCRIPT LANGUAGE=\"JavaScript\"]]") :
("isEditMode = " + @If(@IsDocBeingEdited; "true;"; "false;")) :
("isLocked = " + @If(@IsAvailable($writers); "true;"; "false;")) :
("DBURL = location.protocol + '//' + location.host + '/" + @WebDbName + "/';") :
("DocUNID = '" + @Text(@DocumentUniqueID) + "';") :
"[[/SCRIPT]]";
@NewLine)

HTML Body Attributes:
"onbeforeunload=\"beforeunload();\""

WebQueryOpen:
@If(@IsDocBeingEdited;@Command([ToolsRunMacro]; "webLock");"")

WebQuerySave:
@Command([ToolsRunMacro]; "wqsAgent")

JS Header:
function beforeunload() {
msg = "----------------------------------------------------------\n";
msg += "Your form has not been saved.\n";
msg += "All changes you have made will be lost\n";
msg += "----------------------------------------------------------";
if (isEditMode && isLocked){
if (document.forms[0].closewarning.value="Yes") event.returnValue = msg;
}
}

onLoad:
if (isEditMode && isLocked)
{document.forms[0].closewarning.value="Yes";
}

onUnload:
window.onbeforeunload = null;
document.forms[0].closewarning.value="No";
if (isEditMode && isLocked) {
location.href = DBURL + "webunlock?openagent&unid=" + DocUNID;
}

Action Buttons: Second line is optional and really unnecessary
window.onbeforeunload = null;
document.forms[0].closewarning.value="No";
other code & submit() to call WebQuerySave

Agents:

wqsAgent: (just have this code somewhere in either WQS or whatever code you have that needs to update the backend document after form submission)

Call doc.Unlock

webLock:

Sub Initialize
 'Called on web QuerySave
 Dim s As New NotesSession
 Dim doc As NotesDocument 
 Dim db As NotesDatabase
 Set db = s.CurrentDatabase
 Set doc = s.DocumentContext
 
 
 Call doc.Lock(s.EffectiveUserName)
 Call doc.Save(True,False)
 
 
End Sub

webUnlock:

Sub Initialize
 'Called on unload and some other events
 Dim s As New NotesSession
 Dim db As NotesDatabase
 Dim doc As NotesDocument
 Dim AgentParams As Variant  ' will be returned as a String List
 Dim UNID As String
 
 On Error Goto ErrorHandler
 Set db = s.CurrentDatabase 
 Msgbox "Unlocking Document"
 AgentParams = getAgentParameters(s.DocumentContext, True)
 If Not Iselement(AgentParams("unid")) Then Exit Sub
 UNID = AgentParams("unid")
 Set doc = db.GetDocumentByUNID(UNID) 
 If Not doc Is Nothing Then Call doc.UnLock()
 Print "[http://server/" & db.Filepath & "/TicketsOpen?OpenView]"
 Exit Sub
 
ErrorHandler :
 DisplayErr("Initialize")
 End
 End Sub

Sub DisplayErr(CodeName As String)
%REM
 Purpose: Display error message
 Details: Displays an error message for the current error
  on the status bar and in a dialog box
  includes CodeName in message (generally name of calling function)
%END REM
 Dim tmpString As String
 tmpString = "Error on line " & Cstr(Erl()) & " in " & CodeName & " - Error " & Cstr(Err()) & " : "  & Error$(Err())
 Print tmpString
 Messagebox tmpString
End Sub

Function getAgentParameters (AgentDoc As NotesDocument, lowercaseTags As Integer)
%REM
 Purpose: Returns a list of all agent parameters
 Details: Returns a list of all agent parameters
   if lowercaseTags is true, List Tags are all in lowercase
   if lowercaseTags is false, List Tags are in original case
%END REM
 GetAgentParameters = getQueryParameters(AgentDoc, lowercaseTags)
End Function

Function getQueryParameters (Doc As NotesDocument, lowercaseTags As Integer)
%REM
 Purpose: Returns a list of parameters
 Details: Using Query_String_Decoded, returns a list of all parameters
   if lowercaseTags is true, List Tags are all in lowercase
   if lowercaseTags is false, List Tags are in original case
%END REM
 Dim QS As String, QSArray As Variant, QSList List As String
 Dim tmpVar As String, tmpVal As String
 
