Book Preview: IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5.1
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:01a Gavin Bollard span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"I was only recently lamenting the lack of Notes 8 books in Australia, when I got sent this one to review. It looks interesting and it certainly will fill a gap. I'll bring you a detailed review when I've had a proper read./span/spandivspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"br //span/span/divdivspan class="Apple-st [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
lotusnotes
notes
apple
blogger
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Overcoming Password Woes - A Presentation
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:01a Gavin Bollard divWith our recent change to everyone's password and the hardening of some of our standards, we've understandably got a bit of internal confusion over passwords. I decided to not only sort out our internal problems but also give our users some great tips for their internet passwords./divdivbr //divHere's a presentation I've prepared for our users.span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre" /span I've stripped off branding and names so that divyou can use it in your own organisations. You [read] Keywords: apple
blogger
google
password
15
Our Infrastructure Upgrades - Domino (Part 1)
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:01a Gavin Bollard divOur Domino Infrastructure upgrades were originally scheduled to take place in early 2009 but when we discovered that Notes 8 closed the "duplicate subform" loophole which, as it turned out was used by one of our mission critical apps, it was put on hold./divdivbr //divdivIn fact it was put on hold for so long that 8.5 and then 8.5.1 were released in the meantime. After a careful look at both, some unresolved issues in 8.5.1 led us to a decision to deploy 8.5./divdivbr //divdivbThe Notes 8.5 C [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
notes
notes client
policies
R7
roaming
apple
application
blogger
eclipse
microsoft
network
server
virus
How to block your number (for Caller ID) on the Blackberry Bold 9000
Mon, Nov 30th 2009 9:45p Gavin Bollard I was asked to help someone with this today and I spent ages searching for the option (because it's not in the obvious place). I didn't get a lot of help online either, so I thought I'd put a post out there to fill in the gap. It's not on the spanner icon (settings) where you'd expect it to be. ProcedureFrom the front screen of your BlackberryPush the green phone buttonPush the blackberry buttonScroll through the menu to find "Options" Choose "General Options"Scroll down to "Show my Number"If it [read] Keywords: blackberry
blogger
pearl
104
Notes 8.5.1 Attachment Issue - Help?
Mon, Nov 23rd 2009 6:07p Gavin Bollard I've been chasing a simple attachment issue in Lotus Notes 8.5.1 with IBM support for a while now but we're not really getting "engagement" yet. I thought I'd document it and see if we're the only ones with this problem. The ProblemWhat we've discovered is that if we attach a file using a Lotus Notes 8.5.1 client, everything behaves as per normal in the Notes client but if we use a web browser to look at the NotesDocument, the file name disappears. It's best illustrated. On the left, you can s [read] Keywords: document
domino
ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
R7
blogger
community
database
microsoft
server
18
Twice in One Week - Disaster Recovery beyond our Control
Wed, Nov 4th 2009 7:05a Gavin Bollard It has been a busy week for disaster recovery so far - we had an outage on Monday and we had another one today. Monday's Email OutageOn Monday, we lost our e-mail services. No, it had nothing to do with the Lotus Domino server. That was fine. At first, it looked as if we'd forgotten to renew our domain name. This was quickly followed with a back and forward check of various DNS services out there on the Web, our domain registrar and our Internet service providers. All seemed ok with our domain [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
blogger
email
google
server
virus
10
With friends like these... (Business Partners and support)
Sun, Nov 1st 2009 11:45p Gavin Bollard Some time ago, Graham Dodge posted a great discussion point on business partners and brand loyalty. (See: When is an IBM Business Partner not a real partner). Today, I got to experience this first hand. Today, we had a discussion about Active Directory. It's something we need to install, mainly to tick the business continuity box, and not something I'm particularly keen on. It's a messy rip and replace job with very little business gain. As is often the case for Microsoft products, there's no up [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
quickr
blogger
microsoft
IBM Lotus Notes Designer 8.5.1 Installation Issues Update
Wed, Oct 28th 2009 6:45p Gavin Bollard I finally got to the bottom of the problems with the 8.5.1 installation and I believe that they're related to my use of the Google Chrome Web Browser. The Hard WayAt work, after five unsuccessful uninstalls and reinstalls of Notes 8.5.1 (with some - always successful - reinstalls of 8.5 in between), I finally did two things.Switched my primary web browser back to Internet Explorer (don't worry, I didn't actually use it for the duration). Decided not to reinstall the single-signon service.It wor [read] Keywords: designer
ibm
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IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.1: An Update and Reinstall No 5.
Tue, Oct 20th 2009 5:46p Gavin Bollard Knowing (hoping) that I will receive a call from IBM today to follow up on my Lotus Notes client installation issues, I figured that I had better go back to 8.5.1. Of course, this means that I have to survive the entire day without designer. This time, I decided to make a note of my steps. They are as follows; Part 1: Knocking the Old One OffStart, control panelGo to add remove programs and remove Lotus NotesClose everything down... literally everything, notepad, chrome the whole lot.The remova [read] Keywords: composite
designer
ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
apple
application
blogger
desktop
microsoft
profile
server
19
Installing IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.1 - Or Maybe not
Mon, Oct 19th 2009 11:44p Gavin Bollard I've just had a terrible user experience this morning with four failed attempts to install IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.1. I'm usually not one to give up but I have lots of work to do, so I'm going back to my old faithful 8.5. I'm not the only one either it seems. I've talked to a few others and I've had a good look around the internet. There seems to be a very high percentage of people with 8.5.1 installation problems. The problems themselves are varied. In my case, I got the core product working (after [read] Keywords: designer
ibm
lotus
lotusibmdomino
notes
apple
blogger
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How to Create a Bootable DVD Using Nero Burning ROM 9
Mon, Aug 17th 2009 8:46p Gavin Bollard I often need to create bootable CDs and DVDs but it's weird because I frequently end up buring myself a new coaster instead. It's not that the process is difficult, just that nero has a few too many options and I forget which ones to choose and end up picking the wrong one. I figured that the best way to avoid this mistake in future would be to write the steps down. ProcedureInsert CD or DVD into your DVD Burner. Start Nero Burning ROM 9 Choose DVD-ROM (Boot) or CD-ROM (Boot) depending on what [read] Keywords: blogger
Preventing Domino from Filling up the C: Drive
Tue, Jul 21st 2009 8:30p Gavin Bollard I love learning new stuff, though usually I prefer not to learn about new things during disaster recovery, particularly if they're the cause of the problem. Today, I learned something new about Domino. Keeping Domino off C: Drive. We all know about keeping domino off the C: Drive of our servers. It's one of the first things you learn when setting up any windows server, Keep the operating system on C: drive and put the apps and/or data on D: drive. It is possible to put Domino on C: and point [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
notes
updall
apple
applications
blogger
server
7
Where have the cool "Powered by Domino" Logos gone?
Sun, Jul 19th 2009 7:52p Gavin Bollard I was making a couple of changes to our sites on the domino server and I decided to update the "Powered by Domino" button. So, I did a quick google image search and came up with .... nothing. Anyway, not being someone who lets unavailabilty of things stop me, I quickly made my own; Of course, my art skills aren't anything to rave about... but if anyone wants it, feel free to grab it and use it. IBM... how about some buttons done by professionals? [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
apple
blogger
google
server
10
How to Send a Rich HTML Newsletter Email via Your Domino Server
Sun, Jul 19th 2009 5:25p Gavin Bollard Recently, the company I work for decided that they wanted to send out an electronic newsletter with a nicely rendered html email. We got some offsite designers to provide us with a html file but it just wouldn't render correctly when sent from Lotus Notes. We were creating the email by creating a new memo then putting the cursor in the body and selecting File, Import. The resulting import was close, but not perfect. On a whim, I downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird (it will be a cold day in hell befor [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
notes
notes client
blogger
email
outlook
server
smtp
My Experience (Nightmare?) with DELL
Mon, May 25th 2009 1:05a Gavin Bollard I'm not a person who does a whole lot of product bashing here on my blog but right now, I'm pretty miffed with DELL and it will be a cold day in hell before I give them yet another chance. My first Intel/AMD PC was an IBM XT and I was pretty happy with it at the time. A few years later when IBM went down the Microchannel route, their brand name got so dirty that I thought I'd never see myself going back to it. I was therefore quite surprised when their hardware turnaround (they abandoned microc [read] Keywords: ibm
blogger
desktop
google
laptop
network
vista
9
How to Add a "Contact Me" Form to your Blog (or Website) without exposing your Email Address
Wed, May 13th 2009 10:25p Gavin Bollard A long time ago, it was common practice to simply put your email address on the web using a mailto url link. Unfortunately, this practice results in a ton of spam coming your way courtesy of spambots.A Potted History of MethodsOver the years, a lot of different methods for getting around this problem have become available. These include the low tech methods, such as having text which reads "send [read] Keywords: email
6
Lotus Foundations in Australia
Mon, May 11th 2009 8:25p Gavin Bollard After a seemingly interminable wait from IBM, it looks like Foundations is finally released (and moving) within Australia. This article from Australian IT looks at the benefits and low cost of implementing the solution.Flexible EPSI takes the Lotus Positionhttp://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,25462866-24169,00.htmlIf I were starting out with a small business, there's no question as to [read] Keywords: foundations
ibm
lotus
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Trusting the New Document Formats
Tue, May 5th 2009 2:05a Gavin Bollard Today, I read a brilliant article;Update on ODF Spreadsheet Interoperabilityhttp://www.robweir.com/blog/2009/05/update-on-odf-spreadsheet.htmlRob Weir has repeated a series of tests he did a couple of months ago. This time on updated software. Specifically, he's testing to see how well spreadsheets transport (with their formulae intact) between the various Open Document Format (ODF) compatible [read] Keywords: document
odf
symphony
8
A Microsoft/Dell Glitch Inspires some Creative Linux (GOS) Work
Fri, Apr 17th 2009 2:29a Gavin Bollard A bit of Dell and Microsoft BashingThis morning when I arrived at work, my computer had installed a Microsoft Windows XP update (for Office 2007, which isn't even installed on my PC - it's running 2003) and rebooted. The result was that my screen was now partially blurry. Something had screwed around with the video drivers. I wasn't sure if it was a problem with the video card or the monitor [read] Keywords: linux
microsoft
office
6
Spouting Gobbledygook (IBM Licensing)
Thu, Apr 16th 2009 2:46a Gavin Bollard All companies have internal buzzwords and gobbledygook but most are fairly conscious about providing an intermediary translation before shooting it off to their customers. This little gem? from IBM was so bizarre that I felt it was worth sharing;I received an email today indicating that IBM had decided to make some changes to their licensing. As a customer, I try to be careful about reading [read] Keywords: ibm
email
8
Registering and Deregistering the Lotus Domino Server Service
Wed, Apr 15th 2009 2:45a Gavin Bollard The ScenarioWe have a test server which is used for development test purposes only. It was set up with Domino on the C: drive (which normally I prefer to keep clean for the operating system). Domino was apparently later installed on D: drive but the old installation was not removed and the Lotus Domino Server service remained in startup.As a result of the old service still being installed, the [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
lotusnotes
development
server
8
The Next Generation of Browsers
Fri, Apr 3rd 2009 1:45a Gavin Bollard It's been noted all over the place that the browser wars are starting again (well, they've been going strong for the last few years). I've been a long-time Firefox user ever since I forced myself to live with the browser for a month just to try it out. I coudn't go back to IE.I've tried Safari, Opera and Chrome without feeling too tempted. I was impressed by the design of Chrome but the lack [read] Keywords: firefox
8
The Memory Problems with the Blackberry Bold
Mon, Mar 16th 2009 1:08a Gavin Bollard I've been complaining for some time about the horrible memory problems on the Blackberry Bold. I've been running most of the same applications on the 9000 as I did on the 8800 and it's clear that there's a massive memory leak.Not only that, but the battery life has been abysmal compared to the the 8800.Well.... no more.Problem SolvedBlackberry have released a patch for the Bold which updates the [read] Keywords: applications
blackberry
leak
16
Notes 8.5 How is it?
