February 2005

Memos not syncing between Treo 650 and Mac?

by Volker Weber

This took me a few hours of install and uninstall to figure this out: The Tungsten T5 requires its own version of Palm Desktop. The reason is that there are now two conduits for certain funnctions. There are two conduits for the Memopad: Memopad Conduit and Memos Conduit. The iSync conduit however removes the second conduit on installation. Here is how you get it back:

cd /Application\ Support/Palm\ HotSync/Disabled\ Conduits
sudo mv Memos\ Conduit/ ../Conduits

I believe this new scheme is caused by the new storage structure in the flash memory and may therefore be applicable to the Tungsten T5 as well. Did I mention that the T5 Palm desktop does not have an uninstall feauture and you have to do it manually?

Site news: vowe.net now with gzip compression

by Volker Weber

I have enabled gzip compression now for all pages on vowe.net. If your browser supports that feature, and it most likely does, the http stream is now being compressed before it is transferred. Does it feel any faster now?

If you want the same capability for Domino, you may want to pay this month's sponsor a visit. ;-)

Update: Now the feeds are compressed as well.

This is Ed. Watch Ed drive.

by Volker Weber

Ed in Porsche 997

Adieu T-Mobile

by Volker Weber

My old GSM chip is now dead (as planned). It actually takes a few days before T-Mobile releases my number and transfers it to O2. Don't let yourself be fooled by this announcement:

Diese Rufnummer ist uns nicht bekannt. Bitte fragen Sie bei der Auskunft nach.
The number you are dialing is not listed. Please call directory inquiries.

While we have phone number portability, the service is disgusting. T-Mobile is both unable to deliver the correct message and to release the number on time to O2. Until this transaction is completed I can be reached with this temporary number:

0176-2461 1842

Update: This worked faster than expected. I had been told it will take up to 10 days. Tonight at 4 o'clock however I received an SMS from O2 announcing that my regular phone number has been transferred. T-Mobile, charge the 25 Euros you are asking and the case is closed.

All products arrive in a big glossy box

by Volker Weber

The Applestore of the future >

George, we don't like you

by Volker Weber

We don't like that for your visit we needed to shut down major highways and two rivers for hours on end, one city, a huge hospital, lots of businesses including one automotive plant. That people had to remove their mailboxes, to clean out their garages and have them sealed. That they were not allowed to go onto their own balconies nor open their windows, unless they wanted to be shot by your sharpshooters. Children could not go to school, people were unable to get to work. Police broke into a private home to remove a banner stating you are not welcome.

You said, you would like to return to this beautiful country. Please don't. Or if you must, please visit here. It is much safer. And November would be a good time.

Google Maps now with Safari support

by Volker Weber

screenshot_253.jpg

Size does matter

by Volker Weber

When XXL is too tight.

openBC tidbits

by Volker Weber

I was just checking the search results for "Members who visited my contact page recently" and found this lady. Things are getting interesting. :-) Not a member yet? Sign up here.


Wireless Travel Router

by Volker Weber

While on the road I have been using my Apple Airport Express as a wireless access point. Mitch however has shown me a very interesting alternative: The Netgear 54 Mbps Cable/DSL Wireless Travel Router. The main advantage is that it has a switch which lets you select one of several modes. While the Apple product is a much smaller package without wires and with more capabilities, the Netgear router might actually be easier to handle. I know a few people who never could get the Airport Express to work.

There is a catch: Netgear does not sell this product in Germany, citing that there isn't sufficient demand. You will therefore have to order it by mail or import it yourself.

Home, sweet home

by Volker Weber

After a week of travel we are finally back home. What a journey! We have visited Florian, Herbert, Ilse, Inge, Leon, Martin, Mitch, Petra, Sandra, Stefan, Timm, Waltraud, Wolfgang, met Ed, Ralph, and dozens of friends and acquaintances. A special thanks to Anneliese, Otto, Wolfgang and their team for making this such a memorable event.

After a short break we shall be ready to resume publishing. :-)

Quote of the day

by Volker Weber

Wann geht's denn jetzt los mit der Musik?
—Sandra Rubner, beinahe 3

It's "Make your own caption" time

by Volker Weber

In case you are wondering how Ed is doing in Munich. ;-)

Where in the world is vowe

by Volker Weber

Speaking at Lotusphere Nachlese in Munich

Updates on vowe.net are slow this week since I am currently travelling. Here I was speaking at the opening session for edcom's Lotusphere Nachlese in Munich. I have another session today and will moderate Ed's sessions tomorrow. Posting von vowe.net shall commence this weekend at the latest.

