A new brewing adventure...

After years and years of brewing and bottling my own beers, I've decided to try my hand at kegging my beer. Bottling my beer is nice, and the beers tend to last longer in the bottle, all the prep work before bottling happens has become a chore. Unboxing the bottles, cleaning the bottles, sanitizing the bottles, bottling the beer, and then capping them takes a lot of time.

Since I had some gift certificates to Northern Brewer, I decided to take the kegging plunge. I bought a used kegging systems, complete with a 5 gallon soda keg, a dual gauge gas regulator, a gas hose, and a beer hose with a picnic type tap.

I've already cleaned the keg and replaced the o-rings, so now all I have to do is fill the keg. Since I made a Black Lager about a year ago, and it's been sitting in my beer fridge in a secondary fermenation state for about 8 months or so, it will be the Black Lager that I will keg.

Since I have the next two days off, I will keg this beer during this time off, and by Saturday or Sunday, it should be ready for consumption, compared to the two weeks it would take if I had bottled it.

I'm a little nervous, but excited about this new adventure in brewing.

If you've never been to Lotusphere, or even if you have, you still need to read this...

Lotusphere '08 was my first Lotusphere event. When I was downloading the internet on everything Lotusphere, I stumbled upon Andy's website, and his annual "Guide to Lotusphere" blog post. Being the newbie I was gonna be at Lotusphere, Andy's blog helped me tremendously. If you're going to be going to Lotusphere for the first time, or not, it's helpful to read his post to let you know what's going on.

Andy's Guide to Lotusphere

Check it out!

Lotus Traveler and Windows Mobile 6.5 - Installation problems...

OK... so I've got this HTC Tilt 2, which has Windows Mobile 6.5 installed on it. I was able to download Lotus Traveler (the bootstrap file and the installer for WM 6.0/6.1 for Pocket PC). Installation goes fine until it tries to connect to the server. I'm getting the following error messages:

"There was an error reading your configuration."

and

"Parsing error reading the configuration file at line 31, position 3."

and, after a couple of minutes...

"Time out reached while connecting to the network. Please verify that your data network is available and check your network configuration settings."

Now, I have installed Traveler on a WM 6.1 phone (a Treo 750) without fail. I have also installed Traveler on several iPhones, again, without fail.

I've read on some message boards that people have installed Traveler on WM 6.5 devices, but once they get it installed, they don't come back to explain what they've done to get it installed. I'd really like to get Traveler on this phone, but it's looking like I'm going to have reinstall Good Mobile Messaging so this salesperson can get his emails, until I can get this little issue figured out.

Lotusphere can't some soon enough!

Lotus Traveler, Windows Mobile Devices, and the Corporate Directory

OK, so I may be late to the "Did you know what Traveler can and can't do" posts, but I found out something about Lotus Traveler, Windows Mobile Devices, and the Corporate Directory.

First, let me state that I do know that the corporate directory (or company address book, as I like to call it) is not sync'd to Windows Mobile (WM) devices, and that the iPhone can do lookups.

Secondly, I know that in order for me to send someone within my company an email with my WM phone, I am supposed to have them in my personal address book (PAB).

Well, I attempted something on my own. I wanted to see what would happen if I were to enter someone's name from my company, but not in my PAB, into the TO: field, and send the email anyway.

Guess what? It worked. Of course, I have to make sure that I spell the name correctly, but it did work.

Just to make sure I'm making myself clear, follow along with me:

1. Joe Smith is an employee with a Lotus Notes account, within my company.
2. I do not have Joe Smith in my PAB
3. I compose and email to Joe Smith with my WM phone
4. I enter "joe smith" (no quotes) in the TO: field
5. Finish the email and send it
6. Joe Smith receives the email and can reply to it

So, while Lotus Traveler on WM devices don't do a lookup ON THE PHONE, it does appear to do a lookup once the email is sent on it's way.

Should would be nice to get this lookup down at the device level for WM devices.

A month with the iPhone and Lotus Traveler

OK, so I've given up my Windows Mobile phone and have acquired a 32GB iPhone 3GS (it's good the be the adminstrator) and installed Lotus Traveler on the iPhone.

Now, while I am a Domino Administrator, I am not a heavy Notes users. I get my fair share of emails, and send a few emails here and there. I have to say, using Traveler on the iPhone is an absolute joy, especially after using Traveler on the Windows Mobile phone.

To back up a bit, we've been a Good Mobile Messenger user for the last two years. While Good served its purpose, I felt it was time to move on. After upgrading our Domino server to 8.5.1, I also installed Traveler 8.5.1 on the same server that Good is running on (no problems running both on the same server thus far, knock on wood.)

