Gregg Eldred

Inventing Niagara by Ginger Strand

Gregg Eldred — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:53:56 -0400

If you live in the US or Canada, I would imagine that you would be in the minority if you say that you have never been to Niagara Falls. According some sources, over 2 million people visit the Falls every year. But what you see is just a small portion of the area. Ginger Strand, in her book, Inventing Niagara, shows you Niagara Falls and the surrounding area in a way that no travel guide will; She debunks the myths, shows you the environmental damage, takes you behind the scenes of the massive power plants, and introduces you to the many people that have shaped the area. And when I say "shaped," that is exactly what you see - men who have turned a natural wonder into something fake. At the end of the book, you have to wonder if Disney had something to do with the Falls, as what you see is manufactured realism.

Contents:
Introduction: Down the Memory Hole
Chapter 1: White Man's Fancy, Red Man's Fact
Chapter 2: The Eighth Wonder of the World
Chapter 3: Skipper the Two-Legged Dog
Chapter 4: The Other Side of Jordan
Chapter 5: Free Niagara
Chapter 6: King of Power, Queen of Beauty
Chapter 7: Sentiment in Liquid Form
Chapter 8: The Bomb and Tom Brokaw's Desk
Chapter 9: Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Epilogue: The Voice of the Landscape
Sources and Acknowledgements
Index

Starting the book with a critique of the "Maid of the Mist" mythology, Strand moves along to other historical figures such as the early explorers, the indigenous Indians, and the developers. One of the stories that amazed me was the spectacle of the schooner Michigan, which is curiously omitted from all current guide books. In 1827, two businessmen contracted to have the schooner Michigan towed to currents above the falls with a crew of caged animals. At the appointed hour, the schooner was cut loose and a crowd of up to 20,000 watched as it plunged over the falls and was smashed to bits. Only a bear and a goose survived the ordeal. As time moves on, things don't get better for the area. As men realize the unlimited hydroelectric potential of the falls, water is diverted from the falls, reducing the flow to the minimum for the tourists. The resulting factories dump their toxic chemical and radioactive waste into the Niagara River. Or they create Superfund sites like Love Canal (Love Canal is but one Superfund site in the area, there are many others). Or they create giant landfills. The memories that travel guides omit are brought to the light by Strand, made more compelling by her interviews with people that actually lived on the land or worked in the factories.

From the opening pages, you understand that Strand has an obsession with Niagara Falls. And it is a good thing, too, as she has written a very good book on the dark side of the falls. While 99.9% of those 2 million visitors only look at what is in front of them, enjoy the casinos, or the tourist mecca that is Clifton Hill, there is much more to experience and know. Not all of it equals a happy and relaxing visit, but it is a view of the real falls. The fact that only a small percentage of the Niagara River flows over the falls and is controlled and manipulated very carefully by the power authorities is just as amazing as the history of Goat Island and the American Falls. You finish the book realizing that what you see isn't real, it is man-made. This book hasn't deterred me from visiting again, it has shown me some sites that I would like visit. And it puts into context why you see what you do. Knowing that, I can still have a pleasant visit, but it will not be spent only on the Canadian side of the falls. There is too much to do on the American side and it will be important to share those sites with the family. I can't wait to relate to the family the history of the Robert Moses Parkway or how a small band of Indians lost their land because they didn't do anything with it (this is a point that probably has some merit in today's society). The only issues I had with the book are probably trivial: Strand's overuse of the word "sublime" and the casual tone. But it is a very enjoyable, interesting book.

Be sure to read the Sources and Acknowledgements. Strand adds more personal tidbits amongst her sources, especially an anecdote concerning Norm Stressing, supervisor of operations at the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant.

Technorati tag: book review Niagara Falls Ginger Strand

SearchDomino.com: Christopher Byrne Webcast

Gregg Eldred — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:57:16 -0400

Christopher Byrne, Lotus Notes/Domino compliance and governance expert, has a webcast, sponsored by SearchDomino, concerning IT governance and IBM Lotus software. From the abstract:

. . . this webcast covers:

* The concepts behind and definitions of governance, risk management and compliance.

* The elements of governance -- from corporate-level governance and IS/IT governance through personal governance.

* How to distinguish myth from reality. Including re-establishing old policies, differentiating between different laws in different countries and more.

* Why you should build control frameworks for IT governance to support clean business objectives, including COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology), which was developed as a generally applicable and accepted standard for good IT security and control practices, and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

* Gaining an understanding of the unique governance for various IBM Lotus Notes products, such as Lotus Notes, Domino, Lotus Sametime and Lotus Quickr. Objectives discussed include setting up acceptable use policies for each product, email retention policies, IM retention policies, records retention policies and more.

* Why applying IT governance concepts and frameworks to an IBM Lotus Notes Domino software environment is beneficial to you and your organization.

Link: SearchDomino.com: IT governance in an IBM Lotus software environment

Differences Between DWA Full and DWA Lite

Gregg Eldred — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:54:10 -0400

Leave it to clients - they will ask a question that you haven't considered or anticipated. The example today is the one that was posed of me "What are the differences between iNotes Full and iNotes Lite?" (no, they did not ask about "Domino Web Access Full" or "Domino Web Access Lite." It was iNotes).

