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How To Sell IT Services  
Mon, Jan 5th 2009 12:56p Mike Miller
Step 1: Identify a Target MarketStep 2: Develop a Strong Marketing Message and Hook. Step 3: Create One Piece of Marketing Collateral that will Attract Prospects and Set You Apart. Step 4: Get Visible in Your Target Market – the Manual Way. Step 5: Keep Following up to Build Relationships and Credibility.I typed the phrase "How To Sell IT Services" into Google and was presented with 3,540,000 hits. One of the top ranked sites was Sitepoint.com, so I checked out what was behind the link. A f [read] Keywords: google
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Here's to an awesome 2009! 
Wed, Dec 31st 2008 4:52p Mike Miller
I have a feeling 2009 is going to be an awesome year. Why? Because I'm committed to it! After the Christmas tree is torn down and the party hats and horns are put away, I plan on pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, telling my story, and making some sales. Here's to success...I can already feel it, smell it, taste it, and almost touch it. Join me in making 2009 an awesome year! [read] Keywords: |
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Minnesota XPages Workshop? 
Wed, Dec 24th 2008 6:52a Mike Miller
It seems that IBM are willing to provide the XPages workshop if enough folks in a particular region are interested in attending. Word has it that if you contact Craig Wolpert and let him know of your interest, he can coordinate setting up the workshop. So come on Minnesota, register your interest in learning XPages and ask to have it presented in Minneapolis. [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages |
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Startup: The Long Tail and the Recession
Sat, Dec 13th 2008 12:52p Mike Miller
As I lay the groundwork for moving to independence in my Lotus Notes development work I've been pondering the role of the Long Tail as I work to build a customer base during this time of economic difficulty. In theory, the Long Tail should be a great place to look for opportunities. With all the recent investment IBM has made to our platform, we all should be in great shape to offer our customers some great solutions. I'm betting that the really good businesses out there are likely taking advan [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
development
wiki
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70
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Ytria ScanEZ Update: 8.0.0
Fri, Dec 12th 2008 3:51p Mike Miller
I spent a little time poking around Ytria's ScanEZ looking for interesting additions in this latest release. I found a few handy new features I will looking forward to using: The ability to add multiple documents that I select from within my Notes client to a "My Selection" group.Adding all the documents from a view or folder to a "My Selection" group.The new design elements for Notes 8 appear (composite application, wiring properties, etc.) and I'll be digging a little deeper with these to see [read] Keywords: composite
notes
notes client
application
development
properties
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Your People Are Your Competitive Advantage
Thu, Nov 27th 2008 11:50a Mike Miller
Just ran across this article, Social Networks Not Ready for Business? Hat tip to Jeremiah Owyang. The key quote is from Intel CEO Paul Otellini: Your people are your competitive advantage. If you don't find ways to have your people work better together, which is where social networking comes in, you're not going to survive.This is one of the points I've been trying to make recently regarding the role of Lotus Notes Domino in your organization. If you can get your employees to buy into the conce [read] Keywords: collaboration
domino
lotus
notes
networking
php
security
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104
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Notes/Domino Saves You Money - Part II: Web Services
Thu, Oct 16th 2008 7:53a Mike Miller
Yesterday I announced that I'd been working on compiling a list of ways Notes/Domino can save your company money during this economic slowdown. The first item on the list of how Notes/Domino can save your company money is Web Services. Connecting your Notes applications to other systems makes both of the connected systems exponentially more valuable. Since you already have Notes in place, why not connect your Notes applications to your enterprise data through a web service? With a little unders [read] Keywords: agent
domino
lotusscript
notes
application
applications
blackberry
database
enterprise
interface
mobile
xml
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102
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What Notes/Domino can do to help your company in an economic slowdown
Wed, Oct 15th 2008 11:51a Mike Miller
I posted the following on the Lotus Software Professionals discussion group over at LinkedIn Has your boss approached you about the value of Notes/Domino to your organization? Better yet, have you approached your boss about how Notes/Domino can help your organization save money and boost productivity? If either of the above are true, I'd love to talk to you about putting a plan in action to make the most of your Notes/Domino investment.I really believe that the oncoming global economic slowdown [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
notes
linkedin
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What a country!
