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		<title>Mike Simonds - Blogs - Simonds -  Discussion on Almost Anything by mike</title>
		<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/</link>
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			<title>Mike Simonds - Blogs - Simonds -  Discussion on Almost Anything by mike</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/</link>
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			<title>Salesforce PHP Single Sign On Integration Turorial</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/26-salesforce-php-single-sign-integration-turorial.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:45:30 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Over the next two weeks I will be working on configuring Salesforce single sign on with our active directory servers.  This initiative will allow our...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">Over the next two weeks I will be working on configuring Salesforce single sign on with our active directory servers.  This initiative will allow our users of Salesforce to be able to log in to our organization using their active directory. During this development I will provide step by step instructions on how my organization was able to get this single sign on working and deployed. This blog entry will contain PHP code snippets, the Soap server code, and instructions on how we will be able to develop this. We will be using Salesforce.com's Delegated Authentication to accomplish this. Please stay tuned for more entries over the next few days and couple of weeks.<br />
<br />
Thanks!!<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/26-salesforce-php-single-sign-integration-turorial.html</guid>
		</item>
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			<title>Saleforce.com APEX - Chatter Trigger Tutorial</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/25-saleforce-apex-chatter-trigger-tutorial.html</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:25:53 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>The newest Salesforce.com feature is Chatter. Chatter is a brand new way to collaborate with people at work using your Salesforce.com Organization....</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">The newest Salesforce.com feature is Chatter. Chatter is a brand new way to collaborate with people at work using your Salesforce.com Organization. Chatter is the Facebook application for the business world. You can follow fellow employees and receive real time updates via email from their chatter feeds. Whether it is an update to an account or opportunity, Chatter works great. <br />
<br />
Chatter feeds can be updated using APEX, Salesforce.com's on-demand programming language. By using APEX triggers, a powerful tool that allows for other objects and items to be updated in almost real-time.  The following is an APEX Chatter trigger tutorial which performs an update to the Opportunity Chatter feed when someone updates a field on the Opportunity Line Item.  Developers can program business logic into APEX triggers, which allows for applications to be developed on the Salesforce platform. <br />
<br />
Salesforce has built in governors within their application because it is a multi-tenant platform. One of these governors does not allow for a SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language) to perform more than 20 queries at a time and will cause an exception to be thrown. <br />
<br />
The following APEX Chatter Trigger updates the Opportunity Chatter feed from changes that have occurred on the child object - Opportunity line Item<br />
<br />
<div class="bbcode_container">
	<div class="bbcode_description">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcode_code"style="height:372px;">trigger new_chatter_update_trigger on OpportunityLineItem (after update) 
{
    //Setup the Feedpost array of items to post to Chatter
    List&lt;FeedPost&gt; posts = new List&lt;FeedPost&gt;();
    
    //Setup the array to hold the ids to Iterate through
    Set&lt;Id&gt; pbeIds = new Set&lt;Id&gt;();
    
    //Iterate through the Line Items
    for (OpportunityLineItem oli : Trigger.new) 
    {   
       // Create individual post
       pbeIds.add(oli.PricebookEntryId);
       pbeIds.add(oli.opportunityId); 
    }
    
    //Setup APEX MAP Arrays to get the required data from the Pricebook and Opportunity 
    Map&lt;Id, PricebookEntry&gt; entries = new Map&lt;Id, PricebookEntry&gt;([select Product2.ProductCode from PricebookEntry where id in :pbeIds]);
    Map&lt;Id, Opportunity&gt; Opp = new Map&lt;Id, Opportunity&gt;([select Account.Name, Account.ID from Opportunity where id in :pbeIds]);
    
    
    //Iterate through the line items once again to add the data to the Chatter Object
    for (OpportunityLineItem oli : Trigger.new)
    {
           OpportunityLineItem oldOLI = Trigger.oldMap.get (oli.id);
           //If the part outcomes are different, let's add to the chatter feed
           if(oli.Part_Outcome__c != oldOli.Part_Outcome__c)           
           {
                  
