Results tagged “Lotusphere” from ScottandMargo.net

I didn't make it this year, obviously. I did try to keep up with what was going on in Orlando this week but life and work haven't been very helpful in allowing me to keep track of what's going on 862 miles away. I actually haven't seen the OGS stream yet either. Below I'm posting some of the thoughts I'm having about Lotusphere 2007:

Quickr looks awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on it and start testing. It looks fantastic. It looks like it's going to be a great answer to what Sharepoint gives out of the boxes (because it's hard to have a Sharepoint with only one box, no?). It's providing all of the Quickplace functionality plus blogs, wiki's, RSS feeds and some other stuff, all with a shiny new Web2.0 skin. With its integration into Microsoft Office and Windows Explorer, I'm wondering where Domino Document Manager comes in. I don't think that Quickr will absorb DDM but I can hope that using DDM as Quickr's repository will be easier. I'm glad to see that they're trying to make up for the fact that Quickplace hasn't changed much since 3.0 in 2003.
onnections sounds fantastic in theory, but I wonder about it in practice. It's probably going to be one of those things where some companies would use the hell out of it right away while it won't take in others no matter how much it's marketed. I'd be interested in seeing this in use outside the internal corporate sphere. Something like integrating it into the Notes.net profiles or something similar to allow the Lotus community to come together around.

I didn't see or hear anything about Domino Administrator, the Domino server or Domino Document Manager. They showed Notes and Designer 8 but no Administrator and there wasn't anything that I could find out about changes to the Domino 8 server. That's where I live when I do Domino...the server and Administrator. Lotusphere 2006 had a lot about R7. I hope we get more info before it comes out.

I really appreciate the Taking Notes and IDoNotes podcasts cranking it out at Lotusphere. Bruce and Julian and Chris did a great job at giving us a a good idea of the feel of what's going on at Lotusphere 2007 through their podcasts. With the madness that is Lotusphere, it's hard for those of us that aren't there to get an idea of what's going on down there. I know that blogging is hard down there and I can imagine that getting that many podcasts out with everything else going on has to be exhausting.

Technorati Tags: Jamfest, Lotusphere2007, Technology

Last year was my first Lotusphere. I had a bad plane ride over. Then I had the shuttle ride from hell over to All Star Sports where I was booked. The next five days were one heck of a ride. I learned a lot, walked a lot, had a lot of highs and had some exceptional lows as well. I had no idea how physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting it was going to be.

In the past, I always thought it would be interesting to go to Lotusphere, but never enough to really push to go. Now that I've been, I want to keep going back...I want to have another go and not be so overwhelmed like I was for Lotusphere 2006. This year's a bit different than last year for reasons I might go into later. I'm going to try to get out for Lotusphere 2008 but a lot of things can happen between now and then so I'll have to wait and see.

I'm hoping that more comes out about Domino 8 on the server side this year. A lot has been said about the Notes 8 client but the server is where I get things done. I don't think anything has been said about what's changed in the Admin and Designer clients either so it would be nice to have more information there. I haven't worked for an organization that deployed Notes clients to the end users in many years so, while interesting, the Notes 8 client changes aren't going to affect me much in the short term. I'm also looking forward to seeing more of the updates Domino Document Manager and Quickplace which are at least in desperate need of UI updates.

I'll be spending time as I can in the Lotusphere Live site if the office firewall will let me out to it. Either way, I'll be keeping an eye on the usual sources for info of the new and interesting things that come out of Lotusphere 2007.

It's supposed to be an interesting year and I'm looking forward to it.

Technorati Tags: Lotus, Lotusphere, Lotusphere2007

So, the guitar that I won from Otto's Daughter arrived on the Saturday before Christmas. The band wanted me to send them pictures, which panicked me a bit because my digital camera's been down for quite a long time because of a missing battery charger. I got a replacement and got it done over the long weekend.

Here's the stuff that's packed with the guitar:

An Otto's Daughter yo yo (a yo yo? I love yo yo's!)
G's sticks with an initialed note that they're from the show
The setlist from the 15 Dec show
A screw with a nut on it (!)
Mo's strap (I almost feel bad about this one, but it is a comfortable strap)
A promo poster for the show and guitar giveaway signed by the band ("This ain't the poster - JVB" on the back)
An OD promo card
Four Otto's Daughter picks from HorrorPicks
A dirty rag (ooo...sweat from the show)
OD stickers
(not pictured) Bubble wrap personally squeezed by Jacqueline Van Bierk
(not pictured) A plastic tag (couldn't find it)
(not pictured) A business card for a place in CA that does guitar lessons

Not a Gibson, in front of a tree

SG Hearts OD

Everyone needs a screw with a nut on it...and staples...

Baby's first chord. With me anyway (JVB has had her way with it already). Em if it's not obvious from the way the photo came out...the 1 and 4 fingers aren't touching.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be poking around the local pawn shops for a decent amp. I don't think I'm up for the commitment of having actual live lessons yet. Will see what I can do with what's available online (I'm working on chord transitions with pivot and guide fingers lately, plus I'm looking through some tabs) and will do a progress check in a couple of months. The goal at the moment is to be able to say that I can play it by the time Otto's Daughter get around to playing somewhere around here.

My longer term goal is to be able to hang in there at Lotusphere's JAMfest next time I go. I'm not going to be at Lotusphere 2007 so I have at least a year to learn how to play the instrument and figure out how to work my musical sensibilities into more of a blues influenced situation.

This could be interesting.

Technorati Tags: Gadgets, GuitarHero, Jamfest, Lotusphere, Music

Back in April, I did a post that was only half joking about what I was doing to prepare for the next Lotusphere JAMfest. Here's the follow-up post that I mentioned. First, a little story:

Back when I was packing for Lotusphere 2006, one of the things I packed is an M-Audio Oxygen 8. It's a small portable MIDI controller for use with some of the software I have on my Powerbook. The intent was to use then time I had between the last session of the night and the first session of the morning to work on music. It didn't end up working out that way, because in transit, the USB connector broke and I don't own a MIDI-to-USB converter...so the musical hermit routine was done and I had to find other things to do at night. Fortunately, there's a lot of that in Orlando (rather, Lake Buena Vista) during Lotusphere.

Here's what I've been working on since then:

I spent some time looking for a replacement USB connector for the Oxygen 8 when I came across an inexpensive Edirol PCR-50 on eBay. That solved most of my problems with having a broken USB connector so I bought it. I'll still get the Oxygen 8 fixed, but it's not as urgent these days. Yes, there's no external audio hookup in the picture, and there's no power line. I set this up for the picture and then put the Powerbook back where it normally lives. When I'm playing around, I either have headphones or have it hooked into the 5.1 surround system that's not in the picture.

I'm doing two things with this setup. I'm learning how to use the software and I'm learning how to play a keyboard. I'm hoping that this will give me the vocabulary I need to find and express what will eventually become my music. I'm also looking ahead to Lotusphere and JAMfest. I'm thinking of ways to fit into how that whole thing goes down both in terms of songs that I'd be able to play that other people might want to play there, and also figuring out how to improv and follow the rest of the band as it starts really jamming.

I may or may not make it to Lotusphere 2007, and it's possible that none of the above ends up working whether I do make it there or not. But I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm not going to be happy til I do what I need to do to find out if it'll work out. Who knows? It could be a wonderful thing.

Technorati Tags: Gadgets, Jamfest, Lotusphere, Music, Technology

I'm about two thirds of the way through the hard level. Some days I'm better than others but I'm getting better at it all the time. Won't help me with most of what I'd expect to see at Jamfest now (though Spanish Castle Magic and Crossroads, maybe Godzilla could be close). I'm having a hell of a time with Guitar Hero. It's loads of fun, and has a very playable learning curve. It's actually kind of seductive...when you start getting good you're almost left feeling that you could pick up a real guitar and play it on that too. The music's good too if you're into guitar rock.

There's a conversion out there where you can plug these controllers into USB and use it as a MIDI controller. That could be fun.

I have some other ideas for Jamfest next time. Will post on that when I have it more fleshed out. It might work out, but it might not. Will see.

Technorati Tags: Lotusphere, Review, Music, Jamfest, GuitarHero