 QS = Strright(Doc.Query_String_Decoded(0), "&")
 If QS <> "" Then
  QSArray = Split(QS, "&")
  Forall tmpQItem In QSArray
   tmpVar = Strleft(tmpQItem, "=")
   If lowercaseTags Then tmpVar = Lcase(tmpVar)
   tmpVal = Strright(tmpQItem, "=")
   QSList(tmpVar) = tmpVal
  End Forall
 End If
 getQueryParameters = QSList
End Function

This LotusScript was converted to HTML using the ls2html routine,
provided by Julian Robichaux at nsftools.com.

Technorati: Show-n-tell thursday

BES 4.1 Service Pack 1 Available

According to the download site, it was released on July 28, 2006. For Domino, it's 361MB! The release notes are here. I've been holding off on my upgrade for SP1 to be released because of my previous debacle!

Some fixes: There are about 10 pages of fixes and about 3 pages of known issues.
SDR 80370 - I think this was my main issue! In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1, if your database environment was Microsoft SQL Server and you attempted to create the MDSS and/or the MDSS_DIS databases, the creation failed and error messages displayed.
In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1 SP1 and later, this issue is resolved.
Visit www.blackberry.com/knowledgecenterpublic to read article KB-042935 for more information (I can't find this document... it appears that it's actually KB-04953)

SDR 85325 - This was my other show-stopper! RIM told me that they didn't believe me when I told them I got this message! In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1, if your database environment was Microsoft SQL Server and the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 driver for Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) Service Pack 3 was installed on the same computer on which you planned to upgrade the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the setup program failed to locate the JDBC driver.
In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1 SP1 and later, the setup program successfully locates the JDBC driver.

SDR 87289 In earlier versions of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, a Lotus Notes email address was not handled properly as an address in the To field of a message component. A Notes ID (for example, Trevor Van Daele/test.rim.net) was broken up into three addresses when it was sent to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1 SP1 and later, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server handles Lotus Notes email addresses
properly. (This is cool because now you can list the Notes address in your PAB)

SDR 78026 In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1, if users attempted to log in to Enterprise Messenger using a password that was greater than 100 characters, the “SametimeError:80000001” error message appeared.
In BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.1 SP1 and later, this issue is resolved. All I can say is - WTF? Password over 100 characters? Talk about AR!

Known Issues Not Fixed:
SDR 97967 When you delete a user from the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the incorrect user profile document is deleted.

SDR 69400 If users log in to BlackBerry Instant Messaging for Sametime, presence notification is turned off on their email client.

SDR 91287 If you are upgrading the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Version 4.0 to Version 4.1 and later, email messages that were sent to a user during the upgrade process will not be sent to the BlackBerry device after the upgrade process is complete.

Now Playing: "Thorn Tree in the Garden" by Derek and The Dominos

Technorati: BES, BlackBerry

onBeforeUnload (devWorks Posting)

I posted this yesterday with no response. You can respond back here or over at devWorks if you wish.

Link to Post

I have read everything in this forum regarding onbeforeunload and have also checked out codestore.net. I have a nearly functional web document locking implementation now; thanks to help here.

However, I cannot figure out how to prevent a second invocation of the onbeforeunload event when the OK button is selected in the onbeforeunload event window.

Here is my basic config for the form:
HTML Body Attributes: "onbeforeunload=\"beforeunload();\""

JS Header:
function beforeunload() {
msg = "----------------------------------------------------------\n";
msg += "Your tech support form has not been saved.\n";
msg += "All changes you have made will be lost\n";
msg += "----------------------------------------------------------";
if (isEditMode && isLocked){
if (document.forms[0].closewarning.value="Yes") event.returnValue = msg;
}
}

onUnload:
if (isEditMode && isLocked) {
location.href = DBURL + "webunlock?openagent&unid=" + DocUNID;
}

Currently, if I navigate away from the locked document in edit mode, I get the onbeforeunload OK/Cancel window. If I click Cancel I return to the document. If I click OK, then I get the onbeforeunload AGAIN! Clicking OK will then unload and unlock the document.

