Christopher Stoll

Using Classification with SmartForms

2010-02-08T06:15:00.044-05:00

Sometimes it is nice to make a SmartForm more dynamic, especially since they can be a pain to maintain for complicated labels. In cases like this my colleagues in Germany have developed this method to apply SAP classification to SmartForms.

The first step is to create the desired characteristics. Follow these steps for each characteristic that is required.

CT04 "Characteristics Management"
Create a new characteristic (ZLE_MYLABEL_FIELD1)
Basic Data: Data Type (Character Format), No. of chars (1)
Descriptions: EN (My field), DE (Meine feld)
Values: Char Value (1, 2, 3, …) Description (This is my field)
Restrictions: Class type ZLW
Save

Continued after the break...

The next step is to create the class

CL02 "Class"
Create a new class (ZLE_MYLABEL), type (ZLW)
Basic data: (My class)
Char: (ZLE_MYLABLE_FIELD1), Origin (FIELD1)
Save

Finally assign the classification to the message condition for the SmartForm.

CL20N
Usage (B)
Application (V6)
Condition type (ZL54)
Class type (ZLW)
(ENTER)
Assignements: add ZLE_MYLABEL, (enter)
Values for class ZLE_MYLABEL, enter the conditions you wish to make
Save

In the SmartForm the following code is needed:

FORM read_classification USING inast TYPE nast

CHANGING cs_options TYPE ty_options.

DATA: lf_objek TYPE kssk-objek,

lt_ksml TYPE tt_ksml,

ls_ksml LIKE LINE OF lt_ksml,

lt_ausp TYPE tt_ausp,

ls_ausp LIKE LINE OF lt_ausp.

FIELD-SYMBOLS: TYPE ANY.

CLEAR: lf_objek, cs_options.

CONCATENATE 'B' inast-kappl inast-kschl

INTO lf_objek.

REFRESH: lt_ksml, lt_ausp.

CALL FUNCTION 'READ_CLASS_DATA'

EXPORTING

i_klart = 'ZLW'

i_objek = lf_objek

TABLES

t_ksml = lt_ksml

t_ausp = lt_ausp

EXCEPTIONS

OTHERS = 5.

LOOP AT lt_ksml INTO ls_ksml.

ASSIGN COMPONENT ls_ksml-herku

OF STRUCTURE cs_options

TO .

CHECK sy-subrc EQ 0.

LOOP AT lt_ausp INTO ls_ausp

WHERE atinn EQ ls_ksml-imerk.

= ls_ausp-atwrt.

ENDLOOP.

ENDFORM.

Early Russia in 1,500 Words

2009-12-02T22:05:00.013-05:00

The establishment of Rus was a complicated affair, whose exact origins are still not entirely clear. According to the “Primary Chronicle” a Varangian, or Scandinavian Viking, name Rurik established Novgorod at the behest of the indigenous Slavs who could not rule themselves. Rurik’s successor, Oleg, took control of portions of the Dnieper River and eventually moved the capitol to Kiev in 882 CE. Oleg unified numerous Slavic tribes, and is considered to be the first ruler of Kievan Rus.

Though the first ruling family has names consistent with Scandinavian traditions, there is little evidence that they had much influence upon the culture of the people whom they ruled. The wife of Oleg’s son Igor, Olga, came to power after their respective deaths. And, though she adopted Christianity, the people did not. At this point the Slavs still paid homage to their rod and rozhanitsa, which are their male and female ancestors. And, they also worshiped gods such as Perun, who was the god of thunder. A factor influencing this could have been their lack of a written language. It wasn’t until two Byzantine missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, created the Cyrillic alphabet that they had a written language of their own.

Even after Olga’s son Sviatoslav defeated the Muslim Volga Bulgers and the Jewish Khazars, the Slavic people remained largely pagan. After Sviatoslav’s death, his youngest son Vladimir wrestled control of Rus from his brother Yorapolk. Vladimir kept paganism for many years prior to converting to Christianity. He had as many as seven hundred wives and erected statues of pagan gods prior to attempting to establish Perun as the singular god. Rus was surrounded by advanced religions, and Christianity was spreading to areas such as Hungary, Norway and the Baltic. Around 988 Vladimir sent emissaries out to nearby nations in search of an official religion. Vladimir turned down Islam for prohibiting the consumption of alcohol, and Judaism for being a landless people. He also rejected Roman Catholicism for its dull foreign ceremonies. Vladimir settled on the Eastern Church from Byzantium largely because of their beautiful cathedrals, though proximity to Constantinople and availability of Cyrillic writings may have also been factors. This choice may have ultimately contributed to their isolation from Europe, but it earned Vladimir the title of “baptizer of the Russians.”

During this period, the rise of Rus, the highest levels of society didn’t have a tremendous amount of influence upon the lower levels, and the class structure was complex. Below the Rurik family there was an aristocracy called the muzhi. There was also a class of military elite known as the boyars. Below them were the urban middle class liudi, who would employ skilled workers called “younger men”. The lowest class of free men, and the majority of the population, was the smerdy. At the lowest level of society were the enslaved cheliad, and the indentured zakups. Most of the people lived in small towns which employed local government through town hall meetings known as veche. The goal of the veche was to achieve a consensus; sometimes they would have to resort to fighting or intimidation to establish an accord. Because many of the government decisions that effected people were made locally, there was likely a disconnect between the smerdy and the upper ruling class. In fact, the veche could remove the prince of their town and replace him if they felt he wasn’t doing a very good job. So, even though a boyar or prince had a higher station in life, it didn’t mean much if he didn’t have a town that wanted him.

This decentralized legal system, combined with divisions due to linguistic and ethnic reasons, along with the appanage system and foreign invasions, contributed to Rus’ decline. However, the greatest of these causes was most likely appanage. Since a father would split his land among his sons, with each successive generation the size of land held by individuals decreased. These various types of division made it easier for the Mongols – or Tatars as they are know in Russia – to conquer Rus.

The Mongols first beat Rus at the battle of the Kalka River in 1223, but they were turned back by the Volga Bulgars. The Mongols returned in 1240 to defeat Russia and impose their will, a time period which has come to be known as the “Mongol Yoke.” The Mongols were ruthless, highly unified, and possessed superior war strategies. They easily defeated the divided Rus areas, enslaving men from conquered areas and placing them on the front lines of the successive attacks. The boyar’s failure to unify their resources due to misplaced thoughts of self preservation directly contributed to the Mongol’s success in defeating Rus.

During the “Mongol Yoke,” Russian progress was retarded and cultural development stagnated. The Mongols massacred a huge percentage of the population and many others fled the region. Any skilled workers who remained were largely repurposed for military duties. This effectively purged Russia of skilled artisans. And, besides for military abilities, the Mongol society was not very advanced itself. They lacked a written language, religion, and governmental skills. The Mongols contributed very little to Russian culture, certainly less than the destroyed.

The Mongol’s power started to decline when Khan Uzbeq empowered Ivan Kalita, or Ivan I, to manage the area around Moscow. Ivan I used his commissions to buy land and expand his principality around Moscow. Also during Ivan’s reign, Moscow became the religious center of Russia. It started when the head of the Russian Church, Metropolitan Peter, died in 1326 while visiting Moscow. Ivan Kalita persuaded the Metropolitan’s successor, Theognost, to settle in Moscow. This marked the beginning of Moscow’s rise to prominence.

