Author: Bruce Elgort

You’ll find this technology professor – an award-winning instructor at Clark College – working hard to inspire and challenge his students with meaningful web development and programming experiences. With a skinny vanilla latte (no foam) in hand, Bruce loves to tinker and test the boundaries of existing and emerging technologies, to then guide hungry minds through memorable, educational journeys to showcase with passion the ever-evolving innovations of society. An industry leader, Bruce is known for co-developing Elguji’s IdeaJam software, and is recognized by IBM as an ‘IBM Champion’ for being an innovative thought leader in cloud technologies.

OneUI/XPages Quick Tip

Have you used the XPages Extension Library Navigator control in your apps? If so, have you noticed how the top entry in the navigator doesn’t quite look right? You can also see this small UI niggle in the XPages Extension Library (ExtLib) Sample demo app. I noticed this when I was using the Application Layout control and placing a Navigator in the left/right column(s).

Here is what I am talking about in the XPages ExtLib:

Notice how the Home navigator link has it’s top cut off? Here is what it should look like (from an app I am working on):

Does that look a lot better to you? This is simple to fix. Go into the Style properties of the Navigator and simply add 5px margin:

You can also make this change with a style override in your apps style sheet if you would prefer. I hope that this helps you with perfecting your XPages UI work.

I am also going to explore to see if this is only the case when using the Application Layout control.

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Podcast: Are You Ready For Lotusphere? With Andy, Paul, and Stuart.

With only 46 days until Lotusphere 2012 we thought we would pull together a show with community luminaries Andy Donaldson, Paul Mooney and Stuart McIntyre.

Topics included:

  • Will this be the year of the “big change” (It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine)
  • Tips for Lotusphere newbites
  • Why we go to Lotusphere
  • Who the OGS speaker will be
  • Where to socialize at Lotusphere
  • The quality of breakout sessions
  • Expect demos, demos and more demos
  • What does “social” mean at a conference like Lotusphere?
  • IBM Connect
  • Paul wins the “social” bingo game
  • Will Lotusphere go back to being a purely technical conference?
  • What are Andy, Paul and Stuart excited about being at Lotusphere?
  • and much more….

The show runs approximately 46 minutes.

Download Episode 144 >

Podcast: IBM’s SmartCamp Program for Entrepreneurs with Mike Riegel

On Episode 143 of Taking Notes we interview IBM’s Mike Riegel (@mikeriegel, LinkedIn, Blog), Vice President – ISVs, Startups, Developers, and Academic Programs. We talked about IBM’s SmartCamp program and what it’s all about.

Topics included:

  • When people think about Big Blue, start up companies isn’t something that comes to mind. So when I heard about your SmartCamp program and some of the other things you are doing around the world for entrepreneurs I was a little surprised. Tell us what exactly is IBM doing with StartUps and Entrepreneurs?
  • Why are entrepreneurs and start ups important to IBM?
  • What is a SmartCamp?
  • Is it working? How successful are previous participants?
  • Are you looking for companies that are doing work in collaboration and social business?
  • How does a startup company qualify for SmartCamps?
  • What should our listeners do if they want to participate in 2012?
  • I heard the World Finals is coming up. What do you expect to see from the companies taking part?
  • and much more…

The show runs 25:25.

Download Episode 143 >

 

Taking Notes: The start of year 7

It’s hard to believe that Julian and I have been producing Taking Notes for six years now. Geez, it’s hard to imagine doing anything for 6 years nowadays! During 2011 we produced 14 shows, not nearly the number we have produced in prior years however, the shows we have done have had commendable download stats.

This year we decided to venture outside the topic areas we have covered in the past, and personally it has been extremely rewarding. Some of my favorite shows included the one we did with Rick Turcozy of the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE), the one with Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie and my personal favorite the interview with Scott Kveton, CEO of Urban Airship. Oh and the recent episode with Mark Myers on NoSQL is now in record breaking territory. I received some nice compliments from some IBMers yesterday who really enjoyed the show with Mark.

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Julian and myself to thank you all for your support. Having shows with 25,000+ downloads is mind-blowing. As my friend Mac OS Ken says – “you rock”.

Thanks again to all of you for listening and supporting Taking Notes.

Domino Designer 9.0

Yeap it’s true, Domino Designer 9.0 has arrived. That is our dog “Domino Designer” (yes we named our dog that back in 2002). Domino has finally surpassed Lotus product version numbers with this birthday.

While Domino Designer has moved on from developing Notes/Domino doggie apps for his customer base, he now is heavily involved in the development of DogOS for the local cat community. Most of his work is still under NDA however, his PR agency says that his next app does not include the word “social“. He did indicate that he is using NoBiscuitSQL as the backend database technology. He has enlisted the assistance of his sister Bella Luna to help with the UX work.

Domino is currently looking for angel investors as he has found that his social security and 401(k) have dwindled away with the recent US debt crisis follies.

Domino Designer at Cannon Beach, Oregon

Happy birthday Domino Designer!

Welcome to Failure Club

Failure Club is a riveting new series from Morgan Spurlock. The show follows seven people who risk it all to chase their dream. In our launch episode, we explore the origin of Failure Club and learn what our new season has in store. Catch new episodes of ‘Failure Club’ every Friday at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST here on Yahoo! Screen.

Some of you may remember Phil Kiracofe who worked with Nathan T. Freeman at MFJ International, the makers of the once popular OverQuota CRM systems for Lotus Notes.

Hat tip to Nathan for sharing this video with me.