Dear IBM, I like that I now can use database icons with more than 16 fixed colors. I have updated pretty much all our applications (or is it called databases again?) with new and modern looking icons. The users likes it too. However, with the old icon editor,it was easy to use the flood-fill tool to add a (in my case red) background to all templates. This made it very easy to differentiate between applications and templates. There is no option like that when I use the new database icons, I have to make a second icon in Photoshop and manually re-color it. Why not add some kind of indicator to the application icon, to show that it is a template?  Below is my attempt to design something.  You see the red indicator that it is a template, you see the version number of the template and the server at the bottom is alwasy visible, as it is in a section of it's own. As you see above, I use version numbers on my templates. Would it be too much to ask for a version number property and have the version number displayed on at least the template icon, like I have in my image above? The version number should be transferred over to the application at design refresh time. The build number could be automatically updated when a "Recompile All Lotusscript" is performed, or automatically when any design element is modified and the build number has not been updated the same day already. A fully manual option shold also be available. How the build number gets updated should be an option in the settings for Domino Designer. Of course, you need to create a way to access the version number programatically. Something like this:  Dim version as NotesVersionNumberSet version = db.VersionNumberPrint version.Major ' Returns 1 Print version.Minor ' Returns 3 Print version.Revision ' Returns 0 Print version.Build ' Returns 1234 Print version.FullVersion ' Returns "1.3.0.1234"  A formula function like @AppVersionNumber would be nice as well.   Thank you, Your friend Karl-Henry   

The other day, Ed Brill invited comments on what IBM should focus on in regard to improvements for upcoming versions of Notes and Domino. Today he posted a chart showing the result:  I used that chart as a base for a simple survey using SurveyMonkey. Feel free to fill it out. Let's see what that survey will show... 

Back in 2003 or so, I wrote some code to take a form letter (stored in a Notes document) and merge that with data stored in another Notes document in order to create a personalized letter that could be printed or emailed. Back then we were still on Notes 5, so very limited rich text functionality and no budget to purchase Ben's excellent Midas LSX. The end result worked, but any formatting in the form letter template was lost. Eventually we upgraded to Notes 7 and later to Notes 8.5. Now I had much more rich text functionality to play with, so I rewrote the code as a class. I added some additional functionality, like formatting values using a mask, and some lookup functionality. The class support all kind of formatting in the form letter template, including fonts, colors, tables, graphics, etc. This is what a typical form letter look like: As you can see, the placeholders are using curly brackets to hold either a field name or a command. The commands are indicated by the percent sign (%). There can also be different arguments, for formatting, lookup into the NAB/Domino Directory, etc. I even have functionality to present a nice dialog box where the user can pick recipient from a list of everyone associated with the claim (as this is from a claim system used by an insurance company). Here is a description of the syntax for the placeholders: {fieldname} Displays the content of the specified field from the selected source document. Additional (optional) formatting arguments can be used, for example to format values to desired format. By using the argument LOSSNOTICE or SOURCE="LOSSNOTICE" the value of the field is retrieved from the Loss Notice instead of the current source document, e.g. {adjuster LOSSNOTICE}. Use the argument SELECTED to get the fields name, address, city, state, zip, email, SSN and DoB for the recipient selected in the separate dialog box. {email SELECTED} will return the email address for the recipient selected, either producer, insured or one of the claimants. The optional argument NABFIELD will retrieve the value of the specified field from the NAB for the user specified in the field (field must be spelled exactly as in the NAB design): {Adjuster NABFIELD="JobTitle"} will return the title of the person in the 'Adjuster' field. {%DATE} Displayes the current date. Default format is mm/dd/yyyy but the FORMAT argument can be used to change the value into desired format. The old {%DUS}, {%DUT}, etc have been removed and must be replaced with the new format, as they don't work. Examples of date formats: FORMAT="mmmm d, yyyy" -> March 3, 2010 FORMAT="yyyy-mm-dd" -> 2010-03-01 FORMAT="mmmm yyyy" -> March 2010 {%TIME} Displayes the current time. Default format is hh:nn:ss (24h universal format) but like with the date, the FORMAT argument can be used to change the value into desired format. Note that minutes use the letter N, not M (which is used for month)! The old {%TUS}, {%TUT}, etc have been removed and must be replaced with the new…