How can I prevent the second instance of the onbeforeunload window?

Now Playing: "Facedown" by Matt Redman

domBulletin Skins?

We're planning on using domBulletin for the forum on the CLNUG site. I may be using the "brown" skin that I've been using for an in-house database as the default for the CLNUG forum. Below is a sample and you can download a text file with the css here.

Question - Does anyone else have domBulletin skins to share?



Now Playing: "In Perfect Harmony" by Dragonland

Technorati: OpenNTF, domBulletin, Lotus Notes

Mac Guidera at COMMON

Browsing through the session guide, I see that Mac Guidera will also be at COMMON! I bumped into him at Lotusphere - awesome guy!

Technorati: COMMON

Speaking Engagement Confirmed for COMMON

It was in the works for a while, but was confirmed this week that I will be co-presenting Taking Advantage of Domino Domain Monitoring in Domino 7 at the Fall COMMON conference (iSeries conference) with Kim Greene. As you may be aware, Kim and I co-presented the Domino for iSeries Administration Best Practices session at Lotusphere 2006. It was great to meet and collaborate with her on that. When it was confirmed that I would be attending the conference she wanted me to present with her again.

While I like being an Ironman doing development and administration, I really am at home on the administration side of things! I feel even more at home with the hardware - especially the Big Iron!

As a side note, don't plan on seeing me at Lotusphere 2007... :( I believe we will be sending two of our other Domino guys and I will try to get to one of the development conferences in Vegas.

I'm also looking forward to meeting Amy Hoerle and Trevor Tallackson at COMMON. They will be teaching, along with Kim, an "Integrated Seminar" at COMMON that consists of a good many Domino administration classes. (I guess I will be part of that now, too, with the DDM course!!). They are Domino for iSeries support team members in IBM. Generally, if we have a really odd server issue, I will be talking with one of those two folks! Also, I see that Mike Gordon will be presenting a Sametime 7.5 course - he's always at the iSeries booth at Lotusphere. Hopefully it will be gold by the middle of September. I saw a pop-up announcement that the Beta 4 build should be out on August 5...

Technorati: iSeries, System i, COMMON

The Heat Is On!

Lovely - it's 94* outside now and the heat is actually on in my work area!! It's getting near 82* on the inside thermostat (which indicates that it should be in the cooling cycle)...

Random Thoughts For Today

We're going to my 10-year high school reunion this Saturday. It's at the Rock Hill Country Club. We have to pay $50/head. I thought it was going to be a more formal affair because of that, but I received an email today stating that the wife and I will be forking over $100 for a POOL PARTY with a DJ and some overly-boozed people! Woohoo...

Oh, and we're going to at drive my dad's '97 Boxster. What better thing to do than show up in a Porsche and complain about $100!! ;)

And I sure wish Al Gore or John Kerry were President. Yep, you heard me! It's expected to feel like 114*F today! It's already 75% humidity as well. If one of those two were President, it would be about 20* cooler, right? Or is that not right? They were both longtime US Senators with a stellar record of introducing legislation to combat "global warming", right? Oh no, wait, they just rested on their laurels and when it came time to run for POTUS they could use global warming as a scare tactic. They never actually did anything about it. One of them was even VP for 8 years and didn't fix it (or anything else). He promised a lockbox for Social Security. He should have locked it up during those 8 years...

Oh well...enough randomness for now!

Now Playing: "Pray To God" by Dogs of Peace (1996) - Some lyrics:
Say that as long as you don't inhale
You can take your little toke

Knowledge Collection: IBM Lotus Notes client for Linux

IBM has introduced a "Knowledge Collection" of Technotes related to the Notes Client for Linux. There are links to other technotes and information on the Notes Client for Linux.

Technote # 1242686: Knowledge Collection: IBM Lotus Notes client for Linux

Now Playing: "Fire Dance" by Balance of Power

Technorati: Lotus Notes

Lotus Notes 7.0.1 for Linux - Technotes

I have also added this to my post about "More Information" on the Notes 7.0.1 Client for Linux.

