Sunday, June 3

• 1:30-4:30pm Sametime 7.5.x Deployment and Upgrade, Without the Aspirin (Back Bay B)

Monday, June 4

• 9:45-11:15am Disaster Recovery and Domino Made Easy (Independence West)
• 11:30am-1:00pm Getting the Most Out of Powerful Security Policies (Fairfax)
• 4:00-5:30pm Mastering the Notes.ini Settings - Both Old and New (Back Bay C)
• 6-7:30pm Ask-the-experts, Beat-the-geek, Whack-the-admin (Constitution Ballroom)

Tuesday, June 5

• 10:15-11:45am Expand Your Instant Messaging World with the Sametime Gateway (Back Bay D)
• 1:00-1:45pm Notes and Domino 8 Upgrade Q&A - BOF format (Fairfax)
• 2:00-3:30pm Quickplace Administration Best Practices (Independence West)
• 4:00-5:30pm Domino as Your Enterprise Level LDAP DIrectoty (Gardner)

Wednesday, June 6

• 8:30-10:00am Administering Sametime 7.5.x and Deploying Plug-ins (Back Bay A)
• 10:15-11:45am MIME Messaging Security (Back Bay A)
• 1:00-2:30pm Domino 8 as an Eclipse Update Site Server (Independence West)
• 2:31pm  Collapse

So while I was in their beta and had the ok to talk about and show screenshots of the new Plazes site, I waited until they went GA.  And they went GA in a big way.  Their main offices are located in Berlin (I was sorry I missed them in March while there) and yesterday the servers went down for the upgrade.

So today when logging in, they not only updated the server side of the service, but also the client side.  They now have cellphone integration, better contact views and mapping management and a slew of other interface changes including asking what you are doing at a Plaze.  So instead of just saying I am at Connectria's Data Center, I can add that I am working, sleeping or prepping for Admin2007 (as I really am).  It also tells you have the person Plazed in, web, Plazer of cellphone.

If you want an invite let me know, I will have it send you one.  It seems there is a new Plazes group also for Lotus Notes and Domino which can show you a map of everyone in the group online.

Express Yourself LIVE

So I talked about and did a podcast with newsgator a bit ago about their plug-in for Sametime to pull RSS feeds.  It works quite well from what I saw but lacked the ability to be a standalone plug-in.  It had to connect to their news server to get data.

Now come an announcement from Attensa that they have a RSS plug-in for Sametime (and a slew of other products).  So I happily went to the site to get even an evaluation or screenshots to be disappointed that they also offer this plug-in only if you hit their servers.  While it will run standalone in Outlook (ugh), not Sametime on the recent beta.  I sent an email off to get them on a podcast and see what info we can get on it for you.  Here is a screenshot of supported OS and software versions from their site

So I loaded up the new beta 3 code and was happy to see everything it offered so far.  First weird thing (outside of the mail template that I am paying with and making sure I am updated right first) is that Sametime 7.5.1 can get installed and even places an icon in the system tray.

However, there is no click or double-click on this icon.  Only right-click that has status changes and the ability to log off.  If this will not offer the normal client functionality, then I say remove it.  More confusing that I cannot double-click and have it open my contact window or pop it open in the client.

Here in lay the issues:

• I send a video chat request to another user, they get an audio prompt
• I find out the local laptop firewall might be interfering and disable it temporarily
• I get video to work (which runs across the UDP ports)
• Recipient drops randomly and can't see text chat windows
• I end video chat and text chat I was typing appears

Later, I check the memory utilization.  If I do not start a video or audio meeting, I can get the memory down to 5MB or so after the initial launch through the old bug they still have in how you minimize the client.

However, if I run a video chat, no matter how I minimize the client I still eat over 40MB of RAM.  I will grab some screenshots shortly.  This is amazingly high compared to any other chat program I run, even Flock

Take a look and pick the version you are running in this poll on my blog posting. I am just getting a feel for what version of Sametime is in PRODUCTION at your companies

I went ahead and started the process of adding memory and shortly some new processors and diskspace to the blogger server.  We are growing at a nice clip, not too much at once.

• Stuart McIntyre will be moving over the QuickrBlog, LotusConnectionsBlog and CollaborationMatters
• Richard Thomsen started up the midwestik.com blog (I need to get him not to forward and to point it to the server I see). He talks about kayaks and Domino.  Interesting combo.
• BucktheBug.net is also live from Michael.  While I can't read a thing in it, Babelfish might be a good idea here
• Carl TYler moved over iminstant.com a while ago

For those not familiar, Wakoopa shows what software you are running in a social networking way where you can have groups of people or just browse.  It suggests what software you might like to run based on what others that share some of the same with you also run.

