Monthly Archives: March 2011

I have a database template (I am still on Notes 7.0.3, so I will keep using "database" for now), containing a number of forms, views, script libraries and agents. A whole lot of them, actually. Over the years I found out that occasionally I have to use the recompile all function to get changes in script libraries to be recognized.

This is the result:

Well, I open the forms (these are all forms) and save them again. No error/warning.
I make some small changes to the code. No error/warning.
I change the order the script libraries are loaded. No error/warning.
I open the script libraries, make a small change and save them again. No error/warning.

Finally I open the database using Domino Designer 8.5.2, perform yet another recompile all, and I now see five (5) warnings/errors at the bottom. I still am not able to locate the actual error, Domino Designer 8.5.2 is not giving me enough to work on.

So either I am very stupid, or there is something buggy with the recompile all function in Domino Designer… Anyone can shed any light on what might be going on? I am sure it is related to the script libraries, some of them contain references to other script libraries in turn.

I have been using HP calculators since the mid-70’s, when my cousin (who worked for Hewlett-Packard in Sweden) brought an HP-21 to us. When I was in 8th grade and we finally were allowed to use calculators during math class, I purchased the HP-15C, a programmable scientific calculator. In 1987, when I was in high school, the HP-28C was released, and I got it as soon as it came out. The next year I upgraded to the improved HP-28S (32kB instead of 2kB and a 1 MHz processor instead of 640 kHz). Both were clamshell designs. I also got a HP 82240B infrared printer, which used thermal paper.

In April 1990 I was getting the HP-48SX as soon as it came out. I could use the same infrared printer I already had, and I also got an expansion memory card (128 kB, I believe). I used this calculator for many years, and still have it, even if it is not working fully, due to a faulty on/off switch (which seems to be a known issue on these old units). My next project will be to open my calculator and fix this problem…

The HP-48SX had a serial port, built-in Kermit file transfer and infrared communications. There was a large set of programs and utilities available on several bulletin board systems (BBS) and later on the Internet. Most notable were Joe Horn’s Goodies disks. Many programs can be found at hpcalc.org.

Back in the late 1990’s I found some emulators that let me run a HP-48 on my Windows computer. It required a ROM image from the original calculator, which I of course still had. Then in 2000, HP released the ROM images for free downloads. Very cool!

The emulators have evolved, and now everyone can get a HP48SX, or it’s successors 48G and 48GX, on their desktop. It is actually very simple. You just need three small downloads to do this:

* The free Emu48 emulator by Christoph Gie?link

* AHP-48SX ROM image

* A photo realistic skin, for example this one by Arno Kuhl or the one to the right by Growik

Simply unpack the Emu48 installer and run it. Put the ROM image in the Emu48 directory and use the convert.exe program to convert the ROM image. Then copy the files for the skin into the same directory. Launch the program, and you have a really cool calculator. Everything works, including programming! More skins, as well as other programs, can be found at hpcalc.org.

HP calculators, with the exception of the business models (designated by a B in the model name) use Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). It is a faster and better way to calculate, especially more complex computations, but can be confusing to non-engineers/technical users. I highly recommend to learn this, though.

So go get this calculator for your computer and start playing!

From Google Apps: A Love Story:

Blame the consumerization of IT. BI-LOs users learned how to use Google Apps and similar Web applications in their personal lives. According to an internal company survey, 30% of employees already used Gmail at home and another 25% used a different Web-based e-mail service, like Windows Live Hotmail or Yahoo Mail. That familiarity translated into prior training — training the company didn’t have to pay for — and pre-existing affinity for the cloud.

In my eyes this is another good example of why there is a need for some kind of scaled down home version of Lotus Notes, with POP/IMAP support and possible connections to the most popular webmail providers, like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. It must also be possible to combine all mail into one inbox, no matter the origin, and reply to mail making it look like it is sent from the correct service. So if I respond to a mail sent to my Gmail address, my reply will have my Gmail address as sender as default. Of course, I want to be able to change that before sending.

Today would have been the 85th birthday of my mom, Marie-Luise Martinsson (born Groeling). I recently posted a blog entry about her on the anniversary of her death.

I am as old now as she was when I was born. Amazing how the time just keep passing, she has been gone longer than the times she was a part of my life. But I still remember her birthdays, how dad got her flowers and some nice gift. One year it was a nice stereo, my mom loved music and used to sing in the church choir. She also had a nice collection of music, mostly classical music. She usually made the birthday cakes herself, she was very good at baking and cooking.

