Somehow, Volker's post from this morning reminded me of an old SNL parody commercial skit, which I can't find on YouTube, but a script transcript is postede here.

And that got me wondering about iNotes, formerly DWA, formerly iNotes Web Access, which was initially known by the code-name "shimmer" within IBM. If you are an iNotes user and you have imported your Notes ID file into your mail file so that you have access to PKI features, you can see evidence of the code-name by looking at your mail file in NotesPeek and finding the $ShimmerID profile document,

Was the code-name due to the fact that iNotes Web Access made Domino into both a floor wax (for Notes client users) and a dessert topping (for browser users)??

1. Nathan T. Freeman09/11/2008 08:37:35 AM
Homepage: http://nathan.lotus911.com

I'm fairly sure SNL ripped the idea from Monty Python's introduction to Live at the Hollywood Bowl...

"Hello, good evening and welcome to the Ronald Reagan Memorial Bowl, here in the pretty little L.A. suburb of Hollywood. Well, we're about to go in all for wrestling, brought to you tonight, ladies and gentlemen, by the makers of Scum, the world's first ever combined hair oil, foot ointment, and salad dressing."

2. Rob McDonagh09/11/2008 09:37:34 AM
Homepage: http://www.CaptainOblivious.com

Sorry for the diversion, but I have an actual iNotes technical question now.

I've always been told there's no way to automatically insert ID files on behalf of iNotes users (though I'm not sure if this 'impossibility' extends to the API level or if it was simply at the LotusScript level). The scenario would be a large number of users who were created without IDs (or never given their IDs) and now you want to give them all the ability to encrypt messages, but you don't want to support them while they all add their IDs manually.

The presence of that profile document, and its contents, makes me question that. Do you know if creating that profile doc programmatically would work?

We now return you to the comic stylings of Messrs Schwartz and Freeman...

3. David price09/11/2008 11:14:50 AM
Homepage: http://www.meridianitinc.com

Yes Shimmer was from SNL.

4. Kevin Pettitt09/11/2008 11:15:44 AM
Homepage: http://www.lotusguru.com

Keeping on the diversion trend, I wanted to mention that you can put NotesPeek away and use the free (only reads db info, while you pay for write capability) version of Ytria's ScanEZ tool to pretty much do everything NotesPeek does (actually more) but with a much better UI. I think MartinScott's NoteMan tool also has a free/read-only version.

5. Chris Reckling09/12/2008 08:22:17 AM
Homepage: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/insidelotusblog.nsf/

Yes, it's true - I thought that was common knowledge! I believe it was Mark Judd who coined it because at the time (before iNotes was built) it was everything to everybody, as so often happens with new projects.

Chris

6. Richard Schwartz09/12/2008 07:08:36 PM
Homepage: http://www.poweroftheschwartz.com

@Chris: Thanks. Maybe it was common knowledge that somehow faded from my memory. It happens occasionally.

7. Bob Congdon09/12/2008 07:57:23 PM
Homepage: http://www.bobcongdon.net/blog

Yes, Mark Judd came up with the codename because the project was the confluence of two different things: a framework for building Web apps and the new web-based email client. The client shipped, the framework effort was scrapped.

There was an interview on Notes.net where it was claimed that the code name was based on the idea that the product would "Shimmer like a jewel". Apparently someone at Lotus thought that a codename based on an SNL skit was unprofessional. (I remember exchanging email with the PM who was quoted but I can't remember her name).