Chrome Extensions are here

Maybe you are using IE Explorer , Firefox, Safari, or Opera. Now with some chrome extensions you may want to use a faster, safer, easier browser with some awesome updates. Try these ten easy to install extensions.

Update your Chrome browser to 4.0 429.30 (To find version - About Google Chrome, under the wrench)

1 Docs PDF Viewer - Automatically previews pdfs, power point presentations, and other documents in Google Docs Viewer.

2 Send from Gmail - Makes Gmail your default email application and provides a button to compose a Gmail message to quickly share a link via email. No longer launch outlook.

IE Tab – This is fantastic for developers, display web pages using IE in a tab

4. Google Sidewiki - Contribute and read helpful information next to any webpage.

5. Google Quickscroll - Quick Scroll lets you jump directly to the relevant bits of a Google search result on the bottom right part of the screen

6. Bookmark Sync – Using any computer in the world you can now have your bookmarks synchronized.

7. Stumble – Random web site browsing

8. Google News – Why watch the news when you can get the news here – top 5 Latest stories

9. Google Calendar – Faster way to launch your calendar

10. Similar Pages – When you are on a web page, see if there are any very similar to the one you are viewing

Real Time Streaming on Google Finance

Ever since Google launched real-time and streaming quotes on Google Finance last year, Google has been receiving requests from users how vital that up-to-date information has been. Especially in today's volatile financial environment, current information can be the difference between a seizing an opportunity and missing it. Today, they have taken a big step towards improving access to current financial information: streaming financial and market news on Google Finance.

Streaming keeps information fresh

Streaming real-time quotes eliminates the 15- and 20-minute delays often associated with pricing data. Streaming the quotes keeps information on the page up to date, without having to reload. In addition they will be streaming news as well. You will see stories appear on Google Finance as they develop minute by minute, throughout the day.

Google Upload Documents Video

Visit www.productivity.rippe.com to learn more

History of Google Video

If you want to learn more, give me a call.

Improved Management of Documents

Recently Google improved the ability to browse and select multiple documents to be uploaded into your Google Docs. This was a need that is greatly appreciated and was definitely needed.

I was pleasantly surprised when they expanded document management features today with the export all of your documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs from Google Docs into a Zip archive.

LANSA Cuts Cost of IBM i Web Enablement with aXes

Yesterday I read that LANSA has released a new version of aXes. We have had the pleasure of playing with a beta version of the product and have been very pleased. For those of using RAMP, I strongly suggest you jump on this approach vs New Look. It is much quicker for development and the speed of feature delivery by LANSA is almost Googleish.

LANSA is clearly leveraging the best of the open source world and incorporating those features into aXes.

Below is a before and after shot of the IBM i Main System Menu.

Google Docs 'widely used' at 1 in 5 workplaces, survey reports

Walter Riker pointed out this article in Computerworld.

By Patrick Thibodeau

September 16, 2009 08:40 PM ET

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Web App Wars

• FAQ: How to tell if you're on the Office Web Apps invite list
• Microsoft launches Office Web Apps preview
• First look: Microsoft Office Web Apps challenge Google, Zoho
• Google Docs 'widely used' at 1 in 5 workplaces, survey reports
• Cloud computing, Google Apps turn into an election issue
• Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs: A Web apps showdown
• Microsoft girds Office 2010 with free Web versions
• Online office apps get real: Google Docs vs. ThinkFree vs. Zoho

Computerworld - Microsoft Office enjoys near total dominance in the workplace, but it could be getting a serious challenge from Google Docs, a new survey by market research firm IDC suggests.

The study's main finding is that about one in five respondents reported that Google Docs is "widely used" in their workplaces -- though possibly as a compliment to Microsoft Office.

