Right from the press release comes the interview with Kathy Mandelstein, Director, Worldwide Developer Programs, IBM.  She and I talk for about 17 minutes on the new community spaces and then all things developerWorks and Alphaworks.  I could not let that chance slip by!  There is a new area on Alphaworks wrapped around web services that you need to see!

• http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/

I also inquire if Sametime awareness will show up someday soon and how all these pieces will integrate together.

Kathy Mandelstein currently manages the worldwide teams responsible for
engaging and communicating to development teams for IBM. The teams support
a community of innovative e-business portals including www.ibm.com
/developerWorks, IBM's resource for developers; www.ibm.com/alphaWorks,
which speeds IBM technology to market and attracts developers' feedback to
IBM's new product development process; and PartnerWorld for Developers,
www.ibm.com,/partnerworld/isv, IBM's Partner program for commercial
software developers interested in building applications that support IBM
technologies.

Kathy and her cross-functional teams consist of marketers, producers,
writers, technical evanglists, and business people reaching out to
developers in cities around the globe. Prior to her current assignment,
Kathy managed Web Development and Marketing teams in IBM Software Group.
She has focused on the developer audience for the last eight years and
began at IBM by leading the Java and e-business campaigns for this
audience. Before joining IBM in 1997, Kathy managed one of the earliest
successful retail Web sites, www.jcpenney.com. Kathy has over 20 years of
professional experience in the areas of advertising, marketing, corporate
communications, sales, management and web development.

I had the chance to take some other business partners to dinner last night while they are here for Partnerworld in St Louis.  We had the mixed conversations around business and fun.  One thing that came up was this very Lotus Connections site.  A lot of interest is being generated about the site and some of the wonderment of where it will take us.

Will it be the start of a BP "MySpace" or "FaceBook" with no long term inherent value?  Or will it grow into a full networking, people locator, community of interest, project (activity) sharing and link sharing that you would dream.  Can it handle the influx of visitors it will generate soon?  Where the heck is the integrated Sametime? 

Sit back with me and watch. Martha Mealy posted about the attempt to find relevant statistics for collection.  I strongly agree with that question she put out to everyone.  What are valuable stats?  Number of hits? no.  Number of communities? no.  Usage patterns of features? yes.  Blog entries? no.  Profiles? no.  Searches against profiles? yes.

the list grows....

Here is the second announcement.  Ed already hinted at it early this morning for you. That along with my podcast with Tim Kounadis, Director of Worldwide Channels and SMB Marketing for Lotus live here at PartnerWorld.  The link to the new Lotus Connections site can be found at the bottom of the announcement.  This also has a second surprise announcement behind it I found out from a little birdie.

IBM Lotus Connections for Partners
Lotus Connections for Partners features a full set of social software
capabilities including profiles, blogs, activities and communities. These
integrated components create a collaborative environment where partners can
connect and build relationships regardless of location, business size or
area of expertise.

For example, a small game development company in the US wants to expand
into Brazil. A keyword search in Lotus Connections for Partners returns a
list of others within the community with expertise in the Brazilian market.
Within seconds, the partner also has access to blogs, communities,
activities and bookmarks related to the topic. By engaging with experts
from around the world, the partner is able to collaborate, share ideas and
learn best practices without leaving the office.

Initial communities of interests have been created in Lotus Connections for
Partners to kick-start the collaborative process. IBM executives,
researchers and subject matter experts will be invited to participate in
the online environment as well.

The social networking phenomenon having an unprecedented impact on the
enterprise. The Web continues to evolve from a vehicle for companies to
disseminate content, to a tool for bringing together the contributions of
millions of people.

According to industry analyst firm Forrester Research, social software
tools will become so much a part of the fabric of an enterprise's
collaborative environment that it will be like air -- enterprises won't be
able to imagine life without it. Further, according to Forrester, the
demand for social software tools is growing with usage rates of social
software services almost doubling between 2005 and 2006. Source: Social
Computing: Tapping Into The Power Of Connected Customers, Forrester
Research, Inc., October 2006.

