Chris A. Brandlehner BLOG

IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.x Books

Christian Brandlehner — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 11:45:10 +0200

I recommend these books for IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.x:

IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.1 FP1 is now available

Christian Brandlehner — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:49:12 +0200

See this TN for download instructions:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24025721

IBM Lotus Domino Change Manager

Christian Brandlehner — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:32:35 +0200

I found a product at the Lotusphere Showcase that seems to be worth having a look. IONET Software offers a change management tool for auditing changes in the Domino Directory. The Change Manager seems to be designed to work fine in a distributed server environment. All software is in Notes databases so no software needs to be installed on the OS or as an extension manager to Domino.

Cool Paragliding Video

Christian Brandlehner — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:59:17 +0200

I found this cool video on YouTube with lots of impressions of the Pre-European Paragliding Championship in Abtenau.
See more information on the European Paragliding Championship 2010 page or on facebook.

How to scoll using the Thinkpad Trackpoint

Christian Brandlehner — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:00:14 +0200

I really like to scroll using the third/blue mouse key on my Thinkpad. I was missing this feature with Ubuntu Linux and found that this solution also worked for my T60p.

Could not renew Lotus Domino Server SSL key

Christian Brandlehner — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:07:31 +0200

IBM Lotus Domino can use an SSL key to provide encrypted network access. To get SSL working you have to use the database cetsrv.nsf, create a certificate request (CSR), paste that into your PKI-providers form who will return a signed certificate. Once you merge that signed certificate into your servers keyring you are ready to go.
The problem I see is that the CSR created by Version 8.5.1 is based on the MD5 algorithm and most PKIs started to refuse MD5 in CSRs in favor of SHA-1 or newer algorithms. I see the problem that everyone who runs a SSL site on Domino will not be able to renew the certificate!

The Lotus Knowledgebase lists a problem that the signed certificate could not be merged into the keyring if signed using SHA-1 by the PKI but this problem was solved with 7.0.3 and does not apply to the current problem as the problem is that the CSR is always signed using MD5.

Read this article: Why is MD5 hash considered insecure?

What happens if a kid finds that solving a rubix cube is not enough

Christian Brandlehner — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:11:42 +0200

Last Christmas my son, now 14 years old, got a robotic toolkit present. This is a video showing the result. I was honestly stunned by surprise.

He uses the robotic toolkit to move the cube. A webcam is linked to a PC to feed the algorithm. A Visual Basic program feeds the robot with instructions.
Sourcecode available on his website.

Why IBM Lotus Symphony?

Christian Brandlehner — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:24:12 +0200

IBM released a document explaining why IBM decided to release a free office product and how IBM positions Lotus Symphony in the market. It also contains a brief feature comparison showing the difference to another popular office suite.

Once in a lifetime

Christian Brandlehner — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:14:53 +0200

This is a interresting story about a dairymaid living in Annaberg which is the village just next to Abtenau where I grew up.

IBM announces Plugins for Lotus Notes Standard client

Christian Brandlehner — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:41:14 +0200

IBM announced a press release regarding Widgets in Lotus Notes. Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president, Messaging and Collaboration, IBM Software said: "Whatever Lotus customers need, there's a widget for that."
The press release mentions two Widgets, the first one is a LinkedIn Widget the second is a TripIt Widget.
Both widgets install easy, all you have to do is to drag and drop an xml-file onto your Widgets-Sidebar, you can even drag it directly from a browser to Notes so you do not have to use the integrated browser.