See complete article

GOOGLE Apps Help Businesses Work Smarter - Breakfast BYTES - Public Welcome

Date:	10/22/2009 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Host:	The Circuit
Description:	What’s New – learn how Google is delivering an online, affordable office experience , 99.9% uptime, and redundant data centers. Over the past several years IT has been told to cut costs, keep critical systems running and make sure the company is covered in case of disaster or lawsuit. Learn about the Google Apps Experience and how they deliver an online, affordable office experience and answer some of the most frequently asked questions that include: · What about security? · How does the experience differ from typical solutions like Microsoft Office? · What about Spam? · How can I share information with others? · What size of companies use Google Apps? · What happens when the Internet is down? Presenters: Thomas W. Davidson, CSP Thom is the senior principal in Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. In additional to his broad range of client, vendor, technical and product responsibilities; Thom is often a featured speaker at technical conferences and has published numerous articles in trade publications. Mike Albers Mike is a principal in Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. Prior to focusing on Google Apps, he directed the day to day operations of the METHOS Maintenance Management Software. He is regularly working with developers, mangers, and executives from a variety of industries providing cost savings and labor efficient solutions to customers. Steve Phillips, CEO of Purple Trout LLC - now using Google Apps for his business
Guest Speaker(s):	Thomas Davidson, Mike Albers, Steve Phillips
Special Instructions:	Payment is required for all attendees (i.e. guests, etc.). Registrations are non-refundable and not credited. Walk-in's cash or check only. Hosted by Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. is a International Information Technology Solutions and Services firm with client in 43 States and 9 Countries.
Location:	The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati Room 500 3805 Edwards Road - 5th Floor Cincinnati, OH
Registration Deadline:	10/22/2009
Cost:	$15.00 Members $20.00 Non-Members
Attendees:	0
Total Cost:	$0
Map:	Click Here for a Map

Google New Search Engine

Google has been working on a new search infrastructure and you can now test it if you visitwww2.sandbox.google.com. Don't expect new features or better search results, but if you find something interesting, post it in the comments.

My first reaction was ....Speed and results that are more current.

Lansa Integration with Portals becomes more secure

Lansa Integration with Portals becomes more secure

The Lansa WAM integration for Essential Enterprise Portal has had a security boost. New security features include:

• Support for Triple DES and AES encryption.
• Data passed between portal and WAM is encrypted.
• Encryption/Decryption libraries written for Lansa Integrator help secure both sides of the communication.
• Session timeouts now customizable through properties in Lansa.

With security on the web being an issue of ever increasing performance, these security enhancements will help to ensure that Rippe & Kingston's portal and Lansa integration keeps up with modern security models and technologies, while continuing to provide a smooth integration between two distinct services. (This was originally posted by Brad Gardner on the Portal Talk Blog.)

Lansa Integration with Portals becomes more secure

The Lansa WAM integration for Essential Enterprise Portal has had a security boost. New security features include:

• Support for Triple DES and AES encryption.
• Data passed between portal and WAM is now encrypted.
• Encryption/Decryption libraries written for Lansa Integrator help secure both sides of the communication.
• Session timeouts now customizable through properties in Lansa.

With security on the web being an issue of ever increasing performance, these security enhancements will help to ensure that Rippe & Kingston's portal and Lansa integration keeps up with modern security models and technologies, while continuing to provide a smooth integration between two distinct services.

Full Circle with LANSA

We just received our copies of LANSA Review and it is great to see development work with LANSA go full circle and become success stories for our clients. Three clients that use our services are featured:

CHRISTUS Health - uses our Contract Guardian System

THE HILLMAN Group - LANSA Professional Services (Development)

Agilysys - LANSA Professional Services (LANSA Infrastructure)

LANSA was also kind enough to reprint one of my blog postings in LANSATALK about LANSA & Cloud Computing

Thanks LANSA and congratulations to our clients for their success!

Purple Trout Hooked on Google Apps

The Google Apps solution implemented by Rippe & Kingston will help Purple Trout save money, but that was not the driving force. "Google is clearly a far superior method of communicating, scheduling and collaborating with my employees and clients" said Steve Phillips, President of Purple Trout. He went on to say, "After one week all of my employees have turned off Microsoft Outlook even though Rippe & Kingston enabled us to continue to use it with Google should we desire. We are focused on client satisfaction and are pleased to say that Google and Rippe & Kingston share the same passion." You can truly say "Purple Trout is Hooked on Google Apps".

