Geekus Maximus

I feel that I have made an easy recovery from the debauchery and hedonism that was Lotusphere 2008.  I guess debauchery is a bit strong of a term, considering I didn't drink, smoke, or otherwise embarrass myself in any way.  I did get a bit goofy with the free bran muffins at breakfast in the Dolphin Hotel.  Big mistake.  And the coffee... I drank far too much and I am just getting back to my rehydrated self.  Vey izz meer.

So, I am back at work trying to tackle Websphere Portlet Factory.  I decided to install the 6.1 beta on my laptop at home.  That was a pleasant installation compared to the full-fledged install of 6.0.1.  Quick and painless.

I obtained my IBM Certified Application Developer for Notes 7 status while at Lotusphere.  It's about time.  Now I need to work on the 8.0 certification, but I have spent very little time in front of an 8.0 client.  I am looking forward to it though.  After playing with Portlet Factory much of this week, I have come to appreciate the truly rapid application development environment that is the Domino Designer.  It's not quite drag-and-drop like those darn .NET folks are blessed with, but it sure beats spending three hours just trying to connect to a backend data source.   

Until next time.

Well, the fun has come to an end.  Lotusphere 2008 ended yesterday, and my poor feet are certainly glad of that.  I will need this weekend to recuperate from the fiesta of geekiness.   

I have been trying to figure out some other animals in the animal kingdom that do this odd thing, i.e., attending conferences.  The only other animal I can really think of that does this is the penguin.  Yes, plenty of animals out there congregate en masse for procreation reasons (believe me, that is not what Lotusphere is about!), but how many just get together to discuss a singular topic for a solid four days?  I am pretty sure that penguins are doing more than just discussing who's got the hottest flippers or the longest beak;  I have always assumed their massive meetings are for important purposes.  I am sure they discuss future alternate venues, the sad supply of sardines, the over abundance of predators and ways to avoid them. 

As you can probably tell, I am doing my best to NOT think of anything Lotus-related, at least for the next three days or so.  I will be back in prime Lotus-speak come next week.  For now, it's recuperation time.