Andrew Pollack's Blog

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  1. 07/27/20122012 Olympics Skype Chat -- Join if you likeIt's been kind of a tradition during some major sporting events and other global things that I've set up a skype chat room and invited people to drop in. They've been a lot of fun in the past, and in one case has evolved into a 4+ year old continuous conversation. Remember: People will be joining (I hope) from all kinds of sources. Friends, family, yellowsphere, facebook, G+, and twitter, and other extended contact groups. Be excellent to each other and it will go well. Why Skype? It has some really ......
  2. 07/01/2012Some myths about the Affordable Care Act -- Explained, and a link to some helpful informationYou can start here: Consumer Guide to Affordable Care Act, Everyday Health, Kaiser News Network How Will the New Health Care Law Affect Me?, Lifehacker.com How People Get Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act, The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation What Does The Affordable Care Act Mean For People With Cancer?, The American Cancer Society Health Reform Fact Sheets, AARP Health Reform Law and Small Business Owners, AARP Fact Sheet Health Reform Law for Small Business Employees, AARP Fact Sheet Kaiser's Health ......
  3. 04/24/2012The next iteration in using Twitter to market -- if Twitter doesn't find a way to control some of this, it will die off in favor of something else.Twitter becomes more and more a vector for marketing and less and less a path for valuable (or even just fun) information. If Twitter can't find away to curb this use of their system, they're leaving themselves wide open to be replaced by some other simple tool. To combat almost ubiquitous "reply spam", many of us have closed our Twitter accounts so that our tweets are not public. By keeping them out of the public timeline, we don't get reply spam most of the time. It reduced the value of Twitter, however, ......
  4. 04/21/2012IBM, this is the worst way to handle browser compatibility issues.What you succeed in doing with this method of handling browser compatibility is take something that MAY NOT work, and turn it into something that DEFINITELY DOESN'T work. I know for a fact that this browser works just FINE with the template, because if I change the browser's identifier to claim it is a different version the template works. More important, you've removed the decision from me. This is the kind of arrogant, unthinking, over-controlling, poor user interface design that has users hating the ......
  5. 04/13/2012The usefulness and utility of Notes browser plug-in - promised for 8.5.4 around the end of 2012Sorry for the long time between posts. I've been working on things most of you wouldn't be interested in, and with other social media outlets better suited to the day to day trivialities, I've wanted to keep this blog for things less quotidian. I've also been spending almost no time keeping up with what we call the "Yellowverse". I keep half an eye out through friends in the community but mostly I rely on them to tip me when something really interesting is happening. I'm happier staying out of the rest of ......
  6. 04/01/2012Really enjoying XPages and thrilled to see the market so attracted to it.As I sit writing this, it's a very special day. I've come to realize just how much I love the XPages development tools. The amount of time saved in my development projects is amazing. I'm starting to think I understand why so many companies are halting installation of Sharepoint and rushing back to the Notes and Domino platform to stay ahead of the huge numbers of new IT graduates hitting the streets eager to get their hands on this fantastic technology. April really is off to a great ......
  7. 03/02/2012Ok. I was wrong. This is me eating crow. You CAN separate the validation events on the XPagesEarlier today I wrote a very frustrated complaint post about how with multiple different documents on a single XPage, the validation events would fire off on all of them no matter which document you clicked a button for. I also posted on Stack Overflow with details of the problem. I thought I'd tried everything, and I'd searched the web and found only comments about "IBM knows about this and..." Well, I hadn't tried everything. Paul Withers pointed me toward this fix: I just had to check this box on the ......
  8. 03/02/2012Agh. Just when you think your XPage is behaving -- something else IBM failed to do right. Validation on multi-document XPagesUPDATE: This is actually something already fixed. Paul Withers pointed me to this fix: I just had to check this box on the button event. Now I'm off to eat some crow.... You have got to be kidding me. It turns out that if you have multiple data sources (documents) on different parts of your XPage, although you can individually toggle them into and out of edit mode, save them or discard them individually, and generally act on them as you'd expect; if you attempt to use the built in XPages validation ......
  9. 03/02/2012XPages - Suggestion and a Tip for Newbies on Repeat ControlsI've created a two new categories on my blog called "XPages Newbie Tips" and "XPages Feedback". In posts under either of these categories, but especially "Newbie Tips" my goal is to be positive rather than my usual bitching about the product. The idea for the newbie tips is that as I'm digging into serious development with XPages, I'm coming across things that would really have helped me if I knew them at the start. I plan to make these newbie tips into blog entries, and then as I get a good solid list of ......
  10. 03/01/2012Making progress working with TrialandErrorPages. Some things I've learnedWarning. Despite finally getting to the point where my XPage does the things I want it to do and finally having the code patterns I wanted to start building a real application that users will interact with, I'm writing this blog post entirely in sarcasm font, specifically to blow off steam after an incredibly frustrating day working with this environment. If you came here looking for deep technical insights for xpages -- you're really too early. I don't have any yet. What I can offer are opinions born of ......
  11. 03/01/2012XPages bug - computewithform option for data sources with some formula language commandsBug Specifics: The document you are attempting to save from your XPage may fail to save when the following conditions are all met: 1. You are using the XPage in a web browser (the issue does not seem to happen in the Notes client) 2. You have selected to computeWithForm "On Save" or "On Both" for the bound document ("On Load" does not seem to manifest the bug) 3. There is a computed field on the form which uses the "@UserAccess" function as part of its formula Note: You can work around this by testing for ......
  12. 02/25/2012Companies that avoid telling the truth about their products and services to avoid losing customers, lose customersIf you're going to disappoint your customers, even if you firmly believe that "in the long run" they'll be better off, just tell them. Flying US Airways last night really brought this home, but there are parallels in our software industry that you'll recognize if you stick with me through the airline part of the story first. As a traveler, I understand that some of these delays cannot be avoided. Within the same airspace is Philadelphia, Newark, JFK, and Laguardia with Boston, Baltimore, Washington ......
  13. 02/23/2012Were my website and blog off line today? No, and that's because I use DominoChances are, the web site you're using when you read this blog is an 8.5.3 server running on a Linux virtual machine on a VMWARE ESXi host at a big data center in Dallas, Texas. But not always. For most of the day today, if you'd read my blog or been to my website, you were using a different 8.5.3 server running on a Windows 2008 virtual machine on a different VMWARE ESXi host at a smaller data center in Seattle, Washington. Did you notice? Was anything missing? Probably not. That's because built in to the ......
  14. 02/20/2012Delving into XPages: Wins, Losses, and abject FAILs -- What it has been like to start transforming an existing application I've waited a long time before trying to write anything serious in XPages. I've known about them, and even extolled the potential of them as far back as late 2007 when I wrote the very first public article about them. I said then, and continue to say that whether or not XPages really live up to their potential will depend entirely on how well they're implemented in the client. Until 8.5.3 I have not had any confidence that they were stable enough to be worth working in. Thanks in large part to the work of ......
  15. 02/18/2012Personal Disaster Recovery -- Do you have a plan?This is a little grim, I guess, but what have you done to prepare for possibility -- remote as it may be -- that you one day you couldn't come home? For most of us, a living will, life insurance and a list of our credit cards and other obligations are probably enough. For those of us with small businesses, customers, confidential data, and other people counting on us it may be important to go a step further. I've been working on a "just in case" packet, to be kept locked away in a safe place where my wife ......
  16. 02/17/2012Jeff Eisen moving on from the Notes worldCongratulations, Jeff! Jeff Eisen who has been with the Notes core team for 18 years is moving on. It's a huge loss for those of us who love the core Notes and Domino platform, but it is a huge step forward for Jeff. He's announced he'll be the Chief Architect of Watson Core Technology (the team charged with making Watson do things on the commercial front that actually make money). I've known Jeff a long time and say without the slightest hesitation that he's been one of the best people on the Notes team ......
  17. 02/13/2012No longer in the Design Partner Program, a good news/bad news kind of thingMy participation in the various iterations of the "Design Partner" program started prior to the version 6 release of Notes and Domino. In those days, we had a multi-day invitation only event at the IBM Lotus campus in Westford where a serious discussion took place between the development teams and the design partners that had been invited. The program has changed over the years, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. In all that time, I've offered very pointed (as you can imagine) and ......
