No… its not April 1st yet.  Just
saw this pop up on my twitter stream!

Now THIS is great news.  Cannot
wait to get my hands on it and get my iPhone finally syncing with Lotus
Notes correctly.

I knew it… guys that nice are always
hiding something. ;)

"Getting more out of your current
Lotus technology is essential in these days of strained business resources
and limited staff. Articles published in THE VIEW ensure that you maximize
the benefits of your Lotus technology and get your Lotus projects done
correctly without wasting time on common pitfalls or

trial-and-error."

More

Andy wins
blog post of the week.

I have received over 40 separate emails
from people (and countless pings) about
Blueskills.  To keep things
out in the open I figured I would just blog it.  We pulled
the site rather unceremoniously
and a decision was made to keep it down until we felt it was more ready.
 The original intention was to develop it online, with constant updates,
but Bluewave/BE Systems (rightly so) felt that some people would use that
to comment on our skills, instead of seeing it for what it was (i.e. a
project that we are undertaking in our own time).  So, it’s down for
the moment.  BUT, all the ideajam
comments made and other emails/skype
chats sent have been logged and are being worked on.  It should be
back in a few weeks.  I will emphasise that it will still be BETA
and we will be looking for help, especially around localisation and making
it ready for different countries / nationalities.  Not so much language
translation, but trying to keep categories relevant etc.  I hope that
clears things up.

Made
me laugh

The certificate authority process removes
the need for Domino administrators to have access to certificate id files
to register users.  The cert.id files are stored in an encrypted database
on the server.  When a user is registered a special process (the CA
task) certifies the id file created for the user after a few moments using
a special administration request.  This is an automated feature and
these days pretty standard in Domino shops (unless you use custom user
management tools).

Enter ND8.5.  Any site I know using
this build on the server and clients (and yes, I do know a few) are either
playing with or deploying the ID Vault.  If you are a domino administrator
and don’t know what this does, where have you been?  Its
the answer to a significant amount of your helpdesk calls!
 Once you have implemented the ID Vault, it will upload new id files
created as soon as they are registered.  

Unless you are running the certificate
authority that is…

If you are running the CA process and
the ID Vault, and register a user, you will see this..

Because the user id file is not valid
upon registration (i.e. the CA process has not certified it just yet) the
ID Vault will not accept the file.  IBM have a technote saying that
the
combination of two features is currently not supported.
 The error message is not totally accurate though.  The account
IS created and will work, and as soon as the user logs into Lotus Notes
for the first time, the ID Vault grabs the file as it should.  This
error however, would make you think the account has not been created.

A vast improvement on the old LUG templates
(thanks to Matt White and xPages), the new,
far more functional UKLUG site is up and open for registration.
  Some quick reminders..

This conference will be two days in
Edinburgh

This conference will be free to attend

This conference will have the best in
business speakers

This conference will be free

There are approximately 200 pubs within
a one mile radius

This conference will be free

Get going… get registering.  I
can see seats for this event going very quickly.

More and more I find nuggets of interesting
stuff on twitter streams, as opposed to blogging.  In fact, blogging
seems old and archaic compared to social / collaborative sites these days.
 Flip side is though, that I find blogs easier to mine for information
and sometimes would like it if twitter never existed, regardless of how
pervasive it is.

Maybe I’m just old fashioned ;)  What
do you think?

This week marks the preview or release
of iPhone OS 3.0.  Although new hardware (i.e. a new model iPhone)
is rumoured for the Summer, there is already a lot of chat about what is
coming with this software build.  My 2c..

• Cut Copy Paste functionality
  I think this is a no-brainer with this release, and I’m sorry but releasing
  a feature that has been a default of all operating systems, mobile or desktop
  for em.. ever will not impress me

• Improved GPS functionality
  I think there is a decent chance of better SatNav ish software coming out,
  but Im not too sure

• Chicklet (icon) organising
  Again, a no-brainer.  Better methods of oraganising your icons, and
  possibly doing it through iTunes

• Using your iPhone as a tethered modem
  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this happen.  I think its a no-brainer as
  Steve Jobs responded to a query on that ages ago saying "it was being
  looked into"

• Background task support
  Doubtful

• Video support
  Apparently the current hardware just cannot support it reliably, or at
  least in a decent performance mode

• Better roaming support
  For the US people that may not know, the
  iPhone completely sucks at switching networks
  when you cross a border into another country, making it completely useless
  in the corporate environment in Europe.  Guys, taking up to 10 minutes
  to let me find a new network when I land in an Airport is just not acceptable.

I do think the Palm Pre lit a phone
up Apple’s ass.  Lets hope they act on it.  Also, lets hope they
start to realise that opening up support to IBM software may, em, help
them be accepted in the corporate world?