October 2002

Wal-Mart expands Linux offering

by Markus Nolte

Retail giant Wal-Mart has added the Lycoris version of Linux to its menu of budget PCs.

Wal-Mart has become one of the most important mainstream boosters of the open-source Linux operating system and other alternatives to Microsoft's Windows.

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Lycoris Office Suite >

Review of 'The Petstore Revisited'

by Volker Weber

The Middleware Company (TMC) recently published a benchmark report which compares the Sun J2EE PetStore with a functionally equivalent version created using .Net technologies. The J2EE PetStore version was improved from the original code by TMC employees, while the .Net version was written and optimized by Microsoft employees.

Since the previous benchmarks have been considered unfair by most developers, TMC conducted this new benchmark using an updated version of the J2EE PetStore that has been "extensively optimized for performance and scalability". The optimization work was done during 5 weeks by "two experienced Middleware developers", and TMC is a training company who are "experts with J2EE Web-based application servers".

As this review will show, the report is seriously flawed. It contains both errors, halftruths, and lies.

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Surprise, surprise

by Volker Weber

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Vignette to Acquire Epicentric

by Volker Weber

Vignette Corp. today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Epicentric Inc., provider of business portal solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Vignette will pay up to $32 million in cash and restricted stock for Epicentric.

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Redhat 8.0: On the road to ... now, where?

by Volker Weber

Mit ihrer aktuellen Distribution will Redhat vor allem Windows-Umsteiger ansprechen. Im Ansatz ist das auch geglückt, denn sowohl von Optik wie auch Bedienung her macht es von allen Distributionen die aktuelle RedHat-Version Windows-Anwendern am leichtesten, sich auf dem Desktop zurecht zu finden. Allerdings hätte man vielleicht besser auch noch ein wenig in die Technik unter der Haube investieren sollen.

Aber der Reihe nach. Getestet habe ich RedHat 8.0 (Download Edition) auf zwei Rechnern: einem DELL Inspiron 8000 und einem HP Vectra VL400.

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Eclipse 2.1 Milestone 2

by Volker Weber

New and interesting things are starting to show up in builds as Eclipse 2.1 development efforts proceed with a full head of steam. Here are some of the more noteworthy things available in milestone build M2 (October 18, 2002). See the M2 build notes for details about bugs fixed and other changes.

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Bar is closed because ...

by Volker Weber

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[Thanks, Cornelia]

MovableType 2.51 is out

by Volker Weber

Mostly bug fixes, plus two new features.

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Mein Wetter

by Volker Weber

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Soso, zerfetzte Wolken in Augsburg. Und München hat zwei kleine Punkte verloren.

New Groove Quick Reference Guides

by Volker Weber

Groove Networks has published two new quick reference guides:

- Project Manager Tool Quick Reference Guide
- Meetings Tool Quick Reference Guide

There is some interesting information included about the Dashboard that is only available in the professional edition. It is somewhat different from other tools:

The Dashboard tool is the most important feature of the Advanced Project Toolset because it provides aggregated information of the space. It keeps track of all meetings, action items and project tasks.

You cannot add the Dashboard tool to an existing space. There are also other limitations about deleting and adding tools, unless you want to lose their connections to the Dashboard, as you can gather from this somewhat lengthy explanation: Use the Advanced Project Toolset whenever possible to aggregate meetings and action items into one tool. Create a space with the Advanced Project Toolset whenever possible to take advantage of the aggregate functionality of the Dashboard tool. Delete any other tools you won’t use. To assign action items to people who aren’t in the space, you can add them as Groove contacts or email contacts in the Contacts tool that is already part of the Toolset, then they will appear in the drop down menu of assignees for actions and among the possible invitees for meetings. It is important to use the Contacts tool that is already part of the Advanced Project Toolset. If you delete the original Contacts tool and then later add a new Contacts tool, the new tool is not going to be connected with the Meetings and Project tools.

There is room for improvement here. :-)

Weird link of the day department

by Volker Weber

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Review of Red Hat 8.0 Professional

by Volker Weber

redhat.gif A month ago we published the world's exclusive review of Red Hat 8.0, Download Edition. In the meatime Red Hat, Inc. sent us a box of their newest product, Red Hat Professional. While the OS is pretty much the same as in the download edition and we have already made an extensive article on it, a few additional goodies await the customer in the box and we review them.

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Sun verschenkt Server-Software

by Markus Nolte

Der Sun ONE Application Server 7 steht in der Platform Edition zum kostenlosen Download bereit

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Internet Usage Falls for First Time in Australia

by Markus Nolte

SYDNEY - Internet usage in highly connected Australia has fallen for the first time, signaling that the once booming online industry may finally have reached its plateau, a survey showed on Monday.

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CADViewer for Groove

by Volker Weber

Jeroen Bekkers: We have been very busy these last couple of days with the Beta-release of our CADViewer for Groove. The CADViewer is the first product based on the Suite75 Shared Viewing Framework and offers real-time shared viewing of DWG/DXF files within a Groove Shared Space. This Framework is designed for a variety of viewers to be used within Groove.

Jeroen is looking for active beta testers, that can provide feedback. You may earn yourself a free license.

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Web site contest

by Volker Weber

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Just looked at the web sites of the major providers for mobile services here in Germany. The only one I liked was the e-plus site. Maybe it's about time doing business with them.

Now playing

by Volker Weber

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Depeche Mode, Easy Tiger, Kling Klang Mix (yes, Kraftwerk!). 17 seconds into the track. Beat kicks in. 66 seconds. Maximum volume. Wooo-hooo. OK, OK, I admit it. I was an 80's DJ. In a former life. Wooo-hooo.

Bob, it does not go to eleven. It goes to fourteen ...

Suche Diascanner zu leihen

by Volker Weber

Habe mir heute mal eine Menge alter Bilder angeschaut. Dabei bin ich auf die Idee gekommen, die alle mal einzuscannen. Dazu würde ich mir gerne mal für ca. 2 Wochen einen Diascanner leihen. Hat jemand so ein Gerät? Werde es pfleglich behandeln.

Domino 6 Trial download for Linux

by Volker Weber

Almost three weeks after the product release IBM now also supplies a trial download of Domino 6 for Linux.

To the best of my knowledge there is no difference in the install code between a trial download and the full product. You would however be in violation of the license agreement if you continue to use it after the trial period has ended.

Download here >

Weird referrer of the day department

by Volker Weber

I guess, the winter has started in Finland, and there isn't much to do these days ...

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Die Bahn kommt ...

by Volker Weber

Zu mir und dem arbeitenden Menschen mit dem Laptop gesellt sich eine Horde reisender Kinder in die blau gemusterte Sitzgruppe. Die Ältesten sind zehn Jahre alt, die Intelligenteren der Gruppe haben keine Klasse wiederholen müssen.

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Thinkpad 240 with Cardbus - finally

by Volker Weber

In case you ever try this combination: Thinkpad 240, Linux, any CardBus device, then do yourself a favor and read this. A real time saver.

Nice support

by Volker Weber

Alexis Smirnov: As an added bonus, I found activation code for Groove Professional Edition in my in-box this morning as a birthday gift from MoonlightGroove. What a wonderful surprise!

Happy Birthday, Alexis !

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Groove 2.5 to be buzzword-proof

by Volker Weber

Groove 2.5, slated to ship by year's end, will add support for SOAP, WSDL and UDDI, cornerstone protocols for Web services. Groove already supports XML.

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How We Have Managed Industry Almost to Death

by Volker Weber

Here is a scene that happens at some point in almost every young company. The founder/CEO/technical visionary meets with his board and finds him or herself out of a job. How could this happen? Well, the company has grown to the point where the board feels that "professional management" is required, so they are bringing in a new management team. The new team is composed of old friends and classmates of the board, and the new team costs five to 10 times as much, but that's okay because the company is "hiring for growth." This new team cuts staff, cuts costs and outsources everything that can be outsourced, with the result that earnings are improved and the stock goes up or the company makes itself look better for an Initial Public Offering. The professional managers get big bonuses, they exercise mountains of stock options, sell those option shares, then go on to some other, even bigger, job having "saved" the company, which then stagnates, goes into a slow decline, and is eventually acquired by a competitor.

In the PC industry, this is the path followed by almost every company.

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Oops

by Volker Weber

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Things about NYC

by Volker Weber

Since I've been having to explain this with ever increasing frequency to all sorts of visitors, here are some things about NYC. This is mostly NOT directed at people I know as you're clever monkeys.

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[via Heiko Hebig]

SuSE 8.1: Close, but no cigar

by Volker Weber

Nachdem die Kollegen vom Register schon recht positiv über SuSE 8.1 berichten, musste ich es mir natürlich auch mal ansehen. Gleich vorweg: Besser ist es schon geworden, aber wirklich gut ist was anderes. Speziell ungeübte Besitzer von WLAN-Adaptern sollten nach wie vor einen Bogen um SuSE machen.

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Kurzes Gespräch

by Volker Weber

Heute abend. Handy klingelt penetrant. [KlappHandyAuf]: "vowe"

"[Flöt]Guten Abend, mein Name ist ... Wir machen eine Umfrage unter Benutzern von Mobiltelefonen"

"Na, dann wünsche ich Ihnen viel Spaß dabei" [KlappHandyZu]

BillG: We're being spanked by Nokia

by Volker Weber

Nokia is creaming Microsoft in the phone business, Bill Gates said yesterday. Gates admitted the company is "way, way, way behind Nokia", according to a Financial Times report.

