Author: Gregg Eldred

This is a weblog with some basis in IBM/Lotus Notes & Domino software, when I feel like it or think of something that might be interesting. Other than that, we'll see where this goes. The views expressed in this blog are mine alone, and do not reflect the views of NextStep Technologies, LLC. If you think otherwise, you are mistaken. © 2003-2020 NextStep Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. The rights to all logos, images, etc., are owned by their respective owners.

Firefox and iNotes

Damn, Firefox causes problems for me and iNotes. You visit a customer to do a simple Domino upgrade and what do you end up spending most of your time resolving? Firefox and iNotes issues.

Now, usually, Firefox doesn’t cause a lot of trouble, especially when you stick with one release and refuse to upgrade. But, of course, there are those among us that cannot abide by being a point release behind. Those are the people that immediately download the latest and greatest. In the case of Firefox, that is a weekly download.

Well, at least it seems like there is a weekly (daily?) update to Firefox.

In this instance, I was able to convince the on-site technical support people to discourage too many people from upgrading to Firefox 15, but for those that did upgrade, they were experiencing some issues:

  • When e-mails came in and there were URLs in the text, they weren’t hotlinks.
  • If they attempted to send mail or calendar invites and there were URLs in them, the message/invites couldn’t be sent.
  • They couldn’t attach files to any mail messages.

Wow, that’s fun.

Thankfully, a well constructed search of the technotes resulted in a solid hit.

iNotes not working as expected with Firefox 15 and later

Added the notes.ini setting to the servers, restarted the HTTP task and all their problems went away. That is, probably until someone upgreades to  Firefox 21, or whatever version is the most current right now.

The lesson is that while it is easy to upgrade your Domino servers, be sure to check the TechNotes/wiki/InfoCenter/forums for issues with Firefox. You can save yourself some time and effort by implementing the requested changes before you restart the servers and tell everyone “I’m done.”

Sametime Gateway Update

A while back, I asked if anyone knew Sametime Gateway. I certainly appreciated the responses, however restarting the Gateway and the Nodes was not my idea of a good time.

Even if we were able to script it.

What did opening a PMR with IBM get us?

After much time and effort, on both IBM’s and our part, it came down to a problem between, not the Gateway and Google Talk, as I expected, but a communication issue between the Sametime Gateway and the Sametime XMPP server. That’s right kids, the IBM pieces weren’t able to communicate with each other, which resulted in the installation of an IBM patch. A patch that was unknown to the IBM techs that were trying valiantly to resolve this issue.

Wonderful.

However, this episode did bring me to a harsh conclusion – there are so many moving parts in these new tools from IBM, so many different areas within IBM involved in the development and support of these tools, that there is no one person or group that is responsible for, in this case, the Instant Messaging stack. You need a WebSphere person. You need a Sametime person. You may even need a person from Israel who was there on “Day One” when someone decided that moving Sametime to WebSphere was a good idea, someone with A LOT of institutional knowledge. Then, at the end, someone, somewhere, discovers a patch. A patch that was unknown to the tech, until he happened to ask the right person,the right question.

Apparently, important information is missing from a wiki somewhere.

While I certainly see the usefulness of having something like Sametime Gateway installed and functioning, it’s true value would be delivered by allowing more than just two external communities to communicate with it; AOL Clearinghouse and Google Talk. Yes, that’s right, this is probably the only Instant Messaging gateway on the planet that talks to only two communities. I see no indication from anyone that Yahoo will soon be added back into the mix. Nor do I see any other instant messaging community lining up to be included to Sametime Gateway.

Where is the value you are delivering with this product, IBM?

And so, here we are . . .

On March 3, 2005, I started blogging, using the Blogosphere template running on Lotus IBM Domino. That first post was titled “Is this thing on?” Back in those days, you usually saw a “Hello World” type post, and that was mine. I didn’t think that a default post from WordPress, titled “Hello World” would actually be my first post on this new (to me) platform.

But it was.

Oh, well, live and learn.

Beginning with my posts appearing late, or not at all, on PlanetLotus, (everything indicated it was bad RSS, but there was no way I was going to be able to troubleshoot that problem) it was time to examine my options. Upgrade the Blogosphere template? Use the blog template in Domino 8.5.x? Look elsewhere? After consultation with a few people who have faced this very same crossroads in the past, I decided that I would move to WordPress.

And so, here we are.

Hopefully, I will be able to handle the migration of my old blog here. But, if not, there is no reason why my old blog cannot continue to live on my Domino server. After all, there is nearly eight years of “me” and “you” on that blog. Four thousand four hundred twenty-one posts. Two thousand four hundred sixty-eight comments from you, my dear readers. That’s a lot of history. And Google searches.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Clay Jannon is one of those people that rarely touch paper. Need news? He uses Google. Looking for a job? He scans the job openings online. Looking for something to read? He downloads books, magazine articles, blog posts to his laptop or his early version Kindle. He is a child of the internet and his job is at a startup, creating logos, web sites, administering a Twitter account. However, a severe downturn in the economy results in the loss of Clay’s job. He’s been out of work for a year, there is nothing in San Francisco for him; he is a dime a dozen.

It is paper that gets him a job.

Because he cannot concentrate on actually finding a job while he is online, one link sends him to another site, then to another until his entire day is shot and he is no closer to finding a job. What he does to combat the internet is to print out the want ads and take a walk around San Francisco while reading his printouts. Strangely, that does not help him land a job. But San Francisco is an interesting place, as he discards his latest printouts, he sees a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. “What the heck,” he says, walks in and interviews for the job of the night clerk at the store. He is hired.

This is not an ordinary book store. While they have some popular books, the store is dedicated to different kinds of books, strange books. Which are loaned out to a wide variety of people who arrive at the store at all hours of the day and night. Curious, Clay takes a look at some of them; they appear to be written in some sort of code.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is an incredible balance between “new” and “old.” While books are the primary focus, Robin Sloan incorporates new technologies, such as Google, OCR, crowd sourcing, and more. Old Knowledge, that which is not indexed on a search server, has a definite place in the world and is very much relevant. In addition to the wonderful characters and excellent plot, it is this balance that allows the novel to soar. Sloan really shines when he focuses on Clay, a man who may live a technical world but, underneath his web-centric world, really likes pen and ink. The reader recognizes this early, but enjoys the ride as Clay discovers this for himself. And it’s not because Clay is a Luddite at heart. He really has a deep appreciation of the glue, the feel, the smell of books (and bookstores) and ink. Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is a fabulous page turner that is very appealing; it is very hard to put down. It is also one of those books what will remain with you long after you have powered down your e-reader or marked your place.

Disclosure:
Obtained from: Amazon
Payment: Purchased