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July 28, 2006
One down, 20 to go...
Well, the online Work Order System is officially in Beta. I've written all the code - all the pages work. It WILL include a photo gallery in the future - but I'm not doing that now. Maybe next year. Seriously.
WOUPortal proved its worth. It put up with 'one' application with 7 different overlapping groups using it. If WOUPortal can do this, it should be OK to do anything. Bleah.
In fact, now begins the task of converting all those older systems over to new security and incorporating MOST of them into WOUPortal. The good news is that when this is done, I'll be ready for RA Training, and hopefully the portal will be a little bit more fully featured by then. As for now, I'm gonna go home and take a much deserved rest. Or mow the lawn. Or both.
Posted by ellism at 2:49 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2006
Blackberry and Email
So today Travis setup my blackberry to receive my email. It also synchronizes my calendar to the web calendar - so whichever way appointments are added they synchronize to show up on both. It's pretty cool!
Anyway, the BlackBerry (BB) is by far my favorite toy so far. I mean, you might be able to improve it with a multi-purpose laser, some rockets or maybe a holographic projector. Besides that, I'm satisfied. Even more important, I can't wear out the screen like I do on Palm Pilots. That means that, assuming the wheel doesn't die, it should last ... FOREVER. Ok, maybe not forever but longer than my average Palm - that'll make me happy.
It's got MY vote for device of the year.
Posted by ellism at 4:43 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2006
VerCon meets WOUPortal
Today I integrated VerCon into WOUPortal. I made a UCS Developers group, and added all the staff developers. When VerCon is done, and the portal is just a little further along, I can have all the devs login, mark which Schemas are theirs, and setup either No Backup, Backup or Version Control. Easy.
John and I also talked at great lengths about possibilities for the WOUPortal. It seems like everyday I find another use for it, or something else I can wire into it. I'm very pleased. I hope this doesn't come off as arrogant, but I think the Portal is the best thing I've done here so far. I think it'll be one of the few things that outlast me. Not to mention that now all of my secure apps will be tied to it - even relying on it.
We also discussed some security issues. The more stuff we put into it, the more powerful it becomes. But access and security are opposites (most of the time) so you can't have 100% of one and 100% of the other. The real goal here is to make them relatively even. Security will be, I hope, a very high priority. However, if an ultra-secure app doesn't save anyone any time or effort, then nobody cares. We'll figure it out - we came up with some great ideas. We can run those ideas through Bill and Shaun and come out with something really good.
I'm excited. It's nice to see an app with this kind of versatility and ease of use. And it's secure. And it's handled everything I've thrown at it so far. Soon I'll convert all the current RA, RSC, OUR tools over. That'll be the real test. If it can deal with that... the rest is cake. Or pie. Or both! MMmmmmmmmmm
Posted by ellism at 3:47 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2006
Success!
Computrition, thy name is working.
Well it took us 6 tries, but we finally have a totally together and functioning Oracle 10g server. It's patched, it's tweaked - just have backup to setup (there's currently nothing on it, so no fear).
We learned alot. Primarily, the issue is a bug in the 10.1.0.2 & 10.1.0.4 oracle rdbms software that DOES NOT exist in 10.2.0.*
I don't know if oracle knows the bug exists - probably nobody cares since R2 (10.2.0.*) is out now, and THAT version doesn't have this goofy little problem. Interesting. Apparently sometimes progress DOES actually solve things.
Anyway, we're feeling smart and today we did all the tweaks (successfully I might add) to get the db running 'our' way. We got it figure out, but Alex and I (probably just me) owe Bill lunch :)
After Karen and I test out the new version of CI (Computrition) on my laptop and all her new stuff is there, we can schedule the migration for everyone over to 15.5
This is one big project that's coming to a close!
Posted by ellism at 2:41 AM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2006
Oracle 10g
We've now spent the better part of 3 days trying to get the stinkin' 10gR1 EM to work. So far, squat.
To be sure, I'll let you know if it starts working. My new completion date for this project is 9/1. Yee-ha!
Posted by ellism at 1:21 AM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
Work Orders
The last few days I've been investing some real time into our new online Work Order system. We currently use a quadruplicate-half page colored form to write and track work orders. I think we can do significantly better than that.
Not only will the system allow residents to create work orders, it provides accountability and trackability to different levels of the system. Also, the typical collection and routing delays (and possible losses) should all but disappear. RAs, residents, staff and maintenance themselves will all be able to add a Work Order for any building in the system (which is expandable for use on any building).
So, module 1 of 3 (user module) was completed today. Next we have the maintenance module (large) and the billing module (tiny). I hope to have this app in beta by 7/21 so we can adequately test each piece while fitting into each area's schedule.
If all works well (which I anticipate at this point), we'll go live 9/1.
booya
Posted by ellism at 2:14 AM | Comments (0)
July 8, 2006
Been awhile...
Well, the fourth was nice. Got to travel a bit (not so hot) and see some family (nice). Good fireworks - everybody loves Washington (state).
Anyway, I was on vacation so I haven't blogged in awhile. It was nice to get away, but the more I'm away from work, the further behind I feel. Sure! It's only July, but I know how much work I have to do, and it just doesn't get done when I'm gone. Never in my life have I wanted MORe time to be at work each week. Weird, eh?
I didn't blog about Professional Development because we had a staff meeting on thursday afternoon. It's been awhile, but it was nice to see everyone... who was there...
That being said, I'm signing off, and am going to go home and enjoy my weekend after this nice short 2-day week.
Posted by ellism at 3:35 AM | Comments (0)