March 2007

The Architecture of Mailinator

by Volker Weber

Paul Tyma is one of my heroes. He developed and runs Mailinator:

Almost 3.5 years ago I started the Mailinator(tm) service. I got the bulk of the idea from my drunk roommate at the time and the first incarnation took me all of about 3 days to code up. In some senses it was a crazy idea. As far I know, it was the first site of its kind. A web-based email service that allowed any incoming email to create an inbox. No sign-up. No personal information. Send email first, check email later.

Paul has developed an interesting architecture for his service. It lets him handle 4.5 million emails a day on a 2GHz processor with 1G or RAM and a slow 80G hard drive. Fascinating read.

More >

Confused by Adobe CS3 editions?

by Volker Weber

adobe cs3

Folgen Sie den blauen Schildern

by Volker Weber

Seit Bangle fährt man Audi. ;-)

Turn-by-turn instructions

by Volker Weber

swim

[via Declan]

P1

by Volker Weber

Heiko vor und hinter der Telefonknipse. Den Rest dann in der Bild. ;-)

Wie teilt man ein Büro auf?

by Volker Weber

Hanno fragt in Cubicles:

Ein Test mit "Lärmschutzwänden" verlief enttäuschend: Jetzt sieht man seinen Kollegen nicht mehr, aber hört ihn nach wie vor klar und deutlich.

Da wollen wir mal fragen, wie andere Firmen den Umstieg von Großraumbüro in kleinere Parzellen angegangen sind und wie zufrieden sie dann mit dem Ergebnis waren. Wir bitten um Erfahrungsberichte.

More >

Forum on DST, Domino and Blackberry

by Volker Weber

LotusUserGroup.org has a topic this week on DST and Blackberry with Lotus Domino. It is moderated by Catherine Coode, Manager of Development Support at RIM.

More >

Bitte warten

by Volker Weber

Notes beschaeftigt

[Danke, Martin]

Monkey proof

by Volker Weber

Nice viral by Panasonic Europe

[Thanks, Schweppes]

Spring is in the air

by Volker Weber

Orangerie, Darmstadt

So langsam wird das

by Volker Weber

SMS von o2:

Preissenkung. Ihr Data-Pack Volume 200 heißt ab dem 29.03. Internet-Pack M. Sie sparen 19.72 Euro pro Monat, und zahlen somit nur noch 10 Euro für 200 MB.

200 MB für 10 Euro. Soviel frisst nicht mal ein Windows-Mobile-Gerät. Ich denke, die Carrier werden bald merken, dass man für 10 Euro auch eine Flatrate anbieten kann. Und dann hebt der Markt ab.

Amazing

by Volker Weber

New toy: Netgear EVA700

by Volker Weber

eva 700

While we are waiting for the Apple TVs to arrive, it's time to look at some alternatives. Netgear has two Digital Entertainers: the EVA700 and the soon to be shipped EVA8000. The later model is not yet available but should ship in a few weeks.

The EVA700 is already interesting enough to take a closer look. It supports more video formats than the Apple TV (MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, WMV, Xvid) and it has one very interesting feature: a USB port at the front of the device. Plug in your thumbdrive or an external drive and play directly from that. Of course you can also play from your UPnP media server. I already have Twonky running on my Linksys NAS and it will be interesting to see if it can deliver suffient data for video.

Update: It. Just. Works. Plugged it in, connect to TV, joined my WLAN, and I am playing video. I would not want to use it to navigate thousands of MP3 files, but the maximum 20 videos on my server are easy to select. If somebody comes along with a USB drive, you just plug it in and look at photos, listen to music or watch videos on the drive.

Verdict: I like. Beware that a newer, even more capable device with an HDMI connector is around the corner. If you can hold off for a few weeks, you may want to get the EVA8000. If you don't need HD, you can save some money by getting the EVA700.

IBM spendet Notes Lizenzen für gemeinnützige Einrichtung

by Volker Weber

Der Lotus-Chef in Deutschland teilt mir gerade per Mail mit, dass er die Notes-Lizenzen für das Kinder-Hospiz in Hamburg gerne spendet. Darüber hinaus schreibt er:

Wenn Du irgendeine andere als gemeinnützig anerkannte Organisation kennst, würde ich dort das Gleiche tun.

Nachdem ich die Website dieses Hospiz gelesen hatte, da standen mir die Tränen in den Augen. Ein Satz sagt alles:

Die Welt steht still bei der Nachricht: "Wir können für Ihr Kind nichts mehr tun..."