                  //Let's add the PriceBookEntrty Id to ge the Product name
                  String bodyText = 'has updated the ' +entries.get(oli.Pricebookentryid).Product2.ProductCode+ 
                                    ' from ' +oldOLI.Part_Outcome__c+ ' to ' +oli.Part_Outcome__c+ ' on Account: ' +opp.get(oli.OpportunityId).Account.Name+''; 
                  FeedPost opportunityPost = new Feedpost();    
               opportunityPost.parentId = oli.opportunityId;
               //String bodyText = 'This is the body ';                                                
               opportunityPost.Type = 'LinkPost';
               opportunityPost.Title = '' +entries.get(oli.Pricebookentryid).Product2.ProductCode+ ' socket details';
               opportunityPost.Body = bodyText;
               String id = String.valueOf(oli.Id).substring(0,15);
               opportunityPost.LinkURL = 'https://na2.salesforce.com/' +id;
               posts.add(opportunityPost);
           }
           
           //if the max potential has increased by a million, let's add to the chatter feed
           if(oli.Max_Potential__c &gt;= oldOLI.Max_Potential__c + 1000000)
           {
             decimal NewWholeMaxPotential = oli.Max_Potential__c;
                 decimal maxpotentialdifference = oli.Max_Potential__c/1.0 - oldOLI.Max_Potential__c/1.0;                                                             
                 FeedPost opportunityPost = new FeedPost ();
                 String bodyText = 'has increased the Max Potential of the '
                                   +entries.get(oli.Pricebookentryid).Product2.ProductCode+ ' by $' +maxpotentialdifference+ ' on Account: ' +opp.get(oli.OpportunityId).Account.Name+ '';
                 opportunityPost.Type = 'LinkPost';
                 opportunityPost.Title = ''+entries.get(oli.Pricebookentryid).Product2.ProductCode+' socket details';
                 opportunityPost.Body = bodyText;
                 String id = String.valueOf(oli.id).substring(0,15);
                 opportunityPost.LinkURL = 'https://na2.salesforce.com/'+id;
                 opportunityPost.ParentID = oli.opportunityid;
                 posts.add(opportunityPost);
                
                
               }  
       }    
              
    //if the post is empty, don't try and post it to Chatter    
    if(!posts.isEmpty())
    {
        insert posts;
    }    
    
}</pre>
</div> This APEX trigger is called after update, which means that when a user updates the opportunity line item and clicks the save button, the code is invoked. The business logic checks to see if two fields are changed and if the requirements are met, the Chatter feed is updated.<br />
<br />
As you can see, the code is clearly noted throughout the trigger explaining which each step is. This is vital incase other developers need to update or change the code later.<br />
<br />
I hope this helps others in the community. Many thanks to Will for helping me write and understand the steps it took to get this trigger working. I did receive some guidance from Scott Hemmeter, CEO and founder of the  Arrowpointe Corp. He has always been available to help other developers.  Thanks Scott I appreciate it!<br />
<br />
Enjoy!!<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

 ]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/25-saleforce-apex-chatter-trigger-tutorial.html</guid>
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			<title>Salesforce Dev-531 Review - Introduction to Object Oriented Programming Using APEX</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/23-salesforce-dev-531-review-introduction-object-oriented-programming-using-apex.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:05:55 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Salesforce offers continuing education to anyone whom wishes to learn  about their platform. During this past week I attended a class in Atlanta,...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">Salesforce offers continuing education to anyone whom wishes to learn  about their platform. During this past week I attended a class in Atlanta, Georgia at the Microtek Center. The class was Dev-531, Introduction to Object Oriented Programming using APEX. <br />
<br />
The class is supposed to give people the fundamental understanding of how to develop using the Salesforce.com platform development code, APEX. The instructor was outstanding and tried to do his best to answer our questions, but the material lacked the right information to get across to students.  Salesforce outsourced the materials and had the class written by a third parts. At least that is what we were told. They used a dog, yes a dog, to show the analogies of object oriented programming. That actually worked for the first day, but the same analogies were still being used by day 3. Honestly, while we all learned something, the dog analogy was getting a little old.<br />
<br />
Salesforce really needs to revisit the curriculum and use more real world examples and tutorials using everyday objects within their platform. Instead of using the dog, they should have used the account or opportunity object. Also it seemed to me that the instructor was really tied to the materials and if any help was asked outside the material, the instructor seemed to struggle to &quot;think outside the box&quot;. Also while classes seem to be the center point of instruction, I believe that Salesforce needs to restructure the Trigger part of the class and include more examples and cover all angels of APEX Triggers to include:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Before Update</li>
<li>After Update</li>
<li>Before Insert</li>
<li>After Insert</li>
<li>Before Delete</li>
<li>After Delete</li>
</ul>They do not cover all of these different rules, usually sticking with before insert of before update. One item that I learned from this that is extremely important is that when a Trigger before update will automatically update the records without actually writing any DML statements within the Trigger. Here is an example of what I mean:<br />
<br />
<div class="bbcode_container">
	<div class="bbcode_description">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcode_code"style="height:132px;">trigger New_Feed_Update on OpportunityLineItem (before update)
{