Apple updates iPod family

by Volker Weber

Apple updates the iPod line. This was overdue since the iPod Photo was not selling well. It was simply too expensive and looking at photos on the the tiny screen just was not worth the 100 dollars they were asking for the 40 gig model.

Apple brought the price for the iPod photo 60 down by 149 while maintaining all features. The smaller iPod photo went from 40 gig down to 30 gig. But if you are looking at the current bestseller, the 20 gig b/w model, you will now get a color screen, plus 10 gig, plus photo capabilities for just $50 more, things might finally change for the color iPods.

Apple has an iPod now at almost every price point. Shuffles at 100 and 150, minis at 200 and 250, b/w at 300, and color at 350 and 450. Where is the 40 gig photo at 400? :-)

Temporary lapse in communication

by Volker Weber

While I am transferring my mobile number from D1 to O2 there will be a possible disruption of service. It actually takes a few days before D1 releases my number after it takes it out of service on Feb 27 and transfers it to O2. This is a temporary backup:

0176-2461 1842

Update: This number is out of service, I am back on my regular mobile.

Pressemitteilung

by Volker Weber

Burger King grillt Daten mit SAS

Macht mir immer noch keinen Hunger. ;-)

First look at the RAZR

by Volker Weber

Now that I have played a few hours with the RAZR, I can tell you a bit about my experience so far. First of all, this is not your Daddy's Motorola phone. The software is actually very good, especially after you removed some of the eye candy. I have hundreds of phone book entries, so I don't need a photo next to each entry. This just slows things down. I also don't want a wallpaper or a screensaver. All gone now. I also reprogrammed the right softkey from O2 Active to Recent Calls. No need to be forced online by a casual click. Can I reprogram the web browser key as well?

Next step was hooking up the device to Snoopy. That was a breeze:

motosync.jpg

I just added the device to iSync and it blasted all my phone numbers to the RAZR. As mentioned in the comments to my last entry, this is a phone book and not an address book. You get the phone numbers plus the email address but not the home address. I will also see if I want to upload my calendar but that is unlikely. So far I have only used the USB cable but I will try a Bluetooth connection soon.

Signed the O2 contract today

by Volker Weber

Today I signed my new O2 contract. And I decided to get the Moto. Not ready to drop the Treo completely, though. :-)

Does anybody know how to display the homezone on a Treo?

Brotkasten oder nicht

by Volker Weber

Zum Unterschied zwischen Bloggern und Journalisten: Die einen übernehmen die Story, die anderen fragen noch mal nach.

Update on Wi-Fi and the Treo 650

by Volker Weber

This is now palmOne's official position on this matter:

We are presently evaluating support for the Treo 650 and various add-on Wi-Fi solutions. Due to the complexities of implementing an external Wi-Fi implementation that would work successfully in conjunction with the Treo 650 radio, we cannot provide a definitive delivery date at this time. We want to ensure we have a great customer experience, and we will deliver a product when we can provide that experience.

As I understand the Treo 650 is built by HTC who also make a Windows smartphone with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Somehow this problem has already been solved. Wouldn't it be nice if you stopped evaluating and have an engineer work on a driver for the palmOne card?

Car wash

by Volker Weber

carwash

MS working on Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP

by Volker Weber

Scoble mirrors a statement on the IE blog:

Today at RSA, Bill Gates talked about Internet Explorer 7. As the guy responsible for IE, I wanted to say a couple of things about it.

First, some basics: we're committing to deliver a new version of Internet Explorer for Windows XP customers. Betas of IE7 will be available this summer. This new release will build on the work we did in Windows XP SP2 and (among other things) go further to defend users from phishing as well as deceptive or malicious software.

This is a major change of directions. MS did not mean to upgrade IE outside of Longhorn. But now that they are rapidly losing to Firefox they need to move.

Now, can anyone point me to the download of the full installer for Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 in german?

Treo 650 to ship in Europe in 2nd quarter

by Volker Weber

The Register reports:

The European release of PalmOne's Treo 650 smart phone has been delayed, the company admitted this week. Launched in the US in October 2004, the 650's European debut was initially pegged for February 2005, according to comments made at the time by Ed Colligan, the company's president and soon-to-be interim CEO. However, PalmOne said yesterday that the handset will now not ship here until Q2 - at least five months after the 650 shipped in the US. At least PalmOne has the backing of the Orange network, which will offer the smart phone to its UK, French and Swiss customers, PalmOne said.

I was confused at first, when palmOne made the initial Treo 650 announcement. What was being announced was only the CDMA version of this smartphone. The GSM version was still months out. We have seen the same delays from Nokia the other way around. Months after shipping GSM versions they finally came out with CDMA phones. It was poor communications by palmOne that caused this confusion and this has probably all but stalled the market for the Treo 600 GSM phone when people started holding off their purchase since the 650 already "came out".

The Treo 650 GSM only become available 10 days ago in the US. By availability I mean that palmOne started taking orders. Not sure whether they already started shipping those orders. I have no idea what the original plan for shipping the GSM version was, but February sounds about right. Since it is already available in the US, it looks like palmOne almost made it. Now they need to get those containers from Asia to Europe and start selling them here as well. I am still voting for CeBIT.

The other interesting tidbit is that Orange will be shipping the Treo 650. They also had the 600. I still have no information on any German provider to support the device.

Und Ihr wundert Euch, dass es Euch schlecht geht

by Volker Weber

Dieser himmelschreiende Service ruft geradezu nach einer Google Bomb auf Siemens Gigaset S1 colour. Cut here:

<a href="http://www.qxm.de/leben/20050215-131852" title="Siemens Gigaset S1 colour">Siemens Gigaset S1 colour</a>

Attack of the SF Muni Fare Inspectors

by Volker Weber

Steve Malik asks:

Have we again reached a point in our history where fear is so strong that it overrides justice and common sense? Have we arrived at a place where the phrase “for security reasons” trumps logic? Where it trumps justice, fairness and liberty? Are we so paranoid that we’re willing to give up our basic freedoms in pursuit of elusive security?

I would say: Yes. This case of paranoia is not an isolated incidence. We have been threatened for taking this picture.

The Apple Product Cycle

by Volker Weber

This Apple Product Cycle is meant to be a spoof. But I swear, it's all true. Don't miss the fine print at the bottom:

The author has been an Apple user since 1984. ... He currently uses a Dual 2.0GHz PowerMac G5 and a 12" PowerBook G4. In spite of his loyalty to the platform, he finds most "Mac people" to be tiresome and annoying. He is pretty sure that if he had to attend WWDC or Macworld, he would wind up slapping the shit out of a bunch of people. ...

More >

iPhoto Diet now compatible with iLife 05

by Volker Weber

What is iPhoto Diet?

Apple's iPhoto automatically backs up original copies of your photos whenever you make changes, such as rotating an image, adjusting brightness, or cropping. This makes it possible to revert back to the original if you are unhappy with your changes. The originals, along with the modified photos, are kept in the iPhoto library and over time add greatly to the library's size. There may be times when you do not want to keep some or all of the originals. iPhoto Diet is an application that scans through an iPhoto library folder and moves any undesired originals to the Trash. iPhoto Diet can be run manually or set to run automatically at desired times.

More >

One for the boys

by Volker Weber

Consider yourself warned >

New toy: Jabra BT250

by Volker Weber

jabra_250.jpgI bought a Jabra BT250 today. This is a change of mind. I was not too keen on using a Bluetooth headset, since Bluetooth can be "difficult". At home I use a wired headset for my office phone, and in the car I have a wired headset for the mobile phone. Neither requires a charge and they both literally are plug & play.

Snoopy however does not have a microphone-in (it does have a built-in mic), so I can only use regular headphones as I have done in the past, but that leaves me tethered to the iBook during calls. The Jabra is going to change this. Pairing the headset was a breeze. You hold the On button for 8 seconds and it goes into "discoverable" mode. You select the device from the Bluetooth Assistant in Mac OS X and enter the 0000 key. Now I only needed to switch Skype into using the Jabra for audio in and out and that was it. As you "dial" a call from Skype, the Mac connects to the headset and you can talk freely while roaming around the room. In theory the range can be as far as 10 meters but the sound quality drops considerably beyond 5 meters.

I also paired the Jabra with a number of mobile phones and that was equally easy. I understand that certain Nokias need a software update but all others that I tried work just nicely. Since the Mac or the phone calls the headset, you can pair it with more than one device. I was able to make a Skype call from the Mac with the Jabra headset although it was also paired with a mobile that was switched on right next to the iBook. I have no idea what happens if both want to connect. :-)

Battery life on the headset should be really good. Jabra claims 8 hours talk time or 240 hours of standby. It takes some practice to quickly wrap the headset over your ear but I am getting better. It weighs only 23 grams and does not feel uncomfortable at all. Now I know why I see so many Borg running around with one of those. You don't even care to take it off.

