The Pridelands

Help OPENNTF.ORG pick a shirt color scheme!

Bruce Elgort has a poll going on at his site asking what color scheme would work for a shirt for OpenNTF.Org. Head over there and be a part of the process.

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 5:41 AM 0 comments

Merry Christmas! (There, I said it!)

Linus said it best:

"And there were in the same country sheperds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Merry CHRISTmas to all!

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 1:55 AM 1 comments

Grrrr! Car is in the shop!

My 1999 Honda CR-V has been making a rattling sound for about 2 months. Now, it's making a different sound, and the 'Check Engine' light came on, so I had to put it into the shop. My brother-in-law referred me to Downtown Mobil Service here in Detroit. Sam Zammit greeted me and took my keys. I have a good feeling about him and this place.

I just wish I could have waited until after the holidays. This is just another bill I just can't afford...

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 12:42 PM 0 comments

I may not have a Fairy Godmother/Godfather, but I do believe in Santa!!!

Thanks to Santa, I'm going to Lotusphere!!! I even found a picture of Santa to share...
Thank you! I am forever in your debt!

LONG LIVE OPENNTF.ORG!!!

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 9:22 AM 1 comments

Problem with Gmail? Mail not being delivered!

I redirect any my from "TheLionKing @ thepridelands(dot)com" to my Gmail account. Over the last few days, I noticed that I haven't received a lot of mail at Gmail. I sent a test message from one of my other accounts and found that I never received it. Could this be because of Gmail's new anti-virus scanning?

For ANYONE that sent me email over the last couple of days, PLEASE SEND IT AGAIN to TheLionKing (at) thepridelands (dot) com! I'm redirecting my email address to another account.

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 9:08 AM 0 comments

A Story by Kiara

My 3 year old daughter, Kiara, is becoming quite the Internet addict. She goes to just 2 or 3 sites, including PBSKids.org. Thanks to them, my daughter made me a story about the Berenstain Bears. I thought that it would be nice to share it with you. Remember that she's 3 years old...

I picked the words myself daddy! Mom helped alittle.Love you Daddy

One sunny day, Mama Bear decided to go to the park. There were plenty of butterflies about.
Suddenly Mama heard a sound, and thought it might be a dog. The noise was coming from the water.
It was a big dog with a green nose. Mama stopped to ask a question.
''Do you need some help?''
The dog nodded. ''My name is Guiseppe. I was out dancing when a purple wolf with feathery scales took my ice cream.''
''Maybe I can help you?'' Mama replied.
Guiseppe sneezed. ''Thank you. My ice cream is very special, and I need it for my family''.
''Let’s try looking east.'' Mama said.
They headed out together along a path in hopes that they would soon find the missing ice cream.
It was a few minutes later when they finally saw the wolf that had taken the ice cream.
It was busy eating when the two approached.
The wolf growled and quickly pulled out a hotdog from a sack. The wolf looked rather happy.
''Excuse me,'' Mama said. ''Did you take a ice cream from this dog?''
''Yes, I did,'' It replied. ''It’s in my sack. I needed it for my science project.
''But it is not yours,'' Guiseppe replied. ''You cannot just take things that are not yours.''
The wolf looked angry. ''How about I give you this hotdog in exchange for the ice cream?''
Guiseppe accepted the offer and took the hotdog. It was striped and pink.
''My name is Harry, and I’m sorry I took your ice cream'' the wolf said.
''Please just remember to ask next time,'' Mama replied.
Guiseppe was happy with the new hotdog. ''Thank you for your help, Mama''.
They left together and went home.

Moral of the Story – Do not take things without asking first.

THE END

Look out JK Rowling... Here comes Kiara Bilyk!!!

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 10:03 AM 0 comments

I'm Ringing my Bell... Please Donate to my Salvation Army Red Kettle

Usually we here in The Pridelands just make a regular donation to the Salvation Army, but because I'm a geek and thanks to their website, I'm trying something different...

Please donate to my online Red Kettle for the Salvation Army. My goal is to raise $50 for them. They do great work here... PLEASE HELP BY CLICKING HERE!

By the way, for my 'Lotus Friends' out there... The Salvation Army in the USA uses Lotus Notes/Domino!!! (Click here and check out the URL.) I've trained a few of them!

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 8:52 PM 0 comments

IBM/LOTUS...WHY DO YOU TEASE ME SO???

According to the December issue of Clippings, the online newsletter for Certified Lotus Professionals, the Lotusphere 2006 Discount for Lotus Professionals has been extended until January 5th. (You must be registered for the certification private site to access the article they mention and to get the discount.)

Maybe one or two (two?) of my fellow professionals out there can answer this for me:
Is this a bad sign? Could giving this kind of discount so late in the process be a sign that the numbers are down for the 'Sphere? My hope is that IBM/Lotus is in the 'giving mood' this holiday season and have decided to get as many of us as possible to Lotusphere. Your thoughts???

Anyways, it doesn't matter.... I'm still in the same financial situation as last time. Unless my fairy godmother/godfather got certified and needs a companion to share the room costs, I'm still not going to Lotusphere.

Where are you, fairy godmother and/or godfather???

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 7:21 PM 0 comments

T-minus 24 hours for the Discount for Lotusphere 2006

I have about 24 hours to decide if I can afford to attend Lotusphere 2006. In the past 28 days, I've been hit with just about every known bill/tax/fee I could. I really, really wanted to attend this year, but unless I find me a fairy godmother and/or godfather, I'm going to be on the sidelines...AGAIN!

I know that this is vitally important for my career, but after adding in the hotel & plane ticket, I couldn't even get enough money to eat or drink. It probably wouldn't be good to find me passed out from hunger in a session.

If anyone out there has any ideas how I can pull it off, please...now would be the time to let me know...

posted by Ray Bilyk @ 4:14 PM 0 comments