Saying all that, I noticed that Notes 8 does not show as Notes 8 at all (older versions show correctly however).  Here is a screenshot.  It seems that it reports itself as IBM Developer Kit for Windows, Java 2, 0.0.0

Harry and I dug into DDM in Domino 8 from numerous angles.  We talk about new roles, new features, new probes, new interfaces, new options, modular areas versus stock entries, miscellaneous hidden gems and what do to with wishlist items you have for his team.  I even tell you where to look for Harry's name inside of DDM.

I promised a couple screeshots of areas in the podcast, so here you go for those too.



If you missed us on TalkShoe today, you missed out on a new way I will be doing some podcasts.  If you ever listened to a podcast and said, I had a question I wish they would have asked, well no more excuses.  I will schedule these way more in advance to get even more participation.

You have a couple choices.  You can simply listen in to the stream at http://www.talkshoe.com ( you are able to see all the live shows at that time) or join in interactively.  Interactively will allow you to listen live, chat and toss out things during the show and then with you dialed in over the phone or using IP (like Skype) you will just click to ask a question and I will start taking them in order.

Setting up an account to log in and participate is free and after doing it a few times now pretty cool.  So head on over today, here is the info once again.

You have been invited by Chris Miller to join in a live TalkShoe phone conversation and chat. Recorded audio is also available for listening afterwards.

Listen to or Join the Talkcast: IdoNotes Live http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/31241 (join within 15 minutes of start time or anytime after) Talkcast information: Talkcast Name: IdoNotes Live Host: IdoNotes - IdoNotes@netscape.net Next episode: IdoNotes Episode 33, Tue, May 15, 2007 02:00 PM EDT We talk with Harry Peebles of Lotus about Domino Domain Monitoring (DDM) in Domino 8. Learn about the new features and enhancements of this integral administrative tool. As a bonus, you get to ask questions at the end! Phone number: (724) 444-7444 Talkcast ID: 31241 PIN: The phone number or 10-digit PIN you signed up with

From the article:

For the Loti, the old days were a time when Lotus was one of the hottest software companies around -- and an exceptionally pleasant place to earn a living. Benefits and perks that were unusually generous for the 1980s and 1990s, and management had a style that helped turn workers into leaders.

The success of Notes ultimately led in 1995 to an extraordinary hostile takeover attempt by IBM Corp., a company not usually given to such aggressive moves. In the end, Lotus and IBM came to terms, and what was once the Boston-area's biggest independent software firm is now part of IBM.

Part of this article talks about the founding of Lotus and Iris Associates and the upcoming gathering the ex-Loti are scheduled to have.  Did the purchase of Lotus by IBM move Lotus away from the forefront, free moving company it was back in the 90's?  Or did it give corporate support for an emerging competitive market?

I think IBM has woken up in the past couple years to the idea that the largest (internal to IBM) software group could not survive without an influx of creativity and movement ahead in new areas of the market space.  The stagnant UI in both Notes and Sametime was not winning new accounts.  The next generation needed to be developed.  So here we come to Notes 8 and Sametime 7.5.  If the path of development continues, I dare say the market might open their eyes to the father product coming back to kick some arse.

I frustratingly gave up on the upgrade path after getting a couple more emails of the same issue happening to them.  So last week I stopped  trying to run the scripts IBM sent and wiped the machine of all components of the gateway.  That meant Websphere, DB2 and the gateway code itself.

I totally reinstalled 7.5 FP1, then patched Websphere to 6.1.0.7 and the gateway to 7.5.1.  All seems to be well at this point.  But note, when I say removed and reinstalled, I did not create any community connections until the code was upgraded.  Apparently if there is any community defined, the error commences.  Without them, or a new install, you are good to go.

So I am back on AOL, Google Talk and Yahoo through the gateway.

Join me and Harry Peebles of Lotus, as we talk live about Domino Domain Monitoring inside of Domino 8.  Learn about the new enhancements, changes and features.  Then save your questions for a live Q&A at the end that will be part of the recorded podcast.

You have been invited by Chris Miller to join in a live TalkShoe phone conversation and chat. Recorded audio is also available for listening.

Listen to or Join the Talkcast: IdoNotes Live http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/31241 (join within 15 minutes of start time or anytime after) Talkcast information: Talkcast Name: IdoNotes Live Host: IdoNotes - IdoNotes@netscape.net Next episode: IdoNotes Episode 33, Tue, May 15, 2007 02:00 PM EDT We talk with Harry Peebles of Lotus about Domino Domain Monitoring (DDM) in Domino 8. Learn about the new features and enhancements of this integral administrative tool. As a bonus, you get to ask questions at the end! Phone number: (724) 444-7444 Talkcast ID: 31241 PIN: The phone number or 10-digit PIN you signed up with Other future episodes: Future episodes not scheduled

While performing a fresh install of the new code, Sametime Gateway 7.5.1, I found that the path for the Gateway code itself now defaults from the previous RTCGateway to STGateway.

DB2 also takes a new table name as STGW.  While the upgrades will work just fine, it is interesting to see such changes as this.  I imagine this has much to do with the renaming of the product from the original Real-time Collaboration Gateway to Sametime Gateway last year.

