Author: Luis Menchu

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SunGardHE Summit 2009: Luminis Opening Session

Joshua presented the Luminis opening session which was a high-level overview of why to use Luminis and where it is headed. He started by highlighting Luminis use at a few colleges to share the possibilities of implementing portal technology at an institution. The key idea I took from this was a possible new analytic to measure. One school measures the percent of students loggin into their portal after the students receive their admissions info (which includes instructions to log in for the first time). This is a measurement that I think would be valuable for us as well. Not only if they log in after being given instructions, but how long before they do. Is it immediate, a week later, longer?

He also shared the product roadmap which contained no surprises. The one note contrary to the published product roadmap was a note that we may see some Luminis 5 components prior to the planned release date. This is in alignment with the promise CEO Ron Lang made in his address regarding getting functionality to customers sooner. It will be interesting to see how this plays out given the vast differences between Luminis 4 and 5.

In this opening session we didn’t see many details but here are some random notes.

  • Post Luminis 4.2 release supporting Red Hat Linux AS 4.* and Oracle 11G
  • Luminis 5
    • Banner channels rewritten
    • Collaboration and community functionality will see academic and non-academic environments
    • Acceleration of functionality time to market
    • Introduction of AJAX and FLEX interfaces

After the session I went and found the Luminis Developers’ Lounge. It is nice to see that we have a true room again after the fabricated room of last year.

In a discussion with the Luminis Technical Architect we learned more details of Luminis 5 which sound promising. One concern though is that it will be such a new product that I worry about out of the box stability and new growing pains. They are obviously working now in a new development environment that should result in better product releases than we’ve seen in the past.

Confirmation received that email and calendar will no longer be delivered as part of Luminis. Existing Sun licenses will be migrated to Sun directly. Email and calendar integration will be expanded to include Sun, Microsoft, Google and — later — Zimbra.

The portal framework is obviously focused on Liferay but they believe support will be available for other frameworks (e.g., Oracle Portal, uPortal) based upon their new architecture. Liferay though is the primary Luminis 5 target.

More technical info to come in the Luminis 5 Architecture session.

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SunGardHE Summit 2009: Opening Session

In a much more subdued opening than recent years SunGardHE Summit kicked off at noon Sunday. With respect to the current economic situation we were not exposed to the glitzy, overdone opening of Las Vegas two years ago or the musically rocking start in Anaheim last year.

The showmanship this year was left to Ron Lang, the “high energy” new CEO of SunGardHE. This “student” came out on skateboard with sunglasses and backpack. His speech set the tone we’ve been hearing from our SunGardHE contacts regarding a streamlined company with services focused on the customer. They will consolidate resources such as our account reps and services contacts so we always know who to contact. From what we’ve seen this consolidation is still a work in progress.

Lang also spoke of products moving from massive singular releases to incremental releases that promise to get tools into customer’s hands sooner. Of course I’m curious how that will play out in the vastly re-architected Luminis 5.

The highlight, of course, was the keynote speaker, Maya Angelou. She received a standing ovation as she was escorted to the stage and the awaiting table and chair. The focus of her talk to us was the rainbow in the clouds we can be in the lives of those we touch. She highlighted the rainbows she has been blessed by in her life with stories, readings and song. She spoke with a strength that contrasted the frailty coming with age.

Being a rainbow in the clouds expresses the impact she has had on all of us. A wonderful start for the conference.

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Scrapple Fest at Reading Market

Our morning started at the Reading Market which is always an exciting adventure of noise, smells and sights. Today was especially unique as it was Scrapple Fest Day!

Scrapple? You don’t know what scrapple is? Well I didn’t either and I’m still not sure I do. Pork, I know that. The other ingredients are a mystery to me. I know I could look it up but I’m not sure I want to. My impression after viewing and tasting is that scrapple is a browner version of Spam.

The truck below was a “Guess the Weight” contest. I guessed 35 pounds and was told I was close (as I’m sure everyone heard that missed) and awarded a balloon.

While I can’t say I enjoyed my sample of scrapple, I did thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere and excitement that Scrapple Fest brought to the market.

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Philadelphia

The trip to Philadelphia has been great. We spent most of Friday at the Museum of Art. The museum is featuring a Cezanne exhibit highlighting his work and the works of the many artists influenced by Cezanne. Obviously I didn’t do my homework, I had no idea on the amazing works to experience including Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas.

The Friday night highlight was the Art After 5 jazz in the main hall. Tonight featured Tim Ries playing music from his Rolling Stones project. He was joined by vocalists Bernard Fowler and Magos Herrera. While the music suffered struggles with acoustics, the music and this event were a nice close to our evening.

The walk to the museum and the views from the museum back to downtown Philadelphia were nice on this cool dry day.

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Lemony Snicket and Carson Ellis

Life is good! Checking email to close out the night and see a message from Powells.com Events. Lemony Snicket is coming to town for a book signing. Exciting, right. Lemony Snicket, a new book, a signing and Lemony is joined at the signing by illustrator Carson Ellis.

The book, The Composer is Dead, is to be released March 3, 2009, and sounds unique from the review and comes packaged with a CD narrated by Lemony Snicket and music from the San Francisco Symphony.

I wonder if Snicket’s handler will be there assisting at the signing? I hear he’s quite a guy.

I’m excited and there is going to be one excited little girl in this house tomorrow morning!

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Bettye Lavette performs Love Reign O’er Me

I know the rest of the world has commented on Bettye Lavette’s performance of the Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” but I’ve finally seen a video worthy enough to actually make a post. I was fortunate to see it the evening the Kennedy Center Awards were on TV and was quite moved by the performance. If you haven’t seen it, I am sure you will be moved as well. It was humorous to learn that Barbara Streisand turned to Pete Townshend to ask if he had really written the song.

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Natural Cycles Art Installation

The Natural Cycles art installation (September 2008 – September 2009) featuring works from five artists offers yet another enticing reason to visit Tryon Creek State Park. Each artwork is unique and intriguing in this natural setting.

Fung-US is gorgeous, playful and thought provoking — are we the fungus? Nontrivial Pursuit amazes in scale and message. The Source Series offers a true perspective of where our material lives originate. Forevergreen Tuffet is, well, alien. Invader, just like its real-life counterpart, threatens.

Of course the natural beauty of the park surpasses each of these installations but the art does spark discussion regarding our impact on the natural cycles of our world.

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Night of the Worms, Again

As I’m sure you recall, I reported on a mass reproductive cycle of worms in my initial Night of the Worms posting in March 2007. Obviously I did not continue my studies of worm reproductive practices, but last night, as I was again out with the dog, I happened upon yet another night of the worms. I do have to admit that the scale was nothing compared to the previous encounter but my observation cycle may be off. Back to cycles, yesterday was another waning gibbous moon just like March 5, 2007.

Not only did I visually encounter this mass mating but would also swear that I could hear rustling in the soil. Could it be that thousands of worms are busily preparing or tidying up after their reproductive cycle? Or, perhaps it was late and I was hearing things.

Here are a few shots from last night. To view more images you can view the gallery from my previous posting.

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Let It Snow, Snow, Snow

It continues to snow here in Portland. There is probably four to six inches of new snow this morning and it is continuing to fall. The latest forecasts look like it is cold throughout the week.

In-laws in Corbett are snowed in. The long drive to the house is always a snow drift drop-off point. In the front yard they have a large fountain that is probably 3-1/2 feet with only the top 5 inches is visible. Christmas in the country may have to be delayed.

We haven’t made it to the Christmas lights at Peacock Lane but we can all enjoy the bicycle of lights.