Carl Tyler's Blog

Category Unified Telephony
Using the IBM Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony API

This article describes the IBM® Lotus® Sametime® Unified Telephony API and the steps you take to deploy, configure, and invoke it. The Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony API is a REST (Representation State Transfer) API that provides click-to-call and click-to-conference semantics.

If you're an IBM customer who has deployed SUT, I'd love to hear from you, any experiences you'd be willing to share that I could pass on at Collaboration University etc.  Right now I haven't been able to find one, so if you are one and are willing to chat I'd be very grateful.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 11:30:26 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (2) |      

Category None

It's been five days now since I switched from using my 2 year old Samsung Blackjack to a new iPhone 3Gs, here are my impressions.

The Good

1. It's a pretty device, no 90 degree angles, feels much nicer in the hand than the blackjack
2. Loads of apps, and easy to get to. Facebook and Tweetdeck all good, FlightControl challenging, and teenagers hate the dog whistle app ha ha.
3. Browsing the web is much nicer and you can reliably fill in forms online.
4. The GPS is very fast to lock on and accurate, looking for a nice flight planning application.
5. Can connect and use wifi network
6. Much bigger screen and more readable in outside light
7. Better quality speakers
8. The typing is much better than I expected, in fact as strange as it sounds I find it easier to type on the screen than with the samsung keyboard as it is less cramped.  I wish it was consistent though, some apps support the landscape keyboard others don't and that's true within the apple apps, not just 3rd party apps.  

The Bad

1. I'm scared of dropping the thing.  It's so pretty I can't help but think it's going to break easily.
2. The email client on the iPhone, is lacking in usability.  It allows you to add multiple email accounts, but there is no single key method to quickly open the mail, or switch between the mail accounts, on the Samsung, I could just hit the mail button and it would cycle between the last accessed folder of the different mail accounts.  The same process on the iPhone, involves multiple clicks and bugs me no end.
3. Battery life, this thing drains quicker than my nieces paddling pool.  I could get 2-3 days on the Samsung, lucky to get a day with the iPhone.
4. No tethering from AT&T yet.
5. The phone bleeps to indicate you received a new email, but you have to unlock the phone, go to the mail app, and cycle through the mail accounts to find out which one got it.
6. No snooze option on calendar notifcations.

The Ugly
The ugly on the iPhone is the lock screen.  The lock screen basically provides the current date and time, which network you're connected to and the battery indicator.  It also has the unlock slider and shows an image.  This is the biggest difference between the iPhone and the Samsung that bugs me.  On the Samsung my lock screen shows useful information, upcoming calendar appointments, email account unread counts etc.  The iPhone has nothing useful, to quickly check email or your calendar, you have to unlock the phone and go into the respective applications.  I have found a 3rd party app that looks like it does exactly what I want called IntelliScreen, but you have to "jail break" your iPhone to install it.  

With apple so focused on usability I can't believe they have missed that usage scenario, and it's not like this is a version 1 oversight.  I still have 25 days to decide if I want to keep the device and to be honest the jury is still out.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 07:02:53 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (6) |      

Category Domino Relic
ThisIBM support technote made me laugh, it references an SPR that refers to some code in the server as "old relic".

SPR# WBKK7EKQ7X fixes an old relic of keeping track of the Previous Ticks introduced in Domino 4.0 for OS2, and assures that accurate ticks are obtained.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 06:52:51 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (3) |      

Category None
According to David Marshak's Twitter feed, Sametime Unified Telephony shipped today aka SUT

Sametime Unified Telephony Website

SUT System Requirements

SUT Demo

SUT Documentation

SUT Datasheet

I think the comment I left on Darren Adam's blog on June 8th sums up my impressions.

It is indeed good stuff. IBM needs to do this Microsoft offers a very powerful Microsoft branded solution that has been in market for quite a while and some customers want an IBM branded solution.

For those customers excited by this, but don’t require the IBM branded solution, don’t forget that many of IBMs existing telephony partners offer solutions today with similar capabilities, and additional features like Sametime web conferencing integration (which SUT does not provide) today that work with existing versions of Sametime.

The hardest thing for SUT deployment is going to be IBMs global services requirement, IBM’s specific hardware requirements when it first ships. I think SUT will potentially get most traction when any skilled IBM partner can deploy it for customers on any manufacturers hardware.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 04:19:32 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (2) |      

Category Flying WeightandBalance
One things the things any pilot does before taking off is weight and balance for their flight.  This involves knowing the weight of your passengers, which seat they'll sit in, how much fuel you'll be taking off with, how much fuel you'll have when you land, how much fuel you'll have during the flight, how much baggage is there, how much does the dog weigh?  Something I always tell people when then ask how many seats my plane has, is that it has 4 seats but that doesn't mean we can use them all.  Why does a pilot need all this information?  Because the pilot needs to know the plane will be operating within the planes limits and what is called the Center of Gravity (C.G.) envelope.  It's very easy for a lazy pilot to not be within the CG for a plane, which can lead to all sorts of problems, lower stall speed, instability, unexpected flight characteristics all bad things.  Any pilot worth their salt will do a weight and balance before taking off, along with checking the weather, Notices for airmen etc. it's the right thing to do.  If you've ever flown in small puddle jumpers, you may even have been asked to change seat to help the weight and balance.  This video, even though for Fligth Simulator still applies.


