Tags: IBM, Lotus Notes, Notes, Lotus Notes 8, Beta 2, Notes8beta, Wikipedia, Groupware, Composite Applications, Activities, Sametime 7.5.1, Lotus Sametime, YouTube, Thomas Adrian, Social Computing, Social Software, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Demo, User Experience

In one of my previous twitterings, I have actually mentioned how, for the last couple of weeks, I have been testing the waters with the latest client from Lotus Notes 8: Beta 2. For a number of months, I have been trying out Notes 8 beta 1 and I must say that if I was quite impressed back then about what Notes 8 was putting together, I am really glad that I jumped into Beta 2, because the experience is way much more impressive. Yes, indeed, that is the right word for it: very impressive.

I know that quite a lot of people out there may be a bit surprised to actually see me here creating this weblog entry about a particular groupware tool that IBM has been championing for several decades (It even has got its own Wikipedia entry!) and which has shaped tremendously the market around collaboration tools. I remember back then, when I first joined IBM over 10 years ago, that we were all just getting exposed to Lotus Notes 4.1, then from there on to Notes 5, then Notes 6, Notes 7 and already preparing the way into Notes 8. So hang in there with me for a minute and you will see where I am heading…

As far as I can see, most of the major releases of Lotus Notes were actually having a huge impact in the groupware space. However, I feel that with the arrival of Notes 8 (definitely Beta 2 is showing some of that already!) we will be seeing, and experiencing, a paradigm shift where not only Notes 8 might potentially dominate the traditional groupware space (As it has done for many years), but also the more emerging technologies from the world of the social computing space. Because that is actually some of the major set of features put together for Notes 8 beta 2 this time around.

Yes, that is right. I am not sure if you have had a chance to look into the Notes 8 Web site or the actual demo of what it has got to offer, but if there is one thing very clear coming out of all that is that if Lotus Notes was ever meant to be a whole lot more than just an e-mail client, this particular version of Notes 8, whenever it reaches full production, will actually prove that once again, but with a twist.

With a twist because there are a number of different components that have been put together and which touch base quite nicely with the area of social software, going from the Composite Applications, to the integration with Activities, Sametime 7.5.1, different Productivity Tools or an RSS / Atom feed reader to be able to keep up to date with the information you need. And all that with a new and fancy user interface to handle your e-mail and calendar, next to the other different databases you may have been using already. In short, lots of goodies to talk about that would require a few different weblog entries, which is, indeed, what I will be doing over the next few weeks as Notes 8 reaches that full production status.

I just wanted to get things started today with this particular weblog entry to share with you a teaser video clip, stored in YouTube, by Thomas Adrian, and which comes to show you some of the different new features put together in Notes 8 Beta 2 and of which I will be talking about in future posts providing a bit more details with some more extensive overviews of how they work. The only thing missing from the video though is the lack of sound / voice, thus it may seem a bit weird going through it. However, it would be totally worth it and without much further ado, here is a quick preview of what is awaiting some of us when we get to taste the final release of Notes 8 and which we can already see with the beta 2 client:

Oh, if you cannot wait for those reviews I will be sharing shortly there is just one place where you would be able to get a sense of why and how Notes 8 has changed the way group collaboration will be seen as in the next few years. Check out Mary Beth Raven’s weblog over at Designing the User Experience for Lotus Notes and Sametime. Who would have thought that the next major release of Lotus Notes 8 would have been done in conjunction with us all, i.e. the end-users, by having its developers listen and getting actively involved with our own feedback coming through that particular weblog from Mary Beth. Not sure what you think about this, folks, but very few applications out there have been shaped up this way, don’t you think?

