For as long as I've been a purchasing member of society, I've never really seen any appeal to shopping at Sears, with one notable exception.
I've always believed that if a person is buying tools, the person should buy Craftsman tools, from Sears of course. Craftsman tools are quality to begin with, and they have an unsurpassed (and unsurpassable) guarantee. Craftsman tools have a lifetime guarantee, and the few times I've need to swap one out the process has been completely hassle-free.
The latest episode occurred today. About 20 years ago I bought a 50-piece Craftsman ratchet and socket set from Home Shopping network. Honestly, it was the first time I'd ever seen Craftsman products sold outside of a Sears store.
A few months ago I discovered the entire set was covered in some nasty rust. Chrome wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers, and sockets aren't supposed to rust. I thought of this while in Sears yesterday buying some deep sockets to work on the MPV. So I asked a clerk and he said that yes, I could still exchange the socket set after all these years.
So I returned toi Sears today, carrying the rusty set. It was no surprise that the store didn't carry an identical product. I was surprised at the way they handled the exchange. First, I found a similar socket kit (Retail - $39.99). That kit only had two wrenches however, and my original set had 6 wrenches. So the clerk let me pick out an 8-wrench wrench set as well (Retail $29.99). At that point I was almost completely whole, excepting a magnetic screwdriver handle with a set of interchangeable bits. I felt like I was pushing things though, so I went ahead and paid for the screwdriver & bits myself.
Still, the process was completely hassle-free, and Sears gave me a new $30 wrench set and a new $40 socket set in exchange for an approximately 20 year old socket set that had rusted.
I've got a new appreciation for Sears.
Sunday, June 06, 2010
My new favorite network
In my previous post I wrote that I'm loving Doctor Who. Doctor Who airs on BBC America, a network I'd never previously watched.
During Doctor Who there are frequent promo spots for other BBC America programs that look like they might be entertaining - 'Ashes To Ashes', 'The Graham Norton Show', & 'Gavin & Stacey' come to mind. I haven't seen any of these yet but they look good from the ads. The network also shows 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' often (my favorite Star Trek series), and a very funny car review program - Top Gear.
Top Gear has three smart-ass car reviewers drive various cars and give tell their opinions about the cars. The show is very funny. In fact, I was watching an episode just now, and had to stop in the middle to write this post. The cast was tasked with reviewing 3 small economy cars. This was likely to be dreadfully boring - driving a Honda Fit around a racetrack doesn't promise excitement. So the three guys on the show recruited their mothers for the test. First, each of the guys drove the cars to the track, and parked them in a line.
Next, each of the mothers had to get into one of the cars (simultaneously), and get everything configured and adjusted appropriately for them to drive the car. They had to adjust the seats, the mirrors, and change the radio from the 'younger' station to a classic rock channel.
The first one to start the engine and begin driving would 'win' the race.
If you can pull the show up - Top Gear - on your On Demand and watch this episode, I recommend it. You'll laugh. (On Verizon FIOS OnDemand the show is listed as episode 6.04. )
:D
During Doctor Who there are frequent promo spots for other BBC America programs that look like they might be entertaining - 'Ashes To Ashes', 'The Graham Norton Show', & 'Gavin & Stacey' come to mind. I haven't seen any of these yet but they look good from the ads. The network also shows 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' often (my favorite Star Trek series), and a very funny car review program - Top Gear.
Top Gear has three smart-ass car reviewers drive various cars and give tell their opinions about the cars. The show is very funny. In fact, I was watching an episode just now, and had to stop in the middle to write this post. The cast was tasked with reviewing 3 small economy cars. This was likely to be dreadfully boring - driving a Honda Fit around a racetrack doesn't promise excitement. So the three guys on the show recruited their mothers for the test. First, each of the guys drove the cars to the track, and parked them in a line.
Next, each of the mothers had to get into one of the cars (simultaneously), and get everything configured and adjusted appropriately for them to drive the car. They had to adjust the seats, the mirrors, and change the radio from the 'younger' station to a classic rock channel.
The first one to start the engine and begin driving would 'win' the race.
If you can pull the show up - Top Gear - on your On Demand and watch this episode, I recommend it. You'll laugh. (On Verizon FIOS OnDemand the show is listed as episode 6.04. )
:D
Monday, May 31, 2010
Who???
So, I've been watching Doctor Who lately on BBC America lately and I *LOVE* it! I like both the new Doctor and last season's equally.
Also, assuming this post appears, this will be my first post made from my phone.
Happy Memorial Day!
Also, assuming this post appears, this will be my first post made from my phone.
Happy Memorial Day!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I'm back, back in the blogging groove....
Wow.
Two Months.
I knew I hadn't updated this in a while, but I had no idea it had been this long. Oh well, I'm updating this tonight, so until Doc Brown meets me and gives me the keys to his cool ride, this is the best I can do.
Current goings-on in my life:
- Work - I've been busy lately. In fact, as I type this I'm building a server to run Windows Server 2008 R2, and Exchange Server 2010. I need to learn Exchange 2010 and setting up my own server is an effective way to get started. A coworker gave me a year-old motherboard/CPU (AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+)/VGA (512Mb GeForce 8400GS) bundle he'd replaced, and I supplied the hard drive, case, and DVD drive. I only needed to buy the RAM - 8Gb, PC-8500. Admittedly the machine has no applications installed yet, but is a FAST system, and will hopefully remain so after it is actually bearing a load. The installation didn't go at all smoothly though, and the machine is suffering weird crashes, so I'm worried about the hardware - I'm worried there may be an issue with the RAM - the modules were a little too thick to fit easily alongside each other in the motherboard.
Other than the possible hardware issue, work is humming along lately. We've been busy and clients seem happy.
- Town - New Jersey regularly has 'School Elections'. School elections are elections in which voters choose who is elected to their local School Board, and whether or not to approve of the coming year's school budget. Despite our insanely high municipal property taxes, the school budgets nearly always pass. (NJ has the highest property taxes in the country, and our town's property taxes are among the highest in the state.)
This year, headlines were made when voters in about half of the towns in NJ rejected the school budgets. Our town was one of those. NJ law stipulates that if the school budget proposed by the school board fails, the proposed budget is then reviewed by the Town Council, and the council then decides whether or not to approve the budget as-is, or make changes. Monday evening there was a joint meeting with the Town Council and School Board, open to the public. I attended the meeting. The school board brought their accountant, who tried to explain the budget they'd presented and defend their choices. The town council brought their accountant, an independent firm hired to audit the school budget and make recommendations.
Both accountants went back and forth, spewing numbers (seemingly with no consistency) back and forth. Personally, I thought that neither accountant knew what he was talking about. It seemed to me that they kept stating different numbers, never the same amount twice, and if they couldn't explain anything in a comprehensible manner than I don't think they understand things well themselves. The only thing of value I took from the meeting was that I don't envy the job of the council members. The council was required to decide what to do about the budget by yesterday. I've just read an article online that didn't cover the new budget in detail, but did state that the council pared $2.5 Million from the $118 Million budget. Seems like a pretty small reduction, in my opinion, but I guess it's a step in the right direction.
- Family - On Sunday Nate & I joined about 15 other people and went on a Nature Hike organized by the Environmental Committee at our synagoge. We hiked up Pyramid Mountain. The trip was a lot of fun. The two of us wolfed down 3 Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches, 3 Almond Butter & Jelly sandwiches, 1 banana, and some Cheese Chex Mix before beginning the hike. We then trekked up the mountain, pausing about halfway up to stand near a cliff and look at the NYC skyline. After a few pics, we continued to the top to see Tripod Rock. Once at Tripod Rock, we sat down and listened as the park guide told our group about the rock. Once the group had rested and learned about the rock, we stood up and walked back down to the bottom of the mountain, where everybody disbanded and drove home. The day was fun, relaxing, and good exercise, with perfect weather. The absolute best part, though? When, in the car on the way home, Nate said he had a good time and asked if the two of us could go hiking again!
- Home - (Outside) After several years of first ignoring, and then losing in my battle against a pitiful, dying yard around my house, my efforts and enormous quantities of grass seed are finally showing results. While there are still some thin patches, my yard is mostly grass now! Still to-do: trim the hedges, cut and dispose of a huge pile of fallen branches, and certainly not least, tear down and rebuild the deck before somebody falls through.
- Home - (Inside) A couple of weeks ago I pulled out an album from my collection, one I'd never actually listened to. I was psyched - it was a Lou Reed double-album set and I was in the mood to hear some Lou. The album skipped so much I couldn't listen. Disappointed, I put the previous album back on the turntable and listened to Springsteen Live (Badlands, to be specific). Today I felt like hearing a particular Jimmy Buffett album that I don't have on CD, only on LP. This album also skipped terribly, though there is nothing visibly wrong with the album. I suspect I need a new stylus. I emailed an online turntable supply store (LPGear.com) and asked about my turntable and a replacement stylus; hopefully I'll hear back from them soon. Worst case, I've got a second turntable hooked up to my PC in the basement (useful to rip LPs to MP3 files), and might be able to take the cartridge from that turntable and use it on the turntable in the living room.
- Health - very little to write here - I've been very, very bad about working out lately, and need to get back in to the gym.
I'm sure there's more to write about, but for now I'm done. If I don't return for a while, enjoy the summer!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
American On Purpose
A short while ago I discovered The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I've probably been watching the show for, at most, 2 years now. I like it and try to stay up late enough to watch it, although that doesn't happen consistently. I LOVE the theme song.
Last fall Craig Ferguson released an autobiography - "American On Purpose". I checked it out from the library this past Saturday, and have just finished it about 20 minutes ago. It's great, and I recommend it to anybody.
Most of the book is interesting, moving, or dramatic, but occasionally there are truly funny bits. Here's one:
Last fall Craig Ferguson released an autobiography - "American On Purpose". I checked it out from the library this past Saturday, and have just finished it about 20 minutes ago. It's great, and I recommend it to anybody.
Most of the book is interesting, moving, or dramatic, but occasionally there are truly funny bits. Here's one:
Robbie and I became roommates when he found a sublet that was available in a large basement flat near the art school. The place was available for a year, and the only problem was that while the owners were out of the country we'd ahve to look after Ken, their enormous white cat. Ken was a sonofabitch, he must have weighed forty pounds and could actually open the refrigerator door by himself. I would never have believed this had I not seen him go into the kitchen, open the fridge with his big, meaty paw, and steal a cooked chicken that Robbie's mother had sent as a care package. I yelled and tried to catch him but he grabbed the chicken and jumped on top of the cupboards, out of my reach. He stared me down defiantly as he enjoyed his lunch. He hated me, and I, in turn, loathed and feared him. Sometimes I would wake up in my small damp bedroom and find him staring at me, a look of smug pity written on his whiskery face. I always felt Ken was judging me, and I think I was right. Ken thought I was a lazy alcoholic stoner who would never amount to anything other than babysitting cats, to whom I was an intellectual inferior, and I don't suppose I can blame him, given the evidence. My continuing distrust of cats stems from my dysfunctional relationship with Ken.
A thought I had recently about the Big American Health Care Debate
For the last year or so there has been a lot of talk about the manner in which health care is handled in the United States. The term 'Health Care System' is often used, but calling the chaotic mess that currently exists a system seems like a whitewash to me.
The one component of the proposed reform that bothers me greatly is the mandate - the idea that everybody will be forced to buy insurance under the new laws. This seems like a very, very bad thing to me and is very discomforting.
