Upgrading Domino to 8.5.1 - Process Complete

WOW! That was really easy...

OK... so I know, now, that I could have done this all by myself, and didn't need to bring in someone to help me with this. The only reason I did, is because, as is usually the case, when I attempt an upgrade by myself, something inevitably goes wrong, and I have to call someone (usually a consultant), and wait for them to call me back. Sometimes the call back is quick, sometimes it's two or three hours after the initial call. Of course, when I spend the money to have someone come in and "spin the disks", nothing goes wrong and everything comes out hunky dory, like it did yesterday.

Both our Domino servers are running 8.5.1, including our Good Mobile Messaging server. We were also able to install Lotus Traveler 8.5.1 on the same server as Good, and there were no knocking of heads between the two. Now we just have to wait to get some DNS and an SSL certificate issues taken care of before I can start testing Traveler on my phones (an AT&T (HTC) Tilt and a iPhone.) Speaking of the iPhone, I ordered it last Tuesday and was told that there was a 5-7 day backorder on the phone. On Wednesday (yes, the day after I ordered it), I received the phone... go figure.

All of our third party apps are working fine. All of our 6.5.4 and 7.0.3 clients are working fine. We installed the basic client on Citrix and that is working fine... of course, I am the only one running a mail database at 8.5.1 right now. I figured I would learn all I can about the standard and basic clients before rolling them out to the user community, so I'd be able to handle any and all questions. I'm guessing I'll start to roll out the clients sometime in early December.

All in all, I am very happy that the upgrade went well, everything is working, as expected, and there are no issues at the present time.

I will say that the two guys I had come up to help, Todd Stratman and Michael Weber, both from Teamwork Solutions, were very knowledgeable and very helpful. I couldn't have asked for two better people to help me out with this upgrade, even though it was easy money for them. I'm sure they were thinking "why are we here?", because it was so uneventful, but I was glad they were here.

I couldn't have asked for a better Monday!

Upgrading Domino to 8.5.1 - This Weekend

Well, it's finally going to happen. With the help of Teamwork Solutions, I'm going to get our primary Domino server upgraded from 7.0.3 to 8.5.1. We're also going to upgrade our Good Mobile Messaging server to 8.5.1, and attempt to install Lotus Traveler on the same server as Good. If that doesn't work, I've got a temporary server to install Traveler on.

I'm excited about the weekend. I'm excited about seeing 8.5.1 up close and personal. I'm excited about the possibilities of using Traveler and kicking Good to the curb. It's not that Good is a bad product, it's worked well for us over the last couple of years. It's just that Good is slow getting compatibility for the new phones, including the iPhone.

Speaking of the iPhone, I ordered one yesterday, for testing with Traveler. Of course, the phone is on backorder, so chances are, I won't get the phone before the weekend, which is unfortunate. Since I've not really seen an iPhone up close, other than someone showing me their phone (and not letting me touch it), I have no idea what to expect. I have a lot of questions, and I guess I'll have to wait until I get the phone to have my questions answered.

While I don't like working weekends, I am looking forward to working this weekend. I'm as giddy as a kid at Christmas.

Going to upgrade Domino/Notes... which version is right for me?

I am going to upgrade our current install of Lotus Domino/Notes this fall. We are currently at 7.0.3 on the server and am using 6.5.4 and 7.0.3 clients. At first, I was leaning towards going with the 8.0.x version, but would like to get on the latest version, 8.5.1 (which, hopefully will be release in October.)

The things that push me towards 8.5.1 are just being on a release newer than what we are currently using and the ID Vault. I know that going to 8.0.x would satisfy my first objective of being on a newer release. The ID Vault, I think, would be a huge improvement over what we are currently doing with IDs, which is next to nothing and scares me greatly.

As far as how we are currently configured... we have two Domino servers (the primary server and a Good Mobile Messaging server.) We have about 120 Notes users, with which about half of them are using Notes through Citrix Xen App servers. We have about 5 or 6 custom apps and one 3rd party app (QSI System from IBS America.) We use Notes primarily for email, calendar and scheduling, and the previously mentioned apps. It is my hope, after upgrading, to bring Quickr in house, and begin promoting its use throughout the organization. I'd also like to see if Traveler would be able to eliminate the cost of the Good Messaging app.

