:: A blog from the DANGsite point of view :: http://www.dangsite.com/dang/dailythought.nsf/ en-us Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:28:31 -0600 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:28:31 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B4HTC Apple Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B4HTC?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B4HTC
By Monday evening, I was able to download the installation files for the Lotus Notes basic client (also known as the C++ application) and the Lotus Notes standard client (eclipse version).  Though I have not upgraded my mail server to Domino 8, I can still check out the new application features and compare the client end performance to the 7.0.3 Lotus Notes client I was previously using.  My first actions was to talk the dmg install for the Lotus Notes basic application.  The software had the smarts to know that it was going to upgrade my existing installation.  Cosmetically it looks very similar in layout though all the client icons and toolbars were updated and is a refreshing look.  The client had an icon to denote that I had new and unread mail.  There was even an icon on the top upper right corner to denote when I receive new mail.  After posting my feedback from a Jumpstart session I decided that I would move to the eclipse install.

The eclipse application is much larger in the footprint by about 100 MB more.  The installation, as well, had the smarts to upgrade the existing application.  The installation took about 15 minutes to install, but I did not watch it install as I was catching up on the evening news.  After the installation completed, I started the application and saw the new splash screen.  I noticed that when the application was in my Mac dock the mouse over name was "java".  So I hope this will be cleaned up in the GA release.  The icons was just as pretty as the basic client, but the UI is very different.  It looks very similar to the Windows and Linux R8 clients.  It also has the sidebar as well which has links to Sametime, RSS feeds, and my calendar.

The Lotus Notes icon in both clients shown in the Mac dock is more rounded.  It also has a smaller number in the lower right to denote the count of unread mail.  As I have a server in Texas which I lease (it is a linux provider which is not a traditional LN host provider), I did see the normal lag when connecting to my "home server".  The biggest change I saw in the standard client is that I can not replace the database design as I would in R7 and less version clients.  I did catch that the Database node within the File Menu is replaced with Application.  The only delay I am experiencing is when I am typing in the rich text editor.  As I am a fast typist, I was able to get ahead to what was being displayed on the screen.  The Mac client allows the OS to do the normal dictionary spell checking which is normal within Leopard (10.5).  The rich text editor seems to be similar to my experience with the Linux Lotus Notes standard client.

I am sure I am going to learn more as I continue use the application.  I am going to plan to do a Domino server upgrade to R8 when I have some free time. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-7B4HTC http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B4HTC?opendocument&comments Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:52:45 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B448H Lotusphere Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B448H?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B448H
This year marks two milestones:  the 15th year for Lotusphere and the 10 year anniversary for Sametime.

Mike Rhodin came out to summarize all the products released in 2007.  One of the most interesting factoids that was being shared is that 93% of the user base for the Lotus Notes client is using the last two releases (that is R7 or R8).  Mike did not try to hide much from the audience as Bob Costas was the guest keynote speaker.  Bob basically shared how using the Lotus products can help in delivering information to end users.  Bob did talked about the Patriots winning this weekend's game, baseball steroids use, and China hosting this year's summer Olympics.  Bob was very critical in how China did not like a lot of his commentary back during the Atlanta summer Olympic games which speaks to the irony of the situation now; China is under a world-wide eyes.

Mike did announce a partnership with SAP to introduce a new project called "Atlantic" which will be a client that can work with Lotus Notes and SAP.  For example you could not directly connect to SAP to turn in an expense report or request time off native in Lotus Notes.  While SAP integration is great, the overall theme Mike was sharing is how you can just use one client instead of many applications which would amount to a lot of window switching.  Mike shared how financial institutions are using many Lotus products.  If memory serves me well 8 out of 10 (or 12) top US banks use Lotus software and in the world stage about 90% of the top world banks.  For the Lotus Notes product there is going to be two upcoming releases: 8.0.1 in February and 8.5 towards the end of the year.  A big portion

The stage was shared to cover Lotus Symphony, Lotus Connections, Lotus Sametime, Lotus Forms, Lotus Expeditor, and on the portal side Lotus Quickr along with Websphere announcements.  Here are some other info points:

• To play up Symphony there was a real symphony to help up with a lot of the music.
• Symphony beta 4 will be out in February
• Downloads are for Windows and Linux. NOTE to LN users install the R8 Lotus Notes first to gain the tight integration.
• Expeditor is used for Sametime, Symphony, and Lotus Notes which means that code for each client can be shared as it is using Expeditor.
• Upcoming 8.5 Lotus/Domino features were released.  Domino Web Access will have iPhone compatiblity, a lighter form of the client to load faster, and ajax within it; Domino Designer will have the eclipse-base IDE, Domino server will have some features to try to gain space for file attachments and more compression of the NSF data - if multiple emails have a similar file attachment, then domino will have one copy of the file for both emails which reminds me of an older mail object store feature that was not as popular.
• Lotus Foundation and "Bluehouse" was announced to address the medium to small customers needs.  A pre-installed environment for companies without many IT resources.
• Connections, Sametime, and Quickr are getting upgrades but I am not really covering these products on this site.  I will skip these details.
• Mac Lotus clients are expected to be out by Q3 numbered as 8.5 though it will have the 8.0.1 Lotus Notes code base.

Speaking of the Mac clients, these clients were released in beta today for the public to download.  I have both the standard (eclipse) and C++ classic (or basic) client. Expect another blog entry on my Mac experience with these Lotus clients. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-7B448H http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B448H?opendocument&comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:51:26 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LLQ Lotusphere Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LLQ?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LLQ
It was good to listen to this session as it gave a good history of the development.   It was very beneficial to my tech lead as he is still learning how the Lotus clients operate as he has never used this software suite before.  I personally am going to look forward to getting a copy of the presentation as it does have a good amount of info as to how the Lotus programmability works.  This could be helpful say to someone like me should I want to create more native integration to my employer's software to the LN client via LotusScript.  This is just a idea, but more analysis will be needed.  Seeing the first looks a the Windows Eclipse LN IDE should some promising improvement to the developer experience.  Other than that this session has not many surprises for myself as I have been following the developments over the last quarters.
  ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-7B2LLQ http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LLQ?opendocument&comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:40:47 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LE4 Lotusphere Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LE4?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LE4
While the bus routes were not mapped well from the resort I am staying at, I was able to make JMP403 which gave an overview of Quickr.  Most of the demonstrations was shown using a J2EE (or Websphere) integration of Quickr.  Quickr does look good, but this presentation shown it as a Web Browser client -- not a Lotus Notes client interface.

I am going to be watching more on this product as the next version of Quickr will have more features for integration with the Domino server.  Quickr will have services for the Domino Server.  And yes it should work with Red Hat, but I will find out more as I visit more of these sessions.  I am interested in knowning how to integrated with 3rd party applications.

I will give it a overall good session for myself as I have not done very deep dives into this product. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-7B2LE4 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7B2LE4?opendocument&comments Sun, 6 Jan 2008 13:07:14 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/Heading-to-Lotusphere-2008 Lotusphere Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/Heading-to-Lotusphere-2008?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/Heading-to-Lotusphere-2008
I will arrive Saturday January 20, 2008 and will be departing Thursday evening, January 24, 2008.

I plan to be at the JUMPSTART session hoping to learn more about Quickr, the new R8 client, and of course more application api/devleopment for 3rd party integration. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/Heading-to-Lotusphere-2008 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/Heading-to-Lotusphere-2008?opendocument&comments Fri, 4 Jan 2008 17:48:54 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/2008-First-Blog-Entry Gadgets Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/2008-First-Blog-Entry?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/2008-First-Blog-Entry
If you have not noticed yet, this blog is now the front door (or the sole website now).  I decided that it is time to make this blog the main site rather than my old site front page I started back in 2004.  With site changed, I am going to move some topics to two new blogs that I started.  The topics that are more personal in nature (and not Lotus Notes/Domino related) are moved to this new blog called P-Dawg's House.  There are few URLs you can use as all my self name domains now point to it.  The other part of the posts that were related to Apple, Computer, Gadgets, etc are going to be point to a blog that I started with a couple friends called "Three Dudes on a Couch".  The site was just formed after the new year and we are currently working on a custom theme as well content entries.

This leaves me doing my final post on this site that is not going to be Lotus Notes/Domino related.