I realized a few days ago that I've been buying insurance for myself (& my family) for most of my adult life, and for at least the last 12 years, if not longer. The mandate won't affect me directly. If anything it may help me if it has an affect of bringing rates down. (Unlikely, but why not dream a little? :) )
My aversion to the concept still exists, but I think about it more deeply now, pondering why I feel strongly about the issue. My best guess is that it offends my sensibilities similarly to seatbelt and motorcycle helmet laws, although it doesn't feel the same. I avoid absolutes, but generally I oppose laws regulating personal behavior, and laws that seek to protect people from themselves. I believe every person should be allowed to do whatever he or she wants, provided it doesn't hurt somebody else. You should be permitted to be an idiot, if that's your choice.
The one component of the proposed reform that bothers me greatly is the mandate - the idea that everybody will be forced to buy insurance under the new laws. This seems like a very, very bad thing to me and is very discomforting.
I realized a few days ago that I've been buying insurance for myself (& my family) for most of my adult life, and for at least the last 12 years, if not longer. The mandate won't affect me directly. If anything it may help me if it has an affect of bringing rates down. (Unlikely, but why not dream a little? :) )
My aversion to the concept still exists, but I think about it more deeply now, pondering why I feel strongly about the issue. My best guess is that it offends my sensibilities similarly to seatbelt and motorcycle helmet laws, although it doesn't feel the same. I avoid absolutes, but generally I oppose laws regulating personal behavior, and laws that seek to protect people from themselves. I believe every person should be allowed to do whatever he or she wants, provided it doesn't hurt somebody else. You should be permitted to be an idiot, if that's your choice.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Back on the Wagon - Followup
Since my previous, I haven't been to bed before 11pm a single time.
BUT, I have gone to the gym to work out 9 out of the last 10 days!
BUT, I have gone to the gym to work out 9 out of the last 10 days!
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Getting back on the wagon.
In November 2008 I began working out for the first time in my life. I regularly visited the fitness center in my local JCC and exercised 2 or 3 times/week. A couple of times I didn't get to the gym for over a week, but that was a very rare occurrence.
Then for no particular reason other than lack of motivation I stopped going in mid-January of this year. (Last visit was January 19.) Compounding things, between Mardi Gras Kingcakes, Saints Superbowl party wings/chips/etc.., and Purim baskets (Shalach Manot), I've been eating a ton of junk food lately.
I decided last night to renew my efforts at going to the gym. My plan is to be in bed before 11pm every night, and go to the gym almost every day. We'll see if this really happens.
So far, last night I was in bed by 11:30p and fell asleep with Rachel Maddow. The alarm went off at 6:45, I was at the gym at 7:15, and I am now ready to go to sleep (at 6pm, for anyone keeping track!).
Then for no particular reason other than lack of motivation I stopped going in mid-January of this year. (Last visit was January 19.) Compounding things, between Mardi Gras Kingcakes, Saints Superbowl party wings/chips/etc.., and Purim baskets (Shalach Manot), I've been eating a ton of junk food lately.
I decided last night to renew my efforts at going to the gym. My plan is to be in bed before 11pm every night, and go to the gym almost every day. We'll see if this really happens.
So far, last night I was in bed by 11:30p and fell asleep with Rachel Maddow. The alarm went off at 6:45, I was at the gym at 7:15, and I am now ready to go to sleep (at 6pm, for anyone keeping track!).
Sunday, February 28, 2010
From the Learn Something New Department
About 10 or 12 years ago I began using a little-known (at least in the USA) proprietary e-mail program called "The Bat". I used the program for years, but over time I became more & more immersed in mainstream corporate and IT environments, and I concluded life would be indescribably more simple if I just used Outlook for all of my e-mail accounts, both personal and business. (I still intend to segregate business and non-business emails within Outlook.)
So I needed to extract my decade+ worth of messages from The Bat and import them into Outlook. That task was nothing I looked forward to, so for over a year I've been using the web interface from my ISP to manage my personal emails, while I put off the necessary task of exporting my data from The Bat.
Tonight I need some information from an old email message buried somewhere in my The Bat data, so I finally bit the bullet and have begun trying to move the data into Outlook.
Here's where things get interesting. To be clear, I'm using the word interesting to suggest "What a damnpainintheneckwhyohwhydidMicrosofteverdosuchastupidthing!!!!!%$%#^&@*)".
I don't think it's possible to export the messages from The Bat directly into a format Outlook 2007 can import. I AM able to, with some minor futzing around, to export the data from The Bat and import it into Windows Live Mail. (I have Windows Live Mail, not simply Windows Mail, because I needed to examine it for a client.)
So with a moderate amount of effort I've moved a specific subset of my messages into Windows Live Mail. So far, so good.
Windows Live Mail is a Microsoft product. Outlook 2007 is a Microsoft product. Neither product is particularly exotic, and it's a no-brainer that I should be able to export messages out of Windows Live Mail and import them into Outlook 2007.
As a matter of fact, that IS easily done. But there's a really, really aggravating screw-you in the process. Unlike every other computer program I've ever used in my life, when I export the data from WLM, I am not asked where I want the exported data saved, and I am also not informed as to where WLM is going to save the data for me.
SO tonight I ran the export repeatedly, trying to sleuth out where exactly the data was being saved. I searched my hard drive for .pst files. (A .pst file is the file format Outlook uses for local data.) I checked time stamps. I made sure I turned on hidden file visibility.
Finally, I looked at a Microsoft user forum focused on Windows Live Mail, and found my answer. WLM helpfully took the messages I was trying to import into Outlook, and added them into the PST already being used by Outlook.
The result is that I now have 13,622 messages, spanning approximately 13 months, stored in the same Inbox that holds my business email messages from the last 12 years. Everything is mingled together, nice and cozy.
ARGHHH!!!!
I'd already set up a brand-new folder, specifically for the personal emails. And while I was trying to figure this out I probably ran the export at least 4 times, so I may have about 55,000 of these messages when you include duplicates.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the way these processes USUALLY work, the program I want to export the data FROM will typically ask to where do you want to save the exported data, and that program will create a file in the spot you specify. THEN, in the program that you want to use the data going forward, you would import the data yourself, specifying where you want the new program to maintain the data.
For WLM to take it upon itself to just put the data into Outlook for me, without telling me where the data would be inserted, is REALLY, REALLY RUDE.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: As it turns out, Windows Live Mail exports the messages into whatever the default 'drop-point' is for Outlook. As my Outlook was configured to place messages into the server-based mailbox by default, that's where the exported messages were placed.
And as it works out I ran the export a total of 5 times - adding about 60,000 messages to my Inbox. Aside from the additional clutter and the undesirability of hqaving my personal and business communications mixed, Outlook then couldn't send/receive within a reasonable amount of time as it was busy trying to upload 60,000 messages to the server during the sync process. I cancelled the sync and spent well over an hour trying to find all of the personal emails and move them to the appropriate folder.
WLM Developers -- BAD. BAD. BAD! THINK!
So I needed to extract my decade+ worth of messages from The Bat and import them into Outlook. That task was nothing I looked forward to, so for over a year I've been using the web interface from my ISP to manage my personal emails, while I put off the necessary task of exporting my data from The Bat.
Tonight I need some information from an old email message buried somewhere in my The Bat data, so I finally bit the bullet and have begun trying to move the data into Outlook.
Here's where things get interesting. To be clear, I'm using the word interesting to suggest "What a damnpainintheneckwhyohwhydidMicrosofteverdosuchastupidthing!!!!!%$%#^&@*)".
I don't think it's possible to export the messages from The Bat directly into a format Outlook 2007 can import. I AM able to, with some minor futzing around, to export the data from The Bat and import it into Windows Live Mail. (I have Windows Live Mail, not simply Windows Mail, because I needed to examine it for a client.)
So with a moderate amount of effort I've moved a specific subset of my messages into Windows Live Mail. So far, so good.
Windows Live Mail is a Microsoft product. Outlook 2007 is a Microsoft product. Neither product is particularly exotic, and it's a no-brainer that I should be able to export messages out of Windows Live Mail and import them into Outlook 2007.
As a matter of fact, that IS easily done. But there's a really, really aggravating screw-you in the process. Unlike every other computer program I've ever used in my life, when I export the data from WLM, I am not asked where I want the exported data saved, and I am also not informed as to where WLM is going to save the data for me.
SO tonight I ran the export repeatedly, trying to sleuth out where exactly the data was being saved. I searched my hard drive for .pst files. (A .pst file is the file format Outlook uses for local data.) I checked time stamps. I made sure I turned on hidden file visibility.
Finally, I looked at a Microsoft user forum focused on Windows Live Mail, and found my answer. WLM helpfully took the messages I was trying to import into Outlook, and added them into the PST already being used by Outlook.
The result is that I now have 13,622 messages, spanning approximately 13 months, stored in the same Inbox that holds my business email messages from the last 12 years. Everything is mingled together, nice and cozy.
ARGHHH!!!!
I'd already set up a brand-new folder, specifically for the personal emails. And while I was trying to figure this out I probably ran the export at least 4 times, so I may have about 55,000 of these messages when you include duplicates.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the way these processes USUALLY work, the program I want to export the data FROM will typically ask to where do you want to save the exported data, and that program will create a file in the spot you specify. THEN, in the program that you want to use the data going forward, you would import the data yourself, specifying where you want the new program to maintain the data.
For WLM to take it upon itself to just put the data into Outlook for me, without telling me where the data would be inserted, is REALLY, REALLY RUDE.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: As it turns out, Windows Live Mail exports the messages into whatever the default 'drop-point' is for Outlook. As my Outlook was configured to place messages into the server-based mailbox by default, that's where the exported messages were placed.
And as it works out I ran the export a total of 5 times - adding about 60,000 messages to my Inbox. Aside from the additional clutter and the undesirability of hqaving my personal and business communications mixed, Outlook then couldn't send/receive within a reasonable amount of time as it was busy trying to upload 60,000 messages to the server during the sync process. I cancelled the sync and spent well over an hour trying to find all of the personal emails and move them to the appropriate folder.
WLM Developers -- BAD. BAD. BAD! THINK!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Let it snow, let it snow....
So I moved from the New Orleans area up to the frigid & often rude northeast almost 12 years ago. Yes, property taxes are insane, strangers are less friendly, and anything automobile-related is downright hostile. You can add to the list of negatives the aggravations associated with snowfall - it's cold, damp, impacts traffic, requires painful and tedious shoveling, etc...
BUT, most people will admit, it's very pretty to look at:
I took the above pics walking around my house today. After a snowfall the entire world just seems more tranquil and serene. The world, when the kids aren't home, is quiet. Mardi Gras raucousness is surely something to appreciate and celebrate, but if I can't be down South partying as Argus rolls by, I can enjoy the snow up here.
(Full disclosure: I'm not, of course, blowing off Mardi Gras entirely! I've had authentic King Cakes sent to me, & this evening will be taking my family out to dinner at The New Orleans Steakhouse in Jefferson, NJ for the third year in a row, to attend their Mardi Gras party.)
BUT, most people will admit, it's very pretty to look at:
I took the above pics walking around my house today. After a snowfall the entire world just seems more tranquil and serene. The world, when the kids aren't home, is quiet. Mardi Gras raucousness is surely something to appreciate and celebrate, but if I can't be down South partying as Argus rolls by, I can enjoy the snow up here.
