DominoKeys.com

Yeah, weird idea, right?

I got an email this morning from Kisco Information Sysgtems (that’s how they spelled “systems” in the email) who has a product that runs on your System i / iSeries / AS/400 (whatever you’d like to call it) which allows your system to have twitter-like functionality.

They admit its an odd combination but go on to give you a few examples of how you could use it. Things like system, message or file monitoring, personal tweets back to Twitter or as an internal marketing tool. Not a bad idea. I think I’d still prefer the Domino version but I can see how this might be handy.

Prices range from $295 to $495 based on how many partitions it’ll run on. The Domino counterpart is free via OpenNTF.org.

Also if you’d like to follow all my random tweets you can do so here. Keyword: random.

Tags: domino, iseries, twitter

When I heard about this at Lotusphere I instantly got excited. For a good rundown of what this is, read this guy’s blog entry (why retype something someone else did brilliantly, right?).

In short, ID vault synchronizes IDs and ensures that users who have multiple ID files out in the wild have the information (certificates, passwords, etc.) in the ID file synchronized. It also includes a number of tools that are designed to provide better administration of ID related activities (password resets and such).

For some reason, in my excitement I *thought* that it would also solve a problem we have where people use PCs in conference rooms and don’t have access to their ID. Sure, we’ve provided instructions about how to move it to a network share, but not everyone “gets” that. We could also store the ID on the network, but that doesn’t fix the issue for laptop users. I *thought* ID vault had something available that would help address that but apparently not.

If anyone knows of a clever way around that problem, I’d love to hear about it.

Tags: domino, id, notes

When the iPhone was announced, Starbucks was one of the first companies to come forward expressing their excitement for the new, ground-breaking device. They comitted to launching WiFi connectivity for the phone in nearly all stores within a few months.

When that announcement was made, I recall that it felt like it took FOREVER for it to actually happen. Now, its just assumed that whatever Starbucks I go to will be ready to connect my iPhone (for free, for an hour, more if I use my Starbucks card within the last 30 days).

However, I think the implementation needs some work. Here’s the process:

1. Try to do something that requires an internet connection (from your iPhone, obviously).
2. Confirm that you want to connect to their WiFi spot.
3. Go to Safari to log in.
4. Enter your phone number (this is the number associated with the device you are currently holding which is attempting to connect to the network).
5. Note: Step 4 may need to be repeated, despite your correct entry of the phone number.
6. Get a web page prompt telling you you’ll get a text message shortly (no charge) with a link that will connect you.
7. Wait (results may vary).
8. Open text message. Click on link (which opens Safari).
9. Confirm that you are connected, then browse the internet for up to 60 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong … I’m not complaining about the ability to do this… just that it seems like there ought to be a way to cut this down to like … 3 steps or something. I dunno … the people at Apple and Starbucks are both smart I think they can come up with something.

… and don’t even get me started on how much I think THIS needs to happen!

Tags: easy, iphone, starbucks

My favorite part of my job description reads like this:

“Stay abreast of current and emerging technologies and actively seek ways to integrate them into the IT and overall business strategy where appropriate.”

I find that I’m often testing out new websites, applications, tools, etc. both because I’m interested in doing so, but also because “its my job.” I also find that some really good ideas don’t go very far just because the application isn’t all there, or is a bit complicated or because I can’t see people easily adopting it.

However, I’ve noticed lately that some applications pop up on the radar screen again and get a second chance because they have an iPhone. Some of those include:

reQall
Rundown: Call a number, visit a website or use the iPhone app to describe something you have to do and when it needs to be done. reQall will translate your voice into text, determine what time/date it is needed and send you reminders via email, the website or iPhone app.
Review: Handy app. I can how people would really integrate this into their workflow. For me, its just a great way to not forget something that I remember when I’m driving, on a weekend, etc. I simply call the reQall number, say what I want to remember and when I need to remember it by, and the app emails me and places it in my iPhone application. Simple enough.