Wed, Feb 18th 2009 5:04p Gavin Bollard Well, I've been using Notes 8.5 since it was released now and I figured it was time to say a bit about it.First of all, after my disappointment with 8.0 (which was very slow) and 8.0.2 which was very unstable compared to 8.0.1, I have to say that 8.5 is rock-solid and "fast enough for me".You may remember that I posted an article on Using Ubuntu for Real where I said that I nearly had the whole [read] Keywords: notes
ubuntu
8
Using a Google Gadget to get a Productivity Boost from Notes 8
Tue, Jan 13th 2009 1:46a Gavin Bollard Improving Productivity
It's all great news that Lotus Notes 8.0.1 and above support Google Gadgets. A brilliant move IBM.
The problem is that most of the demonstrations show you how to add really useful things, like personal fish-tanks to the Notes client. (Thanks Alan Lepofsky - a brilliant demo btw) rather than business productivity applications. It was hard to see the immediate business [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
applications
gadget
google
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Getting Started with IBM Lotus Notes 8.5
Sun, Jan 11th 2009 5:45p Gavin Bollard IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 got released last week and I eagerly downloaded it on Friday for a quick play. Fortunately IBM seem to have made a few changes to their download site in the last few months and I had no trouble at all finding the software (well done IBM).
I downloaded the Windows 32 bit version, the Mac OSX version and the Debian Linux version.
Ubuntu Linux
Normally I can wait for software [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
linux
mac
ubuntu
14
Starting the Year with a Clean Notes Inbox
Mon, Jan 5th 2009 11:26p Gavin Bollard I was reading my daily blogs this morning when I saw an article on Matt Cutt's blog about starting the year with a clean Gmail Inbox and I thought.. Why not do that for Notes?
So... here's the procedure.
Open Your Lotus Notes Mail to the Inbox.
From the Menu, select Folder then Create Folder...
When the Dialog box appears, type a name for your folder like "Old Inbox" or if you're really [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
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How to Get the Notes Bookmark Bar back in Notes 8
Mon, Jan 5th 2009 4:25p Gavin Bollard One of my biggest gripes about the Notes 8 client was the fact that they'd removed the bookmark bar and replaced it with the "start-menu wannabe", the Open Menu. I figured that eventually I'd work out how to get my bar back but in the meantime I was too busy to bother hunting.
This morning, while trying to find a different feature, I noticed an option called "Dock the Open List" under the View [read] Keywords: notes
7
Why McAfee has Completely lost the Plot
Thu, Dec 11th 2008 4:45p Gavin Bollard (warning... this is rant - I know you're not supposed to blog about things when you're irritated but I've been irritated with McAfee for ages and it's not going away).
My irritation with McAfee's Anti-Malware technologies has slowly been building for the past six months.
For a start, I find myself disabling their firewall more often than I leave it enabled. The thing constantly tries to chew [read] Keywords:
15
Finding the Blackberry Bold Call Logs and Combining the SMS's with Mail
Sun, Dec 7th 2008 6:48p Gavin Bollard I've had quite a few people ask me about the call log on the Blackberry Bold but as yet, I haven't found it.
I did get this little tip from Craig Wiseman's blog;
Blackberry Call Log - Can anyone help?
http://www.wiseman.la/web/cpwBlog.nsf/dx/blackberry-call-log-please-help
Apparently the calls really are there in with your emails but they're almost impossible to see. To see all your calls do [read] Keywords: blackberry
mobile
12
How to Lose the Icons on the Front Screen of your Blackberry Bold 9000
Tue, Dec 2nd 2008 12:09a Gavin Bollard So... you've got yourself a nice wallpaper background but those icons on the front screen are spoiling it.
Wanna get rid of them? Here's how.
A Warning
The procedure described below will move your desktop icons around a little, change your existing blackberry wallpaper and move all non-standard applications back to the download folder. If you can't handle this, then don't proceed.
Also note; [read] Keywords: applications
blackberry
desktop
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Using Ubunutu for Real
Mon, Dec 1st 2008 5:28a Gavin Bollard Over the years I've made quite a few tests on Ubuntu to see whether it was ready for general consumption. Until now, it's never lasted more than a few hours on the device I've loaded it on because I've either had no time to test it properly or I've become too frustrated with driver setup problems to continue.
This time, I loaded it on a laptop which just didn't seem able to run Windows XP. The [read] Keywords: laptop
ubuntu
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How to Install MySpace on your Blackberry Bold 9000
Sun, Nov 23rd 2008 6:29p Gavin Bollard Obviously these instructions apply to other Blackberry Models too. I've listed all of the steps that I followed but you can probably skip ahead to the second URL (step 5);
Note that these instructions assume that you already have a MySpace account.
Start the Blackberry browser and go to;
http://www.myspace.com/blackberry
Click Send to My Blackberry.
