A little Wood Badge

I wrote earlier this years out my latest experiences with Scouting. Well I took the plunge and signed up for Wood Badge. It is touted as the best training available if you want to be a superior Scouter. Well it is much more than that. I have been blessed over my career to have taken several training and leadership courses. Several we're really thought provoking, educational and overall well led. Wood Badge is much more. Here in Central Florida the leadership is built strong from the top down. So much so that two courses are offered each year! And they always have a large group of attendees. In S4-83-13-2 it was no different. From the scoutmaster to the SPL Michael, and all of the ASM staff, quartermasters and group guides it was really well done. If you work in a corporate environment or are a Scout leader looking for more then WB might be for you. 6 days of training, camping, team work, and self reflection. Oh and you still need to work, have a family and find time for anything else. But as a Scouter you learn to adapt. Now it's all about putting the skills to work, evoking excitement with the team and attaining your goals. I don't want to say WB is not for everyone. Just the opposite, it is here when you are ready to take the next big step. And when you do decide to take the plunge please make sure you have fun. Yes it's important training but it is also about building friendship, teamwork and enjoying life. I was a Bobwhite S4-83-13-2 I am going to work my ticket if I can...

Indian Call Center Scammers

Well it's happening again. Around 11:45 pm and the phone rings. Awaken from my slumber and I hear the voice..."your computer is going to crash can I help you", asks the voice. Huh, I respond. And this time I slam the phone down. Just what is going on? Seriously, Google Indian hone center scammers and you will find a lot of similar stories. I didn't believe it myself the first time. These guys will call and pretend they work for Microsoft or that they are simply with 'tech support'. All they want you to do is give up access to your computer, from which they will likely install software to steal your identity. It's been a number of months since they have last called. Beware, don't let your guard down. And if they call either give them hell. Or play along and work them good. I did that the time before and it really got them pissed.

New challenges, new adventures, Do Your Best!

My third year as a scout leader is now getting underway. Seems like just yesterday Matt was putting on his tiger uniform and I was stepping up to be his den leader. This past year was much more challenging, starting a new pack, becoming committee chair and then district round table chairman. And to top Italy off, Cub Scout leader of the year. What a whirlwind adventure. It's true scouting is a full time job. Always getting asked to help, or should I say voluntold. Then balancing unit needs, district needs, family and of course work. You can't take it for granted, scouting is so much more than that. I am there for the boys; mine, my friends and those that may not the support of their family. My next challenge has already begun, Wood Badge. It's the embodiment of Scouting. The ultimate leadership training that helps to make you a well rounded person. Over the next three weeks I'll be writing my 10 ticket ideas. Then I get to spend two weekends with my peers working toward five SMART goals. With their support I will work these five items for the next 18 months. All to become a better leader, supporter, father and person.

Sitecore RichText Commands Custom Media Library

My last post discussed a unique setup where we needed to point the Sitecore Media Library (Insert Sitecore Item) to a different root folder based on the website. We have a multi-site implementation. All have their own distinct Media (Images, Video, Audio & Documents). If we didn't there would be nearly 180,000 items in these folders. To get 6.3.0 to work the following changes need to be made. in sitecore\shell\Controls\Rich Text Editor\RichText Commands.js add the following to the RadEditorCommandList["InsertSitecoreMedia"] = function(commandName, editor, tool):

var editedItemId = ''; if ((document.location) && (document.location.search)) { var qStr = top.location.search.substring(1); var keyValList = qStr.split("&"); for (var i=0; i 1) { if (splitPair[0] == "id") { //Value was already escaped, no need to unescape and re-escape editedItemId = splitPair[1]; } } } } } And then I had to add to the query string variables of editor.ShowDialog: + (editedItemId ? "&editedItemId=" + editedItemId : "")

This will allow Sitecore to check for an existing item and go directly to it in the Content Tree. Otherwise it will default to the current sites Media folder. Really simply to implement and makes managing 300,000 items of content much easier.