Are there any IBM Technotes on this client yet?
Yes! Some were published this week:
Technote # 1242349 - Why is the IBM Workplace Managed Client installed during the Lotus Notes for Linux install?
Technote # 1242348 - Lotus Notes for Linux opens with a blank window immediately after install
Technote # 1242351 - What directories are created during the Lotus Notes for Linux install?

Now Playing: "Personal Savior" by Bride

Technorati: Lotus Notes

I Miss The Rain

I know there are those
Who are far sadder than I
They've lost thing they cannot replace
Like the beauty in their eyes
But through it all
One thing is constant and remains
The love of God
Erases all our pain!

These are some lyrics from the song I Miss The Rain by Bride (from the album Snakes in the Playground). Lately I've been finding myself listening to more of the music I listened to in high school and college. While not a major milestone, my 10 year high school reunion and 6 year wedding anniversary are coming up on August 5. I guess bands like Bride and Holy Soldier are somewhat nostalgic for me.

While it may not seem like 10 years is a long time, a lot has changed. I went to college and roomed with a hometown friend for 3 years (he now has a kid on the way), met my wife, landed my current job, got a house, got married, dealt with church problems, moved, had a kid, and have another on the way. But I'm still in my hometown and have great friends (many new ones!) and family (new family too - my younger brother is now married with a kid!).

But 10 years also takes its toll on the health of many family members. I have an aunt and uncle who are in fairly bad health. I have another aunt who has been dealing with some brutal cancer for most of those 10 years and my only living grandparent is about to be placed in a nursing home after declining health and a bad weekend. And this September will also mark the 10th anniversary of the loss of a cousin (his mom's only child) in a drunk driving accident. Couple that with some former church problems and one can imagine the potential toll taken.

But even with all of that, there are things that are constant and unchanging just as the song states! This world is fragile and broken, so I've learned not to rely upon people or things to give me hope. Instead we must continue looking toward Him who is unchanging, eternal, and purposeful!

Sorry to ramble, but that was just impressed on my heart after having dusted off that old album tonight after not choosing to listen to them for about 4 years. You can ping me offline or in comments for the reason why.

Lotus Notes 7.0.1 for Linux - More Information

It appears that my initial post was fairly popular! I wanted to post a follow-up with some Q&A, links and more information I have posted in comments.

Are there any IBM Technotes on this client yet?
Yes! Some were published this week:
Technote # 1242349 - Why is the IBM Workplace Managed Client installed during the Lotus Notes for Linux install?
Technote # 1242348 - Lotus Notes for Linux opens with a blank window immediately after install
Technote # 1242351 - What directories are created during the Lotus Notes for Linux install?

How do I get the software? - I simply downloaded the file from Passport Advantage Online as a customer. I am not a Partner. If you search by part number, the number is: CR41WNA. I cannot help you if you are unable to download.

I am receiving an error stating "Can not validate Mozilla version" - This is not referring to the version of Firefox. You will need to install at least the 1.7.12 build. The latest current build is 1.7.13 and it works. You can get it here. After updating Mozilla, you will also need to create the /etc/gre.conf file (as root) and make sure the user has access to the file before attempting the Lotus Notes install. More information was at my "teaser" post from earlier on Friday.

Tell us more about the client...
It's Lotus Notes for Linux! It's a fairly bold move for IBM - kudos for that! But...
I'm running a PIII 1.3GHz box with 768MB RAM. I believe it's the slowest Notes Client I've ever seen on a machine with these specs. On my home XP PC that's a PIII 1GHz with 384MB RAM my 7.0.1 client takes about 10 seconds to open (including login). The linux client takes over 20 seconds (think 25-30). This needs to be addressed!
I have always used KDE, but the Notes Client requires Gnome. I could not get the application to open at all in KDE but switching to Gnome worked great. Update: Peter posted in my other thread that Gnome libraries are required but you don't have to actually run Gnome. I didn't even have Gnome installed and had to load it from the discs, so that may be why it didn't work for me in KDE.
For those interested, there is a workspace, but I can't find a way to set it as the homepage. I can't find a way to set anything else as the homepage other than a "Welcome Page".
There is a LotusScript debugger, but when I run it the debug window just flashes continuously and you can't really do anything because it will not stay active. You can click the usual buttons but it continues to flash. Clicking "Continue" will allow the code to run and return focus to the client.
The menu is very flaky. Instead of always displaying the File, Edit, View... menus (like a standalone client would!!) sometimes it will just have File, Help. The File menu then only contains Close and Exit. The Help menu has "About IBM Workplace". The "About Notes" option is missing when it does this. You have to actually place focus in a Notes database for the menu to persist.
Note that I'm just on RedHat 9 (not Enterprise), so therefore it's somewhat "unsupported". I'm sure that will be to blame!