(Stay tuned for those reviews as they will be coming up shortly. You will notice as well how I have consciously not included any other links to other reviews as I will be linking to them accordingly whenever the time is right)

Tags: Podcasts, Podcasting, Taller de Podcasting, Podcasting Workshop, Cronicas de Esperantia, Mangas Verdes, Linotipo, Fran Saavedra, Canarias Bruta, Manuel Almeida, Victor Ruiz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canarias, Pamela Systems, Skype, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Web 2.0, Knowledge Management, KM, Gestion de Conocimientos, Collaboration, Colaboración, Communities, Comunidades, eLearning, Educación

Sí, ya sé que vengo un poco tarde con el post sobre el I Taller de Podcasting de Canarias que tuvo lugar el 17 de marzo y que ya comenté en su momento, pero como lo prometido es deuda aquí tenéis una descripción de cómo fue el evento y de lo que aprendí durante las varias horas que estuvimos absorbiendo conocimientos, un montón, como dicen por aquí, del fascinante mundo del Podcasting.

Pero vamos por partes. Primero, hacer referencia a toda la gente que atendió el evento y que ya han creado sus respectivos artículos comentando cómo fue el evento. Segundo, por supuesto, las fotos del evento que podréis encontrar en Mangas Verdes, gracias a nuestro reporteros gráficos más dicharacheros: Manual Almeida (¡Vaya pedazo de cámara que se gasta el colega!) y Víctor Ruiz. Y luego, por supuesto, el agradecimiento a Octavio por haber habilitado la sala Luroa. En fin, un buen grupo de gente que se molesta y se preocupa, y mucho, porque todas estas tecnologías emergentes tengan su propio espacio en Canarias y los demás podamos explorarlas con comodidad y bastantes conocimientos para probarlas sin ningún tapujo. Vamos, de lujo.

Y, como siempre, lo mejor es siempre estar conectados y enchufados con los expertos en la materia con los que poder aprender bastante sobre el tema antes de lanzarse de lleno a explorar el medio. ¿No creéis? Y eso es prácticamente lo que hicimos los asistentes disfrutando de los conocimientos y consejos de gente que lleva mucho tiempo en esto del podcasting como Fran J. Saavedra, de Crónicas de Esperantia, o Charlie, Miguel y Pino del equipo de Canarias Burta. El evento en sí puede que no tuviera una altísima participación, pero lo cierto es que los que fuimos lo disfrutamos mucho, no sólo por lo didáctico del evento, sino porque parte del propósito fue también dar clases prácticas sobre lo que es el proceso de creación del podcasting y su correspondiente publicación en la red. ¡Increíblemente fascinante lo fácil que llega a ser una vez que te pones a la faena!

Y quizá fue éste el aspecto que más me llamó la atención y la que más me ayudó a dar ese empujoncito final para la creación de podcasts dentro de no mucho tiempo, la verdad. El gusanillo siempre ha estado ahí, desde luego, pero la charla por parte de Fran, Charlie y Miguel ha sido la que al final va a tener su fruto y me va a lanzar al mundo de los podcasts.

Como habréis podido ver si leéis este blog con regularidad, en el pasado ya he comentado cómo había participado en una serie de episodios con diferentes podcasters, pero siempre desde la perspectiva de invitado y nunca desde la perspectiva de productor de los diferentes episodios. Bueno, ¡pues eso va a cambiar y muy pronto!

Quizá ése sea el gran éxito del I Taller de Podcasting de Canarias. El hecho de que después del evento ya he empezado a poner las cosas en su sitio y estoy preparando el lanzamiento de mi propio podcast, que, por cierto, va a tener un poco de todo. En formato híbrido, haciendo podcasts tanto individuales como colaborativas, tanto en inglés como en español, tratando varios de los temas sobre los que ya llevo un buen tiempo comentando en los diferentes weblogs que mantengo: Gestión / Administración de Conocimientos, Colaboración, Comunidades, Educación y las Redes Sociales o el social computing.

