Eric Mack On-Line

My Jewish friends know that Mama can always use an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, and Papa can surely use the help with the Seder. At last, help is on the way...

A group of enterprising engineering students at the R&D Institute for Intelligent Robotic Systems CS Department, College of Management Academic Studies, ISRAEL have created a robot to assist with your next passover Seder. In this practice video, the robot serves his guests with precision.

Where is the first place a burglar checks for a key when he's  about to enter someone's home? That's right - under the mat or stone by the front door.

Where's the first place a cyber criminal looks for username and password when he wants to get access to a computer? That's right - on a Post-it Note or label on the computer keyboard or monitor. (If the movies are true, second place is probably in a slide-out return or drawer.)

But what if multiple people share a workstation? Easy. Check for the neatly typed spreadsheet that lists everyone's login credentials; choose someone you want to impersonate, and login. Presto!


Why bother with passwords at all?

This is a real picture and sadly, I see this kind of behavior all too often.  I even wrote about this problem and proposed a solution four years ago in a post entitled, "Lower your standards; lower your stress".

Seriously folks, most network admins I know work very hard to secure the information assets of their organization. Yet, their efforts to protect these assets are undermined when people do stuff like this.

Network and computer security requires more than a digital audit. Training and on-site inspections are mandatory to prevent stuff like this from happening. Obviously, in this organization, it isn't happening.

As far as this photo, in the interest of security, I won't name the company where I took this picture. I will, however, send them a link to this blog post.

While I have many friends in Canada, I have only been to that beautiful country one time and briefly at that. Alan Lepofsky blogged about this 6-minute video about Canada, hosted by Tom Brokaw. It's a wonderful and beautiful picture of our friends and neighbors up North.

Wondering who the Lotusphere Opening General Session Speaker will be? Wait no longer.

Tonight, I attended the B.A.L.D. Bloggers dinner at River Brewery. In a bold (foolish?) move, I decided to use the wisdom of the crowds to get the inside scoop on the Speaker's identity.

This 5-minute podcast will tell you what I found out.

I just opened my suitcase to find cards and letters from my wife and children. They are wonderful.



As much as I am looking forward to Lotusphere 2010, it's a long time to be away...

Where to find me at Lotusphere - here is a brief overview of where I'll be.  When I have nothing scheduled, I'll be at our table in the Foundations Lab.  Come by and see me or Ryan Heathers there Monday through Thursday.


Friday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
I'll be arriving at the Dolphin Hotel late in the evening.

Saturday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
I expect to hang out at the hotel, acclimate to the east coast time difference, and work on my presentations.
3:30pm  "BALD" - Bloggers Annual Lotusphere Dinner at the Big River Brewery on the Disney Boardwalk


Sunday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
Business development day.  Haven't fully decided which sessions I'll be attending.
6:30pm   Lotusphere 2010 Welcome Reception - Poolside at the Swan and Dolphin Resort


Monday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
8:00am   Opening session (I will be sitting in the bloggers' area).  I have several meetings throughout the day.
8:30pm   Business Partner Reception at Disney's Atlantic Dance Hall

Tuesday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
This will be a very busy day for me.  I've got a few meetings scheduled in the morning.
4:15pm  Come join me for my presentation:  IBM Lotus Notes and Me: Maximizing Personal Productivity with Lotus Notes.  Best Practices Session, BP302. It will take place at the Dolphin Hotel (Southern II).  This session will show both expert and novice Notes users how they can use Lotus Notes coupled with proven best practices to make them immediately more productive.
6:00pm   I'll be at the Team Studio Awards Reception - We are a finalist - Can't wait to see how we did!  We'll be at the Fresh Mediterranean Market Restaurant - Dolphin Hotel

Wednesday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
8:00am  I will be giving a presentation to the Lotus Foundations group in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
Will spend the day at a few meetings
5:30pm  I have a Birds of Feather session: Getting Things Done with IBM Lotus Notes”. We'll be at the Swan Hotel (Macaw 1).

Thursday
Look for Ryan or me in the Lotus Foundations Lab.
Closing session - wouldn't miss it.  Then off to play mini-golf with the bloggers - watch out windmills, here I come!

Friday
Hanging out at the hotel, getting "in" to empty, and doing my weekly review.

Saturday
Heading home to my incredible family who will all greet me at the airport with hugs and kisses.

Dave Lawrence is the president of Smart Technology Enablers, Inc. His company resells the fantastic Lotus Foundations product that gives a host of Lotus capabilities in one server box.

Now, even the best products can use some tweaking here and there, and Dave's company has found that eProductivity provides a missing ingredient for Foundations.

See what he has to say about improving the Lotus Foundations customer experience: