Wednesday, September 30, 2009
"The perpetual immaturity of the church" "Come & see to come & die" Rick Warren http://ping.fm/7zYoX
Climate & Culture of Innovation, Release & Empower Leaders & Minister from Overflow of the Spirit Craig Groeschel http://ping.fm/zBpFU
God can & will do extraordinary things through your life that only He can receive credit for http://ping.fm/q9tbi
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
SharePoint Best Practices – Context is Everything
SharePoint Best Practices – Context is Everything: "
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What is a best practice? Ben Curry definitely one who has popularized and even trademarked the concepts around SharePoint Best Practices through the book and conference has decent explanations of best practices… “Best Practices is about doing things the right way: the most efficient, effective ways to achieve goals, distilled into adaptable, repeatable procedures you can use.”
Blogs are great for sharing your version of the truth and what you’ve learned about the product, but my concern lately is those who read one blog and get one version of “truth” they get one “best practice” and consider it golden. There’s a real problem these days of looking at a problem with only one pair of rose colored glasses.
Consider these “Standards” from SharePoint Hillbilly, one with a unique perspective, but not complete perspective. He makes some decent points in his recent post “10 SharePoint Deployment Standards,” but at the same time with only one perspective, I want to show you how this list of best practices apply in certain situations and and illustrate there is no one size fits all with SharePoint. After getting back from the land of rat temples, and goats on top of busses, I see there are more ways than one to get things done… it is said there is more than one way to skin a cat. Not sure where that came from, (maybe a hillbilly?) but the principle is once applied to SharePoint is real. I hope people have found in my posts despite when it sounds like I’m saying there’s only one way to go there are exceptions. It’s these exceptions… why the consultants get paid the big bucks! (I know @Mrackley rocks and won’t take this personally. He uses google ads a poor practice, so this makes him an easy target. :) ) He makes some statements, this isn’t to discredit him, but more to provide some insights and create an antithesis… I hope he understands the use of these as an example and continues to provide his great insights. Let’s look at a few of these examples of his deployment standards and under each of these I’ll explain how these wouldn’t apply in some deployments. You’ve wondered why Microsoft’s TechNet documentation has challenges and it feels like they should be be providing more guidance, seems very rare that you get the… it depends on X, Y, and Z… you should. There really are a lot of scenarios where one set of guidance is based on assumptions, and this is where SDPS and consulting comes into practice. Just make sure that guidance you are getting comes from solid experience and is based on the right assumptions.
Excerpts from the SharePoint Hillbilly’s 10 SharePoint Deployment Standards
HB 1) SharePoint Designer must not be required to update any portion of a SharePoint Site
For WCM, I can understand some of this, but for a collaboration environment, and one where people have been trained… SharePoint designer has a place. Note the word training, and I’d add qualified.
HB 2) No SharePoint Designer WorkFlows
The SPD workflows do have portability issues, but again if you aren’t using SharePoint for records management or have invested in a crack dev team using visual studio workflows, or have the ability to purchase a third party workflow system, (which I do find pays off) the SPD workflows can fit minimal requirements for many collaboration and non complex scenarios.
HB 3) All sites must be created using Site Definitions or Site Templates
This sounds like a tough requirement designed for serious WCM. I’m not a fan of custom Site Definitions, I have grown to accept a minimal site definition that essentially uses the blank template and then uses feature stapling, but custom site definitions and custom site templates really aren’t required for most collaboration environments which I personally find are the most common deployments.
HB 5) Large libraries (>2000 items) should be divided across multiple libraries.
Large libraries should definitely be optimized, but you shouldn’t split them by 2000 items per library that’s going to cause an explosion in a DM or ECM environment and render the SharePoint navigation difficult. Folders are better than more libraries, and I know folders are used in a different standard. I’m not a fan of folders either. Meta data should be used, and so should limited filtered views that return less than 2000, but ultimately 100 or so in any given query.
HB 7) Team Site Collections should not have more than 1 level of subwebs. (Subwebs should not have sub-subwebs.)
There’s a place for nested site collections. One example is with portals. An Intranet portal could have the Intranet portal at the top, then a set of site collections for the divisions, then groups or lines of businesses, and then products, and so on building a heirarchy. I wouldn’t say that’s where you then do collaboration… that’s where you should then have links to the projects, or documentation and so on in separate site collections. There is a place for nested webs, but super deep nested obviously should be avoided with URL restrictions.
HB 8) Content databases should have no more than 5 site collections (some larger ones should be the only site collection in the content db.)
