My session at CollabSphere 2018

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, #IBMChampion, CollabSphere, Community, IBM/Lotus, MWLUG, Notes/Domino Leave a comment

My session Elementary! – Consume Watson Services using Node-RED and Domino 10 has been accepted at CollabSphere 2018. It has been scheduled for first thing in the morning on Wednesday, July 25 at 9.00 am.

During my presentation, I will show how you can integrate IBM Watson into both Notes applications and web applications. You will see how you can use the new Lotusscript classes for HTTP and JSON in Notes/Domino 10. These classes will be used to connect to IBM Cloud, where a Node-RED instance will be used to consume Watson services. By using just a few lines of Javascript, we will translate text between different languages, as well as converting text to speech.

CollabSphere will be a great learning opportunity, especially if you are interested in node.js and how it will be integrated into the upcoming Domino 10. There are a number of sessions focusing on Node.js and Node-RED, and I highly encourage every Notes developer to attend them. Here are just some of the sessions:

This three-day conference will immerse you in an intensive exchange of knowledge and fun with other members of the ICS community. If you have not registered yet, it is about time.  Note that the guaranteed room rate will only be available for one more week.

I hope to see you in Ann Arbor, MI in a few weeks.

Come see me at CollabSphere 2018!

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, #IBMChampion, App Modernization, CollabSphere, Community, IBM/Lotus, Lotusscript, Notes/Domino, Watson Leave a comment


I will be presenting my session Elementary – Consume Watson Services using Node-RED and Domino 10 at CollabSphere 2018, taking place in Ann Arbor, MI inn just a little over a month (July 23-23). If you haven’t registered yet, hurry up! This amazing conference that Richard Moy have been arranging for 10 years now will be full of news and sessions about Domino 10. If you are a developer, you should be very excited. There are a large number of session focusing on everything from classic Lotusscript and the new improvements coming in Domino 10 to sessions about Node.js and how it is supported in Domino 10. There are even introductions to Node.js and Node-RED, and how you can use them in your Domino environment as well as making yourself more marketable.

In addition to all the technical sessons you also have networking and social events. Don’t miss out on this great and inexpensive ($75) conference!

You can now sign up for Beta 1 of Domino 10!

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, #IBMChampion, IBM/Lotus, Notes/Domino Leave a comment

June 25 is the date when the first beta version of IBM Notes and Domino version 10 will be released to a selected group of testers. If you are interested in testing this beta version, you can apply to be a part of the closed beta program here.

This first beta version will be Windows only, and will not contain the DominoDB NPN package for node.js. The second beta, due in the second half of July, will include clients for MacOS, server for Linux, Verse-on-Premises and DominoDB for node.js.

The support for node.js in Domino 10 is something I am looking forward to. This is huge, not only can you integrate Domino with other solutions and components available through NPM, but any developers can now take advantage of Domino and it’s secure data storage. Products like Mongo DB does not have the built-in security we are used to from IBM Domino, but now developers can build secure applications using DominoDB, and not have to worry about building their own security solutions.

I will be checking my mail on June 25!

CollabSphere 2018 – Still time to submit abstracts

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, #IBMChampion, CollabSphere, Community, IBM/Lotus, MWLUG, Notes/Domino Leave a comment

The deadline for submissions of session abstracts for CollabSphere 2018 has been extended to Sunday, June 3. This is your opportunity to share your knowledge with the community. Register on the brand new CollabSphere website. The link is http://collabsphere.org/ug/collabsphere2018.nsf/sessionabstract.xsp.

This year we can expect a number of session on technologies more or less new to the Domino community, for example Node.js and React.js, as well as what’s new in the upcoming Notes and Domino 10. So if you haven’t registered for Collabsphere yet, take this opportunity to register and experience the learning atmosphere, networking and a lot of fun.

Hope to see you in Ann Arbor in July for the 10th MWLUG/CollabSphere conference!

 

 

LEGO meets IKEA

Posted on by Posted in Design, Hobbies, Life Leave a comment

This evening I stumbled upon a Kickstarter from a Swedish company called Cribble. It was posted in a Facebook group for furniture carpentry, and as soon as I saw it I thought that this is a very cool product. The easiest way I can describe it is LEGO meet IKEA.

Here is how it is described on Kickstarter:

Cribble is a kit of building pieces to create your own mini house. A blank canvas for your craftyness. Plan and build the foundation, wallpaper the walls, place the floors and put together some furniture according to plan, or your very own way. This is an inclusive project and it’s meant to integrate with other toys, crafts and stuff you find around the house.

The two founders, Josefin and Anna, realized that most toys for girls miss the construction and engineering aspects that toys aimed at boys usually have. So they set out to create a modular construction set to allow children to build a house, using the similar construction techniques as in real life.

So we think that if we increase the opportunity for girls to delve into building and technology they won’t just have a much more fun playtime but also even out one of the biggest mediators for the wage gap between men and women.
Cribble is dipping into the traditional girl play area and giving opportunity for all genders to play around with technology, room and space without overwhelming them with signals that this are meant for boys.

Now they are looking for help to get this product going. Take a look at the video and read more on Kickstarter. I think this is an amazing toy! And I think it is priced very nicely, when you think about what you get.

CollabSphere 2018 – Registration is Open

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, #IBMChampion, CollabSphere, Community, IBM/Lotus, MWLUG, Notes/Domino Leave a comment

The conference formally known as MWLUG (Mid-West Lotus User Group) is now renamed CollabSphere. This year the conference will be held in Ann Arbor, MI on July 23-25.

Visit the brand new website at www.collabsphere.org to learn more, to register for this very cost-efficient conference, or why not submit an abstract for a session?

I have been attending MWLUG for several years myself, and it is an excellent conference. High quality speakers presenting over 50 sessions and workshops, networking with representatives from IBM as well as with presenters and other attendees and an exhibit floor where sponsors and vendors are showing their products and services.

With IBM expanding its portfolio of products and services, and with the new innovations in the rejuvenated  Notes and Domino product line, this will be the conference to attend this summer. Expect some exciting news to be presented at CollabSphere, and to see more of the latest version of Domino, due to be released in the second half of 2018.

I hope to see you at CollabSphere, and perhaps even see you present!

Domino 10 is coming… in 2018!

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, IBM/Lotus, Notes/Domino, Uncategorized Leave a comment

IBM and HCL have promised to release Domino version 10 by the end of 2018. The other  week there was a joint webinar where some of the new features were discussed. If you missed this, there is a replay of it available. I will discuss some of the features in just a moment. But just look at the infographics below. There are so many new features already lined up.

The promise of Open IDEs means that we should be able to use more modern development tools. Hopefully the latest version of Eclipse, and maybe even Visual Code and/or Visual Studio. Those were frequently requested during the Domino 2025 jam. Support for OAuth authorization was also promised, as well as more REST APIs. Support for Loopback was mentioned.

There were even demos, despite HCL only being 8 weeks into the development. Quite a few features had already been developed earlier, at IBM, but were not released for one or another reason.

For being less than a month before the big IBM Think conference, where you would expect some big news to be presented, HCL and IBM did not hold back. This makes me very excited about what all we will get to see in Las Vegas later this month.

So what all did we get to hear about and see last week?

Let’s go directly to Domino. A new file format, called NSF-2 is being discussed, and we were promised an increase of the maximum file size from 64 GB to 256 GB per database. This is very welcome. DAOS has been a stopgap, helping when the database contains a large number of attachments. But when you have a very large number of documents, you previously had to split them into multiple databases. 

While on the subject of a lot of documents, IBM is planning to overhaul the search as well, using elastic search (ES or E-Search as IBM calls it) to search even faster in large data sets. Even more support for running Domino in Docker containers is planned, including Docker Enterprise images. Domino running on Raspberry Pi?

For me as developer, the most exciting news is that Domino will support Node.js. HCL promised a full node.js implementation, so you can use the package manager npm within Domino. It also sounds like HCL is at least thinking about ways to implement support for Git. This is huge, and it will give Notes/Domino developers access to modern tools and functionality. But not only that, it will be easier for Domino customers to find expertise in the form of developers, as node.js is a very popular framework. In addition, Domino developers will learn new technologies, making them more attractive on the market.

 

During the Q&A session afterwards, the representatives for both IBM and HCL promised even more cool features to be presented at IBM Think in Las Vegas, coming up next week. Among what is to be presented is a brand new roadmap and a list of the features requested during the Domino 2025 jams earlier this year. I can’t wait to see what is in store for Domino.

There are several sessions covering Domino 10, and you can bet I will be in the audience! I hope to see you in Las Vegas next week.

 

 

Discount codes for IBM Think 2018 still available!

Posted on by Posted in #IBMChampion, Community, IBM Think, IBM/Lotus Leave a comment

If you haven’t registered for IBM Think next month yet, it is about time you do it. And I have discount codes to give out, all you have to do it to mail me, either at texasswede@gmail.com or karl-henry@demandbettersolutions.com. Then go to https://www.ibm.com/events/think/register/ and register.

