New Media Tuesday - 7/27/2010

July 27 2010

Here is what's coming out today ...

Movies

  • Acceptance
  • Batman: Under The Red Hood: SE (Blu-Ray) (#13 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Batman: Under The Red Hood: SE
  • Brooklyn's Finest (Blu-Ray) (#35 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Clash Of The Titans (2010) (Blu-Ray) (#5 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Clash Of The Titans (2010)
  • Crash: Season #2
  • Instant Star: Season #4
  • Life After People: The Series: Season #2
  • Lucy Show, The: The Official Season #2
  • Real McCoys, The: Season #4
  • SGU: Stargate Universe: Season 1.5
  • Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: The Final Season
  • Secret Of The Grain, The: Criterion Collection
  • Sweeney: Season #1
  • Sweeney: Season #2

Computer Games

Music

my pic(s) of the week:

I think everything is overshadowed by the release of Starcraft 2 this week ... but the new Avenged Sevenfold is a very emotional release. With The Rev passing away just in December, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater played drums on this disc. Hard to not listen to some of the songs and just feel the pain the band is going thru. Great tribute to a fallen brother. On that note, more Starcraft 2!!!!!

For those interested, I use DVD Price Search for upcoming movie tracking and Amazon's New Releases Page for music and computer games

Posted in  New Media Tuesday  | 0 Babble

IBM: Please follow in Microsoft’s BPOS footsteps here ...

July 21 2010

I saw this on Karen Hobert's blog:

Microsoft showcased at the show this week a number of its partners who’ve already jumped on the BPOS bandwagon. To encourage others to start selling the suite, Microsoft announced that it will offer partners 250 BPOS seats for their own use.


You can read all the details on Microsoft's Partner Network page. Lots of fine print. For instance, here who is eligable:
  • Certified Partners
  • Gold Certified Partners
  • Microsoft Action Pack subscribers
  • Empower for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) members
  • Registered Members who have signed the Microsoft Online Services Partner Agreement (that is, who have enrolled in QuickStart)

So this is not available to everyone - you have to put some skin in the game to play. But, Microsoft is clearly saying to it's partners "BPOS is a big deal, go use it yourself, sell what you know" ... and I want IBM to do the same thing. I would like to see IBM offer complete LotusLive packages to every partner. Require some level of skin, but then give me access to every single piece of LotusLive. Not just Engage, but Connections, Meetings, Events, both web and hosted Notes email, and everything else. Enable me as a partner to use LotusLive every day. Then, when I get in situations where I am talking cloud solutions to my customers and prospects, I can show them how I do business every day. That will be far more compelling than any info you give me on a SalesTalk or any presentation you make available.

For the record, I don't care about issues people have with PartnerWorld or the Software option. Please don't pollute this post with that. But thoughts on if you are a partner and you would use this; and it would enable you to sell LotusLive better; are most welcome.

Posted in  IBM  Microsoft  BPOS  LotusLive  | 10 Babble

John Speaks 2010: Integration Session at MWLUG

July 20 2010

August is a busy month for the user groups. On August 19th and 20th, MWLUG hits Cleveland. I will be doing one session “Kum Bah Yah” Meets “Let's Kick Butt”: The Integration of IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino with Microsoft Office, .NET, and IBM Lotus Symphony:

Welcome to 2010, where Lotus Notes and Domino are just part of your corporate toolset. This session will introduce you to integration of Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5 with Microsoft Office, .NET technologies, OpenOffice.org, & Lotus Symphony. We'll start with the basics and build up to mail merge, exporting to a spreadsheet, charting, presentations, and integration on the Web. Advanced topics such as Visual Studio Tools for Office, advanced development with C#, and integration with Lotus Domino Web Services are included. Integration with Xpages, Google Docs, Sharepoint, ODF, OOXML, and Windows Explorer will highlight the options available. Every sample is new or updated, so even past attendees will get something from this session.

Looking forward to my first trip to Cleveland ... Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Lola are on the todo list!

Posted in  johnspeaks  integration  conferences  | 0 Babble

New Media Tuesday - 7/20/2010

July 20 2010

Here is what's coming out today ...