I installed Traveler on my WM AT&T Tilt phone, after uninstalling Good on the phone. While I liked the UI with Good, Traveler was just OK. Traveler on the iPhone is absolutely awesome. Of course, I don't really have another iPhone app to compare Traveler to, when it comes to Notes, as Good doesn't support the iPhone as of this writing. I hear they are working on an app for that.

I now have three other people using the iPhone with Traveler. So far, I have had no complaints about it's functionality, or that they can't do this or that, like they could with Good. I will slowly begin migrating people from the WM phones to the iPhone, as contracts come close to the end, or phones give up the ghost, which ever comes first. I have let my smartphone people know that I will not tolerate abusing their WM phones, in an attempt to get an iPhone sooner than they would like. I still have a few Palm Treo 750's that still work, and have threatened to replace their "broken" phone with a Treo until their contact period is up.

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!

Get over to WOOT! now to get a good deal. Remember... once and item sells out, another one will take its place.

Get to Wootin'

A weekend back "home"

Headed off to Akron, Ohio over the weekend to visit with the folks. Actually, my Dad was receiving an award from my old high school... an honorary alumni award, and my Uncle was receiving a lifetime achievement award from the alumni.

My whole family (my Mom, my two sisters, and me) all graduated from Coventry High School, in the Portage Lakes, just South of Akron. Dad graduated from Archibishop Hoban High School in Akron. Since my sisters and I were involved in sports and music for the schools, Dad began getting involved in various aspects of our school like. He coached little league baseball, was the announcer for football, basketball, and other sports, is a school board member, etc. Since he's done a lot of that for the schools and for us, he was nominated for an honorary alumni status, and received his award on Saturday night at the All Class Reunion, held at the (new) high school.

Backing up a little, being that I grew up in the Akron area, and listened to Akron and Cleveland radio stations, I had forgotten how much I missed the drive time (5:00 pm) songs that played on the various stations to kick the weekends off. As we were getting close to the Cleveland area, on the Ohio Turnpike, I was able to dial in WNCX 98.5 FM, and, since it was 5:00 pm, I was able to hear the trilogy or "Born To Run" (Bruce Springsteen), "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" (The Kings), and "Bang On The Drum All Day" (Todd Rundgren). Man, I miss that. Sure, the Detroit stations do the same thing on Friday at 5:00 or 6:00 pm, but it's not the same. When you grow up hearing those songs (whether it was on WNCX or WMMS), and then move away, you miss that stuff. It was funny to even hear Kid Leo on WNCX. "The Kid" used to be a staple on WMMS back in my day.

Back to the All Class Reunion... while it is a nice concept, having all graduating classes gather at one place at the same time, to catch up with each other and see old familiar faces, it is lost on the younger generations (myself included.) Sure the younger classes have their separate reunions, you just don't see these classes participate in the All Class Reunion. I have to admit, this is the first year that I have attended, and the only reason for me going was to see my Dad and my Uncle receive their awards. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been there. It was exactly how I pictured it... a lot of white hairs and bald heads getting together. Don't get me wrong. These people really enjoyed getting together and seeing each other again. I would say that the majority of the people there were over the age of 55, and the younger in attendance were there to see their parents or other relatives receive awards. The Class of '59 were having their 50th class reunion that weekend, which included showing up at the All Class Reunion, and the Class of '49 was celebrating their 60th reunion, complete with balloons at their tables. I was the only person from the Class of '82 in attendance... out of about 175 graduates. While I see the purpose for the All Class Reunions, I feel that, at least for my school, unless some of the "underclassmen", or younger graduating classes taking an active roll in helping to organize and promote this reunion, I'm afraid that it will die a slow death, due to the lack of interest. I'm guilty of the "lack of interest" piece of the puzzle. Maybe it is because I don't want to be reminded that one day, in the not so distant future, I'm going to be one of those "white hairs or bald heads" in attendance.

It was a great weekend, and I am proud of my Dad and my Uncle for their accomplishments over the years, and what they've done for the local schools and the community.

May Woot! OFF is going on now...

Get over to WOOT! now to get a good deal. Remember... once and item sells out, another one will take its place.

Get to Wootin'

Woot!'s March Madness is underway... Woot! OFF

If you haven't checked out Woot! today, they are having a Woot!OFF. Once an item has sold out, another will take its place, until they tire of the Woot!OFF.

Check it out!

