Lotus Notes Spam

Tags: : Charity

The official charity of MayFlower Software is now the Salvation Army, a group that has for many years been reaching out to help others.

Here is their Mission Statement
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.  

Here is their website:




As part of our sponsorship and support of the Salvation Army, we are proudly donating SpamSentinel software for their 50,000 users worldwide, all of whom will be getting Lotus Notes email and virus protection free this year. So, we get to do something very big, saving The Salvation Army hundreds of thousands of dollars in IT support costs and allowing their users to work without the distraction of spam in their Inboxes.


We were already servicing Salvation Army in Australia as a paid customer, but money was tight for renewal. So when Mark Calleran stopped by out booth at Lotusphere 2009 this year, we discussed making The Salvation Army our official charity. This certainly caught Mark by surprise, but pleased him and his users in Australia.



Personally, I have always done a small part with my 4 kids, ringing a bell at a local supermarket during the Thanksgiving to Christmas holidays. My kids are very fortunate to have a good home and loving, supportive parents. The bell ringing not only helps out the cause, but it reminds them (and me) of how lucky we are, indeed.



The picture below is from December, 2008, our third year raising money locally.  Pictured are Sophie, Isabelle, Dominic and Frankie.

Posted by Frank Paolino At 2:18 PM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : Shareware

"Store All of Your Passwords in an Encrypted Lotus Notes Database" Create passwords or put any other secure information into Password Protector. Once saved, only your Notes ID can read the confidential information.

Password Protector is a single notes database (application) that lets you store all of your passwords, encrypted, so no one can see them, even if the database is accessed by others or your machine is stolen. Better than using Notepad for storing passwords. Your Notes ID is the single password that you need to remember. With that, you have access to the entire database.

You can make a password shared with multiple people, or it can be exclusively yours. You can use one database for company shared information and another for personal information. We replicate them across servers, so if your machine dies, all you need is your Notes ID.

Remember to keep your Notes ID on a USB drive as a backup to make sure you have access! Without your Notes ID, you cannot access the information.


Here are some examples of what we use this for:

Google Adwords LinkedIn Facebook AOL Windows Client Logins Windows Server Logins IBM Partnerworld Lotusphere Logins Twitter Gravatar

PlanetLotus Technorati CoComment YouTube Feedburner Delicious Social Bookmarking Digg Slashdot Netflix Wikipedia

Expedia Fed Ex number Skype Network Solutions Blogspot Bleed Yellow IdeaJam Green Mountain Coffee Zappos iTunes

Here is a download link if you want to try it out?
Download Password Protect

I am still beta testing it before any general release.  Any feedback as far as usefulness (personal or company) would be appreciated.

Posted by Frank Paolino At 2:16 PM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : Fun

Here is a photo from today's hike of Mt. Monadnock, a 3,165 foot mountain, and the most climbed peak in the U.S. (The second most climbed mountain in the world after Mt. Fuji in Japan).

This is Frank Paolino on the left with Ed Sasena, another software developer of Anros Applications in Concord MA. We reached the top in 1 hour 45 minutes. Not bad for a couple of computer geeks.  



Now, not to take away from our climb, but our own Dan Calkin (see arrow), looking for new ways to make the climb more challenging, once climbed the mountain with a group of friends and a canoe. (There is no water on the mountain, they did it just for the thrill).
I appreciate their bringing paddles and of course the life jackets for an added measure of safety.

Posted by Frank Paolino At 5:46 PM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (1) |      

Tags: : Funny Spam

This spam subject caught my attention: "I Found You a New Job".  But wait. It is from the human resources department. I guess this means I am fired!

If we had a human resource department, I might have been scared by the subject, but we don't. Also, as the boss, I know when I am going to be fired, and in fact I have fired myself in the past after a notable mistake on my part (which will go unmentioned).


I also like the line in the body of the email "Hang out with more Benjamins", which probably means Ben Franklin on the $100 bill. 

_______________________________________

"Human Resources" <xrure@alwayslope.com> 

Subject: I Found You a New Job. 

Body: 
Hang out with more Benjamins
_______________________________________

Posted by Frank Paolino At 3:52 PM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : Customer Service

I often joke that, unlike in college, I face problems where the answer is not in the back of the book. Technical Support Done Right, as described below, focuses on how I  find a way to solving a problem through 


- Subject Matter Knowledge
- Ownership and 
- Tenacity.



Tech Support, as it is generally defined, implies giving information to a customer so they can resolve the problem. But that is not how I look at it. That definition lacks a certain quality that is critical to my own definition of Technical Support, the ability to solve problems. When you look at it from the perspective of solving problems, the definition takes on an enhanced meaning. Problem Solving means activeparticipation in the problem until it is fixed. A minor difference? Not at all. In my mind, a Problem Solver needs to have a spirit of can-do in every case. This spirit is not just wishful thinking, but it is based on my multiple successful experiences making things work in a variety of environments.