(Full disclosure: I'm not, of course, blowing off Mardi Gras entirely! I've had authentic King Cakes sent to me, & this evening will be taking my family out to dinner at The New Orleans Steakhouse in Jefferson, NJ for the third year in a row, to attend their Mardi Gras party.)
Friday, February 05, 2010
Too Good To Be True?
Over time I've accumulated a lot of old computer junk. Some was purchased, but a lot was given to me by others after the particular item was replaced due to malfunction, old age, or obsolescence.
Printing in our home has been a mess for a long time.
As this week began, there were 10 printers in my house:
* HP 612C - given to me when a friend replaced it - no clue as to its condition
* HP 682C - was Jessica's, purchased in the late-90s. This printer worked up until a housecat attacked it while it was printing something a few years ago. Since then it had paperfeed issues.
* HP 3620V - given to me, never removed from box - unknown condition
* HP LaserJet 5L -- frequent paper misfeeds
* HP PSC500 All-In-One -- Untested - got this as part of a bundle, used, from CL or Freecycle a long time ago - was reported to work perfectly, I've never opened it. (includes box)
* Canon Pixma ip4000 -- works sporadically - I think it needs a new printhead ($50). When it prints, it is a beautiful printer.
* Okidata OL600e - needs drum and paper pickup rollers. As-is it provides a readable, but marred printout, and has paper pickup issues.
* Primera inkjet CD printer -- hasn't been used in 5 or 6 years, probably.
AND
* Lexmark Z52 with unopened black ink cartridge -- works perfectly, but there is no Win7 64-bit driver for it. This has been used regularly by Jessica (from WIndows XP) for sometime now. We bought the printer shortly after Nate was born in 2001.
* Okidata OL400e -- works great if something small is placed underneath it to press up on the paper tray, otherwise has paper misfeeds (needs revitalized pickup rollers) I keep a small notepad underneath it and it works flawlessly. This printer has been used regularly by me from my Windows 7 laptop. I bought this printer new in 1993 or 1994.
In order to print to either of the printers from our laptops I had to print through a Windows 2000 desktop on my network. I've never found a USB printserver that worked properly, and the Okidata is a parallel printer so it wouldn't connect to modern equipment anyway.
The desktop is 10 or 11 years old and I'd like to decommission it altogether.
The final motivating factor was a recent purchase of a ReadyNAS storage unit. The ReadyNAS has 1TB (mirrored) storage, so I can move all of the data on three un- or underused desktops in my house on to the NAS, and then get rid of the three desktop PCs. That will reduce noise, heat, clutter, and electricity use in my house. PLUS, the ReadyNAS has a printserver built-in. Considering this isn't a low-end budget device I'm hopeful the printserver might even work.
So yesterday I posted an offer on Craigslist. I described 8 printers I had (forgot abotu two of them at the time), and wrote that I'd like to trade all of them for one decent USB printer that was Windows 7-compatible.
This afternoon I completed the trade. I gave the 10 above printers to somebody, and in return he gave me a brand-new, still factory-sealed in the box Hewlett Packard CD055A.
He and his girlfriend came to pick the old printers up and seemed genuinely happy about the haul, explaining that they planned to recycle the old printers. Obviously I was thrilled to get a good, new, printer that I can use on the network from all of our computers.
Plus, the printer has wireless functionality built-in so I don't even need to use the printserver on the ReadyNAS if I don't want to do so.
Everything seems too good to be true, but so far all seems OK. Admittedly I haven't removed the printer from the box yet, but I expect it to be exactly as if I'd brought it home from Staples myself.
It will be a mystery for me.
Printing in our home has been a mess for a long time.
As this week began, there were 10 printers in my house:
* HP 612C - given to me when a friend replaced it - no clue as to its condition
* HP 682C - was Jessica's, purchased in the late-90s. This printer worked up until a housecat attacked it while it was printing something a few years ago. Since then it had paperfeed issues.
* HP 3620V - given to me, never removed from box - unknown condition
* HP LaserJet 5L -- frequent paper misfeeds
* HP PSC500 All-In-One -- Untested - got this as part of a bundle, used, from CL or Freecycle a long time ago - was reported to work perfectly, I've never opened it. (includes box)
* Canon Pixma ip4000 -- works sporadically - I think it needs a new printhead ($50). When it prints, it is a beautiful printer.
* Okidata OL600e - needs drum and paper pickup rollers. As-is it provides a readable, but marred printout, and has paper pickup issues.
* Primera inkjet CD printer -- hasn't been used in 5 or 6 years, probably.
AND
* Lexmark Z52 with unopened black ink cartridge -- works perfectly, but there is no Win7 64-bit driver for it. This has been used regularly by Jessica (from WIndows XP) for sometime now. We bought the printer shortly after Nate was born in 2001.
* Okidata OL400e -- works great if something small is placed underneath it to press up on the paper tray, otherwise has paper misfeeds (needs revitalized pickup rollers) I keep a small notepad underneath it and it works flawlessly. This printer has been used regularly by me from my Windows 7 laptop. I bought this printer new in 1993 or 1994.
In order to print to either of the printers from our laptops I had to print through a Windows 2000 desktop on my network. I've never found a USB printserver that worked properly, and the Okidata is a parallel printer so it wouldn't connect to modern equipment anyway.
The desktop is 10 or 11 years old and I'd like to decommission it altogether.
The final motivating factor was a recent purchase of a ReadyNAS storage unit. The ReadyNAS has 1TB (mirrored) storage, so I can move all of the data on three un- or underused desktops in my house on to the NAS, and then get rid of the three desktop PCs. That will reduce noise, heat, clutter, and electricity use in my house. PLUS, the ReadyNAS has a printserver built-in. Considering this isn't a low-end budget device I'm hopeful the printserver might even work.
So yesterday I posted an offer on Craigslist. I described 8 printers I had (forgot abotu two of them at the time), and wrote that I'd like to trade all of them for one decent USB printer that was Windows 7-compatible.
This afternoon I completed the trade. I gave the 10 above printers to somebody, and in return he gave me a brand-new, still factory-sealed in the box Hewlett Packard CD055A.
He and his girlfriend came to pick the old printers up and seemed genuinely happy about the haul, explaining that they planned to recycle the old printers. Obviously I was thrilled to get a good, new, printer that I can use on the network from all of our computers.
Plus, the printer has wireless functionality built-in so I don't even need to use the printserver on the ReadyNAS if I don't want to do so.
Everything seems too good to be true, but so far all seems OK. Admittedly I haven't removed the printer from the box yet, but I expect it to be exactly as if I'd brought it home from Staples myself.
It will be a mystery for me.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Been a long, long time.
Wow. The last time I added a post to this blog was nearly three months ago. In that time a lot has happened, some things more notable than others.
At a Mens Club meeting, I *think* the second Tuesday in November, I bet a friend that the Saints would play in the Super Bowl. I didn't intend to make the bet, just sort of got talked into it, and for the stakes of the bet we agreed the loser would wash the winner's car. All season I was worried the Saints would choke. Hasn't happened yet!
At a NAVA last November I discovered a Playstation 3 game called Gravity Crash. I immediately fell in love with the game, and now badly want a Playstation 3. During the last 3 years I felt this way about the XBox 360 after playing Geometry Wars, and later felt the same way about the Wii after playing Wii Sports & Wii Sports Resort. In both earlier cases the urge passed. I assume the PS3 urge will pass sooner or later. I'll get the systems eventually anyway, once new, more advanced models are released.
I was laid off by ISS Group, and immediatley afterward (all pre-arranged) contracted by Cloud Strategies. With Cloud I'm a 1099 employee and therefore responsible for my own healthcare, savings plan, taxes, etc..., but this will hopefully work out well. Cloud Strategies helps businesses implement Microsoft BPOS, a very exciting suite of products from Microsoft including Exchange Online and Sharepoint Online. One perk is that I work out of my basement office now, so I use far less gasoline. I do get substantially worse mileage now, however, seeing as all of my trips are short.
Nate and Maren got far too many gifts for Chanukah (Thanks everybody!) and have been loving them. Nate especially enjoys his Legos.
Our family drove to Orlando in late-December and got to see many relatives that we don't see often enough. On Christmas day a bunch of us visited Disney and had a blast. WDW stayed open that day until 1am, and we didn't leave until closing. My back and feet hurt as much as they ever have, but it was absolutely worth it.
(Pics Plug - I've uploaded pictures of our Florida trip to my Flickr site. I haven't edited or weeded out any of the pictures (haven't even rotated them) so you'll see the raw shots. But some of the pics are nice nonetheless.)
One Thursday in mid-December I signed up for a new contract with T-Mobile and bought myself a brand-new G1. Realizing I was working with a new company that was a close Microsoft Partner and it may be a BAD THING to carry around a Google phone, I returned the phone on Saturday and went back to my old T-Mobile Dash.
Speaking of the Dash, I got my Dash in the summer of 2007. I was excited to have a Smartphone, and hit the 'net to find a z-machine for the phone. Z-machines are programs that run old-fashioned text adventure games like Zork and Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. (Text adventures are now called interactive fiction, or IF.)
Z-machines were available for every computer device imaginable - Palm Pilots, the Sega Dreamcast, PCs, MACs, Playstation 2, etc... I was shocked and disappointed to discover there was NO working z-machine for my T-Mobile Dash. Windows Mobile smartphones were simply excluded from the party.
A few weeks ago I ordered a new HTC Touch Pro 2 (and the expected T-Mobile contract, of course, to get the phone for free). The Touch Pro 2 is a touchscreen Windows Mobile device, so there is a Z-machine for it. In fact, the best Z-machine I found for it is able to run on the Dash too! I wish I'd known about the program when it came out last summer. For anybody interested, the program is called "PocketZax", and so far it has worked perfectly fine for me.
My big Chanukah present was the Beatles Remastered Boxset - Mono. I've been loving it. The set was supplemented with 2 of the three Stereo-only remasters. All that is lacking from the collection is Let It Be, and I'll probably pick that up the next time I'm at Target.
Last weekend we threw Nate a Lego birthday party. I hung various Lego spacecraft from the living room ceiling, I made brownies that looked like Legos, and all of the party guests made their own Lego racer. Pictures were taken and are at the Flickr page.
Lastly, but not at all least, THE SAINTS MADE IT TO THE SUPER BOWL. So as soon as there is acceptable weather and scheduling permits, I'll have a nice, shiny car thanks to the efforts of my friend in the Mens Club. Thank you Drew, Sean, Reggie, Garrett, Mike, Pierre, Deverey, and all of the rest of you. There aren't words to describe my emotions last Sunday night! But I might have pulled something deep inside trying to stifle my screams so I wouldn't wake my kids.
I'm sure there is more to write, but this should suffice for now. Have a happy February. (SUPER BOWL!)
At a Mens Club meeting, I *think* the second Tuesday in November, I bet a friend that the Saints would play in the Super Bowl. I didn't intend to make the bet, just sort of got talked into it, and for the stakes of the bet we agreed the loser would wash the winner's car. All season I was worried the Saints would choke. Hasn't happened yet!
At a NAVA last November I discovered a Playstation 3 game called Gravity Crash. I immediately fell in love with the game, and now badly want a Playstation 3. During the last 3 years I felt this way about the XBox 360 after playing Geometry Wars, and later felt the same way about the Wii after playing Wii Sports & Wii Sports Resort. In both earlier cases the urge passed. I assume the PS3 urge will pass sooner or later. I'll get the systems eventually anyway, once new, more advanced models are released.