First round of golf in 2009

As noted yesterday, I played my first round of golf of the 2009 golf season. I played at The Grande Golf Club in Jackson, MI. While the weather was beautiful for March, about 65-70 degrees, it was pretty windy.

I played with three friends, all who had played about a week ago, at the same course. I hadn't swung a club since my last round back in November. I didn't even have a chance to hit balls on the range prior to teeing of on the first hole. I did, however, hit one ball, from the first tee, into the driving range, while waiting for the foursome ahead of us to hit their second shots.

When it was our turn to tee off, I hit my first official tee shot of the year. It was almost perfect. No bad habits to start the year off, at least on the first hole. I finished the first nine holes with a 43. Never three putted, never got anything worse than a bogey, got a par or two, but no birdies. Not a bad start, if I don't say so myself.

The second nine, which was a little more challenging, as the wind was against us for many of the holes, was much better. While I did three putt one green, I had two bogies, and one birdie (the last hole), and finished with a 37. To shoot an 80 my first time out this year was unreal. I should hang up my clubs and not play again this year... that won't happen.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm going golfing!!!

Yes, today is St. Patrick's Day. For those of you who whoop it up, make sure you have a designated driver!

Also, today in my part of Michigan, it's supposed to be close to 70 degrees today. Therefore, I am going to take a half days vacation and go golfing for the first time this year. I can't wait!

Have a great day!

Brain Dump - My Lotus Domino/Notes Environment

It's been awhile since I've posted anything about our Lotus Domino/Notes environment. I thought I would just ramble about things that are on my mind concerning my Lotus Domino/Notes environment... basically a brain dump that I can refer back to later...

(begin brain dump)

We have a very small Domino/Notes installation. We've got one primary Domino server (7.0.3) and a secondary Domino server (7.0.3), which services our Good Mobile Messaging server. We've got about 110 Notes users (6.5.4 and 7.0.3 clients.) Some of the Notes clients are using Citrix to access Notes, via a published app, as most of these people share a desktop or thin client. Most, if not all, desktop/laptop users are using the 7.0.3 client. I've got about 20 clients that are 7.0.3 Domino Web Access clients, which was needed to be able to sync address books to their phones (or so I was told.)

I am planning on upgrading our Domino servers to 8.0.x in the near future (mid to late 2nd quarter), but I have a lot of "stuff" that I would like to do, either before, or after, the upgrade. This "stuff" is as follows, in no particular order:

1. Deploy DWA, or iNotes, so that all clients could access their email, calendar, to do's, etc. via a browser. My thought here is to reduce, or eliminate, the need to install a Notes client on Citrix. I'm not sure if this is the way to do it, but until someone gives me a better idea, that's what I'm looking for.

2. I desperately need to get ID Recovery working in the 7.0.3 or 8.0.x environment, and keep it working. This is a major issue for me, as I've deployed some single sign on clients, but have had some (major) issues with it. Right now, I need to disable the SSO on the installs I have, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll explain the issues in another post a little later, but the biggest problem I have is that when the network password changes, the Notes SSO doesn't always see that it has changed, or somehow already knows what the new network password is, and doesn't ask the user to enter the new password.

3. This kind of goes with #1 above, but I need to get everyone on the latest client. With the Citrix clients, this isn't the easiest thing to do, as I just can't push an upgrade of the client to the user (not that I know how to push the upgrade down to the user anyway.)

4. I need to get Quickr installed, at least in a test environment, so that I can demo it to the masses (well... to the powers that be, anyway.) I know that what I've seen of Quickr could help the company organize and collaborate better. I just need to get it installed and running. I've got a lot of questions concerning the use of Quickr internally, as well as externally. The problem I have right now, is that there seems to be two versions of Quickr, the Domino services and the Websphere services, if I understand things correctly. Some Quickr features are only available in one version or the other. We don't use the Websphere Portal, so the Websphere version won't be the one we will be implementing. I'd like to see a side by side comparison of the features of each version, so I know what I'm getting with the Domino services, and what I will be missing out on with the Websphere version.

5. I need Admin training... plain and simple. I haven't had Admin training since R5 or maybe R6. I'm trying to approval to go to a Domino 8 Admin Bootcamp in April, but with the economy the way it is, and the company finances not being the best, I'm doubtful that I can attend right now. In the meantime, I need to find some cheaper alternatives to attending a training session. I know, I know... I could always read the Admin guide. The problem with that is I'm more of a visual type person. I need to see it shown to me, not just read it in a book.