Sitecore RadEditor and Multisite Media Library

Currently working through an upgrade from 6.0.1 to 6.4.1 yea we are a little behind but we need to catch up and start using some of the features. We have 18 sites in a single Sitecore instance. And about 250,000 items in that tree. During the upgrade process our problem and so far only one we have run into is our custom Media Library. Each site has its own Media folder with a separate Images, Videos, and Audio folders. This makes ownership and maintenance a little easier. How did we do this? There is an override of the InsertImageForm (picture coming soon) that calls a sitecore query: similar to this.

targetPath = "query:ancestor::*[@@templateId='{18F42371-1B85-4EE1-AF6B-20F5AF81BD5D}']/Media";

This uses a technique very simliar to Alex Shyba's example on how to remember the last section when working with Media. Once we deployed 6.3 we ran into an issue where this no longer works. The query appears to be failing and we end up with the default Media Library being displayed. This means that all of our sites no longer have access to their unique media content. My mission this week is to use .NET Reflector and see what's changed in the Sitecore.Kernel.dll and how this override of InsertImageForm needs to be altered. Any suggestions?

Telerik MVC Gymnastics

Just upgraded our MVC2 to MVC3 and took advantage of the OpenSource Telerik MVC controls once again. Thanks!!

I've got a AJAX Edit Grid displaying a mixture of text boxes, combobox and dropdown list. The final product will use the Batch Editing option

.Editable(editing => editing.Mode(GridEditMode.InCell))

but I'm not quite ready for that yet.

On the latest build I added some ClientEvents to the onEdit action. If I'm inserting a new record then I disable one combobox and set it's default value.

But if I'm editing an existing row then I disable a dropdown box.

Confusing I know. But it should make managing our race information easier than the page full of dropdown boxes we're dealing with now. The page load on that is between 2-15 mintues, all depending the number of records. Yes, you read that right. But some of the dropdowns are set to have about 13,000 entries. Yes that's awful!

The new setup using the Telerik control is calling back with AJAX and bring over just a handful of records. Much cleaner code and much happier users.

Adobe Summit 2011

It was a whirlwind week in Salt Lake City for my first Summit. I have to admit the coming changes to Sitecatalyst version 15 are well need. It'll save hours of report building and data mining. The biggest surprise was their announcement of a social analytics tool. Now we can see real-time over 40+ social networks what's happening with our brands and our marketing projects.

I myself found the Tech Tracks very interesting. Though they were weaker than I would have liked. I know it's their first dive into the topics, hopefully next year they can put more time and effort into more geeky code samples and more hands on labs. I know it would make my life much easier.

One of the best features of the break out sessions is the inclusion of actual customers and partners. It's nice to see how they are succeeding or failing in the social/media space. Makes me feel a little better that we're not alone.

I will be posting some additional information as we start to implement some of the items I learned about. And I'll let you know what the experience was like.

Speediatrics Finishes Strong

I had the unfortunately chance at spending four days and nights at the hospital. Well, let's not confuse the situation. My wife spent the entire time at the hospital while I drove to home each night for four days to feed the dog and exchange clothing for her and our daughter.

There, now that that is out of the way, why were we there? The exact cause to Liz's sickness has not been found. But for six days she would not eat more than a few crackers and sip just an ounce or two of liquid. Oh and she was having some extreme diarrhea. When I say extreme let's say my fraternity brothers and their antics couldn't hold a stick to my 15 month old girl.

We ended up being frequent visitors to our pediatrician. Way more than I wanted. And our GI doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong either. Everyone said she had some redness in her throat but everything else was fine. So the GI ordered some blood work and there started the trek.

We made two trips to our local Labcorp only to spend 3.5 hours waiting and trying to draw blood. No luck! So I took her to another location the next day and after another two hours of waiting and trying still nothing. So what did I do...I went to another Labcorp. Only to find we still couldn't draw anything except screams and cries from Liz.

So I made the trek back to the pediatrician. After the fifth visit he said he would admit her to the hospital for fluids and an attempt to draw blood. From that afternoon we had an IV flowing adn several more attempts at drawing but no luck still.

We finally had the pediatric intensive care surgeon draw from her femoral artery in her thigh. That worked! Poor girls has more needle marks and bruises than I can count. If anyone were to see her arms or legs they would immediately call the Child and Family services and have us taken away. But after four long, grueling days we got four IV's into her and were told to go home.

Akamai - Sitecore and CCU Web Services

I just wrapped up work to integrate the Akamai Content Control Utility webservices and automatic purging from Sitecore.

Using the Telerik RadFileExplorer and some crafty C# code I am now able to trigger content purging from the Sitecore Desktop. Just created the service object, collected the parameters and called the webservice.

Pretty cool, I even get an email once the purge has been completed.

