Connecting the Dots Between Research and Specification to Implementation using NotebookLM
Overview
As part of my day to day role as a solution architect I overlap with many clients, partners, solutions and technologies. I am often documenting meetings, requirements, technical solutions and having to provide my team information for the sprint work to action the required goals for the client. Also in my case the development team is in Vietnam and non english native speakers.
There's a lot of challenges I face
- Having accurate documentation that is easy query, adapt and output in anyway I want
- Creating great output for the teams that overcome questions and technical or language barriers
- Maintaining information over multiple meetings and across different sources
I have created a video using NotebookLM of this blog post after publishing to show how it can easily create video outputs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3IbCCQ-XA4
Enter NotebookLM, the Google AI research tool with amazing features
Think of NotebookLM not just as a note-taking app, but as a dynamic knowledge management system powered by the latest in AI. It's designed to take all your scattered information, understand it, and then help you synthesize it into something truly useful. Here are some of its core features that will make your dev heart flutter:
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Source Connectivity on Steroids: Forget copy-pasting entire articles or losing track of where that crucial snippet came from. NotebookLM lets you upload various sources – PDFs, Google Docs, even web pages – and treats them as a unified knowledge base. Imagine having all your project's architectural diagrams, API documentation, and sprint retrospective notes in one searchable, interconnected space. No more "where did I see that again?" moments. This is a game-changer for solution architects like me, who need to cross-reference multiple documents to ensure design consistency and avoid technical debt.
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AI-Powered Summarization & Key Takeaways: This is where the magic truly happens. Once your sources are loaded, NotebookLM can instantly generate summaries, extract key concepts, and even answer specific questions based on the content of your sources. Need a quick overview of the authentication flow discussed in three different design documents? Ask NotebookLM. Want to know the estimated effort for a particular feature based on your team's past sprint reviews? It can do that too. This feature is invaluable for developers trying to quickly grasp the essence of complex systems or for solution architects presenting high-level overviews to stakeholders.
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Intelligent Q&A and Brainstorming: Ever wish you could just talk to your documentation? Now you can! NotebookLM allows you to ask natural language questions about your sources. It's like having a rubber duck debugging session, but with an AI that actually understands your project's context. Beyond answering direct questions, it can also act as a brainstorming partner, helping you generate new ideas, explore different approaches, or even draft initial code snippets based on your project's specifications. Imagine asking, "Given these API specs, what are some potential error handling strategies?" and getting intelligent, context-aware suggestions.
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"Ask Your Sources" – The Ultimate Debugging Buddy: Picture this: you're debugging a tricky issue, and you're pretty sure the answer is buried deep within a technical spec or a previous incident report. Instead of endless scrolling and searching, simply ask NotebookLM, "What are the known limitations of the
UserService
regarding concurrent requests?" It will scan all your connected sources and pinpoint the relevant information, saving you precious hours of head-scratching. This is where NotebookLM truly shines as a productivity booster for every developer. - Multiple Outputs Allowing Many Ways To Absort: The sources fed in in to a Notebook can be outputted in many ways. Want an Audio output for a podcast or a video overview on any specific topic that can easily be created with Veo 3 giving flavour to the videos. Want to create a Mind map, a report, flashcard or quiz and you can do all this. It really allows you to output the documentation any way you like, empowering different ways of learning
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Notebooks for Every Occasion: Organize your knowledge into distinct notebooks for different projects, features, or even personal learning. This keeps everything tidy and ensures that your AI assistant is always focused on the relevant context. As a solution architect, I can create separate notebooks for each project, encompassing everything from initial discovery to deployment strategies, ensuring all information is readily accessible and logically grouped.
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Seamless Integration (with Google Workspace): If your team lives in Google Docs, you're in luck! NotebookLM integrates seamlessly, allowing you to easily pull in your existing documents and leverage your current collaborative workflows. This reduces friction and makes adoption a breeze.
How NotebookLM Benefits Your Learning and Investigation
I have been using NotebookLM to collate information on projects, technologies and integration in to a single source of truth that I can query and output in many different source.