Fill in your name and your Blackberry [read] Keywords: blackberry
myspace
7
How to Erase a Blackberry Bold 9000
Thu, Nov 20th 2008 2:09a Gavin Bollard Why would you need to do this?
Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes you accidentally restore a bit too much of your CEO's old Blackberry 8800 over the top of his new one (and then you re-activate it on the network). Sometimes your CEO mentions to you that he now has four calendar entries... Yep. It happened to me.
Erasing the device without deleting the extra applications allows you to redo [read] Keywords: applications
blackberry
network
How to Get those Cool (free) Games like Ka-Glom, Lingo and CirclePopper on your Blackberry Bold 9000
Sat, Nov 8th 2008 6:49p Gavin Bollard The Problem
The Blackberry bold is going well for me but the one thing that I missed from my 8800 was the game Ka-Glom. It was seriously addictive.
In any case, I figured that I could just go to http://mobile.blackberry.com/ and get them again.. right? wrong...
It seems that the site doesn't properly recognize the Blackberry Bold and as a result, it doesn't offer any games for it.
The [read] Keywords: blackberry
mobile
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How to install Opera Mini Web browser on your blackberry bold 9000
Fri, Nov 7th 2008 1:09a Gavin Bollard The web browser in the Blackberry Bold is very much improved but I've still found a few places where it doesn't work as expected. When that happens, you want a different browser. You want... Opera Mini.
Use the web browser to go to
http://mini.opera.com/
Click on the link marked Download Opera Mini.
The Blackberry bold is currently downloading the OperaMini 8830 version but I've found it [read] Keywords: blackberry
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How to Retain more than a few Blackberry Messages when you Delete and Recreate Users
Wed, Nov 5th 2008 5:29p Gavin Bollard The Problem
Recently we moved some of our people onto Blackberry Bold. As part of the process, we've had to delete them off the BES Server and re-add them. It's not only their device PINS that have changed. It's also their SIM Cards (as the older cards didn't always support 3G).
I discovered that if you do this, email will still route nicely after activation but the number of past message [read] Keywords: bes
blackberry
email
server
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A changes to Shift+Alt+Delete (Reset) on the Blackberry Bold 9000
Tue, Nov 4th 2008 7:50p Gavin Bollard I had been fretting recently about the Shift+Alt+Delete keystroke not working on the Blackberry Bold 9000.
For those who don't know about this keystroke, it's essentially the same as removing the battery (ie: a hard reset) but without the hard work associated with it. The blackberry device is very particular about hard resets - and there's often a reason why you need to do one instead of a soft [read] Keywords: blackberry
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Playing eBooks (in the Correct Order) on the Blackberry Bold 9000
Tue, Nov 4th 2008 7:29p Gavin Bollard The Blackberry Bold 9000 has gotten a bit more serious about how things are stored on it with the new software.
The Blackberry folder and its special sub-folders (documents, music, pictures, ringtones, videos, voicenotes) have always been there - well, there are a couple of new ones.
Unfortunately now the blackberry media player makes it difficult to play talking books. In particular, it now [read] Keywords: blackberry
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How to Install Facebook on your Blackberry Bold 9000
Mon, Nov 3rd 2008 7:48p Gavin Bollard I'm still continuing with the development of a SOE for our corporate Blackberries. Next up, the Facebook application. Sure, I know it's not necessarily "corporate" but I'd rather that IT does a standard install than the users try to do it themselves.
Open your blackberry web browser up to
http://www.blackberry.com/facebook
Choose Download this program.
Scroll through the massive legal [read] Keywords: application
blackberry
development
facebook
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How to Install Google Talk on your Blackberry Bold 9000
Thu, Oct 30th 2008 4:49p Gavin Bollard If you've got a gmail account, then you really ought to have the Google Chat facility loaded on your blackberry. Here's how;
Go to the Browser and enter;
http://www.blackberry.com/googletalk
Scroll down the page until you find a button marked Download and click it.
Choose your language and then click Next
Scroll to the end of the terms and conditions and click the option button marked
(o) I [read] Keywords: blackberry
google
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How to Install the Google Mobile Apps on your Blackberry Bold 9000
Wed, Oct 29th 2008 10:49p Gavin Bollard Installing the Installer
Go to the Browser and enter;
http://www.google.com/mobile
Scroll down the page until you find a link marked
Download Google Mobile App
Click on the link to Download and install it.
At the end of the install, you can run it automatically.
If you don't choose to run it immediately, you can find it later by pressing the blackberry button then scrolling to (and clicking on [read] Keywords: blackberry
google
mobile
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How to Remove and Insert the Media Card on the Blackberry Bold 9000
Wed, Oct 29th 2008 9:28p Gavin Bollard Today, I got a new Blackberry Bold 9000, so there's probably going to be a flurry of Blackberry related posts as I try to install stuff on it.
The Blackberry Bold seems to ship with a 1GB media card, which really isn't enough for serious use. This procedure allows you to replace the card would one that is of a decent size.
Getting the Old Card out and the New One In
On the left-hand side of [read] Keywords: blackberry
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Why Microsoft is Losing Relevance in the New Computing World
Wed, Oct 22nd 2008 5:49p Gavin Bollard Disclaimer:
I started writing a Domino-related post today but after a good opening paragraph, it tipped into Microsoft territory and got too long. As a result, I decided to cover the Microsoft stuff here and keep the Domino post for later. I've tried to keep this blog relatively non-political (computer politics) but sometimes it just doesn't work. Please forgive me if this comes over as a bit [read] Keywords: domino
microsoft
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Are those Google Sidebar Tabs annoying you?