I was laid off by ISS Group, and immediatley afterward (all pre-arranged) contracted by Cloud Strategies. With Cloud I'm a 1099 employee and therefore responsible for my own healthcare, savings plan, taxes, etc..., but this will hopefully work out well. Cloud Strategies helps businesses implement Microsoft BPOS, a very exciting suite of products from Microsoft including Exchange Online and Sharepoint Online. One perk is that I work out of my basement office now, so I use far less gasoline. I do get substantially worse mileage now, however, seeing as all of my trips are short.
Nate and Maren got far too many gifts for Chanukah (Thanks everybody!) and have been loving them. Nate especially enjoys his Legos.
Our family drove to Orlando in late-December and got to see many relatives that we don't see often enough. On Christmas day a bunch of us visited Disney and had a blast. WDW stayed open that day until 1am, and we didn't leave until closing. My back and feet hurt as much as they ever have, but it was absolutely worth it.
(Pics Plug - I've uploaded pictures of our Florida trip to my Flickr site. I haven't edited or weeded out any of the pictures (haven't even rotated them) so you'll see the raw shots. But some of the pics are nice nonetheless.)
One Thursday in mid-December I signed up for a new contract with T-Mobile and bought myself a brand-new G1. Realizing I was working with a new company that was a close Microsoft Partner and it may be a BAD THING to carry around a Google phone, I returned the phone on Saturday and went back to my old T-Mobile Dash.
Speaking of the Dash, I got my Dash in the summer of 2007. I was excited to have a Smartphone, and hit the 'net to find a z-machine for the phone. Z-machines are programs that run old-fashioned text adventure games like Zork and Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. (Text adventures are now called interactive fiction, or IF.)
Z-machines were available for every computer device imaginable - Palm Pilots, the Sega Dreamcast, PCs, MACs, Playstation 2, etc... I was shocked and disappointed to discover there was NO working z-machine for my T-Mobile Dash. Windows Mobile smartphones were simply excluded from the party.
A few weeks ago I ordered a new HTC Touch Pro 2 (and the expected T-Mobile contract, of course, to get the phone for free). The Touch Pro 2 is a touchscreen Windows Mobile device, so there is a Z-machine for it. In fact, the best Z-machine I found for it is able to run on the Dash too! I wish I'd known about the program when it came out last summer. For anybody interested, the program is called "PocketZax", and so far it has worked perfectly fine for me.
My big Chanukah present was the Beatles Remastered Boxset - Mono. I've been loving it. The set was supplemented with 2 of the three Stereo-only remasters. All that is lacking from the collection is Let It Be, and I'll probably pick that up the next time I'm at Target.
Last weekend we threw Nate a Lego birthday party. I hung various Lego spacecraft from the living room ceiling, I made brownies that looked like Legos, and all of the party guests made their own Lego racer. Pictures were taken and are at the Flickr page.
Lastly, but not at all least, THE SAINTS MADE IT TO THE SUPER BOWL. So as soon as there is acceptable weather and scheduling permits, I'll have a nice, shiny car thanks to the efforts of my friend in the Mens Club. Thank you Drew, Sean, Reggie, Garrett, Mike, Pierre, Deverey, and all of the rest of you. There aren't words to describe my emotions last Sunday night! But I might have pulled something deep inside trying to stifle my screams so I wouldn't wake my kids.
I'm sure there is more to write, but this should suffice for now. Have a happy February. (SUPER BOWL!)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...
Musical Laptops:
About 6 years ago I bought a Dell Inspiron 8500. This was a very good laptop for its time, in my opinion. As time went on the machine kept on truckin', and I bought a new battery for it last year. Early this spring I bought additional RAM for the machine, bringing it to the laptop's 2Gb maximum.
Then, soon after adding the additional RAM, the motherboard failed, in a unique-to-Dell way. Dell incorporated into the Inspiron 8500 a circuit that checks whether the AC Adapter plugged in to the laptop is a Dell AC Adapter, or an AC Adapter with somebody else's brand-name on it. If the AC Adapter is NOT a Dell, the laptop will not charge the battery, and will run at 50% speed.
On my laptop, the circuit failed, resulting in a laptop that won't charge batteries, and runs too slowly to be usable, even with proper Dell AC Adapters.
Once I concluded this was something that wouldn't be fixed, I found a terrific Thinkpad T41 for sale on Craigslist, and bought it with a fairly large amount of accumulated change on my dresser. The Thinkpad was great. It was the right size, powerful enough, felt great to type on, and had a great set of features. Last week it died.
Once I gave up hope of repairing the Thinkpad, I spent an enormous amount of time researching and shopping for a replacement. This is certainly not the right time for me to be indulging on expensive luxuries, and I very nearly traded my old Dell in to Staples for a $75 trade-in credit, that I planned to use toward their $350 Acer, a very low-end laptop.
I then considered that whatever laptop I purchase will be a tool I use to earn my livelihood, and it isn't unreasonable that I equip myself with a decent toolset. Also, a friend of mine pointed out that I can be 'finicky', and if I did buy the bottom-of-the-line laptop, I'd feel irritated about the machine every single day.
So I decided to get something better. I didn't get the top-of-the-line, $1100-1200 models I'd looked at over the last week. I did get something that was a little bit pricey though.
The machine arrived today, and I LOVE IT. Soon after I'd opened the box, I concluded I made the right decision. What did I buy?
The Asus UL80V.
This laptop is undeniably neat. It is light. It looks good. It isn't the fastest thing out there, but it was a lot cheaper than the absolutely fastest stuff out there, and it gets amazing battery life, even if the real-world battery life turns out to be only half of what Asus claims. (I haven't had the laptop long enough to test the real-world battery performance.)
So I might have spent more than I should have, but I'm thrilled with the decision.
==============
On the job front:
I'm still with ISS Group. But for the last several weeks I've also been working with a new company, Cloud Strategies. At year-end, I may be working at CS instead of ISS. Cloud Strategies is a consulting firm, with a focus on helping businesses evaluate and implement Microsoft's cloud-computing product, Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). In September I implemented BPOS at ISS Group, and I've been very impressed with the product, and also the support Microsoft offers behind it.
If you've got a small (or large) business and you've been frustrated with the cost and/or headaches associated with maintaining your own Exchange and/or Sharepoint servers, I encourage you to investigate BPOS. The product is surprisingly easy to get started with, is inexpensive, and free 30-day trials are offered.
==============
Changes In Latitude...
Sunday afternoon I'll be helping to coach Nate's soccer team as they play a double-header. So far this season the team has played three games, winning 2 and tying one. Sunday evening, after Nate has showered and everybody has had dinner and changed clothes, we are hitting the highway! I've just paid off my car, and while it sits in fully-owned glory in my driveway, we're minivan-ing it to Chicago, to visit Jessica's sister Elissa and her family. I'll be working out of their home for a week, and next Friday we're beginning the drive back to NJ.
In December we plan to travel again, either to Orlando or NOLA. The destination will be determined soon, hopefully.
==============
The New Orleans Saints!!!
This year's Saints are phenomenal. They looked great in pre-season, and they haven't choked yet. Watching and listening to the Saints games this year has been thrilling. I hope this ride continues for a few more months!
More next time...
About 6 years ago I bought a Dell Inspiron 8500. This was a very good laptop for its time, in my opinion. As time went on the machine kept on truckin', and I bought a new battery for it last year. Early this spring I bought additional RAM for the machine, bringing it to the laptop's 2Gb maximum.
Then, soon after adding the additional RAM, the motherboard failed, in a unique-to-Dell way. Dell incorporated into the Inspiron 8500 a circuit that checks whether the AC Adapter plugged in to the laptop is a Dell AC Adapter, or an AC Adapter with somebody else's brand-name on it. If the AC Adapter is NOT a Dell, the laptop will not charge the battery, and will run at 50% speed.
On my laptop, the circuit failed, resulting in a laptop that won't charge batteries, and runs too slowly to be usable, even with proper Dell AC Adapters.
Once I concluded this was something that wouldn't be fixed, I found a terrific Thinkpad T41 for sale on Craigslist, and bought it with a fairly large amount of accumulated change on my dresser. The Thinkpad was great. It was the right size, powerful enough, felt great to type on, and had a great set of features. Last week it died.
Once I gave up hope of repairing the Thinkpad, I spent an enormous amount of time researching and shopping for a replacement. This is certainly not the right time for me to be indulging on expensive luxuries, and I very nearly traded my old Dell in to Staples for a $75 trade-in credit, that I planned to use toward their $350 Acer, a very low-end laptop.
I then considered that whatever laptop I purchase will be a tool I use to earn my livelihood, and it isn't unreasonable that I equip myself with a decent toolset. Also, a friend of mine pointed out that I can be 'finicky', and if I did buy the bottom-of-the-line laptop, I'd feel irritated about the machine every single day.
So I decided to get something better. I didn't get the top-of-the-line, $1100-1200 models I'd looked at over the last week. I did get something that was a little bit pricey though.
The machine arrived today, and I LOVE IT. Soon after I'd opened the box, I concluded I made the right decision. What did I buy?
The Asus UL80V.
This laptop is undeniably neat. It is light. It looks good. It isn't the fastest thing out there, but it was a lot cheaper than the absolutely fastest stuff out there, and it gets amazing battery life, even if the real-world battery life turns out to be only half of what Asus claims. (I haven't had the laptop long enough to test the real-world battery performance.)
So I might have spent more than I should have, but I'm thrilled with the decision.
==============
On the job front:
I'm still with ISS Group. But for the last several weeks I've also been working with a new company, Cloud Strategies. At year-end, I may be working at CS instead of ISS. Cloud Strategies is a consulting firm, with a focus on helping businesses evaluate and implement Microsoft's cloud-computing product, Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). In September I implemented BPOS at ISS Group, and I've been very impressed with the product, and also the support Microsoft offers behind it.
If you've got a small (or large) business and you've been frustrated with the cost and/or headaches associated with maintaining your own Exchange and/or Sharepoint servers, I encourage you to investigate BPOS. The product is surprisingly easy to get started with, is inexpensive, and free 30-day trials are offered.
==============
Changes In Latitude...
Sunday afternoon I'll be helping to coach Nate's soccer team as they play a double-header. So far this season the team has played three games, winning 2 and tying one. Sunday evening, after Nate has showered and everybody has had dinner and changed clothes, we are hitting the highway! I've just paid off my car, and while it sits in fully-owned glory in my driveway, we're minivan-ing it to Chicago, to visit Jessica's sister Elissa and her family. I'll be working out of their home for a week, and next Friday we're beginning the drive back to NJ.
In December we plan to travel again, either to Orlando or NOLA. The destination will be determined soon, hopefully.
==============
The New Orleans Saints!!!
This year's Saints are phenomenal. They looked great in pre-season, and they haven't choked yet. Watching and listening to the Saints games this year has been thrilling. I hope this ride continues for a few more months!
More next time...
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Trying (hard) to exhibit Best Behavior
There's one person that drives me up the friggin' wall! If he falls off the face of the earth and I never encounter him again, I'd be OK with that.
BUT, I shouldn't rant to other people about this jerk. I should keep it to myself. Bitching about him would be impolite, immature, unprofessional, and really, unkind to him. And with Yom Kippur still fresh in my mind I'm trying to improve my behavior.
BUT, I've got to vent somehow. This guy is a reall ass, and I can't easily hold my aggravation in.