//create the purgeResult object
X.Web.Isc.UI.ServiceReference1.PurgeResult r = new X.Web.Isc.UI.ServiceReference1.PurgeResult();
X.Web.Isc.UI.ServiceReference1.PurgeApiClient a;

a = new X.Web.Isc.UI.ServiceReference1.PurgeApiClient();
string[] options = new string[4];
string[] uri = new string[1];

//get the login credential and other data for Akamai from the web.config
options[0] = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AkamaiCCUEmail"].ToString();
options[1] = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AkamaiCCUAction"].ToString();
options[2] = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AkamaiCCUType"].ToString();
options[3] = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AkamaiCCUDomain"].ToString();

//build the URL to the file that was uploaded

uri[0] = "http://www.mydomain.com" + e.Path;

//request the content purge
r = a.purgeRequest(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AkamaiCCUUserName"].ToString(), ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AkamaiCCUPassword"].ToString(), "", options, uri);

//log the activity
X.Web.Core.Context.Current.LogMessage("Akamai CCU WebService Message: " + r.resultCode + " " + r.resultMsg + " " + r.sessionID + " " + uri[0].ToString());

}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//something didn't work so let's report the issue
X.Web.Core.Context.Current.LogMessage("Error Akamai CCU WebService Message: ", ex);
}

Adobe Omniture Marketing Suite - Mobile

I just found the mobile version for the Marketing Suite. Pretty cool that I can keep tabs on traffic real-time from my phone. But I've got 16 report suites...I can't for the life of me figure out how to switch report suites.

Any ideas?

The Crunchies - Love Social Media

I have to say, it's awesome to see people build new technologies and have the masses pick it up. I'll be putting my brain power to use and dive into this world at some point.

Finding the Team with MVC

Our new MVC based stats engine was lacking some basic functionality. Pagination! Yes something so simple was missing. But not much longer.

Our app maintains over 150,000 racing stats ranging from 1955 to 2010 and covering some 5,000 races. So when it comes to finding a driver or an owner to update their bio or head-shot was, well painful. On the LAN it would take Firefox about three minutes to load. That's awful, pitiful, not unacceptable for any cutting-edge application. Why was it this way. Two reasons, short staffed and behind schedule.

That's the past, today is the now. With the help of Michael Ceranski's post on Phonebook Style Paging in ASP.NET MVC I was able to apply code necessary to make the app race. Now we're loading some 4,000 active drivers in just a split second, but now it's done via a typical 0-9 A-Z paging system.

My only changes from Michael were adding the numerical selections. It's quick, easy, and the perfect solution to my needs.

It's a team effort

I had the opportunity to coach my sons t-ball game today. Something I've done a few times in the past. The boys range in age from 4 - 6 some have older brothers who play so they have some knowledge while other are in their first season. It's an hour of fun, no stress sports. Just teaching the fundamentals of baseball, teamwork and self-confidence.

A fellow parent overheard another one of the players parents at the game and the discussion is something that has me at my boiling point. These parts have an older son, about 11 who's playing, a father who is pretty good and a 4 year old. The youngest was a walk-on. Wait, let me rephrase that. His mother walked up two weeks ago and told the coach that her son was to play on this team because no one else had room. She hasn't paid the fee for the association, wasn't put on the team and joined 4 weeks into the season.

OK so it's just t-ball, no huge deal. Except that this mother and her husband were overheard making derogatory comment about one of the other boys. This is complete and utterly unacceptable. The mother that overheard the comments did not feel comfortable repeating what was said. But she told me that she doesn't feel like keeping her child on the team.

What is one to do? The teams main coach is a good friend of this father. The mother and father are both highly competitive, they only cheer for their son, never for anyone else on the team. When I was told of this today I felt hurt, enraged and sad. Sad for this boy who's parents feel it's acceptable to talk about another child in a way that is completely absurb. And hurt that these parents feel it is fine to talk about another child who's learning not only how to play the great sport of baseball but also life skills.

Monday night practice is going to be interesting. Should I call and talk to the league president, should I call the coach or should I keep my mouth shut? I know for sure that I am going to continue to teach my children and these boys how to respect not only each other but anyone else they run into.

Just like my fraternity motto, Vir Quisque Vir, every man a man it's something that I live by day after day. And I want to make sure that I teach this to everyone I work with.

