This is my favorite fantasy football commercial... ever.  Enjoy it if you can.

Thanks, Liz.

Yeah, unreal.  Enjoy!

When I first started using a BlackBerry with BES service, everything synched perfectly except for when I deleted items from either Outlook or the BlackBerry.  Here's some information that will help you if you run into a similar problem.

If you delete an email item on  your BlackBerry, and it doesn't delete from Outlook, the first thing you should check is the following setting on your BlackBerry device:

1.  Go into Messages (Email)
2.  Click your Blackberry button (or thumbwheel on older models) and select Options
3.  Select Email Reconciliation
4.  Change the "Delete On" option to "Mailbox & Handheld"
5.  Verify that the "Wireless Reconcile" option is "On"
6.  Verify that the "On Conflicts" option is "Mailbox Wins"
7.  Save your settings

If, on the other hand, you delete an email from Outlook and it doesn't delete on your BlackBerry, the first thing you should think about is whether your Deleted Items folder is emptied on a regular basis.  Your BlackBerry device will only know to delete an email from itself if the email is in your Deleted Items folder in Outlook.  If you empty your deleted items folder (as I used to do, many times a day in an insane bid to keep my mailbox "clean"), any messages emptied that are still on your BlackBerry will remain on your BlackBerry.

So, before you empty your Deleted Items, make sure your BlackBerry is up-to-date (as far as deleted items are concerned).  I don't think the email reconciliation for deleted items is as "real-time" as it for receiving new emails.  I've found the "Reconcile Now" option to be useful in getting emails deleted from my BlackBerry that are in my Deleted Items in Outlook.

If neither of these two things solved your issue, you can request that your service books be resent to your device.

If that doesn't resolve your issue, you may need to do a factory reset on your BlackBerry and do a brand new setup to try to resolve the issue.

(This article gratefully borrowed from: http://blogs.lanlogic.net/)

We had a really cool family gathering for July 4, 2008... this year I didn't have to work!  While there, I took a cool video of what it feels like to be the HOLE in Corn-hole.

Also, Jordan and I were trying to have a bubble blowing contest... with that cheap Double Bubble style gum that you had when you were a kid.  Yeah, it's not that great, and here's the evidence!  These are pretty lame, but somewhat funny.

Bubble Blowing 01

Bubble Blowing 02

Bubble Blowing 03

Bubble Blowing 04

Bubble Blowing 05

"We need to get the Flip," she said.

"It's in the basement, I'll get it," I said.

The Halloween video 2008 ensued...

Too early for Christmas?  Whatever!  These guys are worth an early holiday preview... ;-)

Let's hear it for your favorite musician that no one in your real world has ever heard of.  Tonio K. rises out of the depths of my teenage years in which my music tastes were essentially the same as that of my two older brothers.  Kirk wasn't really the Tonio K. aficionado, though, Kameron definitely led the charge here.  Rare is the artist whose lyrics touch you years and years into the future.  Don't get me wrong, I think we can all remember lots and lots of songs from days and years gone by.  Fro me, though, there are few songwriters that can inspire me 20 years after the first time I heard one of their songs.  I can sing along to plenty of old songs, and I have been moved by countless songs.  Some writers stray from the beaten path enough to never be part of the mainstream music scene, and therefore don't become widely known... I think Tonio K. falls into this category.  Click the picture below for a Wikipedia article on Tonio K.

Lyrics from one of my TK favorites: Rome Loves Jane

i've heard of unfaithful lovers but this is outrageous
soon the national enquirer will run the front pages
i saw shakespeare and cheetah
crying in their margaritas
bad news

romeo loves jane
the jungle will never be the same
and juliet's crying again
romeo loves jane

now in a wold full of hurt how can anybody blame them
and in the heat of wild love how can anybody tame them
they have fallen east of eden now

good love gone bad
bad love gone wild
wild love gone mad
mad love out of control

Yeah, I used to have another blog... I had started including geeky things for people to enjoy randomly.  Not sure who enjoys random geeky stuff, but here's one to grow on...

So, you run a BlackBerry Enterprise Server in your organization, and you also run Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.  These machines are both part of your Windows 2003 Active Directory Domain.  Now, you patch your Exchange server with all the latest, greatest patches from Microsoft, then all of the sudden, your users cannot SEND from their Blackberry devices.  If you know anything about Blackberry users, they tend to get quickly upset when something doesn't go their way.  So, when they can't send, if you're the network admin, which I am, you're in trouble!!