"IBM continues to play a significant role in driving the adoption of new
business models, said Ken Wasch, president, Software Information Industry
Association (SIIA). "These new communities create a unique network for
developers, business partners and IT professionals to come together and
share group intelligence. IBM and SIIA are working together to enable
innovation and drive market changes around key industry trends."

Availability

Lotus Connections for Partners is available immediately free of charge to
all IBM Business Partners. IBM PartnerWorld members can request access to
Lotus Connections for Partners at:
https://www.ibm.com/lotus/connections/partners. For more information on
Lotus Connections: www.lotus.com/connections

Look for a podcast with Kathy Mandelstein of IBM, Director, Worldwide Developer Programs  this afternoon on this announcement.  The link to the new spaces is at the bottom of the announcement.

IBM developerWorks community spaces

developerWorks community spaces initiative is a unique business channel
that will provide an open platform for developers to build communities
around a broad range of technology topics and business trends.  Effective
immediately, twelve community topics are available.  Members will also be
able to sign up for the opportunity to create and lead their own
communities, based on their areas of interest.

Users can now tap into a global network of developer brainpower and gain
access to customized resources, participate in online forums, business
discussions and virtually collaborate to develop applications and explore
joint business opportunities.  There is no charge for participating in
developerWorks community spaces.

As part of the announcement, one of the first technology communities will
be Software as a Service. IBM is building on a community approach to
develop a common platform for companies looking for direction on new
technologies such as SaaS. The SaaS Community within developerWorks will
allow companies to set up a dynamic profile page describing their business
and solutions. The intent is that other companies and customers will use
the profiles to locate prospective business partners and software vendors.
The website will also offer information on what is happening in the SaaS
industry including events and new entrants into the market.

Additionally, the new collaborative venue will serve as a business network
that will allow companies be able to set up profile pages describing their
business with the intention of allowing other companies and customers to
view that profile to locate prospective business partners and generate new
business opportunities.

Availability

Effective immediately, IBM is launching twelve new communities through
developerWorks community spaces including: Software as a Service,
service-oriented architecture (SOA), game development and virtualization.
To learn more about developerWorks community spaces visit:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces.

I have not tested this yet as I was uninstalling the beta code or upgrading beta code.  So if you have older versions, confirm this since I do not have a moment to do so right now:

On the 7.5.1 Connect client installation, it asks if you want to remove any existing Sametime 3.x or 7.0x.  Generally you would say yes as I did.  It then identified that I had Sametime 7.0x and asked if I really wanted to remove it.  That was OK because I knew what was going on.  But the problem is that I didn't have Sametime 7.0x, I had 7.5

P.S. after I installed, I launched it and the About splash screen didn't go away.  But that was fixed once I rebooted. :-)  

You can view the demo flash file right here

I had seen this before and heard it from another person but could not get it to reproduce on any consistent level.  However, it has now hit the Sametime forum on Notes.net as a thread.

It seems that under certain circumstances the Sametime Connect 7.5.1 client keeps looking for the Microsoft Outlook profile.  Even with Lotus Notes clients on the desktop and Outlook not configured.  A check of IE shows that the mail program preferences is also set to Lotus Notes, so no conflict there.

There is the new Office integration component that is offered, however the client still prompts for Outlook profile upon launch after configuring it to use Notes.

I imagined someone would ask eventually or at least figure it out.

Hey Chris, saw all your postings today on 7.5.1.  I downloaded the new client but don't see anything but the full exe file.  Do I need to expand that to get the Eclipse update or will that be coming soon?  Great postings, thanks!

Well that is a great question.  One I have asked.  You would expect with all the hype around Eclipse and provisioning clients you could simply toss some code for a site update.  While this would be many files and larger than a normal small push, it would all be done in the background and then they get restarted and viola.  However, Lotus said they were not ready for it at this release, or something in those words.  You get the drift.