The best example where content databases should have more than 5 site collections is my sites. Especially when you limit the size of your site collections with quotas such as 100MB or 1GB you could fit hundreds into a database, and save on database management. For division portals, document management systems, and ECM this does make sense to go with dedicated databases, but you don’t want to blow out tons of databases in the collab and my site space with a few exceptions.
When I first read the post, I was anxious to hear some new deployment insights, but it was what he wasn’t saying about his standards that I was thinking about as I read it. It’s great to be able to disagree. There are a couple of things I do agree with him 100%… HB 9) All images for a site must be stored in image libraries and not on the file system. Totally agree. Developers do need to learn to dance with SharePoint and not fight it.
In his concluding paragraph he sums it up quite well… “The more consistent your SharePoint environment is, the more maintainable it will be, your admins will be happier, your users will smile…” Standards within an environment are great. It’s so important to have rules to avoid chaos.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Unplug Your Laptop Regularly (When In Doubt) - Battery - Lifehacker
Unplug Your Laptop Regularly (When In Doubt) - Battery - Lifehacker: "BUT THESE DAYS, with all the new portable digital devices these days (iPods, MP3 players, mobile phones, and laptops), they are all based on Lithium (Li-Ion or Li-Po), which basically means that they behave the exact opposite! You should NEVER let a Lithium battery run low, because each time you do it will damage your batteries very badly."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
On Earth as it is in Heaven � Blog Archive � Trusting God When We Cannot Trace Him
On Earth as it is in Heaven � Blog Archive � Trusting God When We Cannot Trace Him: "Given all of the unexpected things that have happened and are happening in my life–in the life of our church–Packer’s lines are a great reminder that faith trusts God even when it cannot trace him. God is doing something in your life, in my life, and in the life of our one new church that is above and beyond anything we could ever ask for or imagine.
So, as hard as these days have been, hang on. God promises that the best is yet to come. Think big. This is going to be amazing.�"
So, as hard as these days have been, hang on. God promises that the best is yet to come. Think big. This is going to be amazing.�"
Touchpoint � Blog Archive � Why Denominations Cannot Complete the Great Commission
Touchpoint � Blog Archive � Why Denominations Cannot Complete the Great Commission: "Jesus left eleven men, some of whom doubted, standing on a hilltop.� Some were illiterate.� Others were rebels.� All would be considered ill prepared to fulfill the task Christ gave to them and the Church.� If Christ deemed these eleven-very-marginal-leaders fit enough to carry forward the Great Commission, perhaps we need to rethink what we are doing."
Chuck Colson Denounces Therapeutic Church Model-church's job is to make people holy (http://ping.fm/UXa90)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
About Hudson Taylor's clothing: Everything opened up after that in a new way. On the return journey to Shanghai he was not even recognized as a foreigner, until he began to preach or distribute books and see patients. Then women and children came around much more freely, and the crowds were less noisy and excited. While missing some of the prestige attaching to Europeans, he found it more than made up for by the freedom his changed appearance gave him in moving among the people. Their homes were open to him as never before, and it was possible to get opportunities for quiet intercourse with those who seemed interested.
Filled with thankfulness for these and other advantages, he wrote home about the dress he had adopted, "It is evidently to be one's chief help for the interior." And it was "the interior" more and more on which his heart was set."
Filled with thankfulness for these and other advantages, he wrote home about the dress he had adopted, "It is evidently to be one's chief help for the interior." And it was "the interior" more and more on which his heart was set."
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Transcending the Worship Wars | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction
Transcending the Worship Wars | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: "If church leaders try to establish a style of worship based upon their preferences or based upon satisfying congregants' competing preferences, then the church will inevitably be torn apart by the politics of preference. But if the leadership is asking the missional questions of 'Who is here?' and 'Who should be here?' in determining worship styles and practices, then the mission of the church will enable those leaders to unite around gospel goals that are more defensible and uniting than anyone's personal preference."