When the Grand Prince Dmitri took control of Moscow, the Mongols were working on a plan to join with the Lithuanians and fight Moscow so that they could reassert control. But, Dmitri defeated the Mongols at the Don River before they got a change to join up with the Lithuanians, earning the name Dmitri Donskoi. After his death, Dmitri’s son Vasilii I continued to gather land around Moscow. And, his son, Vasilii II, subsequently forms the first standing Russian Army.

During the “Mongol Yoke,” the votchina system started to develop in Rus. This system was similar to feudalism, except that the people who worked the land were not attached to it and could move freely. But, after the “Mongol Yoke” is gone, Ivan III enacted the Sudebnik of 1497 and effectively causes the enserfment of the smerdy by restricting them to moving only on St. George’s Day. The Sudebnik was later changed so that the smerdy could not leave their land at all, right around the time that the feudal system is ending in Europe. This was also a time when the Orthodox Church started to gather lands due to their privileges under the Mongols.

Ivan III enacted the Sudebnik of 1497 to provide pomesties for the dvorian, a group of professional government workers. Pomesties were the estates that the gentry class accepted as payment for their service to the government. This was one of the steps that Ivan took to take control out of the boyar’s hands and consolidate it for himself. Along with this he also established the Mestnichestvo, a system of ranking members of the boyar duma.

Also during the rule of Ivan III, the church came under fire for possessing so much wealth. By 1500, the church was the largest single landholder. The Strigolniki argued that the church should renounce its wealth as a way to purify its message. And, Ivan was sympathetic to this cause since it could have allowed him to seize church lands for the dvorian. But, ultimately, he decided that it would be better to let the church keeps it power. One reason for this was that the boyars supported the Strigolniki, and he certainly would not want to support anything that they supported. Another reason was that the church was supporting him and giving him extra legitimacy, especially with the ideas of the Third Rome.

After Ivan III, his son Vasilii III further expands Muscovy’s control by taking Ryazan. When Vasilii II dies, his son Ivan IV is too young to assume the throne, so the boyars effectively take control. Once he is old enough to take control he feels that he has been abused by the boyars, and that the boyars have robbed his family of wealth and endangered Russia. So, he sets out to take even more control away from the boyars. He establishes the chosen council to rule Russia and eventually the Zemskii Sobor, which calls for representatives from throughout Russia. The Sudebnik of 1550 furthers these goals, but more importantly technology starts to favor strong central rulers. Gunpowder is becoming available, and Ivan the Terrible uses the central governments wealth to create units of musketeers and artillery. This reduces the boyars’ power since they are only equipped with cavalry. This is the point when Moscow is at the center of a strong centralized Russian state.

Originally written October 10th, 2009

My O'Reilly Book Collection

2009-11-25T19:55:00.000-05:00

I have more books from O'Reilly than from any other publisher. I have been buying their books since the beginning of my IT career; I keep coming back to them because they produce quality books that are designed for use by professionals.

To show the diversity of work that I have done and the variety of my curiosity I have decided to create a list of my collection (after the jump). Of course I have not read every book from beginning to end, some are for reference (though I have probably read every page in a few of the reference books).

The Westernization of Turkey

2009-11-24T18:30:00.020-05:00

Modern day Turkey is located in an area that was the heart of the Ottoman Empire; one of the largest Islamic empires in history. Yet today, Turkey is one of the most western style Islamic nations, and is even a candidate for entrance into the European Union. Though it's history is relatively short, the series of events that led up to the Republic of Turkey's westernized state is quite complicated. Through that history, Turkey has been able to balance the demands of maintaining a republic with Islamic traditions.

It would seem as if modern situations in the Middle East mirror aspects of Turkey's history. And, these recent events in world history may tempt Americans to believe that this transformation must have been induced by some sort of allied nation-building efforts after the world wars.¹ Though the United States' history influenced the transformation, it was then promulgated by the Turks.

The American Revolution and establishment of the republic of the United States in the late 18th century was followed by a spread of republicanism and nationalism across the globe in the 19th century. Prior to this movement, nationalism in the Ottoman Empire was based primarily upon religion since that was the most unifying force. This new type of nationalism was based upon ethnicity, and the size of the Ottoman Empire and the variety of people under it's rule made it particularly susceptible to this new type of nationalism. The empire also used the millet system, which was an early form of religious tolerance, to help them control their vast territory. Under the millet system, non-Muslim religious bureaucracies were allowed to preside over their people's laws, so long as they administrators swore allegiance to the empire. The long term effect was that religious and ethnic boundaries were essentially left in place, and this aided the spread of ethnic nationalism.

Turkish nationalism was obviously the most important nationalism movement in Turkish history, but in reality all of the nationalistic movements under the Ottoman Empire were at least loosely intertwined. The tensions between these groups combined with the Empire's inability to reconcile them contributed to it's fall. Turkish nationalism started with the Turanian Society in 1893, which lead to the Turkish Society, the Turkish Hearth, and eventually the Turkish National Movement.

The Turkish nationalists joined forces with other nationalistic groups to reinstate parliament and started the movement to dissolve the monarchy after Sultan Abdul Hamid II suspended the Ottoman parliament. This marked the beginning of the end for the Ottoman Empire. The onset of the first world war may have delayed the ultimate demise of the empire, but in the end it contributed to the downfall.

As a member of the Ittifak Devletleri, or what we know as the Central Powers, the Ottoman Empire was on the loosing side of World War I. The war officially ended for them with the signing of the Armistice of Mudros on October 30th, 1918. With the armistice, the Ottoman Empire gave up military control of all regions outside of Anatolia and acquiesced to the Allies' military presence across their lands. The nations that comprised the Allied powers had divergent opinions on what to do with the Ottoman Empire, which ultimately lead to it's partitioning, leaving the Ottoman Empire with only the Anatolia region. This partitioning was official implemented with the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres on August 10th, 1920.

After the Armistice of Mudros, the British and the French occupied Constantinople and each nation also controlled distinct areas of Eastern Anatolia. At the same time the Greeks and Italians were fighting over western portions of Anatolia. The only portion of Anatolia that the allies were not laying claims to was the rugged north central region. The Turkish nationalists, who were not please with how their country was being dissevered, began to organize in this central region which included Ankara.

During this time a former military commander and war hero named Mustafa Kemal was appointed as Inspector General of the remaining Ottoman military forces in Anatolia. His primary job was to oversee the organized disbanding of the troops, but he used the communication resource at his disposal to communicate the Allies' activities to the Turkish people and organize various nationalist groups. The British forces and the Sultan discovered what Mustaka Kemal was doing and began looking for a way to stop it. They held an election and ushered in a new parliament in hopes of appeasing the people. But, it quickly became apparent that the Sultan was effectively a puppet of the British and the parliament only had power to implement laws that were agreeable to the British. In spite of this, the nationalists convinced parliament to enact Misak-i Milli. This was a pact that affirmed nationalist policies and ran contrary to what the Allies were attempting to accomplish.

