Uh Clem's Admin World

Alex Kassabov blogged about his experience with Maui Jim's excellent customer service with their sunglasses repair.  I too have had great experience with their customer service.   Ten bucks with the sunglasses shipped off to Maui Jim and they are returned in two weeks repaired, no questions asked.

I was reflecting on the fact that excellent customer service is a rarity these days.   The problem with it being rare is that when you encounter it, you start thinking about all those other experiences with average or poor customer service, and it starts to get depressing and frustrating.

I guess I need to let these experiences influence me more and start patronizing those vendors with the best customer service, and avoid those with bad customer service.  If only we could do this more, then vendors would start to "get it" and, hopefully, influence them to change.

Eric Mack posted a blog titled We're Getting Dumber , where he "ponders" the effect of communication technologies and their effect on our ability to think deeply and critically.  I could agree more.   I find the majority of these communications are extremely superficial, bubble-gum for the mind if you will.  It makes me feel like I'm wasting my time much of the time.   Or am I?  Is there value to these communications I am missing?

I struggle with Twitter (and other social networking sites) because on one side I do find nuggets if information that is valuable, but on the other side there is SO much value-less chatter that I wonder if is worth my time.  When I use these social networking tools I try to think about what "value" I am adding to the collective.  For this reason I post less often.   But since the "value scale" is not black and white, and it is subjective, it becomes murky.    For example,  what value is there to know that you have just returned from the mall, or that your latte wasn't very good this morning? Maybe there is a little bit of value of getting to know that person more,  but it sure seems superficial most of the time.

There was a time when, during a greeting, someone asks "How are you?", and they actually cared about the answer.  It has been reduced to an obligatory greeting, with an equally obligatory response of "fine".   We are no longer expected to really dig down, and think a little deeper about "how are we, really."   We are filling the air with shallow thought.  We are loosing the art of critical thinking.  Where will that lead us?

I had a user inadvertently delete all their email (yeah, I know).  So to fix the problem I proceeded to remove ALL deletion stubs from all replicas, including the user's local replica.  Then I restored the user's mail file from the night before to one of the clustered servers.  The clustered servers would replicate and all the server replicas of her mail file would be fine.  Once the user's workstation replicated the mail file with the server all the emails would disappear again!   My first thought was there was a second copy of the mail file on the local machine,  but confirmd there was not one.   So where could those deletion stubs be coming from?

My thought process led me to think about what other databases could be replicating data with the mail file, and then it hit me.  The local names.nsf was passing data via the "Synchronize Contacts" task, which is new in Notes 8.  Opening a PMR with IBM they assured me that ONLY contacts were being transferred.  I wasn't convinced.

So I ran a test.   I removed ALL deletion stubs out of the mail file.   Then I removed all deletion stubs out of the local names.nsf.   I used MartinScott's Noteman utility to do this.  The free version allows you to remove deletion stubs.  Then I went to the mail file and deleted 4 emails from the inbox.  I performed a replication that included the "Synchronize Contacts" task.  I went into the local names.nsf and viewed the deletion stubs.  Sure enough there were 4 deletion stubs in there with the EXACT same UNID's as the deleted emails in the mail file!!!  WHAT THE HECK??

I can find no documentation about EXACTLY what the "Syncronize Contacts" task is sharing between the mail file and the local names.nsf.  But BE WARNED,  it is at least sharing deletion info of regular emails that turn into deletion stubs in the local names.nsf that will come back to haunt you!

This might be a bug in 8.0.2.  I don't know yet.  I have not tested other versions.  My PMR is still open.  I will share my test with them and push the issue, and will blog more when I know.

So I downloaded the latest DWA 8.0.2 hotfix last week (Hotfix 229.051) to fix some problem I was having.  After applying the hotfix you could run a spell check and it would result in the message "No spelling errors found"......ALL the time, regardless of how many spelling errors there were!  Oops!

The fixpack I received contained 3 dictionary files to be replaced (us.dic, uk.dic, wpdic.dic).   After opening a PMR the tech suggested I revert these 3 files back to the original files.  After doing so the spell check started working again.

So if you plan to apply the DWA Hotfix 229.051 make sure you test the spell check.  Your users may end up with "perfect spelling"!

By the way,  my original problem wasn't fixed with the hotfix.

Many times debugging problems with a Blackberry leads back to the Service Books (SB's).  Sometimes you are told (by tech support) to delete a service book, then undelete it.  Sometimes you can clear a problem by resending the service books from the BES server.  However this only sends a subset of the service books listed.

Another little known function on the Blackberry will pull down a new set of service books from the service provider.  It is accomplished by performing  Options - Advanced Options - Host Routing Table - menu key - Register Now.

Between resending the SB's from the BES and pulling down new SB's from the service provider you think you could clear any problems.   But no, sometimes even this doesn't work.  Another, painful option is to first delete all the service books, one at a time, then pull down both sets of SB's again.  Since this is such a pain I'm sure most of us just revert to wiping the darned thing and re-activating it.  Yep, me too.

