July 2nd, 2009
Recovering From My Blackberry’s Meltdown
I've been having big problems with my BlackBerry Curve this week. First, the battery would only last a few hours. Next, it pretty much stopped responding, taking almost a minute sometimes to highlight an icon. Then, email just stopped coming in.
Turns out, I was out of disk space. Not low. Out. 0 bytes available.
It would have been nice to have had a low space warning and some indication of why email stopped.
I was pointed to this article to help me clean up the space. A few tips on there I knew about, but others I did not, so it was well worth the read.
Now I have 1MB of the 55 free, and things seem to be going ok.
I don't have many apps installed; TwitterBerry, FaceBook, GMail, NewsGator Go, Google Maps, and Handango. I have a 2 GB SD card added, I wish more programs could be stored there, or at least their data.
June 28th, 2009
Two Books For Your Collection
There are two new books out that I hope everyone buys. Yes, I am friends with the authors... so buy buy buy!
Bricklin on Technology by Dan Bricklin. I've been fortunate over the last year to not only meet Dan, but to work with him at Socialtext and become friends with this computing legend. Dan has forgotten more about computers, technology, and sharing information then I'll ever know. I love talking to him not just about the past, such as the days of VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3, but also about the future and how people will interact with computers, software, and devices such as phones and gaming systems. There are few people on the planet that can offer the educated perspective on technology than Dan does.
Twitter For Dummies. Love it or hate, Twitter has become a part of our daily lives. My Boston based friend Laura Fitton (better known as @Pistachio on Twitter) is joined by Leslie Poston (@geechee_girl) and Michael Gruen (@gruen, whom I've not met) in explaining not just the basics of Twitter, but also shedding some light on how businesses can use this new medium.
June 23rd, 2009
Small Companies Can Now Connect And Collaborate For Free
I'm excited to announce that Socialtext is now free for up to 50 users.
Imagine no hardware, no admins, no cost.
Just lots of sharing.
more...
June 15th, 2009
My Ikea Hack
What does two Lack side tables plus a set of Rill casters (plus 3.5" wood screws) make? A bench chair, with storage underneath, on wheels!
I put together one Lack table, then mounted it onto the top of a second. I used two of the extra legs on one of the sides, providing a "back" for things I may slide underneath, like books, pillows, blankets, etc. Flipped it over, and screwed in the casters. Putting a cushion on the top turns it into a place to sit.
I may make four of these, and use them as seats for my kitchen table/island.
June 15th, 2009
The New Notes Desktop?
Nope, its Safari 4.
I've had a "start page" since the mid-90's for the links that I use. Its a hand crafted HTML page called starthere.htm, that I update manually using a text editor. I think the Safari version is a bit nicer.
June 15th, 2009
My Mac OS Upgrade Saved Disc Space
This weekend I updated my Mac from 10.5.4 to 10.5.7, and my harddrive went from 127.93 GB used, to 126.72 GB used. That is kind of cool, A gigabyte savings after an update. Nice.
I guess they were making the space for Safari though. 200MB browsers, who would'a thunk it! ;-)
June 10th, 2009
Step Away From Notes For A While And This Happens
Those that understand the true power of Notes have always preached the building of cool applications. Well, this app I could not have dreamed up in a million years. Great job Lotus 911.
More about it on Nathan's blog and Ed's blog.
June 2nd, 2009
I wish this was the next Star Wars movie
I (and a million other Star Wars fans) would love to see the next movie focus on the Old Republic, thousands of years before the characters we currently know.
May 31st, 2009
I still prefer Palm
Palm trees, that is. Yesterday's addition to the loft decoration. (that is not the final colour for the doors, they still have to be stained)
May 28th, 2009
The Doors Are Hung And Swinging
It took about 5 weeks to have them made, but this morning my 34" * 84" * 1 3/4" custom mahogany doors arrived. It took two of us to carry each door, and even then it was a challenge!
The carpenters spend 5 hours framing, hanging, and building the trim and baseboards. Since I don't have a garage, all the cutting was done inside. Thank goodness I covered my furniture. Still, the place was (is) covered in sawdust.
Tada... the doors are hung. Next up is painting the bedroom (behind the doors), painting the new wall, staining the doors, buying/install the door pulls, and having the custom blackout drapes (4 weeks) installed for the bedroom windows and the window above the door.
(sorry for the repost, looks like the images were corrupt in the one from last night)
May 19th, 2009
What are talking about, eh?
Hi everyone. This might have been one of my longest blogging hiatuses. My apologies, but the events of the last few weeks really took up all my time and energy. If you've been following me on Twitter, you know a lot has been going on, some bad, but also lots of good.
The big news is, this weekend (after months of talking about it) I finally moved back home from Boston to Toronto.
