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926

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on December 05, 2013, 05:16 PM »

Stoic, regarding your sales manager.  He must have a ton of contacts in linkedin and facebook.  How does he keep everything synchronized?  My suspicion is he uses his phone and that's it.  He doesn't care if it shows up on outlook or something.  true?

But now you got me thinking again.  If our distrust of google is valid (I believe so), then I'd like to store my contacts on MS Exchange.

question 1)...I know I can store photos on the GAL.  Will the photos show up on an Android phone?

question 2)...I am using the Touchdown app for Exchange access on my phone currently.  When I open up the GAL, the full list doesn't appear as it does in Outlook.  If I search, I can search, but the list does not appear.  I imagine this is because it's huge (thousands of people), so to load it in would be bad?  Is that the case?  Because frankly, I'd like to load the whole thing in and be able to browse and scroll through it like on the desktop.

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General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on December 05, 2013, 05:05 PM »

Because what you are essentially saying is that your going to export and import stuff until you have in one location (exchange), and then you just modify that going forward. But it doesn't matter if it's exchange, google contacts, apple, etc.  Because they're all the same as far as that goes.  the syncing is what would distinguish anything for me.  So then...what's the best one and why?

Also, if that was the case, then I'm willing to go for a third party contact manager and just divorce myself completely from the big boys.  Especially if the third party offered nifty features.  Otherwise my choices would be google contacts, exchange, windows live...in that order.  Google contacts just because my phone is android and would make it easier.

-superboyac (November 26, 2013, 11:16 AM)

Sorry about the delay, I'm trying to get IT wound down to a dull roar for a 3 week Christmas vacation...and the staff seems intent on making that as hard as possible. Ggaaaaaaaa!

Anyhow.. I've been running an Exchange server for close to a decade now and as crotchety as the old one got right before getting decommissioned it was still reliable as hell. We have several flavors of Android, a few iPhones, and me still with the WP7. All of which are stone axe reliably connected to our Exchange (now 2010) server. The sales manager - who I hold personally responsible (just to be an ass) for killing our Exchange 2003 server with his 8GB mailbox - is constantly glued to his (Android) phone with all the ferocity of a teenage girl. Yet with the insane amount of information that he pours through the system... His phone, computer, tablets, and laptop all stay happily in sync.

I don't trust Google, and have had some very bad experiences with their IMO rather feeble attempt at a mail server administration interface. I gave it a good, fair, and enthusiastic attempt...and it just burned me over and over.

1. A freshly created empty mailbox should never corrupt. Test messages went through in both directions, were deleted, and from the next day forward mail could not be sent from that box regardless of what was tried.

2. Delete means delete (e.g. eradicate), not play peek-A-boo with me because it's not really gone entirely...as it's still there in "spirit"...which is why you can't recreate a fresh one with that name.

3. Telling me to "Just use a different variation and/or add a 1 to "resolve the issue" is an incredibly bad idea...especially after the client has just spent a fortune on letterhead (etc...) with the now burnt cookie address.


I finally gave up after a year of trying to get one of our customers Google hosted mail domain to fly straight, and let them go back to using Yahoo accounts.


3rd party solutions can be effective only if you self host. Yes that is my own prejudice speaking...but it really is next to impossible to get a good idea of exactly how large/stable a company really is on the internet. So I try to avoid betting-the-farm on solutions that may vaporize overnight.

Apple solutions are designed to work fine in iWorld, but the instant you try to stray from "the path", you end up getting tech support from Goldie Hawn (a cute vapid blond from the 60's/70's).

-Stoic Joker (December 04, 2013, 08:15 PM)

Thanks Stoic, this is really helpful.  I was picking the brain of another friend of mine who is familiar with business tech and the corporate world, and like you, he also has a quite high distrust of google.  I haven't had any bad experiences, but everything I do is just me or my tiny business, so for me the experience is basically logging into gmail and that's it.

I still really liked the Exchange solution.  But I did not like how inconsistent MS was with the features for the address book, and the fact that some really cool things work online but NOT in desktop outlook.  I hate that so much.  Why force me to only enjoy the desktop online experience?

Office 365 online:
Good contacts manager, syncs with Facebook and Linkedin. 

Windows Live online:
Also great.  Not exactly the same as office365 but 90% the same (weird).  Syncs with Facebook and linkedin, but only online.

Exchange or Outlook on desktop:
My preferred option for management.  BUT, no facebook or linkedin support.  And don't bother setting up linkedin/facebook online because it won't appear anywhere else anyway.

