June 2008
Mac OS X 10.5.4 available
by Volker Weber
Sales guy vs. web dude
by Volker Weber
A mashup of true and mostly-true stories from IT hell. If you've ever called tech support and wondered what the hell they are doing down there... well, this should answer some questions for you.
.Mac starts receiving mail for me.com
by Volker Weber
Your @mac.com addresses will continue to work, but you can now also receive mail @me.com.
Hope this helps selling the Airbook
by Volker Weber
Move on. Nothing happens here.
by Volker Weber
There were some interesting comments on Ed Brill's site. But they were not from Ed, but by somebody who just used his name. First case of identity theft I have witnessed in this community.
I am disgusted.
[I can't fix the entry on planetlotus.org though]
Twitter als neues RSS?
by Volker Weber
Ungewöhnliche Zwitscherer:
No Vista or Office 2007 at Daimler
by Volker Weber
heise online reports that Daimler, much like Intel or GM, will skip Vista and Office 2007 altogether:
Nicht nur der mit Microsoft eng verbandelte (Wintel) Chiphersteller Intel, auch der US-Automobilkonzern General Motors haben bereits dementsprechende Entscheidungen geäußert. Nun unterrichtete die Daimler AG ihre Mitarbeiter ebenfalls darüber, dass MS Windows 7 und MS Office 14 als die nächsten weltweit gültigen Standards bei Daimler vorgesehen seien.
They currently plan to move to Windows 7 and Office 14.
Sometimes the escalator wins
by Volker Weber
A few things I learned at the NGMN Conference
by Volker Weber
I am currently attending the NGMN Industry Conference. These guys are talking about networks beyond 3G, to be delivered from 2010 onwards. It's a senior management type of event. There are lots of engineers there, and everybody knows more than I do. There is so much to learn in just two days.
Most interesting however is the stuff you get to learn while talking over coffee or beer. Here are a few:
- You can scare mobile operators by saying "bit pipe". They will quickly say "smart pipe".
- Accessing the internet from your phone means going through 50 to 100 boxes of equipment today.
- The backhaul to the base stations is going to be the bottleneck.
- Blackberry messaging is faster over EDGE than over 3G. Probably true for iPhone as well.
- Mobile TV (over IP) kills the "charge by volume" business model.
- With voice, cost and revenue grow linear. That is not the case with data.
One more interesting tidbit: BlackBerrys are designed to fall apart when you drop them. The goal is to eject the battery on impact. Just put them back together.
And the biggest one: Android attracts all the developers. If somebody makes at least one decent Android phone, the world is going to change again. Because you can build cool stuff for an Android phone, that Apple simply won't let you build on iPhone.
Mixed Tape 21 is out
by Volker Weber
Notes or Exchange? Let's put an end to those creative statistics
by Volker Weber
Ed asked yesterday:
I don't see why you are constantly dismissive of the number of customers stat.
The answer is simple. Statistics that seem to contradict each other make me curious. So let's put an end to the discussion how many of the worlds largest corporations use Notes or Exchange.
Go to this wiki: http://dominoorexchange.pbwiki.com/, state your name and mail address and use the invite key "that is the question".
Now you can look at the current list and add your own knowledge. We should be able to complete this list in less than a day.
Can you spot the ThinkPad?
by Volker Weber
Great pictures from the Rails Konferenz.
The competition is brutal
by Volker Weber
Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update
by Volker Weber
This article describes the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update. This update contains several changes that improve stability and performance for Office 2008 for Mac programs.
You have to read this description and then wonder how the software could ever escape the lab.
From my inbox: Sansa Fuze
by Volker Weber
I am a promotions rep for San Disk, makers of memory cards, portable music and video players as well as flash drives. We have recently launched the Sansa® Fuze™, our new and stylish MP3 player that packs music and video along with an expansion slot that accepts microSD cards.
We wish to send over a sample product for you to review and evaluate on your blog/site.
I will certainly take a look at it. But just looking at the product collateral does not make me very optimistic about this product. It certainly has a ton of features, and the product design is shall I say "inspired" by a certain other media player. But just look at the screen to catch a glimpse of the software.