Movies

  • Bannen Way, The
  • Being Human: Season #1
  • Cop Out
  • Courage The Cowardly Dog: Season #1
  • Degrassi: Next Generation Season #9
  • Desperate Romantics
  • Instant Star: Season #4
  • Jersey Shore: Season #1
  • Kangaroo Jack
  • Look Around You: Season #1
  • Losers, The
  • Maria Watches Over Us: Season #4
  • Matlock: Season #5
  • My Bride Is A Mermaid: Season #1: Part 1
  • NHL Stanley Cup Champions 2009-2010
  • Ninja's Creed
  • Our Family Wedding
  • Professional, The (French)
  • Red Shoes, The: 2-Disc Edition: Criterion Collection
  • Runaways, The
  • Scooby-Doo: The Movie
  • Super Friends!: Season #1: Volume 2
  • Super Why: Attack Of The Eraser
  • Trinity: Season #1
  • UFC: Rampage Greatest Hits
  • Unusuals, The: The Complete Series
  • Worlds Toughest Fixes: Season #2
  • Wronged Man, The

Computer Games

Music

my pic(s) of the week:

Another week ....

For those interested, I use DVD Price Search for upcoming movie tracking and Amazon's New Releases Page for music and computer games

Posted in  New Media Tuesday  | 0 Babble

John Speaks 2010: 2 Sessions at IamLUG 2010 (in just two weeks!)

July 20 2010

User Group season is upon us and I am pleased to be speaking at the second installment of IamLUG. I have two sessions.

The first is an hour version of the two hour Lotusphere 2010 jumpstart entitled “Kum Bah Yah” Meets “Let's Kick Butt”: The Integration of IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino with Microsoft Office, .NET, and IBM Lotus Symphony:

Welcome to 2010, where Lotus Notes and Domino are just part of your corporate toolset. This session will introduce you to integration of Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5.1 with Microsoft Office, .NET technologies, OpenOffice.org, & Lotus Symphony. We'll start with the basics and build up to mail merge, exporting to a spreadsheet, charting, presentations, and integration on the Web. Advanced topics such as Visual Studio Tools for Office, advanced development with C#, and integration with Lotus Domino Web Services are included. Integration with Xpages, Google Docs, Sharepoint, ODF, OOXML, and Windows Explorer will highlight the options available. Every sample is new or updated, so even past attendees will get something from this session.


Since this is a hour version, I won't do every demo that I did at Lotusphere ... and I added a couple new and updated ones. Expect a cash course in integration goodness.

The second session is a new one for me entitled Collaboration Agenda 2010 – Putting it to work in your company:

At Lotusphere 2010, IBM launched the Collaboration Agenda, a new go to market strategy. The Collaboration Agenda is about realizing measurable business value from improving the way people interact. This session will help you apply the Collaboration Agenda to your business, be it business partner or customer. First, we will introduce to you the industry focused model and review how it applies to your projects or customers. Second, a practical mapping of how the IBM Lotus technologies fit into Collaboration Agenda via repeatable solutions and success stories will enable your implementations and/or sales. Last, we will review how the competitors (Microsoft, Google, and other Web 2.0 technologies) would map in a competitive situation – giving you the information and tools to compete with your competitors (for partners) or respond to potential system replacements (customers). 2010 is going to be a year full of challenges and competitors – leave this session prepared to win!


A couple cool things about this session:

1. It's brand new content
2. I am speaking with Carlos Casas from TheRockTeam
3. We are going to cover Collaboration Agenda from the partner and customer view - not from IBM's viewpoint
4. We are going to compare this to what Microsoft, Google, and others are doing

You can also find me spending time at the PSC table in the sponsor section. Look forward to seeing you all at IamLUG 2010

Posted in  johnspeaks  conferences  ibm  lotus  notes  domino  | 1 Babble

New Media Tuesday - 7/13/2010

July 13 2010

Here is what's coming out today ...

Movies

  • Alaska State Troopers: Season #1
  • Ally McBeal: Season #3
  • Bounty Hunter, The
  • Caught In The Crossfire
  • Chloe
  • Film Noir Classics Collection, The: Volume 5 (#12 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Film Noir Classics II
  • Greenberg
  • Hawthorne: Season #1
  • Lucy Show, The: The Official Season #2
  • Maria Watches Over Us: Season #4
  • My Three Sons: Season #2: Volume 2
  • New Tricks: Season #3
  • Only Son, The / There Was A Father: Two Films By Yasujiro Ozu: Criterion Collection
  • Our Family Wedding
  • Psych: Season #4
  • Romeo x Juliet: The Complete Series
  • Saving Grace: The Final Season
  • Street Hawk: The Complete Series
  • White Collar: Season #1

Computer Games

Music

my pic(s) of the week:

Another week of eh

For those interested, I use DVD Price Search for upcoming movie tracking and Amazon's New Releases Page for music and computer games

Posted in  New Media Tuesday  | 0 Babble

36

July 11 2010

Another year, another number. Age has never been a big issue with me so July 11th is more a time to remember old times than worry about what a number means. A few more grey hairs at 36 than 35, but otherwise just a passing of time.

One interesting thought: 36 means that I have now been part of the Lotus community for half of my life. I started posting in the Ami forums on Compuserve in the spring of 1993, when I was 18. I didn't get into Notes and the Lotus BP community until a few years later, but still an interesting milestone.

Posted in | 8 Babble

PSC Business Technology Resources Survey - Full Report Published

June 29 2010

In May of 2010 I blogged the following posts about a business technology resources survey that PSC commissioned in the spring of this year:

  • PSC Business Technology Resources Survey Part 1: Technology Pain Points?
  • PSC Business Technology Resources Survey Part 2: Top 2010 priorities
  • PSC Business Technology Resources Survey Part 3: Top Information Sources
  • PSC Business Technology Resources Survey Part 4: Trusted Sources
  • PSC Business Technology Resources Survey Part 5: Top Applications Used to Research Technology Purchases
  • PSC Business Technology Resources Survey Part 6:  Research Influence on Decision Making

As promised, here is the complete report posted as a PDF. You might even find a few questions and results that I did not cover in my blogs in the full report.

PSC Group, LLC Business Technology Resources Survey
View more documents from John Head.

Posted in  PSCGroup  PSC  | 0 Babble

New Media Tuesday - 6/29/2010

June 29 2010

Here is what's coming out today ...

Movies

  • 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo, The: The Complete Series
  • America's Test Kitchen: Season #10
  • Back Up Plan
  • Basilisk: The Complete Series
  • Ben 10: Alien Force: Season #1: Volume 6
  • Ben 10: Alien Force: Season #1: Volume 7
  • Closer, The: Season #5
  • Crazies, The
  • Creation
  • Eureka: Season #3.5
  • Everlasting Moments: The Criterion Collection
  • Fist Of The North Star: The Complete Series Collection: Volume 1
  • Green Zone
  • Hoarders: Season #1
  • Hot Tub Time Machine
  • How The Earth Was Made: Season #2
  • Leave It To Beaver: The Complete Series (#1 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Mad About You: Season #4
  • Man From Laramie/ The Desperadoes (Double Features)
  • Mystery Train: The Criterion Collection
  • Naruto: Season #3: Volume 1 (Uncut)
  • Night Train To Munich: The Criterion Collection
  • Paranormal Cops: Season #1
  • Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Blu-Ray) (#35 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
  • Predator: Ultimate Hunter Edition (Blu-Ray) (#37 in the DVDPS Top 40)
  • Pretty Bird
  • Raising The Bar: Season #2
  • Real McCoys, The: Season #4
  • Sanctuary: Season #2
  • Sanctuary: The Complete Second Season
  • Saving Grace: Seasons #1-#2
  • Season, The
  • Tom & Jerry: Deluxe Anniversary Collection
  • Warehouse 13: Season #1

Computer Games

Music

my pic(s) of the week:

The summer releases are kicking in big time - lots of TV DVD releases, the Rush documentary releases, and a bunch of games to play over the holiday .. Harry Potter Lego gets special attention here :-)

For those interested, I use DVD Price Search for upcoming movie tracking and Amazon's New Releases Page for music and computer games

Posted in  New Media Tuesday  | 0 Babble

LinkedIN Lunch & Learn - Slides

June 28 2010

Last week, I presented at a LinkedIN Lunch & Learn at the Metropolitan Club of Chicago with Mark Carter. Here are the slides. It was most a talk vs slideware, but figured I would share the slides anyways. Enjoy.

LinkedIN Lunch & Learn - June 23rd, 2010
View more presentations from John Head.

Posted in  PSC  LinkedIN  Metropolitan Club  | 0 Babble

PSC is hiring: JavaScript with EXT.JS / Sencha experience and Java Developers

June 25 2010

PSC continues to grow and we are looking for new members of our team. We have job openings in the following areas:


There are multiple openings in both categories. These jobs are in the Chicagoland area and you must be able to be on-site at the customer. We are looking to grow our team and hire, so at this time we are not looking for contractors. You can apply on-line (each job description on our website has an "Apply Here" link) or you can contact me directly.

Posted in  PSC  | 0 Babble

The Lotus Solutions Catalog is NOT an ’app store’ nor is it ’app store’ like

June 22 2010

With all the chatter about an 'App Store' for Lotus Notes, I am really starting to get a bit testy when I hear IBMer's call the Lotus Solutions Catalog anything along the lines of 'app store like' - and here is why.

  1. It's on Greenhouse. Until it has a url of www.lotus.com/apps or www.ibm.com/notesapps or even www.ibm.com/lotusapps its just part of a R&D website. Get it off Greenhouse - RIGHT FREAKING NOW!
  2. Until I can purchase a product with a credit card and have it install directly into my notes client (or download the .ntf directly) it is not an app store. It is a website that lists first and third party applications.
  3. Since this would be an App Store from IBM, no reason the IBM cert couldn't be used to bypass the client policy lock down of plug-ins. We all trusted the "Lotus Notes Template Development/Lotus Notes" for our Notes/Domino templates for years. Do the same for the store so end users can actually install stuff.
  4. Until it is available from within the Notes client itself, people will not find it. Google isn't enough. Having an IBM rep tell the Director of IT about the catalog does not get those apps into the hands of the end user.
  5. When I start Notes, I see an IBM logo. When I start the App Store, I need to see the IBM logo - just like I do when I click the App Store link on my iPod Touch. Nothing personal to all the other efforts that have and are taking place, but they will never be the same as an IBM run app store.

I am not against multiple app stores. I am not against IBM trying different things. But please, IBMers, don't call a horse a car. If you agree we need an app store, then please work within IBM to get us a real one.

Posted in  IBM  Lotus  Notes  | 7 Babble

New Media Tuesday - 6/22/2010

June 22 2010

Here is what's coming out today ...

Movies

  • Cadillac Records
  • Close-Up: The Criterion Collection
  • Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (3D) (Blu-Ray)
  • Entourage: Season #6
  • Heroic Age: The Complete Series
  • Hung: Season #1
  • Mystery Train: The Criterion Collection
  • Night Train To Munich: The Criterion Collection
  • Red Desert: The Criterion Collection
  • Riverworld
  • Star Is Born, A (Blu-Ray)
  • Star Is Born, A: Deluxe Edition
  • White Ribbon
  • Wolf Moon

Computer Games
Music

my pic(s) of the week:

I feel like a fanboy for saying this, but Transformers: War for Cybertron is freaking amazing! If you love games and are a Transformers S1 fan from the 1980s, you must check this out. Puzzle Quest 2 also gets a purchase.

For those interested, I use DVD Price Search for upcoming movie tracking and Amazon's New Releases Page for music and computer games

Posted in  New Media Tuesday  | 0 Babble

The Big Four Live in the movie theathers!

June 21 2010

Image:The Big Four Live in the movie theathers!


Do you know who the Big Four are? If you answered that the Big Four were the top four bands in thrash, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, you would be right. And for the first time ever, all four bands are playing on the same concert bill! Europe is getting this amazing line-up - we never get the good concerts here in the states - but someone got smart. Take those high end movie theaters and show this live! $20 bucks for 4 hours of music. Totally worth it - and maybe a once in a lifetime experience. This takes place tomorrow, June 22nd, 2010 - so if you interested, get your tickets. I will be seeing this downtown Chicago and can not wait!

Posted in  Music  Movies  | 3 Babble

The Notes / Lotus Bubble: Why "community" and "change" invoke such wide emotional responses

June 16 2010

I have stayed very quiet in this weeks blogging explosion that has happened within the Lotus bubble. I reached out to jonvon personally and made a comment on both Gab's and Ed's posts. Nothing really serious and definitely not bringing my voice and opinion into this discussion. For right now - I am going to stay clear of the specific discussion on what IBM can do. Ed's blog post is the beginning of what should be a bigger conversation IBM has with the community - in whatever form or shape that turns into. Andrew is writing some good posts to get the discussion going. We will see everyone put forth their thoughts on what IBM should do - and with good cause.