928

Living Room / Re: Elitists of the World - UNITE!

« Last post by superboyac on December 05, 2013, 12:47 PM »

All this Cthulhu talk.  You're making me want to read some lovecraft.

-superboyac (December 05, 2013, 09:21 AM)

You don't want to go there. I've been binging on all things Mythos for the last 5 days. Lost a LOT of productivity.

-40hz (December 05, 2013, 10:35 AM)

(I've been binging on it for a couple of years.  I've found some REALLY interesting stuff.)

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Living Room / Re: Elitists of the World - UNITE!

« Last post by superboyac on December 05, 2013, 09:21 AM »

 
It's not you.  This stuff makes me nauseous.  Every little thing has to be overhyped.  i takes all sorts of crazies i guess...

All this Cthulhu talk.  You're making me want to read some lovecraft.

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Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by superboyac on December 04, 2013, 09:47 AM »

@SB - Very much liking Miz Dee! Great arrangement.

-40hz (December 04, 2013, 09:20 AM)

I miss that place so much.  It was perfect.  Monday nights, right next to the university on the famous Telegraph street.  The blues bar is basement (Harlem style!) of the main bar.  The acoustics perfectly filled the room (look how good it sounds with just a camcorder).  The crowd was real and raw.  And the musicians were awesome.

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Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by superboyac on December 04, 2013, 09:07 AM »

holy crap, that Snarky Puppy is awesome!  Those are all alpha-prime level musicians.  I was blown away by the chords Lalah Hathaway was singing, wtf?!  And she was controlling the pitch on the fly like that?  It reminds me of the more crude versions of that that I remember from guys like Bob Seger and Kenny Rogers, with their raspy voices kind of doing 2-note chords, but nothing like what Lalah did.

Speaking of Hathaway, here's my good friend Miz Dee doing my favorite version of the Donny Hathaway (Lalah's dad) classic I Love You More than You'll Ever Know:

I recorded this almost 15 years ago, wow.  This is the blues bar where I first cut my teeth.

932

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by superboyac on December 03, 2013, 04:36 PM »

Office Space Cthulhu

-40hz (December 03, 2013, 03:54 PM)

Hmm...I'd like to know who the artist is, it's a really nice piece of art.

[edit]
Ah!  You can see it on the bottom if you zoom in.  Michael Dashow.


more...
He's great!
http://www.michaelda...om/illustration.html

933

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on December 03, 2013, 03:59 PM »

After some more research, the ONLY common format for exporting and importing contacts with pictures is vCard. 

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Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by superboyac on December 03, 2013, 03:09 PM »

ok...40hz...what is the source of that awesome Cthulhu illustration?

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General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 26, 2013, 05:21 PM »

OK, here's another convoluted solution.

The address book that comes with Mac is pretty good with the links.  It has built in linkedin, facebook photo pulling and merging.  So I can use the Mac address book as my central addressbook, and deploy it to my devices from there using the apple mobileme etc.

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General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 26, 2013, 04:15 PM »

Epicenter Server - Sync your Exchange GAL with BlackBerry,iPhone/iPad,Android (USD20/user)
http://www.connected...w.com/Overview/57261

-SKA (November 23, 2013, 07:53 PM)

Wow! That looks really cool.

-Stoic Joker (November 24, 2013, 09:13 AM)

Yes it does!  I don't know how to make a GAL...but can I make a GAL that then gets shared with all my stuff?  I'll let go of the live sync too.  The important thing is the pictures...they need to get synced.  I realized that if not for pictures, this whole problem here would be like nothing.  There are a zillion ways to sync the information well without pictures.

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General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 26, 2013, 03:29 PM »

Now I'm considering the "bring everything to one place" strategy.  I'm going to try the Handy Address Book software I used to like.  Supposedly it can sync with google contacts, so that's nice.  The whole setup overall will cost me $50 or $100 depending on if I need the server component or not.

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General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 26, 2013, 11:16 AM »

Years ago, I used to do it like you.  I imported everything manually into a standalone addressbook (I probably have several threads about it here) and then would periodically update it and export it to my phones and Outlook.

-superboyac (November 21, 2013, 04:12 PM)

For me the manual bit is a singular event, I'm not going to signup to do shit periodically...that's the computer's job.

But this is where I'm getting a bit confused. It sounds like you configured connectors to live pull all of the contact info into the Exchange system. So that if you add/update a contact in FaceBook/Linked in/Gmail after the fact it will still (via the connector) share the new/updated info with all devices connected to Exchange's contact list. That would be fraught with turmoil as you say the Business Battle rages on.