So what that means is you must have each client download and install the full new code, just like a fresh install would be.  It will upgrade seamlessly, it is just a packaging step you need to do.

I first reported this issue back in January, as seen here Link    It seems that if you have existing communities in the Sametime Gateway and attempt to upgrade it breaks it all.  Now how do I get back is what I am figuring out right now.  This was immediately after the 7.5.1 upgrade, WAS .7 patch and launching.  Then a restart and launch did the exact same thing.

You receive the choice to restart the Sametime Connect 7.5.1 client after installing a new plug-in.  You can also apply and continue working and restart later to activate the plug-in.  I chose to apply and keep working.  I got the following:

Either that is a cool white plug-in or something is amiss

I loaded the new gold client on a couple fresh machines to see what results we got.  While the new UI is shiny and nice like I promised, here is what I saw on the "hope it was fixed" list:

• The memory utilization is crazy.  Upon launch with no plug-ins loaded yet, it was 67MB of RAM.  Compared to other chat programs, that is an easy 3-4 times larger for some of the exact same functionality (like Yahoo messenger 8.x)
• If you happened to load the previous Eclipse updates for the Sametime Gateway on your Sametime 7.5 CF1 server, then you get the following prompt that new code was added.  However, this isn't newer as they changed the numbering scheme (see image below)
• You are not prompted to change your geographic location for the new install and fill out you location information
• You users will appreciate the icon changing from Sametime Connect 7.5 to Sametime Connect (no version number listed).
• Privacy settings for different communities is still a single point and not set up to support the feature of logging into multiple communities
• It seems some people are getting two instances of the client when they install and click to Launch the client right away instead of closing the installer and then launching.

 

I am getting together a list of things you should know, including the embedded map here for food, lodging and fun since we are getting requests.

Transportation
You can ride the Metrolink straight from the airport.  It takes about 30 minutes total to get downtown but is cost effective if you are on the router.  You can take a cab also.  It is a straight shot down Highway 70 to downtown.  If they head down I-170 and try to go to Highway 40/US 64 don't let them.  it is all under construction and they know it will take forever (which equals large fare).  I don't know if it is fixed rate to downtown.  If you are in Clayton at a hotel you will need a taxi or car.

Apparently IBM launched it today.  I will have comments for you shortly.

On second thought, here is some now.  Yes there is the new point-to-point video, UI changes to the client and slew of new features in the link I gave above.  However, the memory consumption is quite large, so be prepared.

Tabbed chat is awesome, both vertical and horizontal.  There are some issues with strange UI behavior with horizontal I need to test more.

Policies have been enhanced greatly.  I will give them that.  They listened and added quite a few.  There is a ways to go for full management,but most of you will be pleased.

more shortly.

I was playing around with message recall (another blog topic) and came across the link for Activities you and the person are involved in and also Collaboration History.  This was a quick and cool way to see all mail that a particular email address (or Notes person) is part of.  Here is an image of an Internet person:



I went ahead and did this to a Notes person name and got calendar entries, emails between us and even ones we were both copied on.  Now that is making workflow easier in my eyes.

Strike up one more for Google in buying things with the billions in cash they have to make them stronger:

As a company, we thrive on casual interactions and spontaneous collaboration. So we're excited about acquiring Marratech's video conferencing software, which will enable from-the-desktop participation for Googlers in videoconference meetings wherever there's an Internet connection.

Most everyone should be getting or have gotten a login for Lotus Connections if you are a Business Partner.  This lets the partners get in and bang around on the product and also give feedback.  I will give more input shortly.

Update 1: If you do not get an invite and wish to be nominated then visit http://www.lotus.com/connections/partners and you can nominate yourself as a Business Partner

Well so far it even works with the Notes 8 integrated browser feature.  Good start.

Update 2: I was able to get my Notes 8 client to connect to Activities on the Business Partner server.  That should be interesting.  See image below :

Problem

Java virtual machine (JVM) changes made to Domino 7.0.2 are causing nHTTP crashes.