Microsoft Entourage is rubbish
by Volker Weber
Certainly one of the worst pieces of Mac software out there, I once in a while use Entourage to clean up my Exchange mailbox. Here is one of my favorite beefs: Exchange does a very good job of filtering my spam mails. Entourage shows me a (server) folder with all those messages, and when I select "Empty Junk E-Mail" from the menu, it throws them away. But only the ones for which it has downloaded the headers. Then it goes on to pull down more headers. Then I can select "Empty Junk E-Mail". And then do that again. And again. ...
I don't need to see it. Just dump it already.
TinyTwitter is a great Twitter client
by Volker Weber
One of the nicer thing about trying all kinds of mobile devices is the wealth of software you get to test. It had been a while since I used a Windows Mobile device. Since then, Twitter suddenly became en vogue. Time to check out Twitter client software for Windows Mobile, and the first pick was already a hit: TinyTwitter:
Love twitter and love tweeting from your mobile device? But don't want to get dinged for updates and double dinged for friend updates continually arriving via SMS?
Tiny Twitter is just what you are looking for and it will work on ANY Java enabled device (that's a bunch & includes the CrackBerry) and ANY Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone (they're pretty cool).
It lets you perform all the regular tasks like replying to a tweet or direct messaging another user:
Added to OpenStreetMap
by Volker Weber
Hey, just checked my additions to OpenStreetMap and they are in. Have you checked and corrected your neighborhood?
Quote of the day
by Volker Weber
Death will not be announced, it will be sudden, swift and from an unexpected direction - but not from Salesforce.com
Can't agree with the "sudden" though.
When did IBM start to timebomb Notes/Domino trial kits?
by Volker Weber
Lotus has always been very open with their trial software. You downloaded, you installed, you tested, and when you were ready to go into production, you licensed. But you did not have to touch the servers. Demo and fully licensed were just the same kit.
At some point in time that has changed. I think it was with Notes/Domino 8.
During Domino server startup, Domino checks whether you are using a trial version or the production version. If it is a production server install, the server startup process continues as usual. If it is an evaluation version, Domino checks whether the evaluation period has expired. ... If the evaluation process has expired, the server startup is terminated and the console displays this message: ... You can now install the production Domino server.
[via Anthony Holmes]
What's the Notes market share really like?
by Volker Weber
IBM's message is pretty consistent. They have sold 140 million seats since Notes was released, and there are currently 65k customers using Notes or Domino. IBM also says that more than half of the global 100 corporations use Lotus Notes and Domino software.
IBM does not say how many users Notes currently has, and the number of customers also does not give a good indication how many Notes users there may be. IBM would certainly like you to believe that Notes commands an equal share of the business email space. Since IBM often talks about "enterprise" and "large" customers, there is a belief, that large customers prefer Notes, whereas Exchange is often found in the SMB space.
When Apple announced Exchange support for the iPhone (and OS X 10.6), lots of people claimed that Apple would be missing out "on the other half" of enterprise customers.
In the light of these assumptions I find Jim Bernardo's comment on edbrill.com interesting:
84 of the Fortune 100, and 71 of the Global 100 use Exchange as their email system. That's not folks thinking about it, and that's not mixed shops. That's companies using Exchange for all of their employees who have email.
Jim goes on to explain, that by a wide definition of "use Lotus Notes and Domino software" even Microsoft would be a Notes customer.
So my question is: how large is the Notes market share really?
Retro iPhone
by Volker Weber
Why build something like this? Probably just because you can.
Spinning
by Volker Weber
[via Gizmodo]
Symbian Foundation to unite several Symbian platforms
by Volker Weber
London, UK - Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DOCOMO announced today their intent to unite Symbian OS(TM), S60, UIQ and MOAP(S) to create one open mobile software platform. Together with AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone they plan to establish the Symbian Foundation to extend the appeal of this unified software platform. ... To enable the Foundation, Nokia today announced plans to acquire the remaining shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own and then contribute the Symbian and S60 software to the Foundation.
A common enemy unites. Depending on your world view that is either Android or Apple.
Top Gear is back
by Volker Weber
As of yesterday, the 11th season of Top Gear has started. It was about time.
I can pull the program in through our sat dish, but if you can't you may be able to find it on Youtube. If you are reasonably quick this might work.
Nokia announces the acquisition of Plazes
by Volker Weber
A couple of minutes ago, we announced an agreement for Nokia to acquire Plazes.
I started using the Plazes service in 2005 and dropped it two years later.
[Facebook moneyshot: Andreas H.]