Ich konnte beim besten Willen nicht verstehen, wie IBM hier eine Unterstützung ablehnen konnte. Es war sehr schön zu sehen, dass das eine Reihe von Mitarbeitern bei IBM ebenfalls nicht verstehen konnten. Vielen Dank!

CO2 emissions cause climate change. Do they really?

by Volker Weber

An Inconvenient Truth or The Great Global Warming Swindle?

More >

NeoOffice 2.1 released

by Volker Weber

NeoOffice 2.1

Santa Clara, California, USA - Planamesa Software and the NeoOffice.org community are proud to introduce NeoOffice 2.1, a significantly-enhanced version of the Mac OS X-native version of the OpenOffice.org office suite that includes Microsoft Office-compatible word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database applications.

NeoOffice now supports Microsoft Office 2007 OpenXML document formats and the execution of Visual Basic for Applications macros in Excel. Microsoft Office 2004 currently does not support the Office 2007 formats, and Microsoft Office 2007 Mac will drop VB support.

The best download is via BitTorrent for Intel or PowerPC. Keep seeding once you have the file.

neooffice torrent


More >

Dear Bill, ...

by Volker Weber

Dear Bill Gates

First, the apology. Having complained here on 6 February that your new Vista operating system was driving me bonkers, it would have been polite to give you an update before now.

And had I been a little less self-obsessed, I would have commiserated with you for the wobble in your share price a few weeks ago when your chief executive warned that Wall Street’s estimates of revenues from Vista in the coming year were over the top (though analysts still expect Vista to generate comfortably over $15bn of sales in the year from June 2007).

But in delaying my progress report, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I assumed that Vista would soon become compatible with the assorted tools of my trade, so I could write you a belated note of congratulation.

In fact my Vista experience has gone from bad to worse.

More >

[Thanks, Nick]

Spiegel verliert ein Wort

by Volker Weber

spiegelverlierteinwort

Überhaupt ist die Nachtschwester heute ziemlich daneben:

Noch immer kritisieren viele Kritiker die Haftentlassung. Am lautesten ruft Edmund Stoiber.

Seoul/Aichach/München - Die Aussetzung der restlichen Strafe zur Bewährung sei eine "eine Provokation für das Rechtsgefühl der breiten Mehrheit", sagte der bayerische Ministerpräsident bei einem seines Besuch in der südkoreanischen Hauptstadt Seoul.

Hat der Stoiber vielleicht selbst geschrieben.

Norton Commander will never die

by Volker Weber

forklift beta

Forklift, a dual pane file manager for Mac OS X. And it is not the first one.

New toy: Space Navigator

by Volker Weber

space navigator

At CeBIT 2007 I saw a new toy that I just had to have. You can see a demo here.

The 3Dconnexion Space Navigator lets you move 3D models in a very natural way. You just grab the knob with your "other" hand - you still use a mouse with your right (or left) hand. Then you twist the knob to turn your model, push or pull it down and up. You can also push the knob both left and right and back and forth, and finally you can also tilt it. Watch this little video to see me looking at a model of the Eiffel tower in Paris:

This type of controller isn't really new. What's new is that the Space Navigator is affordable. It comes with drivers for Windows but you can also download drivers for Linux and Mac. On Windows there is a long list of supported applications. On the Mac it is rather short: Formz, Google Sketchup, and Maya. Google Earth currently does not seem to detect the driver on the Mac. But I have not doubt that it will be coming soon.

This is also the first hardware I come accross which has two different price points depending on use:

2 prices

As their website states, the two products are identical. The "Personal Edition" is for private use only though. I wonder how they would like to enforce that limitation.

Getting the most out of your Apple Remote

by Volker Weber

apple remote

The Apple remote has only very few buttons, so you may not know what it is capable of.

If you've purchased a Mac recently, you probably have an Apple Remote. This nifty little device allows you to enter Apple's Front Row interface and control your Mac from afar. It's common knowledge that you can use your Apple Remote to play music, watch movies, and flip through pictures. ... What you might not know is that you can also use your remote to put your Mac to sleep, present a Keynote presentation, and lock your Mac. We'll show you how!

More >

There is a also a freeware called iRed Lite and Remote Buddy for 10€ to enable even more features.

Language lesson

by Volker Weber

I take one every single day. Today's new word:

For what its worth, they seem like right ejits

I did have to look it up.

Interesting job: nipple remover

by Volker Weber

Hanno discovered a new profession:

Someone is getting paid to remove any sign of a nipple at shopthebunny.com. Really.

Example >

Apple TV now shipping

by Bruce Elgort

Apple TV

Is an Apple TV in your future?