Tue, Oct 21st 2008 4:30p Gavin Bollard Every vendor makes UI mistakes but usually the guys at Google are pretty spot on. Unfortunately their recent idea, to put tabs down the left hand side of the iGoogle interface backfired pretty badly and the forums at Google are still buzzing over the problem.
Funnily enough, I asked nicely and after a little while (a couple of weeks), my iGoogle page reverted to normal. I thought that Google [read] Keywords: google
interface
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A Mozilla Add-in to Make Social Bookmarking Easier
Sun, Oct 19th 2008 4:32p Gavin Bollard The Importance of Social Bookmarking
It's taken me quite a while to get my head around how the whole Web 2.0 and Social Networking thing hangs together but I think I've got it now and at some point, I might even blog about it and try to explain it in lay-terms.
Not this post though.
What I will say though is that Social Bookmarking is one of the most important parts of the whole thing and that [read] Keywords: networking
social bookmarking
web 2.0
7
Sat, Oct 11th 2008 9:48p Gavin Bollard Why do we need Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware on our PCs Anyway?
Ok, before everyone starts jumping on me for this, I'm talking about the need for our individual PCs to be processing this sort of stuff.
Recent Issues - Scanning
I've been finding myself increasingly turning McAfee's services off in order to do simple tasks without massive interference.
It's a well known and demonstrated fact that [read] Keywords: virus
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Whatever happened to the Notes/Domino 8 Rollout?
Sun, Sep 28th 2008 10:29p Gavin Bollard The 8.0 Client
In previous years, I'd have jumped onto the new Notes/Domino within six months of release.
This time however, things have changed.
First of all, there's the fact that the whole Notes 8 client is a rewrite using eclipse. It turns the 18+ year old product into a version 1.0 again - at least for a little while.
My first attempts with the Version 8 client showed that the system was [read] Keywords: domino
notes
eclipse
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Microsoft Unified Communications Assessment
Sun, Sep 28th 2008 9:29p Gavin Bollard Microsoft, of all people, have released a "Unified Communications" survey tool. If anything, I'd have thought that their suite is dis-unified, since every component likes to run on it's own separate server. Perhaps that's why they're pushing virtualisation now?
In any case, I decided to have a go of their survey - answering questions based on our usage of Lotus products. Note that we don't [read] Keywords: lotus
microsoft
server
unified communications
7
An (Enforced) DRP Exercise on our Archive server (or How to Resize Partitions with Ghost's Help)
Thu, Sep 25th 2008 3:48a Gavin Bollard Musings on What I'd do about my Partition Problem
Yesterday afternoon, I spent a bit of time backing up my work PC so that I could try a few tricks to get the System partition larger. I keep all my data and apps on a different partition but nevertheless, they still like to dump files in the Windows directory on the sysetm partition. In addition, there's the fact that Windows Update keeps wanting [read] Keywords: archive
server
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Domino Recovery Tricks - and the Problem with 8.0.2
Wed, Sep 17th 2008 5:28p Gavin Bollard Installing Domino 8.0.2
Yesterday, we did some tests on Domino 8.0.2. I wasn't expecting any real problems given the ease of the last few Domino upgrades - up to 7.0.2. I guess I was wrong.
First of all, the initial attempt at installation failed with one of those non-specific error messages. I rebooted the server and tried again - no problems. I've seen this problem a few times though - [read] Keywords: domino
server
6
Domino and Email Reliability
Tue, Sep 9th 2008 6:39p Gavin Bollard I've just finished filling out a survey questionnaire for Michael Osterman and I noticed that the same sorts of things just keep on cropping up. I can't figure out why these things are "issues" in this day and age. Certainly, they're not problems for us.
I was just wondering if people have email problems because of poor implementations, poor policy, low expenditure or because they're on other [read] Keywords: domino
email
6
Using Google Alerts to Keep Tabs on Yourself
Mon, Sep 8th 2008 10:09p Gavin Bollard You may already have used google alerts to keep an eye on various technologies, companies or other objects of interest but did you ever think of using it to keep tabs on yourself?
If you're into social networking or find yourself frequently adding comments to articles around the net, then you probably have a significant web presence. Certainly more than you could handle doing spot checks via [read] Keywords: google
networking
8
Why IBM & Google share the same vision
Sun, Sep 7th 2008 6:29p Gavin Bollard There's no doubt that most people with any kind of computing background would agree that the most forward-looking and influential IT company in the world today is Google, some may say Apple but most would say Google.
Microsoft, once an industry unto itself no longer holds that coveted position. They didn't so much lose direction as, fail to take the correct turns along the route to today's [read] Keywords: ibm
apple
google
microsoft
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Article: Running Multiple Versions of the Notes Client
Wed, Sep 3rd 2008 11:30p Gavin Bollard The question "can you run version 8 with older versions of notes?" appears with surprising regularity on the Domino 8 Forums. Today, I noticed that someone had provided a very impressive link to a web page containing a picture showing someone running ... and I quote....
"Notes R5, 6, 7 and 8 Standard running concurrently on one Windows machine, and side by side the Notes Client, Domino Designer [read] Keywords: designer
domino
lotusdomino
notes
notes client
R5
8
Why Microsoft and IBM have plenty to fear from Google Chrome but Mozilla does not
Wed, Sep 3rd 2008 6:29p Gavin Bollard Introduction
Since the release of Google's new "web browser", Chrome yesterday the web has been buzzing with speculation about how Google will be hurting Mozilla. The funny thing is, that if you read the comic about Google chrome, you'll see that it is being positioned more as an operating system than as a browser.