Balance in Microsoft Flight Simulator

So here's a pilot doing what he has to do, discovering that he needs to move some passengers to be within the planes CG, what do the passengers do, that have no experience as pilots, or any idea of what weight and balance calculations are?  They refuse to fly.  Mind you, they were from Newcastle and the whole idea of things flying, indoor toilets, electricity and the combustion engine are all voodoo magic to those folks

Posted by Carl Tyler At 12:55:52 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (3) |      

Category Sametime Websphere
New article on Developerworks Developing an XML-based Lotus Sametime bot as a startup bean on WebSphere Application Server V7.0.

Improving the representation for back-end content and system services using an IBM® Lotus® Sametime® bot is an easy way to attract users who are already familiar with the tool and want quick results without going to yet another Web site. This article provides a step-by-step guide to developing an XML-based Lotus Sametime bot as a startup bean on IBM WebSphere® Application Server V7.0.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 11:39:45 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Category 1352 podcast
We'll shortly be recording the next installment of the 1352 report.  If you have a question or subject you'd like us to cover, no matter how idiotic you think it is, no matter what the subject matter, post it and we'll try and answer or discuss it.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 08:51:57 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (3) |      

Category Lotus Godiva
Barry Briggs blogs about 1-2-3 R3 shipping twenty years ago today.  My first experience with 1-2-3 any version was at IBM with 1-2-3 being used as an asset tracking system for all the PCs in the department.  Later when I joined Lotus support, they did a bit of a bait and switch, they hired me to support Freelance Graphics and OS/2 products, and then found out everyone in support also supports 1-2-3.  Who knew that 1-2-3 accounted for about 80% of all calls.  1-2-3 was a pretty revolutionary release, but in support I hated it.  SET DOS16M commands for different IBM "compatibles" what a pain in the arse.

A few of the people in the picture are now close friends, and I still happily tell them how much I disliked it, although nothing will ever compare to the hatred felt by Lotus support folks towards 1-2-3 for Windows 1.0

Posted by Carl Tyler At 11:41:58 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (4) |      

Category Microsoft SQL
And another...

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008
by Peter DeBetta, Greg Low, and Mark Whitehorn ISBN: 9780735625587
Learn about major new features in SQL Server 2008 including security, administration, and performance.
Chapter 1: Security and Administration
Chapter 2: Performance
Chapter 3: Type System
Chapter 4: Programmability
Chapter 5: Storage
Chapter 6: Enhancements for High Availability
Chapter 7: Business Intelligence Enhancements

Follow the link https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter/wizard.aspx?wizid=2e29311d-516a-4817-bd65-b43e105cb666&lcid=1033

Posted by Carl Tyler At 10:20:36 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Category OCS books
The offerings this month are centered on Microsoft Office Communications Server. The two ebooks are "Programming for Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2" and "Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit".  Two great books and you can download the PDFs for free!

Programming for Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2
Step-by-step programming scenarios show you how to deliver high-quality VoIP, presence, click-to-communicate, and contextual collaboration across the enterprise and across time zones. By Rui Maximo; Kurt De Ding; Vishwa Ranjan; Chris Mayo; Oscar Newkerk; and the Microsoft OCS team ISBN: 9780735626232.

The download link is: http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urrs4gt63d

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit
Get the definitive resource for deploying, configuring, and supporting Office Communications Server 2007—now fully updated. By Rui Maximo, Rick Kingslan, Rajesh Ramanathan, Nirav Kamdar with the Microsoft Office Communications Server Team ISBN: 9780735626355.

The download link is:  http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urws8un4p7

Posted by Carl Tyler At 10:11:43 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Category Sametime Notes
A question people often ask is how exactly do you install Sametime plug-ins within Lotus Notes and Lotus Sametime.  These two videos walk through installing the Epilio plug-ins within Lotus Notes 8.x and Lotus Sametime.  The video for Notes shows the ini file you must edit to enable an additional menu within Notes. Note: If your organization restricts plug-in installation then these menu items may not be available to you.

Installing Plugins within Lotus Notes


Install Plugins within Lotus Sametime


As you can see the eclipse levels for Sametime and Notes are a little different, so there are some differences in the UI and the confirmation options that are shown.  Fortunately later versions of Sametime fix the ugly license text wrapping.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 04:18:33 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (5) |      

Category ZDNet Notes

ZDNet Australia has an article Lotus Notes losing Aussie email war?  An interesting question and one I'm sure will get forwarded around and discussed quite a bit.