At this point the British decided that they must take directly control of Turkey themselves, and to do so they would implement western style Christian based governments. They dissolved the parliament, and in March of 1920 the British began taking control of government agencies and arresting nationalist leaders. They also issued a fatwa, an Islamic legal decree, stating that the truly faithful would not be led astray by the nationalists. As a final measure Mustafa Kemal and other prominent leaders were sentenced to death in absentia.

Under the pretense of freeing the Caliphate from Allied control, Mustafa Kemal responded that the capital of Anatolia was now in Ankara due to the corruption in Constantinople. There he set up the Grand National Assembly. To fill the assembly he asked governors and military commanders to conduct elections for the delegates. On April 23, 1920 the Grand National Assembly adjourned for the first time with Mustafa Kemal as the chief.

In April of 1920 the Turkish War of Independence began. Just as reoccurred in modern Middle Eastern history, the British underestimated the diligence of the insurgent militia.² They dispatched numerous small units reinforced with elements of the Sultan's army to eliminate them. In battle many of the Sultan's soldier defected. And though the militia was temporarily routed, the British became worried about their odds of success. In commissioned studies the British determined that at least 25 divisions would be required to ensure success. Not only did the British lack the roughly 250,000 men required, they also faced a political problem. The Great War had just ended, and there was little will to engage in another campaign of that scale. The British decided that it would be best to let other nations do the fighting and made arrangements for Greece to take control of some territories. At various times throughout the years 1920 and 1921 the Turkish Nationalists were fighting the Greeks in the East, the Armenians in the West, and the French in the South. The Turks were essentially surrounded, but they managed to defend their lands thanks to Italy and Russia weapons and the leadership of Mustafa Kemal as commander in chief.

By late 1922 it was clear that the Turkish Nationalists had firm control of Anatolia, and the stage was set for the Armistice of Mudanya, ending the Turkish War of Independence. The armistice gave sovereignty of Constantinople back to the Turks as well as lands in the west controlled by the Greeks. With this success the Turkish Grand National Assembly decided to abolish the Sultanate, officially marking the end of the Ottoman Dynasty on November 17th, 1922.
Latter that month the Conference of Lausanne was convened in Switzerland to negotiate a treaty that would replace the Treaty of Sèvres. The new Turkish government lead by Mustafa Kemal was not involved in the Treaty of Sèvres, so they did not recognize it. Out of the conference came the Treaty of Lausanne, which was enacted July 24th, 1923. The treaty was ratified by the new Republic of Turkey and serves as international recognition of it's sovereignty.

With the international recognition of the Republic of Turkey the nationalist could turn their attention to setting up a more Western style of government. The first step was to establish that the government would be secular. This meant the abolishment of the Caliphate on March 3, 1924. The bicameral parliamentary system was replaced with the unicameral Grand National Assembly. The representatives in the assembly were directly elected. The office of Prime Minister and President were also established, and Mustafa Kemal served as the first president.

The reform and westernization of Turkey did not end with the establishment of a modern secular government. Mustafa Kemal and his fellow revolutionaries had a set of reform goals they wanted to implement that reflected their pragmatism and were modeled after Muhammad Ali's work in Egypt. The reform goals cover six major topics: republicanism, populism, secularism, revolutionism, nationalism, and statism. This set of major goals latter came to be collectively knows as the Kemalist ideology, or Alti Ok which means six arrows.

Mustafa Kemal's idea of republicanism was basically the same as the classic definition, the nation should be lead by an elected leader rather than by a leader selected through heredity. Kemal used his sense of pragmatism to explain these concepts to an Islamic nation who had been under dynastic rule for centuries. He convinced his citizens that the laws on earth should be defined by the practical needs of an earthly existence.

In many ways populism goes hand-in-hand with republicanism, nations should be governed by the entire population and not just the elite. But, at this time in world history not all people were equal, especially in Islamic areas. Women were forbidden from voting in many countries, but in the Islamic world they were also many times forced to wear head coverings. During Mustafa Kemal's reforms women were ensured the right to vote and the right to doff their headgear if they so chose.

There were some very obvious secular activities, like the removal of the Caliphate, but Kemal's idea of secularism went much deeper. The secular ideas of Turkey are similar to those in the United States, but even more forceful, bordering on denial of freedom of religion. This was arguable necessary in a society with such strong religious convictions and nonsecular history. The government does not involve itself with religion, and religion does not involve itself with government. The secular ideas have some overlap with populism, and have caused some conflicts. In secular Turkey, women working for the government in any capacity are forbidden from wearing Islamic headgear. This issue came to the forefront as recently as 1999 when Merve Kavakçi was not allowed to be sworn in as a member of parliament because she insisted on wearing a religious headscarf. When this occurred the speaker of parliament summed up Turkey's official opinion very well by stating, “No one may interfere with the private life of individuals, but this is not a private space. This is the supreme foundation of the state.”³

The portion of Kemalist ideology that deals with revolutionism is really to solidify that the transformations are permanent. The revolution was that the old nonsecular systems were replaced with westernized, modern, secular methods.

Nationalism was one of the core ideas that contributed to the Turkish war of independence and their claim to parts of the Ottoman Empire, but the Kemal version transcends this. The new idea of nationalism is that anyone living within Turkey is Turkish, that is the sense of society and unity that they desire, a sense of unity separate from religious and ethnic boundaries. This concept is important since the goal of it is to shift loyalties from tribal rulers, dynastic rulers, and religious rulers to rulers of the state where were elected by consensus of the nation.

Modern day Turkey still struggles with maintaining nationalism in some areas, and today this impacts their ability to join the European Union.⁴ The Kurds in the south eastern portion of Turkey are considered to be Turks by Turkey, but some factions still desire the creation of their own nation.

Kemal's concept of stateism was intended to reinforce the notion of the country's oversight of the economy. The nation will allow for free enterprise, but will step in where free enterprise is unwilling or unable to fulfill a need. To further these goals Mustafa Kemal built a state railway system, established a five day work week, and switched the nation to the Gregorian calendar.

Mustafa Kemal's ideas on how to westernize Turkey were far reaching, he even encouraged Turkish men to wear modern European clothing. Indeed the breadth of Kemal's reforms have elicited some criticism, at times the policies go against western concepts of freedom of religion and speech. Though by most accounts the laws were eased after the nations early years, some very restrictive policies remain. Currently it is still illegal to “insult Turkishness”. And, in the twenty-first century people are still being arrested for infractions.⁵

Despite maintaining these laws that are strict by western standards, the fact that Turkey has been fairly stable for nearly a hundred years is a testament to their effectiveness. Kemal's reforms and the sometimes overreaching Turkish laws have struck a good compromise between the country's western and near eastern desires.

Though Mustafa Kemal did not accomplish all of these achievements on his own, he was a major driving force and receives much of the credit. In honor of these accomplishments he was given the honorary title Atatürk, which means “Father of the Turks”.

Not only through geography, but also through the diligence of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey has become the place where the west and the near east meet.

Originally written June 11th, 2009

SAP KS13 Tip

2009-11-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

There are times when I need to export cost center (work center) information from SAP, and to do so I use transaction KS13 (Display Cost Centers). I have made a selection variant to make the process easier for myself. Once the results are displayed it is easy to click the spreadsheet button and then download the data into Excel.