Cloud Computing
The idea is that the Web browser will become the operating [read] Keywords: ibm
google
microsoft
7
A First Look at Google Chrome (Beta)
Tue, Sep 2nd 2008 7:48p Gavin Bollard Today I downloaded and installed Google Chrome Beta from;
http://www.google.com/chrome
Installation
The download was fast (it's a fairly small file) and installation is simple... Too simple in fact. It doesn't give you much choice about where you put things. There's also not much available in the way of configuration at the moment. What was nice is that it correctly recognised Mozilla [read] Keywords: google
10
FREE Quest for Glory II Remake Finished
Tue, Aug 26th 2008 10:30p Gavin Bollard I've just discovered that AGDInteractive's remake of the Sierra classic "Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire" is now available for download.
The old EGA/VGA Graphics screens have been replaced and the whole thing has been written from the ground up - over an eight year period.
It's a free game so if you like adventure games or if, like me, you were quite attached to the old Sierra style games, [read] Keywords:
8
How to Convert a Screen Image to a Suitable Graphic Using the GIMP.
Tue, Aug 26th 2008 6:09p Gavin Bollard This tip is "low tech" but something I'm often asked.
How can I grab an image from the screen so that I can stick it into a Word Document.
I'm sure that there's people out there nodding their heads and saying "ah, yes, the old Print Screen or Alt+PrintScreen trick" - then just paste into word". Well, yes and no.
Did you know that if you do a print screen and paste it into Word, Excel, [read] Keywords: document
9
Ending the Blackberry OS 4.5 Saga
Tue, Aug 19th 2008 7:09p Gavin Bollard Well, it's been quite a few days now and I've tried all kinds of different tricks to overcome the Blackberry OS 4.5 rebooting problem on the 8800. I've tried different media cards, different types of handheld erasures, different types of card formatting.
Nothing... I can get the device to stop rebooting with the card in but as soon as I try to put any data on the card, *REBOOT*
This morning, [read] Keywords: blackberry
9
The Ongoing Blackberry OS 4.5 Reboot Saga
Mon, Aug 18th 2008 5:31a Gavin Bollard In every organisation, there is always one idiot who has to download and install the latest set of patches.
Usually this person is the biggest waster of IT time in the business and they're responsible for countless hours of lost productivity while the IT department tries to fix their non-critical "business" gadget.
Usually, I can just shake my head in disbelief but this time I can't. This [read] Keywords: blackberry
gadget
8
Domino Licence Renewal Headaches (or the Disadvantages of Passport Advantage)
Sun, Aug 17th 2008 10:13p Gavin Bollard This is a short (and not entirely serious) post to have a quick whinge about the way IBM Lotus Domino licenses are renewed.
Techie Blindness
So, here I am a SysAdmin for my company wanting to login to IBM Passport Advantage to renew my licensing. As a SysAdmin, I'm happy to be shown C++ code, HTML, you name it - it's all good to me. It's only when non-computing financial terms are mentioned [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
9
Blackberry Handset 0S 4.5: Media Card Killer (Constant Reboot Problem and Solution)
Fri, Aug 15th 2008 6:12a Gavin Bollard Blackberry OS 4.5 is out now and I've already had to upgrade one device to it because of the profile issue I mentioned in my last post.
Now since I did the upgrade on my own PC and I later reconnected my Blackberry, I was prompted to do the upgrade on my device too.
I did as requested.
Well, I might as well have ended my day there and then because a significant portion of my time from then on [read] Keywords: blackberry
profile
6
Upgrading Blackberry Handhelds to new Firmware (and fixing Locked Policies)
Thu, Aug 14th 2008 10:53p Gavin Bollard There's a lot of reasons why you might want to upgrade your blackberry's firmware including the availability of fixes/patches and new features.
One reason I didn't expect was to fix a policy issue.
The Policy Issue
Recently we split our Domino and Blackberry servers. Yes, I know that they shouldn't have been on the one server in the first place but at the time we were a bit tight for licensing [read] Keywords: domino
policies
blackberry
server
7
IBM is Brilliant (More on Sametime Licensing)
Thu, Aug 14th 2008 9:48p Gavin Bollard A few days ago I posted lamenting the loss of Sametime because neither of our production Domino servers could run it (one was way too critical and the other was running Blackberry, which doesn't happily co-exist (without a lot of tweaking thanks very much Lotus Evangelist for the info).
Thanks also to the people who posted and suggested that the licensing model allowed me to install a separate [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
sametime
blackberry
8
Goodbye Sametime
Mon, Aug 11th 2008 2:50a Gavin Bollard "Goodbye Sametime,
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to sound good
While those around you crawled..."
I'm tossing Sametime, not because it's bad software. I'm sure it's great but because I've spent a little while trying to load the limited edition server for Domino 7.0.2 and my efforts have ended in failure.
If I can't demonstrate the software to my boss and his team, then [read] Keywords: domino
sametime
server
8
Optimising Your New Windows 2003 SP2 Domino Server
Mon, Aug 11th 2008 12:49a Gavin Bollard We recently bought a new server and replaced our trusty old main domino server. Some of my earlier posts covered this topic.
Our users were understandably expecting a bit of a performance boost - not that domino had ever under-performed, but hey, if you spend over $20K AU on a new server, you're entitled to expect to see some benefits.
Instead, the new server was slower than ever and we [read] Keywords: domino
server
7
When Hardware Leasers Try to Kill You
Thu, Aug 7th 2008 2:48a Gavin Bollard Following on from my other "when xxx tries to kill you" posts, here's a beauty which just happened to us.
Our company leased a multi-function device from a large brand-name company (who shall remain unnamed) and the device worked very well for about a year.
During that year we used the device as a colour photocopier, printer and scanner. It had some other brilliant capabilities too, like the [read] Keywords:
15
How to Do Simple Javascript Field Validation on the Web using Domino
Wed, Jul 30th 2008 9:49p Gavin Bollard Why Javascript?