While pairing with the iBook and the mobile was easy, I was unable to connect to the iMac. It says that the Acer BT500 on the iMac does not support the headset profile. I need to check whether there is an update available.

Update: I can confirm that the Jabra works with both the iBook and the mobile phone. What you need to do is: First pair with the iBook using the headset profile. You do this by holding the On button on the Jabra. Then you pair with the mobile phone using the handsfree profile. You do this by holding both the On and the Volume Up buttons. Turn off the Jabra before pairing. After you have paired both devices they can all be on. Skype will connect to the Jabra automatically as needed. For incoming calls on the mobile, the phone will connect to the Jabra. For outgoing calls you press the On button once. Now that is all I need. :-)

Electroporn

by Volker Weber

May not be safe for work.

[Thanks, Hajo]

Don't try this at home

by Volker Weber

armeddoor.jpg

Senuti = reverse(itunes)

by Volker Weber

Senuti is a simple utility that makes transferring songs from an iPod to your computer quick and easy.

More >

Life in Windowsland

by Volker Weber

Christopher Harvey describes the latest virus outbreak at his company:

Well, one user in our company was infected with Mydoom.f just 8 hours prior to the newer dats being released that would have saved us. Anyway, this viscous little bugger ripped through our file server and deleted thousands of .XLS and .DOC files.

Initially we weren't sure how widespread the outbreak was and had everyone shutdown. After scanning the home drives on the File Server we found only the one user's drive was affected. Then we started the arduous process of requesting the off-site tape and restoring files while our anti-virus guru spent hours on the phone with McAfee. Apparently we were one of the first companies hit and our guy was a primo source of info on the virus for McAfee.

Well, here we are one day later, and we are now blocking all ZIP files in addition to the 20 executable extensions we have blocked for months.

How much stuff can you block before mail gets useless?

Burn In 2005

by Volker Weber

Symantec mag Stefan. Symantec mag Thomas. Aber vowe dieses Jahr (wieder) nicht. Hat jemand 'ne Karte abzugeben? :-)

Linux on the Mac mini

by Volker Weber

For those of you who'd rather use Linux than Mac OS X:

Apple's Mac Mini is something which a lot of Linux users have been waiting for: An inexpensive, readily available PowerPC system in a small, quiet and attractive chassis.

Debian is very popular on Intel i386 compatible systems. Due to the open source nature of the Linux kernel and the Debian operating system, it is possible to build the same software to run on the PowerPC processor found inside the Mac Mini. It's simple to swap your big, noisy old PC for the slim, svelte Mac Mini, and this page aims to show you how to do just this.

More >

[Thanks, Pieterjan]

Don't wet your pants yet

by Volker Weber

There seems to be a competition out there about who can install Workplace Services Express 2.0 (WSE) in 30 minutes or less. Everyone seems to be excited on how fast this works and how cool it looks.

I think it's time to step back and take a look at the big picture.

WSE is WebSphere portal with a bunch of collaboration portlets thrown in. It uses Cloudscape instead of DB2, runs on a single machine with a whole lot of RAM (2 gig minimum) and does not contain the Workplace Client Technology (WCT). In case you never worked in a portal environment, go to Bruce's site and take a look. Every single click will result in a full round trip to the server. I don't know about you, but I cannot get any real work done in a portal environment. It is nice for information purposes, but not to get any work done.

How do you develop for a portal? You write portlets. IBM has announced Workplace Designer who will make this much more Domino-like once it gets available. But don't let yourself be fooled, because portlets is all you will get. And this may not be what you are expecting.

IBM has also announced Workplace Collaboration Services 2.5 (WCS). You can license this on a per processor basis. WCT will be available for WCS, but you need to buy additional licenses per user. Hopefully WSE 2.5 will also make WCT available for you in the not too distant future.

If you want to develop WCT applications, you are not writing portlets. You will be writing Eclipse plugins. The Eclipse workbench is a good tool to do that. Or you buy the Rational Application Developer. Both tools require you to write some serious Java code. You want your application to work both in WCT and on WSE? You will need a portlet and a plugin. If you write your portlet with Workplace Designer there currently is no way to transfer that application into WCT. I trust IBM will resolve this as well.

I don't want to sound too negative, but a 30 minute install right now does not give you a lot more than a pretty face and a slow portal.

Free IBM tutorial on Domino administration

by Volker Weber

If you are new to Domino administration, here is a self-paced, e-learning tutorial to help you get started. Introduction to Administering IBM Lotus Domino 6/6.5: Operating Fundamentals introduces you to basic concepts that provide the foundation for Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes.

