Scoot’s thoughts on all things technology, design, photography and life in general !
Just purchased the business card reader application for my iPhone 3GS and I must recommend that it works a treat. I purchased this because I had a growing number of business cards scattered around the office and in my bags etc.
Business Card Reader
So far I have used it on about 10 cards and only had two issues. The first was due to worn print on the card which the software made a couple of recognisation issues, but these were limited to the @ symbol and one other character. The second one was related to bracketed 0 in phone numbers, for example +33 (0) 12345. But this is easily fixed with the editing option.
I would give this app 8 out of 10, but beware it really needs autofocus of the 3GS or an adpater for older versions of the iPhone.
So 45 days have passed since starting the new role, so its 45 elapsed days and only 26 working days due to weekends, holiday and bank holidays. Having a blast so far with learning loads of new products not just Beehive, but lots of familiar concepts and architectures due to JEE. Have spent some time build and demoing the product whilst learning on the job in terms of the capabilities of Beehive.
Looking forward to the start of the new quarter which looks like it will be very busy with lots of interesting leads coming in now for the product. Likely to be a trip to Netherlands soon and then we shall see where else I need to go. One thing I have noticed that I have been so busy that my blog and twitter entries have tailed off a lot, but hopefully I will address that soon.
It is good to see that Mac’s have been embraced by the Oracle population as a business tool although its not standard issue. As with other companies it is creeping in as an alternative. Wondering if I should try the Linux desktop at some stage but this will need me to run a VMWare client image for some demos especially the Outlook integration. Nice to see a large number of iPhone in use and the option to use either IMAP or push IMAP service on it. Enjoying using the Blackberry 8900 as a busy device especially with its huge battery life. I will see what Apple do with the WWDC event in a week or so with the iPhone, might be worth upgrading if battery life is better.
I have loads of training materials to get through over the next month and need to look at what other training materials I want to do in the coming year. My training schedule has been something like this:
- Induction to Oracle
- Product and Development Training on Beehive
- Sales Training
- Red Stack Training (Beehive related products only)
Look at development tools as well to gain an understanding of the art of the possible going forward. Other areas will be related to portals and other E2.0 products including ECM, RM and IRM.
I will post a similar update in a month or two….
Presentation went well and the general discussions around SN and some of the public site was good. Challenging questions on driving value to customers as nothing out of the box per se as there is a reliance on the end user adding content, but once growth happens then things really start to take off.
Will work out where to post the presentation outside of IBM so that others can see some of the information.
One thing that was different today was the fact I used my MacBook and Keynote for my presentation. Really like th ease of use of both the app and the hardware so will use more in the future. Just need IBM or someone to buy me a MacBook Pro for work rather than using my personal machines.
A few days have passed since the MacBook Pro order and I thought I would write a quick update for everyone. The nice UPS man called at about 3pm on Wednesday this week with two boxes from my friends at Apple. The boxes contained all I had ordered including incase sleeve, vga adapter, wacom bamboo and MacBook Pro.
Unpacking was the usual pleasure they just know how to design fab packaging for Apple product, may be that’s where my money goes when you buy one of their products 
MacBook Pro in a box
Once out of the box it was time to copy my data from the original MacBook so that I could get working straight away.
Software Update in progress
Data transfer
Once all things were transfer I installed iLife 09, iWork 09, Aperture, OpenOffice and Lotus Symphony. I then spent the rest of the evening installing the Bamboo software for the tablet and testing out the capabilities. I have only played with this a few time and only for a short period of time so will write an indepth review in a week or so. First impressions are its fab and looking forward to creating some pictures with it.
Pleased so far with the purchases and the screen is fab more to follow over the coming weeks
The time has come to look at a replacement for my first generation black MacBook. When I first got it I upgraded the RAM to 2GB to give me the extra boost, since then I have twice replaced the hard disk increasing capacity from 80Gb to 200Gb and now 320GB. The two larger drives are 7200rpm so give a bit extra zip.