Is anyone else writing about it?

Warren Elsmore posted a link to a Wiki entry by Peter Hicks. If you need installation tips, please check this Wiki out!

Jack Dausman has posted a review as well as some thoughts on the client.

Volker Weber has asked whether or not this client is a joke! It's rather thought provoking with him posing the question as to whether or not this is beta code since the majority of the readme file contains "limitations" (or as we in the real world like to refer to them as: "bugs"). In my initial post I really tried to stay positive, but he hits the mark regarding the "stand-alone client" by stating:

If you unpack the zip file, you get a 170 megabyte binary with the Notes plugin, a 200 megabyte zip file — yes, another zip file — with the Workplace Managed Client and a 36 page readme.

He also notes that the user must copy the Notes setup binary to a specific directory. A tip to those wanting to make it a single command install - just put the proper binary in the correct directory inside the zip file. The extraction should place everything in the proper location. I will say, the Sametime 7.5 installer for Linux was very nice. Basically an unpack followed by a ./install...

Technorati: Lotus Notes

Lotus Notes 7.0.1 for Linux Installed

After having to wrangle my Linux guy here to get Mozilla configured properly (you have to have 1.7.12 loaded) and then seeing that Gnome was the required gui (I'm a KDE guy), I got the client running. I haven't been able to really test anything, but here are some screengrabs. The second one is the application I wrote about in yesterday's SnTT post. While I think this is great, don't be mislead - this is not really a standalone Notes client for Linux. It still runs in the Workplace Managed Client framework. The install file for WMC will also install the Lotus Notes plugin. I guess technically it's a "stand-alone Lotus Notes on Linux client" in the sense that you may not be able to add more plugins. But that would just be mincing of words.

Regardless, it's a Notes Client on Linux!!! The "plugin" framework is the smarter way to go because it will be how the Hannover client is available for Linux. This gives us the opportunity to thoroughly test our applications and help make this right!

I should also note that this wasn't supposed to be available on Passport Advantage Online until Monday. So it's possible (but unlikely) that I have a non-gold release. But it shouldn't be at PAO unless it's gold.




Now Playing: "Hallelujah Chorus" by Notes gurus everywhere!

Technorati: Lotus Notes, Linux

Guess Who's Expecting Another Kid?

We just found out that we have another kid on the way!!! The baby will probably be due in late March.

Help Installing Workplace Managed Client for Linux

Well, I'm having to install WMC as part of the install process for something I downloaded at Passport... Looks like it was pretty popular

The documentation states that you must be running Mozilla 1.7.12. No problem, even though I was at 1.2.1 I downloaded 1.7.12 and installed it in the /usr/lib/mozilla-1.2.1 directory over the 1.2.1 install. I launch Mozilla and it's 1.7.12. But the WMC install fails with "Can not validate Mozilla version".

Here is the Google search for that. As you can see, the IBM WCS 2.5 release notes state the following. Please note that I did not even have a /etc/gre.conf file on the system. I didn't even have a gre.conf! I created the file and modified the version and path as specified in the WSE release notes. See below:

When installing the Workplace Rich Client on a Linux workstation, the error "Cannot validate Mozilla version" indicates that version 1.4 of Mozilla with GTK2 binding is not installed on the workstation, or it is not installed in the expected location.