In my work life, I am still working on Lotus Notes, but it is more of an e-mail management theme as I am managing two development teams that integrate for both Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes clients.  In June 2007 my job expanded with a promotion to Senior Engineering Manager as well as gaining a second development team which integrates with Outlook.  With this new Email Management theme, I am working more closely with the Lotus Notes development team and Microsoft Outlook development team in giving more api's for my employer's integration with Content Management Systems.  Now finishing up 6 months in expanded position, my teams and I have found the productive way to developed.

To the readers who have enjoyed reading about the gadgets I have gained or used.  I have not forgot about you.  Here is a recap of the Computer/Tech/Gadgets I have gained that is also posted on my tech blog:


There is a theme in that I have upgraded the home to HD entertainment systems, switch to make Apple Macs the main computers system for my spouse and I, and lastly move to some energy efficient ideas.

Home Entertainment system upgrades:
PlayStation 3 replaced my existing PlayStation 2 within the first days of 2007.  This was my birthday present to myself as I am a fan of PlayStation games.  Plus with the Blu-Ray movies it is an added perk.

After playing the PlayStation 3 on a standard definition, I was reminded by Arnold (also on this site) that I am not getting the real HD experience.  After comparative shopping, I replace my 32" standard definition Sony Vega with a Sony Bravia 40" (KDL-40XBR2).  The screen size matches what our 32" was in height and as my living room is not very deep the screen size works well in the space.

The resulting TV purchase landed me a few discount mailings which helped me decided to make the jump to TiVo Series3 HD DVR.  I was able to save over $300 which was a great deal.  The TiVo Series3 HD is replacing one of my older TiVo single-turner which I am donating to a friend/family member.  Just waiting for a confirmation email.

The TV purchase prompt for a few more supporting devices:

• Replaced my existing DVD player to the Sony DVP-NS75H.
• Replaced my entertainment center to one by Crate & Barrel called the Loop 54" Media Center.
• By the time Transformers nears it release date, I made the decision to add HD DVD to my home entertainment system.  I got the Toshiba HD DVD player (HD-A30) as it came with 9 free HD DVDs.
• I added a Nintendo Wii to our home environment.  I did not think I would like the device, but it is has been a hit even with my guests who visit periodically.  With the modest accessories rechargeable batteries for the controllers, another Wii Remote (the controller), and a Wii Nunchuk. The GameCube controllers are going to be reused with this system.

The remaining home television was replaced with the Sharp Aquos LC-32D62U 32" 1080p.

In late 2006 Skype start promoting some new services called SkypeOut with unlimited calling in US and Canada.  After some research, I purchased the Linksys iPhone (CIT-400) the cost was yearly (or on average $6 a month) and activated in January 2007.  I am now considering to move towards SkypePro with the same phone.

Home Computers/Home Networking:
The iPod Video (80GB Model) replaced my iPod Video 60GB.  I still use the gadget quite a bit with the following accessories:

• For my car I added the Belkin  TuneBase FM for iPod.  I picked as my car stereo system is circa 2002.
• The Apple iPod Universal Dock came in handy for the desktop synching.

I replaced my 8-port gigabit switch with the Netgear Switch (GS516T)a 16-port gigabit switch.  It was a refurbish model that I got at Fry's, but the fans started to hum loudly after 6 months.  My spouse prompted me to replaced the device with Netgear ProSafe Switch (JGS524) as it is a 24-port gigabit switch that is quiet.

I started 2007 with 4 monitors mounted on a MoView quad-arm stand for LCD monitors which had two 22" monitors and 2 19" monitors .  After seeing the Gateway Monitor (FPD2485W) replaced with two of these monitors as it can service all the connections I needed via DVI/VGA.  I added the Gateway DTSS-2400 Theater Sound System for each monitor as well.

Moving to my computers I purchased the Apple MacBook Pro 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo (model MA611LL/A).  As I use at work and home this laptop performs much better than the Lenevo T42 Thinkpad work provided.  My original MacBook Pro Core Duo that I got in 2006 was given to my spouse to replace the Windows XP computer that it could not play World of Warcraft without requiring a reboot all the time.  

Giving my home MacBook Pro to my spouse provided enough to stay with Macs and subsequently a MacBook Core 2 Duo (model MB063LL/A) provided better mobility for my spouse's retail job which now expanded to sell Macs.  Yes, my spouse is a Apple Expert at that retail store.  