  18. 02/07/2012Religious Conservatives in politics should take careful note of the recent Komen foundation mistakeWhen the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation cut funding to Planned Parenthood, they weren't at all prepared for the backlash. Some outlets have reported that the initial decision was essentially the result of pressure from right wing conservative organizations, though the foundation itself says otherwise. In any case, the Komen foundation made the mistake of underestimating the size and strength of the majority in the United States who generally remain silent on the issues of birth control and abortion ......
  19. 02/06/2012Extended Review: EZOPower Ultra High-capacity Rechargable USB Battey PackSometimes you buy several versions of a thing before you hit on the one that really does what you wanted. This is the case for me with battery packs for my USB powered devices. I included this product in my pre-Lotusphere list of power tech to bring along, but it worked out so well that I wanted to give you a more detailed look. Portable Power - 10,000mAh rechargeable USB block($59.99 @ ......
  20. 01/19/2012Lotusphere 2012 – Far better than I expected. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.This will ramble a bit, but after a lead in I’ll try to point out some highlights, a few low lights, and an overall feeling moving forward. It turns out our friend Lotusphere was only MOSTLY DEAD. There is a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. With mostly dead, there’s still partly alive. With all dead, there’s nothing left to do but go through the pockets and look for loose change. The week turned out to be very good for me, even if at the same time it presented the most challenges I’ve had ......
  21. 01/19/2012BP121 - Performance Programming -- Presentation and Demo database as presentedBP121 - Performance Programming, as presented at Lotusphere 2012. This zip file contains the presentation along with the demo database and instructions for using it. I didn't get time to do much with the demo so I promised to post it here. It wasn't really meant for distribution, but it should be fine. Feedback is welcome, but please don't expect much tech support on it. [BP121PRES_and_DEMOS.zip] ......
  22. 01/16/2012Some people know all about RIGHTS and nothing about WHAT IS RIGHT. Here is the story behind #OccupyPelican After the tweets around the community today, a lot of people have asked me what the story was that led to the almost cancellation of a popular session and the social media comments that followed. Here’s the information… The short story is that the IBM lawyers for the Lotus software group – apparently led by Thomas Hagen who is the same person who caused me to decide no longer to do CULT shirts after last year (thagen@us.ibm.com for those who would like to email him with feedback) have been unprofessionally ......
  23. 01/12/2012The Geek Travel Gadgets - Keep yourself powered upAfter seeing Kathy's geek travel gadget list, I thought I'd add some of my own. Most of the gadgetry here is secondary -- the actual gadgets are the phone, camera, tablet, and so on. You know about those already. These are the things to make the other things work better and stay charged on the trip. Here goes (with links to Amazon if you want to buy one) --Power Strip Liberator PlusHigh Power Slim AC Wall Plug to 2 x 5V USB ......
  24. 01/09/2012Apple: I'm just not that into you. Leave me the hell alone!Damn if Apple doesn't still want to take over my PC every chance it gets! You guys know by now that I'm not a big Apple fan. The only Apple device I own is a second generation iPod Touch that I like for listening to audio books and sometimes music. I don't have or want an iPad (though my wife loves her's), I don't have or want an iPhone, and I don't buy music through iTunes. I have nothing against people who have and like these things, I'm just not one of them. Since I use my iPod Touch to listen to audio ......
  25. 01/09/2012Laptop prep for LotusphereWhen I'm not traveling, my trust Thinkpad T510 is used as a secondary machine -- for when I'm working at night on the couch or if the desktop is busy. The desktop machine is where I work most of the day. At a show like Lotusphere I'll be exclusively using the laptop for 8 days so it really helps if I make sure it's in good shape. Taking a few extra steps once in a while keeps things smooth, stable, and quick. Here's what I do to make sure it's all set... 1. I go through my installed applications and remove ......
  26. 01/08/2012Four days of prep time left, then the annual pilgramage to OrlandoI have to say, I'm really looking forward to having a good time at the show this year. This week I'll be working on some code demos for my "Performance Programming" session, some scary stories for Sunday's "They Really Are Out To Get You" with Gab Davis, and getting my tech-kit charged and packed for the week. I'll have time to get to karate at least twice this week as well, before missing a week while I'm in Orlando. If weather permits, I may try to find a quite place in the sand near the Swan to practice ......
  27. 12/19/2011TIP for converting slides from previous formats into Symphony and updating all your formattingLike a lot of you reading this, I'm working on my slides for Lotusphere 2012. IBM wants the slides in Symphony's ODP format -- and has "strongly requested" that we use Symphony to present. I hate Symphony. Truly, deeply, hate it. That said, I've got to use it in this case and I've got a bunch of existing slides I want to drop into my presentation. What's difficult, is applying the appalling templates provided without manually changing every single slide. Here's what I did to really speed things up. 1. In ......
  28. 11/01/2011Fixed my WAN connection failover problem tonightFor the last couple of weeks, my WAN connection here has been failing over from the Cable Modem to the backup DSL connection pretty frequently and the root cause has left me baffled. Until tonight. The failover is handled by my trusty old Sonicwall TZ-170 firewall. It handles both the cable and dsl connections and can handle load balancing and failover. For me, this combination makes sense since my public facing servers are all located at hosting centers so there's no need for a commercial network ......
  29. 10/28/2011Here is an obscure mail routing problem I ran into - and the solutionProblem: Some mail servers are unable to route to #######@subdomain.domain.com In this environment, the Windows based Domino servers were affected, but the Linux based Domino servers were not. It turns out that the affected servers are those running Microsoft Windows server operating systems, and of those, only those sites where the local dns domain use a "default" address for misspelled or incorrect server names within the domain. In other words, those where typing wwww.domain.com would work just as well ......
  30. 09/27/2011Electronic Publishing formats may soon replace PDF -- get ahead of the curveBen has article up right now ( link ) that explains the term "reflowable". In it, Ben explains why the de facto standard for distributing documents has been PDF for a while, but may soon be switching to ePub for good reasons. If you've ever tried to view a complex PDF file on your Kindle, you'll understand. I fully agree with Ben on the value of ePub, and I think that the seemingly unassailable PDF is going to fall more quickly than anyone could have predicted. My advice: Get to know ......
  31. 09/08/2011CULT Shirt RetirementWith mixed feelings, it is time for me to announce that I will not be producing a CULT shirt for the 2012 Lotusphere season and do not anticipate producing them in the future. I've spoken to Rocky Oliver about this and he agrees that the time is at hand to end on a winning note. The CULT shirts were first created by Rocky Oliver and Henry Newberry more than 10 years ago. When Henry stepped away from the process in 2004, I took over the bulk of the production work and as Rocky became increasingly busy I ......
  32. 09/01/2011Mission Ridiculous: Attempting to Upgrade Phones with Verizon WirelessVerizon is literally beginning to crumble under the weight of its own regulations. Mission Goal: Upgrade my Daughter’s old Verizon Wireless phone to a new phone that can handle the Family Locator, and upgrade my old MIFI to a new 4G Version. Both devices are eligible for replacement under the “New Every Two” plan, provided I renew the contract for two more years. This story gets better and better the further you read. It's a shame, because they really do have the best phone network by far. Step 1. ......
  33. 09/01/2011Simple Rules For Partnering With Another BusinessForgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last submission, and I have committed the sin of omission. Mae Culpa. Over the last few months I've been deeply saddened to watch more than a few generally good partnering relationships go sour. I suppose its the economy right now that has really exacerbated what are normally fairly small and unusal problems, but in my opinion it is even more important than ever that good working relationships are maintained rather than abused. Those ......
  34. 06/08/2011CNN - get rid of the awkward new living room style set from your morning newsFor the last couple of weeks, when CNN is on I've been noticing that the anchor women seem to be uncomfortably staring into the camera from strange angles when their co-host is talking. I realized this morning that its because they've switched from sitting behind anchor desks to sitting on a couch in what is meant to look like a living room style set. It's not working for me. They assume these strange poses that you'd never really see if you were talking with someone in your living room. Some of the women ......
  35. 06/07/2011Fantastic tool - "Connectify" lets you easily share your Wifi connection from your laptop with other devices.If you travel, no doubt you've connected to wifi hotspots in hotels, cafes, airports, other people's offices. A lot of these hot spots require click through agreements and many require payment. Sharing this connection with your camera, phone, ipod, e-reader, and even friends can be difficult. Connecting with each of the other devices is frustrating and not always possible. It isn't difficult any more. Free tool "Connectify" loads on your Windows 7 machine and makes sharing whatever connection your have ......