If you're like me and not really a domino developer, but a bit of everything, then you probably don't have a lot of time to spend on learning all the tips and tricks of domino. Often, creating a database is simply a matter of "knocking together" forms and views that will do the job and putting only minimal validation in place.
The problem is that normal built-in notes validation [read] Keywords: domino
forms
javascript
notes
database
6
Fun with Blackberries - Moving Servers, Backing up, Wiping and Restoring Handhelds
Wed, Jul 30th 2008 6:49p Gavin Bollard If you've been following this blog lately, you'll know that we recently replaced our domino server. As part of this move, we moved the Blackberry Enterprise Server to another box.
Now, I'm not sure what happens when you move a blackberry server from one box to another while keeping the same server name, IP address and domino server name but I can tell you what happens when you move the [read] Keywords: domino
blackberry
enterprise
server
8
Moving a Domino Server onto New Hardware - Part 2
Tue, Jul 29th 2008 3:52a Gavin Bollard Introduction
Following on from Part 1, we should now have a working Server running fully patched versions of Windows and Backup. If we've been really sensible, we've even tested a backup and a restore.
The next step is to obtain copies of databases on your live server.
Getting Databases off your Live Server
In a perfect world, this would be easy. Simply shut down your Domino server and go in [read] Keywords: domino
server
6
Moving a Domino Server onto New Hardware - Part 1
Fri, Jul 25th 2008 7:26p Gavin Bollard I've probably blogged about this kind of thing before but since we did a domino server replacement a couple of nights ago and it all went smoothly, I figure it's worth reiterating the procedure.
It's funny how as you try to type a blog during the gaps in your busy schedule, it mutates from your original idea. I've ended up talking more about backups than intended but since it's all useful [read] Keywords: domino
server
7
How to use your Blackberry on Aircraft without causing Disasters
Wed, Jul 9th 2008 10:48p Gavin Bollard I'm sure that seasoned air travellers know all about this but I haven't flown much since I got my blackberry and I only got clued into this with a little slip from one of the flight attendants during the usual "how life-jackets can save your life at 30,000 feet" speech.
Note: these instructions are for the Blackberry Pearl. They may be different on other Blackberries.
It's simple;
BEFORE you [read] Keywords: blackberry
pearl
7
Installing Lotus Symphony
Tue, Jul 8th 2008 2:03a Gavin Bollard After sitting on the fence for a while, trying not to show too much Lotus bias, I finally decided to give Lotus Symphony a trial.
For the record, my work PC is old..
It's an IBM 8194 P4 2.8GHz with 3GB RAM and not a lot of available hard drive space.
Downloading and Installing
I went to the IBM Symphony site (http://symphony.lotus.com) and selected the Windows version and in the English [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
symphony
7
How to Convert AVI Video Files for Watching on the Blackberry (and other mobiles) - for FREE
Wed, Jun 25th 2008 4:04a Gavin Bollard It's taken a bit longer than I expected to find a free solution to conversion of video files for the Blackberry but I've finally found one.
The software to use is called;
Internet Video Converter (I used version 1.52 standard) and you can get it from this web site (http://ivcsoft.free.fr/).
The application relies on either the FFmpeg or the Mencoder files in order to do the conversions. These [read] Keywords: application
blackberry
mobile
11
Windows XP Service Pack 3 Breaks (Changes) the Domino Console Access via Remote Desktop
Sun, Jun 15th 2008 10:23p Gavin Bollard I used to be able to access the Domino server console by using Remote Desktop on the server but recently, the Console started to disappear. At first, I figured that it was something I'd done wrong, until I saw a post on the Notes 8 forum.
It's a Windows XP Service Pack 3 issue;
So, here's the fix;
The command line parameter has changed and if your remote desktop icon for your domino server [read] Keywords: domino
notes
desktop
server
8
How to Set up an Easy Slideshow Screensaver in Windows XP without Downloading Extra Software
Tue, Jun 3rd 2008 9:02p Gavin Bollard I recently saw a post about using third party software to display pictures and figured that this feature was worth reiterating.
Windows XP comes with a built in screen saver called my pictures slideshow which does the trick nicely. There is no need to install third party software.
Here is an easy way to configure this screen saver for simpler changes;
First of all, you should create a folder [read] Keywords:
19
Buying Servers
Tue, May 13th 2008 2:22a Gavin Bollard How hard can it be to buy a server?
I've been buying servers for years and I've experienced several types of purchases.
The Cheap and Nasty
This is where you go out to your local computer shop and buy a no-name, unbranded "glorified PC" server. Luckily, this practice seems to have completely disappeared from medium and large size business but it still goes on in small shops. The thing to [read] Keywords: server
10
How to Get a Cool Google Chat Icon on Your Blog or Web Page
Wed, May 7th 2008 7:21p Gavin Bollard I love Google Chat
As a strong Lotus supporter, I know that I should be shouting "Sametime" but the fact is that I secretly love Google chat. Sure, there's no way it's as powerful as sametime and it's not as useful in the corporate sense of the word but as a family and friends tool, it's unbeatable.
So, wouldn't it be nice to be able to put a "presence-aware" link to google chat on your blog [read] Keywords: lotus
sametime
google
7
Firewalls and Other Single Points of Failure
Tue, Apr 15th 2008 9:03a Gavin Bollard Last Friday night, we installed a new firewall to replace our "unsupported" Symantec model.