Yesterday Samsung presented the new Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone in London. Samsung had been very secretive about the new phone, and speculations on the internet were wild. Some of the rumors were true, while some were not. So will this be an iPhone contestor? I think so, for anyone who look at functionality, technology, etc. For anyone content with the iOS experience and being locked into the Apple eco-system, I am sure the next iPhone will be the given choice. The predecessor, Galaxy S2, have been a big success for the company who recently took the title of biggest phone manufacturer in the world. Early reviews of the S3 have been mainly positive. The main complain is the plastic case, which makes the phone seem cheaper. There were rumors about aluminum or ceramic cases, but that did not end up being the case (pun intended). The phone got impressive specifications, with a huge 4.8" screen (720x1280 pixel), quad-code Exynos 4 processor (at least for the European/international 3G model, the US 4G LTE model is rumored to get a dual code Snapdragon S4 instead), 1GB RAM, up to 64GB internal storage and expandable up to 64GB more though SD card. The camera is alos a little bit of a disappointment, instead of the rumored 12MP it ended up being 8MP, but with some nice functionality like burst mode and automatic selection of the best picture. The battery has a 2100mAh capacity, better than the S2 but with the faster and more power hungry processor, it will be interesting to see real numbers on how long the phone actually lasts. NFC (near field communication) and proximity sensors are other interesting features. The proximity sensor allows the phone to detect that it is lifted to the user's ear, and if a text message is curently being viewed, the phone understand that the user want to dial the person and dial automatically. There is also voice control, similar to Apple's Siri, and the front camera use eye tracking to detect when a user is looking at the screen. That means that if you are reading a long text, you don't have to touch teh screen every 20 seconds to keep it from dimming/turning off, the phone know you are looking at it and keep it on until you look away. The phone supports a number of formats for audio and video, including MP3, AAC, Flac, OGG, Divx, WMV, etc. It also supports full 1080p recording and playback thorugh an external HDMI-adapter. Another interesting option is a wireless charging station. Availability: In Europe on May 27 and in the US "this summer", with a end-of-June date hinted at. Price has not been released, but it is expected to be $299 on a 2-year contract with US carriers, and $700 without contract. It will be interesting to see how it compare to an upcoming iPhone 5, rumored to be released after the summer. Currently the Galaxy S3 looks like the phone to get, especially if you want an Android based…

The next version of the Linux distribution Ubuntu is scheduled to be available for download tomorrow, April 26. Ubuntu 12.04 will be a so called LTS (Long Term Support) version, which means that it will be supported longer than the regular versions. For 12.04 the support will last for five years, both for the server and the desktop version. Previous LTS-releases were supported for five years for the server version, but only three years for desktop. Non-LTS-releases are supported for 18 months after release. Ubuntu 12.04 is using version 3.2 of the Linux kernel. Below is a list of other changes, taken from the Ubuntu website: New Applications and Defaults The default music player has been switched to Rhythmbox, which again includes the UbuntuOne music store. LibreOffice has been updated to 3.5.1.   Interface updates The System Setting's "Appearance" panel now allows users to easily configure some properties of Unity. Nautilus quicklist support has been added to Unity launcher. There is a new way to quickly search and access any desktop application's and indicator's menu, called the "HUD". Tap the Alt key and enter some letters and words, and it will show the corresponding entries, including some fuzzy matching. Press enter to execute the action. This one is executed on the current focused application as well as all indicator facilities (like managing emails, sound list, quit…). Also it learns from your previous choices to make the search more and more accurate for you.   ClickPad support ClickPad devices are trackpads where the physical button is integrated into the trackpad surface. Ubuntu Precise now has enhanced support for these devices. When the button is pressed on a ClickPad device, a second finger may be used to drag the cursor. ClickPad support requires extra handling that conflicts with "Click Action" support. Click Actions allow for separate actions when multiple fingers are active on a trackpad. The default Ubuntu settings enable right button behavior when two fingers are in contact with the trackpad surface and the physical trackpad button is pressed. Because of conflicting behavior, ClickPad devices do not support Click Actions in this release. Most Synaptics brand ClickPads are recognized out of the box. Apple MacBook trackpads are recognized as well. Support for Apple Magic Trackpads and more Synaptics brand ClickPads will follow in the next release.   Ubuntu One All new Control Panel provides an installer, setup wizard, ability to add/remove folders to sync, and more Proxy support is now fully functional Ubuntu One music store in Rhythmbox Ubuntu One contacts sync has been removed Nautilus ribbon with enable sync check box has been removed   Other Until Ubuntu 11.10, the Unix group for administrators with root privileges through sudo had been admin. Starting with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, it is now sudo, for compatibility with Debian and sudo itself. However, for backwards compatibility, admin group members are still recognized as administrators. Automatic Apport crash reporting now checks for duplicates on the client side, which will avoid uploading debug data and creating Launchpad bug reports unnecessarily in…