Mail from Oregon

by Volker Weber

UPS Track

This has been my longest UPS trail so far. It was caused by German customs who wanted to have a look inside the box and you can see the results on the outside.

Mail from Oregon

On the inside however there is a treat of products from Oregon. Thank you very much Bruce and Gayle!

Mail from Oregon

Selective screenshot

by Volker Weber

ben poole

More >

You don't know me

by Volker Weber

Two days ago somebody tried to attack me (the equivalent of pissing on the electric fence) and he has made a very stupid but common mistake. He confused vowe with myself. It should come as no big surprise that vowe is only a small part of me. I won't be revealing any more of me than you could know already, but I will tell you a few things you might not actually know:

  1. I like a lot of Microsoft products, for instance Windows 2000 Professional, Word and Excel 2000 (Windows) and 2004 (Mac), Outlook, Visio and to some extent Project. Access and Powerpoint are not on this list, as well as all software with mandatory activation.
  2. I like Notes, especially the simple things, including replication. I dislike most other things in Notes, especially its ancient single-threaded plumbing, its butt-ugly interface and templates. As a mail and c&s client I would prefer Outlook any day. Luckily I don't need either.
  3. I use stuff that works for me. My MacBook does, as most of the applications that came with it. I also like ThinkPads but they are oddly quaint to me now. Notes currently does not work for me, mostly because it is too closed. I am not keeping any data in proprietary formats anymore.
  4. I don't spend time supporting friends and relatives on Windows. They can either afford a Mac, or they will get Ubuntu. There are exceptions to this rule.
  5. I believe that Microsoft has turned into the IBM of the early 90s. Overconfident, bloated, slow, generally hated, can't live without it. Some of those things still describe IBM.
  6. I believe that IBM is a big hairy monster which does not need help from any smalltime guy. Nor will it ever pay back, let alone forward.
  7. The percentage of idiots in any sufficiently large group is fixed. However, it helps if the group is not led by some of the idiots. Corollary: Every company has a lot of very nice people. I usually succeed in finding them.
  8. Structure is an illusion. It's the people who count. Reorganisation is futile, unless you move the idiots from the top to the bottom. Removing them does not help, because the group will grow new idiots. Unfortunately in some organisations idiots bubble up, because promotion is the only way to get rid of them.
  9. Give and you shall receive. If that does not work immediately, give some more.
  10. Collaborate. You can create magic, if you work together.

Do you know me any better now? No. You are only reading what I write.

Make Microsoft Word less annoying

by Volker Weber

cleanword
Good explanation on Lifehacker:

Microsoft Word can drive you nuts. It piles on features few people need, plagues you with annoying auto-corrections and just generally acts like a pain in the ass.

No more. It's time to take back the word processor, to put Word in its place and make it your ally instead of your adversary. Follow these tips and you'll be a much happier writer.

Lots of useful tips, including how to ditch Word altogether.

More >

[via John]

How to successfully test the Notes 8 beta, part 4

by Volker Weber

Revise your rules.

Spender gesucht

by Volker Weber

Suche ein paar Notes-Lizenzen für eine gemeinnützige Einrichtung. Ein Freund aus Hamburg schreibt:

Meine Familie und ich haben neulich eine paar Tage im Kinder-Hospiz Sternenbrücke in Hamburg verbracht. Wir waren von der Einrichtung und den Leuten dort ziemlich angetan und wollen diese Stiftung nach unseren Möglichkeiten unterstützen (die finanzieren sich ausschließlich über Spenden). Da die dringend Unterstützung im Softwarebereich benötigen werde ich wohl die ein oder anderen Notes-Applikation zusamnenbasteln, Notes eignet sich, nach meinem bisherigen Kenntnisstand, am Besten. Nun benötigen die aber auch Notes-Lizenzen (ca. 30 Client und 1 od. 2 Serverlizenzen). Ich hab dann mal unverbindlich bei IBM angefragt, leider haben die abgelehnt. Nun meine Frage, gibt es deinem Umfeld eine Company die sowas sponsoren würde, natürlich gegen Spendenquittung?

Ich finde es schade, dass IBM das nicht macht. Die Opportunitätskosten wären sicher minimal. Vielleicht lassen sich ja ein paar Lizenzen von einem Exchange-Umsteiger recyclen.

Oder ein IBMer liest das hier, und kriegt das doch noch hin.

New poll: How would you like your beta test?

by Volker Weber

This time I need to calibrate my opinion. Assume you are beta testing your own software. How would you like the feedback from your testers?