So, I'm not naming names, and I'm only writing about this here.
Arrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!
BUT, I shouldn't rant to other people about this jerk. I should keep it to myself. Bitching about him would be impolite, immature, unprofessional, and really, unkind to him. And with Yom Kippur still fresh in my mind I'm trying to improve my behavior.
BUT, I've got to vent somehow. This guy is a reall ass, and I can't easily hold my aggravation in.
So, I'm not naming names, and I'm only writing about this here.
Arrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
CRM E-Mail Router with Microsoft BPOS?
I'm working on migrating our company to Microsoft BPOS. Honestly, this is the first business-related activity I've found exciting and interesting in a very long time, and I think the whole BPOS offering looks fantastic.
I have a concern though. We operate a Microsoft CRM system in our office, and use the CRM E-Mail Router with automated workflows, to send various system-generated e-mails. This afternoon I tried to find a definitive statement online that would indicate whether or not the CRM E-mail Router will work with the Exchange Online service provided by BPOS. I found nothing definitive, and almost nothing anecdotal.
I did find one old reply on a message board that stated the configuration wasn't possible yet, but might be available soon. (That was from April, 2009.) I found one other mention, here: http://www.dynamicscrmtrickbag.com/2009/05/05/bpos_happyending/, that states the configuration isn't a choice.
Maybe I'll get lucky, and the MS team that responded to Richard Knudson will let me know whether or not I can use the E-Mail Router with Exchange Online, and if not, when that will be possible.
Or maybe not. But you can't blame me for trying, right?
I have a concern though. We operate a Microsoft CRM system in our office, and use the CRM E-Mail Router with automated workflows, to send various system-generated e-mails. This afternoon I tried to find a definitive statement online that would indicate whether or not the CRM E-mail Router will work with the Exchange Online service provided by BPOS. I found nothing definitive, and almost nothing anecdotal.
I did find one old reply on a message board that stated the configuration wasn't possible yet, but might be available soon. (That was from April, 2009.) I found one other mention, here: http://www.dynamicscrmtrickbag.com/2009/05/05/bpos_happyending/, that states the configuration isn't a choice.
Maybe I'll get lucky, and the MS team that responded to Richard Knudson will let me know whether or not I can use the E-Mail Router with Exchange Online, and if not, when that will be possible.
Or maybe not. But you can't blame me for trying, right?
Thursday, August 06, 2009
How I skinned my knuckles (or, another car story...)
I've already bored you with my previous car issues in the previous post here, so I won't repeat that.
Prior to this week I hadn't been to the gym since July 13. This week I was feeling pretty guilty about that. Over the weekend I decided to start August off right. I fixed my car, fixed the kitchen light, mowed the yard, and declared out loud that starting now things were going to get better - all things, but primarily my job and financial situation, if only through force of will. I was going to be positive, look up, etc...
Monday morning I woke up early and went to the gym before work.
Tuesday morning I woke up early and went to the gym before work.
Wednesday morning I woke up early and went to the driveway, entered my car, and discovered my car battery was dead.
I jump-started the car and drove to my mechanic's shop. He verified the dead battery, and then told me his batteries were expensive, and the $80 battery I'd found on the AutoZone website would be perfectly good. So I drove to AutoZone and bought a new battery. I then jump-started the car again, thanks to the friendly guy in the early-90's 626 parked next to me, and drove home. I changed the battery in my driveway (skinned my knuckles while removing the old), cleaned up and drove to work before lunchtime, stopping along the way to give my mechanic a $20 as thanks for all of the help he's given me lately for free.
It's a good thing I chose to be positive about all of this!
Prior to this week I hadn't been to the gym since July 13. This week I was feeling pretty guilty about that. Over the weekend I decided to start August off right. I fixed my car, fixed the kitchen light, mowed the yard, and declared out loud that starting now things were going to get better - all things, but primarily my job and financial situation, if only through force of will. I was going to be positive, look up, etc...
Monday morning I woke up early and went to the gym before work.
Tuesday morning I woke up early and went to the gym before work.
Wednesday morning I woke up early and went to the driveway, entered my car, and discovered my car battery was dead.
I jump-started the car and drove to my mechanic's shop. He verified the dead battery, and then told me his batteries were expensive, and the $80 battery I'd found on the AutoZone website would be perfectly good. So I drove to AutoZone and bought a new battery. I then jump-started the car again, thanks to the friendly guy in the early-90's 626 parked next to me, and drove home. I changed the battery in my driveway (skinned my knuckles while removing the old), cleaned up and drove to work before lunchtime, stopping along the way to give my mechanic a $20 as thanks for all of the help he's given me lately for free.
It's a good thing I chose to be positive about all of this!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
A GOOD Day
A few Sundays ago I was driving home one evening when the Check Engine light on my car illuminated. I had no idea whether this was something safe to ignore or postpone, or something that needed to be repaired pronto, before it damaged the engine further. Despite the light, the car drove perfectly fine, and got perfectly fine gas mileage.
The next day, Monday, I needed to be in my office 30 miles away. Instead of waiting, and bringing my car to my usual mechanic, I took the car to the service station across the street from my office. <<<---- THE BAD GUYS - Sparta Shell, Woodport Rd, Sparta, NJ.
Around 1:30p or 2:00p I called the service station, and was told they'd cleaned my Mass Airflow Sensor, driven the car and the light stayed off, so the problem was fixed, and the cost would be $131 + tax. I had them do an oil change for another $30 or so, and picked the car up at around 5:30p.
This is a good time to mention that a couple of weeks before this, I needed a brake job. All 4 rotors were all used up, and I had the two rear rotors replaced. My mechanic told me then that I could probably get another month or so out of the fronts. Also, the afternoon of the Check Engine light repair, the driver-door window motor on Jessica's van failed, and we needed to have that replaced as well. I tried to do the job myself, but once I had the door panel removed, I couldn't figure out how to properly remove and replace the window mechanism, so I had to admit defeat and let my mechanic handle that job.
SO, to do a quick tally, so far in our story I've had my rear rotors and brakes replaced, replaced the window motor in Jessica's car, and now had the Mass Airflow Sensor in my car cleaned, all in a span of a couple of weeks (the last two within a few days of each other).
On my way home after picking up my car, the Check Engine light illuminated again. I phoned the Shell station, and they said that the problem must be the Oxygen sensor then. I could bring the car back, and they could replace the Oxygen sensor, but the cost of the replacement sensor was pretty high (like, around $200), and there was a Mazda Service Bulletin stating that the sensor may break when removed. If that happened, I'd need to pay and additional $90 labor for them to drill it out. I declined their polite offer to shaft me further, and decided it was time to take control of the situation.
For many years I'd wanted a code reader, a device that would let me identify myself the codes thrown by the car's computer. This was the final straw. I bought an inexpensive code reader from Auto Zone, and pulled the codes stored in the car's computer. For anybody interested, the codes were P0171, P0174, and P0138. (2004 Mazda 6, 3.0L, 5-Speed)
The 171 and 174 indicated a Too Lean condition, and the 138 was related to an Oxygen sensor.
Armed with this info, I posted a couple of messages to a Mazda 6 forum. I included as much detail as I had, and waited for helpful suggestions from the more knowledgeable regulars. And waited, and waited. I was almost completely ignored on the forums. I did learn that an air leak in the various hoses under the hood could throw the codes I was seeing, so last week I spent some time under the hood, trying to find any holes in the various tubes and hoses. I found nothing.
So Friday evening I visited AutoZone again, this time intending to bite the bullet and buy replacement Oxygen sensors. I spoke with a counter rep at the store, and learned that there are several different O2 sensors on my car, they are expensive, and I'd only be able to get to one of them myself (the others are located in places I can't get to). Lastly, I wasn't even sure which one(s) I needed to replace.
This morning I gave up, and drove over to my regular mechanic. <<<---- THE GOOD GUYS - Clairidge Sunoco - 195 Pompton Ave Verona, NJ 07044-3017 - (973) 239-7950. I explained the full background of the situation to Tim. He looked at the codes I'd pulled, and checked them online with some sites he belongs to. He then looked under my hood.
In no more than 5 minutes, he found a hose near the top of the engine, near the base of the windshield, with a large split down the length of it, in the back. The split was impossible to see, but easy to feel. The hose was only about 3 or 4 inches long, and easy to get to. I thanked Tim and drove home.
Later this afternoon I returned once more to AutoZone, where I was given a replacement piece of hose for free. After I replaced the hose in their parking lot, the folks at AutoZone even let me use the washbasin and Orange cleaner in their back room to wash up before getting back in my car.
The car is finally fixed. Not seeing the Check Engine light lit up is a beautiful thing.
Other happenings today in our home -
* I took down a flourescent light fixture in our kitchen, took it Home Depot and bought a replacement ballast for the fixture, and then replaced the ballast and reinstalled the light fixture, fixing the kitchen light.
* I mowed the yard, providing much needed relief to my neighbors, I'm sure.
* I whipped up an excellent batch of homemade red beans (Thanks Noah!).
* Jess, Nate, Maren and I went to Jessica's parents' apartment, and played with their Wii. We recently gave Jessica's Dad Wii Sports Resort for his birthday. This afternoon we played Sports Resort a lot, and had a lot of fun. Maren bowled, and all by herself scored many spares and strikes. She's probably much better than me. (I played Frisbee Golf when it was my turn.)
* Jess, Nate and Maren went swimming at my in-laws' apartment pool.
* Jess, Nate and Maren went to the West Orange Family Fun Night at the town pool.
All in all, it's been a busy day. And my CAR IS FIXED! Yay.
Next weekend we are driving to Philly, and I'm very happy the car is solid again.
The next day, Monday, I needed to be in my office 30 miles away. Instead of waiting, and bringing my car to my usual mechanic, I took the car to the service station across the street from my office. <<<---- THE BAD GUYS - Sparta Shell, Woodport Rd, Sparta, NJ.
Around 1:30p or 2:00p I called the service station, and was told they'd cleaned my Mass Airflow Sensor, driven the car and the light stayed off, so the problem was fixed, and the cost would be $131 + tax. I had them do an oil change for another $30 or so, and picked the car up at around 5:30p.
This is a good time to mention that a couple of weeks before this, I needed a brake job. All 4 rotors were all used up, and I had the two rear rotors replaced. My mechanic told me then that I could probably get another month or so out of the fronts. Also, the afternoon of the Check Engine light repair, the driver-door window motor on Jessica's van failed, and we needed to have that replaced as well. I tried to do the job myself, but once I had the door panel removed, I couldn't figure out how to properly remove and replace the window mechanism, so I had to admit defeat and let my mechanic handle that job.
SO, to do a quick tally, so far in our story I've had my rear rotors and brakes replaced, replaced the window motor in Jessica's car, and now had the Mass Airflow Sensor in my car cleaned, all in a span of a couple of weeks (the last two within a few days of each other).
On my way home after picking up my car, the Check Engine light illuminated again. I phoned the Shell station, and they said that the problem must be the Oxygen sensor then. I could bring the car back, and they could replace the Oxygen sensor, but the cost of the replacement sensor was pretty high (like, around $200), and there was a Mazda Service Bulletin stating that the sensor may break when removed. If that happened, I'd need to pay and additional $90 labor for them to drill it out. I declined their polite offer to shaft me further, and decided it was time to take control of the situation.