New toy: Moto Q9
by Volker Weber
It's not exactly new. But I have had a very hard time getting hold of a Moto Q9 smartphone, and after about an hour of using it, I understand why Motorola never sent me one. I am still trying to find anything this phone can do better than a Samsung SGH-i600 for instance. The only thing that comes to mind so far is that it comes preloaded with an Opera browser.
Three very odd design choices: there is no dedicated backspace key, the shift key is on the right hand side, and Motorola invented yet another plug for charging, usb and headphones. Right, there is no headphone jack.
Update:
Only 24 hours later, I have given up on the Moto. There isn't anything this device does better than the Samsung SGH-i600 I upgraded to Windows Mobile 6. The Samsung is smaller, easier to handle, comes with WiFi, the lot.
Three new SomaFM stations
by Volker Weber
SomaFM has added three new stations
SomaFM Lush
http://somafm.com/lush.pls
SomaFM Digitalis
http://somafm.com/digitalis.pls
SomaFM Sonic Universe
http://somafm.com/sonicuniverse.pls
All added to the Sonos.
[via Simon]
heise-online.mobi
by Volker Weber
This is finally a website Heise can be proud of. Heise Online optimized for mobile devices:
The document located at http://heise-online.mobi/ was checked and found to be valid XHTML 1.0 Strict. This means that the resource in question identified itself as "XHTML 1.0 Strict" and that we successfully performed a formal validation using an SGML or XML Parser (depending on the markup language used).
Spore creatures gone bad
by Volker Weber
If you haven't been living under a rock, you should have heard about the upcoming game Spore. Since Maxis has released the Creature Creator for the game people have been busy building stuff like this:
Somehow that was to be expected, wasn't it?
How do you turn a Windows user into a Mac user?
by Volker Weber
Frankly, I don't know. I don't know whether you have seen programs in C++ written by former FORTRAN programmers. They use C++ syntax and FORTRAN patterns. The same goes for Windows users who use Windows patterns on a Mac. Forever busy managing files and directories, instead of just using iPhoto or iTunes. Backing up files by copying directories instead of leaving it to Time Machine. It takes a long time to unlearn your Windows ways.
Why iPhone Wannabes Don't Cut It
by Volker Weber
Such efforts largely miss the point. Certainly, the beautiful hardware design adds tremendously to the emotional appeal of Apple products. But it's the software that makes the iPhone, the Mac, and the iPod stand out from the pack of wannabes.
Amen. I have seen a couple of "iPhone killers" kill themselves.
ILUG comes to vowe
by Volker Weber
I did not make it to Ireland, but Ireland made it to me. Thank you all.
IBM uses self signed SSL certificates?
by Volker Weber
Start using Firefox 3 and you get new insights.
Damoklesschwert
by Volker Weber
CemB: versuche vergeblich mein ms office zu aktivieren. product key wird nicht akzeptiert. weder testversion noch vollversion :-(
Ein wichtiges Kriterium für die Softwareauswahl: Wie zuverlässig ist der Betrieb?
This would be a great phone for the visually impaired
by Volker Weber
Keys are shaped so that they are all uniquely identifiable whilst keeping the visual uniformity as a whole.
Download and install Firefox 3 today
by Volker Weber
Download here >
Alternative download there >
Actions speak louder than words: iPhone vs. Notes
by Volker Weber
With the thought “actions speak louder than words” in mind, I’m not going to talk (again) about how disappointing it is that IBM/Lotus doesn’t have ... Instead, I’m going to tell you what we are actually doing:
Excellent Review: Nokia E71
by Volker Weber
Having been using the Nokia E71 for a little while now, Steve Litchfield delivers his verdict - what's new compared to its predecessor, the E61i? And how close does the E71 get to being the perfect smartphone for the modern professional?
Hallo Fiducia
by Volker Weber
Ein befreundeter Bank-Vorstand hat mir erzählt, er werde sich jetzt ein iPhone kaufen. Blackberry will er nicht. Da ich zufällig weiß, dass die Bank Notes nutzt, habe ich noch mal nachgehakt. Er meinte, das "Rechenzentrum" würde das ab August unterstützen. Da "Rechenzentrum" in diesem Fall Fiducia heißt, bin ich sehr neugierig. Stimmt das? Wenn ja, wie denn? Ich würde gerne vermeiden, dass das ins Wasser fällt und ggfls. mehr auf BlackBerry drängen.
