About Gavin Bollard

I live in Sydney, Australia with my wife and two kids.

I currently work in the payments sector but before that I was in mining and manufacturing. Prior to that I was in local government.

I've always been very keen on technology and I'm a bit of a "jack of all trades".

I'm active in a whole bunch of circles including a lot of Aspergers and Computing groups. My favourite non-computing pastimes involve watching films, walking and being with my family.

My Specialities

My specialities are probably; IT Project Management, IT Strategy, Network Infrastructure, Microsoft Office365 Cloud, IBM Notes/Domino Administration and Development, DR/BCP and Risk Management, IT Compliance, Google Systems, General Cloud Technologies, Computer Systems Security, PC SOE Development and Deployment, Mobile Technologies, Microsoft Windows Desktop and Server, Web Technologies, Documentation, Blogging, Marketing, Website and Extranet Development & Management, User Training, Technical Writing, Asperger's Syndrome

A bit of Computing History

I first got involved with BBC Micro computers in the eighties (as a student) but instead of doing my school work on them, I started writing my own programs. I became quite proficient during the latter stages of the DOS years and I got on board Windows when Windows /286 was released. I've been on Windows ever since though I dabble quite a bit in other OSes as well.

I was heavily involved with Visual BASIC from version 1.0 through to 6.0 (until Microsoft destroyed it) and I discovered Lotus Notes at version 3.0 and have stuck with it since then. Today, I'm an IT Manager and I deal with a a lot of projects and compliance but I still prefer the 'hands on' approach and I love playing with new software.

How to Change Your Notification Options for New Lotus Notes Mail in version 8.x

Don't worry, I'm not patronizing you (my readers), I just decided to re-document this for one of our internal users and thought you might want to be able to use it in your own user documentation. WHAT IS THIS DOCUMENT ABOUT? Some people who don't get a lot of mail, like to be notified when such an event occurs. Notification can be; via a sound via a pop-up box via the system tray (where the computer clock is) The pop up box looks like this; Other people, who like myself, get too much mail would rather not be notified. The aim of this document is to tell you how (and where) to turn these options on and off. CHANGING YOUR SETTINGS To change your settings from the Notes 8.x client; On the Menu, click File , then Preferences... On the left hand side , click on the little plus sign to the left of Mail to expand the options. Click on the option marked Sending and Receiving . In the middle section, under receiving, you can control your notifications. If you untick the box mark

How to Create a Bootable DVD Using Nero Burning ROM 9

I often need to create bootable CDs and DVDs but it's weird because I frequently end up buring myself a new coaster instead. It's not that the process is difficult, just that nero has a few too many options and I forget which ones to choose and end up picking the wrong one. I figured that the best way to avoid this mistake in future would be to write the steps down. Procedure Insert CD or DVD into your DVD Burner. Start Nero Burning ROM 9 Choose DVD-ROM (Boot) or CD-ROM (Boot) depending on what you're creating You'll be prompted for a disk image source. Choose a Nero Source - you'll usually find them somewhere like this... C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero9\Nero Burning Rom\DOSBootImage.ima Leave the Boot Locale as English - unless you really need a different keyboard layout Tick the box marked [X] Enable Expert Settings Choose Hard Drive Emulation and leave any other settings as they are. Click the button marked New Add any files you want but don't try to add operati

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

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