Three "ways" is significant - because Bill's "way"-scale is logarithmic (not a lot of people know that) - and the comment punctures the publicity bubble which accompanied the launch of the Windows-based Orange Smartphone this week.

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Xandros Linus Review

by Volker Weber

The "premier release" of Xandros, formerly known as Corel Linux, is being released today at the Xandros.com Web site. Individual users can pick up a copy for $99, and corporate/enterprise users will see a discount price for multiple licenses. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Xandros to play around with. This distribution is Linux through and through, but it could just be the Linux that will truly snag a market that is looking to escape from the confines of Windows.

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Who is this guy?

by Volker Weber

He's not an orphan, his parents are alive and well. He wasn't a Marine Corps captain, he was a lieutenant. He didn't save a buddy by throwing a live grenade out of a trench. He didn't burst an eardrum when ejecting from a Phantom F4, which didn't crash, not killing his co-pilot. He's not a tae kwon do black belt, and he doesn't have a PhD from Pepperdine University.

Rethinking the Java GUI

by Volker Weber

Simon Phipps, Sun's chief technology evangelist, likens Java to a baby duck. "When Java technology was born, it looked around, saw a Web browser and thought it was an applet," he jokes. His point: Java was miscast as a mobile and portable GUI. Its real mission in life was to become a platform for network services.

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[Simon Phipps used to be IBM's Java Evangelist before he went to work for Sun]

The duality of knowledge

by Volker Weber

Knowledge Management (KM) is a field that has attracted much attention both in academic and practitioner circles. Most KM projects appear to be primarily concerned with knowledge that can be quantified and can be captured, codified and stored - an approach more deserving of the label Information Management.

Recently there has been recognition that some knowledge cannot be quantified and cannot be captured, codified or stored. However, the predominant approach to the management of this knowledge remains to try to convert it to a form that can be handled using the 'traditional' approach.

In this paper, we argue that this approach is flawed and some knowledge simply cannot be captured. A method is needed which recognises that knowledge resides in people: not in machines or documents. We will argue that KM is essentially about people and the earlier technology driven approaches, which failed to consider this, were bound to be limited in their success. One possible way forward is offered by Communities of Practice, which provide an environment for people to develop knowledge through interaction with others in an environment where knowledge is created nurtured and sustained.

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[elearningpost]

Catch up

by Volker Weber

Alles, was die Sozialisten vom Geld verstehen, ist die Tatsache, daß sie es von anderen haben wollen.

— Konrad Adenauer

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IBM Developer Days in Neuss

by Volker Weber

IBM veranstaltet am 13. und 14. November in Neuss sogenannte Developer Days. Die Konferenz ist mit 99 Euro ziemlich preiswert, vor allem, weil man dort "kostenlos" Tests für Zertifizierungen zu IBM Produkten ablegen kann.

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Hot job

by Volker Weber

This is the funniest weblog post I have seen in a while.

SuSE 8.1 illustrates MS' fear

by Volker Weber

Anyone wondering why MS execs Steve Ballmer and Brian Valentine are so bent out of shape about Linux should check out SuSE's most recent distro, 8.1, for insight. For a desktop PC or small-biz network it's already miles ahead of Win98-SE and ME and closing fast on XP for ease of installation and use by first-timers.

The user experience is so close to XP now that one can expect it to surpass it in the next edition or the one following. Now add to that Linux's resistance to viruses, the comparative speed with which open-source security bugs get fixed, the wealth of free applications included, and the GPL enlightenment that allows you to install it on as many machines as you please and upgrade it free of charge on your own, and you can see why MS is feeling the heat around the corner and not taking it terribly well.

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Nine new Internet Explorer vulnerabilities

by Volker Weber

GreyMagic released nine vulnerabilities today, eight of them rated critical.

With all of them combined, an attacker can easily steal private local documents, steal cookies from any site, forge trusted web sites, steal clipboard information and even execute arbitrary programs.

As always, full details and an online demonstration of all nine new vulnerabilities are available.

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Source document verification is important

by Volker Weber

A new young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up. In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.

The Abbot says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son".

So, he goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscript is held in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years.

Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. Eventually the young monk gets worried and goes downstairs to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall. His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably.

The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"

In a choking voice, the old abbot replies, "The word is celebrate, not celibate!"

Hotline

by Volker Weber

DAU: Mein Monitor geht nicht.
Hotline: Ist er eingeschaltet?
DAU: Natürlich.
Hotline: Schalten sie ihn mal aus.
DAU: Jetzt geht er!

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Truck nuts

by Volker Weber

Fuchsschwanz ist out. Was nun?

Holy Moly

by Volker Weber

RebeccaRomjin.jpg

Rebecca
Romjin-Stamos for La Perla

Notable

by Volker Weber

Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus, kicked off his own weblog three days ago. He wants to create a new take on the Personal Information Manager. It will handle email, appointments, contacts and tasks, as well as be used to exchange information with other people, and do it all in the spirit of Lotus Agenda: "Have I mentioned it's going to run on Macintosh, Linux, and Windows and will not require a server? This is an ambitious goal, but we are convinced is possible to achieve using a cross-platform tool kit. (We are working with wxWindows/wxPython). Also, everything is going to be fully open sourced."

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Stereotypes

by Volker Weber

Hours of fun: Build a face by selecting from a top and bottom portion of 20 portraits.

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The nonsense of 'knowledge management'

by Volker Weber

Examines critically the origins and basis of 'knowledge management', its components and its development as a field of consultancy practice. Problems in the distinction between 'knowledge' and 'information' are explored, as well as Polanyi's concept of 'tacit knowing'. The concept is examined in the journal literature, the Web sites of consultancy companies, and in the presentation of business schools. The conclusion is reached that 'knowledge management' is an umbrella term for a variety of organizational activities, none of which are concerned with the management of knowledge. Those activities that are not concerned with the management of information are concerned with the management of work practices, in the expectation that changes in such areas as communication practice will enable information sharing.

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Neulich bei eBay

by Volker Weber

Minensucher, 48 m, 5200 PS, 200000 Euro, kein Gebot

Motivfoto.de

by Volker Weber

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Spamer fined US$98.000

by John Keys

A prolific e-mailer was ordered yesterday to pay more than $98,000 for flooding Washington computers several years ago with dubious offers to make money through the Internet.

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MS kills another clip-art fan rave

by Volker Weber

Microsoft has yanked another of its fraudulent user testimonials, in this case a fictitious twelve-year-old boy raving about a fictional homework assignment and the indespensable insights he received from MS Encarta Reference Library in preparing it.

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Microsoft's Ballmer Sees Free Software as Enemy No. 1

by Volker Weber

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has identified a roadblock to increased sales growth at the world's largest software maker: Linux and other programs available for free over the Internet.

So-called 'open-source' programs threaten to undercut Ballmer's plan to sell more software for server computers. He'll have a hard time convincing corporate clients that their networks should be moved to the Windows operating system if customers have a cheaper option, investors said.

Ballmer a few years ago summed up Microsoft's competition by using the acronym NOISE -- Netscape, Oracle, IBM, Sun and Everybody else. Netscape Communications Corp., now owned by AOL Time Warner Inc., isn't on Microsoft's radar anymore. Ballmer now talks less about Sun and Oracle Corp. and more about Linux and International Business Machines Corp.'s WebSphere program, which works with Linux.

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

— "Mahatma" Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Nice referrer

by Volker Weber

Google: vowe

IBM mudslinging with MS over Web Services

by Volker Weber

The purpose of this paper is to respond to Microsoft's misleading white paper about creating Web Services with .Net versus IBM WebSphere V4.0 ("WebSphere"). In this white paper, Microsoft claims Visual Studio.Net offers a significant advantage over WebSphere for creating Web Services. In their attempt to support this claim, Microsoft hired a supposedly independent consulting firm to develop a Web Service using both .Net, and in Microsoft's own words, the J2EE platform with the most advanced support for XML based Web Services, WebSphere. According to Microsoft, the results of this benchmarking exercise shows the .Net is a superior platform for the development of Web Services, however, this simply is NOT the case.

In this response, we will not only show that IBM offers the superior platform for creating Web Services, but will also point out how Microsoft has attempted to mislead customers.

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Tune in to the wireless

by Volker Weber

Wires are for losers. This much is clear. From office-wide networks being installed in big corporations, to coffee-shop setups and community wireless groups, this year has seen the real maturation of wireless networking. It's easy, and it's good, and for the first time, it is now cheap to do.

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Huh?

by Volker Weber

We have really smart people who are always thinking up totally cool shit.

We have a meeting room with a big, round, expensive table. When you hire us to do something, we spend lots of time sitting around the table having meetings.

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Die Revolution hat begonnen

by Oliver Tunnat

Auf Wiedersehen, Homo oeconomicus: Lange glaubte die Wirtschaftswissenschaft, dass der Mensch sich rational verhält. Doch jetzt sehen die Forscher, wie wir wirklich entscheiden - und ziehen ihre Theorie in Zweifel.

