PhilRandolph.com

Just to possibly get a few more eyes on the problem I've run up against, I'd ask you to take a look at this post I put out on the Notes 6&7 forum a couple of hours ago.

IBM Blog Web Page Constructs - Attachment urls built incorrectly when any spaces in filename

As I said there, I can expound more on the problem if need be...

In the interim, I've had the blog owner use a regular blog post entry, flag it to be removed from the homepage and rss, and changed the document template to be the one normally used for static web pages.  It will show up in the monthly archives list when that is displayed...but they are ok living with that until I can get it resolved.

Thanks!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 02:50:00 PM, in  Notes/Domino  | Little help over here... | Comments (0)

Thanks to Bruce for allowing me to help out with the beta testing of idea exchange.  I hope I can contribute some useful observations and ideas to make this product the best it can be, and benefit our whole community and perhaps others!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 12:17:00 PM, in  General  | beta tester | Comments (0)

Looks like Katie and many of her classmates and fellow kindergarteners are stars in a Plain Dealer video about their school's first day of all-day kindergarten.

You can see her dancing in the long red dress about half way through and then she gets interviewed about what she wants to be when she grows up... 

I'll let you find out for yourself!

Thanks to one of her classmates' parents for passing this along to us.

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:47:00 PM, in  Katelyn  | Caught on film | Comments (0)

Katie had Kindergarten orientation on Monday and Kath and I were able to take her, meet her teacher and bring all of her supplies in.

Don't even get me started about all the questions from the new parents with first time kindergarteners...ugh!!!

Here she is standing in her little locker/backpack hanging nook:

 
Here's a cute picture of her and her teacher - Miss Libby:
 
Here I am reading her a story in the reading area:

She then started Kindergarten yesterday getting on the big yellow bus with her big brother.

Kath has her own post about it, and the different days she will be able to have now, here.

Posted by Phil Randolph at 10:49:00 AM, in  Katelyn  | Katelyn’s Orientation and First Day of Kindergarten | Comments (0)

Hey all, looks like Yahoo just opened up their Fantasy Hockey league registration yesterday, and I of course am chomping at the bit to get a league put together, drafted and ready to go.

Wanted to gauge the interest from you all in the lotus and/or hockey blogging community. 

What I'd like to find out from you is:

1) are you interested?

2) what type of league to do you prefer? (rotisserie, head-to-head, points)

3) ideas for a league name? - I'll take some nominations and then a vote - if anyone cares! ;-)

So...get back to me in the comments or by emailing me here.  Like I said, I'm anxious, but also wanting to be able to enjoy a fun season of trash talk and great fantasy hockey with the people that I virtually hang out with the most.

Oh, looks like the max number of teams in any of the leagues regardless of type, is 20...so if you are interested, let me know fast - first come, first served!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 12:52:00 PM, in  Hockey  | Fantasy Hockey 07-08 | Comments (0)

Results of night two of the project -

Hope to put a second coat on and do the cut-ins by the ceiling, floorboards, and trim soon. 

This is gonna take a while!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:27:00 AM, in  Family  | Wow...it’s really...RED | Comments (1)

We finally have decided to turn the "playroom", previously known as the "dance room" when Kath was a little girl growing up in this house, into a Red Wings themed room.  We had made our office in the basement of our old house our shrine to the Wings (I'd hate to see what the new owners did to it), and we've been wanting to establish a new one in this house, just haven't had the time or resources to get to it.  

So we started today - this morning actually, getting everyone involved in the removal of STUFF and priming of the walls.  We finally put the brushes down and cleaned up our paint splattered bodies around 9pm.

Here's a look at the before (with a few nail/screw hole patches in place):

And the now (priming completed):


You can see more of this first day's work in this set of tagged pics on Flickr

I plan to get more photos up in the coming days so you can see our progress...we're excited.

I believe Kath is in the other room blogging about this too...I may need to show her how to get pictures added soon.

Posted by Phil Randolph at 10:49:00 PM, in  Family  | The Wings Room Cometh | Comments (0)

Today Zach heads out for his first day of 2nd grade. He should be leaving the house sometime in the next few minutes, and I hope the weather is cooperating outside so Kath can get some first-day-of-school pictures out by the flagpoll.  I've asked her to email me them so I can get them uploaded here and Flickr.  

Katie also has kindergarten testing this morning, then we'll go with her to her orientation day on Monday.  She starts all-day kindergarten next Tuesday.

Zach had his first practice with his Mite 3 travel hockey team (the first of 3 this week), and seemed to do really well.  Kath went to the parents meeting after the practice and hurriedly scribbled down the currently scheduled practice times.  She says pre-season games start at the end of September...wow that's quick!  It's going to be an exciting and very busy season.  I wasn't able to be at the whole practice as I was going to be a driver for an "Amazing Race" night we were having for our youth group.

