tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69663882009-07-02T06:12:58.705-07:00Cratchit.org maintains the VIC CRM and TimeTool open source projects.Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-44576987227419420032009-06-17T06:19:00.000-07:002009-06-17T06:56:33.291-07:00

I hate it when "clever" headline writers mislead their readers. Take this one, for instance, from ComputerWorld:Hacker cracks TinyURL rival, redirects millions of Twitter users This borders on the irresponsible. There you have TinyURL, prominent and mostly in caps, with that tiny little "rival" next to it. This story has nothing to do with TinyURL, but they're the one associated with the hack by

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/06/cligs-cracked-tinyurl-is-ok.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-69199552492997853642009-06-16T17:52:00.000-07:002009-06-16T23:55:32.008-07:00

This is one of those posts where I really don't want to be mean, but I have to be.Often the computer systems that we create today don't hold a candle to the things that were envisioned for computers at the very outset. For instance, I'm still in awe of what Douglas Englebart was able to accomplish back in the 1960s. (I've written at length about that in "Why you need VIC CRM".) On the other

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/06/project-xanadu.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-33030843016823970292009-05-28T10:33:00.000-07:002009-05-28T12:44:24.423-07:00

There have been a few new product announcements that have really amazed me lately due to their obvious "me-too"-ness where the press have somehow been hoodwinked into believing that there's something innovative going on. All I can conclude is that the computing media are made up of sheltered children who never saw a computer before they graduated and got their current jobs.Specifically I'm

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/05/theyre-reinventing-wheel-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-15622259155845952202009-05-03T06:51:00.001-07:002009-05-03T07:46:31.258-07:00

I don't know how I missed this talk by Randy Pausch on Time Management, but it's excellent. Please, please, please make the time to watch it: you'll be glad you did.Not only does he pass on general principles in an entertaining way; he provides advice on specific techniques and tools to make you more productive.Now here are my totally self-serving observations: Randy mentions that [as of the time

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/05/randy-pausch-on-time-management.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-61519881062519023872009-04-20T19:23:00.000-07:002009-04-20T19:25:17.779-07:00

This article by Matt Asay says quite enough.

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/04/microsoft-to-open-source-please-dont.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-46956349276220286242009-04-10T19:47:00.000-07:002009-04-10T21:11:07.378-07:00

Here's a neat little Easter egg I just learned about for Microsoft Word (if by this time you don't know that an "Easter egg" is a hidden feature, then get educated here).In Word, type in "=lorem(p,s)" minus the quotes where p is the number of paragraphs and s is the number of sentences per paragraph. Entering "=lorem(200,4)" will give you about 10 pages of output that looks something like this:

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/04/egg-for-easter.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-60315338063745096072009-04-07T08:06:00.000-07:002009-04-07T14:52:24.240-07:00

Today I thought I'd pass on a few interesting and useful websites I've run across.Some are reference, some are tools... the only real rule I've got here is that I'm not posting links to any Google websites... I've got a separate list for that. I'm also steering clear of the obviously popular sites, such as Wikipedia and IMDB. I'm also limiting myself to a baker's dozen this time 'round.So, with

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/04/cool-websites-you-should-visit.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-42208205797384071842009-02-17T07:26:00.000-08:002009-02-17T12:31:17.284-08:00

In the course of a discussion on Paul Murphy's ZDNet talkbacks, Roger Ramjet noted an issue with accessibility features for Linux.First, background. Able people often don't consider the difficulties encountered by the handicapped in using a modern computer. With text-based (DOS) computers it was pretty easy... a screen reader for the blind and you're pretty much done. But with GUIs it's really,

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/02/handicapped-features-in-linux.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-47246061909834127452009-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:002009-02-01T21:24:14.499-08:00

I had an older Windows box that needed to be re-installed. (It's an HP Optiplex). Now, this isn't a crap machine. It's a 2.2GHz processor with a very decent video card. But it didn't come to me with a restore disk, so I called Dell to get one. Sadly, they couldn't hep me out because it originally shipped with Windows 2000. The restore disks are no longer being manufactured. They couldn't send a