Content

If you are running a Lotus® Sametime® server release 7.0 or 7.5 on Domino® release 7.0.2 you may experience nHTTP crashes.  These crashes do not occur in versions of Domino prior to 7.0.2. This issue is under investigation by Quality Engineering as SPR #TTRT6XBQPE.  Until a fix can be provided, the following workarounds are available.   Note that 7.0.2 FP1 does NOT fix this issue. Do not upgrade to Domino 7.0.2 (or later) on any Sametime servers running on Windows. or Revert to the JVM from an earlier Domino release. To do this, copy the \Lotus\Domino\JVM folder from a pre-Domino 7.0.2 installation and overwrite the same folder on your Domino 7.0.2 server.   Be sure to make a backup of the existing JVM folder before taking these steps. For Unix and Linux the JVM is located in /opt/ibm/lotus/notes/latest//jvm/ by default.

I talked about this same topic in my April edition of the Sys Admin Newsletter that is coming out shortly.  There is a huge lack of products and partners that represent Sametime add-ons, plug-ins and tools.  Yes there is quite a few partners that make products, but you have to know where to look.  Having a central source is a great idea.  Now what I didn't like about the current state of the catalog I addressed in the newsletter.  But here is what IBM is asking of you:

If you know of any business partners or anyone that is wanting to have their ST plugin / ST Gateway Plugin / or other ST solution- validated through Partnerworld and listed on the business solutions catalog, let me know... or just give them the links below. We are trying to get our business partners to actually use this catalog and thought with your exposure, you could at least have this information at your disposal.

So head on over.  You can even find links to get your solution certified
Lotus Business Solutions Catalog

I had been maintaining it myself and for an admin, not too terribly bad.  But. I needed a facelift and to reduce clutter.  So someone volunteered and I took hm up on the opportunity.  After many weeks of coding to a style I picked to make navigation easier (don't tell me if you hate tabs, go get the RSS ha) we got it down.  Then tweaks here and there on the copy and finally!

So play around with the stuff and let us know if you see anything too terribly broken.  Otherwise keep your trap shut unless it is compliments :-)   Everything is done via CSS which makes changes easier.  A lot of it was before but I still played with certain parts.

I found this article here that had an easy to understand diagram of how everyone interacts with a log posting that spurs comments from the readers:

From the very opening breakfast the attendees were discussing the lack of heavy technical and directional content.  Two rooms of sessions to cover a bit more content would have been great.   With only 3 session and the keynote it left holes.  But saying that..   attendance looked towards 70 on a quick count.  Great for St Louis.

Keynote: John Dunderdale, VP of Worldwide Sales in Lotus SW (who we had lunch with yesterday as Business Partners), was the keynote speaker.

• He covered the resurgence in attendance at Lotusphere and the solid double digit growth of Notes.
• Market share is solid and growing.
• Kids today don't email, they use social software
• The agile business embraces change (me: how many companies are still fighting not to upgrade?)
• We then jumped into the Domino 8 announcements - all you have seen online already
• Sametime 7.5 was up next..  Point-to-point video, tabbed chat, Office Integration and Outlook, Mac client, Linux server and the list goes on
• Kraig Vanderbeek jumped up to continue Sametime 7.5.1 demonstrations.  Overall he had about 15 plug-in loaded. (me: this leads me back to my March LotusUserGroup.org newsletter's editor section on making these available with no support to give us wow factor for demos).
• He demonstrated all the pieces you would expect to see in all the new areas.
• Portal was next on the list..
• Lotus Quickr discussion came up to talk about Lotus' document management space.  80 sites are testing this product now
• Lotus Connections came to close the keynote (the restlessness of slideware was starting to show).  Dogear got it's do mention and then Activities.  No one seemed to notice that Activities is Lotus Connections and not Domino 8.  475,000 profiles exist with 6 million hits per day on their internal BluePages.  IBM Community Map has over 700 communities now.

You need to read on for the Quickr comments.....

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