  1. No comments on missing features
  2. No comments on performance
  3. All of the above
  4. Honest to the bone

Here are the results:

poll results

Agathe Bauer

by Volker Weber

Oben ohne

by Volker Weber

Aus einem Kaufhof-Prospekt:

TomTom ONE DACH

Ute: "Ohne Dach?" Vielleicht hätten sie besser D-A-CH geschrieben.

How to successfully test the Notes 8 beta, part 3

by Volker Weber

Do not try to control the feedback, unless you want results like this one:

I will say that my testing of Notes 8 beta has gone very, very badly and that experience will greatly affect our adoption of Notes 8, regardless of the point release. I read John Head's rules and am taking them to heart, hence the silence regarding my issues.

Related: How to successfully test the Notes 8 beta, part 1

Keiner kann besser granteln

by Volker Weber

Wolfgang macht sich beliebt:

Die Hauptpressekonferenz von Microsoft konnte nicht einmal diesem Anspruch genügen. Gleich zum Auftakt zeigte der Marketier Ralph Haupter seine Qualitäten als Phrasengenerator. Aus den Begriffen "Fokus", "adressieren", "Lösung", "Markt", "Plattform", "Innovation" und "Business" schraubte er eine halbe Stunde lang weitgehend sinnfreie Sätze zusammen. Dabei achtete er sorgfältig darauf, dass kaum eine Konstruktion syntaktisch korrekt war und er jede idiomatische Redewendung verballhornte.

Auch sein Chef Achim Berg, der neue Geschäftsführer der Microsoft GmbH, bewies, dass er viel reden kann, ohne etwas zu sagen.

Bewundernswertes Sitzfleisch. Ich bin nach 10 Minuten mit einem Kompliment gegangen: "Eine wunderbare Pressemappe haben Sie. Steht alles drin, was vorne erzählt wird".

Update: Wer "die schwäbische Schwatzmaschine" (O-Zitat) gerne mal erleben will, schaue die erste Hälfte dieses Videos. Nix für ungut, Herr Haupter. ;-)

Data connection refused on BlackBerry 4.2.1 firmware

by Volker Weber

BlackBerry 8800 and Pearl

As you may recall I was having difficulties with my O2 SIM and the BlackBerry 8800. As it turns out this is not an 8800 problem but a 4.2.1 problem. I have been talking to an engineer while being at CeBIT, and what has persuaded him to look at the issue thoroughly was showing him on the spot that the Pearl was having no problems connecting to their APN, but RIM's own 8800 devices would not.

After some debugging it turned out the device thinks that the SIM does not have their APN authorized. I discussed a few things, for instance that an early beta of 4.2.1 that I had tried last November also rendered the Pearl incapable of connecting with this SIM. The engineer then told me that they had changed the way the OS reads a USIM (Universal SIM for UMTS and GPRS/EDGE), which is exactly what I have. It appears that my SIM has a different idea of how the device should talk to it. Not only do I get a "connection refused" from the network, but the device is also not able to show my phone number which is stored on the SIM.

Now I hope that RIM not only fixes this issue soon in 4.2.1 but that they will also let me know when it is fixed. I don't want to find out by trial and error.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

by Volker Weber

How the Pearl saved my @ss this week

by Volker Weber

I have been connecting to my mail from abroad for a few years. What I needed was basic internet connectivity and then I could talk to my mail server. This time however, my mail server was invisible due to a DDOS attack on my DNS server - perfectly synchronized with my travel. This immediately killed every possible mail connection to the server, be it POP3, IMAP4 (IDLE), Exchange push (which I don't use) or Notes (dto.).

But I was having zero problems with my Pearl since those messages went through the BlackBerry infrastructure.

How to successfully test the Notes 8 beta, part 2

by Volker Weber

Don't start your forum postings with:

Since I've had the code for the last six months...

Europe gets reorganized

by Volker Weber

italy is germany

France is Finland, Germany is France, Italy is Germany, Sweden is Poland, Spain is Norway, Switzerland is Portugal, according to Mio, which is a MiTAC brand, a company who just bought Navman. Help.

More >

New on the Sonos: klassik lounge nightflight vol. 01

by Volker Weber

klassik lounge nightflight vol 1

Monday through Saturday after midnight CET on Klassik Radio as a live stream.

Worst of CeBIT

by Volker Weber

I don't know whether Thomas does it on purpose, but his CeBIT set of photos shows you either the worst of the trade fair or that cameras don't matter.