RT @SociaTropin: Seniors With Insufficient Levels Of Vitamin D At Increased Risk Of Dying From Heart Disease http://bit.ly/flHWi
Go Pray at the Pole , See You At The Pole 2009 Go and Pray 2Kings22:13a #SYATP Sept 23, 2009 http://www.syatp.com/
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Kors Engineering Leverages Twitter for Real-Time Data Updates from Systems Running Tridium Niagara AX (http://ping.fm/viQTW)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Intrinsic motivators beat external ones for creative tasks. Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose http://ping.fm/yYH09
I will work for Dell! DELL TO ACQUIRE PEROT SYSTEMS FOR $3.9 BILLION CREATING COMPREHENSIVE, CUSTOMER-FOCUSED IT-SOLUTIONS http://ow.ly/qh6z
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Opening Our Ears to Hear:Every time God's Word is proclaimed it changes all of those within its hearing (http://ping.fm/wvN8c)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tyndale House Publishers announces the November release of
The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book, a look at Chuck’s favorite Facts, from the man himself. http://ping.fm/TfwL1
The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book, a look at Chuck’s favorite Facts, from the man himself. http://ping.fm/TfwL1
Best Practice No 4:- Improve bandwidth performance of ASP.NET sites using IIS compression (http://ping.fm/WRXBa)
rarely have to ask people to invite their friends – they naturally do it every week (http://ping.fm/zzwG6)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
FACT 2008: New Congregational Research,a strong sense of identity & a shared mission (http://ping.fm/MXXmk)
Monday, September 14, 2009
238 F.3d 518
238 F.3d 518: "Coach Crute was charged with responsibility over the girls' track team at Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia. Crute videotaped a female student after hours in a remote and isolated part of the campus, instructed the student to remove her underpants for the camera, and zoomed in on her crotch, moaning and groaning during the encounter. In response to Crute's actions, the Superintendent, Principal, and Director of Secondary Education took no disciplinary action whatsoever, characterizing Crute's behavior as 'not objectionable.' Unsurprisingly, in the events that give rise to this lawsuit, Crute was thereafter found videotaping, with a hidden camera, female students as they undressed and dressed in the girls' locker room --conduct for which the plaintiffs now seek to hold the School Board liable under 42 U.S.C. � 1983."
Portsmouth Olympian asked to return medal she won with Jones | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
Portsmouth Olympian asked to return medal she won with Jones | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com: "The most painful came in 1995, when her former high school coach, John Crute, was indicted on 24 counts of videotaping female athletes as they dressed in the Wilson locker room. Colander-Clark was stunned by the betrayal, and her mother, Hortense, said it was 'like a rape to LaTasha.'
Although criminal charges were ultimately dropped, the athletes filed civil suits. During her trial, Colander-Clark wept while the jury was shown the tapes.
Magistrate Judge James E. Bradberry ruled that Crute caused 'permanent harm' to each of the young women. In 1998, a Portsmouth jury awarded Colander-Clark $543,000, though it's unclear how much money she ever got from Crute."
Although criminal charges were ultimately dropped, the athletes filed civil suits. During her trial, Colander-Clark wept while the jury was shown the tapes.
Magistrate Judge James E. Bradberry ruled that Crute caused 'permanent harm' to each of the young women. In 1998, a Portsmouth jury awarded Colander-Clark $543,000, though it's unclear how much money she ever got from Crute."
A New Way of Thinking About Site Organization for End Users
A New Way of Thinking About Site Organization for End Users: "
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Body:
One of the big shifts that people have to make when creating a SharePoint site is the fact they're used to a digital asset having a digital location, much the way an actual object would live in an actual location, such as a file drawer.
Just this last week, I had a client who kept asking me how she would mark a project as "complete" in the new system I'm designing for her. I started to ask her what "complete" meant to her, and she stated that when a project is "complete" in her old system, it no longer shows up in her "active projects" view. I explained to her that she has a meta data field called "Project End Date", so she can simply create a view of her projects based on whether "today" is before or after the end date; that way the view moves with her, so to speak, and she doesn't have to manually make the change to the project file to mark it "complete". She kept coming back to me with, "But how do you move the project to its archive location if you don't know it's complete?" I tried to explain it to her using the file cabinet scenario; instead of having 2 file cabinets (one for "active" and one for "archive"), there's just one really long file cabinet, and you just determine which five hanging folders you're going to look at within that cabinet.
To look at a different commonly asked question by end users, I saw this question on the Microsoft message board:
"I have products that are sold under two or more different business units, and I need to be able to replicate the product page to each business unit's location in the site, yet remain able to edit it from any of its locations.
What if any, is the best way to accomplish this?
Thanks"
What if any, is the best way to accomplish this?
Thanks"
Here was my response:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A key concept for SharePoint is the concept of taxonomy, or site organization. One of the big benefits of SharePoint is that it's possible to organize information in more than one way. I like to give people this example:
Say you have a folder in your "My Documents" folder on your hard drive, and it's called "Projects". Inside your "Projects" folder, you have a bunch of folders, each named for a name of a project. Inside each of those folders you have all the documents relating to a project, such as a project plan, status reports, etc. One day, your co-worker says, "Hey, I need the project plan for Project XYZ." You're in a hurry so you give her access to view your "My Documents" folder over the network. Pretty soon you have her calling, "Hey! Where's your 'Project Plans' folder?" She's asking that because on her computer, she doesn't have a folder for each project; instead, she has a folder for each type of document.