Google's cloud storage product Google Drive has now been announced. I am however still on a waiting list, as it seems like Google is adding users little by little, so I have not been able to test it yet. Google Drive is a service similar to Dropbox. You get 5GB storage for free, and additional 25GB for $2.49/month. Clients are available for Mac, PC and Android phones, and a version for iPad/iPhone is coming, according to Google. The service let you access your documents from different devices and on different platforms. You are also able to share files with friends, family and other people. Google Docs is integrated with Google Drive, allowing different users to edit documents. It will be interesting to see what differentiate Google Drive from Dropbox, box.com and other similar services that already exists. The cost for additional storage is much lower than the competing products, Dropbox give you 2GB free and charge $9.99 for 50GB storage. Box.com give you 5GB free and charge $9.99 for 25GB storage. 

After weeks of speculations, it seems like Samsung will unveil their latest smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3, at an event in London om May 3 called "Samsung Mobile Unpacked". Invitations have been sent out to media and a website with a teaser video is now available. Samsung also released an app for the Unpacked event, where there is a reference to "Samsung Galaxy S3". The predecessor is of course Samsung Galaxy S II (with roman numerals), and there have been some discussions if Samsung will change the numbering from roman to latin numbers. Initially the phone was just referenced as "The Next Galaxy", leading some to speculate in Samsung doing like Apple and dropping the number from the name. I guess we will see in 9 days. Then the specifications will be official as well. But rumors are talking about a quad-core processor (everything between 1.4 and 2.8GHz have been mentioned), a 4.6" to 4.8" screen with a resolution of 1280x720 pixel (but a 1920x1080 screen has also been mentioned), 16GB or 32GB memory, 8-12MP camera, and possible a ceramic body.   

Fredrik Malmborg just posted an article (in Swedish) on his blog about how the Swedish government have been moving several departments (taxes, defence, etc) from an IBM/Lotus platform to the Microsoft stack. He noticed that a certain executive with sales responsibility for public sector at a big software company became Secretary of State (not the same as "Secretary of State" in the US) right before the government asked a certain software company (guess which one!) to write the specification for the new system. Coincidentally that same company (Microsoft)  was then choosen to deliver the solution. IBM was never offered to even compete. A year ago Computer Sweden wrote (in Swedish) about several departments moving from IBM/Lotus to Microsoft, without IBM being allowed to compete, or in some cases select Microsoft despite IBM being less expensive. . Here are some arguments used in the studies presented to the government why the switch should be done: * Outlook is used privately by many users and thus have a higher acceptance. * The similar interface improves the user experience. I know that IBM does not believe in those arguments, but the customers and the ones in charge (may it be politicians, civil servants or a CEO) buy that argument. Line, hook and sinker... Especially if the persons in change are among the ones that use Outlook at home (since it come bundled with many versions of Office). I personally know several people who use Outlook (not Outlook Express!) at home for their private mail, as they can easily aggregate several mail accounts into one client. I been building/rebuilding a number of computers for friends lately, and the request to use Outlook came up several times. I believe that IBM should create a "IBM Mail" client, with support for POP/IMAP/SMTP as well as direct support for Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo mail. Why not add Domino and Exchange support, to allow users to connect to work, without installing the full Notes client? The client must be able to aggregate mail from multiple sources, and send mail using any of those services. When you compose a new mail, there should be a dropdown where you select Gmail, your ISP service or Yahoo mail (depending on what you have setup), the same way as it works on most smart phones today. If you reply to a mail, the service is was received on should be default, e.g. if the mail was received through one of my Gmail accountrs, the reply should be sent using the same account. This client should look like Notes mail, contain a calendar, to-do, journal, perhaps an RSS feed and support for widgets. Why not throw in a couple of simple but useful applications? Show that "IBM Mail is not just mail". Strip away as much as possible when it comes to complicated menus, settings, etc. The properties/settings in the Notes client causes any normal user to get a headache instantly... Make it easy and quick to setup, and make it available as a free download, without any annoying registration. Most of all, make the client fast. The market…

I wanted to share the recipe for the cake I made this weekend. It is very easy to make, and tastes great. Mix 6 eggs and 3dl (a little over over 1 cup) of sugar, beet it until fluffy. Mix 1.5 dl (9 tablespoons) flour and 1.5 dl corn starch (potato flour in Europe) in a bowl, add 3 tablespooons of baking powder and mix well. Fold this into the egg/sugar mix, stir gently until the batter is smooth. Cover the inside of a baking pan with butter and then breadcrumbs. Pour in the batter and place in the lower part of the oven. Bake for 40 minutes in 325 degrees F (175 degrees C). When done, turn it upside down on a cooling rack, let it cool down for a few monutes before attempting to remove the baking pan. Slice through the cake twice so you get 3 equally think slices. On top of the first one, spead a jam, for example blueberry jam. Pend the extra $2 and get the best one you can get, low in sugar and high in fruit. If you have an IKEA nearby, theu got several good jams to choose from. On top of the jam, put a 1/2 inch thick layer of vanilla creme. I make it from Vanilla Sauce powder from Sweden, but here is a way to make it yourself. You can add some fresh fruit here, if you like. Why not fresh blueberries, to complement the jam? Put the next layer of cake on top of the vanilla creme, then add another filling. I often mash 2 bananas and mix with whipped creme. Make sure the creme is nice and thick, it should be solid, not runny or soft. You can add fruit in here too, if you like. Perhaps chunks of fresh strawberries, they go well with teh bananas and creme. Add the last layer of cake, cover the whole thing with more whipped creme and decorate with fruit. Strawberries, rasberries, blackberries. Or why not go for a "mushroom cake", cut bananas in about 1.5 inch long pieces and place them standing up on top of the cake. Drain a can of apricots and put them on top of the bananas like mushrooms.  

The other week we had a new executive start at my work. I stopped by her office today and offered to help her with Notes if she had any problems. I asked if she had used Notes before, and she said no, she came from an Outlook shop. So I asked her what she thought about Notes this far. She told me that the mail experience was very close to Outlook, with sortable columns, etc. She als told me that she really like the action buttons with dropdowns for reply, etc. The fact that different windows are available in different tabs was another thing she liked. She then switched over to the workspace and told me how she loved it, and how it was much better than Outlook, easy to find things, etc. I then quickly showed her how she can name the different tabs, change color and organize her icons. She was very impressed, and liked that. For the last week or so, she have been meeting with different departments, and yesterday she got to meet with IT. We went through the different applications we have, and we explained how the different Notes applications are tied together with each other, as well as with several other systems. This is something else she is very impressed about, and she told me that that level of integration was something she had not seen at her previous workplace. She is very impressed with Lotus Notes, and she is still just running 8.5.2 Basic version... 

