Having problems logging into ON24.com's service?

I've tried several times to log into the ON24's website to look at what podcasts are available for download and had not had any luck. Here's a hint. If your password has letters, use upper-case. That got me in.
If you went to Lotusphere2008 and you hadn't seen the email that was sent out today, IBM will make available the PDF's and MP3's of the sessions via a website link included in the email. It requires you to use your LS08.net login credentials and the site will stay active until the end of June.
Happy downloading!

Good News/Bad News about the Lotusphere Podcasts

The Good News - They are available for download off of the ls08.net site. Huzzah!
The Bad News - The total size of all the downloads....13.31 GB

I think we're going to need a bigger boat...I mean iPod.

The value of free?

Vowe is posting that the Lotusphere2008 session slides are now freely available for download without having to be a registered user/attendee of the annual event. While some might think that this is cool, I've got a nagging thought in the back of my mind. And I hate those.
Is making the slides available for free going to be the standard moving forward? Is IBM going to charge us the money to attend Lotusphere and then allow others to get the slides for free where as before they were only available to the paid attendee? Looking at it through the budget-minded-managers eyes, why should they want to pay for the cow when they can get the milk for free?
Now I know that attending the conference provides a LOT of value, but the session slides do, for the most part, always contain a lot of valuable information as well.
Am I thinking too much into this? Thoughts?

It's scary to find yourself on Flickr

Boat race fans
Originally uploaded by The Ytria Team

It took me a minute to realize that the person in the lower left of the picture is me. I went back to my room during lunch as I had no want/need for food still at the time and decided to cheer on Team Cleveland, (who was robbed due to faulty equipment), in the boat races.

Looking to get personal with Quickr?

One thing I hadn't heard at all during Lotusphere2008 was the status on Quckr Personal Edition. Perhaps I missed it, but the main website for the product has been saying "Coming Soon!" since after Lotusphere2007. After doing a few Google's on it, it appears that the personal edition of the product will be released next month with 8.0.1.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for that! I really want to be able to show off the product in my environment, at least the personal edition. Hopefully that will gain some interest. Stay tuned!

No Palm for Traveler

I did get a chance on Wednesday to stop in the labs to ask if there was going to be a client for the Palm OS. A resounding no was the response. Palm has lost pretty much all of its status and market share to everyone else. Granted, they've done that to themselves with putting out too many sub-standard devices and going through several owners over the past couple of years. But I'm still sad to see that it won't be a supported platform. The TX in my opinion is probably the best device they have had, but I think it came out too late for it to take off. So for now, Windows Mobile will be the primary supported platform for Lotus Notes Traveler.

At least I was there in spirit

Andy Donaldson quote
Originally uploaded by topherssgtp

I just heard that one of my blog entries made it to the CGS, again! Pretty sweet! Plus, Ed got my name right this year! WooHoo!

Good News Regarding InstallShieldTuner for Lotus Notes!

Just attended ID103 - Deploying IBM Lotus Notes 8 Clients and it was confirmed that the ability to create a response file using the wizard will return when 8.0.1 ships next month! That's awesome news!

Of course, I will have a white paper on it as soon as I get it.

Lotusphere 2008 Report Day 4, Wednesday AM - The Hoss is emerging and put his thinkin cap on!

It's early Wednesday morning here at the 'sphere and the human aspects of myself feel as through they are beginning to return, which is VERY welcomed. As I lay in bed watching the lightning my mind began to wonder on what a fantastic Lotusphere this really has been, even with my limited participation. Still ticked that I couldn't go to JamFest, but oh well. But I got to thinking about the theme of Lotusphere 2008, Emergence.

The Random House unabridged dictionary for the word Emergence is as follows:
1. the act or process of emerging.
2. an outgrowth, as a prickle, on the surface of a plant.
3. Evolution. the appearance of new properties or species in the course of development or evolution.