Domain Restricted Social Networking

2009-11-20T05:06:00.001-05:00

Recently the company I work for decided to block LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking website that has been available for a while now. Presumably they did this in response to the new add-in for Microsoft Outlook that allows for integration with LinkedIn. After questioning the Internet blocking policies with the gatekeepers in Germany a few times, I have given up on trying to understand them. The usual response is that it must be blocked for a reason, though no one knows who makes those decisions or why. Our policies sometimes appear to be based upon avoidance of new technologies rather than exploitation of them.

Social networking is such a powerful tool for sharing information that it should be exploited by the corporate world for sharing corporate information inside and between different teams. It amazes me at how effective Facebook has been at connecting people. I have been reintroduced to people that I have nearly forgot about. This seems like it could be a valuable feature in a a large global corporation.

But, unfortunatly, large corporations like mine tend to see social networking as another online productivity black hole. Many large companies besides mine block social networking sites out of the fear that their employees will waste their days away chatting with friends. And this fear inhibits them from seeing the potential.

Instead of using modern consumer technologies, some large companies favor time-tested tools such as emails and message boards, the digital analogs of typed mail and cork boards. These technologies simply digitized older analog processes, so they are easy for businessmen to understand. But, I believe that future (or current leading edge) technologies will bring their own efficiencies to the table, efficiencies that would impossible outside of the digital world. The mysterious nature of these new technologies, the fact that there is no existing "real-world" equivalent, will hinder the business people's understanding of them and thus retard their implementation.

To help get around some of these problems and get social networking established in corporate culture I have envisioned a social networking site, similar to Facebook, that not only adds people to networks but also restricts them to their network. So, when an individual logs into this social networking site using his corporate email address he is only presented with things relevant to his corporation. The interface should allow the users to quickly add a variety of content, like Tumblr. It should allow for following other people, like Twitter. It should also be linked with Outlook, like LinkedIn. And, it should have a powerful search facility.

I know that even with the domain restriction corporations would shy away from it. Many corporate types have a fear of their corporate data being stored on the cloud. The businessmen are not sure that they can trust these companies to safeguard their data. Which is odd to me, because they have come to extensively trust other companies with their data. If Microsoft was interested in stealing a companies data they could, in theory send out an update to Windows that allows them to do so. Or, a security flaw in Windows could expose the company's data to outsides. So, in my mind, the difference between a vendor who provides software to manage data internally and a vendor who provides external data management is negligible.

I know that these transformation will happen, I am just not sure when or how. I only hope to generate some ideas that could ease the transition, and domain restricted social networking is one such idea.

The CSS Hunley

2009-11-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

On a cool February night in 1864 naval warfare was shaped by an act, that in the context of the ongoing Civil War, was generally insignificant. The Confederate States’ Submarine (CSS) Hunley plunged a torpedo into the hull of the United States’ Ship (USS) Houstonic, becoming the first submersible vessel to successfully sink an enemy ship in combat. Though it did little to help the Confederacy’s cause, it was a major step for marine warfare. The South, which was sometimes perceived as being technologically inept, created the first successful submarine; a very important nautical accomplishment.

The concept of a submersible vehicle had been around since the time of the American Revolution. In 1776, David Bushnell designed and built a single-man submarine named the Turtle. The Turtle was used against the British and their blockade of New York harbor, but never managed to inflict any damage on an enemy ship.

The concept for the Confederate submarine was fueled by Horace Lawson Hunley. Hunley was the Deputy Customs Collector in New Orleans. He knew better than most southerners the need to keep trade lines open with Europe. The Confederates’ trade, at the time, was suffering due to the Union’s blockade of southern ports. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the succeders had no real naval force and thus needed something extra to help overcome the United States Navy. Horace Hunley, along with a few other noteworthy investors such as E. C. Singer and Gus Whitney, would finance a project to build a submarine for the Confederacy.

By late 1861, Hunley had joined up with two southern inventors, James McClintock and Baxter Watson, who were already designing a submarine named the Pioneer. The Pioneer had completed successful underwater trials, but a quick advance by the Union Army forced the trio to scuttle the sub and flee Lake Pontchartrain, where they were testing it. A second submarine was built, but it sank in rough waters near Fort Morgan.

In 1863, the third and final submarine to be produced by the group was christened the CSS Hunley, and after successful trials the Hunley was sent to Charleston to be reviewed by General Beauregard. Charleston was being blockaded and heavily shelled by the Union Navy and desperately needed a way to strike back. The curious vessel was warmly received by the people of Charleston who were hopeful it could break the blockade and stop the shelling.

On its first mission from Charleston, in the summer of 1863, the submarine sunk due to pilot error and killed more than half of its crew of nine. Not wanting to give up hope the Confederacy salvaged the Hunley and repaired it. The people of Charleston were anxious to get the Hunley into service, and because of the initial sinking there were delays. This induced the Confederate military to take control of the submersible. In their haste to make the Hunley ready for service, the submarine with its hatches open was swamped by a swell. It sunk again killing the entire crew save the captain.

After this second sinking, the commanders salvaged the sub once more and selected yet another crew to man the Hunley. This time, they selected a crew of more experienced seamen, including Horace Hunley, to man the underwater ship. All on board were killed when it once again sunk.

Before the Hunley had been brought back to the surface, for a third time, a new crew of volunteers stepped forward. This seemed indicative of the ideology of the South at the time; they must do what ever is necessary to win the war. “Inequality of numbers may be compensated by invulnerability. Thus not only does economy, but naval success, dictate the wisdom and expediency of fighting with iron against wood, without regard to cost.” This mentality made it possible for the Confederates to create the first successful submarine.

After loosing three crews and not successfully completing a single mission, the military commanders, including General Beauregard, were reluctant to put the Hunley back in the water. General Beauregard thought the ship to be more dangerous to his men than the Union and he made sure the crew was aware of the dangers.

The inventors redesigned certain aspects of the craft and the crew did months of more rigorous testing. Finally in February 1864, the ship and crew was ready to embark on another mission.

It was February 17 at 8:45 PM when an officer on USS Houstonic noticed an unusual swell in the water. At first he believed it to be a porpoise, but the steadiness of its course soon alerted the officer of the impending danger. The officer sounded the alarm and the crew of the Houstonic was reported to engage the CSS Hunley with small arms fire, but to no avail. The bullets bounced off the rounded steel hull of the Hunley. It struck its target with a 135 pound barbed torpedo, which exploded as planned. After three minutes of burning, the USS Houstonic floundered killing five of her crew. The Hunley had finally succeeded at sinking a Union ship.

On shore, fires were lit to guide the submarine back to Sullivans Island. The Hunley was to surface and light a blue lantern to signify that they were heading for port. Though the men tending the fires reported to have seen the blue light, the CSS Hunley never returned home. The Hunley and its accomplishments would lay forgotten until 1995 when archeologists discovered its wreckage.

The significance of the Hunley during the Civil War was very minimal, four Confederate submarine crews perished and only one Union ship was sunk. The loss of men from the Houstonic sinking was only five, while the Hunley lost her entire crew of eight. The Union never thought of the Confederate submarine as a serious threat. Moreover, even if it would have became a serious threat, the South would have been limited in the number of submarines that it could produce. The Hunley was mainly a private venture, and the investors lost interest when they saw how unsuccessful it was.