Read Press Release

LABS for Calendar

Google has brought a labs section over to its calendar service. There are now six experimental features that can be used to enable additional features such as changing the look and feel of your calendar with a background image, or seeing when your next meeting is going to occur down to the number of hours and minutes.

I particularly like the attachment of documents to your appointments: Attach a Google Docs word processing document, spreadsheet or presentation to your event. (Important: guests do not automatically have permission to view an attached document. You must share each attached document.

Another one that I enjoy is the jump to date: Quickly navigate to dates in the distant future or past (actual time travel not yet supported)

Let Rippe & Kingston help you with your Google Applicatons.

What is Google Juice

What is Google juice? These days, everyone is concerned about SEO, and it is good to start from the basics. Google Juice, in essence, is the value that Google gives to your site, for having a priceless link from a good site. The value adds up for each link, and you get better search rankings!

Google’s algorithm for ranking sites depends on several factors, some of which maybe unknown even to the experts. There is one thing that the experts agree – it is complex. Uniqueness of the content and the age of your domain/site are some of the key factors. Fresh and meaningful content is critical. Ask yourself what would you want to know if you were performing the search.

You can't manage what you don't measure...to that end Google Analytics provides everything you could imagine. If you need help, just give us a call at 513.977.4544 or visit www.productivity.rippe.com

Maybe LANSA Can Borrow Some Ideas from Google Chrome

Google Chrome has an experimental site that shows you just how far one can take JavaScript. These experiments were created by designers and programmers from around the world using the latest open standards, including HTML5, Canvas, SVG, and more. Their work is making the web faster, more fun, and more open. "Hey LANSA - take a look and see if there might be some idea to borrow or at least entertain."

Link To Experiments

One of my personal favorite is http://physicsketch.appspot.com/

Take a couple of minutes rest from developing real world applications and let your mind stretch and relax!

ps If you missed the LANSA technology briefing today you catch the replay at http://elearning.lansa.com/images/elearning/webinar/webinar.html.

When Is Crud a Good Thing?

Hearing the word crud usually triggers visions of something you wish to scrape off the bottom of your shoe. However, in other circles like our friends at LANSA it is a thing of beauty.

Create, read, update and delete (CRUD) are the four basic functions of persistent storage, a major part of nearly all computer software. LANSA delivers the answer to this ever present challenge with a very slick Wizard. A brief dialogue with the wizard and you will generate a very professional developed WAM. It does not just deliver the basics. Included in the solution is a selection of themes, colors and styles to suite your own needs. Yes, you can use your own custom theme as well.
Other impressive features include unlimited drill down capability, automatic search mechanisms based on your selected views and calendars for your date fields to name a few. The AJAX / WEB 2.0 feel further enhance the experience.

How easy is it to use? I generated several web applications without reading any of the documentation. Amazingly, I was quite successful. FYI: I could do even more by reading!

By the way, it is free from LANSA. You do not have to purchase a third party add-on and hope it will work in the future. The team in the LANSA Labs are busy waving their wands to deliver numerous enhancements to this magical tool!

Bigger Attachments

I just read that we can now have up to 25MB for each attachment in GMAIL. That is great! Occasionally I might have one that approaches 10MB ... and use to be a major problem when we used Microsoft Exchange. Life certainly has improved with Google!

Google Forms - New Features

New Forms improvements include:
– New Question types
– Form Editor improvements: new Section Headers, fixed-width editor, improved Scale question type (0-10), the ability to edit multiple forms at once.
– The new form HTML structure is better suited for skinning and Javascript applications
– The forms UI now appears localized when you are signed into Google Docs

Go ahead a give it a try. Below is an example of the end result

Congratulations LANSA

RAMP from LANSA Named 2009 IBM Beacon Award Finalist for

Outstanding Enterprise Application Solution by an ISV

The IBM Beacon Awards recognize the best solutions IBM Business Partners deliver across the industry and around the world. Winners of these distinguished awards -- extending across all hardware and operating platforms -- set the standard for business excellence, unique and innovative solutions, ingenuity and customer satisfaction. CONGRATULATIONS LANSA!