Two main reasons for the upgrade are current one struggles a bit with processing aperture library additions such as creating previews and thumbnails from the RAW images. The second one is I have had a better 2008 than anticipated so can look at an upgrade now rather than in six months or so. There is actually a third reason in the fact is I want to be able to run VM images and the current 2GB and lower horsepower is a constraint.
So what to go for, well it will have to be a Mac and I have been researching and conversing on what to plumb for so here was my thought process:
Photos – Need large screen (could use external), processing power for RAW image processing, large number of actual files and potential to start using Photoshop in the future to supplement Aperture.
Music – So I have two things related to music that I would like to use my MB/MBP for. The first is the standard iTunes activities including ripping downloading etc. The second thing I use it for is the provider of MP3 for my USB mixer. I run the mixer plus I have Traktor Studio software for mixing and with the current MB it has stuttered a few times.
VMWare – I use VMWare for work to run demos, learn about new software and dabble with new technologies. As this is my home system I want the VMWare tools as a mechanism to run the odd Windows App and as a fall back in case I need to drop back to an old version of something. I can also use this as a third demo system is I need to set up something more complex.
Drawing/Graphics/Presentations/iWeb – I have been wanting to do more on the drawing and graphics front so need to be good enough to grow if I need more horsepower. I don’t expect this will be a big one at this stage for resources. Also processing and managing my website via iWeb which can be resource intensive depending on the graphics included.
Office type applications – So I will also use it for office type applications including iWorks, Lotus Symphony and OpenOffice. These are not very intensive applications but the faster to load the better.
Misc – I expect that there may be other applications in the future but not any that need a great deal of resources at this stage
After much thought I have decided the following kit will be purchased:
MacBook Pro 15.4″
- 2.53GHz Processor
- 4GB RAM
- 320GB HD
- Nvidia GeForce 9600M (512MB) and 9400M Graphics subsystem
- Dual Layer SuperDrive DVD/CD
So why this instead of the MB, well I thought that in reality it boils down to the fact that a larger portable screen is better for photos, faster processor for Aperture and editing software is really needed and thirdly should help it last longer in terms of lifecycle.
Once that decision was made I had to have a look round on the apple site for accessories, the first one being mini displayport to VGA adpator. As you may already know Apple has a tendency to use very small adapters for displays in it MB/MBP range hence the need to buy an adaptor. Of coourse they don’t just have one there are three options. VGA, DVI and Dual DVI to drive large screens.
The second accessory is immediate protection for the beast, I have an Incase neoprene sleeve for my current MB and it is fab so go one for the new MBP as it just gives me the added protection.
The final item I purchased was a Wacom Bamboo pen tablet. Why you may ask? Well after messing around recently I decided that I really needed a pen based graphics aid so that I can do some freehand drawing on the computer. On the Apple site they had two Bamboo’s listed and I couldn’t see the difference apart from the price one was £51 and the other £40 with my discount. So I thought as a try lets go for the cheapest one and see how I get on. As it turns out on the actual order confirmation they are one of the same, except one is cheaper and listed as a bundle. How bizarre.
So now need to wait for all items to be packed and shipped and hoping that the snow melts so the delivery will take place this week. Once it has all arrived and unpacked I will write some reviews on the purchases…
So after a wait I have updated my iPh0ne to v2.2 and at the same time I have also updated the RebelSIM card I am using as a hack. The hack allows me to use my vodafone SIM in the locked on O2 iPhone.
There were issues reported that 3G may not work with the new RebelSIM software, but other wise all should be normal. On first use I saw that I was only getting a 2G data signal so resigned that it was as stated a known issue. When I went into the office I get a 3G signal and thought fab.
The second thing I tried was to pairing with the BMW bluetooth and would you believe it it works, thank you Apple for sorting the 3G bluetooth code with 2.2, fingers crossed that it doesn’t break with 2.2.1 or even 2.3.