Vielleicht besser als Email, deshalb ohne Kommentare.
Dass es sowas noch gibt
by Volker Weber
Ein deutscher Spammer, mit voller Adresse und Telefonnummer. Vielleicht sollte ich dem mal was faxen.
You may want to see this movie
by Volker Weber
In Bruges - hilarious!
World of World of Warcraft
by Volker Weber
If you can't get a life, you can still play somebody who can't get one. Confused? Onion News Network has the story ...
Two petitions
by Volker Weber
The petition Apple, please work with IBM Lotusnow has more signatures than "IBM should continue to produce Lotus-focused Redbooks". They are both in the same ballpark however. And where as the Redbooks one is older, it has not had any effect. I wonder how the other one will be doing.
How much would you pay for a patch cable?
by Volker Weber
Significant improved sound quality compared with DL standard cable. 1.5m length.
How about £349.99 (that is currently $680)?
[Thanks, Ben]
On heavy rotation
by Volker Weber
The samples don't really work for me. It's the flow of the whole album which makes it enjoyable. Now if only the weather would be as warm as the music suggests.
First impressions: TomTom ONE Europe Traffic
by Volker Weber
After reviving one of the dead TomToms, I have used the new ONE Europe Traffic for a few days. And I am hooked. It has less features than the GO 720 T it replaced, but I actually like it better. The main reason is that the device is much smaller and lighter. Together with the new EasyPort screen mount that means it is much more solid. Less device shake, easier to read, takes up less of your field of vision.
The only thing I am not liking is the recessed USB plug. It always takes a few tries to hook up the cable, both at home and in the car. The fake metal frame around the screen feels cheap, but the device itself is very solid. The speaker on the back is loud enough to be heard with the top down, the screen is very bright. Attaching the device to the screen mount is easier than ever. Internal memory is 2 gig now, so there is plenty of room for additional maps. All of Europe takes up just two thirds of that capacity. There is no external SD card slot however.
There is a new TMC receiver that hooks up to the USB port, and then you plug the regular USB cable into the receiver and the power outlet. There is room for improvement here. Why not create a 12V plug with an built-in receiver and do away with the regular cable?
I am a happy camper with the new ONE. Editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award and all ...
VMware Launches ThinApp 4.0
by Volker Weber
VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), ... today announced the upcoming availability of VMware ThinApp 4, an application virtualization solution that lets customers run multiple versions of virtually any application on any Windows operating system without conflict. For example, users can run both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 on the same operating system without disruption.
Censorship can be fun ;-)
by Volker Weber
A step-by-step guide to the gravity-defying Donald Trump combover
by Volker Weber
The Donald: What's the difference between an astronaut and Donald Trump's hairdo? One defies the law of gravity, the other's a spaceman
Best conversation today
by Volker Weber
German customer: are you going to support Series 80?
US product manager: how many devices do you have?
German customer: about 8000.
US product manager: [open mouth]
BlackBerry device software 4.5.0.37 Release 52 officially available
by Volker Weber
I don't know about your carrier, but Vodafone.de has the software available in Germany for 8100, 8110, 8310 and 8800. For 8120, 8300, 8320, 8700 and 8820 you need to look elsewhere.
Throwing eggs at Steve Ballmer is legal in Hungary
by Volker Weber
At least according to this article. The gist of the machine translated text is that Ballmer is a public figure who can be criticized and throwing eggs counts as freedom of expression.
[Thanks Henrik]
A few thoughts on mobile support in Notes/Domino
by Volker Weber
Notes has always had very weak support for mobile devices. Nokia shipped IntelliSync with some of their devices, but generally you had to purchase additional software to sync your Palm or Windows CE devices. There were two different versions of EasySync, the later one a limited OEM version of XTND Connect, but IBM did not own any technology that would let you sync your Notes data with mobile devices. And many people thought that was actually a good thing given the weak security of those devices.
Microsoft in contrast early on developed ActiveSync and bundled that with an Outlook client to put in the box of all Windows mobile devices. With Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 Microsoft started shipping an OTA (over the air) sync called Exchange ActiveSync. Users could now sync their mobile devices with the Exchange server instead of the Outlook client. Microsoft did not only incorporate Exchange ActiveSync clients into Windows Mobile, but also licensed it for other platforms. Nokia for instance developed Mail for Exchange which I am using with the E-series phones I have. Palm has done something similar and lets you use the protocol with their Palm OS based devices. In all of those cases you are using the native device apps for your Exchange data, mail, addresses, calendar, todo.