This tutorial includes a subset of the topics from the Lotus Education offering Administering IBM Lotus Domino 6/6.5: Operating Fundamentals, E-learning Edition: Self Paced (ND755) edition and Instructor Led, Classroom (ND750) edition. The full offering is available for a fee from various Education Centers for IBM Software.

More >

[via Manfred]

CeBIT ante portas

by Volker Weber

09:44:58 Anruf von 089...
Keine Nachricht hinterlassen.

12:36:55 Anruf von 089...
Volker Weber
Guten Tag, hier ist ... von der Agentur ...
Guten Tag, Frau ...
Wir hatten Ihnen letzte Woche eine Einladung zu einem Pressegespräch zum Thema ... per E-Mail geschickt. Können Sie sich daran erinnern?
Nein, aber das kann gut sein, dass Sie mir eine Einladung geschickt haben.
Ich wollte nur noch mal nachfragen, ob Sie vielleicht Interesse an diesem Gespräch haben.
Vermutlich nicht. Denn sonst hätte ich Ihnen wohl eine Antwort geschickt.
OK, ich wollte ja nur noch mal nachfragen.
Auf Wiederhören.
Ja, ähm, auf Wiederhören.

Buchhaltung, KISS

by Volker Weber

Ich habe mich die letzten Tage mit dem Thema Buchhaltung auseinandergesetzt, nicht zuletzt wegen der Übermittlung der UStVa-Daten per Elster an das Finanzamt. Meine Ansprüche sind dabei durchaus sehr gering:

Ich habe so zwischen einem und zwei Dutzend Buchungen im Monat. Als Freiberufler mache ich eine einfache Einnahmenüberschußrechnung, die allerdings dieses Jahr genaueren Formvorschriften unterliegt. Ich muss nicht bilanzieren, aber einen Anlagespiegel führen. Eine Fakturierung brauche ich nicht, und meine offenen Posten kann ich locker im Kopf behalten.

Die meisten Buchhaltungsprogramme sind bei diesen Anforderungen mehr Last als Hilfe. Aber ich bin gestern über ein Programm gestolpert, das für mich exakt passt: QBU 7.0 von Johannes Quabach. Die Software ist in Delphi implementiert und nutzt MS MDAC für die Datenhaltung. Es gibt eine eingeschränkte Demoversion zum Download. Mit zwei Jahren Wartung kostet QBU im Online-Download 39 Euro; zwei weitere Jahre Wartung gibt es für 19 Euro.

Insgesamt wirkt QBU "altmodisch". Die Dialogführung ist zum großen Teil modal, aber irgendwie stört mich das gar nicht. Ich liebe einfach Programme, die genau das tun, was ich brauche, und keinen unnötigen Ballast mit sich rumschleppen. In diesem Fall heißt das für mich: Monatlich einmal Belege erfassen, dabei wiederkehrende Buchungen als Makros nutzen. Dann eine UStVa erstellen und per Elster an das Finanzamt übermitteln. Einmal im Jahr AfAs und Privatanteile buchen und die EÜR erstellen.

Wer ähnliche Anforderungen hat, sollte sich QBU mal anschauen. Oder mir was besseres (sprich: noch einfacheres) empfehlen.

Don't try this at home

by Volker Weber

050210airshow047kh.jpg

Is your car running on Windows?

by Volker Weber

Armonk, N.Y. - Feb. 9, 2005 - Today IBM announced the results from its 2004 Global Business Security Index Report and provided an early look at potential security threats in 2005. Based on early indicators, a new and troubling trend this year may be the aggressive spread of viruses and worms to handheld devices, cell phones, wireless networks, and embedded computers, which include car and satellite communication systems.

More >

Control-Option-Command-8

by Volker Weber

Via Stefan and John, Tom Yager:

When I use my PowerBook in dark spaces like conference sessions, I find that even the dimmest backlight setting is too bright. Control-Option-Command-8 switches the display to greyscale, then inverts it (in other words, black text on white becomes white text on black). The light output falls by half or more. It looks strange--the Dock icons are a really a trip in negative grayscale--but the entire GUI is perfectly usable. Repeating the hotkey sequence flips back to positive and restores the color.

Now picture me sitting in my car, checking mail via a hospitable WLAN. :-)

Lotusphere Nachlese

by Volker Weber

IBM veröffentlicht eine Liste von Veranstaltungen. Ich singe bei dieser. Ed kommt auch, was mit dem Namen des Veranstalters nichts zu tun hat. :-)

Panther 10.3.8 released

by Volker Weber

Apple has released the 8th Panther upgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.8.