Bob has a new job

by Volker Weber

Bob Balaban

Recently we talked about Bob fixing the LSX Toolkit. Now he has a new job: Programming Services Architect. In his words:

I have taken on technical leadership responsibility for "programmability" for both Notes and Domino.

And he has set a very high goal:

I want to make Notes and Domino a kick-ass appdev platform again

Rocky needs more hits and links to his website. So read the rest of the story here >

Per Anhalter durch's Web 2.0

by Volker Weber

Wegen CeBIT irgendwie verpasst: Johnny erklärt das Web 2.0. Beispiel gefällig?

Xing wurde vom Neckermann-Versand gegründet, der auf der Site seine Anzug- und Kostüm-Kollektionen der letzten 23 Jahre präsentiert.


More >

4.2.1 firmware for the BlackBerry Pearl

by Volker Weber

TIM Italia has released the first 4.2.1 firmware for the Pearl:

Package Version: 4.2.1.102
Consisting of:

- Applications: 4.2.1.66
- Software Platform: 2.3.0.57
- File name: 8100M_PBr4.2.1_rel102_PL2.3.0.57_A4.2.1.66_TIM_Italy.exe
- File size: 72.87MB

Download here >

When does Lotus Notes 8 launch?

by Volker Weber

launch

CeBIT-Durchsagen

by Volker Weber

Martin schickt mir diese Durchsagen (Real Media).

Seven iF product design awards for Apple

by Volker Weber

Navigon Mobile Navigator Java Edition for free

by Volker Weber

navigon

Nice surprise at the Navigon press conference yesterday. Not only are they coming out with a well designed hardware (including the first windshield mount you want to look at) in the summer. They are also making the Java edition of their excellent Mobile Navigator software available for free. You only pay your mobile operator for the data which gets transferred between the server and your mobile phone.

They are currently only supporting a small number of Nokia and SonyEricsson phones, but the selection should grow substantially over the next weeks. They also plan to support the new BlackBerry 8800 with built-in GPS capability.

navigon maps

The map coverage is quite substantial. Click the image to see how detailed they are for your area.

More >

One step closer to Leopard

by Bruce Elgort

OS X 10.4.9

Security Update 2007-003 (10.3.9 Client)

iPhoto 6.0.6

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines

by Volker Weber

cebit logo

Fünf Buchstaben

by Volker Weber

Ob der Autor dieses Artikels weiß, dass es sich um dieses und nicht um jenes Unternehmen handelt? Hier werden schließlich auch keine Grills hergestellt.

How to successfully test the Notes 8 beta, part 1

by Volker Weber

John sets the rules. Let me try and explain them.

1. Its beta ... it is not done. Deal with it.

What you see is not what you will get.

2. Performance will get better ... performance tuning starts now. DO NOT use the public beta as proof of how it will run

What you see is not what you will get.

3. You install this in a production environment, do not bitch if it breaks. Come on folks, its beta. Beta's should never go in a production environment.

It's probably going to break in a horrible way.

4. Please, stop the complaints about no Mac in the beta ... it was announced at Lotusphere. IBM has to focus to get things done well. 8.0.1 will be out before most companies are ready to move.

Look at Sametime. That did not ship with a Mac client either.

5. The most important ... folks, its March. The product is supposed to come out this summer. The feature list is locked :-) ...

What you see is what you will get.

XING: 50% discounted day ticket to CeBIT

by Volker Weber

As Premium Member, you get 50% discount on your CeBIT 2007 day ticket. Simply click on the Details button to be forwarded to the CeBIT website, where you will be asked to fill in a registration form. On March 14th (one day before the start of the fair), CeBIT will send a coupon to the email address you indicate on the form. With this coupon you can buy the discounted ticket at the CeBIT ticket counter.

Also: All Premium Members have free access to the CeBIT XING Lounge (Hall 5, Stand B48) for themselves and one guest.

More >

The next four days will be a blur

by Volker Weber

cebit2007

These are 18 hour days, with hourly slots. Don't expect any updates here on vowe's magic flying circus. Nice weather is ahead so at least the driving will be fun.

Ford sells Aston Martin

by Volker Weber

aston martin vantage

Luxury car business Aston Martin has moved back to British hands after being sold to a UK-led consortium. The buyer is a led by Dave Richards - head of performance car firm Prodrive - based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, supported by Kuwaiti investors.

More >

2 GB Pearl

by Volker Weber

pearl micro sd pearl micro sd

Thank you, Benno. Your card has arrived.