This spring is gearing up to be very interesting. The rumors are flying about both an upcoming new iPad and a new Samsung Galaxy Tab. According to the rumors, Samsung will launch the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6 at Mobile World Contress in Barcelona at the end of this month. The new tablet will (again unconfirmed) have a 11.6 inch screen with a resolution of 2560x1600 and be powered by a 2GHz dual-core Exynos 5250 processor. Some rumors talk about a quad-core processor, but I personally find that unlikely in this first version. The operating system will, not surprisingly, be Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Despite the bigger screen, the actual size of the tablet is said to not be much larger than the existing Galaxy Tab 10.1. As soon as Apple releases one product, rumors start about the next generation. But it seems very plausible that an iPad3 will be released this spring (the rumors talk about March). Here rumors talk about a quad-core processor in the 1MHz range (but the rumors are all over the place which processor it will be and exact clock speed), and a new graphics chip driving the 9.7 inch display with a resolution of  2048x1536 pixels, double the resolution of iPad2. A redesigned interior to allow a bigger battery is also probably, based on leaked pictures of the case. 4G LTE support is also a pretty good bet. The iPad3 will supposedly be slightly more bulky that the existing version, about 1.5mm thicker. I guess time will tell, but this spring could be very interesting for tablets, and the summer/fall will be interesting for smartphones. Expected launces of iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 and phones from RIM with Blackberry OS 10 (QNX-based and rumored to be able to run Android apps) are the ones I see as the most interesting.   

How many times do you not want to count the number of documents you process, perhaps even a few different counters? Today I was working on a Lotusscript agent where I wanted to keep track of the total number of documents processed, as well as individual counters for a few different types of documents. Normally I would have used a handful of variables, but I realized that I could use lists for this. This is what my old code would look like: Dim cnt As Long Dim totcnt As Long Dim type1cnt as Long Dim type2cnt as Long Set view = claimdb.GetView("(LookupView)") Set col = view.AllEntries view.AutoUpdate = False totcnt = col.Count cnt = 0 Set entry = col.GetLastEntry() Do While Not entry Is Nothing cnt = cnt + 1 ' Do stuff here If entry.ColumnValues(0) = "Type1" Then type1cnt = type1cnt + 1 ElseIf entry.ColumnValues(0) = "Type2" Then type2cnt = type2cnt + 1 End If Print "Processed " & cnt & " of " & totcnt Set entry = col.GetPrevEntry(entry) Loop My new code would look like this: Dim cnt List As Long Dim doctype As String Set view = claimdb.GetView("(LookupLargeLossSummary)") Set col = view.AllEntries view.AutoUpdate = False cnt("Total") = col.Count cnt("Processed") = 0 Set entry = col.GetLastEntry() Do While Not entry Is Nothing cnt("Processed") = cnt("Processed") + 1 ' Do stuff here doctype = entry.ColumnValues(0) cnt(doctype) = cnt(doctype) + 1 Print "Processed " & cnt("Processed") & " of " & cnt("Total") Set entry = col.GetPrevEntry(entry) Loop Note that the list tag is case sensitive. The example also assumes that the document type is displayed in the first column of the view. You can also use ForAll to get the values of all list elements: ForAll c in cnt Print ListTag(c) & " = " & c End ForAll That's it for today. Happy coding!  