Subject Matter Knowledge

So, as a Problem Solver I see a problem or "challenge" and I think "I have fixed many similar to this one before" and "I can certainly fix this one, too!". This makes me as a Problem Solver an optimist, not in the sense of blind optimism, but in the sense that my experience and training, combined with an attitude of "can-do" provides the tenacity to try different solutions until a successful outcome is achieved.



Ownership

Problem Solver also means taking ownership of a problem. The word "ownership" is abused via overuse, and is usually just lip service. However, for those who actually practice ownership, it is truly empowering. "I am assisting a customer" generally does not create ownership. Thinking that this is my problem to solve moves me towards action. This is an element often ignored in Tech Support organizations. 

Lack of ownership manifests itself as passing the buck. I have been copied on too many tech support emails requesting my help with a support problem which are really just a form of passing the buck to me under the guise of "he is more knowledgeable". If a company had a rule that said "if you have to ask others for help, then you don't belong here", there would be a lot less people dumping their problems on others. Oftentimes the problems are hard and cause people to do hard work, which most people avoid. Work is hard, especially problem solving.  If work was easy, they would call it "tennis".



Tenacity

So what does Problem Solving look like in practice? My own experience is that total immersion in a problem is not only required, it is the only way to be sure of success. I become very creative and, because I feel ownership, I start finding resources that help to resolve the problem. It is up to me as the Tech Support person to find the resources even if it is not immediately apparently what those resources are.

I often find that the biggest problem can be finding the information to help solve the problem! That is where tenacity is vital. Tech support must be tenacious in searching and researching solutions, finding others who are knowledgeable for information or blogs or other internetresources that have solved similar problems. My experience is that you make your own luck. When I dig and dig, I get lucky and find relevant information. You really don't need to know where to dig. It is the digging that is critical to finding an answer.


So, when I am solving some problem, my strategy looks a lot like this: 

• I have Google open in multiple windows to search for clues
• The customer computer systems is visible in another window (Sametime, WebEx or GoTo Meeting, for example)
• My own personal test computer system in a third window (every problem solver should have a dedicated system for testing ideas)
• Additionally, I have any email or KnowledgeBase information open
• One or more IM chat windows with other staffers who have similar experience.

So, think of it like "Who wants to be a millionaire". We chase the solution with the tenacity of a contestant close to the ultimate prize, we use 50/50 split to eliminate options, we "shout out" to a friend, and use all of our collected knowledge.

So, the elements of problem solving are:

• Subject Matter Knowledge 
• Ownership of the Problem
• Attitude of "Can-Do"
• Tenacity when dealing with obstacles
• Tapping into others who have similar experiences and knowledge
• Never Quitting until there is a Solution

In my way, the job of "Tech Support" is not a dreary road, but actually a game show played by one. The prize isn't one million dollars, but I sure feel like a million dollars once I have figured it out!

Posted by Frank Paolino At 3:41 PM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (2) |      

Tags: : Business Partners

Sometimes this is a tough job. Here is Allison Cote meeing Jean-Pierre Venancio at  Fouquet's Restaurant on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

For the record, Jean-Pierre's company, Activweb.fr after an excellent cafe at Fouquet's, decided to be our Hosted SpamSentinel partner in France.

Posted by Frank Paolino At 2:53 PM Location Paris | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : Spam

Here are some of the subjects we are seeing about the Swine Flu.  All are selling anatomy enhancements.

Spammers let no crisis go unexploited!

Madonna caught swine flu!
Jolie caught swine flu
America against swine flu!
Swine flu in NY

Posted by Frank Paolino At 8:48 AM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : Lotus Notes

So here is a great internal campaign created by  Marie Scott of the Virginia Commonwealth University.

Others have blogged about it, and I wanted to do the same as it is a really cool internal document to support the rollout of Notes 8.5.

It looks very Apple-like to me, which is a compliment!

Link to Marie Scott "The Incredible Power of One"



Here are some quick shots of her campaign. I love the graphics!

Posted by Frank Paolino At 8:51 AM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : Admin2009

The Admin 2009 show was this week. As always, it was great to get out, meet customers and talk to other Lotus Notes Business Partners.

Here I am (Frank Paolino) talking with Mark Allred of JPI  ( www.jpidev.com ) a Hosted SpamSentinel customer.

Posted by Frank Paolino At 11:00 AM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |      

Tags: : MBE

SpamSentinel Manage By Example (MBE) lets you manage your Inbox, Newsletters and Junk Mail by dragging messages to one of three folders:

Allowed List

Denied List

Newsletter List

One-Minute Video of SpamSentinel MBE:





These "examples" teach SpamSentinel MBE where you want to receive the next messages from that same sender. These messages will appear in the corresponding folders

1. Allowed List -> Inbox
2. Denied List -> Junk
3. Newsletter List -> Newletters (above Junk folder)








This product is a part of SpamSentinel and is designed to empower the users by assisting in managing their email after SpamSentinel has stopped 99% of messages which are spam. The installer is available on the left at Quick Start Install for all Notes versions (5,6,7,8 and 8.5) in English

Posted by Frank Paolino At 9:52 AM Location Boston | Permalink | Comments (0) |