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Updated DDSearch 2.10

by Volker Weber

DDSearch is a plug-in tool for the IBM Lotus Domino Designer 6 client and allows you to search the design of templates directly from the Designer 6 client.

Enhancements and bugfixes made in Version 2.10:

- MSI Installer now works for Windows 98 and Windows NT4 systems.
- Now works against Domino R5 servers (Version 2.0 supported Domino 6 servers only).
- New option to prompt before indexing on remote servers.

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GrooveClinic opens doors

by Volker Weber

Ashok has assembled a team of 20 Groove developers in India. They are now showcasing three applications: Matrix, DB Connector and MultiTool. There is more to come ...

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Dear Tech Support

by Volker Weber

Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a slow down in the overall performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications that had operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, but installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0 and NBA 3.0.

And now Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and House Cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate


Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Try entering the command C:\ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and download Tears 6.2 to install Guilt 3.0. If all works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will create Snoringloudly.wav files.

Whatever you do, DO NOT reinstall another Boyfriend program. This is not a supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have a limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider additional software to improve memory and performance. I personally recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 6.9.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

[Found at Askok's site]

Mac marks the enterprise

by Volker Weber

In May 2001, Apple began shipping OS X on new Macs. Six months later, at the O'Reilly Peer-to-Peer and Web Services conference, it was clear that a sea change was under way. The open-source geeks who flock to these events were flouting Microsoft not with PC notebooks running Linux, but with PowerBooks running OS X. Displayed on their gorgeous Aqua screens was the Mac's newest and most unlikely killer app: SSH, the secure shell, in all its 80-column, 25-line splendor.

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Die Rückkehr der Dotcoms

by Volker Weber

Aus dem Silicon Valley kommt eine neue Erfindung: Internet-Unternehmen, die Geld verdienen.

Hat irgendjemand behauptet, die New Economy sei am Ende? Im Gebäude Nummer 2400 am Bayshore Parkway, in Mountain View, eine Autostunde südlich von San Francisco, ist von einem Technologie-Crash nichts zu merken. Im Foyer des Unternehmens Google stehen knallrote Riesensofas, bunte Plastikbälle und eine Holzeisenbahn. Ein paar Schritte weiter gibt es Massagen für die Mitarbeiter und Snacks vom ehemaligen Koch der Grateful Dead. "Unser Ziel ist nicht, Geld zu verdienen", erläutert Produktchefin Susan Wojcicki, "wir wollen, dass die Leute bei uns Spaß haben."

Demnach ist Google so eine Art Spielplatz, allerdings ein ziemlich erfolgreicher.

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OpenNTF Mail Template released

by Volker Weber

The first version of OpenNTF mail template is released! This mail template is based on the Notes 6 mail template with some enhancements such as:

- Added Reply and Forward indicators in the Inbox
- Ability to flag messages for Follow-Up and place them in a Follow-Up folder. A reminder email will be sent containing doclinks to messages flagged for follow-up for that day.
- Modified the Mail and To-Do UI to match the Notes 6 Calendar UI
- Added a Send/Receive action and Find Memo action to the Mail outline
- Added a feature that lets the user stop the sending of a Return Receipt on a message
- Modified the size column to show kilobytes instead of bytes
- Added a Quick Mail feature that allows you to predefine up to 5 recipients that you can use to quickly compose a new memo too.
- Added a Quick Forward feature that allows you to predefine up to 3 recipients that you can use to quickly forward a message too.

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Ich habe einen Traum

by Volker Weber

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Eine ZEIT-Ausstellung vom 13. September bis 30. November 2002 im Café Einstein, Berlin

Microsoft's Paranoia

by Volker Weber

Microsoft's culture imbues employees with the sense that disaster is always around the corner -- if they make one misstep, the competition will eat their lunch. This paranoia is a sort of management tool, to be sure, but it's also an attitude that emanates directly from the company's leadership.

Microsoft is hanging on to its $40 billion because, hey, who knows how much money it might need when the next big seismic shift in the technological landscape threatens to unseat its monopoly? Think of that $40 billion as one big Windows replacement fund.

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Microsoft Piggy Bank Tops $40 Billion

by Volker Weber

Innovation is almost dead in desktop software, where Microsoft has sucked the financial oxygen out of the system. The company's behavior doesn't improve. It's no coincidence. Too bad we no longer have a government that's willing to enforce the antitrust laws, and technology buyers who feel so trapped they won't even consider alternatives. Life, circa 2002.

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Free Lotus Quickplace, up to 200 MB

by Volker Weber

Get it here >

Featured Notes and Domino 6 resources

by Volker Weber

Selected from developerWorks and Lotus developer sites

The collection starts with overviews of the Notes 6 client, Domino Designer 6, and the Domino 6 server with links to the latest Notes and Domino 6 trial code packages. Then we explore the Lotus roadmap for "next generation" collaboration using J2EE and Web services technologies. The rest of the collection includes online tutorials, technical articles, IBM Redbooks, Webcasts, and offers for CDs that support the release of Notes and Domino 6.

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Was bin ich...

by Oliver Tunnat

Oliver is a fax machine that stays sharp forever! It comes with its own storage kennel and traps mice in a humane fashion.

Und Du?

extreme-kalorien-verbrenning

by Oliver Tunnat

Wie man seine Traumfigur bei der Arbeit erreicht.

@.L.L.e.s...w.i.r.d...g.u.t

IQ Test revisited

by Volker Weber

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I am in a tie now with Jeroen. He is different type though. I was a "Visual Mathematician".

Lots of results posted by now ...

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Quote of the day

by Volker Weber

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, feed him his entire life.

Funny, that one has to say this again and again ...

Microsoft Make-Up

by Volker Weber

There’s a lot of ass-covering going on. The idea that Microsoft published a made-up story about a Mac user who switched to a PC is, to say the least, embarrassing. False testimonials? Total amateur hour. As Dave Winer wrote yesterday: “You’d think Microsoft could at least find one real person to say they made the switch from Mac to Windows and were happy about it.”

There are lots of embarrassing aspects to the story. The stock photo. The blatant falsehoods (such as the insinuations that neither Office nor Internet Explorer are available for the Mac). The marketing-speak that permeates the entire article. That it reeks of a juvenile response to Apple’s Switch ads. But the most damaging issue is the idea that the entire article was simply made up, that it’s a fabricated testimonial which Microsoft tried to pass off as the true story of an actual person.

Bad marketing is one thing. Bald-faced lying is another.

Read the whole story! Excellent research. >

Yes, my desktop really looks like this :-)

by Volker Weber

desktop.JPG

Pfizer, Pharmacia Groove Together

by Volker Weber

The I.T. department at drugmaker Pfizer Inc. began using Groove Technology Inc.'s online collaboration application early this year to manage departmental projects. Now it's taking things a step further -- in preparation for Pfizer's pending $60 billion merger with Pharmacia Corp., the IT group is using Groove to manage its own submerger with its former rival's IT department.

Between the two groups, there are about 150 people involved in the integration project. The collaborative work centers around helping Pfizer's IT managers get a handle on how their Pharmacia counterparts do things, says Don Courville, senior director of Pfizer's IT leadership team. Courville and his team are familiarizing themselves with Pharmacia's infrastructure, applications, and best practices -- information that will be used to turn the two departments into one cohesive group.

The combined IT departments are expected to be operating as one by the first of the year, about the time the merger is slated to close.

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Neulich auf eBay

by Volker Weber

countach_targa_1.jpg

Microsoft pulls "Switch" page

by Volker Weber

You can still find the page in the Google cache. Screenshot here. It turns out the person who "switched" is a model you can find in a stock photo database.

Microsoft knows they're not going to convince hardcore Apple users to switch. This copy of Apple's switch campaign, is for MS users who might be tempted to switch. If a user is considering switching to Apple, then sees that some other people are switching from Apple to MS, the user might very well decide to stay right where he is.

I read this as an indication that Apple's switch campaign works.

Messebericht von der SYSTEMS

by Volker Weber

Von einem der üblichen Verdächtigen: "War heute auf der SYSTEMS - seeeeeehr entspannte Atmosphäre. Der einzige Stand, an dem wirklich was los war, war der, auf dem irgendein Typ irgendeinem sehr nackten Messe-Bunny Klebestreifen über die Brustwarzen montiert hat ..."

Open source: Rebels at the gate

by Volker Weber

For years, Bill Gates and other top executives at Microsoft railed against the economic philosophy of open-source software with Orwellian fervor, denouncing its communal licensing as a "cancer" that stifled technological innovation. Today, Microsoft claims to "love" the open-source concept.

Did Microsoft suddenly find open-source religion? Hardly. It was dragged there kicking and screaming by its customers, who are increasingly drawn to open-source software like Linux, whose inner workings of code can be seen by anyone and modified.

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Termin bearbeiten oder weiterschlafen?

by Volker Weber

ximian.jpg

Das kommt davon, wenn man Übersetzungen von Leuten machen lässt, deren Großmutter jemanden kannte, dessen Onkel eine Freundin hatte, deren Vater einen Opa deutscher Abstammung hat.