The file "/etc/gre.conf" contains information on the Mozilla version and the variable "GRE_PATH" whose value should point to the directory location where the appropriate Mozilla version has been installed. In a default RedHat installation this file contains the following information: (NOTE: The information I tried putting in is beside each line in italics)
[1.4] ([1.7] and also [1.7.12])
GRE_PATH=/usr/lib/mozilla-1.4 (GRE_PATH=/usr/lib/mozilla-1.2.1)
To fix this error do the following:
1. Download Mozilla 1.4 for RedHat from the followin ftp URL "
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.4.1/contrib/mozilla-1.4.1-gtk2-xft-svg-calendar
-suse82.tar.bz2" .
2. Extract the contents of this file to /usr/lib/mozilla-1.4 directory.
3. Create or update "/etc/gre.conf" to have the first two lines as below
[1.4]
GRE_PATH=/usr/lib/mozilla-1.4
4. Reinstall Workplace Managed Client platform.

Putting SnTT Tips To Use In New App (SnTT)

I decided to take some cues from Nathan's post on using layers. Though my UI is far from where it should be, this is still a slight departure from our "usual" UIs here. I may or may not go with the right-side menu as Nathan did - I'm just so used to left-side menus... This application should go live on August 1, so there may be some other tweaks.



In the above graphic, you can see that I have a Show/Hide History option that will toggle a layer with an embedded view of the tickets entered for that username in the past. I grabbed the icons from a web development application I have. I probably will not get to go "all out" with switchable text/graphic buttons.

Now Playing: "Universal Mind" by Liquid Tension Experiment

Technorati: Show-n-tell thursday

The Vader Sessions

I know we have some Star Wars geeks out there! One of you even used a light saber at a Lotusphere session! If you're into Star Wars, then you'll want to go to http://www.akjak.com/vader-sessions/ and check out the Vader Sessions. This guy took every scene in Star Wars (a.k.a A New Hope) with Vader and dubbed James Earl Jones' voice from his other movies.

Now Playing: "Against The Grain" by Garth Brooks

Technorati: Star Wars

Meet My Twisted Sister, Bruce! (Re: Domino TNEF Extraction)

Listening to the latest Taking Notes Podcast (#25), towards the end Bruce and Julian are talking about the Domino 7.0.2 feature that will extract the files embedded in TNEF objects sent from MS Outlook. These are the wonderful winmail.dat files that we all love. In discussing this, though, you can faintly hear Bruce singing "We're not gonna take it..." That's hilarious!!

When I first heard that the TNEF extraction would be added to the Domino server, I was torn. First, as an MS FUD fighter, I felt just as Bruce was (jokingly) singing. Why should we kowtow to the proprietary email format used by Outlook. We shouldn't just take it! But IBM probably decided that they wouldn't take any more user complaints and just work around the issue. From an admin's standpoint, I heartily applaud IBM on this. It will be great for 7.0.2+ servers to have this natively. I, hopefully, won't have to field the complaints from the "higher-ups" in my company who just feel that all email should work together. Well, thanks to this feature from IBM, utopia is one step closer!

Speaking of the TNEF extraction, Julian posted a mail-in database that will currently work to extract the TNEF objects. It works well and is fast! I have already implemented that in my environment, so the next time this happens we can tell users just to forward the email to the "Winmail" address. Details on Julian's tool can be found here at his blog. If you're an admin who hasn't downloaded this, you should go snag it!

Technorati: Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook

Cool Designer Feature I Just Found

I'm not sure why I've never stumbled upon this, but if you place your mouse in the center of the panes for the programmer's pane, action pane, and design pane, you can move all panes at once. See image below...



This can certainly be a time-saver!

Now Playing: "Taking Notes Podcast #25"

Switch To FeedBurner

OK, I should have done this a long time ago, but I've created a FeedBurner feed for the main posts. It is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/cwhisonant

If you have a few seconds, would you mind switching over to that instead of the Blogger atom.xml feed I'm currently using?

Well, I now have to go to a couples' baby shower. I'm driving the bus, though. Turns out that I get to drive my wife and 5 other ladies whose slack husbands aren't going!! Seems I pulled the short straw!

Great Vacation and Two New Bloggers

We just got back today from a 5 day trip down to my parents' place in Surfside Beach, SC. It was a great trip with some wonderful downtime with my wife and kid!! We only went to the beach one morning, but with all the "fun" that is sand and hauling chairs and umbrellas, one day is generally enough! We didn't really do much of anything except spend time together. We window shopped a little bit one evening at Broadway at the Beach (it's becoming a lot like Downtown Disney...strange!), but most days we hung out at the pool and just relaxed! Wonderful...