For many years I'd wanted a code reader, a device that would let me identify myself the codes thrown by the car's computer. This was the final straw. I bought an inexpensive code reader from Auto Zone, and pulled the codes stored in the car's computer. For anybody interested, the codes were P0171, P0174, and P0138. (2004 Mazda 6, 3.0L, 5-Speed)
The 171 and 174 indicated a Too Lean condition, and the 138 was related to an Oxygen sensor.
Armed with this info, I posted a couple of messages to a Mazda 6 forum. I included as much detail as I had, and waited for helpful suggestions from the more knowledgeable regulars. And waited, and waited. I was almost completely ignored on the forums. I did learn that an air leak in the various hoses under the hood could throw the codes I was seeing, so last week I spent some time under the hood, trying to find any holes in the various tubes and hoses. I found nothing.
So Friday evening I visited AutoZone again, this time intending to bite the bullet and buy replacement Oxygen sensors. I spoke with a counter rep at the store, and learned that there are several different O2 sensors on my car, they are expensive, and I'd only be able to get to one of them myself (the others are located in places I can't get to). Lastly, I wasn't even sure which one(s) I needed to replace.
This morning I gave up, and drove over to my regular mechanic. <<<---- THE GOOD GUYS - Clairidge Sunoco - 195 Pompton Ave Verona, NJ 07044-3017 - (973) 239-7950. I explained the full background of the situation to Tim. He looked at the codes I'd pulled, and checked them online with some sites he belongs to. He then looked under my hood.
In no more than 5 minutes, he found a hose near the top of the engine, near the base of the windshield, with a large split down the length of it, in the back. The split was impossible to see, but easy to feel. The hose was only about 3 or 4 inches long, and easy to get to. I thanked Tim and drove home.
Later this afternoon I returned once more to AutoZone, where I was given a replacement piece of hose for free. After I replaced the hose in their parking lot, the folks at AutoZone even let me use the washbasin and Orange cleaner in their back room to wash up before getting back in my car.
The car is finally fixed. Not seeing the Check Engine light lit up is a beautiful thing.
Other happenings today in our home -
* I took down a flourescent light fixture in our kitchen, took it Home Depot and bought a replacement ballast for the fixture, and then replaced the ballast and reinstalled the light fixture, fixing the kitchen light.
* I mowed the yard, providing much needed relief to my neighbors, I'm sure.
* I whipped up an excellent batch of homemade red beans (Thanks Noah!).
* Jess, Nate, Maren and I went to Jessica's parents' apartment, and played with their Wii. We recently gave Jessica's Dad Wii Sports Resort for his birthday. This afternoon we played Sports Resort a lot, and had a lot of fun. Maren bowled, and all by herself scored many spares and strikes. She's probably much better than me. (I played Frisbee Golf when it was my turn.)
* Jess, Nate and Maren went swimming at my in-laws' apartment pool.
* Jess, Nate and Maren went to the West Orange Family Fun Night at the town pool.
All in all, it's been a busy day. And my CAR IS FIXED! Yay.
Next weekend we are driving to Philly, and I'm very happy the car is solid again.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
From the Learn Something New Department
Dynamics CRM 4, IFD, and Mobile Express - For Dummies
{NOTE: A LOT of the below content is a rehashing of already available documents, guides, and kb articles. I'm re-writing it, in an informal style, because various bits and pieces weren't perfectly clear to me in the proper documentation, or weren't emphasized enough for me to 'get it', etc... }
In the course of my job I am sometimes called upon to install, fix, and otherwise manage Microsoft Dynamics CRM. At least in part due to the business climate over the last several months (presumably), I have had very little to do concerning CRM since last Fall.
So, my CRM knowledge has grown a bit rusty, and when I was tasked with some CRM work late last week things were challenging. I decided to document here tidbits from my recent work both to aid my own recollection, and provide the info for anybody else that may encounter similar troubles. Hopefully this may help.
The task was to implement Mobile Express on an existing Dynamics CRM v4 server, so that remote users could view CRM data on BlackBerry mobile devices.
* CRM 4 Mobile Express DOWNLOAD
* CRM 4 Update Rollup 5 DOWNLOAD
Installing Mobile Express is a pretty easy process, but things may not go smoothly, so I'm here with some tips.
IMPORTANT: The Mobile Express installation includes CRM Update Rollup 5. On two different servers this caused problems for me, and the problems were avoided easily by simply installing Update Rollup 5 separately, first, and then installing Mobile Express afterward.
* The installation of Update Rollup 5 required a reboot on my two servers.
* The installation of Mobile Express also required a reboot on my two servers.
On one of my servers, after installing Update Rollup 5 the CRM site no longer worked, only displaying an error that the GUID {servername}$ could not be found in the Global Catalog. Any error involving AD and the Global Catalog is very, very frightening to me. To remedy this problem I simply uninstalled UR5. Later I reinstalled UR5, and all was fine.
Somehow I overlooked an important requirement while reviewing the documentation for Mobile Express. Mobile Express REQUIRES your CRM server to be configured for Internet Facing Deployment (IFD). Without IFD, some devices may work, but others won't. In my experiences, my T-Mobile Dash, running Windows Mobile 6, worked. An iPhone worked (something I can't explain at all!). A pair of AT&T PocketPC phones, running Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro did not work, and most importantly, a BlackBerry Storm and a BlackBerry Pearl did not work.
Mobile Express requires IFD in order to work properly.
IFD is a system designed to let users view a CRM system that exists behind a firewall from outside of the firewall, without the use of a VPN. You should use SSL security with this arrangement, but that is not required.
DIGRESSION: It IS strongly encouraged, though, and I personally consider it unwise to ignore this advice. If you implement an IFD system for you CRM server, and you don't put SSL into the mix, than all of the traffic going back and forth between you server and your remote users will be transmitted across the public internet in clear text. Anybody can point a network sniffer at your IP address, collect all of the data going back and forth, and view the entire session. If usernames and passwords are transmitted in clear text, you've just given away the store. If, on the other hand, you use SSL, the entire session is encrypted, and it becomes impractical and unlikely that anybody will decrypt the transmission. Every bit of documentation you find will recommend you use SSL, and I agree as strongly as I can. As for how to implement SSL on your server, you'll need to find that information elsewhere, sorry.
Now, back to IFD...
IFD works its magic by identifying where a user is located when that user attempts to log in to the CRM website. If the user is on the same local network as the CRM webserver, the CRM server prompts the user to authenticate (to login) using NTLM Authentication (Windows Authentication). NTLM Authentication will display a login dialog box on your screen, with OK and Cancel buttons:
ASIDE: NTLM is a Microsoft protocol, and it's very unlikely that non-Microsoft clients (Linux, Mac, Opera, Safari, Mozilla, BlackBerry, etc...) will work with NTLM. NTLM does not work across the internet.
If the user is on a different network, as a remote user will be if coming in from the internet, than IFD will prompt the user to login using Forms-Based Authentication (FBA). You'll know you are encountering FBA because the login is NOT a dialog box, but instead looks like a webpage with username and password fields, and a SIGN IN button:
Without IFD, a CRM system would need a user to login using NTLM, and as NTLM won't work across the internet, the authentication would fail and remote users would be shut out. With IFD, the remote user is able to login via FBA.
So, how does IFD work, and how does the unfortunate administrator set it up?
If you haven't yet installed your CRM server, you can configure your IFD in an .xml file, and have the CRM installation process refer to the .xml file during the installation. Most likely, though, is the scenario where the CRM system is already in use, and you want to add IFD functionality. For this, Microsoft has made the IFD Configuration Tool.
Get the IFD Config Tool here: DOWNLOAD
[MS KB explaining how to use the tool: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948779]
The tool, CRM4IFDTool.exe, must be run from the Tools folder, within the CRM Program Files directory. (On my server, the path was C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Tools.) The tool is fairly minimal. The interface is one dialog box, that's it:
There is a drop-down box that lets you select whether the server is running On-Premise, or IFD & On-Premise. This effectively turns IFD on or off.
There is an area for you to enter IP addresses and subnet masks. THIS IS IMPORTANT. IFD needs to know whether or not a user is local, and it does this by looking at the IP address of the incoming user request. You must enter a local IP address and subnet mask here. The specific address isn't important. It only matters that you enter an IP address and subnet that is on the local network. If your environment has multiple subnets, you should add an IP Address/Subnet Mask for each of your subnets.
Below the list of IP addresses are a few textboxes describing the AD and IFD domains. You need to specify whether your remote users will be using HTTP:// or HTTPS://, and in the IfdAppRootDomain box, you should enter the public domain of your site. Notice the large box at the bottom-left of the CRM4IFDTool. It lists the Organization Name for your CRM system. (You may have multiple Organizations.) IFD will add either HTTP:// or HTTPS://, and the Organization name to whatever you enter in the IfdAppRootDomain box, and redirect remote users to that URL.
So in the example screenshot of the tool above, as configured a remote user would be sent to https://AdventureWorksCycle.yourdomain.com. THIS IS WHERE DNS COMES IN. The URL that IFD redirects remote users to must be resolvable from outside. You need to make sure the URL is publically resolvable, and publically accessible. In other words, public DNS servers need to know about the URL and know what public IP address it should map to, and you need to make sure that URL will get through your firewall and get to your CRM webserver, whether via HTTP or HTTPS, depending on whether or not you've implemented SSL. You ALSO need to make sure your networks internal DNS is configured to resolve the address, and get the users to the CRM server. The right-most Ifd textbox, Ifd SDK Root Domain, will most likely be identical to the IfdAppRootDomain value. It is only different if you've got your CRM server's Operations split among different servers.
Below the Ifd textboxes are the AD textboxes. The values entered here correspond to how the users on the internal network will get to the server. You'll probably just enter HTTP://, and the CRM-servername and port # here.
Next, you can use the 'Check DNS' command in the Tools menu to verify the values you've entered resolve before you save your changes. To effect the changes, click on the File menu, and choose 'Apply changes'.
When you apply changes, the following occurs:
* A value is changed in the CRM website web.config file.
* Anonymous Access is enabled for the CRM website
* A registry key is added to the registry of the CRM server, containing the internal network IP Address/subnet mask, for use by IFD
* The Ifd values in the CRM4IFDTool textboxes are added to the MSCRM_CONFIG database
When I used the tool this morning, NONE OF THE ABOVE OCCURRED. I applied my changes repeatedly, and the tool consistently did NOT make the necessary changes. If that happens to you, you can manually make the changes:
1) First, the easiest: Edit the web.config file, found on the CRM webserver, probably at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\CRMWeb. Within the file, find the line "authentication strategy=..." and change it to "authentication strategy="ServiceProviderLicenseAgreement".
2) On the CRM webserver, use the IIS Manager and open up the properties of the CRM website. Enable Anonymous Access to the website. Leave Integrated Authentication enabled as well.
3) Within the registry of the CRM server, run regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSCRM. Add a new string value, named IfdInternalNetworkAddress. The value of this key should be a local IP address, then a dash, then the subnet mask. Make sure there are NO SPACES before, after, or in the middle of the value. Example: 192.168.1.200-255.255.255.0 .