Evolution. I don't think that there is anyone in the Lotus community that has been following things over the last couple of years can say that there hasn't been a solid evolution of the product line. Look at what was announced on Monday morning about Notes/Domino 8.0.1, Domino 8.5, Symphony, the new Eclipse Designer client, widgets in Notes. They are all a solid evolution of the product line. I really think that the die hard Outlook/Exchange people are going to have a hard time giving the "Lotus Notes sucks" line. They will, but they are going to have a hard time backing it up.
I would dare say that there is even an Evolution of management at Lotus taking shape. In the past OGS's there was always the "nudge-wink-let's make fun of Microsoft" comments here and there. I applaud Mike Rhodin for calling Office what it is. Monopoly. A waste of corporate resources on a product line that can EASILY be replaced with new technology.
There has been a very clear evolution in our community. Look at the increased number of blogs about Lotus. Just take a look at PlanetLotus.org. Many of the sites that appear on there I've known about but many more I've never heard of before. The one thing I notice with all of the blogs is that they share both from the heart and the head about the product line and their areas of knowledge. The growth has gone as far as to now have a special function at Lotusphere to award the Best Blogger as voted on by others in the community. Congratulations Jake! Do other software communities do things like this? The evolution of our community just doesn't stop at blogs. New technology adoptions like Twitter, Facebook and other social software keeps us all up to date as to what's going on around us. The evolution revolution doesn't stop there! Lotusphere Idol. What a fantastic idea! Calling out to those in the community to take a shot at coming up with a session idea for Lotusphere. Then pitch it live in front of judges and attendees and see what happens. I really think that the session is going to evolve over the years and will likely become one of the cult favorites like Bill and Paul's Worst Practices session.
Evolution is and will continue to happen in the Lotus community. Both from IBM and from all of us that are a part of the community. How will you evolve with it?
How will you embrace it?

Lotusphere 2008 Report Day ? - The Hoss continues to recover

Well, another day of missing half of my sessions. If you haven't guessed, this is going to be a "whine" post, so if you don't care, I don't blame ya. Click on through. I'll wait. Go ahead. Are they gone? Good, we can talk about them now.
The day started off better then yesterday I thought. So after getting ready, I headed on down to some really good sessions. First was ID101 - What's New in the IBM Lotus Notes, which was followed directly by ID201 - IBM Lotus Domino - A Look Ahead. Both were really good complementary sessions that provide a clear look at the road ahead. But my question now is do I wait for 8.0.1 or 8.5? Tough call.
After that, I decided I would wander around the showfloor to ask a few questions and then try to eat lunch. Big mistake. I did make it to Lotusphere Idol which I am really glad about. Andy Pedisich was the winner and will have his own session on Thursday morning regarding Notes upgrades. Looking forward to that session! And with the close of Idol, that pretty much ended my days activities. I felt well enough later to attend a few vendor events, but was back in the room in time to watch American Idol. The slide downhill is fast sometimes. Hey, there's only several channels and not much else on.
Hopefully tomorrow, this thing will have passed enough to allow me to attend several sessions. I have a LOT of making up to do. Hopefully there will be the audio from sessions I have missed.
That's it for now. Hopefully more tomorrow!

The Lotusphere ad you were not meant to see!

Dear reader:
I warn you, the following ad may be frightening for some, enticing to others and could very well make some question things about themselves. With that disclaimer out of the way, I wanted to share something with you that was shared with me earlier today.
Click here to see what I'm talking about:

There's no nice way to put it...

So far, Lotusphere sucks. It's not because of the venue itself, it's because of the food last night. I should have know when I looked at the meat I was eating that it didn't look that great. Well, about 6 hours after eating it, I found out that it wasn't. And for several hours after that, I was reminded again and again. I was able to make it to the OGS this morning and then visit vendors on the show floor, but soon after I returned to my room to try and eat a light sandwich and then passed out on the bed for a while. No sessions, no product showcase, no Jamfest. Just me and the TV tonight. Hopefully, this will all be past by tomorrow. I have a lot of making up to do.

Question for those that attended the Sunday night party?

Particularly the ones that I was hanging around with. Anybody else get food poisoning? It was either that brisket or those little round beef burgers, but last night was a VERY long night and not a fun one. At all.
Not sure what my participation level is going to be today. Going to the OGS and I'll take it from there.

Lotusphere 2008 Report Day 1, Part2 - The Hoss is cold!

When we last left the House O' Blog, I was headed off the the JMP402 - IBM Lotus Quickr in Action. Not a bad session and it really gave some insight into the product and what it can do. I would LOVE to see this in my organization and hopefully after what news comes out tomorrow, (of which I don't know but have heard hints), that this all will be worth pushing even more at the office. With that last session So with that last session out of the way, it was time for the Sunday night party. Okay, I know it's no where NEAR as cold as it is at home, (12 degrees F), but it was pretty chilly at the party tonight. All in all though, a good time was had by all. My co-worker Heidi and I were able to grab a table pretty quickly and soon after others joined us. Met even more people at the party which was really cool, even cooler that they know of the ole "House O' Blog".