A Bizarre Sense of Timing
Curiously, we'd been complaining to Symantec for years about several of their systems and had been slowly ripping and replacing. Our complaints over their lack of interest in the firewall they sold us had been fairly strong over the last six months but had met with limited [read] Keywords:
11
How to Use Your Blackberry to Listen to Talking Books
Wed, Apr 9th 2008 7:59p Gavin Bollard We've already looked at how to use the Blackberry as an e-book reader but what about when you're feeling particularly lazy? Talking books are the answer.
You can use the inbuilt Blackberry Media Player but since it has limited capabilities, particularly for browsing (unless you use trickery), I prefer to use the free xPlayer.
Recording your Book from an Existing CD
If you've already got a [read] Keywords: blackberry
Daylight Savings Changes Part II Updating Blackberry Enterprise Server
Sun, Mar 30th 2008 5:31p Gavin Bollard Well, the weekend daylight savings changes went mostly ok... except for the Blackberry Enterprise sever that is. I was out at a children's birthday party last weekend and was near another Blackberry user from a different company. His phone
Luckily, I found this article fairly quickly;
How to prepare the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for IBM Lotus Domino to support DST changes in 2008.
It was [read] Keywords: domino
, ibm
, lotus
, blackberry
, enterprise
, server
8
Daylight Savings Mayhem - Automating a Check of Notes INI
Thu, Mar 27th 2008 8:36p Gavin Bollard Yesterday we discovered that there are changes to the Australian Daylight Savings dates coming into effect this weekend (it will continue when it would normally have ended).
There are lots of repercussions, but the worst (ones that could affect the business) relate to the Lotus Notes Calendar.
There are two things to do to prepare ourselves;
Windows Updates on our clients (WinXP)Windows Updates [read] Keywords: lotus
, notes
7
E-Books and other Documents on the Blackberry
Tue, Mar 18th 2008 5:31p Gavin Bollard I have found a great E-Book reader for the Blackberry. It's called Mobi Pocket Reader, and its free. It's available for a lot of other phones too. You can download books "over the air" or you can copy them to your Blackberry using the desktop manager software - MobiBooks looks in the Ebooks folder (although this can be changed via the options menu).
Getting Books
I have been enjoying some of [read] Keywords: blackberry
, desktop
, mobile
6
Another Great FREE Video Converter
Mon, Mar 17th 2008 7:39p Gavin Bollard I recently began having trouble with Nero creating stuttering "coasters" when I convert YouTube video clips to DVD. The stuttering problem was present in both versions 6 and 7 - I didn't try 8. I contacted Nero and asked for assistance but they didn't seem able to help.
I eventually narrowed the problem down to Nero's annoying habit of recoding everything. My data files were playable in [read] Keywords:
6
Wed, Mar 5th 2008 10:08p Gavin Bollard I've just returned from the annual IBM mind-blowing (LotusSphere comes to you) session in Sydney.
Strangely, it feels different this year.
In previous years, I'd come back all excited about some new technology, or perhaps a little apprehensive (in the days when they were pushing workplace). I'd always be able to take some comfort in the fact that we were only one or two versions behind the new [read] Keywords: ibm
7
LotusSphere comes to you is happening in Sydney
Wed, Feb 27th 2008 5:05p Gavin Bollard Once again, LotusSphere comes to you is happening in Sydney on Thursday 6th March 2008, so head to the Agenda and Registration.
If you're in a different state, you can find out when it is on for you by checking the Other IBM Events in Australia.
This event is an absolute MUST for anyone using Lotus products in Australia. [read] Keywords: ibm
, lotus
6
Mobile Phone Friendly Blogs
Wed, Jan 30th 2008 4:23p Gavin Bollard I've just added a link to view this blog on a mobile phone. It's in the top section.
This feature will work on all blogger blogs, and probably on other brand blogs too. For full instructions on how to do this on your blog, see this article.
I wanted to be sure it would work on Notes/Domino blogs as well, so I used Ed Brill's to test (I hope you don't mind Ed). The RSS Feed for Ed's site is [read] Keywords: domino
, notes
, blogger
, mobile
6
Microsoft's Sad Anti-Notes Strategy
Tue, Jan 29th 2008 4:10p Gavin Bollard I posted this a few days ago on Network World but haven't anything new to add to this blog at the moment so I figured I'd post a link to it.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/24314
Basically, it's a bit of a rant about what Microsoft did around LotusSphere time (again) this year. I try to keep rants off this blog, hence I posted it elsewhere. [read] Keywords: notes
, community
, microsoft
, network
9
Playing those old DOS Games
Mon, Jan 21st 2008 3:36p Gavin Bollard This post is probably not strictly on topic (being less serious than usual) however I have just prepared a whole heap of links for someone else and figured why not share them.
There are two things that I want to cover today;
Obtaining the remakes of old games for free (full game Remakes).Running old games under newer systems (Engine only Remakes).
I have a preference for adventure games so while [read] Keywords:
5
How to Adjust any Picture to be an Avatar for Forums using the GIMP
Thu, Jan 17th 2008 7:41p Gavin Bollard Why the Gimp?
I've used the Gimp because it's freely available and works on a number of different systems. It's not my favourite graphics program but it will do the job.
Where can I get the GIMP?
Download it from; http://www.gimp.org/
I'm not going to cover installation since it's mostly a matter of clicking Next a few times then finish.
Avatar Size Restrictions
Most forums place restrictions [read] Keywords:
6
How to Convert a Floppy Disk to a Bootable CD Using Nero
Sun, Jan 13th 2008 11:18p Gavin Bollard Floppies are so "last week", a lot of computers these days don't even come with floppy drives.
I've got a great collection of Boot Disks for various network cards which I use when Ghosting machines across the network. I also had some boot disks which were optimized for various games.
So, in anticipation of needing to use one of these on a PC with no floppy drive, I'm posting the instructions [read] Keywords: network