My typical deployment is to centralize data scattered everywhere onto a single system, import all of the info into that system, and then to use it exclusively going forward. This way any and every thing that connects to it can/will get the same information set.

Do you actually need live sharing interactively between (FaceBook/Gmail/Linked in/Etc.) systems on an ongoing basis? Or do you just want/need a singular clean merger of all the contact info into a single contiguous block once so you can at all points work from there going forward?

-Stoic Joker (November 21, 2013, 05:56 PM)

I was thinking about what you said, and you're probably right.  I'm just OCD'ing on it a bit too much I guess.  SO here's a question about your method (which is what I used to do):
Why do I even need exchange for this?  what advantage does it offer?

Because what you are essentially saying is that your going to export and import stuff until you have in one location (exchange), and then you just modify that going forward. But it doesn't matter if it's exchange, google contacts, apple, etc.  Because they're all the same as far as that goes.  the syncing is what would distinguish anything for me.  So then...what's the best one and why?

Also, if that was the case, then I'm willing to go for a third party contact manager and just divorce myself completely from the big boys.  Especially if the third party offered nifty features.  Otherwise my choices would be google contacts, exchange, windows live...in that order.  Google contacts just because my phone is android and would make it easier.

939

Non-Windows Software / Re: Wolfram's Mathmatica ported to Raspberry Pi - free to install and use

« Last post by superboyac on November 22, 2013, 09:02 PM »

That is awesome.  I love mathematica, it's a wonderful tool.

940

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 04:12 PM »

So... you're looking for an ongoing interactive relationship between all of the players that will continuously sync contacts regardless of which system they are created in? Zoiks! ...That will be a bit tricky. I've worked with manually integrating/importing the contacts/calendars/mail from other systems into Exchange so that it will be used exclusively going forward. But the live action stuff I've never tried (or even thought to). I'm generally brought in to collapse discontiguous system into one fully integrated single (Exchange...) package.

It is interesting that OWA 2013 will merge it properly...yet still not convey said compilation to a local copy of Outlook ... Is the local copy 2013 also?

-Stoic Joker (November 21, 2013, 03:32 PM)

I'm pretty sure this is part of the business battles.  A few years ago, the syncs were free and worked much better.  Over the years, it's gotten worse and worse as the ecosystem walls got higher and higher.

Yes, the OWA thing is weird.  I haven't tried it yet on Outlook 2013, but from everything i've read it will be no different.  Apparently, the nice merging and syncing features are ONLY available online.  Microsoft probably made a limited arrangement with facebook and linkedin to accomplish that.  Google Apps for BUSINESS (paid service) also has more sync features, but I haven't tried those yet.

Years ago, I used to do it like you.  I imported everything manually into a standalone addressbook (I probably have several threads about it here) and then would periodically update it and export it to my phones and Outlook.  But now it's too much for me.  And the profile photos are the most pain in the ass.  It's just a superficial thing, but it really helps to have a contact photo when receiving calls on the phone.

But yeah, now I'm on a mission.  I want one centrally managed contact system that I use with Outlook, phones, tablets, laptops, etc.  With pictures and ALL contact info.  I'll get a freaking full on CRM if I have to, but even those I'm not convinced are working.

941

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 01:58 PM »

So I have to try memotoo now.

942

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 12:15 PM »

Here's a detailed article about these experiences with Plaxo, a popular syncing service.  The guy eventually gives up on syncing. 

Hi @dojohnny,

Thanks for stopping by and reading the article. When it comes to contact sync, I've all but given up on any syncing services. The best and most reliable syncing I've found is the native Google Contacts sync between my Gmail contacts and my phone.

My Android phone does a fair amount of contact syncing from my GMail contacts and my Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. There's 3rd party apps you can get that will pull in photos and other detail that you can run on your phone, which will in turn sync to your web-based contacts.

However, from what you're describing seems to be asking an awful lot from a standard contacts manager. Xobni's Smarter Contacts comes to mind as possibly what you're looking for. It's an Android/iOS app and it's an add-on for Gmail as well.

It does a lot of what Xobni for Outlook does, which is ping the web for any pertinent info on your contacts, and pulls them in from various sources.

But, for true relationship management such as you're describing, that's more of like what a CRM (customer relationship management) tool would do. Salesforce.com might have a mobile app, as well as a service called Big Contacts (bigcontacts.com).