All my stuff is here, including my car, but I'm not quite ready to be living in my new loft full time yet. I'll be finishing up some renovations, painting, getting cable and internet hooked up, getting curtains, and some other odds and ends done, then the bachelour pad will be all set. (and hopefully not be a bachelour pad for long)
I'll get back to covering technology related items soon (both in the Socialtext and Lotus worlds) but I imagine there will be a few posts about moving and home ownership coming up as well. This has been A LOT more complicated and time consuming process than I expected. My advice, only move countries if you really really really want to, which I did.
All the comments and support from my friends, family, coworkers, and the on-line community (yes, you count as friends too) have been awesome, and I really appreciate it.
Welcome To Canada!
May 4th, 2009
IBM Lotus’s Collaboration For You Video
http://www.youtube.com/collaboration4you
Not sure why they let this guy in though :-)
April 26th, 2009
Be A Hero To The Lives You Touch. A Tribute To My Grandmother
Sadly, on Wed April 22nd, Jean Weisbrod passed away. My grandmother meant the world to me. I can only hope to bring to the world, the same level of joy and love that she did. At her funeral, I spoke the words below.
Our grandmother was a superhero.
She could not fly, nor stop bullets.
Her powers were more subtle, yet far more impacting.
She had the ability to make the world a better place.
She did this, by always seeing the good in people.
No matter what a person's faults may be, our grandmother always had faith in them. Always.
She loved unconditionally.
She was the center of this family.
This large extended family of everyone here today, and those that could not join us.
She brought people together, making everyone closer.
No matter what was going on in people's lives, she knew about it.
Because everyone went to visit her, or called her, or passed information to her via others.
I would often speak to Bub on the phone for an hour or more, getting caught up on family news, and yes sharing a little gossip.
You have to understand, I've never spoken to anyone else on the phone for an hour.
But with Bub the time always just flew by.
She would tell me stories, and the were always about the things people had accomplished, never a harsh word was uttered.
Her power was to always see the good in people.
************
When I would visit bub, I'd walk into her room , and see her sitting there in her chair, usually watching the Young and the Restless.
I would get a big hug and kiss, and then I would gaze around her room.
No matter how many times I was in that room, there was always something that stood out to me.
There on the wall, or sitting on the window sill, were family photos of my grandmother...
but some were with people I've never met, or there was a gift from some I did not know.
Now I was extremely close to my grandmother.
Yet I could walk into her room, and discover other people that loved her.
See other lives that see touched.
That is incredible to me.
The reach of her influence. The reach of her love.
It fills my heart to know she meant that much to so many people.
Her power was to make every life she touched, a little better.
************
But the extent of her influence did not reach just our family, and the extended community which knew her.
Often after I would visit Bub, I would mention it on the internet, but I never really gave it too much thought.
It was just me, openly sharing the events of my life.
So on Wed, when Bub passed away, I wanted my friends to know. I left a brief message online...
"My grandmother passed away today. She was 98 & brought love to everyone around her. To help me celebrate her life, pls hug someone you love."
I did not tell people because I wanted their sympathy.
I mentioned it because I wanted my memory of that day, to have something positive associated with it that I could look back on.
What happened was wonderful.
Dozens and dozens of people from all around the world, responded telling me how much my stories of Bub over the years meant to them, and how much they would miss reading them.
While they did not know her personally, what it did was inspire them to contact their loved ones.
Call or visit their grandmother, a parent, a child, a sibling, or a friend.
So while Bub was the center of this family, she was also the catalyst for spreading love to people all around the world, even to complete strangers.
Her power was to make the world a better place.
************
When you leave here today, we'd like to ask you to do something for us, well for Bub.
It is not difficult, and it won't cost you a cent.
We want you to make the world a better place.
Forgive someone without asking for an apology.
Call someone you've not spoken to in a while.
Forget about some silly fight you're having.
Be more patient.
Be more tolerant.
Say thank you, and I love you far more often.
Most importantly, always see the good in people.
That is the way our grandmother lived, and these actions can change the world.
Be a hero to the lives you touch, like Bubby was to ours.
April 23rd, 2009
The value proposition of forums is diminishing daily
I wanted to introduce everyone to Socialtext's newest Sales Executive, Sarah Denman. Sarah used to sell software at another "2.0" vendor, but has now joined the awesome team at Socialtext. We're really excited about it. Why? Well read this.
"I can tell you that after less than a week with Socialtext, I’m absolutely convinced that this technology IS the future of internal and partner/B2B collaboration. We aren’t playing Ent. 2.0 catchup here, folks. We’re developing truly innovative applications that change the frame of reference around collaboration, that work with you to make what you do easier, better, smarter, faster. Did I mention I was pumped?"
April 19th, 2009
I wish Notes did this
Tonight my mom asked me to make the fonts on her email larger. This took 10 seconds on her Mac using Mail.app. You can adjust the Mailbox font (the folders on the left), the message list font (the views/folders that contain the emails), and the message font. In Notes, you need to be a Developer to do this. (please correct me if I am wrong)
Then I remembered I had created an IdeaJam request for this already. Please vote for it here:
