Real World Computing

I don't generally use Macs but other people do. There's a macOS upgrade (Monterey 12.6) in the works and you might find that it's already installed on your system - or that it installs automatically at the next available opportunity. Turns out that this upgrade scuttles Notes 12 (and apparently older versions) in spectacular fashion.  As usual, the good folks at HCL are already on this and have a fix ready.  Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay Fixing the Problem I'm not quite sure when the fix packs are cumulative vs incremental. From memory, the fix packs are cumulative and the interim fixes are not. (please correct me if I'm wrong).  In any case, go to HCL's download site to get them.  In our case, the affected user was running Notes 12.0.0 for Mac so I needed to download 12.0.1 then Fix Pack 1 and then the two interim fixes.  Since Notes was already installed, Installation is pretty quick and there's no post-install configuration to do.  Install Notes...

It's just over 12 months since we made our first forays into the Office 365 space and I'm convinced that we made the right call at the right time.  Any earlier and it would have been wrong because SharePoint hadn't gained traction and OWA was undeveloped. Any later and we'd have lost our unique position.as innovators in this space.  It hasn't all been smooth sailing and many of our legacy systems are still on IBM Domino. The approach to migration was rushed and flawed but I'm looking forward to 2018 when the dust settles and we can begin to move forward in a more orderly manner.  All things considered though, I'm proud to have been part of the technological achievements of the year which included a complete revamp of the hardware and software in the office; including the replacement of all desktops with Microsoft Surfaces and Apple MacBooks, the replacement of our meeting room systems with Microsoft's Surface Hub technology, an office move, a rebrandi...

There's no doubt about it, the concept of cloud and social computing is scary, particularly if you're a lawyer.  On the cloud front, everyone is so fearful of data theft and disclosure that they dig their heels in at the slightest mention of cloud, totally oblivious to the repeated warnings from security researchers that the majority of data theft occurs from within the organisation.  On the social front, things are even more shaky with executives fearful of the power of negative commentary. It’s not unusual to hear business leaders saying, “we can’t have a twitter, linked-in or facebook account because someone might say something bad about us”. Guess what. If people want to say bad things about your company in a public forum, then they most likely already are. By denying the company an official platform, you’re not denying your customers a chance to speak about you, you’re denying your company the opportunity to provide timely and “official” responses.. Like it or n...

Computing has long been described as something similar to religion. There have been “nerd-wars” fought over Windows vs Mac and Word vs Wordperfect vs Wordstar, for decades so it’s really no surprise that the leaders of many computer companies are becoming “God-Like” in their evangelism -- but is it a good thing? To a certain extent, yes… it’s a good thing to have a person as a focal point for your company.  It's kind of like having a thought-leader as a "mascot" and it's particularly important in the early years as it helps to build recognition.  After a while though, the focus switches from the company to the person, and that’s not a good thing.  Apple The case in point is Apple. If Steve Jobs was the messiah for Apple, including being “killed” by his own people and resurrecting himself, then Tim Cook is his Saint Paul.  Tim Cook is full of letters and quotes but he’s simply following in Steve’s footsteps.  He’s not really adding anything particularly ne...

There has been a lot of pressure on Apple lately with the US government pushing for access to their systems and lots of public pressure as people react to the “Error 53” scandal. To many people’s surprise, Apple has dug their heels in on these issues and as the pressure mounts, is showing no signs of relenting. Normally I would be up on my soapbox denouncing this seemingly anti-competitive behaviour but this time I think that Apple is right to make a stand. In the past, some of the things Apple did seemed to be mean spirited. For example; changing from the 30 pin plugs to lightning cable, and then blocking third party cables unless they were “Apple approved” (ie: paying royalties and super-expensive). I know that they had their reasons for those changes, particularly safety, usability, size and speed but for people with stereo equipment that has 30 pin plugs, it still hurts - and no, adapters aren't a good solution. Apple was mostly wrong then but despite the fact that ...

I'm surprised that nobody seems to know how to do this - well, according to my research on the web anyway. So here it is, the instructions for getting your IBM Notes (we don't use the words Lotus Notes anymore) personal address book Synched with your Apple iPhone (and presumably Android too). Note: I'm assuming that you're already running Traveler and are able to get your mail and calendar. Enabling Contacts Synchronisation In IBM Notes, Select File , then Preferences . Click on Contacts Make sure that this is turned on;     [x] Enable "Synchronise Contacts " on the Replication and Sync Tab   While you're in here, make sure that in the Recent Contacts section you have selected;    (o) Do not add any names This bit isn't critical to the procedure but it's caused us no end of grief.  It's fine if you don't have lots of outside contacts in a giant corporate address book but it's painful if you do. Click Ok . Enabling...