Update - 8/27: A few days later than expected, but here's a couple pics of his first day:
 

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:27:00 AM, in  Family  | Firsts all around | Comments (0)

Was reading through the "learn more" page off of lotusphere.com, got to the 5th paragraph and read:

And of course Lotusphere YellowSpace, JamFest and SpeekGeeking will all be back.

SpeekGeeking??? Yes, I know there will be a lot of speakers, and they will be all speaking at once, but isn't it all about the Speed at which they will be bombarding us with information?

I know, it's early yet, and an honest mistake...just caught me as funny.

Cool that we can all eat near the Dolphin and find any friend at any time to munch down our lunch with...

And I don't know what to think about the sandal size question on the registration form...

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:09:00 AM, in  Lotusphere  | Early going... | Comments (0)

Via Andy -

Looks like we can now register for Lotusphere 2008, ready...set...GO!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 01:04:00 PM, in  Lotusphere  | Let it begin... | Comments (0)

Well, last night's get-together with Ed didn't go as planned, as Ed never left Washington.  But we (the contingent from NEOLUG) made the most of the time and enjoyed Berbee's hospitality and Shula's good eats. 

As Gregg and Chris mentioned the Cleveland bloggers were congregated on one end of the table for the most part, with Ben Lanhinrichs coming down as things were close to wrapping up.  Also met Ed's co-worker Sara Koeth who was trying to keep us up to date on what was happening with Ed's travel woes.

It was a nice time of fun and strange (at times) conversation.  I think I'll leave it to Chris and Gregg to expound a bit more...and no, I won't be submitting the abstract for that session idea.

Sounds like Ed will try to get something else together here soon.  Now, I'll have to see if my wife lets me out again! ; - )

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:29:00 AM, in  Blogging  | On account of rain | Comments (2)

It's nice to be having everyone celebrating our anniversary, whether they know it or not...

Not to be overshadowed by something else happening today...I'm happy to say that I've been married to the love of my life for 11 years as of today.

Happy anniversary honey!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:13:00 AM, in  Family  | Anniversary | Comments (5)

Via Mr. Head -

I AM
69%
STARSCREAMTake the Transformers Quiz

I honestly don't think this is a good thing.
Always thought I'd at least be an Autobot...thoughts?

Posted by Phil Randolph at 07:09:00 AM, in  General  | Not what I expected... | Comments (0)

Right on the heals of Declan's birthday yesterday, according to Facebook and what I had down on my google calendar; today is Sean "Phigment" Burgess' birthday. 

Happy birthday to you Sean!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:15:00 AM, in  Blogging  | Sean’s Day | Comments (0)

Everybody please join me in wishing Declan a happy birthday!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:19:00 AM, in  Blogging  | Dec’s Day | Comments (0)

Ed posted first thing this morning, that ND8 will be available electronically on August 17th. WOOHOO!

I commented that with ND8 being released, my wedding anniversary, and Matt & Jess's baby being due on the 17th, maybe we'll hit a trifecta!

Wait...Joe and Shirley Litton have their anniversary on the 17th too!  Is there such a thing as a quad-fecta?

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:28:00 AM, in  Notes/Domino  | ND8 releasing 8/17 | Comments (0)

Was planning to get this posted earlier, but we've been doing the 'campout-in-your-backyard-to-save-money-but-still-have-the-experience' thing ,and time has gotten away from us. And that's a good thing! But, I wanted to let you know that Zach made the Mite 3 travel hockey team. We are very proud of him and looking forward to a new season and a new experience for us with the travel thing.

He played very well on night 3 of the tryouts, most of it being played 4-on-4, and at some point he was lined up as the only defenseman. He cleared one puck out of the zone from his stomach, just swiping at it with his stick, getting it through the oncoming offense and down into the other end.

Oh, he also knows that he'll be #5 for this season. He's happy he'll share the same number with Nick Lidstrom!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 10:50:00 PM, in  Zach  | Zach’s Mite Travel Team Tryouts - Night 3 | Comments (0)

Just check it out

Hillarious! ; - p

Thanks honey!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:36:00 AM, in  Hockey  | YouTube - Offseason Goalie | Comments (0)

As several of you already know, I was inspired by the mention of Facebook and it's apparent usage by many in our Notes Blogging Community on Episode #64 of the Taking Notes Podcast.  So I decided to dive in head first last night when I had a few minutes. 

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:23:00 AM, in  Blogging  | Facebookin’ | Comments (4)

As promised, I'm pointing you to my wife's post about last night's hockey tryouts.

(As a totally non-veiled attempt to drive more readership to her blog.  You're welcome honey!)