However, the profile name does remain the same at RTCGW_Profile and the server as RTCGWServer.  Weird some areas made the shift but not others..

I need to thank Drop Trio and their Big Dipper album for the opening and closing music on Episodes 30 through 32.  I ran across these three on Magnatune and listened to the album samples.  A great jazz compilation.  Check it out after the podcast

We went through this before with the FP1 patch for the Sametime Gateway.  If you refer back to my previous posting, once the patch was applied it destroyed the portlets for management of the Gateway portion in the Integrated Solutions Console.  It was easy to fix by uninstalling the patch.

I then mentioned that I went through the 7.5.1 upgrade and it did the exact same thing.  Now I have been getting some help from Lotus, but I don't get how having communities defined would break the install.  I also thought it might just be me until I finished a customer call this morning who had a pilot of the gateway running.  They attempted to upgrade and got the same exact same portlet destruction.

Pardon my frustration..

I received the email with the notifications and took interest in a couple of the items that were added.  Sametime integration is not one of them but here is a short list I was provided:

New Features:

• Visible E-mail Addresses - e-mail addresses are now automatically visible in each person's individual profile, so connecting with others will be easier than ever.  Please note that this means your e-mail address will be easily viewable to all Lotus Greenhouse members.
• Multiple To Do Assignments - ability to assign to do items to multiple people.  This allows you to create identical to do items for multiple people without having to create each item manually.
• Profile Search - search results now include content from the Profile Tags, About Me, and Background fields.
• Pop-up Business Card - clicking the arrow next to a member's name in Lotus Connections pops up a "business card" with the user's picture, contact info and links to all their content.
• Blog - when viewing a person's blog, you can now see their profile information and click on links to easily access their profile, communities, dogear bookmarks, and activities.

I modified this from the following site, but it gets the idea right across for the time being..
You can zoom in in IE.  Just click the icon below...

This adds a twist as it got blocked in the spam filters.  I listed my 'personal' email address as an alternate but I guess it only sends to the primary registered address.  Here is a screenshot of what you get in email.



Now if I say open this Activity, can I get it to open in my plug-in instead of the browser?

Details are sketchy at this moment and time is running out to organize it if you ask me (from someone that has been doing a bunch of conferences).  But here is what we were told

Marjorie Tenzer stated that Lotus has not had a fall event in a long time, so outside of Lotusphere Comes To You events that are going on now, there will be a roadshow starting in the 3rd quarter titled

Lotusphere Collaboration Summit

No cities nor firm dates were mentioned yet, but it is an interesting twist..  no hints online yet that I could find in some quick searches.

This is the only session I walked over to see and was pleasantly surprised.  While there was not a ton of new information in there, it moved very fast and well orchestrated for the 100 or so people that came to see it.  I even went so far as to grab audio of segments of this I will make into a podcast later today so you can match my notes to the actual talks.

Tim Kounadis did the opening, and you got to hear form him yesterday on IdoNotes Episode 31.  His intro was more than brief and he quickly turned it over.  Then I learned why.  They have 5 demonstrations they intended to do in this session plus some talk at the end.

Ken Bisconti and Ron Sebastian were up next.  Ken did the slides and talking while Ron did his usual lightening speed, well defined, working demos.  This is a huge posting so I am putting in the keep reading link.

Continue Reading here" Partnerworld review of the "Lotus Software: Expanding your business across the collaboration continium" session" »

Tim Kounadis, Director of Worldwide Channels and Marketing for Lotus, and I sat down live at Partnerworld 2007 to talk all about Lotus Connections for business partners.  You will hear some of the attendee buzz in the background.

A quick and highly informative interview under 11 minutes.  Lotus Connections for business partners has already received almost 200 new admittance requests since the press release and my blog posting, as well as a dozen new communities created inside of it.  Do not forget to hook into Activities once you sign in!!

Pay special attention to the URL we talk about to get your invite if one has not shown already:

http://www.lotus.com/connections/partners

****Just to clarify, this is a separate instance and install of Lotus Connections from paxos that got announced for BP's yesterday.


This site allowed self nomination some time ago and apparently has had people in it for a while.  Growing slowly, just like a greenhouse would grow plants.

First impressions are that this could be a very cool way for partners customers to start communicating from all over the globe.  The site is a bit bogged down, I imagine over the demand of everyone logging in.

Do not panic if you cannot edit or update your profile yet.  Read the fine print.  It can take up to 24 hours to get your profile built into the system.  While you can log in, you just can't update it yet.

The intro screen is cool with hints of Quickr to come.  I would love to see Sametime tossed in there for presence.  This does add a minor change to my Activities plug-in in the Notes client.  I had it pointed to the wrong  IBM server it seems.  Not Greenhouse.

As I just around Greenhouse some, you will see there is a heavy European presence that has been in there for weeks creating communities, Activities and profiles.  So don't be surprised to see almost 900 bookmarks already in play.