So with all of the Sunday formalities out of the way, we have the OGS to look forward to in the morning. It seemed that during all of the sessions that I attended today, the speakers kept dropping hints that there will be more information about the product line announced tomorrow. They were very careful on what they were saying.
Still no clue as to who the guest speaker is. My guess, as always, is "The Shat", but we will see. As for now, I'm calling it a night. Another long day ahead of us and a whole lot of news to take it too.

Lotusphere 2008 Report Day 1, Part 1 - The Hoss is learning!

I've decided that at least for the Jumpstart sessions this year, I am going to attend sessions that I would not normally attend. Granted, my primary role at the office is the Domino Administrator which means I am responsible for for care and feeding of the Domino servers....and reading people's mail ;-)
But this morning I felt that I need to expand upon that and what better way to do that then to attend the JMP 401 - QuichStart: Warp 9 - Getting up to speed on Social Software and IBM Lotus Connections. Now I know what Connections is and what it's used for, but I don't know what Connections "is". It's like saying, "I know how to cut with a knife!" But, can you use that knife like the guy at the Hibachi style steak house or do you use it to put butter on a piece of bread. Lots of good information on the session plus some practical information on roll out techniques. Next up was birthday boy Bill Buchan's session JMP206 - Web Services Bootcamp. Wow! That was a lot of information there. I've actually been stuck on an issue at the office with getting an address book to push down to BlackBerry's and I was able to take away some good background information on where to look for the answer.
Now it's about time to head out to the last session of the day which will likely be Quickr in Action session. But first, I want to catch the score of the game.

Lotusphere 2008 Report Day 0 - The Hoss has landed!

I got lucky today. Instead of flying through Atlanta on Delta, I had instead opted to fly the non-stop AirTran out of Akron-Canton. Which was a good thing. It appears Atlanta got nailed with a snowstorm today and when they get hit, they get hit hard. The south is never use to an old fashion snow storm and when it gets some, they basically shut down the town. As I walked into the airport, I saw that all of the Delta flights and one of the AirTran flights to Atlanta had already been cancelled at 6 A.M. (And speaking of AirTran, I have to say that they are probably the most customer oriented carrier out there that I had ever flown on. Nice people, they actually talk to you and don't treat you like crap. The flight staff is genuinely nice during the flight. The way flying on an airline should be.) Sorry, the ADD kicked in there, back to the story. So the flight down was not too eventful, except for the fact that we had 170 MPH headwinds and the Captain had told it that it would take about 30 extra minutes. So after landing and gathering the luggage, it was off to the Dolphin to check in. I was lucky enough to get a room with a balcony that overlooks the beach area where the party is tomorrow.Ended up getting the "white" badge which means that I go to the second OGS. Wanted to go to the first one, but oh well. With all the checking in and other things done, the next item on the list was shopping at Downtown Disney which wasn't too much of a hassle except the fact that I forgot the camera in the room so I couldn't get any pics while the sun was out.
After getting back from shopping, I had set my sights on the next important task, meeting up with everyone over at the Boardwalk. Got to the brewery and hooked up with Phil, Bruce, Gayle, Chris, Sean and many others for food and drink! Before we knew it, it was 6 PM and we headed down to the ESPN through a heavy downpour. Phil took a spill and took a layer or two of skin off his arm. But I reminded him that chicks do dig scars ;-)
I did come to the realization about something tonight. I'm a lightweight. By 8:00 PM, I was ready to call it a night. Full belly from a really good Reuben and only 3 hours of sleep last night will do that to ya. So, back to the room I came. Tomorrow begins the fun. I best get some sleep.

Oh, one more thing we realized over dinner. Check out the back of the card in your pouch. A new addition this year. RFID. Does that mean that our management can check up on us over the web to make sure that we are actually in sessions?

Hello visitor 16,582!

Looks like Redmond is curious as that what announcements are planned on Monday too. I didn't know they had iPhones up there.

All my bags are packed.....

I'm ready to go. Leaving tomorrow for that Lotus show.

Flight out at 8 am. Should be landed by 10:30 and hopefully to the hotel by noon. Go souvenir shopping for the kids, and then off to the Boardwalk. Busy day ahead tomorrow.

Safe journey to all!

Pack accordingly!

Just looked at the weather forcast for the greater Orlando area for the next week and it looks pretty sweet!

I just hope that Wednesday forecast holds out so it will be a nice night at Universal!

Even the unbelievers are blogging about it!

My hetero-mate and favorite superhero, Megaton Maynard, had recently posted on his blog a perplexing question. Just what is a "Lotusphere"? I've explained to him that we are not some cult or some off-shoot of Scientology, but I still don't think that he believes me. Anyways, I figured it would be worth a giggle.