I'm thinking that, since we are a relatively small install of Domino, and since we don't use a whole lot of the other features Domino/Notes has to offer, it wouldn't hurt too much to go to the 8.5.1 version, once it has been released.

We're not a Sametime user, and the likelihood of us going that way are slim and none, so Sametime plays no part in this discussion.

My two cents - Vick and Favre

I've listened to the ESPN Radio coverage, and watched NFL Network and ESPN coverage, about Mike Vick signing with the Eagles, and Brett Favre signing with the Vikings. I have to tell you, I'm more than a little disappointed in what I've heard and seen.

Concerning Mike Vick... Yes, I know what he did was absolutely awful. A despicable act. It's indefensible. And he knows it. He's also paid the price for what he's done. He's been out of football for three years now. He's lost $100's of millions of dollars because of it. He's done his time. He's out now, and should be given another chance. I've heard the talking sports heads, some of them anyway, say that they won't buy a Vick Eagles jersey, because they don't want to show support for him, but that he does deserve the chance to play again. Eagles fans, from what I've heard, are about 4 to 5 against him playing for their Eagles. I just don't get it.

What Vick did to animals, dogs to be specific, was a horrible act. But they were animals... not human beings. Some people seem to be more outraged about what Vick did to dogs, than what, say Donte Stallworth did to a human being. Stallworth killed a man while driving drunk (or high, or both.) People say that Stallworth made a mistake in judgment, doing what he did. The fact remains, though... his mistake resulted in the death of a human being. Oh, and he's only getting a few days in jail and probation for killing a man with a vehicle while driving under the influence. This does not make sense to me. I'd rather show my support for Vick with an Eagles jersey, than to show my support for Stallworth with a Browns jersey, and I'm a life long Browns fan.

Vick did his time, lost a ton of money, and hopefully learned a life long lesson. He should get a second chance and people should support him in his efforts to turn his life around. I'm not saying that Stallworth should not get a second chance... he should, but I find what he did to a human being is far worse than what Vick did to animals.

Concerning Brett Favre... I used to like Brett. He is an amazing quarterback and a true competitor. I felt that when he retired (the first time), he did it right, and felt it was the right time for him to bow out of the league. And then all that went away, when he decided that he wanted to come back to play... no... stay retired... no, come back to play... no... etc. It was ridiculous. When he started playing games with the front office at Green Bay, I lost a ton of respect for him. All that he had done in the past, on the field, was now tainted. Honestly, I was hoping he would be absolutely horrible playing for the Jets, not to slight the Jets, but just so he would look bad enough to retire and stay retired. He didn't do too bad for the Jets, but their season ended, just like it did in his last game for the Packers, on a interception. So he decided that, with his shoulder in the shape it was, possibly needing surgery, he would again, retire from the Jets. Great... now maybe he will go away and maybe he can regain a little of the respect he had lost, not only from me, but a lot of other fans of the game.

I guess Brett isn't the kind of guy I thought he was. Again, he decides that maybe, just maybe, he's got another year in him. Get his shoulder taken care of, he could be "that" QB again. This time, though, he wants to play for the Vikings, just to be able to stick it too the Packers two times in a season, at least. Again, the waffling begins, much to the dismay of the Vikings front office, and the head coach. The back and forth Favre was doing was, again, ridiculous and self-serving. Whatever respect I still had for him, is now gone. Great... he signed with the Vikings for a ton of money, for one year, of which $6 million is guaranteed whether he gets hurt or cut. I'll tell you what... if I was Sage Rosenfeld, Tarvaris Jackson, and/or John David Booty, I'd be asking for an immediate trade or release from the team. Absolutely no respect for these guys, regardless of their playing abilities, shown by the head coach or the Vikings front office. Rosenfeld, prior to signing with the Vikings, was promised a chance to compete for the starting job at QB. Favre signs, and is already going to start in their preseason game on Friday night... he's only been in camp for two or three days now... and he's starting??? Give me a break. I feel bad for these three guys. Sure, Brett's a hell of a quarterback, but in no way, shape, or form do I think he should be able to come in and be automatically given the starting job. (Yes, I know he'll probably win the starting job anyway, but it's the principle of the matter.) Hell, I'd buy a Vick and Stallworth jersey before I would ever buy a Favre jersey, no matter what team he played for (Packers, Jets, Vikings.)