This example is just to show that there are multiple ways of sorting or grouping the same information. What if it were possible to view the same information, but grouped in different ways? What if you could see all your project documents at once, but your coworker could view all the project plans at once? The key is that where a document sits logically describes it in some way, but that's not the only way to describe it. It could also be "tagged" so that all the items tagged with the same tag can be grouped together.
In SharePoint, this is done with something called Site Columns. A site column is a piece of metadata that can be used to describe your page. The thing to wrap your mind around is the fact that on a file system, where a file sits is what gives it meaning, (i.e. "It's in my Projects folder so it's a project.") In SharePoint, you can have a single "Product" page, but you could simply tag it as being carried by one or more locations. The location of the product becomes metadata describing the product.
So, instead of having a web site for each location, and having a product page inside that unit's site, think of this scenario: you've got a site for each unit, but you've also got a common site for all your product pages. You tag each product page with the unit or units that carry that product. On your unit site's homepage, you use a web part called the Content Query Web Part to retrieve all the pages in your "Products" site that have been tagged with that unit's name.
This can be a big change from how traditional web sites are built, but if you can start thinking in this way, your sites become very flexible, and you can start showing different kinds of views of the same information - views which might be pertinent to different kinds of people (such as employees vs. consumers vs. business partners, etc.)
Say you have a folder in your "My Documents" folder on your hard drive, and it's called "Projects". Inside your "Projects" folder, you have a bunch of folders, each named for a name of a project. Inside each of those folders you have all the documents relating to a project, such as a project plan, status reports, etc. One day, your co-worker says, "Hey, I need the project plan for Project XYZ." You're in a hurry so you give her access to view your "My Documents" folder over the network. Pretty soon you have her calling, "Hey! Where's your 'Project Plans' folder?" She's asking that because on her computer, she doesn't have a folder for each project; instead, she has a folder for each type of document.
This example is just to show that there are multiple ways of sorting or grouping the same information. What if it were possible to view the same information, but grouped in different ways? What if you could see all your project documents at once, but your coworker could view all the project plans at once? The key is that where a document sits logically describes it in some way, but that's not the only way to describe it. It could also be "tagged" so that all the items tagged with the same tag can be grouped together.
In SharePoint, this is done with something called Site Columns. A site column is a piece of metadata that can be used to describe your page. The thing to wrap your mind around is the fact that on a file system, where a file sits is what gives it meaning, (i.e. "It's in my Projects folder so it's a project.") In SharePoint, you can have a single "Product" page, but you could simply tag it as being carried by one or more locations. The location of the product becomes metadata describing the product.
So, instead of having a web site for each location, and having a product page inside that unit's site, think of this scenario: you've got a site for each unit, but you've also got a common site for all your product pages. You tag each product page with the unit or units that carry that product. On your unit site's homepage, you use a web part called the Content Query Web Part to retrieve all the pages in your "Products" site that have been tagged with that unit's name.
This can be a big change from how traditional web sites are built, but if you can start thinking in this way, your sites become very flexible, and you can start showing different kinds of views of the same information - views which might be pertinent to different kinds of people (such as employees vs. consumers vs. business partners, etc.)
-------------------------------------------------------------
As someone who lives and breathes Site Columns and Content Types, it's always good to remember that people are going to compare the system with a real world scenario they are familiar with, and I need to find a new point of reference for my end users.
Category: General
Published: 9/12/2009 7:34 AM
Sunday, September 13, 2009
"play at Fellowship of Christian Athletes events & at other churches," says guitarist Juan DeVevo http://ping.fm/ICs5H
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Do you want to be great or do you want to be famous? Erwin McManus Leadership Forum http://ping.fm/ilepB #forum
Thursday, September 10, 2009
How Jerry Falwell's ambitious sons have led the Lynchburg univ to financial success & a burgeoning student body. http://ping.fm/oIvGh
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Richard MacManus: TweetDeck: The 5 Best and 3 Worst Things About The New Version That Will Launch Today (http://ping.fm/U7Knk)
Video Ur: Perry Noble on Multi-Site Churches, stop competing and start completing (http://ping.fm/wcTVB)
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Saturday, September 05, 2009
"But what has occurred -- irreversibly -- is this: He's become ordinary. The spell is broken." http://ping.fm/YIbMJ
Seven Steps to Stagnation � Small Group Pastors
Seven Steps to Stagnation � Small Group Pastors: "Sometime in the 1980’s Rev. Erwin M. Soukup (Archdeacon of Chicago) compiled “The Seven Steps (sayings) to Stagnation”:
1. We’ve never done it that way before.
2. We’re not ready for that.
3. We are doing all right without trying that.
4. We tried it once before.
5. We don’t have money for that.
6. That’s not our job.
7. Something like that can’t work."
1. We’ve never done it that way before.
2. We’re not ready for that.
3. We are doing all right without trying that.
4. We tried it once before.
5. We don’t have money for that.
6. That’s not our job.
7. Something like that can’t work."
Friday, September 04, 2009
Scott Hanselman's 2009 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows (http://ping.fm/XzReW)
Fall Schedule for SharePoint Live Online Workshops from EndUserSharePoint.com (http://ping.fm/gwIHn)
Hack SharePoint Web Part Displays with XSLT - Eventbrite
Hack SharePoint Web Part Displays with XSLT - Eventbrite: "In this workshop, Jim Bob Howard will walk you through several scenarios that get close using the built-in tools in SPD… and then show you the XSL tweaks that take you the rest of the way to what you need."
Become Your Company's SharePoint SuperStar! - Eventbrite
Become Your Company's SharePoint SuperStar! - Eventbrite: "'Become Your Company's SharePoint Superstar!' is a special, live on-line session for SharePoint Power Users, the ones with all the responsibility and no authority to touch the servers. You know who you are."
The Case for/against SharePoint | End User SharePoint
The Case for/against SharePoint | End User SharePoint: "The bottom line: all our work and knowledge base is self-doucmenting and available to customers and strategic partners. It sure beats trying to keep these same folks updated with email and teleconferences. The biggest frustration with our site was that the site search function was unreliable, but we found out that this pertained to the way our ISP host site installed sharepoint not any inherent flaw.
– Guy Warner"
– Guy Warner"
When Online is Better than Face to Face
When Online is Better than Face to Face: "For an increasing number of tasks, a well-managed website is much better than a human being at helping you get the job done. Sometimes it's a mix. You go online and do a bunch of stuff on your own and then you get some online help to do some more."
Make the Second Mile Second Nature - Faith
Make the Second Mile Second Nature
- Faith
@ PurposeDriven.com: "When Christians stop counting their steps and start looking for opportunities to go the second mile, they form relationships with others built on honor, dignity, and respect. Through those encounters Christ transforms us and fulfills the promise of Proverbs 11:25: “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”"
- Faith
@ PurposeDriven.com: "When Christians stop counting their steps and start looking for opportunities to go the second mile, they form relationships with others built on honor, dignity, and respect. Through those encounters Christ transforms us and fulfills the promise of Proverbs 11:25: “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”"
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The Living Room�|�The Official Buckhead Church Blog
The Living Room�|�The Official Buckhead Church Blog: "We believe college students can and will partner with us to reach out to the campuses that they are spending most of their days on.� Will you please join us in our mission and will you lead the way for a generation of students who are watching you? For more information on the Buckhead Church college ministry, check out www.collegegathering.org"
MarkHowellLive.com � Debug Your Thinking
MarkHowellLive.com � Debug Your Thinking: "When you think about your discipleship strategy or your connection strategy…how is it working?� Have you ever slowed down long enough to really examine your results?� To see if what you are trying to do is really happening?"
Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel -- And Why So Many Christians Think It Is
Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel -- And Why So Many Christians Think It Is: "The deadly danger of moralism has been a constant temptation to the church and an ever-convenient substitute for the Gospel. Clearly, millions of our neighbors believe that moralism is our message. Nothing less than the boldest preaching of the Gospel will suffice to correct this impression and to lead sinners to salvation in Christ."
Acts 29 >
Acts 29 >: "What does discipleship look like at Immanuel? 'No one needs to stand alone,' says Ray. 'That means, of course, a network of small groups. But something else we do is called 'Three-on-one.' At a low level of visibility, so that no one feels awkward, we quietly arrange for three adults to take on each teenager in the church, to befriend, to pray for, to go to their sports events or plays or whatever. We want everybody feeling loved.'
�"
�"
"Following Jesus as a disciple means that we are bound to live according to his teachings as well as to pass on his teachings" http://ping.fm/zsbb6
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
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