Posted by Phil Randolph at 12:57:00 PM, in  Zach  | Zach’s Mite Travel Team Tryouts - Night 2 | Comments (0)

Looks like the boys have gotten Episode 64 into the can, and out for our consumption.

Looks jam-packed with goodness!  Take a listen!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 07:40:00 AM, in  Notes/Domino  | Taking Notes #64 is out | Comments (0)

Wanted to get this up earlier, but time just got away.  As many of you know, Ed's birthday is today.  Happy birthday Ed!

Looking forward to seeing you in Cleveland in two weeks Ed!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 09:10:00 PM, in  Blogging  | Brill’s Birthday | Comments (1)

Zach had a great scrimmage game the first night of tryouts on Sunday.  This year's tryouts is being handled like a training camp, so they throw the kids into games right away, it's kinda cool!

He played lots of left wing, once at center - taking the faceoff, and several shifts back on defense.  He scored 3 goals, one on a nice breakaway finishing with a hard wrister into the twine.  

His next tryout night is Tuesday, then the final night on Thursday, after which the placements on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Mite team will be set.

I won't be able to be at his tryouts tomorrow night, as I've got a meeting, but Kath will be there, and she tells me she's planning on getting her blogging going again, so I'll direct you over to her blog for a recap of how tomorrow night goes.

Posted by Phil Randolph at 08:53:00 PM, in  Hockey  Zach  | Zach’s Mite Travel Team Tryouts - Night 1 | Comments (0)

Looks like in my haste to leave to get up to Michigan this afternoon after work, my quick attempt to comment out the coComment code in the right sidebar succeeded in hosing up the navigation, and dumped part of it under the main content on the left side.  My bad.  That'll teach me to code while I'm in a hurry.  At least the content is still ok, and it looks like I was successful in clearing the coComment integration in the comments.  I'll re-enable after it looks more stable.  I'm monitoring the coComment blog and the comments left on it to see what people are saying.

Don't worry, the end is in sight for these posts about this design change stuff.  Just gotta get back in front of my client again.  I'm just glad to be able to hitch a ride on my parents' neighbors wireless for a little while. 

Posted by Phil Randolph at 10:33:00 PM, in  Blogging  | Doht! | Comments (0)

After a marathon session, I think I've got it looking fairly decent.

Not sure if it'll stay this way exactly, but I'm satisfied right now.

Ugh, look at the time.  What was I thinking?

Anyway, let me know what you think of the new look.

Posted by Phil Randolph at 12:31:00 AM, in  Blogging  | Done...for now | Comments (5)

Things WILL be wonky here (design-wise) for a little while, and if I don't get everything finished up and to my liking tonight, I'll put things back as they are.  I hope!

Here goes nothing!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 07:22:00 PM, in  Blogging  | Overhaul commencing | Comments (0)

So, my wife should be taking off right about now heading for Minneapolis, to attend her first National Creative Memories Conference, what I guess they call Showcase.  She'll be there until Sunday.  Its nice that she can go to a conference for her business now, since she's watched me go to Lotusphere for 5 years now. Finally she gets her own conference experience.

She took the kids over to Toledo yesterday around lunchtime to meet up with my parents who took them back to Michigan with them, to spend the rest of the week and weekend. I'll be driving up after work on Friday.  When we get back Sunday Zach has the first evening of tryouts for Mite travel team.  Here we go...

So, that leaves me with the pets to monitor, lawn to mow, garbage to take out, Skyline Chili to eat, and then hours and hours of uninterupted time to overhaul the design on this here blog.  Wish me luck!

Posted by Phil Randolph at 07:25:00 AM, in  Family  | She’s leavin’ on a jet plane... | Comments (0)

Just before doing the design upgrade I threw in the code in the comment form to integrate with coComment.  I've been wanting to do this for a while, just had never gotten to it.  It actually was very easy, and I used the code Phigment had given us in last year's Lotusphere presentation.

Just a few minutes ago I added a coComment sidebar item showing my most recent coComment entries.  I gotta start remembering to do this more...it's nice to be able to follow the threads from a central place without having to go to each blog.  Not that I don't like going to them, it's just that I kinda live in my rss reader.

Gosh, I sound like an advertisement, but bear with me...

coComment apprears to be doing an upgrade to a new version tomorrow.  We'll have to see what that's all about and what effect the changes will have on what we do now...

Alright, I'm out...

Posted by Phil Randolph at 06:30:00 PM, in  Blogging  | coComment Integrated | Comments (0)

Sorry about the downtime last night and this morning, or any issues you may be having getting to my blog for the next few days.  I'm getting everything resituated after upgrading the design to a modified 7.0.2 template.  I'll tell you much more about it later.

Posted by Phil Randolph at 12:15:00 PM, in  Blogging  | Upgrade to modified 7.0.2 template | Comments (0)