To round out my Mac experience, my spouse got me a Apple 24" iMac 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (model MA8778LL/A) and added 4 GB RAM for Christmas gift.  As I was using my MacBook Pro as a desktop computer, I was not fond of having to connect all the cables to my MacBook Pro in my home environment.   The iMac is now my main desktop.

To add to the home/work Apple experience:

• I got iWork '08 and iLife '08 family packs.
• When Apple Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) was released in October, I purchased the family pack and upgraded that night.  In fact I was able to talk my boss and small group of people from work to walk down to the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue to purchase the night it was launched.
• On September 5 when Appled announce a new price for the iPhone, I made the switch and purchase the Apple iPhone (MA712LL/A) 8GB model and my spouse went with the Apple iPhone (model MA501LL/A) 4GB model.  After having Smartphones for my last 3 phones, I have to say that for myself the iPhone is now my preferred phone.  In fact my spouse uses the iPhone more then the old mobile phone which was Treo 700wx.

As the Apple Macs are now my main computers for home and work (even for my spouse),  I am removing three computers from my home network:  the HP Media Center PC m1160n (which is a refurbish model) that is on its last legs as parts of the hardware is no longer working, my spouse's old 1.0 GHz Dell desktop tower from college is going to be retired, and lastly my infamous custom built Linux server (that I named Dilbert) is going to be retired.  This leaves me with a single Linux workstation (named Dogbert) to serve as my backend server for the home network. The daunting task is to merge the data from Dilbert (860.96 GB in size) to Dogbert (which can hold 3.78 TB) as I believe there is some duplicate data.  If you are wondering Dogbert has 1.14 TB free and I have 1 Seagate 750GB and 3 Western Digital 1 TB SATA internal drives yet to be used.

For the overall home computer environment I added the following peripherals:

• I was able to price two Western Digital MyBook World Edition 1 TB for $99 each.
• With Leopard's time machine, I got the Western Digital My Book Studio Edition (500GB) for my MacBook Pro and the Western Digital My Book Studio Edition (1 TB) for my iMac.
• For the new found digital media I create from my Macs, I got the Western Digital Passport (250 GB USB hard drive).
• After a year of looking, my spouse got us the Nikkon Coolpix S50 as I was debating to get a camera or a video camcorder.  We decided to defer that purchase until 2008.
• The Cannon CanoScan 8800F replaced my old HP scanner which only works on Windows.  This scanner works with my Macs now.
• As I started doing more digital photo work, I got the Epson Stylus R380 inkjet printer for doing color photos and CD/DVD printing.  Arnold recommended this printer to me and I am thankful for the suggestion.
• To make my Shure 8900 headphones (from 2006) work with my iPhone, I purchased the Shure Music Phone Adapter for iPhone.  I do enjoy listening to podcasts as I take the commuter train to work during the week.
• For all network devices, I swapped out my old Linksys 802.11g access point with the Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (model MB053LL/A).  This item has allowed me to make some of my USB devices (like external hard drives and an older Samsung ML-1710 Laser printer) network-accessible and use the 802.11N draft that Macs support.
• For the work office, I added Apple Wireless Keyboard (MB167LL/A) and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse (MB111LL/A) to free my desk of cords.
• If this is not enough on 31st of December 2007, I picked up the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Disk (160GB) external hard drive as it was on clearance at my spouse's work and comes in handy for my virtual machine images I use for home and work.

It sounds like a lot of gadgets, but it was a overall goal this year to replace the big, bulky standard definition televisions and try to be a little more green.  For example we removed our entertainment center that I got back in 1999 as we don't use the receiver.  Plus today's electronics can do more that I don't need a receiver to produce the Dolby sound.  Reducing the home computers has been a long time goal.  At one time I had 10 desktop and laptop units.  I can not believe I am down to 4 Macs and 1 Linux workstation.  To be more environment friendly, we replaced all our batteries to use rechargable ones, all the lightbulbs were changed to more energy efficient ones, and recycle plastic, paper, and aluminum cans.  My spouse and I remove about 1/4 of our clothing in our closets to donate them to shelters as we don't wear the clothing anymore.  After watching a lot of television shows on organizing, we started adopting those tips of remove the items in our life we don't use often.