  36. 05/12/2011Why it makes sense for Microsoft to buy Skype - and why they'll have a very hard time making it their ownSo Microsoft is buying Skype and a lot of people are questioning the reasons and the price. While the price does seem high, virtually all tech world buyout prices seem ridiculous to me and frankly, Microsoft has a ton of cash laying around that they need to invest, so I'm going to table the price discussion and let the wall street types argue over that part. From a tech perspective, if you start by agreeing that voice and video over the internet is going to be important over the next decade, you're halfway ......
  37. 05/08/2011Follow Up HOW-TO: John Deere L100 Lawn 42" Tractor/Mower Brake RebuildThis entry is a follow-up to a how-to I wrote in 2009 about adjusting the brakes on your John Deere L100 mower. Even if you're planning to do the full rebuild I show here, you should probably read that first. (link) Back in 2009 when I wrote the original posting, I had no idea that 3 years later I'd still be getting positive feedback from people on it. I'm glad that I've been able to help people get their brakes working right, and I've decided to follow it up with more detail. For me, the adjustment was no ......
  38. 03/29/2011Do you need a new server hosting or colocation provider? Here's a great site to help youI'm setting up new VMWARE ESXi server at another hosting provider. The one I have is excellent, but as Second Signal grows, I'm looking for as much diversity in my fail-over location as possible. The new provider will be in a different geography and with a different hosting provider. Finding a new provider can be difficult. The market is very fluid and very competitive. I came across "Hostvoice" quite by accident and decided to use their form to submit a request for quote. My needs are very specific, and ......
  39. 03/20/2011Is it time for an entirely new Notes Client?The venerable, powerful, all encompassing Lotus Notes client is more than 20 years old. Its hallmarks include a complete backward compatibility that covers virtually all of those years. While that complete backward compatibility has been one of the product's greatest strengths, it is also one of its most challenging aspects as the development team works to continually modernize and add features. Being fully backward compliant has been a huge advantage to the product. Upgrades of Lotus Notes and Domino ......
  40. 03/16/2011Oh what a relief.... I'm no longer using godaddy.com for my DNS or SSL needs.I have finally had enough. Enough of the renewal notices and letters months in advance, enough of the automatic billing to renew certificates, and most of all enough of 4 or 5 screens full of high pressure add-on sales just trying to pay for a new domain name or ssl certificate. I didn't care about the juvenile and tasteless TV ads. What I did care about, was getting 3-5 emails a week from them plus postal mail 2-3 times a month, plus phone calls once in a while. What I did care about was the constant ......
  41. 02/28/2011The best way to make social software is to make the best softwareIBM did an excellent job focusing and defining the conversation with this year’s Lotusphere. While the rest of the IT industry is rushing to get their cloud strategy in order, IBM asks the question “What is social software for business?” It’s a great question, but may not be one with the answer IBM wants. Software isn’t social. People are social. People have been using social tools for business for as long as there have been people and businesses. Ask any sales person and they’ll tell you that all business ......
  42. 02/22/2011Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series - and an appology to DuffbertIn a chat some time back, we were talking about the kind of over-macho crime-drama books that make for good brain candy and travel reading. I'd brought up characters like Lucas Davenport (John Sandford) and and John Corey (Nelson DeMille) who I enjoy for their thick sarcasm and thought patterns unadulterated by modern human resources department filtering. Both authors allow their characters to think all the things we're generally better off filtering out of polite conversation. Tom recommended I take a ......
  43. 02/07/2011Lotusphere 2011 Wrap-UpIt may not have been the most exciting, but from IBM’s perspective it may have been one of the most successful Lotusphere events in recent memory. From the Opening General Session right through to the last minute, IBM set the tone and topic more effectively and more in tune with customer demand than I’ve ever seen them do before. While the rest of the industry is talking excitedly about magic cloud computing solutions and social interactions like Facebook, IBM asks the question “How can we use this for ......
  44. 02/07/2011Presentations from LS2011These presentations were delivered at Lotusphere 2011: JUMPSTART: Defense Against the Dark ArtsGabriella Davis and I have revised our pre-conference jumpstart this year, organizing it not by security feature, but rather by threat vector. We've broken down the security around Domino into the risks as they come from different kinds of characters and what you should be doing to counter those risks.Best Practices: Performing Your Own IBM Lotus Domino Security ReviewThis is a strategy and technique session, ......
  45. 01/20/2011Credit where it's due - IBM Finally made the Sofware Access Catalog on Parterworld Useable!It's years overdue, and they've taken a lot of criticism for years about it (including from me) -- but IBM Partnerworld actually --IMPRESSED-- me with the changes to the software access catalog. It only took about 5 clicks to find it from the Partnerworld login page (and you can make your own shortcut that gets you to within 2 pages of it). Once there, the minute I started typing my search term ("Traveler" in this case) the correct matching options dropped down and the top option was the latest version. ......
  46. 01/17/2011Here's why your Snow Thrower may be leaking gas all over your garage.Eighteen months ago I wrote a little article about how to adjust the brakes on a lawn tractor because I couldn't find the information myself when I searched. It's turned out to be one of the most appreciated articles on the site, and I still get "thank you" notes on it regularly. In that spirit, here's a similar article for owners of Tecumseh engines on snow throwers (aka snowblowers) and lawn mowers. The same thing has happened again. I found very little helpful information on this problem when I ......
  47. 12/17/2010The small shop upgrade - Here's a customer that really loves their Notes client.I'm on my way this morning to perform any upgrade for an customer of mine. They're moving to Notes 8.5.x on the server as well as the client. That in itself isn't all that uncommon. Here's what you may find surprising. There are only two people in this office, and they don't use any Notes apps any more. They just just love the Notes client and they trust it, in combination with the server, to provide a reliable and highly functional mail system. This customer originally was given a Notes client while at a ......
  48. 12/12/2010The Lotus Awards – Formerly the Beacon Awards -- no longer represent the BEST of what’s out thereI’ve been fortunate enough to have been nominated for the Lotus Awards three times. I’ve been a finalist twice, and I’ve won an award category once. Peer recognition is very gratifying and I certainly felt honored by the experience -- especially as one man shop, where I have to imagine,propose, sell, develop, deliver, and support the solution personally from start to finish. That’s why I’m so disappointed with the direction the award has taken recently. The awards are meant to represent the very best work ......
  49. 12/07/2010Sad to say that I have some CULT SHIRT sponsorships still openWith just a day or two left before I have to commit to the shirt order, we have fewer sponsorships this year than we have had in many years. That's going to mean a few less shirts will be out there. With one last minute drop-out due to the economy, as of now we'll have a bit over 1300 shirts -- that's down 400 from our biggest year. The shirts will still be out there, but they're going to be a bit harder to get your hands on. Last minute sponsors are still welcome today and tomorrow, but by Thursday I've ......
  50. 12/06/2010TOP GEAR USA: UPDATE -- It's getting much better. Show #3 was excellentI just thought I'd update my previous review -- show #1 definitely sucked. Show #2 was better. Show #3 was funny as hell. Nicely ......
  51. 12/03/2010Even if you don't ski, consider SKILUG this year - it's going to be different, and funGet together with your LUG friends without ditching your family. Bill Malchisky has been working really hard to organize a different kind of 'LUG and I think it's got real potential. He's just announced SKILUG for 25-27 Feb 2011. The idea is to mix a FAMILY weekend with both conference and fun. Bill has been organizing ski club trips for years and wanted to mix that up with a user's group meeting. The concept is outstanding. He's arranging for airport transportation shuttles, food, lodging, group rates for ......
  52. 12/03/2010Here's what I'll be presenting at LS11This year at Lotusphere 2011 I'll be presenting the following: 1. On Jumpstart Day, I'll be presenting with Gab Davis about security. The session is called "Defense against the Dark Arts". Gab has been doing a lot of work on this already, and I'll be jumping in to work with her on it in about a week when I'm visiting with them. For the last several years, we've done our A-Z of Security in this space. The problem has been that it is increasingly difficult to cover so much material in under two hours. Gab's ......
  53. 11/22/2010Top Gear USA – It’s a great joke, told badly.I’ve watched Top Gear for years, so with a bit of trepidation I turned on History Channel to watch the first show of Top Gear USA. The idea was to bring the hit British show to the US market. They’d use our roads, our presenters, and some of our cars. Overall impression: They copied the format, but they didn’t get the joke. It’s like they took the UK version of the show and sucked out all spontaneity, humor, and class then moved it to the ugliest settings imaginable. If Top Gear is steak, potatoes, and a ......