Stuck

by Volker Weber

Quasi

by Volker Weber

computerwoche.de berichtet:

"Wir bieten eine Flatrate, mir der man für zehn bis 15 Euro im Monat quasi unbegrenzt mobil, beispielsweise mit dem Pocket-PC, im Internet unterwegs sein kann", sagte der Deutschlandchef der Telefonica-Tochter (o2) Rudi Gröger der "Euro am Sonntag".

Das klingt gut. Bis auf das "quasi".

Preis wert

by Volker Weber

Navman N40i bei Metro

Mein Lieblingsnavi zum kleinen Preis, so dachte ich am Samstag. Dabei muss man gar nicht bis Donnerstag 15.3. warten, um es in der Metro zu kaufen. Sogar die Conrad-Apotheke bietet zum gleichen Preis an.

Beatbox française

by Volker Weber

[via SanDiego]

Lotus Notes and Domino 8 public beta now available

by Bruce Elgort

Notes 8 Beta 2

Start downloading beta 2 of Lotus Notes and Domino 8 here. Beta 2 is available for Windows, AIX, iSeries, Linux and Solaris.

Suche: Tchibo Bahnticket

by Volker Weber

Hat jemand vielleicht noch ein Tchibo-Bahnticket übrig? Ist für eine einfache Fahrt nächste Woche Dienstag.

[Update: Es hat sich ein Ticket gefunden]

CeBIT: Kostenloser Stadtplan

by Volker Weber

Berlin, 9.März 2007 - Die Berliner Softwarefirma Envi.con und Stadtplandienst.de schenken allen Besuchern der Computermesse CeBIT einen Stadtplan von Hannover für Handhelds und Smartphones. Wer auf der CeBIT oder danach abends in der Innenstadt unterwegs ist, findet Adressen in Hannover hausnummerngenau auf dem Handy. Der Stadtplan zeigt Straßenbahn- und Buslinien, öffentliche Gebäude, Parkplätze, Polizeiwachen, Postfilialen, Sportplätze und diverse weitere nützliche Details auf dem PDA an. Adressen aus dem Adressbuch des Smartphones können direkt im Stadtplan angezeigt werden.

Die kostenlose Sonderausgabe des PDA Stadtplandienst zur CeBIT enthält einen Planausschnitt, der von den Herrenhäuser Gärten im Nordwesten über die Innenstadt und das Messegelände bis zum Expo-Park im äußersten Südosten der Stadt Hannover reicht. Diese Version benötigt etwa 3,3 MB freien Speicherplatz im RAM oder auf einer Speicherkarte. Eine Onlineverbindung ist nach der Installation nicht erforderlich.

Windows Mobile: http://cebit.pocketland.de/
Symbian OS: http://cebit.smartsam.de/
Palm OS: http://cebit.pdassi.de/

Interesting poll results

by Volker Weber

Usually I do not comment on the poll results, but I find the results of the current poll quite interesting. At 724 votes 39% percent said they are on Mac and Linux, so I am ignoring them for a minute. If you normalize the rest of the votes to 100% you will get this picture:

windowsvistapoll

77% of XP users stay put or have gone back to XP. The rest is split in half: 11% either plan to move to Vista or have moved, and 11% plan to jump ship to Mac OS X. The remaining one percent is a rounding error.

An equal number of Vista upgraders to new Mac OS X users? That looks like a landslide to me.

Two iPhoto tips

by Bruce Elgort

Here are two iPhoto '06 tips for those of you who use iPhoto. The first tip allows you to force iPhoto to prompt you to create a new iPhoto library or to select an existing library. Due to performance issues with large iPhoto libraries you may want to consider creating additional libraries to store your photos. To accomplish this simply hold down the Option key when launching iPhoto.

iPhoto '06 - Holding down the Option key brings up this dialog

The second tip involves telling iPhoto not to move your photos into the iPhoto folder structure - but to simply leave them in their original location. To do this select the Preferences menu and then click on the Advanced tab and either check or un-check the option you desire under Importing.

iPhoto '06 - Copy files to iPhoto Library folder

Too much time on your hands?

by Volker Weber

Try to find something like this.

OK, I want one

by Volker Weber

[Update:] Hajo has sent a link to a much better video. And he is right: the Microsoft guy in the ad does not look good against this video.

I also forgot to thank Florian for the original link. There you go: thank you. :-)

Need a pixel pusher

by Volker Weber

ilug07 badge

Paul needs a high resolution version of this clover. I am not good enough at building something like it in Photoshop. If you are more gifted in recreating this image (without the text) in a high resolution, you could make (at least) one man very happy. Any takers?

Dumm gelaufen

by Volker Weber

[Danke, Stefan]

MicroSD dirt cheap

by Volker Weber

Anybody out there who buys me one of these?