Anyone have any other tips or tricks regarding Blackberry service books?

I'm in the middle of testing server based archiving in 8.0.2.   I configured the policy to archive docs in the mail file not modified in 180 days.  When the overnight "compact -A" program ran for a few pilot users it also archived their DWA contacts that have not been modified in 180 days, which was most of them.   Once their Notes client replicated it wiped out the same contacts in the personal address book.  Additionally it deleted those contacts on their Blackberry!  Yikes!

IBM says this is not suppose to happen.  They know about this bug and it has been SPR'd (PBAO7NKL2X).  However they couldn't tell me when it might be fixed.  If this affects you too (or might), please open a PMR and have it added to the SPR so it will rise in the priorities.

Here is a rough outline of my schedule for Lotusphere.  I don't list actual session numbers because it's just too hard to pick at this time.  I do know I'll be spending most of my time in ID and BP sessions.  I generally find the BP sessions more enjoyable because the speakers are generally better.  Some of the ID technical sessions get a little dry.   And to break up the routine I try to get to a few AD sessions.

Saturday - I get in around 4pm.  Once I get checked in at the Beach Club I'll head over to the Big River Brewery to join the B.A.L.D. gathering.  This will be my first time for this, and I can even say that I qualify as a member in both respects.   After that I'll head over to the ESPNZone for the Turtle gathering.  I've been going to this one for years.  It's great fun and a nice kick off to the event.  I even get some insider info about the show sometimes.
Sunday - I'll head over to registration, then hit some jumpstarts.  Then I have two private receptions to attend.  One hosted by my BP, the other by IBM honoring some of the companies that have fully upgraded to ND8.  I'm told my company's logo will appear on a slide in the OGS for this.  Yay!   Then, of course, off to the Sunday night reception party.  There is never enough seating to eat at this.  Also I tend to struggle to find people.  I just walk around until I find some folks I know having a good time.  Tip:  If you don't know anyone, pick a group of people and introduce yourself.  You MUST learn to mingle at Lotusphere.
Monday - First off the OGS.  I like to sit up front so I try to get there early.  Then my first 3 session time slots each have 3 sessions I want to see, so I will be torn right from the get go as to what to attend.  One of my must sees is the Buchan/Mooney gig (BP306).  These guys are true geek entertainers.  After the sessions I'll hit the product showcase reception.  The freebies are usually flowing pretty good here.  Then I may check out the IBM sponsored reception over at the Y&B.  I think they will have a casino set up.
Tuesday - Hitting the sessions hard.  Maybe a BOF or two.  Must hit BP207 because I need to learn WAS admin for my job.   After the sessions I'll head to the IBM Mid-Atlantic Customer Appreciation reception (invitation only I think).  This is a chance to meet other customers in my area.  I already know some of them.  Then it will be off to the Karaoke event at Kimonos at 7:30.   I have a feeling this will be a lot of fun.
Wednesday -  More BOFs (maybe), more sessions,  hit the showcase again.  It's about this time that I start to find time to hit the labs.  Tip:  Make sure you visit the labs!  I have a whole list of questions for the developer's lab.  Also,  I want to spend more time in the Innovations Lab this year.  Then it's off to Universal.  I haven't been to this half of Universal (the half that is NOT Islands of Adventure) in quite a while.   Last year I ended up hanging out with someone I met in the bus line, and we had a great time.  Again, if you don't have someone to go with, introduce yourself to someone and have a good time.
Thursday -  Catch up on some repeat sessions I missed.  Then I'll hit Gurupalooza.  This is where a bunch of BP's get up on stage and answer your questions.  Then it's the Ask the Developers session.  Here's an embarrasing secret:  I use to not go to this because I was not a developer!  Stupid me.  Tip:  If you are an admin, go to Ask the Developers!  It's where you get to yell at the product team and tell them to fix stuff and add features.  And, finally, the closing session.  This is usually just an entertainer, but it's usually pretty good.  My favorite was the Umbilical Brothers from 2001.   Also,  I'll be wrapping things up with something new this year.  The Blogger's Open.  A min-golf outing I've signed up for.  This should be fun.

Every year my family flies in on Thursday night and we play Friday and Saturday in the theme parks.  It's a great mid-winter break for everyone.
So hope everyone has a great Lotusphere.  Check out my Lotusphere Lore table on Wikipedia.  This has a summary of Lotusphere history.
Also,  PLEASE,  if you see me,  stop me, introduce yourself, and say hi.  I'd love to meet you and chat.  See you there.

If you want cut off more than half the distance of walking from the Yacht and Beach Club Resort Hotels to the Dolphin dining, here is a shortcut.  If you attended Lotusphere pre 9/11 then you may know about this path because it use to be an official path from the Dolphin meeting rooms over to the Y&B meeting rooms.   They never revived it after 9/11.