Zero spam

by Volker Weber

Just wanted to give you an update on Spartacus, which is filtering my mail and moving spam to a separate folder.

Yesterday I found my first false positive. The first one in one month. Spartacus has sorted out roughly 3000 spam messages in the same time frame, and is now operating close to 100% accuracy. The only unwanted mails I still get are Windows worms as payload of fake nondelivery messages.

If you are looking for an excellent server-based spam filter, look no further than Spartacus. I shall add this to vowe's choice shortly.

Helden der Lyrik

by Volker Weber

fussballventilatoren.jpg

Carly quits

by Volker Weber

Marketwatch reports:

Most blue chips were trading red but Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - News) was logging a 7.6 percent gain after the computer hardware giant announced that Carleton Fiorina had stepped down as chairman and CEO of the company, effective immediately.

"While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina said in a statement.

The company's chief financial officer Robert Wayman was named interim CEO.

Carly quits and HP spikes. That is a strong statement. Has anything she tried actually worked?

Microsoft empfiehlt

by Volker Weber

Sehr geehrter Herr Weber,

im Rahmen der monatlichen Sicherheitsupdates hat Microsoft heute zwölf neue Sicherheits-Bulletins herausgegeben.

Die einzelnen Bulletins sind:

MS05-004 behebt eine Schwachstelle im Microsoft .NET Framework und hat den Schweregrad "hoch".
MS05-005 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Microsoft Office und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-006 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows SharePoint Services und hat den Schweregrad "mittel".
MS05-007 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows XP und hat den Schweregrad "hoch".
MS05-008 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows und hat den Schweregrad "hoch".
MS05-009 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-010 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-011 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-012 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows/Office/Exchange Server und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-013 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-014 behebt eine Schwachstelle im Internet Explorer und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".
MS05-015 behebt eine Schwachstelle in Windows und hat den Schweregrad "kritisch".

Wir empfehlen unseren Kunden, sich mit den Bulletins vertraut zu machen und sie umgehend zu installieren.

Ich empfehle was anderes. Und tut gar nicht weh. :-)

Sametime plugin for Trillian Pro 3.x

by Volker Weber

Sametime Plug-in for Trillian adds IBM Lotus instant messaging (Sametime) to the Trillian Pro instant messaging client. Trillian is a communications tool that manages connections to multiple instant messaging services. The Sametime plug-in allows Trillian users to connect to one or more Sametime servers, manage contacts, and conduct one-on-one or group chat sessions.

Version 1.1.2 adds support for Trillian Pro 3.x and an enhanced interface for adding users. Enhancements enable searching for a contact and setting a contact's display name when adding it.

More >

[via Carl]

Microsoft to Acquire Enterprise Anti-Virus Security Provider Sybari Software

by Volker Weber

REDMOND, Wash. -- Feb. 8, 2005 -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Sybari Software Inc., a leading provider of security products that help more than 10,000 businesses worldwide protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam. Microsoft will use this acquisition to further provide its enterprise customers with new solutions to help protect them from malicious software.

More >

She's done it

by Volker Weber

B&Q skipper, Ellen MacArthur, crossed the finish line off Ushant at 22:29:17 GMT tonight (Monday, 7.2.05) to set a new solo, non-stop round the world record of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. MacArthur has taken 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds off the previous fastest 72 day, 22 hours, 54 minute solo time of Francis Joyon (Joyon finished his record attempt on 3.2.04).

From Ellen minutes after crossing the line: "I cannot believe it, I absolutely cannot believe it. It hasn't sunk in yet. I don't think until I see faces again that it's reallly going to sink in. It's been an absolutely unbelievable journey, both physically and mentally. I'm absolutely overjoyed."

More >

Photo dump completed

by Volker Weber

Uploaded 50 pictures to a Lotusphere album and also finished uploading the rest of the pictures to the Florida 2005 album.

Creative 404 Errors

by Ragnar Schierholz

Hit reload on this page and see a randomly picked 404 error message. My favourites so far:

Check them out yourself (I don't know how many more there are).

Someone got lucky

by Volker Weber

palmOne Treo 650: Now at $699

by Volker Weber

PalmOne said Wednesday it would be offering an unlocked version of its Treo 650 phone for GSM/GPRS networks for $599. However, on Thursday the company increased the price to $699, saying the $599 price was a mistake.

More >

Is this funny or what?

by Volker Weber

Sara Radicati runs one of the most respected technology market research companies in Silicon Valley. The Radicati Group does its research thoroughly and produces reports that have insights that are uniquely well-grounded in research data and common business sense.