Also, in 2007 I have seen myself not really wanting to make custom computers anymore and struggle with getting Windows to work correctly on particular hardware or find a Linux distribution which meets all the needs I want.  In the past I have switched between 4 different distributions in the last 7 years -- now the main requirement is to make sure VMware Workstation works as i do almost all my work using VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion (for Mac).  I still tinker but it is more application base and less hardware based.

With this long list of item, you can expect to see some more reviews as well.  Is 2008 going to be heavy in gadgets as well?

Hope you have a good 2008. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/2008-First-Blog-Entry http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/2008-First-Blog-Entry?opendocument&comments Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:05:31 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7865N2 Apple Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7865N2?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7865N2
This iPhone was a good change of pace for me as I had a lot of preconceived notions of both the phone and the carrier.  Maybe it was a little bias on my side from not wanting to like the device.  The device has had some frustrating moments.  In my experiences I had the iPod player stop as I was trying to read a website or have the "Google Maps" crash as I was trying to locate a destination.  After the firmware patch 1.1.1, the iPhone seem to perform better as the crashing does not happen as often.  Every now and then I do have a crash within the web browser, but I don't have problems with the "Google Maps" as frequently.  Another bias point was the Edge network was going to be slow or not be able to match with the EV DO network.  While I never needed to use the phone as a modem, I never was impatient or waiting a long time with a webpage to render on the device.  I don't even see myself impatient with getting emails or updates to the weather or stock information.  To the carrier I figured it was going to be dropping calls just as much as my Blackberry phone (which is on the same carrier's network) or my old Sprint phone.  To my surprise, I only had a handful occurrences.  Most of the occurrences were when I was driving in low elevations.

What was to my surprise was to slowly watch people at work and on the commuter system get an iPhone.  There are about 5 people which have an iPhone -- one is not a core Mac.  I was surprise to hear others ask me how to do particular tasks.  The suggests I made seems to be simple (to me), but a lot of these friends are adopting them as part of their core functions with the device.  Some of the questions were how to know when a persistent wrong number is calling the phone while listening to music.  The suggestion was to add the wrong number to the list and give it a ring tone which would be the least liked.  Other questions included: How to shuffle or loop the music?  How to adjust the sound for playing the phone on speaker? (After the firmware upgrade this was a big observation.)  How to make movies available for viewing?  How to use the keyboard more effectively?  I feel I am still learning myself, but I shared my experience or my approach to doing the same task.

The phone is still pleasing me.  I watch videos on the device; in fact I watch a whole season DVD on the device as well as podcasts.  I use the device more than my Video iPod (now called by Apple as iPod Classic).  I do read webpages and don't find it as frustrating due to some poor website designs -- due to color or the font size.  I added a lot of the news websites that are more text based as it loads a lot faster than the graphic intensive site.  I have added pictures for each of my addressbook contacts.  Lastly, I found game applications for the iPhone via Apple's URL:  http://www.apple.com/webapps.

Yes, the iPhone is the preferred phone for spouse and myself.  I have not cancelled the carrier service.  The only item I really want to have for the phone would be custom ringtones.  iToner would be the right application, but it is not functioning after the firmware upgrade.  I am going to give it more time as I am sure there will be a better solution than using iTunes only songs.

----  in fact as I write this post it seems there is an iToner update which marks the item is fixed.  As I am at my in-laws, I will have to wait two days until I am back home to test the software thoroughly. ---- ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-7865N2 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-7865N2?opendocument&comments Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:27:22 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HSP Apple Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HSP?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HSP
I purchased the 8 GB iPhone and was with a co-worker who was trying to get a 4 GB iPhone.  While the Chicago store did not have any 4 GB iPhones, I was able to get my 8 GB iPhone.  On my way home from work, I stopped to visit my spouse's employer.  During our dinner meeting, I showed the new gadget.  Of course it was not a happy gleeful reaction, but when I explained it was $200 cheaper now.  I was asked to pick up a 4 GB iPhone (for my spouse).  Yes, I got 2 iPhones now!  As my previous phones were smartphones (or PDA phones) -- Sprint PPC-6700 and a Sprint Treo 70xw, I did not have much of a culture shock switch to an iPhone.  I can not believe how simple the device is to operate.  In fact it is so simple that my spouse manually entered all 20 contacts information via the iPhone.  [Previously I used Outlook to enter all the contacts for my spouse.]  After three days use, my spouse asked if I was happy with the iPhone.  I think my spouse wanted to know if I was happy with the phone because it was going to dictate how much my spouse should get attached to the phone.   I explained I am very happy with it.  In fact I don't miss the EV DO signal or a built in broadband modem.  In fact I am using this more than my previous phone; for example, I got a lot of my email accounts to work on my iPhone (POP and IMAP).  I am currently trying to get work's Exchange to work on the iPhone, but it is not as easy as my previous smartphone had a Windows Mobile OS.