Ahora sólo me quedan ultimar los detalles finales, como echar un vistazo a Pamela-Systems y en particular Pamela para Skype y decidir cuál es la mejor opción, y empezar a dar los primeros pasos. Habrá que ver cómo irá todo al final, pero lo cierto es que estoy bastante ilusionado con empezar ya que me va a permitir poder conocer a mucha gente que ya llevo leyendo durante bastante tiempo. Veremos a ver qué tal se nos da. De momento, agradecer, de nuevo, tanto a Fran, Charlie y Miguel, como a Octavio el haber organizado tal evento por primera vez en Canarias y que sepais que el gusanillo estaba ahí desde hacía tiempo, pero lo habéis despertado y con muchas ganas! ¡A por ellos! (Uy, perdón, ese último comentario pertenece a otro contexto )

Tags: Metablogging, Business Blogging, Successful Blogging, Blogs, Booklets, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Web 2.0, Knowledge Management, KM, Knowledge Sharing, Collaboration, Conversations, Ted Demopoulos

I am now back from Budapest, where I have been for the last week attending an IBM Global Business Services Learning & Knowledge internal event around the subject of Knowledge Sharing and Community Building, of which I have talked about here and here. The event itself was just awesome and incredibly re-energising! One of those events that makes you feel jazzed up by the second day you are attending! I have got lots and lots of stuff to share around the event itself and also about the lovely city of Budapest, so I am hoping to make it a bit of justice over the next few days when I get to share a rather long weblog entry detailing what the event was like and what being in Budapest for a week is. Thus stay tuned because it will be shared over the next few days, I hope. It will pretty much depend on how things move forward with that massive catchup with everything else that I am going through at the moment.

However, I just wanted to give you all a heads up from a lovely booklet that Ted Demopoulos has put together recently and which will grab your attention immediately if you are into the subject of weblogging and helping you out improve your overall experience with this social computing tool, in order to reach out, connect with others, share your knowledge and collaborate with other knowledge workers in the subjects you are passionate about as well. And all of that through pimping up your own weblogging experience.

Yes, indeed, that is right. That is the whole purpose of the Secrets for Successful Blogging by Ted Demopoulos, where you can find "101+ tips for blogging more efficiently, effectively and profitably". All I can say is totally recommended! You can read it in a breeze at your own time, specially when you have got a spare minute to dive into each of those different tips. That is, exactly, what I did myself while I was in Budapest. Internet connections have not been very good, specially while I was getting there, so I had a chance to revisit the booklet again and put together some further annotations on how to improve my own weblogging experience and I must say that some people would say it is all pretty much common sense and all, but when you actually see it written down in a such a simple and effective manner that Ted has managed to do, it just clicks.

So, here I am, recommending it (Like many others have done already thus far) as well as one of the best quick and beneficial reads for those webloggers who are not just getting into weblogging in the last few weeks, but also for those people, like myself, who have been weblogging for a number of years and who could still learn a thing or two on something you never thought it was so easy to implement. Amazing, but totally surprising the effect of going through 101+ tips and figure out that there are still lots of things you could do to help improve the way you handle conversations out there in the blogosphere.

A recommended read, for sure, so if you bump into Secrets for Successful Blogging by Ted Demopoulos and still think you can learn some more on what drives your passion in the weblogging world I would strongly encourage you to get your hands on a copy of it. Then I am very certain you will be very grateful to Ted for helping you pimp up your weblog in no time and with some concrete tips you can start implementing from day one!

Thanks much, Ted, for such a lovely, quick, short, and amazing booklet! Worth while a read, to say the least!

Tags: Budapest, Hungary, IBM, Global Business Services, GBS, Learning and Knowledge, L&K, Travelling, Trip, Wi-Fi, Twitter, Taxi Drivers, Broadband Connections, Hotels, Airports, Beer, Life, Ancient Buildings

As you may recall from last week, this week and till next Monday, I am actually in Budapest, Hungary, attending the University event with the European team from IBM’s Global Business Services Learning and Knowledge, getting to know face to face a whole bunch of the folks I have been interacting with virtually for a number of months. Yes, I know, an interesting event to say the least as I will be able to place some faces behind the voices, IM conversations and e-mails I have been having for quite some time now.