Google Apps Sync To Outlook

Below is a quck recap of this very important news:

"Over the last year, we've had a razor-sharp focus on making it as easy as possible for businesses to deploy Google Apps," Google engineer Eric Orth wrote in a posting at the firm's website.

"Today we're excited to remove another key barrier to enterprise adoption of Google Apps with Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook."

The move comes in the wake of Google enabling people to use its Gmail web-based email service offline and making software interoperable with Blackberry smart phones popular with business users.

Should we pay attention to iFusion.net from LANSA

One basic statement from LANSA always ring true in my ears, "It is the data!"  What that means is that you need to apply the same definition, business rules and regulations for your data regardless of developer, programming language, platform and database.  Most importantly, do it in one place--the LANSA Repository!

In the pure LANSA world  this has always been true.  However, the real world is that not everybody is going to use the LANSA RDML for their development all the time (even though I think they should).  They are going to leverage their existing skill set wherever possible.  

Now with iFusion.net from LANSA others languages are going to enjoy the joys of the LANSA Repository.  It will also eliminate some internal aggressive discussions that often occur within most shops on what tool to use.  No matter how often the underlying technology changes, there are no changes necessary to the business logic.  Therefore, the answer is YES...pay attention to iFusion.net.  Learn more by attending one of LANSA's webinars or visit http://www.ifusion.net/

Catch the Google Wave

Google did it again today, overshadowing Microsoft's Bing search engine offering with what be their most ambitious project yet. Google Wave is described as what email would be like if it were invented right now. 

It is a little of everything all mashed up into one giant framework.  Wave is part email, IM, calendar, Twitter, wiki, spreadsheets/docs/presentation, picture sharing, social media, forums, maps and just about everything else on the web.

See the video

Automatic Language Translation

If you receive email from business partners or friends from around the world...you can now make it easier on them and simply tell them to write in their native language.

Google Labs offers a feature in Gmail to have it automatically converted from their language to your default language.  Try it you will love it.  If you don't have anyone to test with, look at some of that spam from other countries...just kidding.

Warning: It will not interpret any messages from your spouse.  (Perhaps I am the only one that has that problem)

Google Calendar Tip #12 Weather Forecasts

Weather forecasts in your calendar

Print

Are you planning an event, but unsure if the weather will cooperate? Google Calendar's Weather feature displays the weather forecast directly in your calendar to make it easier to plan upcoming events. Once the Weather feature is enabled in your Google Calendar, you'll be able to view the four-day forecast, including the expected highs and lows for each day.

How to set up.

    Click on - Calendar (top Left)

 

    Click on - Settings (top Right)

    Click on - General Tab

    Half way down see these fields, key in location you want for weather.

Important:  Save Changes

New Google Display

We just received our Google Apps Display that we will be using at local events in the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana area.   Look for us at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Expo on May 28th.

Tasks In Calendar

The Labs had provided us tasks in our Gmail.  Now, you have tasks in the calendar apps.

• Tasks that have due dates will automatically appear on your calendar in the All Day event section.
  
• To create a task with a due date in Calendar, click on an empty space in Month view or in the All Day section and select the Task option.
  
• To attach a due date to an existing task, click the right arrow next to the task in question in the Task list. Then, click on the calendar icon to select a date.
  
• To modify a task's date, simply drag the task to a new date (as you would with a calendar event).
  
• To mark a task as complete from within Calendar, click on the checkbox next to the task.

Google Chrome Update Scheme Beats Firefox, Safari, Opera

By automatically updating the browser every five hours, Google Chrome provides greater security than its competitors, according to a new study.
By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
May 6, 2009 02:30 PM

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Chrome's automatic, silent update mechanism provides greater security than the update methods used by competing browsers, according to a new study.

See the complete article from Information Week.  

YouTube Video about Life at the Googleplex

Rippe & Kingston Becomes Google Certified

As part of our new partnership, Rippe & Kingston has been trained and certified by Google.   Brad Gardner, Walt Riker, Mike Albers and myself attended a week class at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California.