Since pairing with the car kit data seems to have disappeared from the phone, I need to spend some more time investigating but I am currently baffled with this one so may try and update 2.2.1 and see if any improvement.
I will keep you posted on this one…
Last day in Orlando was mainly packing, shopping and flying…
Finished packing in the morning and then off to the Mall with all via Downtown Disney to checkin and drop off our bags. Virgin service was excellent and bags checked in and out of the way so on the Florida Mall for a couple of hours of shopping prior to lunch.
First stop had to be the Apple store to drool over all the shiny MacBooks and see what else to buy whilst here. So after about 20mins it was time to move on, but not before purchasing iWork 09 and a mightly mouse (wireless) leveraging our corporate discount.
Next stop was Abercrombie & Fitch to pickup some tee-shirts before wandering around a bit more in the mall. The next stop was Banana Republic for more tops and then off to Gap and Gap Kids.
Finally got to the resturant Bucco di Peppie for lunch and tucked into a lasagna, garlic bread, beer and salad. All very nice and tab picked up by Graham for the food.
Next stop the airport for more waiting around, got my last bag checked in and then through security in no time at all before heading towards the gate. Hang around the main area with a Frappuccino and OJ before heading on to the plane for a quick 7hr 20mins trip home. The plane had loads of spare seats so that was a good sign for a comfortable trip. Food was not as good as the trip over to Orlando, but was edible. Chatted to Chris M, Chris F and Kristy before getting recommendations from the stewardesses on choice of perfume and aftershave from duty free, decided on Marc Jacob – Daisy for CJ and Prada Amber pour Homme. In the end both are nice considering I didn’t get to smell them before purchase, so thank you ladies for the help.
Watched Rockingrolla and some of Wall-E whilst reading mags before trying to get some sleep on the plane.
Landed on time at 8.30 and collected the bags before heading home. Got back at around 10am and was greeted by a beaming CJ and LCJ who were happy to see me, had coffee and then decided to grab a couple of hours sleep. Woke up about 2ish and then had some lunch before relaxing for the rest of the day.
Cool Keynote session on social networking with HSBCs Ian Haynes on stage talking about how they use connections. There was PLI and SuccessFactory on stage talkling about there experiences with Connections
Mac to the Future session
Overview of what Lotus is doing in this space..
Lotus Notes 8.5
- Feedreader, Sametime, Widgets, CAE
- Spotlight support for searching
- Unicode
- Cross-platform support migrate Window to Mac
- Multi-user support, run from any user account
- MAC keystrokes supported in RTE
- Mighty Mouse support
- Java agent support
- PErformance
- Applescript
- NSD crash protection
Lotus Notes 8.5.1
- Symphony support directly in client and support for activities plugin
- Improvements UI in conjunction in Apple UI team
- Use iWork bundles seamlessly as attachments (Round trip, fidelity)
- FTI for attachements
- Quality improvements
Dragging objects such as graphic in safari into an email demoed, drag contacts from ST embedded to email to, cc, bcc, body fields, neat features. Support for bundles is cool, support for spotlight looking good.
Symphony on MAC
Sametime Meetings on MACs cool and about time… Adding livescreen share from 1 mac to any other platform. Lotus Connections Firelox support 2 on Tiger and Leopard, Investigating support for FF3 and Safari 3.1 for 2.5 of connections.
iNotes back instead of DWA fully supports safari on the MAC working with Apple and of course ultralite support for iPhone.
In symphony, can do Open send to mail….auto attaches the presentaion/doc or spreadsheet, Offline activities will work and all looking cool. Nice support for ST Unyte.
iPhone Applications support coming soon
- Connections Application on iPhone
- Sametime support on iPhone
More to come in 2009
Today up at 6ish dressed and email checked off to get breakie meeting up with Karen and Rob. I bumped into Brian Campbell and Dan Kikuchi and chatted about our time working on the Portal 6.0 beta programmes and how the economy is in both the US and UK.
After breakfast off to INV105 Glimpsing the Future: Report from IBM Research & The Center for Social Software with Brendan Buckingham. Irene Greif and team went through the what research are doing in the Social Software space. This session was an excellent insight into some of the project on going within IBM especially the Social Accessibility tools demo’d by the team from Tokyo Labs. The tool was an excellent example of social networking and the crowdsourcing of getting content accessible.
The other neat research project explained was related to travel and this was entitled Sojourn/ Voyager The tool will basically allows you to interact with fellow travelers and start to manage trips, with co-workers to allow you to benefit from sharing cars/taxi and meeting for dinner etc. The tool will also allow you to to see recommendations on things like hotels and airlines similar to content that is available in tripadvisor.
Coffee with Brendan Tutt checked in at home and then went to AD401 IBM Lotus Connections Customizations with Karl Brooks and Mike Roach. The session looked at CSS customisations, header and footers and finally widgets.
INV101R From Web 2.0 to Enterprise 2.0: Collaboration, Productivity, and Adoption in the Enterprise. Reckling and Kogan providing more information on Web 2.0 to E2.0. Lots of references to books on mass collaboration including Clay Shirky Here comes everybody. Walked through three scenarios on using E2.0 in business.
AD405 Are you REALLY taking advantage of an integrated Lotus Collaboration experience – Thomas Schaeck and Derek Carr gave an informative overview of the services available to consume and produce with REST APIs within the Lotus product suite including demos of Quickr, Connections integration with Portal with improvements coming with an iWidget for Quickr libraries
Caught up with Jon and had a look around the showcase, store and bookshop. Spoke with MainSoft team on MOSS and WSS integration with Lotus products.
ID217 IBM Lotus iNotes for the Apple iPhone and iPod with Will Williams and Eric Portner with some really good demo on a simulator for the iPhone. I have used the Lotus Greenhouse Ultralite mode in iNotes (see greenhouse.lotus.com to get access to the service). It is really good and we are waiting for access to the internal pilot for this service at IBM.
As promised I said I was post an update on my iPhone and how I am finding things. Firstly I haven’t moved to v2.2 at this stage as I know it will break my turbosim card and therefore I would be unable to use with my Vodafone sim. I know that updates to the turbosim are available and I am in the process of sorting this out so I can upgrade.
So here is a list of the applications I have installed on my iPhone:
- Apple Remote
- Wikipanion
- MobileFiles
- News UK Lite
- Discover
- Dictionaire
- Currency
- iFooty
- BBC Reader
- Google Earth
- Google
- Say Who
- Facebook
- Twitterrific
- PeguinLite
- TicTacFree
- PAC-MAN
- VirtualPoolLite
So a real mixture here, but the most common one I use are:
- Twitterrific
- iFooty
- BBC Reader
- Facebook
- News UK Lite
- Currency
Top application for me based on use and usefulness is Twitterrific as I use this as my main update method to Twitter when out and about. The application just works and is easy to use on the iPhone although I wish I could find a quick way to reply to someone, I am sure I am just being a numpty here.
So what about my other faves at the moment, well here is a brief summary of each one.
iFooty – For all my american cousins, it is proper football none of this picking the ball up and running and wearing shoulder pads, leave that for Dallas Basically I use it as the quick way to find our Footy scores and news which works a treat. Content comes from the Beeb so is good quality and up to date.
BBC Reader – Use this a lots to pick up content from the BBC news site, its a quick way to navigate content on the news site and much faster than using the browser.
Facebook – Use this less these days than when I first got the phone as I update via twitter now so one update for both, but still a very good application. Only bug I have is the time stamps on the status and notifications are wrong they must be using the servers local time settings and not mine.
News UK Lite – Good and quick way to see summary news informations from several different sources. I use this a lot just to do a quick check on what going on in the world.
Currency - I have installed this app for when I am travelling and expect to use it a lot when in Orlando next week at Lotusphere. The application is simple to use and a quick way of calculating costs when out and about.
I will let you know how I get on with the update and what other applications I can find.