Wed, Sep 3rd 2008 10:49p Mike Miller
As a Twin Cities resident I had the great privilege of attending the RNC last night. Thanks to the Wisconsin delegation, I was able to spend 30 minutes on the floor. I was revved up for hours afterward. No matter your party preference, the experience of attending a convention is something all US citizens should have. I have great respect for everyone involved, from the nominees all the way down to the precinct chairman attending as a delegate. Democracy and participation are things we should no [read] Keywords: |
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Beefing up your JavaScript skills
Thu, Aug 28th 2008 7:48p Mike Miller
I've been spending some idle cycles supplementing my JavaScript knowledge. I ran across a link to the YUI Theater on the Yahoo! Developer Network. The lectures by Douglas Crockford are excellent. [read] Keywords: javascript
network
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Notes Developer Opening in Milwaukee
Tue, Aug 26th 2008 11:48p Mike Miller
A recruiter friend pinged me about a full-time Notes developer opening in Milwaukee: 3 years Notes experience; pays $65K - $95K; no travel. Let me know if you're interested and I'll put you in touch. [read] Keywords: notes
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Minneapolis/St.Paul Lotus Get Together
Thu, Aug 21st 2008 9:48a Mike Miller
I only received a handful of responses to my previous post about a Lotus get together, so I thought I'd give it another go. Anyone interested in getting together after work and networking with other Lotus professionals in an informal setting? Send me your thoughts on suitable days and venues. Also, please pass this along to anyone you know who doesn't follow PlanetLotus.org and wouldn't see it. [read] Keywords: lotus
networking
planetlotus
planetlotus.org
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LotusBeer - Twin Cities
Sun, Aug 17th 2008 5:48p Mike Miller
Any Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro area Lotusphiles interested in getting together for a beverage and some Lotus conversation? Leave suggestions here as to dates/times and locations. [read] Keywords: lotus
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You can rent this space for 30 days. Interested?
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Web Development in Eclipse
Mon, Aug 11th 2008 10:51p Mike Miller
For the better part of the last two years I've been doing alot of Notes client development and alot of back-end Notes server work, so its been quite a few months since I have put in a concentrated effort on web development. Thankfully with my most recent project, I've found that my skills didn't get too rusty. Its great to have a chance to exercise that DHTML part of my brain. Another exciting aspect is the opportunity to incorporate a little AJAX and a little YUI into the project. For every pr [read] Keywords: designer
domino
notes
notes client
ajax
css
development
dhtml
eclipse
properties
server
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Lotus Notes is coming to the iPhone
Fri, Aug 8th 2008 6:51p Mike Miller
I think some in the Apple community aren't up to speed with what has been happening in the Notes world lately. Their impressions of Notes are stuck somewhere back at R4. Even if Lotus is up to something (i.e. a native iPhone app. to access Notes Mail/Calendar) I'm not sure they'd release it on the Apple App Store. More likely on the Passport site, unless iPhone users find loading apps from the App Store preferable to traditional methods. Lotus Notes is coming to the iPhonevia The Unofficial Ap [read] Keywords: collaboration
domino
ibm
inotes
lotus
notes
R4
apple
community
enterprise
iphone
microsoft
mobile
server
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48
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Notes 8 Day! (8-8-08)
Thu, Aug 7th 2008 8:51p Mike Miller
In honor of Notes 8 Day, I have downloaded and will be installing the Notes 8.5 beta. I have two objectives: Check out XPagesDig into iNotes light for the purposes of a super secret iPhone projectNow, I just have to locate something yellow to wear for Monday... [read] Keywords: inotes