  54. 10/26/2010CULT LS11 will be a limited run unless we have a few more sponsorsAs of right now, we have only half the sponsor slots filled for CULT shirts. Please pass the word around, or you'll find that we have far fewer shirts to hand out this year and you're far less likely to get one. I'm going to get mine either way, and having 50% fewer boxes means it will be far easier for me - so no problem there. Still, I'd love to make sure everyone gets one. Sponsorships are open to nearly anyone in the community. Typically this is IBM BP's and ISV's. It costs $1200 and you end up with at ......
  55. 10/20/2010The C.U.L.T. 2011 Top Ten List! Please add your suggestions here!Every year, the back of the C.U.L.T. shirt (Certified Unofficial Lotusphere Tshirt) includes a top ten list of one kind or another. This year is no exception. The topic for this year is Cloud Computing, and I'm looking for the best ten one line items in the following category: "Top Ten Things to Know about IBM in the Cloud" By "Best" things, I'm looking for things that are clever, funny, snarky, witty, subversive, and eye catching without being overly wordy, slanderous or libelous in any actionable way. ......
  56. 10/18/2010Where Lotus Live may present opportunities for Services PartnersThere’s been an understandable grumbling from the IBM Business Partner community surrounding the Lotus Live and Lotus Live Notes offerings. For years, IBM has pushed for Partners to sell licenses and then gone directly to those end customers to make the sale for renewals. In larger accounts, partners have complained of being undercut on licenses costs and generally not being treated well by the IBM sales force. I don’t sell licenses, but people I know and trust who do seem to give these stories a fair ......
  57. 10/17/2010Dear IBM - Wake the hell up. Your utter failure in enterprise identity management is killing all your products.What’s killing Lotus Notes as a first choice for Enterprise Mail in so many companies is not Lotus Notes. We know that with the work of DAOS, ID Vault, and other advances; the Domino server is kicking serious ass in terms of platform efficiency, server consolidation, resource management, and performance. We also know that the client has improved to the point where it no longer compares as the backward, ugly, hick relation to Outlook. Indeed, there are plenty of people who find it better looking and more ......
  58. 10/16/2010End of one era, start of another - on the same day.In 1991, one of the first consulting jobs I had was for Chipcom Corporation. I was working with a consulting firm out of Southborough, Mass at the time and they wanted a way to distribution information to their resale chain around the world. The world wide web we think of today wasn't an option in those days. We built a solution using a Lotus Notes server, with an "Octopus" 8 port serial card connected to a bank of modems. The modems allowed partners to connect and replicate using their Lotus Notes version ......
  59. 10/06/2010Got some cool stuff done with vs.Net combined with Domino Designer this weekThe remote software I use for Second Signal to relay audio data to the PBX and also to pick out the activation tones is written in Visual Studio, while the web server is Lotus Domino, and the PBX is Asterisk. The remote client communicates to the Domino server using Web Services, but until now it has only really been to post log data and send an alert when a tone-activation occurs. Setting up, configuring, and managing the the remote software had to be done using something like VNC to remotely control the ......
  60. 10/01/2010It's official (unofficially) -- There will be CULT shirts - Sponsorships are 1st come, 1st serveThere has been a surprising amount of interest in the shirts this year, so if you want to sponsor, get email to me quickly. I need to gather the sponsors over the next week or two so I know how many shirts to order. Follow this blog entry and the linked information to learn what you need to know. Sponsor or not, comment here if you have a favorite! You know the shirts: The first four years, managed by Henry "NEWBS" Newberry, with Rocky "Lotusgeek" Oliver --- 2000 - "Notes World Order" 2001 - "Domino ......
  61. 09/10/2010Time to talk about the CULT shirt for 2011Here's the official trial-balloon. Should there be a CULT Shirt for 2011? How many people/companies are interested in sponsoring it? Anyone have any great ideas? To be honest, I want to see some enthusiasm before I start down the road of gathering sponsors, ordering shirts, and doing ......
  62. 09/02/2010Linux ext3 file system performance wierdnessI've had trouble off and on with a couple of Domino servers on linux. The server goes pear shaped and when I ssh in and look at the console, Domino is reporting drive errors. If you attempt to do anything on the OS at all, you quickly see that the whole file system has shifted into a "read-only" state. This is a bit like a car with a transmission problem shifting into "limp-home" mode. Needless to say, Domino doesn't like being unable to write to the disk. It has happened to me specifically with the most ......
  63. 08/31/2010A few tips for car sales people - if you ever want my business.I've been shopping for cars again. This one is a replacement for the spousemobile, so unlike the one for my daughter, this will be new. Having done a fair bit of shopping, here are some tips for you car sales people out there. #1. Do not bullshit me. I may know more than you think. It's just possible that I know how to build that car you're showing me. One lady insisted that I could ignore the EPA mileage sticker on a new Honda or Nissan (which happened to be what is on her lot) because (and I quote) ......
  64. 08/22/2010Creating a form generating tool that lets non-technical publshers create rich web formsI've been working on a tool for a client that wants to be able to create web forms to use on their site without learning any programming at all. At the same time, I don't trust any data from the browser side on a web site. I always assume that the browser side is open to hackers. That means any submitted form data has to be validated before it is accepted. Here's what I did... For publishing, I used the CKEditor, which is the web browser rich editor I've standardized on. For most web publishing uses, I use ......
  65. 08/13/2010That didn't take long. Oracle is suing Google over the use of Java. Is IBM next?According to this report, Oracle is suing Google over the use of Java in its Android operating system and applications. It hasn't been that long since Oracle bought Sun, and with it gained a controlling interest in the way the Java license is interpreted. On the one hand, it seems unlikely that this suit will go anywhere. On the other hand, by betting your operating system and application strategy on a run time environment that is controlled by one of your top competitors, you are only asking for trouble. ......
  66. 07/20/2010IBM has invented the time machine - and not in a good waySteve Mills is now in charge of both hardware and software. According to The New York Times.... The management changes, announced in an e-mail message to I.B.M. employees, were intended to improve the company’s products and services, Mr. Palmisano wrote. For example, computer hardware and software are for the first time being placed under the oversight of one executive......Increasingly, Mr. Palmisano wrote, computer systems must be “designed and brought to market as tightly integrated” packages of ......
  67. 07/18/2010A lot of work, but something I've always wanted to do -- Fixing up a car for one of my kidsOne of the things I've thought about for years and have always wanted to do, is to fix up a car for one of my kids. I'm not sure why, but its just something that I've thought about since they were really small. Of course, daydreams being what they are, the reality is never quite as grand in scale -- the 70's era muscle car turns out to be a 2002 Kia, and instead of an old pole barn to work in, the car is up on ramps in my driveway. Still, I'm really enjoying getting to do the work, being able to do the ......
  68. 07/13/2010Old Spice -- Their marketing team fully groks social media. You know the old spice guy (I'm on a boat)? I don't care for their products, but their ad people have gone social nuclear. Read this to see how they've totally "Got" social media promotion. ......
  69. 06/22/2010Product Review: Plantronics Savi Office wireless headsetOverview While at The View conference in Boston, on the recommendation of Chris Miller I took at close look at the Savi Office wireless headset from Plantronics at the display booth. What I was looking for was a good wireless headset that had better range and quality than the various Bluetooth devices I’ve tried. The representative from Plantronics and I had an interesting conversation about the future of various VoIP products, after which he decided to give me his demo display model to try out and ......
  70. 06/16/2010Ed Brill has a blog. Peter O'Kelly has blog...Ed is an executive at one of the largest corporations in the world. Peter is not an executive. He's a smart guy and he works for Microsoft, but its not the same. When Ed makes a statement about a product, he is literally speaking for IBM. When Peter makes a statement, he's sharing his opinion. I'm not discounting Peter's opinion. He's a smart guy and he's got a lot to say. On Ed's blog, any lunatic with an axe to grind can post pretty much anything they want without moderation. At most, truly crazy or ......
  71. 06/15/2010How about Traveler for Desktop?With Traveler for Apple iPhone et. al; the host OS provides the client. With Traveler for Android, however, I understand they're building the mail, calendar, and address book clients. I wonder how hard it would be to make a Traveler implementation for native Java. The Android stuff should be 90% there already. Better yet, is the interface to the traveler servlet documented anywhere? Could we build an OS "Native" implementation for Apple, Windows, and ......
  72. 06/15/2010Why XPages is not LCD any moreLCD (Lotus Component Designer) failed in the marketplace. Since the bulk of it was repurposed for Notes & Domino as the XPages designer, one of its criticisms has been that heritage. While I'm not a big fan of the architecture -- the fact that it relies on J2EE is a huge turn off for me -- I'm not willing to buy the argument that because it came from LCD it must be no good. First, while I agree with Rob's comments up to a point and while the intent was clearly to just slide in LCD as a low-cost and ......
  73. 06/15/2010Fixing Domino Designer - I’m limiting this post to things specific to fixing the Domino Designer Client. I may talk in another post later about next steps and new features, new design architectures, library interfaces to other design tools, and changes to the client strategy – but for now those are off limits. First – Move XPages to a standalone tool. The XPages application has no business being inside the old Notes Designer Client, and keeping it there has a strong negative impact on one of the key goals of XPages – attracting ......
  74. 06/14/2010Bandwagon: Why the decline in Notes seats, when the Domino server is still the best value on the marketplace? Here's why....The Domino server still represents the best value in the industry as an application platform. So why is the market clearly still losing ground on corporate desktop seats? More important, what can be done about it? The problem isn’t lack of advertising – though that could certainly be better. The problem isn’t IBM’s website – I agree, it stinks in all kinds of ways, but that’s not what is causing problems in the marketplace. To think it is, is to think major IT decisions are getting made by CIO’s surfing ......
  75. 05/17/2010Unified Comunications Server? That ship sailed -- it's time to move on.While nobody was looking, "Unified Communications" has already happened -- just not the way you were told it would. UC was supposed to be about turning your PC into a telephone system. While several companies were pushing hard for this to come true -- Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Avaya, etc... other companies made it happen in reverse. RIM and APPLE have lead the way with Nokia and Google close behind. They've put your PC in your telephone. I'd say I fall in to the category of "early adopter" on the idea of ......
  76. 05/09/2010Risky Business; plus Weekend Work -- Crappy Equipment, a plague of mice, and tired feet.Hi all - It's been a busy spring and I've been lax with the blogging. Here's an attempt to catch you up. Work first - There's a lot happening with Second Signal right now. I hope to be making an announcement soon about the next steps toward global domination. That's meant a fair amount of work both on the business side as well as the technical. Given how busy I've been with regular (paying) work this year so far, it's been difficult to reconcile. That's the risky part. I've been able to help a friend out a ......
  77. 04/15/2010"It just isn't possible" -- Sure it is, you just don't know how to do it.How many times has the voice of customer service told you something isn't possible? I had a bit of a frustrating morning dealing with Fidelity. It did turn out OK, but it shouldn't have been that hard. Each year, as Saint John the Accountant finishes my taxes, he tells me how much I can put into my SEP IRA (the equivalent of a 401k for us self-employed types). Since this is a pretty serious deduction, the amount I put in impacts my taxes quite a bit. In fact, if I were to have put nothing in the SEP IRA ......
  78. 04/15/2010I believe it is time to improve the auto-update capability of the IBM Lotus Notes and Domino InfrastructureI probably make as big an effort at keeping up with new versions of the Domino server and Notes client software as almost any admin, but with the increasingly rapid pace of change it's getting somewhat more difficult all the time. Many of us have wished for some better automatic update capability for a long time. It's starting to get important enough to demand attention. With 8.5.2 due fairly soon, we'll have had several fairly important updates all within the space of a few months -- 8.5.1, 8.5.1 fp1, ......
  79. 03/28/2010Firefighter's Ski Race -- ......
  80. 03/25/2010Stopping http, ldap, and smtp password dictionary attacks and worms - Domino for LinuxIf you're a regular reader here, or if you've seen me speak at conferences, you know that Security is a big focus of what I do. I've been recently trying out a nice tool for Linux servers that's designed to stop dictionary attacks and worms and such. The tool comes with pre-made configurations for common linux packages like ssh, ftp, and apache web server but it can be easily expanded to include other applications. Fail2Ban essentially watches log files for entries showing failed password or other such ......
  81. 03/24/2010Here's some free code - a Lotuscript library you may find useful.I built this originally for use with a client -- but there's nothing client specific in here. This is a straightforward implementation of the SHA1 hash algorithm. SHA1 is commonly used for credential hashing and token validation in single sign-on applications. When given a string data, it returns a specific hash value, which will be the same every time for the same input string, but which cannot be "decrypted" back to the original. The hashed value is much smaller and easier to store. Hashed values are ......
  82. 03/23/2010Notes & Domino tech people - you NEED to read, print, and save this document.Understanding the IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.x client directory structure - Thank you Susan! http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/dominowiki.nsf/dx/Understanding_the_IBM_Lotus_Notes_8.5.x_client_directory_structure Very very very good stuff here. It should be translated for MAC and LINUX, but if you use either of those platforms, the information here is still useful and very easily ......
  83. 03/18/2010File this under "Damn, I should have known that" -- CSS and Relative PathsI was whining about a feature being missing in Designer 8.5.x yesterday in a closed forum for "Design Partners" when I learned something I wished I'd known a long time ago. I'm writing this to share it with you, so you can be saved the work I've been doing. The feature I wanted (and still want) is for file resources that use the new editors (e.g. CSS, HTML, JAVASCRIPT) to allow "" values or at least some form of tokenization to allow you to include things like "@webdbname" and profile document values in ......
  84. 03/16/2010The CKEditor - with Domino -- will be better than rolling your own!If you don't know the CKEditor, you soon will. Maureen (and others) have recently gone public with the announcement that starting in near term release of 8.5.x, that fantastic rich text editor will be shipped built in with the Domino server and will be integrated for easy use for XPages. One thing that's hard to do at present with the CKEditor when you integrate with Domino, is handle the built in browsing/uploading/embedding for file attachments, images, flash, and so on. There are plug-ins for ftp and ......
  85. 02/14/2010Great weekend sleddingI'm from "away" -- a term which in Maine speak means that I wasn't born here, and while I've been here for nearly 20 years I am very easily spotted as a non-native to pretty much anyone with long time family roots in the area. Being from away, there are things I just hadn't had a chance to do that most Mainer's take for granted. This weekend, I got the chance to scratch a few of those off the list. These included going 'upta camp', being significantly north of Bangor, and spending a fair bit of time on a ......
  86. 02/10/2010Is anyone really considering a move to a hosted Exchange system?I got this press release today from someone I really should learn to just ignore -- but I couldn't help myself. I actually read it. What struck me as the most odd set of statements in it focused on the idea that small and medium businesses are migrating away from Notes and into hosted exchange environments. In other words, that the move for small business into the cloud was somehow based on ISV's hosting off-site Microsoft Exchange mail servers for people. I suppose there must be some out there. This one ......
  87. 02/06/2010When does an application stop belonging to its owner?When an application becomes truly successful and people start relying on it for things they consider important, is there a point at which the application starts to belong to the owners? Facebook's latest change brings the topic to mind, but it can happen to you with internal applications as well. There comes a time when users begin to have a personal stake in the design of a good application. Facebook makes a great example for when your users really own your application. Its user base is both extremely ......
  88. 01/29/2010Lotusphere 2010 - Session Survey ResultsSession results are always a bit strange to go through. I want to share what they looked like for me this year. Nearly all the comments were outstanding - but there's always one that really leaves me scratching my head. Like most speakers who take that part of their work seriously, I try to look at every survey, and pay extra attention to ones with written comments to see if there are things I can do better for next time. You have to grow a bit of a thick skin sometimes because there are always some ......
  89. 01/27/2010Is UPS just plain broken? * Updated* Updated January 27th -- Notes at the end of the original story. UPS is usually pretty reliable. My experience, however, has been that if the smallest thing goes wrong the whole process grinds to an inexplicable halt. Let me show you an example. On the 20th (a Wednesday) Lenovo shipped three packages to me. Two of them came from China. The first made the trip in the expected (and paid for) two days. The second seems to have spent days sitting in Shanghai and has so far chained itself to the wall in ......
  90. 01/25/2010My presentations posted here from Lotusphere 2010I've posted my slide decks from LS2010 here. Please keep in mind, this site is the ONLY place you'll find the actual slide decks I used, along with any updates made when people point out issues, additions, or errors. Please use these slides to advance your own skills, but do not redistribute them or copy the content into other forms or presentations. It is not cool to re-upload these to a drop-box, to scribd, to slideshare, or anyplace else without specifically asking me first. I've been extremely ......