  for (OpportunityLineItem oli : Trigger.new)
  {  
    oli.will_test__c = oli.id;  
  }

}</pre>
</div> In the class all of the Trigger examples had DML updates and while easy to understand, I had to get this information from the instructor by asking him because I did not understand how this can work without applying any DML statements.  Now you all know! :cool:<br />
<br />
<br />
Now overall I did enjoy the class and the instructor was willing to at least make an effort. On Friday we actually were able to get the instructor to deviate from the class for awhile and we created a trigger and class to update contacts from the account. It was actually really great that we were able to do this and I think that everyone in the class benefited from this.  I know that I will be able to take the information and instruction that was given to us and apply it in the real world. I really hope to jump start my APEX career because we are doing more and more in the &quot;Cloud&quot;.  <br />
<br />
Please do not allow this to discourage anyone who may read this poor Blog not to take the class.  Salesforce just needs to tweak the curriculum just a little and then the class would be a home run.  Other than the Dog analogy, this class is worth anyone taking.</blockquote>

 ]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/23-salesforce-dev-531-review-introduction-object-oriented-programming-using-apex.html</guid>
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			<title>Preparing to take the PMP certification from PMI</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/21-preparing-take-pmp-certification-pmi.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 02 May 2010 13:00:34 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Two weeks ago I took the PMP (Project Management Professional) boot camp training class out in Los Colinas in Irving, Texas from Global Knowledge....</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">Two weeks ago I took the PMP (Project Management Professional) boot camp training class out in Los Colinas in Irving, Texas from Global Knowledge. This class lasted 4 days from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The amount of information that was dished out to the students was amazing.  PMI (Project Management Institute) requires at least 36 hours of classroom project management training and Global Knowledge pushes this into 4 days.  All the boot camps are the same length, at least from the research that I did prior to taking the test.<br />
<br />
In order to qualify to take the exam, one must:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Have a College Degree</li>
<li>Have 4500 hours of project management experience (7500 hours of experience if the user does not have a college degree)</li>
<li>Have 36 hours of classroom PM training</li>
</ul><br />
The test itself is 200 multiple choice questions and you are given 4 hours to take the test. In order to pass the exam, you have to score at least 60% or greater.  Now I know that this seems easy, but believe me, with the amount of information that is passed on to each student during the boot camp is just amazing.  Not only do you have to take in a ton of information, but you also have to memorize about 10 or so formula’s that are needed to calculate different items during the exam.<br />
<br />
Honestly I have not studied at that much, but I need to in order to pass this exam. I am going to try and study all this week and take the test sometime early next week. You need to do this so you do not lose all the information that is given out during the boot camp. It would be a complete waste of money (the cost of the boot camp) to just let the information be forgotten.<br />
<br />
I hope that I will be able to pass the exam the first go around. I have talked to others that are already PMP certified and they have all stated that the exam is extremely difficult.<br />
<br />
I will keep this blog post updated on my results!<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

