Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2012

Apple iOS6 Calendaring bug Affecting Exchange (and by extension, Lotus)

One of the things that the company I work for (and most others) do on a regular basis is send meeting invites to people at other companies and on various other systems.  Notes meeting handling isn't perfect and we've had trouble with Blackberry and Google calendars in the past, but nothing like the trouble we've had this week. It seems that when we send a meeting invite out and one of our recipients cancels, they take over the meeting as chair and cancel it for the remaining participants too - even if they've already accepted. It's taken us a while to get our head around the problem, particularly as it happened with several different meetings and multiple outside sources.  Naturally, you presume that several systems out there can't be wrong and it must be a problem at our end - even if we haven't changed anything.  Right? Wrong! As it turns out, the recently released Apple iOS 6 has a flaw which trips up Microsoft Exchange systems not configured acco

How to Disable Phone-based data for the iPhone 4S

Why would you do this anyway? With the mobile data connection disabled, the iPhone can still hook into wireless networks, including those at home, in shopping centres and hotels, at McDonalds and Starbucks, on public transport and at the office to surf the internet and to receive data. It just won't be able to access data where there is either no internet wi-fi connection or where you haven't set it up.  As a means of keeping mobile costs down however, the wi-fi option is certainly better than a mobile data one. In particular, if you're travelling overseas, you'll want to disable the high-cost mobile internet option. Why can't I just use the Airport Mode? Airport mode is designed to allow your phone to be used on aircraft (once the plane has levelled out).  It will prevent the phone from receiving calls effectively turning it into a brick that plays games. Why wouldn't I just change my plan? You certainly could change your plan to not include data h

Moving from Blackberry to the iPhone 4S

Before I start on this series, I want to make my starting position clear.  I'm generally "phone-agnostic".  I've had a Blackberry Bold 9000 for years and before that it was a Blackberry 8800.  Prior to that I had a Nokia "dumb-phone". My only non-work phone choice recently was a HTC Android device for my wife. I've never spent much time with Apple and I've traditionally disliked their computers.  I guess that means that; 1. You have to take any criticisms here with a pinch of salt. 2. If I end up really liking the device, then it's even better than I say. The longer term plan for this series will be for me to start looking at how to use Lotus Traveler to make the iPhone a secure device like Blackberry. Initial Thoughts Packaging The apple packaging is very slick and much nicer looking than the blackberry packaging.  (A win to Apple). Weight The apple device weighs considerably more than the blackberry bold - probably twice

Packt Celebrates 1000 IT Titles with a FREE Gift

You may remember that I've reviewed a few of Packt Publishing's books on this site in the past; The excellent IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 User Guide by Karen Hooper IBM Lotus Domino Classic Web Application Development Techniques by Richard G. Ellis (Review Part 1 , Part 2 ) IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5.1: The Upgrader's Guide by Tim Speed, Barry Rosen, Joseph Anderson, Dick McCarrick, Bennie Gibson, Brad Schauf and David Byrd PACKT Publishing is releasing their 1000th IT title this month and are celebrating the event in style. Anyone who is already registered with Packt or anyone who signs up for a free Packt account before 30 September 2012 will get a surprise gift. So don't delay, head over to Packt and sign up. http://www.packtpub.com They have easily the best collection of domino books and you might snag yourself a bargain as well as a surprise gift. Other Useful Packt Links IBM Books ( http://www.packtpub.com/books/ibm ) Free eBooks ( http://w

Adjusting our Word VBA Macros for Office 2010 (64 bit)

We've had it easy these last few years. You could just upgrade Microsoft Office and not have to worry about file compatibility or about your macros not working.  I was just beginning to relax. Unfortunately Microsoft never relaxes and the latest "innovations" extend past the annoying ribbon interface (I've been using it for over a year and I still consider it annoying) to clobber both file formats and macros. The File Format Problem The file format problem is easy to fix. First of all, I've changed our defaults to save in Office 97-2003 format.   There's no sense in our company posting files for public consumption in a format that they can't read. In case you're wondering where to change this, click File, then Options and click on SAVE. If your fleet is still using Office 2003, you can download a compatibility pack which will enable it to read the new office formats. http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3 64 Bit API Dec

How to Create an Auto-Response Mail Message in Lotus Notes 8.5.3+

Why would you do this? Suppose that you have an externally accessible generic email address for your company; support@mycompany.com or info@mycompany.com. You might expose this to the web and allow people to send messages to you. Setting up an auto-response email will tell the senders that their message reached its destination and that it will be dealt with accordingly.  It's also good practice to include links to FAQs or other useful information. Why 8.5.3 The techniques we'll be using here work in older versions of Notes but some of the options seem to have moved around in 8.5.3.  I figured it was a good time to show you where they've moved to. The Procedure Start Domino Designer and open the Mail file to be modified.  A really quick way to do this is to right-click on the application tab and choose "Open in Designer". In the Left hand panel of designer, expand Code and then double-click Agents.  A new window should appear. Click the action