  91. 01/24/2010Me - in bobblehead form[] On stepping down from my term on the Board of Directors of The Penumbra Group, I was presented a token of appreciation. The presentation of a small gift is fairly traditional, however the gift itself was most definitely not. Gab & Carl worked with my wife to gather the necessary photos and have made what may be the most odd parting gift ever. A bobblehead figure of me, in fire gear. The accompanying plaque says "Bravery in the face of Penumbra" along with my dates of service. I've placed the idol on the ......
  92. 01/23/2010Announcing the C.U.L.T. Shirt 2010 Winner ......
  93. 01/19/2010Great round table with Kristen Lauria about the Lotus Knows campaignAs you may have seen posted from some of our more fleet fingered friends, Kristen Lauria, VP of Marketing and Channels, IBM Lotus hosted a round table for those of us in the "Treat Bloggers as Press" program. The topic was the "Lotus Knows" campaign, and let me say that I'm impressed as hell. I'm not a marketing wizard, so I can't tell you she's right -- but I can tell you that everything she's saying and doing resonates with what I want to see said and done. To me, that means she's a genius. Keep in mind ......
  94. 01/19/2010The Review: Lotusphere 2010 – Opening General SessionI know there are tens of thousands of you out there slowing turning blue as you hold your breath waiting for my personal take on this year’s OGS. You may now begin breathing again, as I’m about to impart this vast wisdom. Just a note, if you fail to restart breathing, try passing out and flopping around on the floor until you draw someone’s attention and they can call 911. That usually helps. Disclaimer: Once again, I’ve been invited to participate in the “Treat Bloggers Much Better Than They Deserve By ......
  95. 01/10/2010The LiveScribe Pen - Reviewed [] It's been a busy few weeks getting ready for LS10, In the mean time, Barb bought me a new toy for Christmas and I'd thought I'd do a review. The [LiveScribe Pen] makes note taking in meetings & presentations a lot easier -- if it works. The question is, Does it? 1. What does it do? Basically, it's a pen with a good voice recorder built in that remembers where it was in the recording at the time you write any particular note on your pad of paper. The paper itself is "active" with microprinting so the pen ......
  96. 12/11/2009Comparing the iTouch/iPhone with the Blackberry Storm from a Notes Mail user & Geek perspectiveI'm living a redundant mobile access kind of lifestyle right now. I've got a Blackberry Storm connected to a BES as well as an iTouch wifi connected to Traveler. As I've been in the UK for the last few days, and was in Phoenix for several days already this month, I've had a time to get a fairly good idea of what it's like to live and work with these devices. Here's my take. Connectivity Since I'm using an iTouch and not an iPhone, the comparison isn't quite even. I have to be near a known wifi router to ......
  97. 12/03/2009Traveler - for the Non-Mac Admins Like MeToday I bought an iPod Touch and installed Traveler on my 8.5.1 Domino mail server. It was so easy as to be shocking, and works perfectly. I thought I'd give a run down on it in very quick and dirty terms for those of you who, like me, aren't really Apple fans and don't have an iPhone to play with -- but are getting requests from your users for this functionality. First of all, understand that I've never owned an iPod Touch or iPhone -- and while my kids and wife have iPods, I don't. I don't use a Mac, and ......
  98. 11/26/2009Montezuma's Castle, Sedona, Oak Creek CanyonOn the way to my father's place in Parks, Arizona (near Flagstaff), we took a side trip to see Montezuma's Castle, then up through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon -- which I consider one of the top 5 most stunning places I've ever been. ......
  99. 11/26/2009The Phoenix Zoo - Dad with CaitlinWe spent several hours checking out the Phoenix Zoo, which gets better every time I go. One of the things that was interesting is an area they have for visually impaired people. These exhibits have molded models mean to give a tactile impression of the size or features of some of the animals. Hands on life sized models of several animals are included, as are larger sized examples of reptile scales, alligator skin, and tortoise shells -- and many other things of that nature. ......
  100. 11/26/2009Caitlin with Dad at "Hole in the Rock" - Papago Park, PhoenixI took Caitlin with me to visit family in Arizona this Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from "Hole in the Rock" near the Zoo. ......
  101. 11/18/2009Help settle a bet... ......
  102. 11/18/2009If you didn't get chosen to deliver a Lotusphere Session........well, I'm sorry to hear that and can understand your disappointment. For most of you, you have my best hopes that next year you get a better result. If you think I can help you refine your presentation skills or your presentation submission skills, drop me an email or talk to me at Lotusphere. If, however, your response to not being chosen to deliver was to write a complaint, demand an explanation, or make statements deriding other sessions or speakers, then I believe that is itself a sort of proof ......
  103. 11/17/2009Busy and Fun year for me at LS2010 - Here are the presentations I'll be delivering in JanuaryThis is, as far as I know, the complete list of presentations I'll be doing at Lotusphere. I'm really looking forward to delivering them. The ones I've done before all have a good bit of new content, others are brand new. They're some of my favorites. The A-Z of Domino Security (With Gabriella Davis)IBM Lotus Domino Server & Application Performance in the Real WorldRunning your IBM Lotus Domino server on LinuxPerforming your own IBM Lotus Domino Security Review If you have ideas or specific things you'd ......
  104. 11/16/2009Lotuscript Editor Next Steps - My wish list for "Code Templates"I've spoken about Code Templates before, and how I think they're one of the best new features in Designer. Now I want to suggest a next step. I want to be able to define a different subset of code templates for different kind of agents. In other words when I create a new agent, I'd like the option to select what kind of agent it is and have different (or additional) template code dropped in. For me, the biggest key would be for what I'd call "Web Action Agents" I would include some standard code I use to ......
  105. 11/07/2009JFGI replaces RTFM. Just [Freaking] Google It. I thought I'd run into the first important software I couldn't use on my laptop with Windows 7. The Vsphere client for VMWARE ESXi. It wouldn't run at all., so I googled it and found two documents. The first, from VMWARE's site, said it wouldn't work: The very next document I opened was written by someone who'd gotten it to work, and gave very detailed and functional instructions. It's hard to remember what we did before the ......
  106. 10/30/2009Awesome fire pictures from Thursday nightSome really cool pictures of a huge bonfire -- The Greely HS homecoming rally held at Twin Brook on Thursday night. Engine 101 was there for safety and to put the coal bed out after everyone went home. Heavy Rescue 103 was there to provide power and lighting for the rally. ......
  107. 10/30/2009Ran into a really oddball bug while working on a 7.03 Domino web app.It took me a long time to figure out just what was going on, but here's the detail: There is a FORM with an embedded View. The embedded view uses the "ShowSingleCategory" value to change what is shown. There is a picklist field on the form, which is populated by a lookup and allows you to pick the category, which is then used by the view. The picklist field is marked "RefreshFieldsOnChange" so that the page will reload using the new value, and thus repopulate the embedded view with data from the newly ......
  108. 10/21/2009Anyone want to be a test case for some hardware that I think will instantly resolve server performance for most servers?I'm talking with a company that makes a bit of hardware that isn't cheap, but that I think would potentially allow Domino servers that are I/O bound (like you, my friend up in Canada) to get as much as ten times the scale and performance without any other changes. I'm talking to them about potentially doing a white paper. The project would require a few sites willing to try it out and be noted on the paper with some performance results (nothing proprietary, just some raw data numbers). If you think your ......
  109. 10/19/2009Comments are fixed. If you posted a comment recently, please check here to re-post.A bug cropped up in my javascript. I don't know why it was suddenly an issue, but it's fixed now. If you posted a reply in the last 10 days, I don't have it. If you want it seen, you'll have to re-post. ......
  110. 10/19/2009Windows 7 - Finally, something worth upgrading to.Last week, I moved Ari's laptop from Vista to Windows 7. That was a no-brainer, because Vista sucked. Her upgrade went very well, and I was impressed enough to try it out on my own laptop -- a much more demanding environment. By living with it on my laptop for a while, I'll know if the next laptop can be a PC or will need to be a Mac. First, before you do what I did you should be aware that current versions of Notes are not officially supported on Windows 7 (which can't happen until it is released and the ......
  111. 10/12/2009If you're just getting to try out Domino Designer in 8.5.1 -- Don't forget to set up "Code Templates" -- it's quick and easy.Sorry for the recycled blog entries today, but a few of these things really need to be widely talked about or they'll get missed. If you haven't see "Code Templates" yet, please check out this note from a few weeks ago: ......