Says John Dickinson. Others disagree.

Welches O2-Telefon?

by Volker Weber

Ich will in den nächsten Wochen einen Genion-Tarif abschließen. Bei meinen Konditionen ist ein Handy dabei, was ich eigentlich nicht sooo dringend brauche. :-) Stellt sich nun die Frage, welches. Hier sind drei Kandidaten für knapp 10 Euro:

o2handyvergleich.jpg

Das wären im Prinzip drei Geräte, die man sofort verkaufen kann, oder im Fall des UMTS-Handy mal ins Regal legt. Alternativ könnte ich auch 100 bis 180 Euro investieren und auf einen entsprechend höheren Erlös pokern.

Wie ist Eure Meinung?

Smuggling peanuts

by Volker Weber

Only in Brazil: Ar-condicionado de série.

Notes-Programmierer in Hamburg gesucht

by Volker Weber

GAIN sucht einen Notes-Programmierer mit soliden Admin-Kenntnissen zur Festanstellung in Hamburg. Der Ansprechpartner steht im Impressum. Offensichtlich werden vowe.net-Leser bevorzugt. ;-) Ahnung von Banken und Versicherungen kann auch nicht schaden.

Pays4sure

by Volker Weber

20050203-PFSLogos.png

Yes, this is probably what I meant.

Größte Linux-Migration der Welt macht Fortschritte

by Ragnar Schierholz

Interessant, gemäss einem Computerwoche Artikel macht die Deutsche Bahn AG mit ihrem Linux-Projekt gute Fortschritte. Insbesondere:

Alle 55.000 Notes-Nutzer des Konzerns sind mittlerweile auf das Open-Source-Betriebssystem migriert.

Wie ist das zu verstehen? Nutzt die Deutsche Bahn Notes etwa lediglich als Mail-Client und hat jetzt auf Domino Web Access (a.k.a. iNotes) umgestellt? Oder läuft der Notes-Client da in Wine-Umgebung (o.ä.)?

Hat da jemand weitere Infos?

Update (vowe): Die CW hat den Beitrag geändert:

Die Domino-Server für alle 55.000 Notes-Nutzer sind Konzerns ist mittlerweile auf das Open-Source-Betriebssystem migriert.

Das läßt sich zwar sprachlich noch verbessern, aber damit dürfte diese Unklarheit beseitigt sein.

PepsiTunes Superbowl ad leaked

by Volker Weber

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[Thanks, Bruce]

Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill

by Volker Weber

Microsoft's leafy corporate campus in Redmond, Washington, is beginning to look like the streets of New York, London and just about everywhere else: Wherever you go, white headphones dangle from peoples' ears.

To the growing frustration and annoyance of Microsoft's management, Apple Computer's iPod is wildly popular among Microsoft's workers.

"About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music player have an iPod," said one source, a high-level manager who asked to remain anonymous. "This irks the management team no end," said the source.

So popular is the iPod, executives are increasingly sending out memos frowning on its use.

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Microsoft erneut "Deutschlands bester Arbeitgeber"

by Volker Weber

Microsoft Deutschland wurde am Dienstag Abend vom Wirtschaftsmagazin Capital in der Kategorie 500 bis 5.000 Mitarbeiter als «Deutschlands bester Arbeitgeber 2005» ausgezeichnet. Microsoft-Geschäftsführer Jürgen Gallmann bezeichnete diese Ehrung als "erneuten großen Vertrauensbeweis, den die Mitarbeiter ihrem Unternehmen gegenüber abgegeben haben." Das Software-Unternehmen mit Sitz in Unterschleissheim bei München beschäftigt rund 1.850 Mitarbeiter und hat diese Auszeichnung nach 2003 und 2004 zum dritten Mal in Folge erhalten.

Im Urkundentext wird die Ehrung wie folgt begründet: "Die Auszeichnung steht für ein glaubwürdiges Management, das fair und respektvoll mit den Mitarbeitern zusammenarbeitet, eine hohe Identifikation mit dem Unternehmen und einen starken Teamgeist."

Die Vorstände und Geschäftsführungen von 110 deutschen Unternehmen haben sich dem Votum ihrer Mitarbeiter in einer anonymen und ausführlichen Befragung gestellt. Der Wettbewerb "Deutschlands beste Arbeitgeber" stellt in Deutschland den größten und in seiner Art bedeutendsten Wettbewerb zur Qualität und Attraktivität von Arbeitsplätzen dar. Die Untersuchung geht auf die US-Initiative "Great Place to Work" zurück und steht in Europa unter der Patenschaft der EU-Kommission. In Deutschland wird der Preis alljährlich vom Wirtschaftsmagazin Capital verliehen. Datengrundlage sind eine gestützte Mitarbeiterbefragung sowie ein Kultur-Audit, die durch das unabhängige Marktforschungsinstitut Psychonomics AG durchgeführt werden. Die Forscher haben bei Microsoft 250 per Zufall ausgewählte Mitarbeiter zu ihrem Arbeitsplatz befragt. Die Mitarbeiterbefragung umfasst die Bereiche Glaubwürdigkeit des Managements, Respekt gegenüber Kollegen, Fairness beim Gehalt, Stolz in Bezug auf den Arbeitsplatz und Teamorientierung. Dazu zählen beispielsweise Fragen wie: Wie wird Leistung gefördert und belohnt? Auf welche Weise werden neue Mitarbeiter integriert? Wie glaubwürdig ist die Führung? Und welche Karrierechancen gibt es?

Sieger im Wettbewerb "Deutschlands beste Arbeitgeber" in der Kategorie 100 bis 500 Mitarbeiter wurde Lands' End, Gewinner bei den Großunternehmen (über 5.000 Mitarbeiter) SAP.

Treo 650 GSM goes on sale

by Volker Weber

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The Treo 650 for GSM networks goes on sale at the US palmOne Web Store for $599 without a service plan. There is no official date when the device becomes available in European channels but CeBIT is coming up in five weeks and that sounds to me like the perfect launch date. Also notice that palmOne relocated from hall 2 to hall 26 this year, which is a strong indication for a focus on the Treo line. Hall 26 is the home for all the mobile buzz.

Before anyone asks: No, I don't have a 650 yet. :-) But I was able to play with a few of the CDMA models while in the US. I also ran across a palmOne store in Atlanta Hartsfield International (Concourse 1), that had a unit on display. Current verdict: Much improved over the 600, but not to the extent that you need to dump the 600. You know the big new features like 320x320 screen and Bluetooth, but there is also a lot of new stuff in the software.

Quote of the day

by Volker Weber

"Innerhalb der nächsten zwei Jahre" werde der Tampon wieder in aller Munde sein, deutet Schoelling an ...

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Domino Web Access on the Mac

by Ken Porter

There was plenty of good news about the Macintosh platform from this year's Lotusphere. The Notes Mac client will again have feature parity with the Windows client in the Notes 7.0.x timeframe, and Mac OS X is part of IBM’s Workplace strategy. This is a huge change from last year’s "we are still thinking about it" message. But with all this good news, there is still one important piece of the puzzle that is missing when it comes to the Mac platform.

Domino Web Access (DWA) is currently not supported on any browsers on the Mac, nor has there been any commitment from IBM that this situation will be addressed. Understandably, IBM needs to see the business case before committing resources to this project. So if you are a Lotus customer with Mac clients, and you want Domino Web Access to be supported on the Mac OS, this is how you can help make the business case to IBM.

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Carrera mini

by Volker Weber

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Lest we forget

by Volker Weber

A picture says more than a thousand words.

[Thanks, Alex]

Slowly recovering from Morbus Lotuspheris

by Volker Weber

I am slowly recovering from pretty high fever, coughing, soar throat. Like most of the other folks that I know who went to Lotusphere. I'd suggest we call this illness Morbus Lotuspheris.

Gezielte Denial-of-Service-Attacke auf heise-online

by Volker Weber

01.02.2005 - 14:59 Uhr, Heise Medien Gruppe

Hannover (ots) - heise online wurde seit Montag durch mehrere Wellen mit so genannten Denial-of-Service-Attacken unbekannten Ursprungs zeitweise lahm gelegt. Der Heise Zeitschriften Verlag wird Strafanzeige stellen und setzt eine Belohnung von 10 000 Euro aus für sachdienliche Hinweise, die zur Ergreifung der Täter führen.

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iPhotoToGallery with iPhoto 5 support

by Volker Weber

Zachary Wily has made available iPhotoToGallery 0.52:

The only thing different in this release from the last is that iPhoto 5 is supported. This release should also work with previous iPhotos, but if you're not using iPhoto 5, there's no reason to upgrade.

[via Stefan]

Skype goes out of beta

by Volker Weber

Previously available in beta versions, Skype for Mac OS X and Skype for Linux software includes free Skype to Skype calling and conference calling for up to 5 participants, cross-platform communications, rich presence and personalization features, and the pre-pay SkypeOut service, allowing users to call any landline or mobile worldwide for the price of a local call.

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

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