[Update: Benjamin has a spare one. Now get one for yourself. $2.99 for 1GB MicroSD including shipping is as cheap as it gets.]

New poll: Vista is out. And now?

by Volker Weber

Now that Vista is in the stores the long(horn) wait for the next version of Windows is over. What is your next step? Lots of choices this time.

  1. Staying on XP.
  2. Will install ASAP.
  3. I have already upgraded.
  4. Installed but reverting to XP.
  5. Jumping ship to Mac OS X soon.
  6. I am already on the Mac.
  7. Hey, I am a Linux geek.

votevistaandnow

Vista dry run

by Volker Weber

The Windows Vista Ultimate Element

Microsoft sent me a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and I installed it in a VMware machine yesterday. The installation was uneventful. Everything just worked. First impressions: It's prettier than XP, in a too colorful way though. The thing is though that you get bored pretty quickly. Hey, it's only an operating system. You need it to run real software, and I don't have anything which would require Vista instead of XP.

29 days from now it will expire. Yes, I have a legit serial but if I blow it on this installation, I cannot use it when I really need it. That is the big difference to any other operating system I own. When I re-installed Mac OS X Tiger on my iBook, I did not need to "activate" it. It was active from the start. The same goes for Windows Professional 2000 which runs my accounting software. You install it, yes you have to enter an annoying serial number, but it will never fail you because it is not "activated". The same goes for my Ubuntu image.

What are your thoughts about this? Are you intimidated by this activation theme?

Es gibt sie noch, die Traumjobs

by Volker Weber

Das klingt irgendwie so, als ob hier eine Personalberatung einem ihrer Auftraggeber einen einschenken will:

Der Personalleiter, der mit vielen Ideen die Gesamtverantwortung HR inne hat, sucht nun SIE! Wir erwarten von Ihnen, dass Sie in der Lage sind: einen durchaus launischen Vorgesetzten zu ertragen; mit Teams umzugehen, die grundsätzlich alles besser wissen; uneinsichtige und beratungsresistente Menschen sowohl zu steuern als auch zu beraten; täglich mit selbstbewussten Kollegen aus allen Fachbereichen umzugehen; operativ in einem Umfeld zu agieren, das sich im Umbruch befindet. Übrigens: Für jede Vakanz haben Sie selbstverständlich immer den passenden Nobelpreisträger an der Hand!

Denn dieser Typ von Mitarbeiter ist keineswegs einfach zu finden:

Sie haben ein Kreuz wie Mohammed Ali; Sie sind ein Fels in der Brandung; Sie setzen Ihre Ideen erst durch und dann um; Sie geben Kamikaze-Projekten den Vorrang; Ihre Kämpfe um Budgets sind legendär; Sie vertragen die Wahrheit und können diese auch aussprechen; Diplomatie? Ist Ihnen ein Fremdwort; Wenn keiner weiter weiß: Sie kennen den Weg; Sie verwechseln nicht Personalentwicklung mit Personaleinstellung; Sie kennen den Fitting und den Palandt? Wir auch!

Wenn Sie bereit sind, für das alles ein Hungergehalt zu akzeptieren, alles vor dem Frühstück erledigt haben und am Abend immer noch lachen können, dann sind Sie der Mann / die Dame, die wir suchen!

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[Danke, Oliver]

Are you worried yet?

by Volker Weber

This is actually here.

[Thanks, Martin]

Blackberry 8300 spotted in the wild

by Volker Weber

RIM may be the company with the worst kept secrets. Now the 8300 which we saw in the latest software update has been spotted in the wild. Larger pictures at Gizmodo and Engadget. Video on YouTube.

I don't like the design. Both the Pearl and the 8800 look nicer.

Yes, they surprised us again

by Volker Weber

panda limo

They did it again. This time ridiculing American limos.

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Lunar Eclipse

by Volker Weber

Phantastic photos taken by Simon Phipps in Southampton. We had a good view in Darmstadt as well. The sky was clear, and Hajo reminded us to step outside and have a look. I have never before seen the moon so clear as a three-dimensional object.

Play it loud

by Volker Weber

Mit bestem Gruß von Sigmund Freud

by Volker Weber

bakterien
Bakterien, gefunden von Rolf bei silicon.de

kundenschund
Kundenschund, gefunden von Oliver bei SpOn

Auch in Hannover friert die Hölle zu

by Volker Weber

Traditionell beginnt die CeBIT für Journalisten immer mit dem Symamtec Burn-In in Harry's Bar & Grill. Und wie Thomas Cloer auf dem Messe·schnell·weg schreibt, fällt die Chose dieses Jahr aus. Da Symantec nicht pleite ist, muss es wohl an der CeBIT liegen.