The long and short of it is this: Microsoft added new security to prevent users from "Sending As" another user.  This is already in place by default, but they took extra precautions in recent updates to make this feature harder to work around.

So, then, how can you work around it???  ;-)  2 things to do:
1. For non-administrative users... open Active Directory users and computers... Choose View > Advanced Options to enabled advanced features.  Find each user in AD and open them up, Choose the Security tab, add BESAdmin to their ACL and make sure to give that user Send As permissions.  BESAdmin account doesn't need full control, just stuff like Send As, Receive As, etc.  In a matter of an hour or two, your users should be able to send email from their BlackBerry mobile devices again.

2. For domain admin accounts, you need to open up the System OU, then the AdminSDHolder OU... In the properties dialog for the AdminSDHolder OU, select the Security tab, then click advanced and check the Allow Inheritance option... Domain Admins should be good to go within 20 minutes to 2 hours, or so.  This is described by Microsoft here:

Method 2: Enable inheritance on the adminSDHolder container
If you enable inheritance on the adminSDHolder container, all members of the protected groups have inherited permissions enabled. In terms of security functionality, this method reverts the behavior of the adminSDHolder container back to the pre-Service Pack 4 functionality.
Enabling inheritance on the adminSDHolder container
If you enable inheritance on the adminSDHolder container, one of the two protective access control list (ACL) mechanisms is disabled. The default permissions are applied. However, all members of protected groups inherit permissions from the organizational unit and any parent organizational units if inheritance is enabled at the organizational unit level.

To provide inheritance protection for administrative users, move all administrative users (and other users who require inheritance protection) to their own organizational unit. At the organizational unit level, remove inheritance and then set the permissions to match the current ACLs on the adminSDHolder container. Because the permissions on the adminSDHolder container may vary (for example, Microsoft Exchange Server adds some permissions or the permissions may have been modified), review a member of a protected group for the current permissions on the adminSDHolder container. Be aware that the user interface (UI) does not display all permissions on the adminSDHolder container. Use DSacls to view all permissions on the adminSDHolder container.

You can enable inheritance on the adminSDHolder container by using ADSI Edit or Active Directory Users and Computers. The path of the adminSDHolder container is CN=adminSDHolder,CN=System,DC=<MyDomain>,DC=<Com>

Note If you use Active Directory Users and Computers, make sure that Advanced Features is selected on the View menu.

To enable inheritance on the adminSDHolder container: 1. Right-click the container, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Security tab. 
3. Click Advanced. 
4. Click to select the Allow Inheritable permissions to propagate to this object and all child objects check box .
5. Click OK, and then click Close. 
The next time that the SDProp thread runs, the inheritance flag is set on all members of protected groups. This procedure may take up to 60 minutes. Allow sufficient time for this change to replicate from the primary domain controller (PDC).

I think there is a great tragedy in our culture today.  I'm not sure exactly where it comes from, but I know it's there.  Somehow, there is a fear of having your own opinion if it isn't mainstream.  If you think something that might not be green, or progressive, or post-republican, or politically correct, suddenly you're an outcast.  You're a criminal, you're a bigot, you're narrow-minded, you're a Nazi, you're a pig, you're stupid, you're a bumpkin...

I don't get it.  What happened to the idea of having a decent conversation, of disagreeing within dialogue?  What became of two people--or a room of people, for that matter--getting together and talking about an issue without vilifying their opponents?  Nowadays, it seems everything comes down to name calling, which is just Junior-High all over again.  People are saying so much without saying anything!

Maybe I should run for congress in a few years.  Seriously.

Do you ever have a moment when something during your day triggers a song in your head?  For me, it's almost like I can't help it.  Someone says something, and *boom* I think of a song.  I read an email, then, subconsciously, start humming softly.  I'm driving down the road and see an accident or a tree or a billboard, *wham-o* I'm singing. 

Then there are seasons of life in which a song or an album becomes the soundtrack.  Then, later in life, when you hear those songs again, *ka-blam* you're back in 7th grade, or Sunday School, or college, or making out with someone...whatever!  Recently, I've been listening quite a bit to Andy Gullahorn's album, Reinvent the Wheel.  It seems to really be that soundtrack I've been looking for, but without looking for it.  Music just happens to you sometimes, I think... This album has definitely happened to me.  Desperate Man, More of a Man, Alright Here, and more... I highly encourage the purchase of this album, esp. if you're into Christian folk.