Testing has been completed...and we passed with flying colors!  CONGRATULATIONS!

After a hard day at Google!

Mike Albers takes a brief break in the vibrating recliner after an intense day of education.

Training at Google

Having completed the education training at Google, Brad Gardner is ready and willing to take the exam.

Google Chrome works great with LANSA

If you have not already started using Google Chrome (latest version and not the early early release) you should! There are some great features that are well illustrated in these selected videos. Speed & Flexibility without the crashing of IE!

R&K Endorses Google Chrome

I thought everyone should see these fantastic videos about Google Chrome:

Themes for Forms

Brad Gardner gave me a quick heads up on this while we were meeting with Google!  Now you can easily add themes to your forms.  I quickly changed a form and watched it instantly be reflected in a site that incorporated the theme.  Try it, you will like the "eye candy" it delivers!

LANSA expands Modernization Portfolio with acquisition of aXes

WOW....LANSA has done it again!  They continue to amaze me.  When many organizations are hunkering down to weather the economic storm, others like Oracle and LANSA charge forward!

 

Quick recap: The aXes eBusiness suite consists of three software modules:

 

•  aXes Terminal Server provides web enablement of 5250 applications with the automatic generation of a highly customizable graphical user interface (GUI).
  
• aXes Data Explorer Server provides an easy way to extract and then publish live DB2/400 data in a browser or to send query output to desktop applications like Microsoft Word and Excel.
• aXes Spool File Server provides point-and-click access to output queues and spool files, with print-ready documents available in PDF, XML, HTML or Text formats.  See complete story and take the product for a spin.

 

Mike Albers of our firm has been having a more in-depth look and thinks several vendors (to be named later) should be very nervous about now and the future direction this suite provides LANSA.

Sharing Internal Data with Google Apps

If you use things like the Start Page (now sites)  or Google App Engine with your Google Apps account, you might find  that you cannot create applications or gadgets that Connect behind your firewall on your internal network. 

 Google released Google SDC — a tool that you can install on a linux box in your organization that basically exposes internal URL’s to things like Google Spreadsheets, Google Gadgets and Google App Engine applications. With access to these local URL’s, you can basically create services that access any of the data that you want to expose.

This definitely makes Google Apps more attractive to organizations that recognize the importance of internally sharing data and creating applications that can use it.  Now we can fully replace corporate portals like WebSphere, SharePoint and Oracle!

Add Images to a Gmail Message

Add Images to a Gmail Message

Until now it wasn't possible to embed or insert an image into a Gmail message using the web based interface; however Gmail Labs have now made iit possible as an optional feature.   

To enable this feature go to the Gmail Labs tab, look for "inserting images" and select enable followed by clicking "save changes."

R&K Partners with Google

Rippe & Kingston is pleased to formally announce that we are a Google Partner. This partnership allows Rippe & Kingston to help businesses of any size take advantage of Google's cloud computing-based office productivity suite.

For the past two years we have been providing deploymnet, development, integration and training service for Google Apps to our existing clients and has been exciting to see the productivity improvements and cost savings realized.

Learn more about our Google Offering.

LANSA on Android (GOOGLE)?

It's not new that Microsoft will get Windows 7 out as fast as possible this year. What was news to me was the article I read in the March 9th issue of Computerworld that shared the fact that Android (From GOOGLE), the Linux-based phone operating system was determined late last year that it was an excellent operating system for netbooks.

"So what" was my initial reaction. After a little more thought, I looked at the facts:

1. Netbooks are growing at a 20% clip while the rest of the industry is in a flat at best scenario.


2. Netbooks are cheap and Linux along with a wide array of open-source software could drive significant opportunities.


3. Google's Chrome Web browser and its wealth of web-based applications would be deployed.


4. LANSA had the foresight to make LANSA deployable on the Linux operating system.

My Conclusion: This might be a great opportunity, particularly for those "between projects" independent consultants to generate a new business opportunity. One might also reclaim existing LANSA applications for the netbooks. Good Luck!