 ]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/21-preparing-take-pmp-certification-pmi.html</guid>
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			<title>The Price Of Neck Surgery Is Amazing</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/19-price-neck-surgery-amazing.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:53:00 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>So this is not new to anyone, everyone around me and that reads this site knows that I recently had surgery...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">So this is not new to anyone, everyone around me and that reads this site knows that I recently had <a href="http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/neck-surgery-11/" target="_blank">surgery</a> to repair two herniated disks in my neck. Now what worried me the most about this was the cost because we all know how expensive it is to have any sort of medical care these days. I am not going to blame the medical profession or the insurance, I will not take sides on this issue because I do not know enough about it what so ever.<br />
<br />
All I know is that last August my son had a <a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/tonsillectomy/article.htm" target="_blank">tonsillectomy</a> at Baylor Medical facility in Frisco. At that time I had I thought that I had really great insurance with my company, which is good. It was a PPO plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. This plan covered 90%, my portion was 10%.  I also had a maximum out of pocket, but cannot remember what it was. Well when it came time to switch plans I wanted to ensure that I would not have that type of out of pocket responsibility again, so I changed my coverage. i have a new plan, which after paying a $250.00 deductible, covered everything at 100% as long as I stayed inside the network.  Prior to my surgery I MADE sure that I stayed within the network because I did not want any surprises showing up in my mailbox.  <br />
<br />
Well yesterday the first statement came in, and this will be the first of many. This one was from the hospital where I had the surgery, <a href="http://www.phrtexas.com/" target="_blank">Presbyterian Hospital</a> in Rockwall, Texas. Now I know it was going to be expensive and we actually had some guesses with friends. I said it would cost around $20 K to $25 K, boy was I wrong.<br />
<br />
Remember this is the first of many statements that I will be receiving and I will keep this blog updated with the total cost of this procedure.<br />
<br />
The first bill from Presbyterian Hospital was $ 54,802.80 :(<br />
<br />
When I first opened the statement I almost wet myself, I could not and cannot believe the charges.<br />
<br />
Take a look at the attached itemized bill:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mikesimonds.com/attachments/news/87d1271249182-george-going-do-next-bill.jpg" id="attachment87" rel="Lightbox_19" ><img src="http://www.mikesimonds.com/attachments/news/87d1271249182t-george-going-do-next-bill.jpg" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

Name:	bill.jpg
Views:	90
Size:	99.3 KB
ID:	87" class="thumbnail" style="float:CONFIG" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Can you believe it!! <br />
<br />
I am just glad that I have 100% coverage and that I do not have to pay a dime :D<br />
<br />
Stay tuned for the following bills:<br />
<ul><li>Neurosurgeon</li>
<li>Anesthesiologist</li>
<li>Radiologist</li>
<li>MRI Lab</li>
</ul>and I am sure there are others<br />
<br />
Thanks!!<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/19-price-neck-surgery-amazing.html</guid>
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			<title>Back to Work FINALLY</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/17-back-work-finally.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:03:40 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>It has been one week since I had my neck surgery and I finally was able to return to the office today.  It was hard to adjust coming back into the...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">It has been one week since I had my neck surgery and I finally was able to return to the office today.  It was hard to adjust coming back into the office, but was great to see my co-workers and be able to have face to face discussions with all that I have missed. Everyone was glad to see me, at least they said that, I am sure they were thinking something different.  Maxim is such a great company to work for and gave me the freedom to work remote during my recovery time.  I am blessed to have a great job and a great family.<br />
<br />
The only negative thing that I had to do today was put new tires on my 9 month old Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which costs me almost $800.00, something that I did not need to spend right now.  <br />
<br />
Anyway enough for today, maybe more tomorrow<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/17-back-work-finally.html</guid>
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			<title>Hyundai Geneis Coupe Burnout</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/16-hyundai-geneis-coupe-burnout.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:26:12 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>So I am having to purchase new tires on my 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe 3.8 Track, but decided to test the old wheels by smoking the rear tires. I only...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">So I am having to purchase new tires on my 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe 3.8 Track, but decided to test the old wheels by smoking the rear tires. I only did this because I know that I am getting new tires, they are too damn expensive to do this everyday and my wife would kill me if I were to do this on the new tires<br />
<br />