4) To add the necessary values to the SQL database, start up SQL Management Studio and connect to the SQL Server running your CRM databases.
a) In SQL Mgmt Studio, expand 'Databases'.
b) Find the MSCRM_CONFIG database and expand it.
c) Expand 'Tables'.
d) Find the table called 'dbo.DeploymentProperties'.
e) Right-click the DeploymentProperties table and select 'Open Table'. (NOTE: Changes made in the table are immediate. BE CAREFUL.)
f) Look in this table for three records with a ColumnName beginning with 'Ifd'. IF THEY ARE MISSING, you need to add them, using the SQL Query Editor:
g) Click on the 'New Query' button. When the query editor opens, verify the tab at the top-left of the editor is labelled with the name of the DeploymentProperties table.
h) In the query editor, enter
INSERT INTO DeploymentProperties (Id,ColumnName,NVarCharColumn) VALUES ('whatever value is in your other records','IfdRootDomainScheme','HTTPS')
INSERT INTO DeploymentProperties (Id,ColumnName,NVarCharColumn) VALUES ('whatever value is in your other records','IfdSdkRootDomain','your Ifd Root domain')
INSERT INTO DeploymentProperties (Id,ColumnName,NVarCharColumn) VALUES ('whatever value is in your other records','IfdWebApplicationRootDomain','your Ifd Web App Root Domain')
Press the 'Execute Query' button, and the three records should be added to the DeploymentProperties table.
Once all of the above is accomplished, your CRM system should be accessible from outside of your firewall. When a remote user wants to view CRM, he/she should go to https://{organizationname}.yourdomain.com. Your CRM server will receive the request, and send them a Forms-based Authentication page to prompt for login credentials. The user enters the creds and signs in, and is then able to work with the CRM system.
Assuming the above is all installed/configured and working, Mobile Express is a piece of cake. The install is pretty much nothing but clicking Next, and then Finish. After Mobile Express is installed, it can be configured by going into CRM, then Settings, then Customization. You'll find a link for Mobile Express Customization, and clicking that will take you to a page that allows you to configure Mobile Express. Mobile Express can be accessed by going to whatever your CRM URL is, with a "/m" added to the end. Using the URL in our previous example, you'd go to https://{organizationname}.yourdomain.com/m.
If Mobile Express doesn't seem to work, pay attention to the login prompt, and verify you are getting a Forms-based authentication page when logging in from a remote network. If you are seeing an NTLM login prompt, than IFD isn't working properly, and Mobile Express won't work right either.
{NOTE: A LOT of the below content is a rehashing of already available documents, guides, and kb articles. I'm re-writing it, in an informal style, because various bits and pieces weren't perfectly clear to me in the proper documentation, or weren't emphasized enough for me to 'get it', etc... }
In the course of my job I am sometimes called upon to install, fix, and otherwise manage Microsoft Dynamics CRM. At least in part due to the business climate over the last several months (presumably), I have had very little to do concerning CRM since last Fall.
So, my CRM knowledge has grown a bit rusty, and when I was tasked with some CRM work late last week things were challenging. I decided to document here tidbits from my recent work both to aid my own recollection, and provide the info for anybody else that may encounter similar troubles. Hopefully this may help.
The task was to implement Mobile Express on an existing Dynamics CRM v4 server, so that remote users could view CRM data on BlackBerry mobile devices.
* CRM 4 Mobile Express DOWNLOAD
* CRM 4 Update Rollup 5 DOWNLOAD
Installing Mobile Express is a pretty easy process, but things may not go smoothly, so I'm here with some tips.
IMPORTANT: The Mobile Express installation includes CRM Update Rollup 5. On two different servers this caused problems for me, and the problems were avoided easily by simply installing Update Rollup 5 separately, first, and then installing Mobile Express afterward.
* The installation of Update Rollup 5 required a reboot on my two servers.
* The installation of Mobile Express also required a reboot on my two servers.
On one of my servers, after installing Update Rollup 5 the CRM site no longer worked, only displaying an error that the GUID {servername}$ could not be found in the Global Catalog. Any error involving AD and the Global Catalog is very, very frightening to me. To remedy this problem I simply uninstalled UR5. Later I reinstalled UR5, and all was fine.
Somehow I overlooked an important requirement while reviewing the documentation for Mobile Express. Mobile Express REQUIRES your CRM server to be configured for Internet Facing Deployment (IFD). Without IFD, some devices may work, but others won't. In my experiences, my T-Mobile Dash, running Windows Mobile 6, worked. An iPhone worked (something I can't explain at all!). A pair of AT&T PocketPC phones, running Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro did not work, and most importantly, a BlackBerry Storm and a BlackBerry Pearl did not work.
Mobile Express requires IFD in order to work properly.
IFD is a system designed to let users view a CRM system that exists behind a firewall from outside of the firewall, without the use of a VPN. You should use SSL security with this arrangement, but that is not required.
DIGRESSION: It IS strongly encouraged, though, and I personally consider it unwise to ignore this advice. If you implement an IFD system for you CRM server, and you don't put SSL into the mix, than all of the traffic going back and forth between you server and your remote users will be transmitted across the public internet in clear text. Anybody can point a network sniffer at your IP address, collect all of the data going back and forth, and view the entire session. If usernames and passwords are transmitted in clear text, you've just given away the store. If, on the other hand, you use SSL, the entire session is encrypted, and it becomes impractical and unlikely that anybody will decrypt the transmission. Every bit of documentation you find will recommend you use SSL, and I agree as strongly as I can. As for how to implement SSL on your server, you'll need to find that information elsewhere, sorry.
Now, back to IFD...
IFD works its magic by identifying where a user is located when that user attempts to log in to the CRM website. If the user is on the same local network as the CRM webserver, the CRM server prompts the user to authenticate (to login) using NTLM Authentication (Windows Authentication). NTLM Authentication will display a login dialog box on your screen, with OK and Cancel buttons:
ASIDE: NTLM is a Microsoft protocol, and it's very unlikely that non-Microsoft clients (Linux, Mac, Opera, Safari, Mozilla, BlackBerry, etc...) will work with NTLM. NTLM does not work across the internet.
If the user is on a different network, as a remote user will be if coming in from the internet, than IFD will prompt the user to login using Forms-Based Authentication (FBA). You'll know you are encountering FBA because the login is NOT a dialog box, but instead looks like a webpage with username and password fields, and a SIGN IN button:
Without IFD, a CRM system would need a user to login using NTLM, and as NTLM won't work across the internet, the authentication would fail and remote users would be shut out. With IFD, the remote user is able to login via FBA.
So, how does IFD work, and how does the unfortunate administrator set it up?
If you haven't yet installed your CRM server, you can configure your IFD in an .xml file, and have the CRM installation process refer to the .xml file during the installation. Most likely, though, is the scenario where the CRM system is already in use, and you want to add IFD functionality. For this, Microsoft has made the IFD Configuration Tool.
Get the IFD Config Tool here: DOWNLOAD
[MS KB explaining how to use the tool: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948779]
The tool, CRM4IFDTool.exe, must be run from the Tools folder, within the CRM Program Files directory. (On my server, the path was C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\Tools.) The tool is fairly minimal. The interface is one dialog box, that's it:
There is a drop-down box that lets you select whether the server is running On-Premise, or IFD & On-Premise. This effectively turns IFD on or off.
There is an area for you to enter IP addresses and subnet masks. THIS IS IMPORTANT. IFD needs to know whether or not a user is local, and it does this by looking at the IP address of the incoming user request. You must enter a local IP address and subnet mask here. The specific address isn't important. It only matters that you enter an IP address and subnet that is on the local network. If your environment has multiple subnets, you should add an IP Address/Subnet Mask for each of your subnets.
Below the list of IP addresses are a few textboxes describing the AD and IFD domains. You need to specify whether your remote users will be using HTTP:// or HTTPS://, and in the IfdAppRootDomain box, you should enter the public domain of your site. Notice the large box at the bottom-left of the CRM4IFDTool. It lists the Organization Name for your CRM system. (You may have multiple Organizations.) IFD will add either HTTP:// or HTTPS://, and the Organization name to whatever you enter in the IfdAppRootDomain box, and redirect remote users to that URL.
So in the example screenshot of the tool above, as configured a remote user would be sent to https://AdventureWorksCycle.yourdomain.com. THIS IS WHERE DNS COMES IN. The URL that IFD redirects remote users to must be resolvable from outside. You need to make sure the URL is publically resolvable, and publically accessible. In other words, public DNS servers need to know about the URL and know what public IP address it should map to, and you need to make sure that URL will get through your firewall and get to your CRM webserver, whether via HTTP or HTTPS, depending on whether or not you've implemented SSL. You ALSO need to make sure your networks internal DNS is configured to resolve the address, and get the users to the CRM server. The right-most Ifd textbox, Ifd SDK Root Domain, will most likely be identical to the IfdAppRootDomain value. It is only different if you've got your CRM server's Operations split among different servers.
Below the Ifd textboxes are the AD textboxes. The values entered here correspond to how the users on the internal network will get to the server. You'll probably just enter HTTP://, and the CRM-servername and port # here.
Next, you can use the 'Check DNS' command in the Tools menu to verify the values you've entered resolve before you save your changes. To effect the changes, click on the File menu, and choose 'Apply changes'.
When you apply changes, the following occurs:
* A value is changed in the CRM website web.config file.
* Anonymous Access is enabled for the CRM website
* A registry key is added to the registry of the CRM server, containing the internal network IP Address/subnet mask, for use by IFD
* The Ifd values in the CRM4IFDTool textboxes are added to the MSCRM_CONFIG database
When I used the tool this morning, NONE OF THE ABOVE OCCURRED. I applied my changes repeatedly, and the tool consistently did NOT make the necessary changes. If that happens to you, you can manually make the changes:
1) First, the easiest: Edit the web.config file, found on the CRM webserver, probably at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM\CRMWeb. Within the file, find the line "authentication strategy=..." and change it to "authentication strategy="ServiceProviderLicenseAgreement".
2) On the CRM webserver, use the IIS Manager and open up the properties of the CRM website. Enable Anonymous Access to the website. Leave Integrated Authentication enabled as well.
3) Within the registry of the CRM server, run regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSCRM. Add a new string value, named IfdInternalNetworkAddress. The value of this key should be a local IP address, then a dash, then the subnet mask. Make sure there are NO SPACES before, after, or in the middle of the value. Example: 192.168.1.200-255.255.255.0 .
4) To add the necessary values to the SQL database, start up SQL Management Studio and connect to the SQL Server running your CRM databases.
a) In SQL Mgmt Studio, expand 'Databases'.
b) Find the MSCRM_CONFIG database and expand it.
c) Expand 'Tables'.
d) Find the table called 'dbo.DeploymentProperties'.
e) Right-click the DeploymentProperties table and select 'Open Table'. (NOTE: Changes made in the table are immediate. BE CAREFUL.)
f) Look in this table for three records with a ColumnName beginning with 'Ifd'. IF THEY ARE MISSING, you need to add them, using the SQL Query Editor:
g) Click on the 'New Query' button. When the query editor opens, verify the tab at the top-left of the editor is labelled with the name of the DeploymentProperties table.
h) In the query editor, enter
INSERT INTO DeploymentProperties (Id,ColumnName,NVarCharColumn) VALUES ('whatever value is in your other records','IfdRootDomainScheme','HTTPS')
INSERT INTO DeploymentProperties (Id,ColumnName,NVarCharColumn) VALUES ('whatever value is in your other records','IfdSdkRootDomain','your Ifd Root domain')
INSERT INTO DeploymentProperties (Id,ColumnName,NVarCharColumn) VALUES ('whatever value is in your other records','IfdWebApplicationRootDomain','your Ifd Web App Root Domain')
Press the 'Execute Query' button, and the three records should be added to the DeploymentProperties table.