  112. 10/12/2009Speeding up Notes 8.x Start and Run Time -- Technote Updated for 8.5.1Some time ago, I posted a blog entry on how to make Notes 8.x start up much faster. It has been one of the most popular entries on my site. That technote has now been updated to reflect a change to the location of the jvm.properties file. The file is now located in [notes]\framework\rcp\deploy\ -- it's part of the re-organization and optimization done in the 8.5.1 client and this is a much better place for the file to live. You can view the original tech note -- still very relevant -- here: ......
  113. 10/12/2009Installing Domino 8.5.1 on Linux - If you're having trouble with the installer....I've run into this before and had to go looking for the details again today. I thought I'd post it here for easier reference. When installing Domino on Linux -- especially on unsupported Linux Distributions (I'm using CENTOS 5.x) sometimes you'll see the install script crash out with no error when it tries to load the setup.jar. This is caused by a problem with the jvm version or configuration. There's an easy way around it. Use the command: # cd /[PATH]/linux/domino/tools Where [PATH] is the location ......
  114. 10/10/2009Windwos 7 - The Upgrade Process, and First ImpressionsAri's laptop came with Windows Vista and it's been a big pain in the ass all along. It had so many problems that it wouldn't take Microsoft's updates. Now that Microsoft shipped me a release version of Windows 7, I decided to give it a try and fix up Ari's laptop at the same time, since a re-install was due anyway. The Upgrade Process First off, I backed up all of Ari's stuff, expecting to have to reformat the drive. I booted with the Windows 7 dvd and tried to "upgrade" -- but it said I couldn't do that. ......
  115. 10/08/2009The Laptop Conundrum - Have the vendors got lazy?Have the hardware vendors got lazy? Have they just conceded all innovation to Apple? My laptop is nearing the end of its useful life for me. It's a good machine, but is nearing the time when the battery won't take a charge (again), the OS will need a re-install, and the touchpad is getting flaky. I could fix these things easily enough, spending a day or two on it along with a few hundred dollars -- but tossing a bunch of cash at a 4 year old machine isn't smart. Here's the problem -- there doesn't seem to ......
  116. 10/06/2009Is the Notes 8.5.1 release stable? Should you upgrade to it?I started using the 8.5.1 "Code Drops" from the time they became available to us as "Design Partners" with IBM. That means I've been running 8.5.1 as my PRIMARY mail and development client now since BEFORE Lotusphere 2009. Even in its earliest code drops, with most features still incomplete, I found it better than the 8.5.0 release -- and hated dropping "back" to that for Lotusphere 2009. My advice is this: Install it, use it, and take the time to get to know it. The designer especially can take a bit of ......
  117. 10/06/2009Example showing two views that LOOK and ACT the same, but one is 153 times largerView indexes are the real culprit in performance on so many servers. One reason they're too big, is the use of the wrong @Function. Here's the result of a simple test I tossed together. I did this for my presentation on performance at AdminCamp a week ago. I thought I'd share it here. Setup: New database with two forms, both the same other than the form name. Form one has two documents created. Form two has two documents created. What's the difference then? The two documents using form two has have 30,000 ......
  118. 09/24/20092010 C.U.L.T. Shirt Sponsorship Information - Jump on this quickly!It's that time again this year. If you want a free shirt at Lotusphere, direct potential sponsors to the page linked below. You know the shirts: The first four years, managed by Henry "NEWBS" Newberry, with Rocky "Lotusgeek" Oliver --- 2000 - "Notes World Order" 2001 - "Domino Survivor" 2002 - "Fellowship of the Domino Ring" 2003 - "Collaboration League versus Just-Us League" The shirts I've done since taking the reigns, also with Rocky "Lotusgeek" Oliver --- 2004 - "CULT SHIRT ON HUMAN" 2005 - Zen & The ......
  119. 09/06/2009Horray! We can finally talk about what we've been seeing in Notes and Domino 8.5.1I can say without question that every script I write will be better than it would have been in any previous version. The feature I'm about to show you is one of the reasons -- but not the only one. There is a lot to talk about, so first let me dispense with the disclaimers -- Notes 8.5.1 is still in beta. Absolutely anything I say about what I've seen, heard, or used is still subject to change without notice, and no ship dates that I can talk about are confirmed. In fact, it may be an entirely different ......
  120. 08/27/2009Extrication Training - Pictures of us tearing cars apartHere are some pictures I took at tonight's "Special Operations" training. Three cars were set aside in a junk yard and our crews were able to practice using the cutters, spreaders (aka jaws of life) and other tools of destruction. If you're not a firefighter, you probably don't get to see tools like this being put to use. Enjoy. ......
  121. 08/27/2009Ever wanted your own VMWARE ESXi Server? Here's what I built - hardware that worked, and tips for good results.For a small office or home office lab like mine, where the customer facing and public facing services are hosted at co-lo facilities, I'm always needing scratch servers and temporary trial run equipment in addition to my local mail and development server. VMWARE always seemed to make sense for this, and I'm very pleased with how it works on my PC's using their free "VMWARE Server" product. The ESXi product is a next step up. This is what they call a "bare metal hypervisor" -- which means it doesn't run ......
  122. 08/05/2009Lotus Knows MarketingNo, really. Seriously. Marketing. Ok, I fully understand you don't believe me. Let me explain..... No, there is too much. Let me sum up.... At the recent user conference, a new marketing campaign was announced called "Lotus Knows". This is a bid deal by itself, because for years we've been told never to expect a direct marketing campaign that is deeper than general "IBM Software". Suddenly, the LOTUS brand is going to be getting some love. The idea behind the campaign is to really show off the things ......
  123. 07/24/2009Vegas - The appearance of luxury, done on the cheap as always. Same old crap.I'm in Las Vegas for a Penumbra meeting this week. We're at the NYNY hotel and casino, which is very interesting on the outside, and to its credit is creatively and attractively designed in the casino area. Vegas is what it is though. A giant machine designed to suck as much cash as possible from the vast hoards of occasional middle class vacationers. Chief among its tactics is offering the illusion of luxury and opulence when in fact there is very little real luxury to be had. The real win in marketing ......
  124. 07/20/2009Grow. The. Hell. Up.You know who you are. All of you. On all sides. You are behaving like stupid, spoiled children. You're not winning people over to your sides, you're turning people off and reducing the chances that anyone who's watching will ever want to do business with you. Enough ......
  125. 07/13/2009Catching you up - #2 What's going on with the Fire Stuff?I know some of you read this blog only for the Domino tidbits, but some of you have also told me you like the things I post about the fire department. Others want to hear about the kids and the house (hi Mom!). I'd say something like "I try to mix it up" but that's not true. I write whatever random stuff comes to mind. This time it's a fire department update. To begin with, over the last few months we've "renumbered" the apparatus a bit. The move to county dispatch spurred our Chief into trying a numbering ......
  126. 07/13/2009Some words on OpenNTF and Big Thinkers trying to make it workThe OpenNTF project has been at the center of a great deal of hand wringing, finger pointing, and general posturing behavior that only a well established troop of bonobos could love. Where people stand on it seems to depend in large part on what they hope the project to do for them. There are issues of licensing, issues of control, and issues of association. For IBM's part, they're putting time and money into the project and expect to have some serious influence in the result. In additional to a general ......
  127. 07/13/2009Catching you up - #1 New features to not talk aboutSometimes I think the real reason they let me in the Design Partner program is to shut me up. It's been a long time, yeah? On the Domino & Notes development side it's difficult to have much to say right now because all my work is being done in the latest and increasingly greatest code drops from IBM. I'm prohibited from talking about the exciting new features so that leaves me a little speechless. As seems to be the case in so many things, the more you know they less you can say -- conversely, the people ......
  128. 06/23/2009OpenNTF Licensing ChoiceOpenNTF should settle on the Apache Licensing. It allows IBM to consume OpenNTF released software for inclusion into the core product base -- which means really good stuff could get added in as default templates or parts of the mail file, etc. It also means developers can use Google code and other Apache Licensed software without worrying about being excluded from OpenNTF. As far as I'm concerned, if you don't agree, you're wrong -- and you should fork off (your own source tree) -- maybe call it ......