Ich sag nur Ziegelsteinseiltänzerleser. Gerne auch hier noch mal nachlesen. :-)

Was Amerikanern an Deutschen auffällt

by Volker Weber

Gefunden in DIE ZEIT:

  1. Sie nennen Amerikaner »Amis«.
  2. Die Unmöglichkeit, abends oder sonntags ordentlich einzukaufen.
  3. Der daraus resultierende Einkaufsstress am Samstagvormittag.
  4. Deutsche antworten auch einem gut Deutsch sprechenden Amerikaner lieber auf Englisch.
  5. Im deutschen Fernsehen gibt es zu jeder Tages- und Nachtzeit unfassbar viel Sex zu sehen.
  6. Ironie ist kennzeichnungspflichtig.
  7. Humor geht meistens auf Kosten anderer.
  8. Können nicht Bruchrechnen (wegen des bequemen metrischen Systems).
  9. Das Tragen von Designer-Brillen gilt als Zeichen von Individualität.
  10. Rechthaberei. Doch. Wohl.

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Please hold the line - bitte halten Sie die Leine

by Volker Weber

Heute nachmittag kam ein Anruf:

Dienst: Sprachdienst
Nummer: - - - - -
Anrufer:
Datum: 14.10.2002
Zeit: 15:51:54

Mein Anrufbeantworter geht dran, genauer mein Server, FritzFon auf einer ISDN-Karte. Er fing brav an, das Gespräch aufzuzeichnen. Der Anrufer hatte sich vielleicht verwählt, jedenfalls legte er nicht auf, sondern parkte das Gespräch in der Telefonanlage.

Jetzt habe ich zweieinhalb Stunden und frei Haus schöne Muzak, immer wieder unterbrochen von einer netten Frauenstimme, die eine langweilige Geschichte erzählt: "Please hold the line ...."

Zwischendurch schwätzt mal jemand mit leicht schwäbischen Ton im Raum. Klingt nach Krankenkasse, was man da so mithört. Kein Wunder, dass die ein Defizit haben.

Microsoft Tries a "Switch" Campaign

by Volker Weber

There's a new page on Microsoft's web site that tells the first-person story of an unnamed 'freelance writer' who made the switch from the Mac to Windows XP. The author of the page -- who never identifies herself, and who could very easily be fictional or a composite sketch -- says 'Windows XP gives me more choices and flexibility.' How, you ask? Why, through Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and modern operating-system features like separate accounts for each user and easy access to the Internet, of course. Maybe somebody should email Microsoft and let them know that the Mac has had all of these things for years now ... nah. It'd just embarrass them. Anyway, it's an entertaining read that's good for a laugh.

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Now playing

by Volker Weber

electribe101.jpg

Chill-out .. the best music if you need to do serious work.

Exchange's uneasy dominance

by Volker Weber

Microsoft has the undivided attention of competitors, most of which aren't shy about pitching their collaboration products as alternatives to Exchange. Dozens of vendors can claim that their products do the core of what Exchange does - e-mail and calendaring/scheduling - and can do it less expensively.

On the customer side of the equation, Microsoft is painfully aware that no more than one-quarter of its Exchange 5.5 installed base has upgraded to Exchange 2000, in spite of that latter version's having been on the market for more than two years. Users' beefs with Exchange 5.5 and Outlook include the products' premium pricing, performance and scalability problems; substandard offline access functionality; inflexible public folders; and vulnerability to viruses and spam.

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Microsoft shuffles deck on Exchange

by Volker Weber

Two years ago, Microsoft stuffed a number of collaboration features in Exchange Server with great fanfare. Last week, the company started to tell network executives why it now plans to pluck them out.

At its annual Microsoft Exchange Conference, company executives delivered a clear message that real-time collaboration, most notably instant messaging and conferencing, belongs in the base operating system and not Exchange.

Perhaps the biggest development at the conference was the first real details of a project code-named Greenwich, which will bring instant messaging, presence and conferencing to Windows .Net Server 2003, which is expected to ship early next year. Greenwich is slated to ship sometime before October 2003.

Greenwich is inheriting services that have been cut from the next version of Exchange, code-named Titanium, confirming that Exchange Server is on an evolutionary path away from providing a foundation for real-time collaboration and application development.

That's much different than two years ago. Instant messaging and conferencing features, along with the Web Storage System data store and Local Web Storage System to support offline use of applications, were the highlights of the Exchange 2000 platform Microsoft touted for its maturity as a collaboration and application development platform.

Today, all that technology is being moved out of Exchange or killed and replaced with other technology ...

"Instant messaging and conferencing were our big selling points for Exchange 2000 and now they are taking them out. That bothers me," says Francis Blay, Exchange administrator for RWD Technologies of Columbia, Md.

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Holy Moly

by Volker Weber

saltyt_giselle0.jpg

MS backs away from media copy restrictions

by Volker Weber

Numerous studies have confirmed for Microsoft what any fool knows: people are not much interested in a home-entertainment device masquerading as a computer that burns special mission-impossible DVDs which can't be played on any device other than the specific machine which recorded them.

Unfortunately, that's just how MS designed its new Windows Media Center PCs, apparently in hopes of pleasing the entertainment industry, which considers listening to or viewing its products to be a criminal act in all but the most rigidly-controlled, preferably supervised, situations.

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Quick, tell me why I believe they will roll their DRM (R like Restrictions, not Rights) back in through some obscure automatic update later?

Thinkpad 240 now on Red Hat Linux 8

by Volker Weber

redhat8tp.png

There is some debate over the new BlueCurve UI that Red Hat uses in version 8 of their Linux distribution. It is supposed to give GNOME and KDE a common look&feel. So far I have to say that I like it a lot. Finally all those menu items have been rearranged and make sense, the icon set is easily understood. And it looks generally nice.

Installation was very smooth. The Thinkpad 240 does not have a CD-ROM, so I installed via FTP across the network. You need to generate two boot floppy disks, one with the boot image, the other with addional PCMCIA drivers. I was able to install with an old trusted XIRCOM card. It took about 40 minutes to format the 12 gig harddisk and install about 1.8 gig of software across the 10 MBit network.

Without Stefan's help I would have been unable to complete the whole thing. We decided it was not worth to make my Level One Fast Ethernet card work with the O/S. That was another lesson for me to only buy "expensive" stuff from trusted vendors. We were able to get the Cisco Aironet up and running after we fixed a really stupid error in the shell scripts (someone mixed up true and false). As Stefan pointed out, this is not going to help Linux on the desktop. Who has someone with his skills at hand when you need him in the middle of the night?

The Digital Camera Tool was a really nice surprise. Hook up the Digital IXUS, discover, bang. Worked right out of the box. OpenOffice is installed by default. If someone sends me PowerPoint files I should be able to read them. (Do you have anything to say, or do you have slides?)

This thing will not be able to run Groove Workspace, which is bad for Groove. If it only runs on Windows, it may not be running on all my computers. Microsoft is walking down a path that I don't intend to go. So far I am very satisfied with Windows 2000, but XP is not an option. Nothing that Microsoft did after Windows 2000 convinced me that this is my future.

[more later]

Mindjet MindManager for Groove

by Volker Weber

groovemindmap.png

Mindjet's MindManager for Groove 2.0 Preview Edition (what a name) is a free tool that has been around since Groove 2.0 has been launched. It does not have all the features of the "regular" MindManager 2002 product, but it has exactly the features that I need. Add the benefit, that Groove replicates the data across all your machines and helps you collaborate with other people. Neat stuff.

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IQ Test

by Volker Weber

iqscore.png

mozdev.org - composite

by Volker Weber

ComposIte is a chrome overlay which enables a streamlined Mozilla Editor for html composition in textareas. To use the editor, hit ctrl-e in a textarea. Alternately, you can turn on an 'Edit with Composite' button in the Composite prefs (v0.0.5 and higher).

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Die zweite Sonnenfinsterins

by Markus Nolte

Die Open Source-Entwicklungsumgebung Eclipse in Version 2.0

Mit dem zweiten Release ist das Open Source-Projekt Eclipse eindeutig seinen Kinderschuhen entwachsen. Grund genug, dieses Projekt einmal näher anzuschauen und die neuen Möglichkeiten zur Java-Entwicklung zu betrachten. Der Name - Sonnenfinsternis - verleitet, eine Spitze gegen Sun zu unterstellen. Allerdings zielt das Eclipse-Projekt vielmehr darauf ab, eine integrierte Entwicklungsplattform zu schaffen, die mit Microsofts Visual Studio.NET konkurrieren kann.

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Sie und Er beim Pizza bestellen.

by Volker Weber

Er : "Ich bestell Pizza. Willst du auch was?"
Sie: "Nein."
Er : "Okay."
Sie: "...oder doch?!"
Er : "Was denn nun?"
Sie: "Ich weiß nicht."
Er : "Du weißt nicht, ob du was willst?"
Sie: "Nein."
Er : "Hast du Hunger?"
Sie: "Keine Ahnung, irgendwie schon."
Er : "Was heißt 'irgendwie'...?"
Sie: "Das heißt, dass ich mir nicht sicher bin."
Er : "Wenn ich Hunger hab, dann merk ich das."
Sie: "Vielleicht hab ich ja nachher Hunger."
Er : "Also bestell ich dir was."
Sie: "Und wenn ich später doch nichts mehr will...?"
Er : "Dann isst du es halt nicht."
Sie: "Das ist doch Verschwendung."
Er : "Dann heb's dir eben für morgen auf."
Sie: "Und wenn ich morgen gar keinen Appetit auf Pizza habe?
Er : "Pizza kann man immer essen."
Sie: "Ich nicht."
Er : "Dann such dir was anderes aus."
Sie: "Ich will aber gar nichts anderes."
Er : "Also doch Pizza."
Sie: "Nein."
Er : "Also gar nichts."
Sie: "Doch."
Er : "Du machst mich verrückt."
Sie: "Warum bestellst du dir nicht schon mal was...?"
Er : "Wie du meinst..."
Sie: "Aber nimm die Pizza mit Schinken."
Er : "Ich mag aber gar keinen Schinken."
Sie: "Ich schon."
Er : "Ich dachte ich sollte MIR was bestellen...?!"
Sie: "Sollst du ja auch."
Er : "Und warum dann Schinken...?"
Sie: "Falls ich Hunger kriege, wenn dein Essen da ist."
Er : "Und?"
Sie: "Glaubst du, ich will was essen, was mir nicht schmeckt?"
Er : "Wieso du?"
Sie: "Wieso nicht?"
Er : "Moment... ich soll also MIR was bestellen, was DU dann essen kannst, falls du eventuell doch Hunger bekommen solltest...?!"
Sie: "Genau."
Er : "Und was bitte soll ICH dann essen?"
Sie: "Na, vielleicht hab ich ja nachher gar keinen Hunger..."

[aus meiner Mail, oder dem richtigen Leben]

Definitionen

by Volker Weber

Banker: Übler Mensch, der einem bei strahlendem Sonnenwetter einen Schirm leiht, um ihn bei Regenwetter wieder zurückzuverlangen.

Berater: Jemand, der morgen weiß warum das, was er gestern vorhergesagt hatte, heute nicht eingetroffen ist.

Consultant: Lustiger Mensch, der einem die Armbanduhr abnimmt, einem die Uhrzeit sagt und dann noch Honorar dafür verrechnet.

Inflation: Leben mit den Preisen des nächsten und dem Gehalt des letzten Jahres.

Pessimist: Optimist mit Erfahrung.

Psychologe: Jemand, der die anderen anschaut, wenn eine schöne Frau den Raum betritt.

Teamwork: Möglichkeit, anderen die Schuld in die Schuhe schieben zu können.

[aus meiner Mail]

Online Handschriften-Deutung

by Volker Weber

Volker Weber ist eher ein unsteter Typ.
Er ist wechselhaft und manchmal planlos, es fällt ihm nicht leicht, sich anzupassen.

Volker Weber ist von sich überzeugt und hat eine eigene Meinung.
Er lässt sich von anderen nicht so leicht beeinflussen,
auch nicht von einem "Das gehört sich aber so."

Er ist ein dynamischer, aktiver und aufgeschlossener Mensch.
Er geht mit offenen Armen auf das Leben zu und sieht es
sehr locker und entspannt.
Geiz wird ihm niemals vorgeworfen.
Eher schon ein Hang zur Unbedachtsamkeit und zur Großzügigkeit.

Er ist warmherzig und gemütlich.
Er ist künstlerisch begabt und phantasievoll.
Im großen und ganzen wirkt er eher behäbig,
wenn er aber von einer Sache überzeugt ist, überrascht er
seine Umwelt durch sein überschwengliches und begeisterungsfähiges Auftreten.

Er ist aktiv, weltoffen und dynamisch.
Nach außen wirkt er sehr extravertiert und haltlos.
Selbstbeherrschung ist nicht seine Sache.

Volker Weber ist ein sehr gefühlsbestimmter Mensch.
Oft werden Entscheidungen gefühlsmäßig gefällt, obwohl bei
rein rationeller Überlegung eine andere Entscheidung die richtige wäre.

Er ist stets bestrebt, sich geistig und seelisch weiterzuentwickeln.
Da er das keinem verheimlicht, besteht die Gefahr, dass er als besserwisserisch eingestuft wird.

Volker Weber ist überdurchschnittlich intelligent.
Nüchtern und zweckmäßig bewältigt er seine Aufgaben.
Gefühle haben da oft nichts zu suchen.

Volker Weber ist anderen Menschen gegenüber immer offen und aufgeschlossen.
Der Umgang mit Menschen macht ihm Spaß,
der ideale Arbeitsplatz ist da, wo er anderen Menschen helfen kann.

Volker Weber ist sehr stark um Gerechtigkeit bemüht.
Er versucht stets, sich für andere einzusetzen.

Volker Weber ist eine rastlose Natur.
Manchmal hindert ihn sein überstürztes Denken an klaren und wohlüberlegten Entscheidungen.

Er gehört nicht gerade zu den toleranten Leuten
und nimmt vieles leicht übel, das gar nicht böse gemeint war.
Volker Weber ist mit seinen Antworten schnell dabei, diese fallen oft etwas heftiger aus.

Mitmachen >

[via Anke via Don]

Beautiful

by Volker Weber

adrianalima.jpg

Possible data corruption with Groove Forms Tool

by Volker Weber

Read technote 634C6177-0E0F-4933-979B-3204E607E883 (what a number):

There is a possibility of data corruption problems with version 1.0 of the Forms Tool. Support strongly recommends that users migrate their Form data and templates to version 2.0 of the Forms Tool.

formstool2.png

You may be using a 1.0 version of the Forms Tool even if you are using Groove 2.1. To determine the version of your Forms tool, enter the Tool, open the Files menu, and choose Properties, Forms Tool. The Forms Properties dialog displays a Version number. If this number starts with a 0, you are using Forms V1. If the Version number starts with 2, you are using Forms V2.

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Schlechte Nachrichten

by Oliver Tunnat

Die Zeitungskrise fordert weitere Opfer: Die Deutsche Presseagentur (dpa) will Stellen streichen und droht ihren Qualitätsvorsprung zu verlieren.

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Im Schatten der großen Depression

by Oliver Tunnat

Angst vor der globalen Wirtschaftskrise: Erstmals seit einem Vierteljahrhundert stecken die drei größten Volkswirtschaften gleichzeitig fest. Aktienkurse stürzen, Umsätze schwinden, Schulden steigen. Die Schreckenszeichen ähneln sich, doch die Welt reagiert nicht. Amerika sucht Sündenböcke. Europa streitet übers Sparen. Und Japan hofft auf einen Elefanten.

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Acronym Shortage Threatens Web Services Community

by Volker Weber

Web services developers across the globe pounded keyboards in frustration today over the increasing scarcity of cool acronyms. Mirroring the domain name gold rush of the nineties, each passing week sees the number of funky and clever acronyms reduced. Several leading Web services companies have called in trauma counsellors to assuage the fears of skittish architects.

Marshall Salmonberry, lead technical architect at Web services vendor WebGherkins.com, expressed his fears. "I can't sleep at night. I toss and I turn, trying to think of the right acronym for our new compressed archive format. I just think, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI...they're all so clever and witty! They abbreviate so effectively! I try endless combinations of letters, but each time...each...time...I'm sorry, I can't go on."

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On Slashdot: Pax Americana*

by Volker Weber

*Offer void where prohibited, particularly Cuba. Residents of non-oil-producing countries may experience delays. Not responsible for loss of life or limb in the event that USA fails to support your attempted coup. All oil reserves become the property of Halliburton and Arbusto Inc. Countries in Axis of Evil may be changed without notice, and at the promoters sole discretion. Full rules are kept in a locked closet in the basement of Karl Rove's house and may not be inspected. For a free game piece, send a stamped, addressed envelope to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC. No purchase necessary, although failure to purchase large quantities of US goods will severely impair your chances of winning.

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Jawoll, abwürgen, der nervt

by Volker Weber

rh_80_3.jpg

Software We Just Love

by Volker Weber

Call them our new favorites. Software titles that, although relatively new, have won over our hearts with their simplicity, and their ability to turn heads while making us look like we're working really, really hard.

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Domino / Apache / PHP Integration

by Volker Weber

People often ask whether it's possible to use PHP with Domino. It's not as long as Domino is the HTTP stack being used. In theory it would be possible with IIS as the HTTP stack and the PHP module for IIS, but this is a nicer solution (because you don't need IIS) using Apache as the HTTP stack.

This is achieved without any additional code or modules, just through proper configuration of Apache. In essence, we're using mod_rewrite to find URLs with .nsf in them and pass them through to mod_proxy to fetch them from Domino. This in effect gives you seamless integration between Apache and Domino, as content on an Apache server usually won't have .nsf in the filename so there won't be a conflict.

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Web-Express von IBM

by Oliver Tunnat

Im Zuge des Rennens um die besten Web-Dienste hat IBM die Einführung des Websphere Portals Express angekündigt. Die neue Portal-Software, die mit lediglich 5 Mouse-Clicks angeschlossen werden kann und für deren Einsatz nur ein einziger Server notwendig ist, steht ab dem 31. Oktober zum elektronischen Download zur Verfügung.

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Leichte Belebung bei den IT-Investitionen

by Oliver Tunnat

Nach Einschätzung des Marktforschungsunternehmens Gartner Dataquest wurden die weltweiten IT-Investitionen 2002 um 3,4 Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr erhöht. Der gesamte Umsatz der Branche werde 2,3 Billionen US-Dollar erreichen.

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Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?

by Volker Weber

Gerstner.JPGJohn Patrick: I was very fortunate to be at IBM for thirty-five years. Every one of those years was exciting and rewarding but the last eight were by far the best. Those were the years when Lou Gerstner was Chairman and CEO. A number of books refer to him on the cover or the highlights and countless others cite him as an example of a great CEO. In my own book I quoted from a few of Lou's speeches about the crucial importance of privacy in the world of e-business. He has been a visionary thinker and leader on this key issue. I have not seen his new book, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance, but I look forward to it as I am sure many are. The turnaround of IBM has been talked about and written about extensively -- now we will hear about it first hand from the man who made it happen. I am sure he will also reflect on his views of the information technology industry and what it takes to make a great company run effectively. I was fortunate to have had many interactions with Lou over the past eight years but the day I will remember most is when we showed Lou the first prototype of ibm.com in 1994. The page had a picture of Lou, a limited number of links, and an audio clip in which Lou welcomed visitors to the site and urged them to come back often. Lou liked the page but asked a question that stopped us all in our tracks. "Where is the buy button?", he asked. The buy button? This was 1994. There was no e-commerce yet let alone e-business. Talk about market savvy and intuition. We didn't have an answer to Lou's question but the site went live on May 24, 1994. As far as I know it was the first time a Fortune 500 CEO was so visible and proactive on the web. He followed this with many other web firsts but most significant may be when he used another audio clip on the web -- this time to talk directly to the employees of Lotus Development Corporation. Normally in a hostile takeover like this the employees would have to read the interpretation of the press to learn what the acquisition was all about. Lou went to them direct. That was in July 1995. Lou is a leader who will go down in history as one of the all time greats. I hope his new book does too.

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Binary

by Volker Weber

01110110011011110111011101100101001000000110
10010111001100100000011000010010000001100111
01101111011011110110010000100000011011010110
11110111010001101000011001010111001000000000

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Build It: Home Linux Server

by Volker Weber

It's been some time coming. Your home network, a hodge-podge of peer-to-peer machines is finally crying out for a nerve center where files live, and services are at the ready -- a machine that will dutifully keep it all going 24/7 with minimal fuss, and grow with you as your needs get more sophisticated. Linux continues to gain ground in the enterprise server space, with champions in IBM, Sun and HP. It has proven its mettle driving big iron, but is equally well-suited and versatile enough to power your home server.

For less than $1,200, you can build a very capable server with gobs of storage and enough processing horsepower to pull multiple duties serving up a printer queue, web pages, FTP, DHCP, and SAMBA, and more. And, if you've got some old parts to scavenge, and are working within a tight budget, you can still put together a solid server for under $600. So here's how to build out the heart and soul of your home network, the home server. Or, if you've got an old box you're looking to put out to pasture, it can be turned into a serviceable home server with a few spot upgrades.

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Zoë

by Volker Weber

zoe.jpg

The goal here is to do for email (starting with your personal mailbox) what Google did for the web... The Google principle: It doesn't matter where information is because I can get to it with a keystroke.

So what is Zoë? Think about it as a sort of librarian, tirelessly, continuously, processing, slicing, indexing, organizing, your messages. The end result is this intertwingled web of information. Messages put in context. Your very own knowledge base accessible at your fingertip. No more "attending to" your messages. The messages organization is done automatically for you so as to not have the need to "manage" your email. Because once information is available at a keystroke, it doesn't matter in which folder you happened to file it two years ago. There is no folder. The information is always there. Accessible when you need it. In context.

Zoë is a email client. It's also a email server. And a long term archive. And a search engine. And an application server. All that at once on your desktop. Or server. Or both. Or it doesn't matter because client and server are the same.

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Interview with Taylor & Pennington from Red Hat's UI Team

by Volker Weber

Arguably, the new unified UI on Red Hat 8 was the talk of the town for the whole summer since the Limbo betas. Today we talk with two of the leading people behind Red Hat's enhanced usability and UI found on 8.0-Psyche, Havoc Pennington (also known for his work on the Metacity window manager) and Owen Taylor (lots of cool stuff on XFree's side). We discuss about XFree and its capabilities, about Linux's ability to fullfil a modern desktop for every user, about the unification of Qt and GTK and more.

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Die neue Mitte wird links überholt

by Volker Weber

Nase, sag ich zu meiner Nase. Heute fahren wir Golf. Da ist Nase aber gleich gerümpft. Nase fährt gern sportlich, sprich: »spochtlich«. Oder elegant, oder beides. Also bestimmt nicht Golf. Golf fahren, das ist das Hintergrundrauschen des Automobilismus. Der Golf ist überall, aber ohne Aussage. Der Nihil des Asphalts.

Und auch noch ein Diesel. Das Golf-Diesel-Fahrschultrauma steigt in mir hoch. Drrrrrr, rappelte das Auto im Stand, während ich mir Standpauken anhören durfte: Junge Dame, Sie fahren zu schnell, unterlassen Sie das, mein Herz macht das nicht mit! Ich will nicht. Aber ich muss. Zündschlüssel rein, diese Klappdinger sind schon schick. Da, überall Lichter! In Blau! Ein wahres Cockpit! Drrrrrr macht der Golf, so kennen wir ihn.

Ich fahre los, das Diesel-Drrrrrr verschwindet, und plötzlich wird mir klar: Ich sitze in einem Sportwagen.

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e - wie Ernüchterung

by Volker Weber

In den elektronischen Handel flossen viele Milliarden Euro. Der schnelle Erfolg blieb aus. Und der Markt für Informationstechnik schrumpft.

Als das E vor dem Business nicht nur für elektronisch, sondern auch für erfolgreich stand, beeilten sich Deutschlands Topmanager, ihre Konzerne zu e-companies zu erklären. Im Februar 2000 durchschritten der damalige Chef der Deutschen Bank, Rolf-Ernst Breuer, und sein Technologievorstand Hermann-Josef Lamberti einen futuristischen Tunnel, bevor sie mit großem Stolz ihre neue Internet-Strategie präsentierten.

Die Post glänzte zur Hochzeit der New Economy unter anderem mit eVITA, einem Einkaufsportal. Sie glaubte, in der Kombination mit E-Logistik sei das eine gute Idee. Und der damals noch betuliche Bertelsmann-Konzern überwand sogar tief sitzende Berührungsängste. Er kooperierte ausgerechnet mit Shawn Fanning, jenem Freak aus der Internet-Szene, der mit 19 Jahren die Musiktauschbörse Napster erfunden und fortan die etablierte Branche das Fürchten gelehrt hatte.

Die drei Konzerne stehen nur beispielhaft für jenen Hype, der seinerzeit (fast) alle faszinierte. Doch inzwischen steht das E mehr für Ernüchterung, wenn nicht sogar für Enttäuschung. In der allgemeinen Euphorie flossen Milliarden Euro in neue Projekte, deren Erfolg bis heute auf sich warten lässt. Andy Kyte, Forschungsdirektor beim Marktforschungsunternehmen Gartner, weiß von vielen Flops in ganz Europa. Die Unternehmen seien dem Hype zu unkritisch gefolgt, hätten unnötig teure Hard- und Software gekauft und dabei rund 140 Milliarden Euro in den Sand gesetzt.

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Müllberge durch Handyschrott

by Oliver Tunnat

Hunderte Millionen von Handys sind bisher weltweit über den Ladentisch gegangen - aufgrund der kurzen Lebensdauer der Geräte ein echtes Müllproblem. Gute Recyclingkonzepte fehlen noch.

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Spies!

by Volker Weber

Think Lotus and Microsoft don't hover over each other's shoulder?

Spotted in yesterday's MEC session on the new "Greenwich" services that will make instant messaging a part of the Windows operating system and in the "Roadmap" session on Titantium were two Lotus lurkers.

Microsoft officials were quick to ask if I'd seen them (I had) and what their reaction was.

"Nice to see them doing what we did five years ago," said the Lotus spies.

Zing!

Next round: Lotusphere, Orlando, 2003.

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Finally, a cure for spam that works for me

by Volker Weber

SpamPal sits between your email program and your mailbox, checking your email as you retrieve it. Any email messages that SpamPal considers to be spam will be "tagged" with a special header; you simply configure your email client to filter anything with this header into a separate folder and your spam won't be mixed up with the rest of your email anymore!

But how does SpamPal know what is spam and what isn't? Well, it uses what are called DNSBL lists. Patterned after the famous MAPS RBL, these are lists of parts of the Internet that in one way or another facilitate spam. Any email you get from a machine on one of these lists has an increased probability of being spam. Some ISPs already block all email from machines on some of these DNSBL lists, but many do not. This is where SpamPal comes in.

You can choose to use any or all of the freely-usable DNSBL lists; SpamPal will look at the machines each email message passed through on its way to your mailbox, and if any of those machines is on one of the DNSBL lists you have chosen then that message will be tagged as spam.