notes
xpages iphone
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Hire Me
Tue, Jul 29th 2008 7:33a Mike Miller
I'd like to put some idle cycles to good use (i.e. my evenings and weekends), so I'm posting this announcement that I'm interested in picking up any "odds and ends" Lotus Notes projects anyone might have. For a brief overview of my background, see my LinkedIn page. Contact me directly if you would like to explore things further: mmillerlacrosse_at_yahoo_dot_com. [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
linkedin
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44
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DXL Inconsistency For Views
Thu, Jul 24th 2008 10:08a Mike Miller
I'm using DXL to pick through properties in the views of a database that I'm doing some maintenance on. At the moment, I'm verifying font settings for Columns/Column Headers. Two problems I've encountered: Similar the HTML tags that the Domino HTTP engine generates, if you use the default fonts (Default Serif, Default Sans Serif, etc.) you won't see a node in the DXL.If you use a font other than the default font, you will get a node along with a "name" attribute, but will only get a "size" a [read] Keywords: domino
dxl
database
properties
xml
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Surly Cynic
Wed, Jul 23rd 2008 7:06p Mike Miller
No, I'm not talking about the Yellowcast guys. I'm talking beer. Surly Cynic is out! Be sure to get some before it runs out. I got my first four pack today. Wow! It can only be topped by my favorite, Surly Furious. One thing I've really come to appreciate in the Twin Cities is Surly Brewing Company. Summit is my regular brew, but Surly is great for the occasional treat. Surly is the personification of Todd Haug (pictured right--no, that's not Tim Tripcony in tuque) where for the most part the [read] Keywords: blogger
php
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Comment on John Head's post about ODF
Wed, Jul 9th 2008 8:05p Mike Miller
John Head has posted on how ODF, OOXML and other open formats are the new frontier for application automation. For me, this is a reminder of how important XSL and XPATH are going forward. Perhaps the Notes community can assemble a collection of style sheets for the translation of DXL into these new open formats? Translate a NotesDocumentCollection DXL into a spreadsheet, or a slideshow? Translate a NotesDocument DXL into a word processing document? [read] Keywords: document
dxl
notes
odf
application
community
ooxml
xml
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Approaches to generating custom HTML of a document collection (view) from notes data via XML(DXL)
Tue, Jul 8th 2008 11:04p Mike Miller
I was discussing Notes development over the weekend with a buddy and former colleague. He developed a kiosk application off a Domino database, but ran into some trouble styling (CSS) the layout of the view to pick choices. He ended up using the Notes URL with ReadViewEntries to generate the XML, but he ran it through some other platform's XSL translation to build the XML to lay out in columns much like a newspaper. I told him to try running it through the NotesXSLTransformer class. Here's how I [read] Keywords: agent
document
domino
dxl
lotusscript
nd
notes
rich-text
ajax
application
css
database
development
xml
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Chin Up
Wed, Jul 2nd 2008 6:42p Mike Miller
Rich Karlgaard's recent post got me thinking. I've been pretty gloomy lately: paltry salary increase that won't keep up with inflation, profit sharing bonus withdrawn, house value sinking like the Titanic, and throw in the typical 'in debt up to my ear lobes' (notice how I didn't say eyeballs--there's a subtle difference), all adds up to a stinky outlook. However, I need to turn it around and look on the brighter side, like Rich does. I'm fortunate to have two very bright children who keep me o [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
development
outlook
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Notes Architecture Is Too Hard To Understand!
Thu, Jun 19th 2008 9:00p Mike Miller
Got the title suggestion from Chris & Tim on Yellowcast episode #3. (Yes guys, I am a fanboy...) But to be truthful, I might have said something to that affect in the first few weeks of learning Notes development years ago. Chris mentioned the whole separation of data from UI which in Notes translates into data documents and forms and views. I couldn't grasp that right away only using the Domino Designer. Then, when I read one of Rocky Oliver's books where he explained how everything is sto [read] Keywords: designer
domino
dxl
forms
formula
formula language
lotus
lotusscript
notes
database
development
xml
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2
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Notes Formulas for Strings and Lists
Tue, Jun 10th 2008 8:00p Mike Miller
I've spent quite a few hours recently on an application that turns out to have some rather heavy reliance on string and list manipulation. In this regard I'm always impressed with what a developer can do with @Formulas. Sometimes the heavy lifting can come from the pair-wise concatenation capabilities of the Notes Formula Language. Take the following for example: Say I have a field on my form called "System" and it contains one of the following: WP, SS, PG. (WP=Word Processing, SS=Spreadsheet, [read] Keywords: formula
formula language
notes
application
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Got a Notes 8.5 Jones (and haven't even had my first hit)
Thu, Jun 5th 2008 9:00a Mike Miller
Via Nathan, this post Notes view container proof of concept makes me want to dive in deep with the 8.5 designer. click image for video [read] Keywords: designer
notes
php
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Notes as CMS
Thu, Jun 5th 2008 1:00a Mike Miller
I've been meaning to start a category on Content Management and this post, IBM Melds Enterprise CMS with Social Software, from CMSWire.com was the stimulus to start. We in the Lotus Notes Domino world have been at this far longer than the recent upstarts such as Sharepoint. However, many of the newer offerings are way ahead of what Notes is able to offer in the way of industrial strength CMS. Here I'm referring to both the industry heavyweights like Oracle/Stellent and EMC's Documentum. Also not [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
community
enterprise
java
oracle
php
sharepoint
social software
xml
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Be The Horse, Not The Wagon
Fri, May 30th 2008 3:14p Mike Miller
Occasionally, I look back on what I've accomplished and analyze where I've gotten off track. One theme correlates closely with the times I've felt successful and productive. That theme is when I take on the role of the horse in pulling the wagon. The times of dissatisfaction occur when I've become lazy and allowed myself to play the role of the wagon. Wagons have a legitimate purpose in that they carry the loads; loads much larger than the horse could carry on its own back. At times, being the w [read] Keywords: |
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Domino Designer 8.5
Thu, May 29th 2008 1:03p Mike Miller
Yesterday I listened in on Maureen Leeland's Lotusphere Comes To You Online presentation on Domino Designer 8.5. Although I was interrupted several times during the presentaion, what I saw was quite impressive. Being somewhat famiar with the Eclipse IDE, I was eager to see which of the modern IDE features made their way into the new Designer. I was glad to see that property boxes are going away (albeit not entirely) and that the bookmarks will be co-existing with the Java-like perspectives. Thin [read] Keywords: designer
domino
lotusphere
notes
xpages eclipse
integration
java
lotususergroup.org
xml
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'Today' in View Columns
Wed, May 21st 2008 10:06a Mike Miller
I had a request this week to add a column in view to calculate the number of days a document was on a workflow step. The use of "Today" in this exercise got me to thinking about performance considerations surrounding view selection formulas. Although the view selection formula in this case did not involve "Today", I still wanted to review the literature to verify best practices in this area. A very good resource for this topic is Andre Guirard's recent white paper, Performance Basics for IBM Lo [read] Keywords: agent
document
formula
ibm
lotus
notes
workflow
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MinneBar Follow-up
Sat, May 10th 2008 8:52p Mike Miller
Long, but good day at MinneBar today. Rode up with my good friend Bill, who is embarking on an iPhone adventure -- really exciting stuff! Thoroughly enjoyed the presentations by Bex Huff on communication (thanks for signing my book!) and Rich Hoag on Social Search in the Enterprise. Also, alot of thought provoking discussion from how to run a consultancy, to the mathematics of music to storing/cataloging content, to artificial intellegence. Needless to say my head hurts... Would have liked t [read] Keywords: enterprise
iphone
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MinneBar
Fri, May 9th 2008 11:20p Mike Miller