I certainly see both sides of the conversation. What makes it more interesting for me is PSC has always had multiple practices around different technologies. We have had a thriving Microsoft practice for a couple years. I have been doing work with Microsoft since 1995. I branched out three years ago to start a Document Generation practice at PSC that works closely with Microsoft on the OOXML and ODF document formats. I like change and have never been someone who wanted to only work with one technology for 10 or so years. So for me, when I hear people say they are picking up new skills - I am happy for them. A good consultant not only understands business process and project and client management, but has multiple technical skills so they can be open minded in the solutions they suggest and deliver to their customers. Being 100% focused on a single technology by any vendor has always been something I discouraged. I guess this is where I defer from many in the yellow bubble. Nothing wrong with a difference in opinions.

But what I found to be theme that I connected with in jonvon's post was his emotions as he felt he was leaving our community. I am sure that John likes the challenge of learning something new. He might not like the way it is happening - but John is a geek. He likes to learn and play and tinker. He will enjoy something new. He is struggling with the fact he had no choice in the matter. I can completely understand this - I am a control freak about my direction and career as well. But he is also lamenting the fact he might not get to Lotusphere or other community events. He may drift on to other topics on his blog. He may have other things to read, tweet, and comment about. His connection to our community seems to be taken out from under him. And this is where I think our community needs to step up.

There are many names for our community. The Notes community? nah we are more than that now. The Lotus community? well sure, but what about people like Alan Lepofksy and Kat McGiveny and others that have moved on to new technologies? Are we really the Lotus community? Are we all 100% of the "Yellow Bubble"? Are we not the collaboration community? I think as a whole, this community of people accepts those that have moved on but want to still participate. Look at Gary Devendorf. He went from Lotus to Microsoft. We might all chuckle at his blatant marketing messages, but he comes to Lotusphere, hangs out, and we accept him. There is no reason we can't do that with jonvon. But we can go one step farther - we can make him feel welcome and accept his change. Our community needs to change and grow. John should feel like we, the community, support the changes he is going thru. We want him to blog, tweet, and share his journey. Tell us what is great about what he is doing. What sucks. What can we learn. How can we support him as the sands shift under his feet.

What makes this harder for the community is our connection has changed over the past 10 years as social computing has increased. When I first joined this community in 1994, it was just growing. The Business Partner forum (based on a Notes discussion database) was on LNN and just getting started. The community gathered once a year at Lotusphere and there was just basic interaction. Besides the forum, it was email and phone and really early AOL instant messaging. Over the years, 99% of the interaction was done remotely - but very disconnected. I might post something in the BP Forum and get a response back at the end of the day. We only saw each other once a year. Maybe twice if you went to an Advisor or View conference. But now things are very different. With the user groups and community run conferences, there are so many more chances for us to see each other. But the blogs and then social computing (specifically twitter and facebook) along with group skype chats have connected us so much more. Our community is closer than ever in terms of interaction. And if you get us in person, we seem to get along. It's only on-line where we tend to have spats. For instance, Ben Poole is one of the smartest guys in our community. I respect him greatly and love to read his content and watch him present. But on-line, especially in comments, we butt heads. I think it is the lack of tone in written communication and differences in culture. But once we see each other at an ILUG or UKLUG or Lotusphere event, we chat over a beer and the comment bickering goes away. I don't think anything is wrong with that. But it is a window in to how our community works.

I am not sure if there is anything we can specifically do to make people like jonvon feel welcome no matter where their professional career take them. I don't think a call to arms is necessary or needed, but we all need to keep this in the back of our mind. As long as someone participates and doesn't try to spoon feed us marketing and sales crap (I write that to remind myself of that as much as anyone ...) then we should be open and support of any direction. Personally, I want to hear about the real world experiences of people like Duffbert and jonvon as they go thru the transitions in their workplace. I want to hear real world data on what it is like to migrate and coexist in a world of Lotus and Microsoft (or Lotus and Google or Lotus and something else). I want to see community members at conferences presenting on how to integration Notes applications with SharePoint. Or super advanced .NET applications using Domino data thru the COM API. Or any other topic that shows how the real world exists - which is a combination of the platforms.

John - You have gotten a truckload of feedback already. My final comment to you and the community it this: We are here to support you. We are your friends. You are always welcome in whatever capacity you can give. I encourage you to use this opportunity to grow your skills and educate the greater collaboration community. I look forward to learning from you. And see you in Orlando in January in 2011.

Posted in  Lotus  IBM  community  | 7 Babble