Apple has now done the same with the iPhone. This would not be big news, if the iPhone were not such an extraordinary device — the better mousetrap that the world beats a path to. You could do it with all the other smartphones for years. But now, that there finally is a smartphone that people really really want, it becomes an issue for Exchange competitors. And that would be IBM.
IBM does not have anything like ActiveSync. The closest thing they have is Lotus Notes Traveler. But unless I am mistaken, you cannot call IBM, license the protocol and use the spec to write your own client to it. It isn't even included in any version of Domino, but requires a very special process to procure. I have asked what makes the product so special and concluded that IBM uses Nokia technology here. The interesting thing is that many Nokia phones (at least all that I have) contain a SyncML client that can be used over the air, and that makes me even more curious, why Traveler only works with Windows Mobile devices.
Traveler is not the only SyncML server out there. The most popular one seems to be Funambol, open source and with support for brazillions of devices. They will actually do an address book sync client for the iPhone as well.
So what is happening now, that IBM missed the boat on iPhone 2.0?
- IBM has advanced the release of an iPhone web interface to your Notes mailbox to 8.0.2. It was slated for 8.5, due by the end of the year but will now ship really soon. This is a good thing, on the iPhone 1.0 scale mind you. It's a first step to at least get access to the data at all. It won't let you feed your device apps, so the iPhone won't know who is calling, voice mail will only show a number, you won't be able to use the calendar to alert you, but at least you can look at your mail file and work with that data.
- You can provide mail to your iPhone users from Domino through the IMAP task. No access to your corporate directory, but you can receive, answer and send mail.
- Syncing your PIM data is not supported over the air, but there is one application which lets you sync Notes with your native apps on the Mac. Reports about the quality are anything but encouraging. I am also not aware of any such thing on Windows.
- The blame game has started. Some IBMers are asking customers to put some pressure on Apple. This tells me that IBM isn't getting very far with Apple. There are some strange contradictions here. On one hand I am hearing that IBM wanted to use the SDK and was surprised it did not provide the necessary services, on the other hand they have allegedly been working with them for months. So how could this come as a surprise.
Notes does not support the iPhone well today. I would maintain it does not support any mobile device well. (The BlackBerry is not really IBM's work.) The difference is that nobody really cared about the other devices. The iPhone has proven to shake the consumer world, and I predict it will now shake the business world. You can bet against me if you like.
Heute wieder?
by Volker Weber
Update: Heute keineswegs wieder. Ein tolles Spiel beider Mannschaften. Traurig für die Schweizer, dass sie jetzt raus sind, aber die türkische Mannschaft hat den Gewinn fair erkämpft. Portugal drin, Schweiz draussen. Das gibt am Sonntag ein kleines Achtelfinale zwischen Tschechien und Türkei in Genf.
Here is one for Chris Bangle fans
by Volker Weber
This is going to look funny when it moves and the body gets reshaped by ... the air.
Steve Jobs WWDC keynote in 60 seconds
by Volker Weber
In case you can't find a microwave
by Volker Weber
[Thanks, Karen]
How many games do you have to play to win Euro 2008
by Volker Weber
Hans-Werner says 5, I say 6. What do you say?
Two dead TomToms
by Volker Weber
My TomTom GO 720 T had a bad surprise for me today. It would turn on, but not boot. This is a known problem which you can't solve without a computer and lots of time on your hands.
I spent a couple of hours trying to fix the problem. In vain. The computer won't even write to the internal memory when connected through USB. It is able to see the device but both Windows and Mac fail to format it for a fresh install.
No problem I though. Last week I had received a test sample of the TomTom ONE Europe. So I thought I should give that a try. Hooked it up to my computer, TomTom Home suggested to download and install a new application version, the GPSfix almanach and map updates. I followed all instructions diligently and it displays the same blinking cross as the 720 did this morning for the first time ever.
TomTome Home tells me:
A new application has been installed on your device and you need to restart your device.
1. Disconnect your TomTom device from the computer.
2. Re-Connect your TomTom device to the computer.
3. Your TomTom device may ask if you want to connect to the computer. If this happens, tap 'Yes' and continue
If I do just that, it either returns to the "cannot boot" screen (when disconnected) or the instructions above (when connected). This again seems to be a known problem.