The significance of the CSS Hunley in the perspective of maritime history was enormous. It was the first submarine to successfully perform any actual work. The true measure of any machine is its ability to perform work, prior to the Hunley subs were simply novelties.

The sinkings of the Hunley contributed to the success of future submersible vehicle designers. The CSS Hunley was technologically successful and ahead of its time, created primarily because of necessities brought by the Civil War. It is unlikely that submarine technology would have advanced as far as it did, during the period it did, without the Civil War. The Hunley was a first step that led technology toward the modern nuclear submarines of today.

Originally written April 18th, 2002

Calories in Christmas Ale for 2009

2009-11-17T22:03:00.002-05:00

The answer is, to the best of my knowledge, 313.25!

I think that from year to year the formulation of Christmas Ale can vary slightly depending upon the availability and cost of the ingredients they use. I have noticed that the article that I wrote last year about the number of calories in Christmas Ale is starting to become popular again, so I decided to revisit my calculations and update them for this years formulation.

The number that I came up with this year is significantly higher than it was last year. I would expect an increase, since the alcohol content is up (from 6% to 7.5%), but this seems a little high (the alcohol content is up by 25%, but the calories from my calculation is up by 30%). If you are counting your calories, but don't want to limit your Christmas Ale intake by too much, then maybe you should just average this years number with last years. I mean, it's Christmas Ale, it's worth it.

Alcohol(by weight) = 76.08(OG-FG) / (1.775-OG)
7.5 = 76.08(x-1.022) / (1.775-x)
7.5 X 1.775 - 7.5x = 76.08x - 76.08 X 1.022
13.3125 + (76.08 X 1.022) = 76.08x + 7.5x
91.1 = 83.58x
x = 1.090 (in 2008 it was 1.070)

Now, we can calculate the calories:

C = 851(1.090-1)(1.090+3)
C = 313.25 (in 2008 it was 242.45)

As always, if anyone sees a error in the calculations (or if a GLBC Brewmaster would like to correct me), please feel free to post a comment or otherwise contact me.

Example SAP ABAP Class

2009-11-17T21:13:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick reference on how to write a class definition, implementation, and object instantiation in SAP ABAP. In order to use ABAP objects you must have ECC 6 or greater, I think.

CLASS lc_name DEFINITION.
  PUBLIC SECTION.
    METHODS do_something
      IMPORTING pv_something
      EXPORTING pv_another.
ENDLCASS.

CLASS lc_name IMPLEMENTATION.
  METHOD do_something.
    ... do your things here ...
  ENDMETHOD.
ENDCLASS.

DATA lo_name TYPE REF TO lc_name.
CREATE OBJECT lo_name
lo_name->do_something(
  EXPORTING pv_something = lv_something
  CHANGING pv_another = lv_another).

Flash Game: eGunnery

2009-11-07T16:06:00.005-05:00

This is a game that I made back in 2000 called eGunnery. At the time we were looking for a way to get some online attention for our Army National Guard unit, so I thought that making a gunnery simulation would help. Check it out, but keep in mind that I made it almost 10 years ago! There are multiple levels, so if you are good enough you will get to continue on. It will no longer keep track of high scores, that data was being stored on a server where I worked at the time, but other than that it seems to still work.

2009 GLBC Christmas Ale Homage

2009-11-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

Tis the season to drink Great Lakes Brewing Company's Christmas Ale, so I thought it would be a good time to summarize the articles that I have written pertaining to it. My homage to the best holiday beer ever made.

2008 replica Christmas Ale recipe (named Odinzale)
Calculation of how many calories are in Christmas Ale in 2008
2009 replica Christmas Ale recipe
Also, my guidelines for drinking homebrew

Internal Corporate Advertising

2009-11-06T06:15:00.000-05:00

It is hard to get the word out at large companies. Even companies who try to disseminate information have a hard time getting the right information into the right employees hands. Some firms have company-wide meetings to disseminate important information that has broad appeal, and then use newsletter, intranets, and mass emails to spread other information. The problem is that people become overwhelmed with information and end up not seeing the small things that they may actually be concerned about in the flood of irrelevant information.

Newsletters are great, but the information is not targeted, and many people quit reading them because they don't feel there is value in doing so. The same thing happens with intranets, they work great in the beginning, but as the variety of topics increase people find it harder to focus on the content they are interested in. And, mass emails are many time sent directly to the trash bin.

So how can a large company target the dissemination of information? How can a company effectively share the knowledge of its employees?

Read my possible solutions after the jump.

I was in a meeting discussing this subject one day when an idea struck me. Our company attempts to block external advertisers as a courtesy (or to save bandwidth) when user browse the internet, and the blocked content is replaced with a notice that it has been blocked. I thought that instead of simply telling the user that the content had bee blocked, we should replace the external ad with one of our own. Instead of seeing the advertisement for Coca-Cola or the "advertisement removed" banner, why not show the users an advertisement for a new internal HR benefit or show them a tip on how to build widgets faster.

As I thought about this concept another idea came to me, we should also place targeted internal ads on our intranet. Then, when a user searches for help on Word they get their search results as well as an "advertisement" that provides a link to our companies document templates or documentation standards.

To make this effective the company would need to have an efficient central location for finding information (perhaps a Google Search Appliance, or similar technology), otherwise employees will continue to waste time digging for material in the various locations that they think it may be located and miss our attempts to help them.

Veteran employees have an advantage when it comes to finding information in a large company because they have the experience to know where to look. New employees could get up to speed faster and information would flow between departments faster with a centralized searching system that also uses targeted advertising to guide people in the right direction.

jQuery and FlexBox Cause AJAX Autocomplete Mania

2009-11-05T09:13:00.004-05:00

A while ago I converted the select boxes for one of our web applications to use an AJAX driven, autocomplete input that grabs suggestions from the database. I used jQuery and the FlexBox plugin as described in my post comparing the functionality of jQuery and MooTools. Since then I have had requests to change most of the other applications to use this technology; the users absolutely love it.

For our internal web apps, one of the most common fields is the employee select field. We are using single sign-on, so we know who is entering the data, but we need to also present a list of other users as well. Many of these applications are used at multiple facilities, and normally a user will only want to see information relevant to that facility. Which is good since it allows for the presentation of a select list filtered by location. Without this we would have to generate select drop-downs containing all users from all facilities, which is thousands of users. But, since the Great Recesion, more people are working in cross-facility roles and the need for a complete list has grown. The solution to this problem has been the AJAX driven autocomplete inputs.

I have been reusing the same snippet of code for multiple appliations, and decided to share it here as well. It can be found after the jump.

In the head of the HTML document:

In the HTML form:

<input type="text" id="clockNbr" name="clockNbr" size="10" />
Search for clock by name: <div id="fb_user_clocknbr"></div>

or, for ColdFusion

<cfinput type="text" id="clockNbr" name="clockNbr" size="10" required="Yes" message="The clock Number is required">
Search for clock by name: <div id="fb_user_clocknbr"></div>

SAP SmartForms Checklist

2009-10-21T06:15:00.003-04:00

We currently have a project underway to implement SAP at one of our facilities in Mexico, and for this project I am responsible for getting all of the shipping labels created using SAP SmartForms. I must create a huge number of labels, so I have many labels moving through various stages of development. In order to keep track of each label and ensure that nothing gets missed I have created a simple checklist.