Happy Birthday, mom!

The other day I tried a new dish, and it turned out blog worthy. So here it is.

Take five to six chicken breasts and trim off any fat. Cut an incision about 2 inches long (or just above) along one of the sides, to shape a pocket. I extend the cut section inside the chicken as close as the edges I can without cutting though, to make the pocket as big as possible.

Microwave a tray of deep frozen spinach for 3 minutes. It should be soft but not cooked. Add some ground nutmeg and stir. Mix in a generous amount of shredded cheese. Fill the check pockets with the mix and put chickens on an oven safe dish covered in aluminum foil.

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Then dust them with paprika powder, smoked chipotle powder, ancho chili powder and similar spices. Put in preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes in 400-425 degrees F.

When finished, serve with your choice of vegetables and potatoes/rice. For a luxury version, or if you are doing low carb, add a spoon of fresh cheese like Bressot, Cantadou or similar (garlic and herb flavored soft cheese) and let it melt on top.

This week the children in the Stockholm region where I am from have sportlov (transl. "sports break"). This break from school goes back to World War II. Despite Sweden being neutral and not participating in the war directly, the rationing and lack of coal used to heat the schools became a problem. The solution was to close the schools for a week during the winter to conserve cost.

Different activities were arranged for the out-of-school children, and quickly the activities were focused on outdoor activities and sports. That is where the "sports break" got it’s name from. Today the dates are different in different parts of the country, but it takes place in the end of February or in March.

When I grew up, I was not very interested in winter sports. My parents had me learn ice skating and I also did cross country skiing, but I was more interested in less strenuous activities… My sister on the other hand did enjoy Alpine (or downhill) skiing, both locally on the island where I grew up where they had ski lifts and prepared tracks on a small mountain, in northern Sweden (Scandinavian Mountains) and in Italy in the Alps.

So what did I do? Well, eventually I managed to convince my parents, using my excellent verbal skills (in combination with several warm winters with no snow, when skiing and skating was not really possible), that being outside freezing and potentially getting sick was not the best use of the break. I was about 10 or 11, and I started to try different activities arranged both on Liding??>, the island where I grew up, and in Stockholm itself. The Swedish Army Museum in Stockholm had, like most museums, activities, and one year I went there and built a plastic model of a SEPECAT Jaguar.

I then started going to a local indoor shooting range, where a local shooting organisation arranged for children to test air guns, shooting .117 caliber pellets. We had to sign up for a timeslot, and after 30 minutes of shooting time, we were allowed to sign up again for a later slot again. I frequently walked to the nearby library to read or get some new books while I waited. This way I often got three or even four sessions of shooting in.

Other years my parents took the opportunity to go down to visit my dad’s family in Blekinge in southern Sweden. I usually spent a large part of that time reading, both during the 8 hour drive (today it is less than 7 hours, due to new roads and increased speed limits) and during the stay.

After I got hooked at computers in 7th grade, a couple of times I managed to borrow a computer from the school during the break, or some years actually got to spend time in the computer room despite the school being closed. The maintenance staff often used this week to repair things or paint stairs or walls, and as I was trusted, I was let in.

I am following the Apple event online right now, and the new iPad2 sounds impressive this far. Dual core processor, up to 9 times faster graphics, dual cameras (front and rear facing), gyroscope like in iPhone4 and iPod Touch, 1080p HDMI output, as well as 33% thinner (8.6mm vs 13.2mm) is all very impressive. It even comes in two colors, white has been added. Steve Jobs claim the battery life is still 10 hours, like in the original iPad.

The price will be identical as for the first generation iPad, starting at $499 for the base wifi only model with 16 GB memory. It will be available in the US on March 11, with 26 more countries on March 25. The same day Apple will also release iOS 4.3, not only for iPad2 but for the original iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The video conferencing program Facetime will be available for iPad2, so the users can communicate with iPhone4 users using video. For iPhone4 the new iOS 4.3 will also add wifi hotspot functionality.

I played around with the first generation iPad last summer. I liked it, it was a cool gadget, but I have my reservations. I am totally tied into iTunes, and if I want to copy any of my movies over from my collection (which is mainly in the formats AVI (Divx/Xvid) and MPEG, I have to re-encode them or convert them into Apple’s format. Personally I prefer a tablet where all standards work, like mp3, wmv, avi, divx, Flash and more.

Steve Jobs also showed a new cover for the iPad2, which attaches to the front using magnets as well as some other accessories. So it is a cool toy, but not something I can motivate spending that money on right now.