I am very excited about IBM Think, but I am also worried. How will I be able to go to all the sessions I want to attend? That is a good problem to have, though.

See you in Las Vegas in a month!

 

Will I see you at IBM Think?

Posted on by Posted in #Domino2025, #IBMChampion, App Modernization, Community, Connect, IBM/Lotus, Lotusphere, Notes/Domino, Watson Leave a comment

It is just over a month until IBM kicks off Think 2018 in Las Vegas. This conference takes place March 19-21 and merges several conferences, including IBM Connect (formerly known as Lotusphere).

After attending 19 Lotusphere/Connect conferences in Orlando (as well as one in Nice and one in San Francisco), I am ready for something new and exciting. IBM Think brings in many different parts of the IBM portfolio into one big conference, where we can learn about new and exciting technologies that we may not been exposed to before. I am looking forward to learning more about AI, security, blockchain, IoT and much more.

But I am of course also excited to learn about the upcoming Notes and Domino 10. IBM and HCL has promised too show actual working code at Think, and will present a timeline not only for what features we will see in the end of the year in Domino 10, but also in upcoming versions.

I have a feeling we will finally see functions and features people have been requesting for many years. A large part of the IBM:ers who worked on Notes and Domino moved over to HCL late last year, and I suspect they have been very busy. Here is an excerpt of a session description:

For those of you who want to integrate Domino applications into modern web applications and cloud platforms like Salesforce, etc., we will show you how. Domino is embracing JavaScript, Node.js and open source to become a full-stack web development platform anyone you hire off the street today can be productive in.

If anyone is interested in attending IBM Think I have a special promo code that will give you a $100 discount. Contact me at texasswede@gmail.com (use the subject “IBM Think Promo Code”) and I will mail you a code. You can also contact any other IBM Champion for a code.

See you in Las Vegas in a month!

 

My thoughts on 2018

Posted on by Posted in #IBMChampion, Cloud, IBM/Lotus Leave a comment

We are now a few weeks into 2018. Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s when I grew up, if anyone talked about 2018 it was in a science fiction book or movie. Even the movie Back to The Future II took place in what’s now the past. But now we are here, so let’s talk about what I think we can expect for this year.

I see virtualization and containerization become even more wide spread. Not only will IBM develop the next generation of its Connections product using containers and microservices, but IBM Domino will support Docker containers as of the next feature pack.

The idea of packaging services in easy-to-deploy containers is an evaluation of traditional virtualization, and I think we will see this much more in the next year. A number of companies already use Docker as one of the components in their cloud offerings. Amazon, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft are just some of those companies, and I think we will see even more of Docker in 2018.

The Internet of Things (IoT) will continue to grow and develop, together with voice control of devices. The other day I visited the home improvement store Lowe’s and when I passed the thermostat section I noticed that several of them now integrates directly with Alexa. At home we have a number of IoT devices connected through a home automation hub. This morning when I woke up I just had to say “Alexa, turn on good morning”, and several different lights in different rooms throughout the house came on, at a preset strengths. I got into the shower, pressed a preset button on the control panel and the shower turned on my preferred showerhead at the temperature I have preprogrammed. The shower controller is a few years old, and it happens that I get irritated over the fact I can’t control it through Alexsa. That is how spoiled I have been from that convenience.

There are way for developers to create their own solutions for Alexa, as well as for other IoT devices. My SmartThings home automation hub uses Grovy as the language for apps running directly on the hub. I have also been experimenting some with the IoT functionality through IBM Cloud (formerly Bluemix). But you still need to be a developer to create applications for these solutions.

Amazon has however a low-code/no-code option in Alexa Skills Kit, and recently my wife built a custom Alexa skill. In the coming year I see low-code/no-code become more of a focus. Microsoft PowerApps, SalesForce App Cloud and Quickbase are just some. IBM is developing their LiveGrid, which looks very promising. If we look back a little over 20 years, we have Lotus Notes 3.0 and 4.0 as early examples of this concept. The term citizen developer is often used today for non-programmers developing business solutions outside the IT department.

For many years the IT department have been trying to prevent this, but I think we will see a return of users who quickly develop solutions for their own or their departments use, without involving IT. With services available in the cloud, the IT department don’t have to worry about the maintenance of servers, install and licensing of servers, etc. Instead they can focus on teaching the citizen developers best practices and how to secure their applications. IT will go from running the backend to supporting the users in their development. In addition they can develop more advanced solutions, beyond the skills of the end-users. I don’t see the IT departments going away, just shifting their focus somewhat.

 

 

Creeper
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