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</object>
 <br />
<br />
Anyway do not laugh to hard watching an old man trying to peal out!!  :cool:<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/16-hyundai-geneis-coupe-burnout.html</guid>
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			<title>IPAD Loosing WiFi Connectivity</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/15-ipad-loosing-wifi-connectivity.html</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:21:34 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>This has been reported across the Internet today and I am actually experiencing the same issue as others with my 16 Gig, WiFi, IPAD. I am loosing the...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">This has been reported across the Internet today and I am actually experiencing the same issue as others with my 16 Gig, WiFi, IPAD. I am loosing the connection to my home wireless network. There is not a certain application that is causing the issue. The IPAD continuously asks me to place my password back in for my wireless network. <br />
<br />
Apple has confirmed the issue but their knowledge base article is wrong in my opinion.  All of my other wireless hardware does not have any issues connecting once the password has been set. the article, <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3304" target="_blank">iPad: Does not automatically rejoin known Wi-Fi networks</a>, states that:<br />
<br />
<div class="bbcode_container">
	<div class="bbcode_quote">
		<div class="quote_container">
			<div class="bbcode_quote_container"></div>
			
				  <b>Resolution</b><br />
<br />
     If you encounter this issue, try the following:<br />
 <ul><li>Create separate Wi-Fi network names to identify each band. This  can be done easily by appending one or more characters to the current  network name.<ul><li>Example:  Add a <i>G</i> to the 802.11b/g network name and  an <i>N</i> to the 802.11n network name.</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Ensure that both networks use the same security type (WEP, WPA,  WPA2, and so on)</li>
</ul> If the issue persists, reset your network settings using <b>Settings  &gt; General &gt; Reset &gt; Reset Network Settings</b>.<br />
 <b>Note:</b> Always ensure that your Wi-Fi router firmware  is up to date.
			
		</div>
	</div>
</div> <br />
<br />
<br />
There is no way that this is the issue, it has to be a hardware issue with the IPAD and I am sure that Apple will realize this in the near future and have an update for their software promptly, I can only hope.<br />
<br />
I know that one way that I have corrected it was to actually remove the WEP encryption on my network, but that is an unsafe fix and I do not want to share my wireless network with everyone in my neighborhood.  <br />
<br />
I will keep this blog post up to date with comments and the fix once it is resolved.<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/15-ipad-loosing-wifi-connectivity.html</guid>
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			<title>iPad review - on the go</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/13-ipad-review-go.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:02:41 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[Well I am actually riding in my wife's car as a passenger and using my iPhone as a hotspot to post this blog entry, tethered using MyWi and it is...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">Well I am actually riding in my wife's car as a passenger and using my iPhone as a hotspot to post this blog entry, tethered using MyWi and it is wonderful. Who needs the 3G model if you have this hack installed. <br />
<br />
The clarity of the screen and the use of the touch screen keypad is quite amazing. I can type as fast as I can move my fingers.  Surfing the web, replying to posts in your favorite forum is actually amazing. <br />
<br />
What really is on my mind right now is how long will it take someone or a dev team to hack this new toy from apple. I am sure that it won't be that long before cydia or rock is actually available on the iPad.<br />
<br />
Everyone of my friends who have tried it are just simply amazed at how effortless it really is to surf the net. I wil just keep on writing about this until I get bored with it.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned</blockquote>

 ]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/13-ipad-review-go.html</guid>
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			<title>Well I received my Ipad today</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/12-well-received-my-ipad-today.html</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:34:25 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>I have to say hay I am extremely impressed with the usability of this great new application from apple. The screen clarity is just amazing and typing...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">I have to say hay I am extremely impressed with the usability of this great new application from apple. The screen clarity is just amazing and typing this blog entry is really easy. I also downloaded a netflix app that allows you to stream movies right to the screen.  I know that there will be negative comments on this new gizmo, but I have yet to find one.<br />
<br />
Again I was able to get this for free from a friend, thanks Digresh <br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