Headed up to MinneBar for the day tomorrow. Excited to hear some of the presentations... Communication for GeeksSocial Search in the CorporationConsulting for fun/profitMathematics of MusicStoring Files/Content Mgmt.Put info. in the Rearview MirrorGTD...and maybe make some new friends. See you there. [read] Keywords: consulting
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Notes/Domino Formula Diagnosis
Tue, Apr 22nd 2008 8:35a Mike Miller
Been really busy with a workflow project so not alot of spare time for blogging, though I did want to share a handy technique I discovered. The project is mostly completed, but because of requested tweaks, I was afraid I was breaking some of my view formulas (both view selection and column formulas). I needed a way to quickly view my formulas without opening up each one and clicking around everywhere. In as much as I would love to be the proud owner of a Ytria ViewEZ copy or one of Teamstudio's [read] Keywords: designer
domino
dxl
formula
notes
template
workflow
blogging
database
firefox
xml
xslt
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IE - Flash Dead End
Wed, Mar 12th 2008 3:45p Mike Miller
Been a while since I posted. Very busy. Thought I'd share an example of what I've been been up to -- ur, wasting my time with... (Seems like most everything I'm working on lately has this sort of theme running through it.) Now I've not been privileged to attend Lotusphere ever, I do try to make use of all the material generously posted after the event (guess that makes me a sort of bottom feeder). Anyway, thanks to Julian Robichaux for sharing his charts demo. I'm using some of these ideas to [read] Keywords: formula
lotusphere
notes
workflow
server
xml
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Blackberry
Wed, Feb 6th 2008 10:55p Mike Miller
The past couple days I put together a simple Blackberry MDS application. I followed Bill Buchan's slides from a couple different presentations he has given, along with the PDF user guide from the Blackberry developer site. The app. uses a Domino Web Service I wrote within a simple contact database my company uses. For the Domino web service, I simply married up my LotusScript skills with a Developerworks article explaining how to use holder classes for input/output parameters. The Eclipse-based [read] Keywords: domino
forms
ibm
lotus
lotusscript
nd7
application
blackberry
database
eclipse
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Best line of the campaign so far...
Wed, Feb 6th 2008 9:28p Mike Miller
The best line of the campaign so far belongs to McCain. When asked to comment on Hillary Clinton's proposed earmark for a Woodstock museum, McCain said he didn't participate in the 1960s--that is, the leading-edge-boomer drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll 1960s."I was tied up at the time," said McCain.(Pulled from Rich Karlgaard's blog) [read] Keywords: |
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Is the IBM open source model the way of the future?
Tue, Jan 29th 2008 10:00p Mike Miller
I ran across a couple articles that got me thinking about the future of open source software. I land somewhere in the middle when it comes to software. When I really like and really need a particular application I fork out the dough and pay for it (or for work-related projects, get my employer to). However, like most folks, I'm not made of money and most of my personal software needs outweigh my ability pay so I look for the cheap and free ones to get by. (Even if I can't contribute to the proje [read] Keywords: ibm
symphony
application
eclipse
openoffice
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DXL Round Tripping
Mon, Jan 28th 2008 1:01p Mike Miller
This is a great idea and is worthy of every Notes developer's support. Go vote now! [read] Keywords: dxl
javascript
notes
ideajam
ideajam.net
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Trialpay
Fri, Jan 25th 2008 3:00p Mike Miller
I received a notice from WinZip informing me that the trial period had run out and I should purchase a licensed copy. It also gave me the option of using trialpay.com to pay for the license. The premise is that you purchase something else and that Trialpay vendor pays for your Winzip license. I gave it a try and purchased a magazine subscription for my wife. On the surface, I think this is kind of neat. We'll see how it goes...hopefully I don't get spammed to death. [read] Keywords: |
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Lotus Notes Inbox as Social Networking Tool
Wed, Jan 23rd 2008 11:00a Mike Miller
Saw this one, Xobni: Social Network in Your Inbox, on ReadWriteWeb a few days ago and was thinking I'd see something similar annoucned at Lotusphere. Now I'm not on Notes 8 yet and haven't had the privilege of using Quickr, Connections, etc., but I'm not aware that Notes has pulled all of this new Web 2.0 stuff together like this yet. Xobni (that's inbox backwards - cute!) is the next big idea in productivity enhancements for your inbox. The Xobni software is an add-on for Microsoft Outlook that [read] Keywords: connections
lotus
lotusphere
notes
quickr
sametime
email
facebook
microsoft
myspace
network
networking
outlook
php
profile
web 2.0
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Notes 8.5 Goodies for Developers
Wed, Jan 23rd 2008 12:45a Mike Miller