Full Force Vote

It doesn't really matter who I or anyone else voted for. But it does matter that we made the effort. To read up on the candidates, amendments and other items on the ballot. And that we took the time to stand in line. In my small precinct I stood outside in line for nearly 20 minutes. It was wet. No it was muddy, humid and late. Our small precinct a small Baptist Church can only hold about 20 people max at a time. That's 10 voting tables, three lines for check-in and one scanner. Plus we had about 30 in line outside. It was calm, everyone was patient and I know proud.

What was most interesting was the number of children who accompanied one or both parents. I myself had all three of my children there. My 3 year old asked what a vote was. We did our best to explain why we were filling in little ovals on a single sheet of paper. But he just doesn't understand. Our 6 year old however wasn't quite as talkative. We did our best to explain why we were voting, how so many people outside of the US do not get the chance to vote. Heck that most of the time some of those people don't get to eat, or don't get an education, or don't have the means to feed other members of their family.

And that is why it's so important we learn about our candidates, issues and take the time every two years to exercise our right to vote!

Trick o' Treat

Busy weekend, where has the time gone. It's nice to be able to give my son a special lunch for receiving good grades. Now he's only in Kindergarten but his first report card had all satisfactory marks. Got a few areas to improve on but for the first official card that's not bad. There's a place called Kidtroplis down in Sanford Florida. Gotta say it's no Chuck-e-Cheese but it did save us 30 minutes on our drive.

Also had a chance to change the oil in our 2007 Uplander. Got it jacked up and down on the stands. Now I gotta tell you it was pretty nasty. My wife ran over a deer carcass about a month ago. she was at least 3rd in line when it happened. There's not much ground clearance so she heard that thing raddle around for a while. Let's just say it was bad and it's still bad. There was still a strong stench of dead animal and a few places I saw reminants of hair. Not pleasant to say the least. So I quickly dropped the oil plug and filter. Got a new Fram filter and 4 quarts of Valvoline back in the engine.

Then off to Grand-Ma's house for Trick-o-Treating. Now where did I put my chocolate bar?

Next week it's new oil for the Silverado. T-Ball. Doctor visits, at least 3. A parent teacher conference. And somewhere in there a full weeks worth of work. Phew I'm tired already.

First IPA Pour

Just cracked the top off my first IPA brew. Got some nice bubbling and head on the beer. It looks very clean and smells hoppy. I think the brew directions said it would be hoppy and arrogant. it's true.

Taste isn't too bad. You do have to have a taste for stronger beers. I'll put a 6 pack on ice and enjoy.

This week I'll start an Australian lager, its a Coopers so it should be excellent.

Oh and I'll be bringing some beer to my friends at work to enjoy.

Brew Photos

Almost forgot here are some shots of the brew process. Sorry I don't have the first 5 weeks. These were the last steps before enjoying the IPA! Next weekend it's gonna be good.

Changing the Sparks

I've been busy this weekend showing my mechanical side. Ended up replacing the spark plugs in my 2005 Silverado 1500. Everything went extremely well, no cuts or brusies.

I checked and I have 92,000 miles and almost 2,400 hours. Not bad for almost all highway travel. The plugs were OEM AC Delco and were really clean. I haven't had any issues driving. But I'm getting close to that 100k mile mark and the truck is going to need some work.

The one thing I need to invest in is a universal joint. I had one plug that was almost impossible to reach. Thanks to my think arms I was able to get it out with a little extra elbow grease ;)

Next week if I have time...oil in both the truck and the van. Then it's brakes and rotors for both.

The Brew is On

It's been a few months, OK almost a year since I've produced a batch of home brew. No not Mr. Beer, real honest to goodness home brew.

I dusted off the bottles, fermentation bucket, brew pot and accessories and started a boil for my first IPA. The Mother-In-Law got me the IPA for my b-day and I am just now getting around to setting it up. Ah the smell of wort boiling is great. My wife hates it, stinks up the place. But I know, in a few weeks it'll be ready to bottle.

It's been about 5 weeks since I completed the fermentation and moved the beer to the glass carboy. The beer was extremely clean so I'm really looking forward to this batch. I also got my 6 year old to help me cleanse the bottles and fill a few bottles.

In two weeks I should have about 45 bottles ready to drink and share. I'll keep updating my blog with my brew events, questions and thoughts. Have a recipe you want to share? Or want to ask a question...let me know!

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