Starting at the Yacht Club lobby (green circle), go out the front of the Lobby (away from the lake) and turn left.  You will find yourself walking through an employee parking lot, then past a toll gate.  Once past that you will see the giant Dolphin conference wing in front of you.  Go to the right of that building.  Now you may need to go up a few doors (red circle) before the Disneybots will let you in one of the doors, but this beats going ALL the way round through the Dolphin lobby.

This path is also good if you are headed over to the Y&B meeting rooms from the Dolphin.


Hope this saves a few steps for some people.

Come the first day of Lotusphere 2009 I will have been blogging for a full year.  So I decided to join PlanetLotus.  I was really waiting to see if my content was worthy of PlanetLotus.  It turns out my bar I set for myself was higher than the rest of the bloggers, so I said "what the heck".

So I hope you enjoy my postings.  The number of postings may not be much, but I generally try to post relevent content.   Please stop me at Lotusphere to say hi if you see me.

Thanks for adding me Yancy.

I'll be taking AirTran flight 485 from BWI (Baltimore) to Orlando.  It arrives Saturday at 4:09pm.   If anyone is on my flight look me up.  If you happen to also be arriving around 4pm we can maybe find 3 of us to share a cab ride.  As of now I'm planning to use the Disney Express complimentary bus, but it is not as convenient.

I'm staying at the Beach Club resort.  Yeah that's on the opposite side of the lake, but I kinda like it over there, and I don't mind the walk.  If you are staying there too, a few of us have linked up to share the early morning walk over to the Dolphin.

Do you know the shortcut from the Yacht & Beach to breakfast?  You don't have to go ALL the way around through the Dolphin lobby.   Ping me and I'll tell you.  Better yet, join us for the walk over and I'll show you.

Admins unite!  I need some of you admin bloggers to join me in the Lotusphere 2009 Blogger's Open,  a miniature golf tournament on Thursday after the closing session.

I'm trying to create a team and call it "Team AdminFore" (get it?).  If you want to join me please let me know.  The website only allows for teams to sign up.  I guess at this time it is up to the team captain's to organize the team.  Join me to crush the dev teams.

It's funny how when you love something so much you like to complain about it.  So don't get me wrong when I blog about things I don't like about Notes.  I love Notes.  It rocks.  But as all things it's not perfect.  So here is one of the warts I trip over regularly.

If you are an admin you most likely have seen this one.  In the Administration Request database there is a section called "Pending Administrator Approval".   Most of the time this contains request to delete a mail file.  When you click the "Approve Selected Request" button you get the following popup.
 
Along with this you get the good ole "CLANK" sound.   Now, for me this clank sound tells me that I did something wrong (maybe this goes back to a traumatic experience I had with a PC a long time ago,  I don't know).   Also notice the big red X.  Come on Lotus,  make this prettier, and nicer to work with.  I would imagine this would be a piece of cake to fix.

As I always say, "the difference is in the small stuff".   I will add this to my list of topics for the developer's lab at Lotusphere.

I configured my two clustered 8.0.2 mail servers to run out-of-office as a service about 3 weeks ago.  I decided to take a look at how that was working, so I ran:

tell router O  > returned 11 users
tell amgr sched > OutOfOffice agent running for 9 users

What? I expected everyone to be running OOO as a service now.  All clients are on 8.0.2 and all mail files are on the mail8.ntf template.

It turns out that 2 criteria must be met before a mailbox will be registered to run OOO as a service:

1.  The user must have turned ON the OOO since the servers were configured to run OOO as a service.  If a user never turned off their OOO from the last time they were out and just reconfigured the dates, then it will not switch to OOO as a service.
2. The user must receive an email after turning on the OOO in step 1.  This is the trigger that tells the mailbox to stop using the agent and use the service instead.

So when you configure your OOO to run as a service, it may take a while for all the mail files to be registered to run it as a service rather than an agent.    You may need to monitor the mail files over time to see who is still running the OOO agent (using "tell amgr sched".  For them you may need to make sure they have turned off the OOO after their previous time out.

I've had about 4 users now call me to complain about their inbox text turning a pale gray as if all the entries are ghosted.  The background stays white.  Additionally it seems the scroll bar doesn't work properly.   The problem goes away if they close their inbox and reopen it.

Just one of those strange quirks.  Anyone else have this problem?   I've opened a PMR to try to get more info.

My previous post mentioned some issues (read bugs) I encountered with DWA8 Contact List.   Here are the details (btw... I'm using 8.0.2 Domino and mail template):

1) The biggest user complaint is that it does not support selecting a group name to start a group chat.  The "chat" option is greyed out.  Tech Support did say this is a bug and they will get me an SPR.  In the meantime they offered a workaround to open a 1-to-1 chat then invite others.  Yeah....right.
2)  The DWA8 Contact List does not support nested public groups.  Oh you will get the names of the users in the sub-groups, but they won't be in alphabetical order.  It will list the users of the first sub-group first, then the second sub-group, and so on.  This is quite confusing for the user when the list are long.
3) The up/down scroll of the contact list is much slower than DWA7's Contact List.  It will pause for several seconds when retrieving the next part of the list.