I found a couple of things interesting, one being

Furthermore, Carr wrote, version 7 of Notes proved a particular problem for companies because its application footprint was too large; meaning it was not suitable for lower powered computers that had previously been able to run Notes 6.

I don't remember Notes 7 being much bigger than Notes 6?  Notes 8 bigger than 7 sure, but not Notes 7.  I never come across that as a reason why people considered or switched from Notes, so interesting that he would think that.

What we thought about IBM marketing, also has an IBMer kind of confirming it, IBM takes the if you build it they will come Field of Dreams approach, versus the more typical lets build demand approach.

The executive added IBM was taking a different approach to its collaboration suite than its competitors. "We're not investing millions of dollars in marketing and advertising," he said. "What we do is we push those dollars into the development of the platform."

I wonder which approach is working out better?

It's important to remember this article came about because of a report from Peter Carr's company Longhaus, which wants to sell reports, especially their latest analyst report Australia’s Enterprise Email Market: Collaboration or Communication.  Which makes these conclusions.  Bugger, I just fell into their trap by mentioning this article, which potentially can drive more interest in their reports.

Looking at this objectively and speaking to friends and Lotus Partners in Austrlia things are not particularly rosie down there right now, with a number of companies that have switched or are in the process of switching, they do however saying they are getting some interest in Lotus Foundations.  I always hope that articles like this one wiggle the toe of the sleeping giant and it lumbers up and gets into action.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 07:31:58 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (6) |      

Category att billing
I'm considering changing my current att phone to a new shiny iphone 3GS but I can't believe the way att is fleecing people.  Is this really correct, to continue getting an itemised bill the way I get now, att want customers to pay $1.99 a month?  So in order to question any calls that are claimed by att, but weren't actually made by me, I have to pay them $1.99 a month to be able to check?  Currently I don't even bother with paper bills, if I continue doing that does anyone know if online you can still see itemised calls without paying att additional money?

Posted by Carl Tyler At 09:46:22 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (4) |      

Category att login
I logged into my at&t online account and was presented with the following message

Your Login is being verified. Depending on your Internet connection speed, it may take a few minutes for this process to complete.

Seriously, it's down to my network speed? Nothing to do with the performance of your servers?  I smell a login screen that marketing BS writers got involved in.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 07:03:11 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (1) |      

Category Math Puzzle
It's been a while since I posted a puzzler, so here's one for you (and this is a real scenario).  A friend recently purchased a second hand lawn mower.  It has a 48inch cutting area.  They purchased the lawn mower to mow their lawn but also to mow their planned grass strip airfield.  

The runway is 1800 feet long and 60 feet wide.  The runway is 7-25 (which means it's 70 degrees in one direction and 250 in the other).  As mentioned earlier the mower has a 48 inch blade, and he'll overlap the cutting by approx. 12 inches on each pass.  The mower cuts at 8 mph.  So the question is, how long will take my friend to mow his grass strip?

Posted by Carl Tyler At 12:44:28 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (7) |      

Category Police Tazer
Well she claimed she was sweet and innocent...either way classic stuff.

Posted by Carl Tyler At 08:52:34 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (7) |      

Category Notes Workspace
My last post lead to the usual comments about the Notes Workspace, with basically  a line down the middle of kill it or keep it but improve it.  Most I think (and yes I'm biased, are my side of the line under keep it).

So to lighten things up, we've decided to have some fun.  I pulled together a few people, some who like the Workspace and others who don't care for it (but are willing to be convinced), and we're having a Workspace Idle competition, yes Idle not Idol, take those idle moments and design a new the Notes workspace of the future.

You don't have to be a computer programmer to enter the competition and we don't expect any real code, just grab your favourite drawing program or felt tip pens and create a mockup of how you think the workspace of the future should look.  

You have a clean slate, you don't have to work within any constraints, apart from it must fit on a monitor, it's like a brain storming session over the workspace.  This competition does not relate to IBM, is not endorsed by IBM and should not be considered anything more than fun.  The wonderful panel of judges are some of the best known in the community:

Susan Bulloch
Tim Clark
Gabriella Davis
Alan Lepofsky
Rocky Oliver
Jess Stratton
Carl Tyler
Matt White

None of us in the judging panel make claims to be User Interface experts or graphic artists, but like most end users we like shiny objects and compelling UIs.

We'll have a $75 Amazon prize for the best entry (or a $75 donation to a charity in your name) the judges pick and we'll also post the entries on to IdeaJam where the user community can vote for their favourite, and don't worry calls won't cost 90 cents a minute, that will also carry a $75 prize.

So to submit an entry either post a URL to an image as a comment here, or email me your entry and I will upload it to a public site.

All entries must be submitted by July 6th.  Entries received after that will be appreciated but will not qualify for the competition. If you want to keep your entry anonymous until after voting that is also possible.

So there you go, get drawing!

I can't enter, but for fun...

Posted by Carl Tyler At 11:26:32 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (13) |