6. This goes along with #1 as well... I would like the people who travel, and our remote users to be able to access Notes through the web, instead of using the Citrix web client that they are using now. It would quicker and easier for them to access their emails going to a website, instead of going to our Citrix web access site, and opening up a Notes client through Citrix. Most of these people get their emails on their Windows mobile phone right now, but there are times when they need to get in to do some things that they can't do, or is more difficult to do, with their phones.

As you can see, I have a lot of "stuff", and there's plenty more that I haven't put into this post. Before this year is up, I would like to see 4 or 5 on this list go away, and new items take their place (in a good way.)

(end brain dump)

I feel a little better now.

Homebrewing - Schwarzbier

It's been awhile since I posted about this beer, too. It's still sitting in secondary fermentation, in my brewery fridge, at about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. It's been sitting their patiently, awaiting me to bring it out of the cold and bottling it. It won't be long now. I see some time coming in the near future.

With the problems I had with the priming tablets on my Spiced Winter Ale, I think I will be making a priming concoction the old fashion way for this beer, as I have been longing to sample this beer for quite some time. I don't want anything to discourage me, or hinder it's finishing. I know that the warmer weather is approaching (it's 65 today!!!), but I will carbonate this beer the proper way, and know that it will be good, when the time comes.

Bottling time is coming... I can feel it.

Homebrewing - Spiced Winter Ale

OK... so it's been almost three months since I've posted anything more on the beers I brewer back in November. This post is about my Spiced Winter Ale.

The last I posted about the SWA, it was being transferred into secondary fermentation. It sat there for about a month (until I had time to bottle it.) I finally got around to bottling early in January. I did something different this time, in regards to carbonation.

Ordinarily, I would cook up a concoction of priming sugar and water, dump that into the bottling bucket, and then transfer the beer from the secondary fermentor to the bottling bucket. This time, I decided to try some tablets of priming sugar. For this, one needs to put 3 to 5 tablets (they look like little aspirins), into each bottle, and then fill the bottles with the beer. The package says that 3 tablets for low carbonation, 5 for high carbonation. I would then assume that 4 tablets would be for moderate, or normal, carbonation. So I put 4 tablets into each bottle.

After the bottles were filled (just over 2 cases of 12 ounce bottles), I capped them, and put them in some boxes and let them sit in the dark. Usually, carbonation takes about two weeks. I waited about three weeks to try the first bottle, to see how the carbonation was going. I was greatly disappointed. No carbonation at all. Now, to be fair, I won't blame the tablets for this epic failure. It had been cold in my neck of the woods, and my brewery, which is my basement, was a little on the cold side, which is not optimal for carbonation to happen. I moved the bottles into another, heated portion of my basement, to see if this would be more conducive to creating those heavenly bubbles. I waited another week. Nothing. Nada.

Now I was heartbroken. I've got two cases of beer that are flat. I like my beer to be a little carbonated, to feel the bubbles on my tongue. It tells me that the beer is happy. I took matters into my own hands. I noticed that there was some sediment on the bottom of the bottles. This is normal for homebrewed beers, as we do not filter our beers when bottling. I decided to get that sediment floating around in the beer again, hoping to jump start the carbonation process again. I turned all the bottles upside down in the box. This would get the sediment from the bottom of the bottles to the top. After a day of being turned upside down, I flipped the bottles over again, in their correct position. This has to help things. It has to.

After another week or two, I checked another bottle. By this time, my two cases of beer has been reduced by about 4 or 5 bottles. I took one more bottle and opened it. I heard that refreshing sound of CO2 escaping the bottle. This was an exciting sound to hear. I was giddy with anticipation, preparing to pour this beer into a glass. I made the pour. If I hadn't gotten married or had two kids, this would have been the happiest day of my life... the beer had a head on it. And it was a good head too... not too thin, not too thick. It was almost perfect.

As for the taste, well... this beer will take some time to mellow. It seems the mulling spice I used was a little too, well, spicy. Not hot spicy, but too flavorful and aromatic. A little too overpowering for what I was looking for. Since the beer is now carbonated, I can let it sit for a few months until it matures, and hope that the spices mellow out some.

Who knows... maybe by the time next winter comes, this beer will be ready to drink. All I care for now is that it did carbonate, and for that, I am a happy brewer.

A lesson I failed to follow is this...

"Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" - Charlie Papazian

Messing with the Google Feed Reader

So, I've been messing around with various feed readers for Firefox for awhile now, but never really settling one particular reader. Besides the fact that I have different feeds in the two readers I've been playing with, and not being all that organized to begin with, I've decided to try something a little different.