I was pretty much disconnected since I disabled my BES email. I kept up with some political blogs on my BB and checked a couple of the Lotus-related feeds. Needless to say, there was a lot of stuff going on with the Notes on Linux announcement and Volker started up two intriguing threads as well. Too bad I missed out... ;)

I left my gmail to BB forwarding enabled and got a cool email from Luis Guirigay stating that he reads my blog and has started his own blog. He's actually working on the "Implementing Domino 7 on the System i" Redbook and will be going to Rochester, MN this week for that project. That's "mecca" for the System i (AS/400, iSeries) people. I was able to tour the Rochester facility back in October 2001 as part of a COMMON conference. It is an amazing place!! From checking out his Flickr he was at Lotusphere this year (did you come to my session?) and I also saw Kim Greene in a picture with him and some others (I believe it was for working on Redbooks). While perusing Luis' blog, I saw that Alex Hernandez posted a comment. It appears that he has just started a new (English) blog. What's great to me is that these two guys are posting about Domino and the System i. So go check them out!

Oh yeah, and we got our TS3310 at the office this week. I plan to install it this weekend on the Domino iSeries.

Rock Star: Supernova

I really got into Rock Star: INXS last year (as did Greyhawk). I've been watching the premier of this season's Rock Star dedicated to finding someone to front the new rock band Supernova. I think we'll be seeing some good, straight-up rock-n-roll with this band. We're talking about Tommy Lee on drums (Motley Crüe), bassist Jason Newsted (Metallica), and guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses). They should be pretty wild...

I don't think Peter or Chris will make it too far. Chris did a modernized, rock version of Roxanne. It wasn't too bad, but it didn't really work for him and Supernova didn't like it. Some of the gals really did great jobs. The "House Band" is awesome! I'm really digging them because they are Gibson guys. Between the two guitarists I've seen 3 Les Pauls and a doubleneck SG! A couple of songs had some Fenders, but I'll forgive them! I had to pull out my Les Paul and jam along with some of them! Lukas just performed and did a great job.

After this show, here are my top 5 picks in performance order. We'll see how well I did come September!

Toby - Heaven's Door - I think he has some potential if he can rock out.
Zayra - Did an Evanescence song really well
Jenny - Maybe it was just because she played a Les Paul, but she performed really well too
Dilana - She's from Africa and performed Nirvana's Lithium. She really rocked it out and everyone loved it
Lukas - I was typing, but he did a Bowie song, I think. I think they saved the best for last.

Technorati: Rock Star Supernova

Happy Independence Day!

So, it's a couple of days early, but I thought I would provide you some random thoughts along with my 6 degrees of separation from Mel Gibson! Greg Simmons sparked my thinking about this because he has posted a couple of historical posts about June 28, 1776 and July 1, 1776. I think he may be posting a couple more, so check back later - it's good stuff!

I commented on one of his posts that I will have to watch The Patriot this week in honor of the Revolutionary War. About 10 minutes from where I grew up (20 from where I live now) is Brattonsville, SC. Some information is here and here. It is supposedly the first settlement in upperstate South Carolina.

Back in the 3rd Grade, I won a writing contest along with about a dozen other kids. The prize was a 2 day, 1 night stay in Brattonsville. It was really amazing!! We were given the opportunity to do a lot of things that the settlers did. We sewed some small bags, made lye soap, and even got to herd some sheep. We spent the night in one of the old houses. This was a little spooky to a 3rd grader, but it was awesome! I believe that we also picked some cotton and I remember playing in one of the creeks. We even got to go through all of the buildings and homes there like most people would not get to do. Looking back, it was a really special time and when my daughter is a little older, we will definitely have to take her.


The Bratton Home

So, how does Mel Gibson come into play? Parts of his movie, The Patriot, were actually filmed at Brattonsville. So I now know some people who know Mel Gibson.

Now Playing: "The Wizard of Oz" by Northwestern Troubadours - This was my high school chorus. I'm ripping old videos from VHS to my PC to convert to DVD...

Technorati: Revolutionary War, Brattonsville, South Carolina, Mel Gibson