During the last couple of weeks I have revisited some of the sci-fi classics I read when I was young. Robert A Heinlein was always one of my favorites. In what would be considered middle school in the US (4th-6th grade) we had one hour each week when the class was reading whatever book we had picked out in the library. At one time, I think it was in 5th grade, I read the Swedish translation of "Have Space Suit ?Will Travel". The other week I listened to this book as an audio book. This one was actually more of a radio theatre play, with different actors playing the different parts. I then followed this by listening to "Citizen of the Galaxy" and "Double Star". The books were written in 1956, 1957 and 1958, and I noticed something interesting. Despite them taking place in the future, where space travel (even faster than light) is possible, and with all kinds of exotic technology available, many things we take for granted today are lacking. In "Double Star", the main character is studying using an encyclopedia in the ships library. As we know today, online encyclopedias like wikipedia and internet searches have all but killed off the traditional printed encyclopedia. There is no way for a printed publication to stay current. If a celebrity or any other person dies, within minutes their wikipedia page will be updated with date/time and cause of death. In "Citizen of the Galaxy" the missile control computers onboard the trade ships are manned by young adults with good math abilities. They seem to be somewhat aided by a rudimentary computer, but it is mainly the operator who calculate trajectory and time for release of the missiles. The result is recorded on a spool (which can be read by humans, so probably some kind of paper-like material). The concept of digital storage did not exist, and I am sure any PC (or even smart phone) today could perform the calculations needed much faster than any human, and with greater accuracy. Some of the books also talk about huge archives, using micro film. Even if that still today is a great medium for long term storage, it is not the best choice for the kind of short term archiving used in the books. Again, the concept of digital storage does not appear in the books. The books basically build on the technology known in the 1950´s, but "enhanced" as imagined in the future. However, there is on interesting thing in "Double Star". When recordings are made (for public broadcasts), they are "stereoscopic", i.e. 3D. It is not until the last year or two we have actually seen 3D television become common. Personally I believe that we soon will see 3D television sets where we don´t need to use special glasses (several manufacturers already have those) and that more and more tv shows and even news will be in 3D. All this is not a slam on Robert A Heinlein or…

The discussion about the IBM rebranding of different products, including removing "Lotus" from a number of products, have me got thinking. What is really in a name? Well, a product name is really not that different from a person name. We have a firstname/surname which is our identity, and a lastname/family which indicate what family or group we belong to. In some cultures the family name is listed first, but the idea is the same. Sometimes we also have a nickname that we are know as, or that our friends call us. When a woman get married, she often takes the family name of her husband, or combine her family name with his. Jane Doe becomes Jane Smith or even Jane Doe-Smith. A product is often named the same way. Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino, Lotus Sametime. When IBM took over ("married") Lotus, eventually the name became "IBM Lotus Notes, IBM Lotus Domino, etc. We continued using the "nicknames" Notes, Domino and Sametime, as they are shorter and easier to say/write. I am sure we all remember when Sametime was renamed "IBM Lotus Instant Messaging" and Quickr was renamed "IBM Lotus Team Workplace". The names were quickly changed back"..." Not that the names were bad, they actually explained much better the nature of the product. But they were much harder to remember and did not have the familiarity people needed. Compare that with if I would change my son´s name from Erik to say Allen (which happens to be his middle name). That would cause a lot of confusion. And if you dropped the "family name" part ("IBM Lotus"), like we all do in normal conversations, the result did not provide any good branding. "Do you use Instant Messaging?" Some products have already lost the Lotus part. We now have "IBM Sametime", and at Lotusphere, it was announced that "IBM Docs" is the new name for LotusLive Symphony. I think that is a great name, it explains the product and also have the family name in there. "IBM SmartCloud for Social Business" is a long name for LotusLive, and perhaps not the best name. But I never thought LotusLive was a good name. I know that a few years everything cloud was "Live" (Windows Live, etc), but it felt like just another buzzword. I understand the need of IBM to group products into different families. That makes sense. But everything does not have to include "Smart". What about simply giving any cloud offering/product a "Cloud" designation? IBM Cloud Docs, IBM Cloud Mail (LotusLive Mail), etc. To me that is a no-brainer. For the traditional client side products in the Lotus family it is a bit more complicated. We all love the Lotus brand, but it has a somewhat tainted or dated sound these days. It is simply old, and people still think "Lotus 1-2-3" when they hear it. I would have no problem with IBM Notes and IBM Domino. We already have "IBM Xwork Server". What about "IBM Smart Client" (for…

As the article in Computer Sweden now have been published, I reposted my blog entry about Ernst & Young migrating 150,000 users world wide from Notes to Exchange. IBM in Sweden is not commenting to Computer Sweden, but Ernst & Young have been using Lotus Notes since the mid-1990's and have been considered a major Notes account. In this first step only the email will be migrated, and it is unclear if applications will eventually be moved as well. My personal analysis (as I wrote in my original post) is that IBM will not really lose very much revenue, but it is a prestigious win for Microsoft. Even if email might be less important than applications (many consider email a commodity), the market will probably see this as a loss for IBM, and in the long run I think this will be used as another example of "Notes is dead". I think it is important for IBM to realize that perception is actually important. You can't always be logical. IBM need to keep as many of their big customers on Notes mail as possible, or the market will get the perception that customers are abandoning the platform, even if it is just email.         