What is DWA Lite? From the TechNote:

DWA Lite is a new capability within Domino Web Access which utilizes a new page architecture optimized for empty cache or low bandwidth scenarios, such as when users are working from a kiosk or traveling. It is not a separate product – it is just another mode for running DWA.
When using DWA Lite, only the Mail, Contacts, and the Day-At-A-Glance Calendar are available.

If you are using DWA Full, this is how you switch from Full to Lite mode (emphasis, mine):

This is a look at DWA Full:

And this is how DWA Lite looks:

From the above screen, you can see that you have only two choices, Mail and Contacts. Because not every feature is loading in the browser, you may need to communicate the differences between the two interfaces to your users. A quick search of the TechNotes resulted in just what I needed. Here, for your benefit (and mine), are the differences between DWA Full and DWA Lite.

An Administrator has the option (if you are running Domino 8.0.1 or higher) to force DWA Lite on all users by using this Notes.INI parameter:

iNotes_WA_DefaultUI=dwa_lite

Link: What features are available when using DWA Lite?

Twitter Timer

Gregg Eldred — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:43:15 -0400

Having a tough time remembering events? Need an alarm? Have Twitter Timer send you a tweet.

Thanks, George

Technorati tag: twitter

SnTT - When Do You Need To Restart Your Domino Server?

Gregg Eldred — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:36:03 -0400

You have made a change (or several) to your Server and Messaging Documents. What changes require a restart of the server?

While this list is not all inclusive, it should address most of the major changes. Feel free to add to the list in the comments, or correct my mistakes. I will probably create another post with your updates.

Make a change to Messaging Configuration Document - no restart, but need to restart SMTP and/or Router
Make a change to the LDAP section of Server Document - restart required
Make a change to Global Domain Document - restart required (I don't think that this is correct)
Make a change to web server of Domino server - no restart, but need to restart HTTP task.
Starting or changing Directory Assistance - restart required
Make a change to the behavior of Domino Web Access (like having all users open to their InBox) - restart required
Make a change to the Internet Ports in the Server Document - no restart, but need to restart the specific task.
Setup Fault Recovery - restart required
Enable Password checking on Notes IDs - restart required
Moving an Internet Certificate from one server to another - restart required.
Changing SSL Key Encryption strength - no restart, but need to restart HTTP task
Changing fields on the Security tab of the Server Document - no restart, but need to wait for Domino to recache the document (about 20 minutes).
Create or change Domain Indexing - restart required
Disable/enable Directory Catalogs in Server Document - restart required
Make changes to Cluster Replicator - restart required
Edits to the Notes.INI on the server - restart required unless you use SET CONFIG. Then you need to restart the affected task
Change Transactional Logging settings - restart required
Enabling SSL on Domino server - no restart, but need to restart HTTP task.
Make changes to logging for Domino Web Server Log (domlog.nsf) - no restart, but need to restart HTTP.

Technorati tag: SnTT Show-n-Tell Thursday

How Does Your Library Rate?

Gregg Eldred — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:21:25 -0400

Two library systems in my area have been ranked at #13 and #18 in the list of The 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World.

At the 13th position is the Cuyahoga County Public Library:

Ranked as the top library by Hennen's American Public Library Ratings in 2006, this Cleveland, Ohio, library works to keep up to date with the latest technologies. Their website was ranked as the best by Ektron in 2006 and gives patrons the ability to access their accounts, purchase tickets to library events and much more. The library also offers text message delivery of library notices, the first in the nation to offer this service. The library offers access to 85 colleges and universities through its online OhioLink program as well as a host of other Ohio libraries, greatly increasing the number of resources patrons can draw upon. If that weren't enough, the library also participates in a podcasting program and places videos of speakers and visitors to the library online for all patrons to enjoy.

And at number 18 is the Cleveland Public Library:

The Cleveland Public Library offers patrons a wide range of downloadable materials on its website including audio books, ebooks, music and video. The library is part of a network of libraries in Ohio and offers patrons access to materials not only at the main location but at other locations as well. The library works with a NetNotice plan sending information on the library or reserved materials directly to patrons' inboxes. Additionally, the library has an iGoogle gadget for its catalog, a Twitter feed, and participates in the Library Elf notification program.

History of the Cleveland Public Library (a beautiful building, inside and out).

Link: SeattlePI.com: The 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World

Social Networking at General Electric

Gregg Eldred — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:31:18 -0400

A news report tells the tale of General Electric's (GE) internally developed social networking site. The author, Ann All, does an admirable job of cutting through the compliments and makes some good points. However, she also indicates some issues with Connections and Quickr:

Many of the enterprise-class tools still lack the kinds of functionality companies are seeking. Notably, few tools are equipped for both collaboration and social networking, says CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne, whom I interviewed earlier this month. Not to pick on IBM, but Byrne used the company to illustrate his point. Its Connections software is networking-oriented with a bit of collaboration capability thrown in, says Byrne. Quickr, on the other hand, is well suited for collaboration but offers limited networking functionality.