Several posts are showing up from Lotusphere regarding the 8.5 goodies for developers. Declan Sciolla-Lynch has posted some highlights from AD302 : Lotus Domino Web Server Apps Development Directions.I'm particularly interested in xPages; can't wait to see this one in more detail. xPages ( just a code name right now so may change ) is a new feature in Domino 8.5. It leverages JSF based java runtime from Lotus Components. xPages are builtin design elements for creating modern web apps with builti [read] Keywords: domino
formula
javascript
lotus
lotusphere
lotusscript
notes
xpages ajax
css
development
eclipse
firefox
iphone
java
mobile
properties
server
websphere
websphere portal
xml
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Back from Colorado
Tue, Jan 22nd 2008 4:17p Mike Miller
After many hours behind the wheel across the icy heartland, I'm back from a nice family vacation skiing at Breckenridge, CO. Snow was great, but the temps were a bit on the cold side. Too bad the Packers didn't have enough in the tank to make it to the Super Bowl. Nothing to be ashamed of; a pretty great season for the young team. Trying to get caught up on all the Lotusphere posts. I plan on commenting on some of the news, especially as it relates to development. [read] Keywords: lotusphere
development
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Attachments Hack
Sun, Jan 13th 2008 10:00a Mike Miller
Until recently, my development work was sequestered to either the Notes Client or the Browser, with very little crossover. A project I'm currently working on made me realize how much I take for granted the ease of programming for just the Notes Client. Even browser-only programming is just slightly more work. Trying to get your application to behave nicely in both worlds can be a bit of a challenge. Although on a basic level Notes does a fairly nice job of translating between these two worlds, [read] Keywords: agent
document
domino
ibm
lotus
lotusscript
notes
notes client
rich text
application
community
database
development
enterprise
server
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Packers one game away
Sat, Jan 12th 2008 7:50p Mike Miller
Congratulations to Brett Favre, Ryan Grant and all the Packer players and fans on a huge win over Seattle!!! This game was a great example of how perseverance and never giving up when you're behind (down 14-0 in the first few minutes) can ultimately lead to success. In this case dominating success (42-20). Wow, what a season for Brett. Let's hope the momentum and the magic continues all the way through to the Super Bowl. [read] Keywords: |
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Passion
Sat, Jan 12th 2008 8:53a Mike Miller
I want to keep the topic themes alternating between Lotus Notes and the pursuit of excellence, however, I noticed that I'm a little light in the Lotus department, but wanted to get this 'pursuit of excellence' post in while it is current. In my hometown newspaper today, there's an article on my old friend Rick and his obsession/hobby/business/love. Before I moved to the Twin Cities, I had my cars serviced at Rick's garage. What I loved best about getting my oil changed at White Glove was the ch [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
notes
php
wiki
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Quality Improvement
Sat, Dec 29th 2007 1:48p Mike Miller
I tend to gravitate toward things that challenge my current skill set. I'm always curious when it comes to new techniques or new tools. I'm also into efficiency and a couple of posts, one at 'Tip of the Iceberg' and the other at 'Coding Horror', have piqued my interest. Sometimes the posts on these blogs can be a bit over my head, but I enjoy the challenge. In one of Tim's recent posts, he talks about simplifying your code. The post reminds me of a recent post by Jeff Attwood. This past year I [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
development
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Transparency
Sat, Dec 29th 2007 1:18p Mike Miller
The most refreshing development from corporate America this past year has got to be the way IBM has embraced Web 2.0 and social networking to make their already world class product, Lotus Notes, even better. Although the whole Notes community deserves a great deal of credit for their contributions, I believe Ed Brill stands out with his blog at edbrill.com. Postings such as this serve as an example of how the Lotus Notes community is engaged in making the product truly fantastic. Ed's honesty a [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
nd8
notes
community
development
email
networking
web 2.0
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Talent
Sat, Dec 22nd 2007 8:10a Mike Miller
My family received the gift of sporting event tickets with the option of either a Minnesota Timberwolves basketball game or a Minnesota Wild hockey game. Seeing as the Wolves are having their worst season ever (could rival the worst of any professional sport) we chose the Wild game. We attended the Thu. Dec. 20 game against the New York Rangers. Wow what a fun experience and on top of it all I was able to witness Marion Gaborik score 5 goals in regulation play! That hasn't been done since Mario [read] Keywords: wiki
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