In fact SPRINT is no more; I just got off the phone today and told Sprint to cancel my contract.  Why?  1) I could not lower my phone plan minutes without signing up for a new 2 year contract.  I don't want to extend I just wanted to lower my month cost and not use the extra services on my old phone.  My iPhone has a cheaper service agreement wihtout paying any extra fees for data.  The only feature I lost was nightly calls beginning  7 PM.  With the minute package I have selected, I could care less because I am not going to use all the 1400 minutes (day or night).   This package is cheaper than Sprint there isn't a large surchase for data services.   Funny story from my experience calling Sprint was that they asked if I would stay if there was no new 2-year agreement.  I said I would have stay if it was offered first rather than trying to fix their mistake as I am cancelling the service.  I tried to negotiate a $250 combined cancel fee, but it was not successful.  But I don't care now that I am rid of Sprint.  I am rid of phones that are thick and chunky.  I am rid of the extra $$ I pay for features I limitedly use.  2) The cancellation cost is cheaper than reducing the serivce plan optinos for the remainder of the agreement.  3) The next generation phones are crappy.  The new StarCom (or HTC) phone is reportedly slower than my current PPC-6700.  The new Treo 750 seems slick and nice, but it seems thick and chunky as you compare it to the Treo 700wx. The screen is also small on the next Treo models.  The iPhone beats either phone in the cell processor speed and at the OS integration.  and finally 4) I don't use the EV DO broadband much.  I was paying for services I rarely use.  I hardly use the internet on my commute home via commuter train due to a weak signal on the cell phone.  In fact I was noticing the Sprint signal is once again weak -- most likely because I am required to do an upgrade which will not happen now.

If I really need a mobile broadband I could always get work to pay for a modem card or I would just get one myself for when I travel on the road or to/from work.  I may do it still, but I am going to wait for now. Tthe broadband card is Sprint or Verizon with a cost of $49.99 or $59.99 a month.  I don't know I need it that bad.

So any of my personal friends who had my old personal cell phone number, it is not valid and will not work after September 17, 2007. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-773HSP http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HSP?opendocument&comments Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:05:47 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HD5 Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HD5?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HD5
Work side, I had an upgrade in my current job to take on the Email Integration solution for my employer's software suite.  Yes, it would include Lotus Notes as well as Outlook (evil hisses I hear now) .  My position is less about Lotus Notes or Outlook but more about how email can be enriched with native hooks to deliver a simple solution for customers to save emails outside the mail environment.   This leaves me with 8 Employees total - 5 in the US and 3 in India.  On the Lotus side I have been working with the Westford branch for upcoming API changes as well as getting 7.0.3 beta, 8.0 beta, and 8.0 Gold (currently).

Travel side, I got to spend a week in India to visit my team.  During the trip I got to travel to a few local temples, visit the local restaurants, and travel out to visit a nearby waterfall.  I never reached the waterfall, but I got to see a lot of the countryside in India and it was a great trip.  The trip was my first time to travel on a short trip (8 travel days) with 5 Business days in India.  No side effects experience from the air travel or the different time zones.   I did loose 12 pounds from all the husseling.  And yes I still have not gained those 12 pounds.

Family side, I had my in-laws travel up to the Chicago area from their home in southern Indiana.  For them the vacation was quite different because they could not comprehend how Chicago (or big city) life is like.   We got to visit Brookfield zoo, Wrigley Field, Field Musuem, and Woodfield mall which is in the burbs.  It took about two weeks for me to recover from all the dining out.  I did eat a little more than I required; overall balancing iteself out which did not lead to any weight gain.  Within my own family, I attended a family reunion and am starting to work on a family reunion website for this branch.  I don't know if I would use Domino, but I am hoping to connect a few application systems together to pull off this website.  I think I am going to use more open source packages such as GEDphpView and a home grown solution in Ruby/Rails.