Once all of the above is accomplished, your CRM system should be accessible from outside of your firewall. When a remote user wants to view CRM, he/she should go to https://{organizationname}.yourdomain.com. Your CRM server will receive the request, and send them a Forms-based Authentication page to prompt for login credentials. The user enters the creds and signs in, and is then able to work with the CRM system.
Assuming the above is all installed/configured and working, Mobile Express is a piece of cake. The install is pretty much nothing but clicking Next, and then Finish. After Mobile Express is installed, it can be configured by going into CRM, then Settings, then Customization. You'll find a link for Mobile Express Customization, and clicking that will take you to a page that allows you to configure Mobile Express. Mobile Express can be accessed by going to whatever your CRM URL is, with a "/m" added to the end. Using the URL in our previous example, you'd go to https://{organizationname}.yourdomain.com/m.
If Mobile Express doesn't seem to work, pay attention to the login prompt, and verify you are getting a Forms-based authentication page when logging in from a remote network. If you are seeing an NTLM login prompt, than IFD isn't working properly, and Mobile Express won't work right either.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Pop Culture Docs
I just came across the following posted to Slashdot, and thought this makes a fun little pop-culture quiz. Thanks to mr_mischief, whoever he/she may be!
I plan on trying to identify which tv show/movie/book each of the doctors is from, though I doubt I'll know more than a third. If you think of others that aren't on the list, add them to the comments field, and I may update the list.
I suppose I can also link to an 'answer key' once I have all of the answers.
May this mindless challenge divert you, at least momentarily, from dreary worldly concerns. GO!
=============================================================
POSTED to Slashdot, by mr_mischief (456295) on Thursday June 18, @12:22PM (#28375437)
Dr. Dana Scully
Dr. Niles Crane, Dr. Lilith Sternin
"The Todd" Dr. Todd Quinlan, Dr. Bob Kelso
Dr. Dolittle
Dr. Wallace Breen, Dr. Eli Vance, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, Dr. Gordon Freeman
"Little Doctor"
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Mario, Dr. Wario
Dr. Wily
Dr. Schabbs
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable
Dr. Joel Fleishman
Dr. Marvin Monroe, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Dr. Nick Riviera
Dr. Ross Geller (come on, it's not a geeky show, but he's a paleontologist and a major geek himself!)
Dr. Sam Beckett
Dr. Zachary Smith
Dr. "Doc" Daneeka
Dr. Sam Weizak
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
Dr. Faustus
Dr. Rumack
Dr. J.S. Hirsch
Dr. Robin Van Dorn
Dr. Emmett Brown
Dr. Julius No
Dr. Xavier
Dr. Wellington Yueh
Dr. Ira Kane
Dr. Richard Kimble
Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Raymond Stantz, Dr. Peter Venkman
Dr. Lexus
Dr. Robert Morgan
Dr. Howard, Dr. Howard, and Dr. Fine
Dr. C. A. Rotwang
Dr. Zaius
Dr. Frank-N-Furter
Dr. Malcolm Crowe
EMH Program AK-1, Dr. Christine Chapel, Dr. Phlox
Dr. Clayton Forrester
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein
Dr. Heywood R. Floyd
Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Dr. Eric Gablehauser, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali, Dr. Leslie Winkle
Dr. Stephen Franklin
Dr. Temperance Brennan
Dr. Benjamin Kyle
Dr. Spencer Reid
Dr. Simon Tam
Dr. Lawrence Kutner
Dr. April Green
Dr. Maureen Robinson
LTC Henry Blake, MAJ Frank Burns, MAJ Sidney Freedman, CPT B. J. Hunnicutt, CPT Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones, CPT "Trapper" John Francis Xavier McIntyre, COL Sherman T. Potter, MAJ Charles Emerson Winchester III
Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard
Dr. Carson Beckett
Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, Dr. Jennifer Keller, Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Dr. Radek Zelenka, Dr. Samantha Carter, Dr. Janet Fraiser, Dr. Daniel Jackson
Dr. Tim Marcoh
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi
Dr. George Claw
Dr. Victor von Doom
Dr. Robert Bruce Banner
Dr. Otto Octavius
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Bones
Dr. Demento
Dr. Horrible
UPDATE:
I just tried this challenge myself. My initial results were 25 that I did know, 35 that I did not know, and 5 that I thought I knew, but was unsure. Of those 5, I was wrong on 4, and the other 1 was a multi-doctor entry that I knew the 'world' of, but named the wrong specific origins of each doctor. I haven't yet bothered to actually verify my accuracy on the picks I think are right.
I plan on trying to identify which tv show/movie/book each of the doctors is from, though I doubt I'll know more than a third. If you think of others that aren't on the list, add them to the comments field, and I may update the list.
I suppose I can also link to an 'answer key' once I have all of the answers.
May this mindless challenge divert you, at least momentarily, from dreary worldly concerns. GO!
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POSTED to Slashdot, by mr_mischief (456295) on Thursday June 18, @12:22PM (#28375437)
Dr. Dana Scully
Dr. Niles Crane, Dr. Lilith Sternin
"The Todd" Dr. Todd Quinlan, Dr. Bob Kelso
Dr. Dolittle
Dr. Wallace Breen, Dr. Eli Vance, Dr. Isaac Kleiner, Dr. Gordon Freeman
"Little Doctor"
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Mario, Dr. Wario
Dr. Wily
Dr. Schabbs
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable
Dr. Joel Fleishman
Dr. Marvin Monroe, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Dr. Nick Riviera
Dr. Ross Geller (come on, it's not a geeky show, but he's a paleontologist and a major geek himself!)
Dr. Sam Beckett
Dr. Zachary Smith
Dr. "Doc" Daneeka
Dr. Sam Weizak
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
Dr. Faustus
Dr. Rumack
Dr. J.S. Hirsch
Dr. Robin Van Dorn
Dr. Emmett Brown
Dr. Julius No
Dr. Xavier
Dr. Wellington Yueh
Dr. Ira Kane
Dr. Richard Kimble
Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Raymond Stantz, Dr. Peter Venkman
Dr. Lexus
Dr. Robert Morgan
Dr. Howard, Dr. Howard, and Dr. Fine
Dr. C. A. Rotwang
Dr. Zaius
Dr. Frank-N-Furter
Dr. Malcolm Crowe
EMH Program AK-1, Dr. Christine Chapel, Dr. Phlox
Dr. Clayton Forrester
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein
Dr. Heywood R. Floyd
Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Dr. Eric Gablehauser, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali, Dr. Leslie Winkle
Dr. Stephen Franklin
Dr. Temperance Brennan
Dr. Benjamin Kyle
Dr. Spencer Reid
Dr. Simon Tam
Dr. Lawrence Kutner
Dr. April Green
Dr. Maureen Robinson
LTC Henry Blake, MAJ Frank Burns, MAJ Sidney Freedman, CPT B. J. Hunnicutt, CPT Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones, CPT "Trapper" John Francis Xavier McIntyre, COL Sherman T. Potter, MAJ Charles Emerson Winchester III
Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard
Dr. Carson Beckett
Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, Dr. Jennifer Keller, Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Dr. Radek Zelenka, Dr. Samantha Carter, Dr. Janet Fraiser, Dr. Daniel Jackson
Dr. Tim Marcoh
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi
Dr. George Claw
Dr. Victor von Doom
Dr. Robert Bruce Banner
Dr. Otto Octavius
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Bones
Dr. Demento
Dr. Horrible
UPDATE:
I just tried this challenge myself. My initial results were 25 that I did know, 35 that I did not know, and 5 that I thought I knew, but was unsure. Of those 5, I was wrong on 4, and the other 1 was a multi-doctor entry that I knew the 'world' of, but named the wrong specific origins of each doctor. I haven't yet bothered to actually verify my accuracy on the picks I think are right.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
I'm So Excited (and I just can't hide it...)
About 5 years ago I purchased a Dell Inspiron 8500. For the most part I've been happy with it, and it has served me well.
A few months ago it developed a problem that is, practically speaking, unfixable. The laptop will not charge batteries, and will only run the CPU at 50% of it's maximum speed. This means the laptop must be plugged in always (even with a new battery), and the Pentium 4 2.4ghz processor only runs at 1.2ghz.
The problem is due to a defect on the motherboard. In fact, searching the internet reveals that this is a VERY widespread problem. A replacement motherboard would be about $300, and isn't a reasonable purchase in my opinion.
So I've been looking to replace the laptop, but a new laptop simply isn't in my budget.
Well, for years I've known of ThinkPads, and known they are considered the creme de la creme of laptop computers. Last night I found a ThinkPad in excellent condition on Craigslist, and bought it tonight. It wasn't inexpensive, but rather than taking money out of my bank account I cashed in some of the change collected on my dresser, and that covered it.
I may try and sell off my old laptop to cover part of the cost; I haven't decided yet.
But on to the good stuff:
Thinkpad T41, model 2373
Excellent keyboard!
Cool light that illuminates the keyboard, so you can work in the dark. (Doing this right now, as Jess sleeps right next to me!)
The whole laptop just feels solid. It feels like it is of much higher quality than my Dell.
Compared to the Dell, the machine seems quick. The specs on the two machines are actually fairly close, with the Thinkpad a little bit faster. I think the difference is the 50% CPU speed the Dell is running under.
An extra bonus is that just a few weeks before the Dell began having the charging problem, I bought 2Gb of memory for it. The IBM uses the same memory, so I can use the RAM from the Dell to take the IBM up to 2Gb, and leave the Dell at 1Gb for whoever ends up with it.
I've been using the ThinkPad all night, and love it.
(EDIT - May 12, 5:30pm - Discovered yesterday the TP includes built-in Bluetooth. Nice.)
A few months ago it developed a problem that is, practically speaking, unfixable. The laptop will not charge batteries, and will only run the CPU at 50% of it's maximum speed. This means the laptop must be plugged in always (even with a new battery), and the Pentium 4 2.4ghz processor only runs at 1.2ghz.
The problem is due to a defect on the motherboard. In fact, searching the internet reveals that this is a VERY widespread problem. A replacement motherboard would be about $300, and isn't a reasonable purchase in my opinion.
So I've been looking to replace the laptop, but a new laptop simply isn't in my budget.
Well, for years I've known of ThinkPads, and known they are considered the creme de la creme of laptop computers. Last night I found a ThinkPad in excellent condition on Craigslist, and bought it tonight. It wasn't inexpensive, but rather than taking money out of my bank account I cashed in some of the change collected on my dresser, and that covered it.
I may try and sell off my old laptop to cover part of the cost; I haven't decided yet.
But on to the good stuff:
Thinkpad T41, model 2373
Excellent keyboard!
Cool light that illuminates the keyboard, so you can work in the dark. (Doing this right now, as Jess sleeps right next to me!)
The whole laptop just feels solid. It feels like it is of much higher quality than my Dell.
Compared to the Dell, the machine seems quick. The specs on the two machines are actually fairly close, with the Thinkpad a little bit faster. I think the difference is the 50% CPU speed the Dell is running under.
An extra bonus is that just a few weeks before the Dell began having the charging problem, I bought 2Gb of memory for it. The IBM uses the same memory, so I can use the RAM from the Dell to take the IBM up to 2Gb, and leave the Dell at 1Gb for whoever ends up with it.
I've been using the ThinkPad all night, and love it.
(EDIT - May 12, 5:30pm - Discovered yesterday the TP includes built-in Bluetooth. Nice.)
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