Basecamp/Basetent
Rundown: Basecamp is a simple to-do and project management utility on the web. I like it because the free version allows me to send tasks via email to people and isn’t bloated with all sorts of useless tools which can quickly complicate projects that simply aren’t big enough to warrant them (not to say the product can’t be used for big projects – just that I don’t use it for that). I have a standing meeting with my team each Monday morning and I keep track of all of our high priority items on the site. With lots of ajax-y-ness, I can add tasks, assign to people and send them an email. Easy. Simple.
Review: Basetent (lite version available) is an iPhone application that lets me access my Basecamp project on the go. The interface is very good and it makes it that much easier for me to keep important projects and to-do’s infront of me at all times. Its actually extended the way I use Basecamp quite a bit since it made it that much easier to carry information with me.

TripIt
Rundown: Email your confirmation information from airlines, hotels, rental cars, etc. to TripIt from an email account you register. The service figures out what information is important and creates an itinerary with the information as well as handy links including things like maps between the airport you are landing at and the hotel you are traveling to.
Review: There are lots of features available and I’ve just scratched the surface, however this is one of my favorite applications. I used it a while ago and thought it was good, but the addition of an iPhone app lets me carry my itenerary with me at all times complete with handy links and a nice interface. Brilliant!

Tags: applications, basecamp, basetent, iphone, reqall, travel, tripit

This is a topic I find myself debating quite a bit lately. I “get” the benefits of virtualizing it, I really do. But the normal behavior/benefit of Domino skews things a bit.

Our Domino environments replicate databases everywhere. Its also really easy to start up a new Domino server on another box in the event of a disaster (an ID file, names.nsf, notes.ini and a bit of elbow grease and BOOM you’ve got a box that thinks its been a Domino server for some time). Those two features alone have always weighed heavily in my continued committment of the Domino platform because it removes a lot of headaches associated with disaster recovery and business contniuity planning.

Still, virtualization is a good idea. But how? What do I need to be thinking about? How do I get started?

And then this article (“Benefits of virtualizating Lotus Domino“) arrives in my inbox. This is probably one of the most helpful rundowns of the virtualization concept that is specific to Domino that I’ve seen. So I’m sharing.

Tags: domino, virtualization, vm

Like you, I get a lot of emails, phone calls and voicemails I didn’t ask for. I’m surprised at just how many lists my name must appear on that people are willing to buy. And the hit rate for emails/calls I’m actually interested in is extremely low. I’d guess less than 1%.

Knowing that cold calling isn’t something anyone likes, I at least try to answer the phone as much as possible to give people 30 seconds of my time … however I recognize that I don’t get paid to answer my phone either, so I do my best to manage that properly. The problem is that I’ve seen an increase in the following tactics from cold calls:

• “Hi, I want to know what it takes to get on your approved vendor list…” (I don’t even know you or what you are doing, so why are we starting there?)
• “… we help IT managers reduce costs and set strategic objectives that are inline with the business and managed to tight budgets.”  (So… you help IT managers do their job for them?)
• “I was wondering if you have any old equipment we could buy back.” (That one is such a good intro and always leads to you having to pay them.)
• “What are your challenges for this year.”  (Avoiding phone calls like this? Is that a valid answer?)
• (Paraphrasing) “We do everything.”

I find that if I ask people to give me the highlights of their company in an email it works out well. I can then view the information on my own schedule, check out their website and decide if I need to follow-up with them. Occassionally, people clearly don’t like that idea and I’ll tell them to explain what they do and why I should be interested in 30 seconds (the typical elevator speach). Most people can’t do it (and are presumably still talking if I hang up).

However, I think I’ve cracked WHY people are calling/emailing me so often: they think I’m someone I’m not. This morning, I followed a link in an email I didn’t ask for to get more information. It was a unique URL that clearly went to the database they purchased with my info in it. The system brought in all of my information into a web page with fields completed that I just had to double-check. I discovered that I work for the government, in another country and have a title that defies description:

Tags: emails, telemarking