The event is supposed to get started tomorrow afternoon although registrations are starting in the morning. Then over the next couple of days, it is going to be a pretty packed agenda with very little time for anything else, including some team building activities in the evening, so I am not sure I would be able to create any other weblog entries at least till I am done on Thursday afternoon. Thus I have decided to venture now and share a few thoughts on my first experiences coming to Budapest for the first time and share some of the pictures I have already taken about this incredibly fascinating city. Here it goes:

1. Too much of a long trip!: Yes, indeed, having to take three planes in the same day to get over here is just way too much. My ears are still buzzing and pretty much stuck, despite all my efforts to get over it!!

2. Quite disappointed with Wi-Fi networks at airports in general: As I have been mentioning in my twitterings, I guess the world is way far far away from offering competitive (Not even free options) prices for making use of Wi-Fi networks while waiting on connecting flights. Not a chance that I would pay for two or three hours worth of broadband what I nearly pay on a monthly basis. *That* is just out of the question. Period. So much for making broadband widely available to everyone… Sigh

3. Taxi drivers need to understand that when they are told that the suitcase they try to grab is rather heavy they should be paying attention. We know better. We packed those suitcases, you know!?!?! Now I have got a broken suitcase ! Double sigh

4. Second major disappointment: This time with the hotel broadband services. Not only are they rather expensive (25 Euros for 24 hour connection! Yes, you are reading it right, 25 Euros per day!), but the actual broadband connection is as flaky as I never thought it would be for the price I am paying! I haven’t been able to access most Web sites I normally get to access, Twitter included, GMail, a whole bunch of behind the firewall Web sites through VPN, or even my weblog! (Where there are a whole bunch of comments and trackbacks I need to get to, but can’t! So bear with me while I try to get that sorted out). I hope I am able to post this one entry, but so far I must say that it is far from ideal !

And all this in an era where most knowledge workers are mobile, travelling all over the place, and need to have that pervasiveness to stay in touch with their peers, friends and family than otherwise is going to make things rather difficult. Already got several thousand RSS feeds to catch up just because the broadband connection has been rather unstable all along. Sigh. I guess I was just asking for too much this time around. Yes, indeed, there is nothing like one’s own home wireless connection that you know it just *works*.

5. Lovely beer: Yes, indeed, I just had my first couple of pints and although I do not remember the name of the lager, it surely was nice! I need to pay much better attention next time, but if all beers are just like the one I just had, I think am going to have some good fun from here till next week! heh

6. Sex offerings: After a lovely light dinner with a pint or two of that nice lager, I decided to go for a walk in the surroundings of the hotel, voted as “best view” hotel in Budapest, and while I am walking alongside the river in a rather cold evening the first thing I get offered is just that: sex. Yeah, like you are reading it right there. I got here less than 3 hours ago and I am already being offered some sex… Hummm, no hard feelings to anyone of my friends out there, but that scene reminded me very closely of Amsterdam.

I decided to walk further and continue enjoying the scenery, in case you are wondering. See above for a whole bunch of reasons why

7. First glance of what promises to be a wonderful place to enjoy for the remaining of the week: As I was taking that walk in this cold evening, I got to enjoy some of the different ancient buildings (Still need to learn the names and all as well -Reading some books about them at the moment…) and the spectacular lighting effects that have been put together. They have clearly reminded me that I need to buy a much better digital camera if  I would want to do them justice ! And big time!

You will have to get over here to judge for yourselves, but I have taken the liberty of taking some photos of some of the stunning places I have been checking out thus far so that you can get an idea of what is awaiting you over here, in case you may have never visited Budapest.

8. I am tired: I guess that is a no brainer since I have been up this morning since 4am GMT and it is pass midnight, local time, so instead of sharing with you some further details, I am actually going to leave it over here and share with you below some of those, above mentioned, pictures I mentioned of some of the stuff I have seen tonight. Hopefully, there would be a couple more weblog posts about my experiences over here, but there is a good chance that I may just be able to share some of my twitterings all along, specially if the broadband connection is good. We shall see.