Of course, if he's available at a decent pick, I would probably draft Favre in my fantasy football league. He is good at what he does. I just don't have to like what he does off the field.

Ryder Cup 2009 - A Recap

Well, it's been almost a couple of weeks since the Ryder Cup has ended. Ohio, again, came out victorious, much to my dismay. I, unfortunately, had to play on the losing side for the first time in four years, playing for the Michigan side, due to the leveling of handicaps for each side.

My play on Thursday morning, at Thunderbird South, wasn't bad. Since we had only 22 golfers, my opponent and I played a singles match, while the others played alternate shot. We had a rather late night on Wednesday, drinking and discussing the upcoming weekend of golf. With a 7:04 am tee time on Thursday morning, I'm not sure what we were thinking staying up until after midnight. I think I shot an 83, and won my match 1 up. The guy I was playing against had to give me 5 or 6 strokes. He didn't have a great round. He normally shoots in the low to mid 70's, but shot an ugly 81.

The afternoon round on Thursday, at Thunderbird North, was a Four Ball/Best Ball match. My partner and I played a great round, just like how we were supposed to. If I had a bad hole, he had a good one. If he had a bad hole, I had a good one. We won our match 4 and 3. I don't remember what I shot on the North course, but I played fairly decent... probably a low 80's round.

We partied afterwards, again a little too late, with another early tee time on Friday morning. We played at Sawmill Creek all day on Friday. The morning round was another Four Ball/Best Ball match. I played absolutely horrible... and so did my partner. We couldn't get anything going, and our opponents couldn't do anything wrong. They would hit, what would appear to be a bad shot, but they got lucky bounces (which we weren't getting) and the ball would be on the green or close to it. We got beat 5 and 4.

The afternoon round at Sawmill Creek was a two man scramble. I was paired up with a guy that plays in my Wednesday night golf league, so I thought, since I was playing bad, and he had a decent round in the morning, we'd be alright. He could hit a good tee shot, and then let me try to rip one long. At the first tee, he hit probably the worst shot I've ever seen him hit. It might have gone 30 yards, if even that far. Not what I wanted to see to start things off. I pushed one right, but headed for a fairway bunker on the right. Fortuntately, it skipped through the bunker and we had a decent attempt at getting on the green. Well, we got on the green, but were a long was away from the hole. Our opponents, whom my partner played against in the morning round and had said they were all over the place, put one to about 5 feet from the hole. Again, my partner and I couldn't do anything right, and our opponents couldn't do anything wrong. We lost the two man scramble match 9 and 8. You know it's really bad when we had to take a penalty stroke on a few holes, just because we had no other choice. Bad day of golf. I contemplated leaving my clubs at the course and giving up the game for good, I played so bad.

Saturday's round, at Eagle Creek, was singles matches all around. Michigan was so far behind after Friday debacle, we had to win 10 our of the 11 matches, which we knew was not going to happen. I played better than I did on Friday, but not as well as I did on Thursday. I shot an 87 at Eagle Creek, but lost my match on the last hole, 1 up. My playing partner, another guy from my golf league, shot a great round and tied his match on the last hole.

I don't remember what the totals were, but Ohio clobbered Michigan. It wasn't even close. It was a good time, and I did win a few longest drives, so I got a little money back.

Next year, the Ryder Cup will be in Michigan. Not sure about the courses yet, but either way, it should be fun. We may change things up on how we pick teams. Instead of trying to create some parity with the handicaps, we'll draft our teams from a list of people who are playing, on the Wednesday night before the Ryder Cup begins. That should be a fun time.

Ryder Cup Weekend is coming up!

The 4th Annnual Ohio vs. Michigan Ryder Cup matches are quickly approaching. We will be playing in Vermilion, Ohio again this year. Playing three courses... Thunderbird Hills Golf Course (South Course - Alternate Shot in the morning, North Course - Best Ball in the afternoon), Sawmill Creek Golf Course (playing twice, Morning - Best Ball, Afternoon - 2-man Scramble), and Eagle Creek Golf Course (Singles matches).

Should be around 20-24 guys playing. Ohio has won all three years. Fortunately, I've been on the winning team all three years. May have to play on the Michigan team this year, to even out the handicaps between the two teams. As long as I am on the winning team, it doesn't matter.

I can't wait until next Thursday!!!

July Woot! Off going on now!

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