We use a formal service request (help desk) system in which I must create proper requests. The system only supports plain text, so that is what my checklist is. I simply copy this checklist template into one of the service request fields and then change the "O"s to "X"s when an item is completed. I also fill in certain values after they are defined so that I have a reference. Otherwise the team and I could confuse which message types go to which customer.

If you are interested, you can see the checklist after the jump.

O => Create SmartForm ____
O ==> Build form, layout
O ==> Barcode check
O ===> Remove special characters
O ===> Convert to upper case
O ===> Remove spaces
O ==> Mulitple paper sizes
O ===> DIN A4 format
O ===> /SGD/BC_SSF_PAGEFORMAT2
O ===> /SGD/BC_SSF_GENERATE
O ===> /SGD/BC0036_SSF_PAGEFORMAT
O ===> ED1 > SPAD
O ===> ED1 > ZSFPF
O ===> ED1 > ZSFNU
O ===> ED1 > ZSFTRY
O ==> Printer Settings
O ===> /SGD/BC_SSF_NUTZEN
O ===> /SGD/BC0036_SSF_TRAY
O => Create Output Type
O ==> ED1 > NACE
O ===> V2 (ZLnn) ____
O ====> Master (ENTRY)
O ====> Single (ENTRY_KLT)
O ====> schemata
O ===> V6 (ZL{nn-20}) ____
O ====> Master (ENTRY)
O ====> Single (ENTRY_KLT)
O ====> schemata
O ==> Classification
O ===> ED1 > CL20N
<===> <===> <===> <===> <===>
O => Transport to Quality ____
O ==> Create and release transpport
O ==> Request transport signature
O ==> Transported, date ____
O ==> Printer settings
O ===> EQ1 > SPAD
O ===> EQ1 > SM30 > /SGD/BC_SSF_CNTL
O ===> EQ1 > SM30 > /SGD/BC_SSF_TRAY
O ==> Classification
O ===> EQ1 > CL20N
<===> <===> <===> <===> <===>
O => Transport to Production
O ==> Create and release transpport
O ==> Request transport signature
O ==> Transported, date ____
O ==> Printer settings
O ===> EP1 > SPAD
O ===> EP1 > SM30 > /SGD/BC_SSF_CNTL
O ===> EP1 > SM30 > /SGD/BC_SSF_TRAY
O ==> Classification
O ===> EP1 > CL20N

SAP Exit for PA30

2009-10-19T07:00:00.028-04:00

I recently had to write a small exit for HR that would set certain default values, and then make sure that each group could only be selected from once. Below is the ABAP code that I used to accomplish this small task (inside tcode CMODE, by drilling down).

EXIT_SAPFP50M_001 > ZXPADU01
data:
i0025 like p0025

* stollcri -- 2009-10-05 -- SR1182496
if innnn-infty = '0025'.
CALL METHOD cl_hr_pnnnn_type_cast=>prelp_to_pnnnn
  EXPORTING
   prelp = innnn
  IMPORTING
   pnnnn = i0025.

i0025-pkt01 = '1'.
i0025-pkt02 = '1'.
i0025-pkt03 = '1'.
i0025-pkt04 = '1'.
i0025-pkt05 = '1'.
i0025-pkt06 = '1'.

CALL METHOD cl_hr_pnnnn_type_cast=>pnnnn_to_prelp
  EXPORTING
   pnnnn = i0025
  IMPORTING
   prelp = innnn.
endif.

(more after the jump)

EXIT_SAPFP50M_002 > ZXPADU02
data:
i0025 like p0025

* stollcri -- 2009-10-05 -- SR1182496
when '0025'.
IF sy-tcode(2) EQ 'PA'.
  DATA: ikrt type BUKRT,
   iecount type i,
   iocount type i.

CALL METHOD cl_hr_pnnnn_type_cast=>prelp_to_pnnnn
  EXPORTING
   prelp = innnn
  IMPORTING
   pnnnn = i0025.

* this should only be for the US, check the number !!!
IF i001p-molga = '10'.
  clear iecount.
  clear iocount.
  DO 6 TIMES VARYING ikrt FROM i0025-KRT01 NEXT i0025-KRT02.
   case ikrt(1).
   when 'E'.
   iecount = iecount + 1.
   when 'O'.
   iocount = iocount + 1.
   endcase.
  ENDDO.
endif.

i0025-pkt01 = '1'.
i0025-pkt02 = '1'.
i0025-pkt03 = '1'.
i0025-pkt04 = '1'.
i0025-pkt05 = '1'.
i0025-pkt06 = '1'.

CALL METHOD cl_hr_pnnnn_type_cast=>pnnnn_to_prelp
  EXPORTING
   pnnnn = i0025
  IMPORTING
   prelp = innnn.

IF iecount > 1 or iocount > 1.
  MESSAGE e016(rp) WITH 'Multiple Unique Appraisal Criteria Selection not possible'.
endif.
ENDIF.

New Features in Windows XP

2009-10-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

I know that Windows 7 will be available for retail sale in a few days, but my company is still using Window XP. And, unfrotunately, many people are still limiting themseleves to skills that they learned with Windows 95 and NT.

We have countless people who use the Windows desktop as their main storage location. The desktop is where they store documents, links and even small programs. The problem with this is that once the desktop gets full it gets hard to find what find anything. So, to resolve that problem people organize their desktop icons. And, that works great until the user logs in to a PC with a smaller resolution screen, then all the icons get rearranged. To solve this problem our users found a nice little third party application.

I believe that software should not be used to replace user education, so I decided to create some training material regarding the organization features built into Windows XP. I simply created an image that shows the organizational features that are built in to Windows XP.

Just in case any one else finds themselves in this same situation, the image is after the jump.

Imitation Christmas Ale 2009

2009-10-17T14:45:00.019-04:00

Almost three months ago I brewed up another batch of my Imitation Christmas Ale, and I forgot to write a post about it. But, since that batch is long gone I am considering brewing up another batch and thought that it would be a good time to write up the revised recipe.

I am definitely getting better at this recipe, and this version is much closer to my target, but I still have some things I would like to improve. I would like to add a little more spice flavor and bitterness, so in the next batch I am considering adding some spices and hops to the secondary. Also, the bottled brew was barely carbonated, but the taste was still good. It could probably use a little more time to age. But, as any brewer knows, it is hard to keep yours hands off of beer in the bottle.

The beer was best served at around 50 degrees, and tasted great at cellar temperatures. It did exhibit chill haze (and loss of flavor) at refrigerator temperatures. This would be a good brew to drink on a cold winter day.

The recipe is after the jump.

OG: 1.088
FG: 1.022
ABV: 8.65 %
IBU's: 30.02
Calories: 288

Volume: 5 Gallons
Color: 10.0 SRM

Primary: 5 days @ 70°F
Secondary: 10 days @ 70°F
Aging: 14 days @ 72°F

Grains & Adjuncts
1.00 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L
1.00 lbs Honey
1.00 lbs Honey Malt
3.00 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract
3.30 lbs Muntons ME Light
2.00 lbs Amber Dry Extract

Hops
0.25 ozs Cascade - 45 mins
0.50 ozs Cascade (leaf) - 45 mins
1.00 ozs Williamette (leaf) - 45 mins
1.00 ozs Williamette (leaf) - 15 mins
0.50 ozs Cascade (leaf) - 15 mins

Yeasts
1.0 pkg American Ale - Wyeast Labs 1056

Additions
0.50 oz Cinnamon Stick - 15 mins / Boil
0.25 oz Clove, whole - 15 mins / Boil

(I used iBrewMaster for the iPhone to record this data)

Napoleon was the "Son of the Revolution"

2009-10-17T11:30:00.005-04:00

Please don't plagiarize my work, your instructor will know. If you can find it, so can he/she (I can see by looking at the logs for my site). Thanks.