  129. 06/23/2009Web Developers and Artists -- What does a color really look like?The two images in the sample to the right - which LOOK like different colors, are not. they are the same web page and being displayed on the same computer with nearly the same settings. In both cases, the color is defined as "#15433D". [] The only difference, is that the one on top is shown in Firefox using the relatively little known feature introduced in version 3.x which uses the color profile configuration you have set up for your monitor when it renders images. These settings are ......
  130. 06/04/2009Product Review: Verizon's MiFi™2200 Intelligent Mobile HotspotYou're not as connected as I am. If that's not true, you're a pretty unusually connected person. When I'm not in the office, I've used cellular tower based connections for several years. Originally it was just a cellular modem, then Verizon upgraded the network to "1xRTT" which gave speeds comparable to a dial-up line at home. EVDO came out and we boosted to the speed of a cheap DSL connection, and now with EVDO Rev A we can be connected almost anywhere with speeds nearly as good as any hotel or coffee ......
  131. 05/27/2009Second Signal - Starting to see the kind of growth I've been looking forward toThe last few months, Second Signal has really picked up. It's still pretty small scale, but when you consider that I haven't spent any time or money marketing it, any growth is significant growth. Here's some really interest thresholds it's crossing: 1. We'll cross the first major goal of 10 fully committed, independent sites this June. That may not sound like much, but these are customers making significant regular monthly payments for the service, and we're already ahead of "break even" on the books. For ......
  132. 05/26/2009Memorial Day 2009 - Slideshow of the parade, the marching band, the kids' bike parade, etc...This is what it's like to live in a great small town. On Monday morning, Coryn biked up to the middle school to get read while I biked up to main street to get some good pictures. Caitlin and Ari joined us after a bit. Enjoy. Starts off with some shots of the CFD Flag Detail. I put them first because they don't dress that well very often. ......
  133. 05/21/2009Speaking at events that are not specific to our industry - Interesting ReactionLast week, I was in Sacramento to help long time client and friend Laurie Webb with a presentation at the Government Technology Conference. This is a conference entirely geared toward the California state government's I.T. needs. Laurie had taken a booth and sponsorship at the event and had a one hour speaking slot, with the topic "Reaching Citizens through Web 2.0". My job was to help her prepare and deliver that presentation. If that seems a bit outside what you think I do, keep in mind that as a ......
  134. 05/19/2009Corporate Protectionism is as bad as the nationalistic kindI want to talk about Corporate Protectionism in general first, and then I’ll speak about industries in specific. Corporate Protectionism is the term I’m using to describe vendor lock in through long term contracts, through exclusivity agreements on products, and through business process patents. We’re Americans. We’re brought up with the jingoism of freedom, capitalism, and of democracy in what it supposed to be the purest forms possible. We’ve allowed the reality of these to become severely distorted, ......
  135. 05/17/2009Skippy, the Omega Dog! Freedom - thanks to the new "Dogwatch" fenceHere's a slideshow.... Skippy is learning the limits and enjoying the freedom offered by the new "Dogwatch" fence. Dogwatch is a competitor to "Invisible Fence" but we believe it to be more reliable, less likely to trigger in error, and much less expensive over time. The system uses a buried antenna wire in a loop around the house. The dog is warned with a beep if he approaches within 5 feet of the wire. If he gets closer, he gets a small shock. If you train the dog carefully, he understands the warning, ......
  136. 05/17/2009This blog interrupted by the Lotus Design Partner ProgramThere are things I want to tell you about. I've decided it's time to make a statement about some of them. Why haven't I been posting all kinds of neato Lotus Domino tricks? It's this weird side effect of having access to more information. The more you know, the less you can say. A few cynical bastards have suggested that the only reason I'm IN the design partner program is to shut me up. If that's true, it's working and I'm grateful for it. There's no rule against me telling you that I'm in the DP program. ......
  137. 04/24/2009Even more cool integration with the XLight FTP & SFTP Server to Domino - Upload/Download notificiations to the the Domino serverThe other day () I talked about how the XLight FTP server for Windows machines was able to be integrated via Domino's LDAP service for not just login credentials, but for almost complete configuration including individual user home paths, permissions, quotas, speeds, ratios, etc. Here's another very cool feature: When any file is uploaded, downloaded, or deleted from the FTP server, you can have it run an executable program and pass it parameters that include the file path and name, size, the status of ......
  138. 04/23/2009The End for this old Maple TreeThis tree on the side of the house -- right outside my office -- has being slowly declining since we did the addition several years ago. Today was the day to finally have it cut down. ......
  139. 04/21/2009Does anyone need an FTP & SFTP server that can use your Domino Directory for authentication & configuration?For a client project, I needed an FTP -- and preferably an SFTP -- server integrated into the web site. Of course it is possible to use the one built into IIS, or else use a linux server or some other solution. Instead, I found and tested one that gave us a lot more integration. The Xlight FTP Serverruns on just about any flavor of Windows, installs is a few seconds, and can be configured to run multiple virtual ftp and sftp servers. I've opted for the Professional version with the SFTP add on module, and ......
  140. 04/19/2009Some photos of spring in Maine -- Before and After the cleanup ......
  141. 04/19/2009HOW-TO: John Deere L100 Lawn 42" Tractor/Mower Brake AdjustmentUpdate 5/5/2019 -- TEN YEARS after I wrote the original post and it's still helping people! I love your feedback this time of year and I read every single one. It reminds me that spring is on the way and in another month I'll be out mowing like the rest of you. FYI: I've been told that the adjustment nut is on the opposite side on many newer tractors but otherwise, the work is the same. Have fun. Update 5/8/2011 -- If this posting doesn't solve the problem, the brake may be frozen and need a rebuild. It's ......
  142. 04/15/2009Man, I just love working with my enterprise email and calendaring system!Have you every heard anyone not directly involved in managing these systems just declare their love for them? No? Of course not. Just like I don't go around declaring how much I love the way the lights work every single time I flip the switch. If the lights didn't work -- or if I didn't like the way the switch worked -- then I'd bitch about it frequently, but otherwise why would I say anything at all? Does anyone, at any company, stand up now and then and say "Wow, I love my email program!"? Of course not. ......
  143. 04/09/2009Installed YTria EZSuite Today -- Finally; Here's some first impressionsFollowing up from Lotusphere 2009, the folks over at Ytria have gone out of their way to make sure I could take a look at their tools. The demo was extremely impressive at Lotusphere and I've been very remiss in not taking advantage of the chance to try them out. Since the software version I run is almost always some kind of pre-beta or beta, I'm pretty cautious about installing any add-on tools -- that plus lack of time have really delayed me looking at this. The suite consists of tools to manage many ......
  144. 04/03/2009What can IBM do to help grow the Lotus community?In a side conversation this week, I was talking with some people about what kinds of things might increase the size and power of the Domino community. I've heard some suggestions that are pretty radical but I don't think its necessary to go so far. If the goal is to increase and empower the community, I think the best place to start is the community. Think of the Domino community in two or three levels. First, there's a sort of loud, showy, dog and pony show blogger community. I'm in it, some of you are as ......
  145. 04/01/2009Happy Birthday MomHappy Birthday Mom -- and best wishes for many ......
  146. 03/29/2009This site is now running Domino 8.5 on LinuxOver the weekend, I've upgraded my public facing site to IBM Lotus Domino version 8.5 for Linux. After some initial challenges, (how Fascinating!) the site is running nicely and performance is ......
  147. 03/23/2009A few tips for "Graphic Designers" who are creating page mockups for developers to code into web pagesSo called "Designers" take their artsy-fartsy training with Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop to create "Mockup" pages, then ask us as developers to make web pages that look the same way. Sometimes I think they don't really know when what they're asking us to do is particularly difficult. These are my tips to "Designers" -- I hope they'll understand what they're asking us for. I realize that these are "best case" recommendations. Sometimes you want color fades or other things for the look they achieve. Its a ......
  148. 03/21/2009Survival Guide for Lotus Notes and Domino Administrators - Got mine Friday ......
  149. 03/20/2009Why do traditional boxed software companies have their heads in the cloud? ......
  150. 03/17/2009Images not showing up from your Web Applications? I spent hours tracking this down...I've been working on an application for a client, and needed to store file resources both on documents and as design elements (file resources). For some reason, they simply weren't showing up on the web browser when viewed as part of any page. * The images showed up when you would put the URL directly into the browser to view the image itself. * The images showed up when you put the same code and image -- the same document -- in any other databases. * The "Firebug" debugger for Firefox showed the image ......
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