My buddy, Tim, runs a cafe in Medina, OH.  They are greatly in need of support.  I encourage you to stop by his website and read this post he put up today:  http://www.cafe4111.info/Medina/enews/tabid/59/EntryID/34/Default.aspx

It is worth the read... and worth $10 if you can fast for a meal or two to support this work of God.

- Chad

An "original cliche," if you will.  I knew Andy 15 years ago at summer camp.  I always knew it was just a matter of time.  Back then, he was singing about a girl and flying a flag on the highest hill that he could find.  C'mon Andy, reprise it just for me!

You'll leave his music feeling refreshed, if you're used to the same old, same old.

So, I ask myself, "What is wrong with everybody?"  And by everybody, I don't mean everybody.  It seems conversations these days turn to politics, and then the conversation gets shot to hell.  People are soooo fired up about the election, the differences between parties and candidates, the views of the evangelicals, or the Hispanics, or the African Americans, or the Women, or the Insert Group Here.  Having a normal -- no, civil -- conversation about politics, or the state of our country, is almost impossible, even in my own family!  Whatever happened to simply "having a conversation?"

Most of us have opinions about politics and religion... then you mix the two together and get the wildest, most passionate, high-volume discussions around!  What's the deal?  Have we all come to a place where we believe everything the media is telling us about all the groups that are out there?  Are all "Evangelicals" the same?  Does every African American vote this way or that way?  Do all the Women of the country have exactly the same opinion?  Are all Democrats anxious to increase the size of government and taxation on the average American family?  I hope not.  I hope there is still freedom today for people of the same group to have thoughtful opinions that differ slightly from one another.  I hope we have not come to a place where every person can be categorized, stereotyped, or labeled with a certain dogma.  In the age of free-thinking, it certainly seems like a lot of people are resorting to their old ways and lumping groups and people within groups into one, giant paradigm (label, stereotype, etc.).  Really?  Are we still there?  Yikes.

Every once in a while it happens to me.  There I am, driving down the road, listening to a song I've never heard before.  I wasn't planning on this moment, this shock to my senses, this melting of my heart and soul.  But it happens... the song playing makes its way through me like bullets through a paper barrier, and I'm turned inside-out right there.  My heart spills out onto the surrounding spiritual space and God meets with me, all at once, all of the sudden.  Here are the words to the song that stole my soul today:

Oh God of Mine, by Rita Springer

Oh God of mine, I'll have no idols
Oh God of mine, come lead the way
Oh God of mine, I'm greatly humbled
This sinner's heart You came to save

Oh God of mine through storm and trial
Oh God of mine through death and grave
Oh God of mine in resurrection
Your scars display my soul's refrain

Oh God of mine Who holds all nations
Oh God of mine Who saves the day
Oh God of mine, Your grace sufficient
And tender mercies new by morn

Oh God of mine, forever faithful
Oh God of mine, forever stay
Oh God of mine, forever after
These eyes upon Your face will gaze

Have you noticed?  So much can be said about music, but for sure these days it is everywhere.  Back when I was a youth pastor, I remember the days when kids first started showing up with all of their burned CD's they had gathered from their friends' collections.  The early days of file sharing were scandalous, Napster making the news and all... but I'm not just talking about file sharing... it's everywhere.  During commercials, walking into stores, on our favorite radio stations, on the web, on the TV, in our iPod Shuffles... all around.

Could the ubiquitous nature of music be a bad thing?  I mean, isn't there something to be said for having some time in your day when there is no outside source of influence clouding your thoughts?  I think we've become addicted to background noise.  It may be a great thing to have music available, but should we be playing it all the time?  I tend to think music these days is primarily for entertainment.  If it is primarily entertainment, then I think just like any other form of entertainment, it should be used with wisdom.  Why do parents want their kids to "unplug?"  Isn't it because a life lived with constant input leads to relational separation from the people around you?  With music and other entertainment being everywhere, maybe we should just stop for a minute, be alone with ourselves and God, and think about life.  If we chose to unplug more often, we'd probably find ourselves less afraid of it.