I brought some of my home-made Apple Cake drink to Lotusphere, and I had many people ask me how it is made. It is not hard at all, it just takes some time. You need the following: 75 cl vodka (that is one regular bottle), and I recommend Absolut 40% (or even 50% if you want it stronger). 30 cl (that is about 10 fl oz) concentrated apple juice. I used one can of defrosted frozen juice concentrate. 3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar. 3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar. It can be purchased at the nearest IKEA in the US. You can also use vanilla extract. 3 sticks of cinnamon.   Gently heat up the apple juice on the stove. Stir in the sugar and vanilla sugar/flavor until it is all dissolved. Pour in a big bottle that is just over 1 liter, a little over a quart. I use a 2 quart Rubber Maid MixerMate bottle. Add the cinnamon sticks and then the vodka. Shake well. For the next 7 days, shake once or twice a day. After 7 days, remove the cinnamon sticks. It is now ready to serve. Whip some cream together with a little vanilla sugar. Pour the drink in shot glasses, but don´t fill them to the rim. Add a spoon of whipped cream on top, and it is ready to drink. Skål!  

Here is another version of Duffbert and Andy Donaldson performing "I Got You, Babe" at Kimonos during Lotusphere 2012. I am having problems embedding videos on this blog, please use this link instead. Enjoy!  

The busiest day this far. The day started with a keynote session, featuring among others Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of World Wide Web. He spoke out against the SOPA and PIPA laws, coincidentally on the same day that Wikipedia, Google and other sites went black in a protest against the proposed US censorship laws. He encouraged everyone to mail their representative to denounce the laws. Then he procede to discuss the Semantic Web, and how data can be aggregated from many sources but must be tracked back to it's origin. The next speaker was Manoj Saxema, the General Manager of the newly founded IBM Watson Solutions Group. He talked about IBM's plans to commercialize Watson. The first target is the medical fields, where Watson can help doctors in diagnosing patients. The next step is financial institutions and insurance companies. He also mention that 90% of all data in the world was produced in the last two years, and that 80% of that information is unstructured, saved in documents, spreadsheets, etc. Watson is designed to work with unstructured data like that. Finally Andy Miller, CEO and President of Polycom, talked about video conferencing, social functionality and mobile, and how the younger workforce demand access to that technology. The it was off to sessions. BP303 - I Smell a RAT -- Rapid Application Testing, by Peter Presnell. This was a very interesting session. I got plenty of ideas and inspiration of things to do after I get back home. BP101 - Adminblast 2012 by the always excellent and entertaining Paul Mooney. Even as a developer I always walk away with tons of useful tips from his Adminblast sessions, and this year was no exception. AD112 - What's New in the IBM Lotus Domino Objects: Version 8.5.3 in Demos, featuring James Cooper and Elizabeth Sawyer (both of IBM). A good session, with a few interruptions that slowed down the tempo somewhat. One of the most interesting new functions is agent.RunWithDocumentContext(), a way to pass and retrieve data from another agent. Previously we developers had to use a profile document or similar hack to get the same functionality. BP121 - Performance Programming, by Andrew Pollack. Yet another very interesting session. This one covered different issues that can slow down your Lotus Notes applications, and showed different techniques to work around this. After this it was off to get ready for the party at Seaworld. It had been raining some earlier in the day, and I think some long-time 'spherians were worried about a repeat of the 2007 party at Animal Kingdom, when it was pouring down rain. But the rain stopped and I had a good time. My favorites were as always the sharks and the dolphins. I am not a big roller-coaster fan...