Because not everyone who uses a machine on a DNSBL list will be a spammer, SpamPal has a powerful whitelisting feature that allows you to ignore DNSBL listings for certain senders or for parts of the Internet.

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Zire

by Volker Weber

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"Sony, HP and Handspring had better take note - Palm has just re-written the PDA rules. " I think The Register is right. While many people blast the Zire for being too little, too late, I think they hit the spot. Just over 100 gramms, under 100 Euro (@Vobis), beautiful design, just the right features.

Nope, this is not a multi-megahertz, multi-megabyte, all-singing, all-dancing multimedia machine. It does only a few things. The things you really need every day. And it does them right. KISS - keep it simple, stupid. Like the original US Robotics Pilot which defined the category. Welcome back.

Happy Birthday to MovableType

by Volker Weber

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What a wonderful day to release version 2.5 of your software, Ben and Mena. Your software is all I ask for to run this humble web site. Very well done. And version 2.5 fixed the last little problem I had with my web hoster. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

You make me cry

by Volker Weber

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Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics

by Volker Weber

No, we're not referring to Bill Gates' woes (or lack of them), but to the ways movie windows refuse to obey simple laws of physics. Apparently no one in Hollywood has ever picked up a piece of broken glass and suffered the inevitable bloodied finger.

Saying that shards of broken glass are razor sharp is an understatement. A shattered window contains thousands of incredibly sharp edges and dagger-like points. It takes almost no force for one of these points or edges to cause a laceration. However, people in movies routinely jump through plate glass windows without receiving a single scratch.

Broken glass has at least two mechanisms for slashing a person diving through a window: its weight and its inertia. First, large heavy shards of glass can fall like guillotines, slicing off body parts. Second, when a person jumps or, even worse, drives a motorcycle through a window, the shards of glass tend to stay in place due to their inertia. The only way to move them is to apply a force. If the person's body provides this force by pushing on the edge of a piece of glass, it can slice right through clothing, skin, and flesh. In the real world, jumping or driving through a plate glass window would be suicidal.

There are individuals who have accidentally fallen through windows without sustaining serious injuries. There are also people who have survived the Ebola virus. However, in both cases the odds are not particularly good.

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Was will uns der Spiegel wohl sagen?

by Volker Weber

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Xbox Linux Mandrake 9 available

by Volker Weber

Xbox Linux Mandrake 9 available. This is the first full Linux distribution for the Xbox, which is 100% compatible with Mandrake Linux 9. The 350 MB installation CD includes Gnome, KDE and OpenOffice.org and installs in 10 minutes. Read the Press Release and the README and download it.

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0180-Nummer mit 0190-Abrechnung

by Volker Weber

Nach dem bezahlten Rückruf hat die Mehrwertdienste-Branche eine weitere Barriere zum Schutz des Kunden abgeräumt: 01803-Rufnummern kosteten bislang 9, 01805-Rufnummern 12 Cent pro Minute. An diese freiwillige Absprache hielten sich alle Telefongesellschaften. Nun aber schert der erste Anbieter aus: Der Freemail-Anbieter GMX verlangt für einen Anruf bei einer seiner 01803-Servicenummern für den Support 9 Cent pro Minute -- und dazu noch 4,60 Euro pro Einwahl. Das Unternehmen weist in E-Mails auf die hohen Kosten deutlich hin, wenn aber beispielsweise ein Hotline-Mitarbeiter diese Nummer telefonisch bekannt gibt, sind Missverständnisse möglich.

Gegen unerwartet hohe Rechnungen kann man sich nur schützen, indem man neben den 0190-Rufnummern alle frei tarifierbaren Rufnummernblöcke für den jeweiligen Anschluss sperrt, vor allem die Blöcke 0180, 0191, 0192, 0193, 012, 013 und 118.

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Amazing

by Volker Weber

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Groove Workspace Upgrade to Build 1546

by Volker Weber

Latest Update: Groove Workspace version 2.1a
Released: October 2, 2002

Download >

ColorMatch 5K

by Volker Weber

This utility will help you select a matching 6-color palette for your website. Define a single color that you like. Matching colors will be calculated. Click a color in the palette to promote it to the primary color.

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Der diskrete Charme der Verwirrung

by Volker Weber

Das Unglück fing, wie heutzutage oft, mit einer E-Mail an, und wie das bei unglücksverheißenden E-Mails oft der Fall ist, klang diese besonders frohgemut. "Machen Sie Ihren Breitbandzugang doppelt so schnell!" hieß es da. "T-DSL 1500 ermöglicht Downloadgeschwindigkeiten von bis zu 1500 kbit/s - also doppelt so schnell wie Ihr derzeitiges T-DSL." Meine Stimmung begann zu sinken, als ich las: "Speziell für T-DSL 1500 haben wir für Sie einen neuen Tarif entwickelt."

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Lotus Domino 6 for Linux

by Volker Weber

This IBM Redbook describes how to run the IBM Lotus Domino 6 server on the Linux platform. While Lotus Domino 6 is platform-independent, some specific knowledge about the platform and configuration is required to ensure that the Domino 6 server is running most efficiently.

The book provides detailed instructions for installing Linux and Domino 6 for Linux, and describes how to achieve maximum performance of your system. System administration and security techniques are explained and tools for managing and troubleshooting are discussed as well.

Detailed scenarios illustrate some of the features of Domino 6 on Linux, in particular user registration, directory synchronization, creating a Domino application, and accessing external data using DB2 and MySQL. We describe how to configure Domino as a Web server, including the new security options specific to the HTTP protocol in Domino 6. Strategies and techniques for virus protection and data backups are presented, along with details about some of the third-party software packages available to help you with these management tasks.

This redbook is written for administrators with strong Domino and Windows operating system skills, but who are not experts on Linux. Therefore, we show in detail how to install and configure a Linux operating system on your server, but don't spend too much time explaining basic Domino features. Instead, we focus on demonstrating that Linux is an excellent platform on which to run Domino 6.

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When Bad Things Happen to Good Ideas - Knowledge Management

by Volker Weber

Knowledge management is a solid concept that fell in with the wrong company. Software companies, to be precise. It's all part of changing your culture. And if you don't change your culture, you'll never manage your knowledge - and KM will truly be a bust.

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If you can read it, you can copy it

by Volker Weber

Last Thursday, I had, as managing director of AudioBooksFor Free.Com, a top-level meeting with WHSmith Online management, the big bookseller.

Among other things, I expressed my very strong belief that so-called "copyright-protected" formats are impossible in principle [...] I was immediately challenged by one of WHSmith's directors "to break" Microsoft Reader, which is the copy-protected format that WHSmith adopted for their e-books.

No one on my team has any experience with e-books. None have any knowledge of e-book formats or e-book encryption. Three hours later we sent WHSmith one of their top e-books now totally unprotected.

It took us just 30 minutes to work out how to do it without any hacking or programming. We did it using ordinary, widely available free tools.

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War Photographer: James Nachtwey

by Volker Weber

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James Nachtwey ist der berühmteste Kriegsfotograf unserer Zeit. Seit fast 20 Jahren fotografiert er in Krisengebieten dieser Welt - Afghanistan und Bosnien, Ruanda und El Salvador, Nordirland und Kurdistan, Somalia und Südafrika. Dabei entstanden Dokumente dessen, wozu Menschen auch am Ende des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts noch fähig sind: Bilder von apokalyptischem Leiden, archaischem Hass, kollektivem Blutrausch.

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Financial Times: Microsoft row helps Linux

by Volker Weber

Has Microsoft shot itself in the foot? The storm of protest over its controversial new software licensing policies - which came into effect on August 1 - continues to simmer and could, in the longer term, provoke radical changes in the way companies acquire business software.

The immediate effect has been to persuade companies large and small to examine, perhaps for the first time, the fine print on their licensing contracts, not only with Microsoft but with all their software suppliers.

Many larger companies are discreetly investigating the possibility of replacing Microsoft's Windows operating system with software from another supplier. A survey by the consultancy OTR found that some 40 per cent of a sample of European companies were actively seeking alternatives.

The most interesting consequence, however, may be the boost and new credibility that the row has given to so-called "open source" or "free" software. Epitomised by the Linux operating system, developed by Linus Torvalds, open source software has played only a small part in commercial data processing to date. That may be about to change.´

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Doppelt gemoppelt

by Volker Weber

Dinge gibt's, die gibt's eigentlich gar nicht. Zum Beispiel zweimal ISDN und zweimal DSL auf einem Draht. Meint die Rechnungsstelle der Telekom.

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"Das schaffen wir auch noch"

by Oliver Tunnat

Ein ZEIT-Interview mit Steve Ballmer.

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Busted: Why The Markets Can't Fix Themselves

by Oliver Tunnat

By George Soros

The whole country is up in arms about corporate abuse and financial wrongdoing. Our outrage is coupled with amazement: How could it have happened? Yet we shouldn't be amazed. The excesses of the 1990s boom and the clamor for reform that has accompanied the current bust are in fact a recurring feature of financial markets. What is truly amazing is that after so many boom/bust cycles we still do not properly understand how financial markets operate.

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Moral an die Börse!