Sorry I have been away, but I have some upcoming articles in the works.  Articles that are technical and leisure. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-773HD5 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-773HD5?opendocument&comments Mon, 2 Apr 2007 03:30:00 -0600 http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-6ZVBDW Gadgets Patrick Corey http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-6ZVBDW?opendocument&comments http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-6ZVBDW
Linksys iPhone (CIT-400)
I had been watching this device since it was announced back near Christmas.  I had been slow to get it because I wanted to get it from a store than via on-line.  I know I can save money, but I wanted to not be on the bleed edge with this technology.  I did my prep work in getting the SkypeOut for $14.95 (US) when it was first offered.  The phone is pretty good and after I update my Skype account for this device (yes I have two Skype accounts), I was able to make calls to all my family updating them with my VoIP number.  The unit has AAA rechargeable batteries so it did not take me 10 hours to recharge as I have a rechargeable Energizer e2 -- these batteries recharge in 15 minutes.  I been using them for my Apple wireless keyboard and work with much success.   The only caveat with this device is that it did not like being near my entertainment center bass speaker.  I had to move it near my network switches as it seems to have a much stronger signal.

Gateway Monitor (FPD2485W)
This monitor rocks.  I had a few friends who wanted to get 19" monitors and I wanted to get this device after many of my co-workers/friends had told me much about its great performance.  I picked up one 2 weeks ago and like it so much that I sold all my 19" monitors (I had 3 mind you).  With picture-in-picture paired with the capability to swap any input, it makes my computing experience much better.  I never had any visual problems, but i hated having to switch or look at 4 different monitors.  This Sunday Circuit City had a special $55.00 off as well.  I decided to get a second one and basically convert my 22" wide to replace my 14" TV I use in my home office.  So I have what was on 4 monitors on these two Gateway monitors.  It can do DVI, VGA, Composite video, and two component video.  I have two DVI connections and two VGA connections (if you were curious)

iPod Video (80GB model)
After a friend of mine got bitten by the Mac bug, I was able to sold my 60GB iPod to him and got myself the 80GB iPod -- a refurbish model.  This is my first refurbish model from Apple and it is just as good as getting the new model at the store.   I have been using TiVoToGo on the Mac to copy program and converted them for my iPod via Visual Hub by the makers of iSquint.  This sweet Mac software came with a program called the TiVoGoBack Enabler which allows you to input MPEG 2 formatted video on the TiVo.  Other than HDMI, my TiVo can do as much as the AppleTV though it can not play any protected media files.  Most of what I own is not DRM based.

Netgear Switch (GS516T)
I had to simplify my network by merging some of the smaller 8-port switches.  I have a Playstation 3 (PS3) which was part of my Christmas/Birthday gift and it has caused me to move a switch to my living room as I have three network devices there (TiVoes and PS3).  Using more than one 8-port switch also takes up a lot of power plugs.  I saw a refurbish switch at the local Fry's and could not pass up the deal.  I now have one 16-port gigabit switch.  I can say that my network is much faster as I everything is plugged a single switch.  Plus the CIT-400 added one more network device at my home/home office making a told of 14 network devices in this private network.

My next efforts are moving towards some ND8 testing as well as trying to reduce my home worked with two computer desktops which will go to friends and family who need to upgrade or a second computer.  I try to do my part with recycling my old computer parts.

My next gadget?  It might be the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo as my spouse wants my existing MacBook Pro for photo and video editing. I imagine updates to my digital video/photo equipment will be my spouse's next wants.  (grin)  Plus a lot of my family have been recording home videos.  Just a lot of family action as my father is on his last months -- stage 2 cancer and a failed liver.  The cancer was preventable but his generation is not mindful to go to doctor's for preventive medicine.  Anyone don't want to depress you readers.  Just note that I am not on-line as much as I am traveling home to visit him in his last months if not weeks. ]]> http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dxcomments/PCOY-6ZVBDW http://www.dangsite.net/dang/dailythought.nsf/dx/PCOY-6ZVBDW?opendocument&comments