Two dead TomToms in one day. I will put them in a box tomorrow and send them back. Now digging for the Navman N40i. Boy, this has challenged my trust in TomTom like nothing before.
Update: TomTom Home offered a different version of the device software, and the TomTom ONE is alive again. It's now running 7.522.
Update: TomTom Home now offers to install version 8.010. Do I dare to install that? Of course I do. And this time it worked.
Push mail the open standards way
by Volker Weber
I think IBM has some "open standards" work to do, real stuff that works outside of PowerPoint, err Symphony.
What's the open standards way of getting push mail to your mail client? RFC 2177 better known as the IMAP4 IDLE command. The standard is dated June 1997. And it has not been implemented in the IMAP Domino server task, and also not in the Notes client. It's in all Symbian phones, the Mac Mail client supports it, and of course a load of IMAP clients all around. The iPhone however does not support it.
Here is a little exercise: take the latest and greatest Notes client (8.5 beta 1) and connect it to an IMAP server, for instance Google Mail, and see what you get. I hope it's better than 8.0.
Read the RFC and you will see that it's not that hard to implement the IDLE command. It essentially does ... nothing.
OS X to support Exchange in Mail, iCal and Address Book
by Volker Weber
Microsoft Entourage, the "Outlook" for the Mac, is proof that you can develop awful Mac applications. So this is great news for all Exchange users:
For the first time, OS X includes native support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 in OS X applications Mail, iCal® and Address Book, making it even easier to integrate Macs into organizations of any size.
Exchange support will be tied into Snow Leopard, OS X 10.6, which is due next year.
So this is it, the iPhone 2
by Volker Weber
It pretty much looks like the old iPhone. Two versions, 8 GB and 16 GB, the bigger one with a black or a white plastic back, the smaller one in black only. Instead of providing more memory, Apple cut the price substantially. $199 sounds a lot more affordable than the original iPhone which sold for $799 a year ago.
Three important hardware changes: 3G UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz), an assisted GPS receiver, and finally a headphone jack that fits regular 3.5 mm plugs without an extra dongle. I want that.
What I will get, and everybody else who has a first generation iPhone, is the new software. Free of charge. It brings support for Exchange ActiveSync with push mail, calendar and address book sync, over the air. .Mac will be upgraded and rebranded as Mobile Me, giving you a similar experience without an Exchange server.
The software will receive lots of minor upgrades, and a huge one with the advent of the AppStore. And this will change everything we know about smartphones. It is going to spark an industry of small application developers who can make riches by creating small and inexpensive applications that people want. Apple is going to handle distribution for a 30% cut of the revenues, but they are going to pay this money from the first app sold.
The bad thing about this is, that the AppStore will basically be your only channel. If Apple does not like you, or if they want a bigger cut, or if customers don't like to deal with Apple, you are out of luck. Apple is going to set the rules, and they will be controlling the ecosystem. There are exceptions for Enterprise customers who want to distribute their in-house applications, and also an ad hoc distribution, but that does not change the fact that Apple will be the gatekeeper. And that means, you won't get your instant messaging applications if carriers fear for their SMS toll.
I expect to see lots of cool applications. And lots of free ones. You can get all this with a free software upgrade on July 11.
The message for IBM and IBM customers has also been very clear: Enterprise mail equals Exchange. Apple gets loads of ink, and to undo this message will be next to impossible. The iPhone enjoys a much higher user satisfaction than your platform. It's the better mousetrap.
Nice try
by Volker Weber
Dear vowe@vowe.net,
Thank you for signing the "Apple, please work with IBM Lotus!" petition at iPetitions.com website. Your signature is valuable and makes a real difference. Please encourage others to sign the petition as well.
Well, I did not sign it. So the petition seems to be a bit bogus.
The current thinking seems to be that it somehow is Apple's fault that IBM has no solution for Notes. It's kinds of strange given IBM's support for the Mac. I mean they have been shipping Notes 8 from the start on Windows, Linux and Mac. Lotus Sametime, Domino Designer, Domino Server. They went out of their way to support the Mac platform, and now Apple is not licensing their Domino Sync solution.