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/02/while-you-werent-looking-linux-got.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-15448266590913469442009-01-24T10:13:00.000-08:002009-01-24T10:34:15.310-08:00

My eldest son's computer contracted a nasty bit of malware a couple of weeks ago, which I had to remove manually (NONE of the antivirus software caught it). And believe me, tracking it down and removing it manually without knowing what it was was no easy thing. He's lucky I'm his dad, otherwise the repair could have been hugely expensive.It was the "Conficker" worm, aka "Downadup".Fortunately for

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/01/conficker-downadup-is-nasty.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-5278085072447184912009-01-06T20:04:00.000-08:002009-01-07T10:04:11.886-08:00

Every BitTorrent vendor promises you that BitTorrent provides blazingly fast downloads. This is a lie. Weeeell, it's not technically a lie, and it's not an intentional lie, but in practice it's a lie nonetheless.Here's the theory. BitTorrent works by having many users share pieces of the file among themselves. Seeds have complete copies of the file, and peers don't. By sending different pieces

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2009/01/why-bittorrent-is-slow.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-82520111452423655402008-10-14T04:19:00.000-07:002008-10-14T06:41:15.036-07:00

In my last post I related that in eWeek magazine (Oct 13, 2008), Jason Brooks asks "Does OpenOffice.org Still Matter?" He's wondering if, given on-line suites, if OpenOffice.org will matter in the future. Yesterday I addressed the quality of the software, but today I'd like to look at the on-line software concept and whether Software-as-a-service (SaaS or "cloud computing") advantages outweigh

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/10/is-cloud-computing-worth-it.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-73941015253084805472008-10-13T19:25:00.000-07:002008-10-13T20:38:58.370-07:00

OpenOffice.org 3 has been released. It's fast it's sweet, get it. You may have to wait your turn... the demand is so great that the servers have crashed. Here's the message that mailing list members received:All,We must apologize. OpenOffice.org 3.0 is proving immensely,staggeringly popular. And our site is down as a result. While we fixthings, we urge you to be patient and try again later on

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/10/openofficeorg-3-is-released.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-56238818003792328752008-09-24T06:41:00.000-07:002008-09-24T09:24:19.304-07:00

"Out of the box" VIC CRM is geared toward the worker who spends most of his time in front of the computer and on the phone. When you create a new JournalEntry the default JournalEntry type is always "Phone Call". The rationale here is simple: when you receive a phone call you need to be able to start documenting it as soon as possible, with no delays at all. Other systems require you to gather

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/09/using-vic-managing-calls.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-31850526477718591222008-09-15T12:26:00.000-07:002008-09-15T13:13:37.231-07:00

In my last Using VIC post, I described how to use Projects to manage complicated groups of tasks. These can be generic projects of the sort you'd use Microsoft Project for; or Sales oriented methodologies to help you manage a sale from working the lead to closing the contract. I also promised I'd show you how to turn the Project into a Sales Order and an Invoice.Remember that a Sales Project

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/09/using-vic-from-project-to-sale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-34170769822767400632008-09-11T21:53:00.000-07:002008-09-11T22:05:27.744-07:00

For several years I've been distributing VIC CRM without any setup program. As a result, only hardcore bleed-yellow Lotus geeks have been able to get it to work without assistance.Well, I'm just about finished with the VIC Installer. If you're running Notes and want to be the first kid on the block to try this out -- pre-release -- email me with "Guinea Pig" in the subject. You shouldn't have any

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/09/guinea-pig-wanted.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-63470659512426173082008-09-07T06:23:00.000-07:002008-09-07T06:57:21.540-07:00

Last time I described how to use the basic features of VIC to facilitate the GTD (Getting Things Done) method of time management. This time I'll be describing how to manage a larger group of tasks as a VIC Project. If you're using GTD principles you would use Projects to schedule and manage complicated work that can't be done in a few sittings or by one person.Projects is a new feature of VIC.