 ]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/12-well-received-my-ipad-today.html</guid>
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			<title>Neck Surgery</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/11-neck-surgery.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:07:13 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Yesterday morning at 07:30 hours I had my first operation on my body. I am 42 years old and have never once been cut open to fix something internal...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">Yesterday morning at 07:30 hours I had my first operation on my body. I am 42 years old and have never once been cut open to fix something internal in my body.  I had to herniated disks in my neck between the C-5 &amp; C-6 and between the C-6 &amp; C-7 vertebrae. I went to a few doctors to gather as much information that I could about the different treatment options that can be performed.  The pain that I had was just amazing. the herniation was causing pain in my back and in my left arm. It left me almost unable to perform my daily job.  <br />
<br />
I finally decided to go to the <a href="http://www.spineteamtexas.com/mee-biographies-michael-musacchio.aspx" target="_blank">Spine Team Texas</a> and met with a doctor by the name of Dr. Michael Musacchio, a  neurosurgeon  specializing in minimally invasive spine surgery techniques.  He removed the two ruptured disks and placed in cadaver bone fragments into my neck. He then screwed a titanium plate with 6 screws into my neck to fuse the vertebrae together.  <br />
<br />
Once I woke up from the anesthesia, the pain in my left arm was completely gone and here I am at 1:45 in the morning blogging about this procedure.  I have to give kudos to Dr. Musacchio for performing the operation through the front of my neck, going between my carotid artery and my esophagus, a very dangerous area to be working on, well it was flawless.  The treatment I had was the Anterior Cervical Discectomy &amp; Fusion. <a href="http://www.spineteamtexas.com/ViewMedica.aspx?section=000101antcervdisc" target="_blank">You can view a video of the procedure.</a>. <br />
<br />
I am extremely happy with my results and I am sure that my recovery will be a lengthy, but it is well worth the pain being gone.  I would personally like to thank Dr. Musacchio for performing a flawless surgery and giving me back my the use of my neck and left arm</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/11-neck-surgery.html</guid>
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			<title>Apple IPAD Review Number One</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/10-apple-ipad-review-number-one.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:30:11 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>On April 3rd, 2010 I will be receiving an Apple IPAD for some side work that I passed onto a friend and I thought that I would get a quick entry into...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">On April 3rd, 2010 I will be receiving an Apple IPAD for some side work that I passed onto a friend and I thought that I would get a quick entry into my blog about what I review on this new wonder tool from Apple. I have grown to love all apple products in the past year or so. <br />
<br />
I have an IPhone, IPod, MAC Book, and now the IPAD.  Now I do not think that it will replace the notebooks what so ever and at first I was not going to purchase one, but since my friend ordered one for me, it was hard to pass up.  From all the video's I have watched on Apple.com, I feel that it will be a good tool to take with you to a coffee shop to read the paper or watch a movie, even read a book.  <br />
<br />
I understand that it does not allow for multitasking, flash video, no camera, and other key items.  I am sure that later versions will have these or additions, but I am looking forward to the arrival and the ability to play with this new gadget.  <br />
<br />
I think that it seems a little redundant for people to criticize the IPAD even before it is released, I mean it must be something that people will want. Apple as already postponed the shipment dates out to April 12th because of all the pre-ordering and the fact that customers will be lined up at Apple outlet stores across the nation just to get their hands on one.<br />
<br />
I know that Steve Jobs has stated that there will be no way for the IPAD to tether off of the IPone's data plan, but honestly he is wrong about this. If you have an Iphone that is hacked and you can utilize an application called MyWi, you will be able to create a wifi hot spot right from your IPhone, which I have and will let all of you know how it works.  It works well with my MAC book and other computers that I have in my household already, so I do not think that there will be any issues.<br />
<br />
Anyway, stay tuned for more updates....<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>