Guess the sending MUA
by Volker Weber
Today is iPhone 2 day
by Volker Weber
You can say this much easier in german: zweiphone. :-)
A couple of months ago, Notes users received a cold shower, when Apple SVP of Product Marketing Phil Schiller explained to the world, what Apple meant with Enterprise support: Exchange ActiveSync licensed from Microsoft and built right into the device as the topmost choice for Mail accounts. Hurry up and you can see it again in HD from 2:30 to 18:00 in this presentation.
IBM was caught completely empty-handed. There was a thundering silence. Well, it's been 3 months and three days — plenty of time — and I am looking forward to what IBM is going to tell its users today. And please let it be a sound roadmap with something better than iNotes.
My crystal ball is as clouded as ever. Come back in two years and read this again: if iNotes is IBM's answer to native Exchange ActiveSync support in the iPhone, then this is going to kill more Notes installations than anything before. Three months from now you will see two kinds of managers in business lounges. Those with the iPhone, and those with iPhone envy.
H D G D L F I U E B A E D
by Volker Weber
[via Isotopp]
Der Tag fing schon mal gut an
by Volker Weber
Heute morgen bei ix gefunden: Wir haben Kinder
Ubuntu Live 2008 cancelled
by Volker Weber
The Ubuntu Live conference, which was scheduled to take place July 21-22 in Portland, OR has been cancelled. We are planning to include some Ubuntu content in the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), also happening July 21-25 in Portland, Oregon.
Nachtmusik
by Volker Weber
It truely is a Conference Run By Short People
by Volker Weber
Fluffy, Duffbert, Kitty, Bill (from left to right), photo Chris Miller
m.lufthansa.com gets the job done
by Volker Weber
Mary Beth learns how to properly spell colour
by Volker Weber
Photo Stuart McIntyre
Microsoft mind games
by Volker Weber
Microsoft calls this a Simplified Explanation:
If you run the SQL Server service under the LocalSystem account, the SPN is automatically registered and Kerberos interacts successfully with the computer that is running SQL Server. However, if you run the SQL Server service under a domain account or under a local account, the attempt to create the SPN will fail in most cases because the domain account and the local account do not have the right to set their own SPNs. When the SPN creation is not successful, this means that no SPN is set up for the computer that is running SQL Server. If you test using a domain administrator account as the SQL Server service account, the SPN is successfully created because the domain administrator-level credentials that you must have to create an SPN are present.
Because you might not use a domain administrator account to run the SQL Server service (to prevent security risk), the computer that is running SQL Server cannot create its own SPN. Therefore, you must manually create an SPN for your computer that is running SQL Server if you want to use Kerberos when you connect to a computer that is running SQL Server. This is true if you are running SQL Server under a domain user account or under a local user account. The SPN you create must be assigned to the service account of the SQL Server service on that particular computer. The SPN cannot be assigned to the computer container unless the computer that is running SQL Server starts with local system. There must be one and only one SPN, and it must be assigned to the appropriate container. Typically, this is the current SQL Server service account. However, this is the computer account with local system.
The last sentence just blows my mind away. And if you read between the lines, it screams "just run it with admin privileges, you SOB."
What a summary
by Volker Weber
DNUG in Bremen has started
by Volker Weber
Photos: Alexander Kluge (using mobile phone)
Firefox 3 goes RC 2
by Volker Weber
Firefox 3 now available as Release Candidate 2. It's looking very, very good.
Does IBM ever check these things?
by Volker Weber
Interesting search results ...
Email on old skool RAZR
by Volker Weber
I have this weird affection for the original RAZR. Not any of the more recent versions but the original design. And you know what? It stills work very well. In contrast to all the Windows Mobile devices or Blackberrys you just pair it with your Mac and it syncs your address book and calendar just like that. And with the Google J2ME mail client it is very capable of delivering your mail.
Just don't try to surf the web. Or take a picture.
Weird ROKR E8 campaign
by Volker Weber
Motorola sent me a weird package today. It contained an expensive sleeve with a pseudo-vinyl holding a CD. The CD is called FOR YOU AND MUSIC YOU. Does not compute? The application on the CD does neither. It crashes or it draws a black screen. Whatever, looking through the CD I find some images in the assets folder:
It appears to be a 4-band GSM/EDGE phone with 2 megapixel camera and 2 GB of memory without 3G radio. Sounds like it's two years late. Its main claim to fame is that the interfaces can change from being a phone to being an MP3 player. It even sports a circular scroller which is not a full circle.
I fail to see how this thing could make a difference. Maybe I would if Motorola had sent a phone instead.
IBM delivers a press release
by Volker Weber
ARMONK, NY - 03 Jun 2008: Open Document Format (ODF) comes of age today as IBM (NYSE: IBM) announces the commercial-grade, general availability of Lotus Symphony
ILUG 2008 has started
by Volker Weber
Photo Stuart McIntyre
Photo Chris Miller
The sponsors area looks crowded. And I am very happy to see Nick Shelness.
At long last, real-time stock quotes are here
by Volker Weber
We're very excited to tell you that real-time quotes on NASDAQ securities are now available on Google Finance. This is an important (and way overdue) development for everyone who consumes financial information. Historically, real-time stock data was not freely and widely accessible. Either buried behind subscription walls or brokerage sites, consumers typically had to live with 15 or 20 minute price delays. In the world of finance, time is indeed money, and it's critical to have timely and accurate data.
[Thanks, Alper]
Is that PowerPoint?
by Volker Weber
Photo: Stuart McIntyre
Surfin’ Safari: Announcing SquirrelFish
by Volker Weber
WebKit’s core JavaScript engine just got a new interpreter, code-named SquirrelFish.
SquirrelFish is fast—much faster than WebKit’s previous interpreter. Check out the numbers. On the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, SquirrelFish is 1.6 times faster than WebKit’s previous interpreter.
Modern life
by Volker Weber
A woman called Orem police Friday afternoon needing help because her battery died and she was locked inside her car.
[Thanks, Mitch]
A brief look at the future
by Volker Weber
Erbarmen
by Volker Weber
Ich habe jetzt wirklich genug Exemplare dieser Präsentation. Noch jemand ohne Fahrschein?
Jeder Kettenbrief ist nichts anderen als ein manueller Virus. Immer schön weiterkopieren, jaja.
New toy: Supertooth Voice
by Volker Weber
When Supertooth's agency sent me a press release last week about this device I found it interesting enough to ask them for a sample. And I am not disappointed.
The Supertooth Voice is a small Bluetooth car kit that you clip to your sun visor. It supports both the headset and the handsfree profile and it automatically detects which one your phone supports. After you pair the Supertooth with your phone it will try to download the address book. That did not work with my E90, but I was able to push the addresses from the phone to the Supertooth.
Once it knows your addresses it will read the caller to you through its text-to-speech capability. You can then pick up the call either by pressing the green button or by saying "OK". Since I don't trust voice recognition, I switched off that capability so that the device waits for me to push the button.
What I find pretty neat is that it tells you in clear words what it is doing. "Mobile phone connected". "Switching off" and so on. The speaker is very powerful and I was able to make a phone call while travelling at 100 km/h with the top down.
The manufacturer says the device is good for 15 hours talk time or 800 hours standby with a 3 hours charge time. Even if it's only half of that, it would be more than I need. Good design: it charges through a standard mini-USB port and thus you can use the same cable that drives a TomTom for instance. Even if I would run out of juice, I would have that cable handy in the car anyway. (The device comes with it's own cable, but I have enough of those already.)
The visor mount is also a good design. You put this clip on the sun visor and then attach the device with the help of two magnets on the back:
This lets you quickly remove the device from the visor in an instant while leaving the clip in place. You probably won't notice it anyway if your visor is as black as mine. :-) And this brings me to the only thing that I don't like: while connected it flashes a blue LED. And I don't want that within my peripheral vision because it attracts the eye. Easily solved with a piece of black tape, but Supertooth should really only show indications of things not working properly. To be fair, this is not the only company who gets this wrong.
The product lists for 100 € in Germany, but you can get it for substantially less.
A day at the airport
by Volker Weber
New firmware for Nokia E61i (3.0633.69.00)
by Volker Weber
Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Nokia Software Updater. The same software is actually available for the E65. E51 also has a new software (200.34.36) and the E90 was recently updated. The new E90 firmware was an excellent update. Both Google Maps and Nokia Maps work a whole lot better and get a fix from the onboard GPS much faster.
Now that is pretty funny
by Volker Weber
Notes 8.5 calendar with iCal subscriptions
by Volker Weber
Thomas Adrian has posted this animation of screenshots. It shows the Notes 8.5 calendar with three iCal subscriptions. Very well.
If IBM adds the ability to publish iCal calendars, Notes has caught up with all the other calendar clients.
