Woowar

Category blogging twitter
You may have noticed - or more probably you haven't because there's been naff-all to notice (!) - that things have been a little quiet around here lately. I'm not going to apologise for that, but perhaps point the way to the future.

So, this blog will continue to exist, and will continue to have Lotus-specific posts, plus the occasional rant from me on the subject of ... well, whatever is winding me up at the time really.

A lot of my attention, however, will now be on my new blog The Vanishing Point, which is taking a wider and longer view of collaboration technology. Specifically, how collaborative technologies are going through a long-term process of convergence, and where that's taking us. If you think that might be interesting, please do bookmark it or subscribe to the new feed.

As for Twitter. Well, I'm still not a convert. I like to write in full sentences with grammar, punctuation and a full stop at the end, which Twitter doesn't really permit. In fact, there are many more things about Twitter to dislike than to like, as far as I'm concerned. However, I'll accept that it's not going away any time soon, so am [a] giving it another go, and [b] shortly going to un-protect my Twitter feed. If you care - and quite literally several of you might do so slightly - you can find me on Twitter as woowar.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 9:43 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category ibm marketing
So it seems it's not just us annoying whingers in the Yellow Bubble who think that IBM marketing is feeble. Burton Group agrees.

"On about 40% of the calls we get from people who eventually buy a Microsoft product, they instantly know what they want--and they tell us specifically. 'OK, we need 80 copies of Microsoft X, 25 copies of Microsoft Y, etc.' However, no IBM customer ever specifically asks for an IBM product. We'll do a demo based on their stated needs, and they'll say, 'Wow. What product is this? This is pretty cool. What do you call it? Hmm, never heard of it.'"

Once again, a data point making the case that while IBM's product offerings are well understood by its installed base, they aren't known outside of IBM's inner circle. IBM needs to get out more.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 1:39 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (1)

Category uklug
As was announced on Monday, by Warren and some of the other organisers, the UKLUG 2009 event is now officially open for registration for attendees, speakers and sponsors. This year it's in Edinburgh on 8th and 9th October and, as before, it's FREE at attend.

Having taken a look at the number of people who've already registered in the last 2 days, I can tell you it's filling up fast. So don't hang about - put those dates in your diary, and get over to the site and register. If you want to speak - and there is room for more speaking sessions at the moment - you'll need to register first, then you can log into your 'My Profile' page on the site and click 'Propose Session' to upload your session abstract. Similarly, if you want to sponsor - the more the merrier - again you'll need to register first and then log in an access the sponsorship information via your profile page.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 7:33 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category apple
Or is it? I love my MacBookPro - it's far and away the best laptop I've ever owned. And, yes, you are stastically far less likely to be hit by virus/malware nastiness on a Mac than on Windows. But I don't subscribe to the "switch to a Mac and you'll never have any security trouble like Windows does" viewpoint.

And here's why:

Charlie Miller, the security researcher who hacked a Mac in two minutes last year at CanSecWest's PWN2OWN contest, improved his time today by breaking into another Mac in under 10 seconds.

Miller, a principal analyst at Independent Security Evaluators LLC, walked off with a $5,000 cash prize and the MacBook he hacked.

"I can't talk about the details of the vulnerability, but it was a Mac, fully patched, with Safari, fully patched," said Miller Wednesday not long after he had won the prize. "It probably took 5 or 10 seconds." He confirmed that he had researched and written the exploit before he arrived at the challenge.

The PWN2OWN rules stated that the researcher could provide a URL that hosted his or her exploit, replicating the common hacker tactic of enticing users to malicious sites where they are infected with malware. "I gave them the link, they clicked on it, and that was it," said Miller. "I did a few things to show that I had full control of the Mac."

So, yes, while OSX inherently IS more secure than Windows, that doesn't mean it's completely secure. Windows is a castle built on sand, and OSX is a castle built on rock. But no castle is impregnable.

Link: Computerworld Security: Researcher cracks Mac in 10 seconds...

Posted by Julian Woodward At 5:51 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category music
Those who know me will be aware that my favourite band of all time is Deep Purple. What fewer people will know is that the band were named after a song of the same name from the 1930s, of which Ritchie (ex Deep Purple guitarist) Blackmore's grandmother was particularly fond.

I've known the Nino Temple and April Stevens version of the song for years, as it was on a compilation LP (yes, LP) I bought while at university. But I wasn't aware of the long and distinguished history of the song until this blog entry was published yesterday.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 9:04 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (2)

Category injustice
I wonder whether the USA representatives responsible for this can sleep at night. I hope not. Stupid parochial myopic twats.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 8:09 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (3)

Category
Last year, immediately after Lotusphere 2008, I wrote a post outlining a number of predictions for Lotusphere 2009. I then revisited it shortly before Lotusphere 2009 started. So now it's time to pay a final visit, and see how well my crystal balls were working in early February 2008.