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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/10-apple-ipad-review-number-one.html</guid>
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			<title>University of Phoenix Review</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/5-university-phoenix-review.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:06:06 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>I am a proud alumnus of the University of Phoenix, damn proud. Sure I have read both positive and negative reviews of the University online and I am...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">I am a proud alumnus of the University of Phoenix, damn proud. Sure I have read both positive and negative reviews of the University online and I am not one to judge the individuals who found that the University is terrible, both academically and financially. That is their god given right to voice their opinions. I have found, no matter what the product, that you will find people that like certain items and ones that do not.  This is just a fact of life, I do not think that I have ever found something that everyone has rated 5 stars.  All I know is that the degrees that I have obtained from the University of Phoenix have changed my life.<br />
<br />
Everyone linked to the IT field knows about losing their jobs to off shoring. In early summer 2003 I was laid off from Computer Science Corporation due to my position had been off shored to India, damn I was pissed, but I was also scared. I had a wife, two young children, a mortgage, and a whole bunch of bills, and no college degree. This is where I put my foot down and told myself that it was time to change that. I served my country for 8.5 years, fought in Operation Desert Storm and was smart enough to take the GI Bill, but had never utilized it and it was about to run out.  In 2003 I enrolled in University of Phoenix at the Dallas Campus to finish my bachelor's degree, which I obtained in November of 2005. I was fortunate enough that my GI Bill ran out the month prior to finishing school in 2005, which left me without any student loans. I was worried how my degree would look in today's business world, how it would be perceived by others. I had heard the rumors about how University of Phoenix was a degree mill and that I would be overlooked because it was not a true degree. Well let me tell you this, which is complete crap. University of Phoenix is fully accredited and not easy. I know that I busted my hump for 2 years in a classroom during nights to complete my degree.<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2006 I was fortunate enough to land a job with Maxim Integrated Products, a semiconductor company out of Sunnyvale, California, where I am still employed today.  What a great company to work for, one that believes in furthering education. In the summer of 2008 I started my masters program utilizing the college reimbursement program at Maxim.  Again I busted my hump for almost 17 straight months and on November 2, 2009, I completed my masters program. I now hold masters in information systems from the University of Phoenix and my company paid for 100% of my tuition. Again I have been fortunate enough to be in a position which allowed me to obtain my masters without any leftover financial obligation.<br />
<br />
Let me tell you about the Masters program just a little. Is it easy? Not at all, it is hard. You have to have support of your family and spend almost all your free time busting your hump to complete homework assignments and studying, not to mention that your work and family obligations still need to be met.  University of Phoenix relies on the team experience in order for students to complete your assignments and your degree. If you are as lucky as I was and establish a partnership with team members that you can trust, you will be able to complete your masters with these team members. I was able to do this with two of the greatest people in the world, Kim and Jule, my teammates for life. So for those of you that think University of Phoenix is a degree mill and that it is not viable in today's business world, well at least from my point of view, it is 100%. For those of you that are thinking about the University of Phoenix or another online degree program do not hesitate what so ever. Obtaining your degree will change your life forever, it has for me.<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/5-university-phoenix-review.html</guid>
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			<title>APEX Trigger tutorial -  update custom object</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/4-apex-trigger-tutorial-update-custom-object.html</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:03:19 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>I stated earlier that I am fairly new to APEX, triggers and classes. I have finally realized that if you want to be successful using Salesforce and...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">I stated earlier that I am fairly new to APEX, triggers and classes. I have finally realized that if you want to be successful using Salesforce and their cloud platform that you have to use APEX. I started with the force.com cookbook, which I picked up at Dream Force 2008 and the new APEX cheat sheets that were available in the developers lounge in the Moscone Center.<br />
<br />
We needed a simple trigger that would update one custom object in when another one was updated by a user. Now in the past we have accomplished record updates using the Salesforce API and PHP, but in those other developments, we were able to use outbound messaging and workflows.<br />
<br />
So here is the first trigger that we actually have in production. This trigger updates another custom object when it is invoked, here is the scenario:<br />
<br />
   1. Opportunity_Trackers__c - This is the object which users can and possibly will delete. This is where we will place our trigger. This trigger will update another custom object called the Design_Registration__c. The association is the ID field from both objects, cross referencing each other.<br />
   2. Design_Registration__c - This is the object that will be updated when the opportunity tracker record is deleted. The system requirements document stated that the design registration record that is associated with the opportunity has to be set to inactive for reporting purposes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="bbcode_container">
	<div class="bbcode_description">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcode_code"style="height:336px;">trigger CleanDRLineItem2 on Opportunity_Tracker_Products__c (before delete)
{
  //This is the ID of the record being deleted
  List &lt;Id&gt; otIds = new List&lt;Id&gt;();
  