I've exported my feeds from the readers I've got, and imported them into my Google Reader. Since I'm in Gmail all day long anyway, I figured it would be just as easy to use the Google Reader as it would be to use some extension to the Firefox browser. It also gave me an opportunity to clean up the feeds that I've got, and tag them into various "folders". I still have a lot of duplicates, and it will take some time to weed them out, but so far, so good.

I've got nearly 300 feeds that I follow... well, not necessarily follow closely, but look at from time to time. I've got feeds for Beer and homebrewing, Lotus Domino/Notes (and a lot of the various bloggers I follow), IBM, various news feeds, football (news, fantasy football, my Cleveland Browns), web development, etc. I know it sounds like a lot of feeds, but I'm kind of an information junkie. I may not read everything I've added, but I do read the headlines for most of them. If I find something interesting, I'll dive into it a little deeper.

So far, I like the Google Reader. I've gone into the "Browse for stuff" and found a ton more feeds to add. There's a lot of interesting stuff out there that I wasn't aware of. Some of which I have added, and some that will need to reviewed a little closer before I add them.

If you are looking for a feed reader, I would suggest checking into the Google Reader, especially if you already have a Gmail account (if not, you'll need to register with Google to keep your feeds.)

Visto acquiring Motorola Good Technology Group

I realize I am probably in the minority, when it comes to software to get emails out to our cell phones, but we use Good Technology's Good Mobile Messaging, as opposed to Blackberry or Lotus Traveler (wasn't available when we needed something.)

I just received an email from Motorola stating the following:

"Dear Valued Customer,

I have some exciting news to share. Today we announced that Visto is acquiring Good Technology. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close at the end of February.

Visto is a leading provider of mobile push synchronization services, enabling mobile operators to provide easy-to-use communications services from email to social networking to photo sharing and more across the broadest set of devices. While based in the United States, Visto primarily serves consumer and prosumer markets in Europe with very strong relationships with some of the world's largest wireless operators.

The complementary and strategic nature of this acquisition provides a tremendous opportunity for Good customers. The new combined company will enable Good to rapidly broaden its European reach and better serve our multinational customers. As an independent mobile software and services vendor, Good can ensure that we deliver mobile device management, security and application access across a broad range of mobile device platforms, simplifying IT management of an increasingly complex mobile world.

Visto and Good will maintain Good’s enterprise and government focus and multi-device strategy to ensure that customers can enjoy the freedom of choice through our world-class solutions. The new company will continue to sell and support Good Mobility Suite.

Please be assured that you will continue to receive the same high standard of service and support you receive from us today. You can also continue to purchase Good through our carrier reseller partners or from Good directly, and activate users just as you do now.

In case you have questions about the acquisition, we encourage you to contact you account manager. More information can be found about Visto at www.visto.com
Thank you for your business. We look forward to a continued partnership."

In looking over Visto's website, I am not feeling a lot of warm fuzzies, as even Visto's own products are not compatible with Lotus Notes above version 7.0.1. And to be honest, I've never heard of Visto before.

Funny thing is, I just renewed our licenses for another year about three weeks ago. Funny, my sales person never said a word about it. Maybe she didn't know? Come to think about it, maybe I should contact her and see if she's still around?

One Year Blogging Anniversary

Well, it's been on year today since I started this blog. It's been, and still is, a learning experience. Not quite sure I have the hang of it, as I don't blog about anything and everything, like many others, but it is what it is, I suppose.

Hopefully over time, I will eventually get the hang of this thing called blogging.

Oh well, Happy Anniversary Blog...

Spiced Winter Ale has been bottled

On Saturday, I finally got around to bottling the Spiced Winter Ale. It still tastes a little over spiced. Hopefully this will mellow out in time.

I did something a little different this time, as far as carbonation is concerned. I used Munton's Carbonation Tabs, instead of a priming sugar solution. According to the packaging, you use 3 tablets for lower carbonation, 4 tablets for normal carbonation, and 5 tablets for higher carbonation. For this Spiced Winter Ale, I used 4 tablets per bottle. After thinking about it, after the fact, I should have experimented with the tablets. I should have used three, four, and five tablets in specific six packs, to see how different each would have been. Since I still have a couple of packets of tablets left, I may try this on my next bottling adventure later this month with my Schwarzbier.

In the end, I got exactly two cases of the Spiced Winter Ale. I bottled a total of 50 beers, but two bottles broke off at the neck when capping them. It's not surprising, as a lot of my bottles have been used over and over and over again. There's bound to be some wear and tear on them.

I'll give them a couple of weeks before trying the first bottle. I'm sure they won't be as mellow by then, but I'd still like to see what it tastes like carbonated and cold.