• Attendance will be up significantly - book early kids - my money is on the numbers crashing through the 8000 barrier for the first time in a few years
  Okay, that was reckoning without the "global downturn". We'll see ...
  (verdict) Wrong. Lotus claims attendance was up on one measure: the number of customer organisations sending at least one person. Good news. But it felt as though actual attendee numbers were way down.
   
• The Notes/Domino 9.0 feature set will be announced
  Hmm. I think I'll stick with this one, because I would like it to be true.
  (verdict) Er, wrong again. Totally wrong. And now there's a suggestion that Notes/Domino 9.0 won't even be called Notes/Domino 9.0. The gods are not smiling on me.
   
• It will be MUCH harder to pick sessions (like it was so easy before, right?), given the incredible number of 2008 announcements that will have become released products by then:
  • Quickr 8.1
  • Connections 2.0
  • Foundations
  • Mashups
  • Notes/Domino 8.0.1 including Traveler
  • Notes/Domino 8.5 including Domino Designer in Eclipse
  • "BlueHouse"
  Well, BlueHouse is still in beta. But the rest are out there in the wild. And it is very hard to select sessions this year!
  (verdict) Definitely right.
   
• Dan Lyons will say something crap and stupid, again (will he ever grow up?)
  Come on Dan, I'm waiting, don't disappoint me.
  (verdict) Surprisingly wrong
   
• Microsoft will release a set of spoiler announcements, yet again (will they ever grow up?)
  Very half-hearted from Murkysoft so far. Do they have something more engaging up their sleeve to hit us with before Monday?
  (verdict) No, they didn't. I wonder whether they decided that inauguration was enough to draw attention away. Or whether they just didn't have anything to say.
   
• The opening general session special guest speaker will be better than 2008 (hardly a challenge) but not as good as Neil Armstrong in 2007
  Sticking with this one - it's a safe bet
  (verdict) Well, he was okay, but not as good as I expected him to be. Ben Zander made up for it 5000% in the closing session though - if only I'd been able to stay to the end. Damn those pesky airline schedules.
   
• The purple websphere logo will have disappeared and there'll be a "new" Lotus Portal product (okay, this may be wishful thinking ... 2010?)
  I WISH!
  (verdict) Good grief, this is almost true! At least, the purple turd-in-a-punchbowl logo has gone and been replaced with a Lotus yellow/orange one. About time too. I suspect that the Websphere name is here to stay though.
   
• There will be at least one complete surprise new product announcement - as surprising as Connections in 2007 and Foundations in 2008 - and it will be another low-end SME-based play
  I'll stick with this one too ... nervously.
  (verdict) Reluctantly, I'm calling "wrong" on this one. I would like to think that LotusLive would be it - but it's mainly a branding exercise at this point, and I can't see why any SME would select this over Google or the Redmond people right now. Give it 18 months and we'll see.
   
• Paul Mooney will purchase unfeasible quantities of sake in Kimono's
  
  (verdict) Thank you Paul, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. I seem to remember stumping up for a fair few bottles myself as well. And at THOSE prices too. Ouch.
   
• Wild Bill will have another significant birthday
  This is too easy
  (verdict) Correct - obviously.
   
• The Lotus911 crowd will ask a minimum of three questions at the 'Ask the Developers' session
  I was cheating on the last few wasn't I ... dead cert.
  (verdict) I forgot to count. It was certainly at least two wasn't it? I'll assume "right" on this until somebody corrects me ...

So, there you have it. A mixed bag. The biggest surprise was the Websphere logo turning Lotus coloured, as that was pure wishful thinking a year ago. The biggest disappointment was probably the attendance levels, although there were global (economic) and local (USA politics) factors at play there, so I wouldn't have been making that bullish prediction with hindsight anyway.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 4:17 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category
Laugh or cry?

Posted by Julian Woodward At 9:16 AM Location London | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category
David Allen on Lotus Notes : "we don't need it in the cloud - we've already got it here"

Posted by Julian Woodward At 10:07 PM Location lotusphere | Permalink | Comments (3)

Category
Marketing talk. Mention of "air cover" again.

IBM Smarter promo - just been shown a preview of an ad. Where will we see the ad, I wonder? Please tell me it'll be on primetime TV. I will fall on my knees and cry with gratitude, that IBM finally recognises the need to lead from the front. Please.

Bob Picciano back on stage for a wrap-up. Elguji announced as CTO award winners - yay!!!!!

Blue Man Group back on stage to finish off.

Posted by Julian Woodward At 3:40 PM Location lotusphere | Permalink | Comments (1)