Bilanzbetrug und Börsencrash - es konnte gar nicht anders kommen. Die Ideologie des freien Marktes trieb den Menschen in die Sucht nach Geld. Wer ehrlich blieb, verlor. Helfen können jetzt nur der Staat und ein neuer Glaube an das Gemeinwohl.

Deutsche Übersetzung in der ZEIT >

[Link auf das Original via Haiko Hebig]

Beautiful

by Volker Weber

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Frankfurt in Schieflage

by Oliver Tunnat

Im Sog der Börse rutschen deutsche Banken und Versicherer in die Nähe des Bankrotts. Selbst Schuld: Ein Jahrzehnt lebten sie über ihre Verhältnisse.

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Documentum To Acquire eRoom Technology, Inc.

by Volker Weber

Documentum [...] today announced an agreement to acquire privately held eRoom Technology, Inc. In the acquisition, Documentum will issue approximately 7.7 million shares of its common stock and pay approximately $12.6 million in cash for all of the outstanding shares of eRoom’s capital stock, based upon eRoom’s current capitalization. In addition, Documentum will reserve approximately 1.7 million shares of its common stock for issuance upon exercise of eRoom stock options being assumed in the acquisition.

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Notes and Domino 6 Trial Code

by Volker Weber

Now available for download >

IBM Unveils Websphere Portal - Express

by Volker Weber

IBM Unveils Websphere Portal - Express For Small And Mid-Size Businesses. Requires just one server, installs in just five clicks, priced attractively.

Somers, NY, October 3, 2002... In the first of several software product introductions aimed at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), IBM today unveiled a new version of its portal software specifically for the SMB market that is easy to install and use, and affordable to buy and maintain.

IBM is introducing WebSphere® Portal - Express, software that was designed in close consultation with IBM Business Partners, who offer an exceptional understanding of small and medium-sized businesses. The result is portal software that is particularly simple to deploy and use. With only a few clicks of the mouse, customers and IBM Business Partners can customize a page layout, add a new portlet, add a new user, or completely change the portal's interface.

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Mozilla 1.2a

by Volker Weber

I did it. Thanks, Haiko, for the heads up.

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A message for Dreamweaver users

by Volker Weber

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EDS ditches PwC Consulting

by Volker Weber

EDS Corp has confirmed that it has terminated its global SAP services alliance with management consultancy PwC Consulting LLC following its $3.5bn acquisition by IBM Corp.

Plano, Texas-based EDS pulled the plug on the deal, which it set up with New York-based PwC Consulting last December to provide systems integration and consulting services around SAP tools to their joint customer base. The partnership brought together a combined total of 10,000 SAP specialists with skills in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and support services.

The move follows Hewlett-Packard Co, which ended its global alliance with PwC Consulting last month, where the two companies had been jointly working on supply chain and procurement tools and services, as well as IT services to the airline industry since July 2001.

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New version of ACLHelp released

by Volker Weber

ACLHelp is a server task for Lotus Domino that allows a database ACL to be modified from the console - useful if the administrator has lost access to the database. New features in version 2.0:

(1) Change more than one database at a time. This is done by using either a directory name or a wildcard. In this version, only a limited set of wildcards are allowed: *.nsf, *.ntf

(2) Specify a number of switches that determine the level of access and type of the new entry, for example -author -nocreate -nodelete -persongroup.

(3) Remove an entry from an ACL with the -remove switch

(4) List the entries at a specified level by using ? for the entry name.

(5) Change or add an administration server

(6) Add an entry even if the name is already in the ACL.

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Nachkalkulation

by Volker Weber

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IBM beruhigt seine neuen Berater

by Volker Weber

Die Beratungssparte des Technologiekonzerns IBM plant trotz der Übernahme von 30.000 Beratern des Konkurrenten PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting (PwCC) vorerst keine größeren Entlassungswellen. Analysten glauben nicht so ganz daran.

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One per cent bugs cause half of Microsoft errors

by

One per cent of the bugs in Microsoft's software cause half of all reported errors with 20 per cent of bugs responsible for 80 per cent of the mistakes, chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday.

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TAFKAPWCC

by Volker Weber

(The Artist Formerly Known As PwC Consulting)

Today marks the end of PwC Consulting. After the Monday debacle, the parent firm sold the consulting arm to IBM, which combined it with its Business Innovation Services unit (itself a part of IBM Global Services) to create IBM Business Consulting Services, by many measures the world's largest consulting firm (60,000+ employees). The PwC Consulting web site is blank, save a short message directing visitors to the IBM BCS site.

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TAFKAKPMGC

by Volker Weber

(The Artist Formerly Known As KPMG Consulting )

New York, NY, October 2, 2002 - Today KPMG Consulting, Inc. [...]announced that it has changed its name and its brand to BearingPoint, Inc. [...] BearingPoint will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol BE.

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Spam

by Volker Weber

Jason Kottke: What I could be doing right now, according to email received this morning

- Having free sex on the Web
- Getting the computer skills I need free from Video Professor
- Viewing photos of singles in my area
- Getting 4 complimentary sirlions 1/2 price Omaha steaks
- Earning extra cash for the holidays
- Winning a $500 Target holiday shopping spree
- Repairing my credit legally
- Earning $6,000.00 per month, working from home
- Heightening my orgasms
- Giving away CDs and earning full time income
- Losing 22.5 pounds in 3 weeks
- Receiving 3 complimentary panties from Fredericks
- Losing up to 12 pounds in two days guaranteed
- Taking a Florida vacation
- Planning a trip
- Losing weight, no exercise
- Achieving the ultimate orgasm
- Getting on the management fast track
- Renting all the DVDs I want
- Learning the secrets to investing in real estate
- Enlarging my penis
- Getting my next car at my price
- Ordering $20 and receiving a $10 coupon
- Getting 250 business cards for free
- Viewing photos of available men and women in my area
- Getting big, ripped, and strong
- Getting a life
- Finding love today at Matchmaker.com
- Training for success
- Winning a 100% free mortgage quote
- Saving up to 80% on inkjet & laser toners
- Slashing my payments 50% without a loan
- Buying cheap real estate then selling it for profit

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Happy Birthday to Groove

by Volker Weber

It's Groove's fifth anniversary - Ray has written some thoughts, including some really fascinating background material.

[stolen from Hugh's weblog]

Domino Designer 6 - A Developer's Handbook

by Volker Weber

This IBM Redbook describes how to develop applications with IBM Lotus Domino Designer 6.

With Domino Designer, you are able to create applications hosted by a Domino server. These applications can be used by different clients, such as Notes clients, Web browsers or mobile devices.

This redbook will introduce and show in detail how you can use all the different design elements of Domino Designer, such as forms, pages, views, agents, outlines, resources and framesets.

Those readers that are familiar with developing applications using Release 5 of Lotus Domino may want to move straight to the chapter that introduce the new features in Domino 6.0 and continue from that.

The chapters towards the end of the book will discuss different programming languages, @fuctions, LotusScript, JavaScript, Java, which can be used in Domino. We describe in detail how to manipulate rich text objects by programming as well as XML in Domino.

This redbook was written for technical specialists, developers and programmers, customers, IBM Business Partners, and the IBM and Lotus community who need a good technical understanding of how to develop applications using IBM Lotus Domino Designer 6.0.

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DDSearch 2.0 for Domino Designer 6

by Volker Weber

Cool stuff: DDSearch 2.0 is a plug-in tool for the IBM Lotus Domino Designer 6 client and allows you to search the design of templates directly from the Designer 6 client.

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Lotus Charges Per CPU for Domino 6 Licensing

by Volker Weber

Striving for greater consistency with other IBM software divisions, Lotus has changed its pricing strategy for Domino 6 servers, according to sources. The company will charge customers for Domino 6 licenses based on the number of CPUs. Other software products within the IBM Software Group also charge on a per-CPU basis. Client pricing for Notes 6 is the same as it was for R5.

Lotus will offer three Domino 6 servers:

* Domino Messaging Server for messaging and calendaring: $894 per CPU.
* Domino Enterprise Server for messaging and calendaring, applications, and clustering: $2,308 per CPU.
* Domino Utility Server for applications and clustering (no client access licenses for browsers): $11,750 per CPU.

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Changes on Lotus Developer Domain

by Volker Weber

Mike Golding: The release has spurred many changes over at the Lotus Developer Domain. The "R6 Pre-Release Forum" has been closed and archived, there is a new "R6 Gold Forum" and the previous Gold forum has been renamed "Notes/Domino 4 and 5 Forum". Additionally a new forum has been introduced called the "Enterprise Integration Forum" which could prove a useful resource if we can rely on users to post in the correct place.

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Two steps forward, one step back

by Volker Weber

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Yesterday I said, I like the new Notes icons. Still true, but not applicable to the new mail indicator in the windows tray. This is the right most icon next to the clock. That was actually much better in the beta and the release candidate.

Someone asked me why there are so few icons in my tray. Easy enough, it is the leftmost icon next to the Battery MaxiMiser gauge. It belongs to Traymanager:

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This neat little program hides all your unwanted tray icons in a context menu. They are still accessible but do not clutter the tray.

Beautiful

by Volker Weber

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Kate Moss is looking much better now ...

Old vowe.net archive pages

I explain difficult concepts in simple ways. For free, and for money. Clue procurement and bullshit detection.

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