If the life and career of Napoleon Bonaparte is examined in a vacuum, then it would certainly appear that he was a demagogue and dictator who simply imposed his will upon subjected peoples. But, it would be naïve to judge this great leader without considering the world around him, the events that led up to his rule, and the ultimate effects of his decisions. In light of those circumstances it is reasonable to assert that Napoleon was the “son of the Revolution”, and that he liberated Europeans from reactionary and monarchical rule.

Napoleon started at the lowest possible rung on the ladder where his ascension to greatness would still be possible. If he were any lower in the socio-economic system then he would have not been able to obtain the education necessary to achieve greatness. His rise to power is equivalent to what we call the “American Dream”, and his actions show that he understood the importance of this sort of meritocracy. Napoleon is often quoted as saying, “La carrière ouverte aux talents", which roughly means “careers open to the talented.” And, his rule certainly spread this sort of republican ideology that was ingrained in the French revolution.

Napoleon’s actions leading up to and on the 18th of Brumaire were not consistent with republicanism, but they put him in a position where he could enact reforms that would bring some closure to the French Revolution and bring in an equitable government that was the real goal of the revolution. He reconciled the problems with the Catholic Church, improved education, brought meritocracy to government, reformed the tax code, and implemented his civil code.

When Napoleon latter gave himself the title of emperor many people were disappointed. This was seen as taking France back from a republic to a monarchy, but the practical effect was probably not so bad. Napoleon ostensibly did this to erode the Bourbon family’s claim to the throne, and this logic is somewhat reasonable considering that the other monarchs in Europe would have been happy to reinstitute the monarchy and help solidify their own standing. With Napoleon as emperor the French people lost their republic, but they maintained many of the ideals that they fought for in the revolution. In fact, when the Bourbon family was eventually restored in 1814, not only was franchise for the impotent Chamber of Deputies limited to about one percent of the population, but the king attempted to go back to many of the pre-revolutionary policies.

Napoleon also helped to spread the ideas of the French Revolution beyond France’s borders. The Napoleonic wars tore down aristocracies and kingdoms, then replaced them with nation-states whose people were infused with a sense of pride in who they were rather than who their lord was. The sense of nationality that made people want to be free of Napoleon would not have even existed without Napoleon redrawing Europe.

Napoleon has many critics, but most of the criticisms seem somewhat hollow to me. Napoleon is criticized for waging so much war. But, in all likelihood these wars would have been unavoidable. The other European monarchies would have loved to bring their system of leadership back to France, and would have conceivably made advances without Napoleons strong presence. Most of the Napoleonic Wars were arguably a result of the coalitions formed against France for those reasons. Napoleon was the central figure of the wars, so his name gets placed on them, and thus he takes an unfair percentage of the blame.

Napoleon and his opponents were harsh, but it is my view that Napoleon had the people’s welfare in mind. He was the son of the French Revolution, but the progenitor of European revolutions.

Originally written October 5th, 2009

SAP Quick Cut and Paste

2009-10-16T17:45:00.000-04:00

I recently had a user call and ask why he couldn't copy and paste properly inside of SAP, it was working properly outside of SAP. So, I took a look at his problem and saw that everytime he highlighted some text it would automatically unhighlight itself. After looking through some of his settings I noticed that he had "quick cut and paste" enabled.

To change this setting you must click the "Customize Local Layout" button on the toolbar, and the check or uncheck "Quick Cut and Paste."

This copies text as soon as you highlight it and helps with areas where you would normally have to use Ctrl-y prior to copying. But, it causes some unexpected behavior in areas where you would normally not have to use Ctrl-y. I recomend that if you are in an area of the system where Ctrl-y is necessary a lot that you turn it on, but turn it back off when you are done.

Multi-line ABAP Comments

2009-09-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

In ABAP there is no multi-line comment delimiter, and even the single line comment delimiter is somewhat confusing. If you type an asterisk ('*') in the first character of the line, then that line is considered a comment. If you want to place a comment after some code on a line, then you must use a double quotation mark ('"').

The only practical way to write ABAP code is inside of SAP itself, and the ABAP editor provides a "better" way to do multi-line comments. In the ABAP editor you can create mult-line comments by highlighting a block of text and using "comment" option in the right-click menu. Though all this really does is turn every selected line into a single line comment.

Local SAP Printing

2009-08-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

With our SAP installation we have many printers defined all over the world, but sometimes we don't want to print to a real printer. Especially in IT, we can do a lot of prints to test things, and it is much more environmentally friendly (and cheaper) to print to an electronic file. For our installation there is only one way to do this, using the local SAP print daemon.

We have a specially configured printer named LOCL that will print to the default printer on the local computer using the local SAPLPD. And this is great until you need to print barcodes, there is a problem rendering them correctly probably due to the fonts. To get around this problem we also have a local post script printing option, but it is not very well known.

Instead of using the printer LOCL, we use the printer LOCO (LOCL_PS in the test systems). There is a catch to using this printer, which is probably why it isn't used more often. You must have a local printer set up with the name SAP_POST (SAP_PS for the test systems) that is configured to print to file. When you request a print on LOCO the local SAP line printer daemon searches for the SAP_POST printer and then sends postscript output to it. The system asks you for a file name, and voila, you have a post script file.

Of course the next problem is what to do with the post script file. To view it I installed Ghostscript and GhostView. And that works well for me. But, when other people need to view these outputs I have to assume that they do not have any postscript viewer installed. So, from inside of GhostView I print the label to PDF.

And that is the simplest method I have found for generating PDF output of prints containing special items such as barcodes.

iPhone Brewing App

2009-08-02T15:28:00.007-04:00

This weekend I was planning for my next batch of Odinzale, and I decided that I would check the iPhone app store again for a good brewing application. As luck would have it I found two.

Brew Pal

The first application I found is called Brew Pal (iTunes). This application has a ton of features, most importantly is the ability to create recipes. It allows you to enter all your grains, hops, yeast, and other adjuncts and then it automatically calculates gravities, color, bitterness, and more. Each item type is on a sepperate screen, and it does not allow you to add your own ingredients. While the list is fairly comprehensive, I couldn't add Honey in a way that impact the original gravity.

Brew Pal also has many useful brewing tools, such as carbonation table, flavor estimator, color estimator, hydrometer calculator, and refractometer calculator. And, the tool that I liked the most, the beer style guides. It also has brewing timers and a feature to email recipe information as a very nicely formatted email. Though the email function is clunky. You must enter your email address into the setup area, and then the email is mailed to you from someplace outside of your iPhone or iPod.