    // Copy each record's id to the list
    for(Opportunity_Tracker_Products__c ot: Trigger.old)
    {
        otIds.add(ot.id);
    }
    
    // Single query - an array of the Design Registrations that need to be updated
    List &lt;Design_Registration__c&gt; oDRs = [select id, DP_reg_id__c, OwnerID, Inactive__c from Design_Registration__c where Opp_tracker_line_ID__c in :otIds];
 
    //Loop through all the Design Registrations which are returned from the query above
    //set 4 fields on each DR to specific values and inactivate the record
    for (Design_Registration__c dr: oDRs)
    {
                dr.OwnerId = '00540000000oJjiAAE';
                dr.Inactive__c = true;
                string old_dr_number = dr.DP_reg_id__c;
                dr.DP_reg_id__c = 'IN-' + old_dr_number;
                
    }
    update oDRs;
}</pre>
</div> As you can see the trigger is pretty self-explanatory.<br />
I will be posting more articles on triggers, classes, and test classes in the future.<br />
I hope that you find this beneficial<br />
<br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/4-apex-trigger-tutorial-update-custom-object.html</guid>
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			<title>Salesforce.com:  APEX – Moving Full Steam Ahead.</title>
			<link>http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/2-salesforce-apex-moving-full-steam-ahead.html</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:12:29 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Back in the summer of 2008 I was on vacation in Colorado Springs visiting my natural mother. I received a call from my senior manager. He told me...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote class="blogcontent restore">Back in the summer of 2008 I was on vacation in Colorado Springs visiting my natural mother. I received a call from my senior manager. He told me that I was needed in California for a meeting with our senior executives and about 5 senior vice presidents from Salesforce.com. This meeting was more of a dog and pony show. Salesforce was trying to sell us more packages and how we, as a company, could benefit from moving more of our legacy systems into the Salesforce Cloud / Platform.  At first I did not understand why I was along for the ride, but the time came when everyone asked me my opinion. Everyone that is associated with me knows that I am not afraid to speak my mind.<br />
<br />
I expressed my doubts and concerns, some that could not be answered by the senior VP’s from Salesforce.  I stated that moving all our applications and processes into the cloud or on their platform really ties our company, Maxim Integrated Products, to the Salesforce platform.  I asked the question, what if we were to move out of the cloud, what would we do then?  If you develop all your applications within their platform, what do you do if your company decides to move to another solution? Let us not forget that Salesforce licenses are not cheap. If you have a lot of users, the yearly fee can be quite large.<br />
<br />
Now that is how I felt until about 6 months ago because we were able to accomplish all our integrations with Salesforce using their API and PHP.  My thought process changed though when I was given the specifications on a new integration for our worldwide sales team. After reviewing the requirements, I could not think of any other way to build the process without using APEX. So I started to dig in and learn the Salesforce platform language, APEX, triggers and classes. <br />
<br />
This past November, I attended the Salesforce Dream Force conference in San Francisco. This is the third year in a row that I have attended it. I spent most of my free time in the developer’s lounge. I attended different APEX development tracks and learned a ton.  The power of APEX is amazing and Salesforce has built an outstanding interface that allows for development on the fly. <br />
<br />
I am a complete newbie when it comes to APEX, classes and trigger, but I am learning the fundamentals quite fast. I attend to share my experiences here on the new site. I will use the blog, forums, and CMS to promote what I have learned. I will also start some forums for APEX and will try to help anyone that I can, but please understand that I am new to this and that I have a large learning curve.<br />
 <br />
Thanks<br />
 <br />
~Mike</blockquote>

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			<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.mikesimonds.com/blogs/mike/2-salesforce-apex-moving-full-steam-ahead.html</guid>
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