Have a good one everyone! And hope to be able to weblog some more soon! (If you do not see me weblogging away, not to worry, you know where I will be. Yeah, not there actually either! You bad bad bad folks!! )

(More to be uploaded over here)

Tags: Podcasts, Podcasting, Taller de Podcasting, Podcasting Workshop, Cronicas de Esperantia, Mangas Verdes, Linotipo, Atarecos, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canarias, Canarias Bruta

Sí, ya sé que llego un poco tarde a este pedazo de evento que se va a celebrar mañana en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, durante la tarde / noche, pero más vale tarde que nunca, supongo . Probablemente, algunos de vosotros ya lo habréis leído en Crónicas de Esperantia, en Mangas Verdes, en Linotipo (Bienvenido de vuelta, Víctor!), en Atarecos, entre otros.

Efectivamente, mañana, a partir de las 4pm GMT empezará el I Taller de Podcasting de Canarias! ¡Fantástica noticia! Todos los detalles del programa los podréis leer de mano de Fran en Crónicas de Esperantia. Lo cierto es que, al leerlo, uno no puede nada más que comentar lo espectacular que va a ser el evento. Único, más bien, diría yo.

Aquí tenéis un fragmento para poneros un poco los dientes largos:

"Los podcasters canarios vamos a celebrar el próximo día 17 en la Galería de Arte Luroa a partir de las 16:00 horas el I Taller de Podcasting de Canarias con el que vamos a intentar acercar el maravilloso mundo del podcasting, sus posibilidades en todos los ámbitos y su funcionamiento a todas aquellas personas que quieran conocer algo más de una palabra que ya está sonando muy fuerte en los medios y que se le vaticina un futuro prometedor como herramienta de comunicación."

Por supuesto, que me voy a dejar caer por allí. Ya llevo algún tiempo involucrado en el mundo de los podcasts habiendo participado en unas cuantos episodios y la verdad es que me apetece mucho el poder ver un poco más del mundillo que los podcasts en cuanto a producción,  edición, herramientas y demás tema logístico.

Y encima de todo ello habrá algo que me parece de lo más interesante e intrigante:

"Durante el transcurso del taller estableceremos conexiones con podcasters de todo el mundo que participarán activamente en el taller a través del audio y de las herramientas gratuitas que usamos para interconectarnos."

¡Fantástico! Pues con poco más que añadir os invito a los que estéis por aquí que os dejéis caer por la Galería de Arte Luroa mañana a partir de eso de las 4pm GMT y allí nos veremos. ¡Por supuesto!

Y, por último, desde aquí simplemente dar las eternas gracias tanto a Fran como a Canarias Bruta por haber conseguido un programa espectacular y tan atractivo. ¡Seguro que se nos hará corto, como mínimo! ¡Allí nos vemos!

(For those of you who may not understand Spanish, the above text is a weblog entry that mentions the upcoming podcasting workshop that will be hosted, for the first time, tomorrow afternoon in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. If you are reading this and are in the area and want to know some more about the fascinating world of podcasting come and join us! We would be more than happy to have you with us!)

Tags: Laughs, Laughter, Life, Humour, Health, Social Networking, Social Media, Social Computing, Knowledge Management, KM, Metablogging, Bloggers

After yesterday’s rather lengthy weblog post about Twitter and its several various reasons to help improve your already existing social networks, I thought I would share something else with you today that, if anything, I am sure it would do you good. And lots of it! I bet that you have all heard all over the place how a good laugh is perhaps one of the healthiest things you can go through at any given point in time, right? Well, nearly 4 million have experienced that already and I guess that, if you haven’t seen it, it is probably your turn now. Check out this YouTube video and get ready to start off the weekend with a good laugh! And, if not, judge for yourselves:

Oh, and if you didn’t have enough with that one, have about this one:

Who said that messing about in the kitchen while doing some cooking was not fun, eh?

(Thanks, Mike!)

Oh, ok, now, if you would want something more educational around the subject of social networks and weblogging and how crucial they are becoming to the business world, have a look at this other video (Specially the last couple of minutes):

Have a good one, everyone!