Müssen wir also mal raus aus dem Trott. Auch ne gute Sache, nicht wahr Martin?

PS: Messe·schnell·weg. Ich wollte mir wäre so was eingefallen. Abonniert.

This is too good to pass

by Volker Weber

VISTA = Virus Inside, Switch To Apple

Amazing

by Volker Weber

There is something amazing about this picture. Can you tell what is is? Here is a hint.

The Departed - F cking Short Version

by Volker Weber

Hell is about to freeze over in Westford

by Volker Weber

Kevin Cavanough Bob Balaban

To the left you see Kevin Cavanaugh, Vice President of Development for Domino Products, presiding over the "Ask The Developers" session at Lotusphere 2007 (a.k.a Beat The Developers). I say presiding instead of moderating because he is doing it so well that you won't believe it until you have been there. To the right is Bob Balaban in his famous Lotusphere 2006 tuxedo. And that is a whole different story.

Anyway, Bob Balaban always gets to ask the first question at the Beat The Developers. This year was an exception, but that would disgress from the story. The question is: "When are you going to fix the LSX Toolkit?" Bob has actually helped writing it when he worked for Lotus. (He now is back at IBM, that's why he did not get to ask the question.) Bob knows it's broken because (at Looseleaf) he built a commercial product on it. And he has volunteered for years to fix it. Now that Bob is back at IBM, he no longer calls it broken, but rather someting like "it needs fixing, and a few enhancements to make it a lot better". Well, I prefer the straight talk, so let's assume it is indeed broken.

Now it appears that he may after all finally get to fix it. And this is where Kevin has the final say.

Street smart

by Volker Weber

Wirtschaftskreislauf, einfach

by Volker Weber

Ohne Kohle kein Dampf. Ohne Dampf keine Kraft. Ohne Kraft keine Arbeit. Ohne Arbeit keine Leistung.

Ohne Leistung keine Kohle.

Will there be an IBM Lotus Technical Forum 2007 in Dresden?

by Volker Weber

In 2005 IBM joined forces with DNUG to have their first IBM Lotus Technical Forum 2005 in Hannover. Ambuj Goyal announced a new version of Notes there, code name "Hannover". Then in 2006 they did it again with a conference in Karlsruhe, the IBM Lotus Technical Forum 2006.

For this year, DNUG has scheduled a conference in Dresden, one of Germany's most beautiful cities. The announcement says:

The Conference is going to be held again in partnership with IBM.

I am not so sure that really happens. The conference is about 100 days away, there is no announcement of an IBM Forum and no registration. Maybe IBM needs some encouragement.

Update: Martina Fiddrich of IBM Germany says yes, there will be an IBM Lotus Technical Forum 2007 in Dresden. Good news.

Declan Lynch: The WOW Really Starts Now

by Volker Weber

You may have heard of the Microsoft Vista marketing campaign by now with the slogan of 'The WOW Starts Now' and I have to agree the WOW really does start now, I just bought my first Apple MAC and all I've been saying so far is WOW WOW WOW.

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Playing with the next generation OGO

by Volker Weber

Ogo 2 a.k.a CT25E

Today I had the chance to play with a next generation OGO device for about five minutes. Push email, instant messaging, SMS, those are the main funtions of the device, much like the old one. The design has improved a lot over the old one, the software looks much nicer, and the hardware has improved in many ways. Judging from the engineering sample I played with, the old device can take more of a beating than the new one. Where I would have no problem throwing an old OGO on the floor I would not dare to do it with the new device.

New screen, a microphone, external display, those are the most important enhancements. The new screen is mucho macho better than the old one, the microphone lets you use the device as a regular mobile phone, the external displays tells the time and what else is going on inside the clamshell.

There is an extension bay between the two hinges which will hold all kinds of "OgoClips" you will be able to buy. A camera, an MP3 streamer, a handset (right: a handset!), a bottle opener (!), a multicolored array of lights (!). I am too old to understand why you would want those gadgets.

Interesting data point: the devices are more or less used for instant messaging. 1&1 initially tried to sell them as email warriors, but the device mostly appeals to kids. And those could not care less for email. Email is for elderly people. Kids chat.

Here is an idea. Bring this thing into the pre-paid market (or pay-as-you go) and make a killing.

Ogo 2 a.k.a CT25E Ogo 2 a.k.a CT25E

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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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