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/09/using-vic-projects-and-tasks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-87493258762978980422008-09-06T05:23:00.000-07:002008-09-06T11:59:00.605-07:00

On a typical day I'll get dozens of emails ranging from newsletters and ads to requests for service (of various priorities). How do we turn these into actions? And how does VIC expedite the process? Does it work with GTD (Getting Things Done)?If you're familiar with VIC CRM you already know that it automatically organizes your mail as it's imported into the VIC Journal. This means it's easily

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com2http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/09/using-vic-getting-things-done.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-61028167086635126942008-09-03T06:19:00.000-07:002008-09-03T07:15:07.399-07:00

Google's released it's own browser, Chrome. Other people are doing in-depth reviews, so I won't. (Here are a couple: ComputerWorld. ZDNet.) However, I'd like to pass on a few first impressions. In doing so, I can't help but make comparisons to my favorite browser, Firefox. I doing the review I found a MAJOR show-stopper for the adoption of Chrome, Docs, or any SaaS from Google. I'm saving the

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/09/chrome-google-does-evil.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-85151105842801822302008-08-27T09:28:00.000-07:002008-08-27T12:04:25.091-07:00

In my last post I talked a bit about how it's our fault as programmers if users are confused by the user interface metaphors we use. We do use a lot of metaphors in programming, and mangle and mix most of them. Last post it was using "print screen" as a metaphor for copying the screen rather than as a literal command to print the screen. Users are understandably dumbfounded by the nonsensical

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/08/more-on-broken-metaphors.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-29370676107146894852008-08-27T01:50:00.000-07:002008-08-27T10:54:05.084-07:00

In the "Shark Bait" forum of ComputerWorld I found this interesting item:Topic(s): Floundering Users Submitted by: jeitzen – Mon, 08/25/2008 – 08:45 Got in this morning and found a message waiting for me in the support inbox. When I push the print screen button on my keyboard to get a screen print to attach to a document, the print screen never prints. Please adviseThank you Like I

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/08/metaphors-and-clueless-users-it-support.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-7180723762949755142008-08-15T17:11:00.000-07:002008-08-15T17:55:14.640-07:00

I've been EXTREMELY busy. Unfortunately, I haven't been busy with VIC CRM... I've had some bills to pay. As for details, you're not getting any. But I expect to be able to have a nice update for VIC CRM by Halloween.For now, I've done a bit of a bug fix for some annoying errors with VIC's email.WARNING: This is for Lotus geeks. For everyone else, I'm putting together some new templates.Here's a

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com1http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/08/so-whats-been-going-on.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-84165077989838656192008-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:002008-07-10T12:44:22.990-07:00

To my post, How to Configure Lotus Notes for GMail, I received the following comment from "Stephanie". The answer is a little long for a comment, so I'm posting it here.Who knew you'd still have comments about a 2 year old posting :)My team is testing the Google Apps, gmail service. So, essentially, I can send e-mails through the web-based gmail client from my work domain name. Google Apps

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com3http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/07/to-my-post-how-to-configure-lotus-notes.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-80619510459039211482008-07-01T14:40:00.000-07:002008-07-01T15:05:04.375-07:00

On the last day of June Microsoft quietly announced that they would be releasing the technical specifications of the binary formats for Microsoft Office. This includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and the Drawing specifications for Office 97-2007. It is licensed under the "Microsoft Open Specification Promise" (OSP) which may (or may not) be compatible with software licensed under the GPL. Opinions

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/blog/2008/07/goodbye-monopoly-hello-competition.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6966388.post-27247919807542503942008-05-24T07:51:00.001-07:002008-05-24T09:34:57.785-07:00

As reported by David Worthington in the SDTimes, Office 2007 won't support ISO's OOXML. That's the XML format that Microsoft spent so much time and lobbying effort to "fasttrack" through the standards process, and which is based upon the XML formats of Microsoft Office (MS Office's XML formats are similar to, but not compliant with, OOXML).Citing lack of demand, Microsoft will forego support for

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