But, I found the interface to be gimmicky and prone to many small glitches. Sometimes the list items would have icons for deleting, and other times they wouldn't. The list themselves also acted strangely sometimes. Even though I wasn't crazy about the interface, the tools that it made available made me feel as if my $.99 wasn't wasted.

iBrewMaster

The second application that I found is called iBrewMaster (iTunes). The first thing that I noticed was that iBrewMaster's interface appears to be much more "standard", and just less clunky. The next difference I noticed was the efficiency of the workflow.

Though the basic concept is the same, the operation of iBrewMaster is a little different than that of Brew Pal. With iBrewMaster you either choose one of the pre-loaded recipes (pictured on the right) or enter your own recipe and then create batches. I like the ability to track the recipe batch from beginning to end, and it would be especially helpful for those that might have multiple batches at various stages.

I started by adding my recipe for imitation Christmas Ale, and I found the interface to be much more streamlined and intuitive than that of Brew Pal. There is a list of all your recipes, and when you wish to add another you click edit and then add a recipe. On the edit screen you can easily change the header information and add, modify or delete components of the recipe. The developer, Joe Cannici, managed to cram a lot of information and editing ability into a small area. It helps you see the complete recipe very quickly

iBreMaster also comes pre-loaded with many grains, hops, and yeast types, but it also allows you to add your own.

There were two downsides to iBrewMaster. First, I could not find an easy way to share my recipe. It would be nice if there was a button to dump the recipe into a draft email right on my iPhone. Secondly, it did not estimate the color. When I first started brewing I tended to create brews that were much darker than I intended, and I have since become very good at double checking the color estimate with a pencil and paper. But, it would be nice to have it automatically calculated for me (it could be place, right under the efficiency, that seems to be the only blank spot on the recipe screen). (see the update below)

At $4.99 iBrewMaster is a bit more expensive than Brew Pal, but the difference is worth it to me. For managing recipes and tracking batches, I highly recommend iBrewMaster. But, since it is only $.99, I also recommend Brew Pal for the multitude of tools that it offers.

Update, 2009-08-04: A developer from iBrewMaster recently saw this post and contacted me about it. He informed me that future versions of the application will resolve some minor bugs, add automatic color calculations, and also offer some sort of email functionality. If I heard right, it sounded like he expected these features to be available sometime in late September, just in time for fall brewing. That will make this a solid 5 star app in my book.

iPhone: Jailbreaking and Hacking

2009-07-31T09:17:00.002-04:00

Earlier this week Ars Technica reported that Apple is claiming that jailbreaking iPhones could crash cell phone towers. Then, yesterday, security researchers reported that they could take control of iPhones via special SMS text messages. And, these two stories connected for me.

I haven't been able to find any details of the iPhone hack, but from what I gather the special SMS messages cannot be sent from a factory iPhone only from a jail broken one (or presumably a PC with an air card)

Maybe the reason that Apple has not patched this bug is that they are looking for this intersection. I would assume that though it might be technically possible to take out all iPhones in the world, the probability is low. I would imagine that if a carrier saw a patterned flood of text messages they would intervene. Assuming the real impact of this security hole is marginal, it might make it easier for Apple to convince the government that people should not be jail breaking the iPhone. The fear of hackers hijacking phones could also steer public opinion on jail breaking, making it easier to steer government. Most people don't know or care about baseband hacking, but no one wants their cell phone hacked into.

SAP Printed Label Sizes

2009-07-29T21:44:00.000-04:00

Working for an international company may require setting a printer to print labels (or other types of paper) in multiple standard sizes (e.g. A4 and LETTER). This can be accomplished through SPAD in the tray configuration screen.

Because of limitations in SmartForms we have to take several steps when designing labels to allow output of multiple label sizes. All labels are initially designed in A4 format since it is longer than LETTER. In SPAD the alternate paper size, in our case LETTER, should be assigned to the first paper tray.

If the transaction SPAD is not available, due to security restrictions, then the tray assignments can be viewed using SE16. The table TSP03T shows the output device's tray assignments.

Fear of the Union

2009-07-22T19:17:00.004-04:00

When I started working for my current employer about nine years ago, I didn't think much of the fact that it was an automotive supplier which was not unionized. But as time went on I began to understand the significance. The company was well run. Most of the managers were capable and not simply promoted due to "time in service". The employees were also taken care of. There were many employee programs that you would expect to find at a company on Fortune's list of 100 best companies to work for, though we were to small to be on that list. The employee portion of healthcare was low, there was an annual profit sharing, quarterly bonuses, and numerous other small bonuses and perks. No union would be able to offer the employees anything better than what they already had. But, while I was away beating back the scourge of terrorism, something changed.

Our company has always been owned by a German company of the same name. The parent company would give guidance, but local management appeared to have significant leeway in it's personnel procedures. It stands to reason that they didn't have an interest in American labor economics which is drastically different from theirs.

The German parent company was owned evenly by two separate companies, who did not seem to meddle in the business. And rightfully so, the company was very profitable. But, when one of those companies decided to sell their stake the other happily bought them out.

The other company that bought out our parent company also had operations in North America. The principle difference was that their operations were headquartered in the South. This didn't seem so bad until we started to learn more about this company. They seemed to have at least a few managers who were promoted to their highest level of incompetence, and they certainly did not treat their workers as well. It would seem that they could get away with it since they were located in a right-to-work state. We knew it would only be a matter of time before we started to feel this.

First, the healthcare was changed. The burden of the cost was gradually shifted to the employees. Granted this would "bring them in line with the industry standard", but it would cut into people's real wages. To help offset this pay reduction the also raised the 401k match from 50% to 100%. Of course I ran the numbers and found that I would make out on the deal, but there would be many lower paid employees who would not. Since healthcare costs are equal for all employees, but 401k matching is dependant upon salary, the higher the salary the more you made out on the switch.

Next came the sick day policy. Previously were allowed twelve sick days in a floating twelve month period, which seemed to be very fair. Under the new policy, four sick days in a twelve month period would result in a warning and after the fifth day the employee would be ineligible for any raise. At seven days the employee would be placed on probation and automatically terminated at nine sick days.

Numerous other small changes have occurred, and these have been affecting the ethos of the Ohio based portion of the company.

In my early years of college I had a labor economics professor who said that the unionization of a firm many times signifies a failure of management. As we started to take on their human resources policies, this lecture came back to me and I hypothesized that the Ohio company could unionize if these practices kept up. Fortunately for our firm, the recession took hold and people could see unemployment rising. With unemployment over 10%, most people are just happy to have a job.

But, now that American national politics are controlled wholly by the democrats, who have historically been sympathetic to labor, the company seems to be getting a little nervous. It would seem that once the financial crisis has passed the government will be able to enact more pro labor legislation. The latest company newsletter has an article entitled "Know Your Rights - Get Union Facts", in which the company warns the employees about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

The article "exposes" the fact that union dues could cost a person $500 a year. But, in reality, that may be less than the monetary losses caused to some Ohio employees by the new headquarter's HR policies.

In fairness, my managers have more than compensated me for any real income losses, and I would certainly not be interested in unionizing. But, mine is only one department, and it's an office department where most of the people are on salary.

From my perspective, the headquarters should look at the culture of their Ohio division to see how to stave off unionization. The Ohio division has had the large unions in its neighborhood since it was fonded over 30 years ago, and successfully fended them off by treating employees very well. Writing articles in the employee newsletter most likely won't be enough.