Rapportive also does some light CRM, so perhaps you can check that out in the Chrome extension store to see if maybe that might be what you're looking for.

These are but a few to go on, but there are many out there. I can't say that I recommend any one over the other, as I've tried many, and in the end, just went to a stripped down, unsexy Google Contacts that syncs to my Android and vice versa.

Hope this helps in some way. Perhaps someone reading might know of some services that may do the trick as well?

Thanks again for reading!

943

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 11:52 AM »

OK, here's more info.

If you access Microsoft's service through a web browser, the contacts are perfect.  This is both with the free Windows Live account and with Office365/exchange.  You can add LinkedIn and Facebook connectors, and those contacts will come in and most will get automatically merged.  The duplicates remaining can be manually merged to get the perfect addressbook.  This is all done online with a full web browser.

Now the trick is getting it on mobile.  I'm talking the final end product of all that merging and photo managing, duplicate cleaning, etc.  This is what seems to be impossible.

I turned automatic syncing back on in the Android.  Now, all the contacts come in from the Office365 exchange link.  The problem: no profile photos (all coming from linkedin and facebook, you don't have the ability to add your own photos), and the merged contacts don't work.  All the contacts you merged appear separately on the Android.  So most contacts have 2-3 entries for me.  Not good. I can get an app to merge it, but I already spent all that effort online...I'm looking for a solution where I only have to do this one time in one central place and it gets deployed to all my devices.

It appears Microsoft has provided a kickass contact management solution for integration with facebook and linkedin, but it only works in the browser or wp8 phones.  It won't work in regular desktop outlook, it won't work with android or ios.  SOME things work, but not entirely.

Can someone write an software for this?  Is there a service I can pay for to handle this?  I'll even go so far as to host my own server if I can make it work.  I've read people doing such things with owncloud and stuff.  I want a central contact manager that can send the info to phones and outlook and whatever.

944

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 11:27 AM »

CardDav.  This is something I'm looking at...

945

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 10:55 AM »

I may have to start looking for a contact manager service that i pay for.

946

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 21, 2013, 10:52 AM »

Actually, upon closer inspection, it doesn't appear to be working as expected.  As you can see from the screenshot above, there are 3 subfolders under "My COntacts".  The only one that gets synced is the subfolder "Contacts".  From Microsoft's FAQ:

Can I synchronize multiple calendar or contacts folders?
You can only synchronize your default calendar folder, contact folder, and tasks folder.

The problem is that those other folder like facebook and linkedin have additional information that is merged with contacts in the "Contacts" folder.  on the website, everything works beautifully, pictures,merged stuff, etc.  but on the phone, only the info from contacts shows up.  So this is not working any better than any other solution.

Looks like if you want contacts merged properly and synced properly on a phone, the only option is a windows phone.  sad.  because windows phones suck.

947

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 20, 2013, 04:14 PM »

Your address book is your address book which you can access from anywhere/thing. You can share your address book with other users on the same system, but it is typically restricted to just you.

The global address book is globally available to all users of the system. Distribution lists that are to be accessible by all users in a company will typically be in the global address list. This is designed to be accessed by everyone, and cannot be restricted.

-Stoic Joker (November 20, 2013, 01:20 PM)

Thanks.  So far, this is working quite well!  All the contacts are syncing up on my phone.  To test it, I turned off the contacts from other accounts and so I'm only using the office365 addressbook, and everything is fine.  The linkedin profile photos are not showing up on the phone, even though they show up on the desktop internet version.  But that may be because it's witing for a wifi connection to sync the photos.  That will have to wait until tonight.

I like it.  Great suggestion Stoic!

948

General Software Discussion / Re: central addressbook software for syncing everything with everything

« Last post by superboyac on November 20, 2013, 12:16 PM »

OK, so I'm now trying out the MS Hosted Exchange (office365) way of managing my contacts.  It's very nice so far.  Facebook and LinkedIn was linked without a problem.  Now I need to add my manual addressbook, merge everything and start using it.

I have a little confusion regarding Exchange addressbooks.  Is there any advantage for a single user to use the global addressbook?  Or is it best to just stick with the separate "My Contacts" area.  I don't get why they are different.  See here:

949

General Software Discussion / Re: new AlfaReader, lightweight ebook reader

« Last post by superboyac on November 19, 2013, 10:36 AM »

This is a pretty nice reader, thanks.

950

Living Room / Re: The most disturbing news story I've read all year

« Last post by superboyac on November 18, 2013, 05:22 PM »

I have faith in one thing...
there are fanatical archivists all over the world.