It seems to me, that this quote can be represented:

Which is funny, in that the Connections and Quickr sites explain it this way:

Lotus Connections is social software for business that empowers you to be more innovative and helps you execute more quickly by using dynamic networks of coworkers, partners and customers.

Lotus Quickr is team collaboration software that helps you share content, collaborate and work faster online with your teams - inside or outside your firewall.

From those definitions, there doesn't seem to be much, if any overlap in the products. But maybe there is room in the Lotus portfolio for Product X, as Tony Byrne describes.

Link: ITBusinessEdge: Ann All: Most Companies Can’t Afford GE’s Custom Approach to Social Networking
Link: Lotus Quickr
Link: Lotus Connections

Technorati tag: Lotus Connections Quickr

Be Gentle - My First Video

Gregg Eldred — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:09:03 -0400

Saturday, I am walking around the house, when I noticed something out of the ordinary (at least for me). A hummingbird moth. Here is my short video of the moth:

A still picture of the moth:

Technorati tag: hummingbird moth

Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

Gregg Eldred — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:25:19 -0400

I am not one to read books on technology, strange as it may seem. Especially ones that talk about current issues as they will become dated in a few months, or less. However, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations, by Clay Shirky, works for me on several levels. You could read this book a year from now and still gain valuable insight into the blogging, Twitter, and social media arenas.

Contents:
Chapter 1: It Takes a Village to Find a Phone
Chapter 2: Sharing Anchors Community
Chapter 3: Everyone is a Media Outlet
Chapter 4: Publish, Then Filter
Chapter 5: Personal Motivation Meets Collaborative Production
Chapter 6: Collective Action and Institutional Challenges
Chapter 7: Faster and Faster
Chapter 8: Solving Social Dilemmas
Chapter 9: Fitting Our Tools to a Small World
Chapter 10: Failure for Free
Chapter 11: Promise, Tool, Bargain
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

The premise of the book is laid out in Chapter 1, where Shirky relates a 2006 story of a stolen Sidekick, a smartphone lost in a New York City cab. The owner offered a reward for its return, sent to the phone itself, but it was not answered. From there, a friend of the owner started a blog, relating his adventures in recovering the phone. From the blog, and the attention that it received, the owner was able to recover the phone. It was done through e-mails, pressure on the New York City police, and the networking between people that cared enough to create an issue of recovering the phone. Blogs, wikis, social networking sites, IRC, and Twitter are enabling people to create communities and organizations without formally meeting or requiring a bricks-and-mortar locations. Examples Shirky uses includes political activists in Belarus and Leipzig, East Germany, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), and activists in Egypt. These examples, and others, show that Shirky may be right in his assessment that what we are seeing now in "Web 2.0" is as important as the invention of moveable type (the printing press) in 1439. It may be years before you will be able to confirm this, but you can tell that there is a shift happening, using the internet, that was previously impossible to surmount (geography, primarily, but also the connections that we all enjoy due to blogs, wikis, Twitter, and others).

Here Comes Everybody is a very enjoyable book. For those people that need an introduction to the power of blogs, wikis, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other technologies, this book will serve you very well. While not an exhaustive expose on any of the technologies, Shirky explains the rise of them (including a little background on the founders) and how we have adapted them to our specific use. E-mail and text messaging allowed East Germans to help bring down the government in 1989. Twitter, seen as a micro-blogging platform, has been used by democracy advocates in Egypt to notify others of police actions and also to garner support for those jailed during protests. Wikis, especially, are given a high position in the book, as the standard of global collaborative thinking. Wikipedia's origins are shown, as well as why it works as well as it does. But those aren't the only items of interest. One of the more fascinating discussions concerns "fame" and participation. There is a marked imbalance in all of the tools he describes. Some people post more pictures to Flickr, write more blog posts, or use Twitter more extensively than others in the population. This leads to a measure of "fame" in the communities. This is called the "power-law distribution" and actually allows these technologies to flourish. It also allows the major contributors to enjoy a measure of "fame." Reading this, I finally understood why there are so many people that do not contribute to wikis, blogs, or on-line forums. But while those people may not contribute the majority of the work, they do contribute, and they care about the success of the wiki, blog, or forum (for example) as much as those that contribute the majority.

There are lessons within this book for everyone that blogs, contributes to wikis, or tweets. Further, if you are working for a large organization, there is a clear understanding of how these technologies can leverage internal and external experts. It may help your organization to find better ideas from your employees, from sources that you never considered. One of the highlights for me was reading "For any given piece of software, the question 'Do the people who like it take care of each other?' turns out to be a better prediction of success than 'What's the business model?'" As I look at the particular area of technology that I inhabit, I would have to answer with a resounding "Yes" to that question. Which also explains why I think that it is doing so well and will continue to do well.

Highly recommended.

Technorati tag: book review Clay Shirky

No LinkedIn Connections

Gregg Eldred — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:31:54 -0400

It's hard to believe that this LinkedIn profile has no connections.

If that wasn't enough, here is a list of what viewers looked at after viewing that profile:

Clicking on "George W. Bush," I get this message:

I guess I need to do a better job of expanding my network. :-)