In a very real example I have used a very cool extension called NotebookLM Web Importer https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/notebooklm-web-importer/ijdefdijdmghafocfmmdojfghnpelnfn?hl=en to do the following for my own learning
- Import all of Jon Jones Optimizely YouTube videos in to a NotebookLM for querying and exploration
- Import each of the Optimizely document sections in to a NotebookLM for querying
- Importing integration meetings from Integration overlap meetings a client has started using to generate formatted Requirements in text and video
For example here is the CMS 12 documentation
This then allows me to query the information via Mind maps, videos and queries outputs as it's own AI chatbot.
or many other types of output
This is a really amazing tool and the fact it can do this from URLs, Documents, YouTube Videos and notes is amazing.
It also allows you take outputs from the chat and convert them in to notes or create your own notes then even reference them back as sources creating a great feedback loop.
How NotebookLM Benefits Your Development Team (and Makes Your Solution Architect Happy!)
This also translates in to creating better documentation for the team you can copy in to DevOps, Jira or your solution of choice with rich mind maps, audio podcasts, video allowing faster and easier adoption of information.
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Faster Onboarding for New Devs: New team members can quickly get up to speed by having all project documentation, design decisions, and common FAQs consolidated and easily digestible through NotebookLM's summarization and Q&A features.
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Reduced Context Switching: Spend less time hunting for information across different tools and platforms. With NotebookLM, your critical knowledge is centralized, allowing you to stay focused on coding and problem-solving.
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Improved Design Cohesion & Reduced Rework: Solution architects can ensure that development teams are consistently referencing the latest approved designs and technical specifications. NotebookLM can highlight discrepancies or areas needing clarification, leading to more robust and aligned solutions from the get-go.
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Smarter Decision-Making: By quickly accessing and synthesizing information from various sources, teams can make more informed decisions, whether it's choosing a new technology, refining an architectural pattern, or resolving a critical bug.
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Empowered Developers: Give your developers the tools to self-serve information, reducing reliance on senior team members for basic queries and freeing up valuable time for more complex problem-solving.
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A Solution Architect's Dream: For us solution architects, NotebookLM is like having an extra brain. It helps us quickly synthesize complex information from multiple stakeholders, validate architectural decisions against existing documentation, and communicate design rationales more effectively. Imagine being able to instantly pull up all the discussions around a specific design constraint before a review meeting!
Optimizely Setup and Extension
By using NotebookLM Web Importer for bulk URLs and Gemini to parse and extract links from the Docs pages I've connected the following.
CMS 12 Documentation
Bulk import the following URLs
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/getting-started
https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/33309043090189
https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/25432213670413
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/hipaa-enabled-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/learning-path
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/developer-prerequisites
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/what-is-a-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/technology-stack
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/pluggable-ui
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/alloy-demonstration-templates
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/installing-and-upgrading
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/initial-configuration
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-model-and-views
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-and-editing-content
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/media-support
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-tree-and-routing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/listings-and-navigation
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/security-checklist
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/deployment-learning-path
https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/19965302094989-User-interface
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/set-up-a-development-environment
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/learn-basic-editing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-starter-project
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/documentation-videos
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/set-up-cms-12
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/system-requirements-for-optimizely
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/installing-optimizely-net-5
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/nuget-package-families-in-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/resolving-nuget-dependency-conflicts-in-project-sdk-packagereference-model
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/upgrade-to-cms-12
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/breaking-changes-in-content-cloud-cms-12
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/why-upgrade-to-content-cloud-cms-12
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/upgrade-assistant
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/upgrade-to-cms-core-12170
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuration
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-cmsui
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-dataaccess-and-dynamicdatastore
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-moduleconfig
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/changing-edit-and-admin-view-urls
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/link-validation
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/initialization
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-an-initialization-module
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/dependency-injection
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/deploying-content-cloud
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/planning-deployments
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/deployment-scenarios
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/managing-cloud-licenses
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/deploying-to-azure-webapps
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/deploying-to-windows-servers
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/setting-up-multiple-sites
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/installing-database-schema
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/automatic-schema-updates
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-delivery-network-cdn-configuration
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/database-mode
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-your-email-server
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/create-a-docker-file
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/storing-utc-date-and-time-in-the-database-legacy
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/host-a-frontend-with-optimizely
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/develop-the-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/blob-storage-and-providers
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configure-a-custom-blob-provider
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/how-to-add-azure-blob-provider-to-your-net-core-application
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/caching
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/object-caching
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/read-only-object-cache
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/monitoring-memorycache
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/client-resources
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/dynamic-data-store
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-dynamic-data-store
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/indexing-properties
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/mapping-stores
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/supporting-linq
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/identity-and-date-and-time-management
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/event-management
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/developing-an-event-provider
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/how-to-add-azure-event-provider-to-your-net-core-application
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/event-management-api
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/file-providers
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/globalization
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/globalization-scenarios
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/localizing-the-user-interface
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-a-custom-localization-provider
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/localization-service-1
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/localization-service
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/determining-languages
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/add-a-custom-language
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/activity-logging
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/logging-options
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/logging
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/routing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/partial-routing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/example-of-news-partial-routing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/blob-routing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/internationalized-resource-identifiers-iris
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/scheduled-jobs
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/search
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/searching-and-filtering
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/adding-search-providers
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/searching-for-pages-based-on-page-type
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/security
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-security-policy
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/cookie-usage
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/integrate-azure-ad-using-openid-connect
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/aspnetidentity
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/mixed-mode-authentication
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/permissions-to-functions
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/decoupled-setup
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/virtual-roles
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/filter-javascript-from-properties-and-files
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/synchronization
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/using-notifications
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/usage-examples
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/user-interface
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/adding-a-module-initializer
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/command-pattern
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/global-toolbar-commands-plug-in
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/plugging-in-commands
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/command-builders
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-cms-user-interface
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-shell-modules
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/context-sensitive-components
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-react-component
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-component
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/debugging-cms-ui
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/describing-content-in-the-ui
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/dialogs
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/introduction-to-dojo
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/drag-and-drop
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/editing-objects
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/ui-wrapper-types
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configuring-the-default-editor-wrapper
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/enabling-headless-content
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/extending-the-navigation
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/using-menu-providers
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/upgrading-navigation
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/adding-and-configuring-menu-items
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/how-to-highlight-parent-menu-items
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/extending-the-tasks-pane-with-custom-queries
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/message-service-pool
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/plug-in-areas
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/plugging-in-a-gadget
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/publish-and-subscribe-messaging-system
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/service-locator
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/shell-profile
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/store-architecture
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/views
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-view
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/modifying-a-view-through-configuration
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-component-1
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-container
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/replacing-a-component-globally
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/hiding-or-controlling-access-to-a-component
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/plugging-in-components-into-a-view
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/websocket-support
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/develop-content
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-types
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-templates
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-versions
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-approvals
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/selecting-content
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/multilingual-content
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/grouping-content-types-and-properties
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/icontentrepository-and-datafactory
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/persisting-icontent-instances
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/validating-object-instances
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/attributes
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/resolving-current-content-context
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/refactoring-content-type-classes
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-a-page-programmatically
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/edit-hints-in-mvc
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/inline-edit-settings
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/properties
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/built-in-property-types
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/property-attributes
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/generic-propertylist
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/property-value-list
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-metadata-properties
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/custom-properties
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/writing-custom-attributes
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/restricting-content-types-in-properties
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/single-or-multiple-list-options
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/built-in-auto-suggestion-editor
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/using-a-block-as-a-property
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/editing
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/on-page-editing-with-client-side-rendering
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/creating-an-editor-widget
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/registering-a-custom-editor
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/assets-and-media
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/media-types-and-templates
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/working-with-media
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/content-assets-and-folders
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/custom-editing-preview-for-media
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-marketing-platform/docs/cmp-dam-asset-picker
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/cmp-dam-in-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/cmp-dam-in-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/cmp-content-repository
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-marketing-platform/docs/dam-assets-migration-using-the-api
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/configured-commerce-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/install-configured-commerce-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/manage-website-elements-with-configured-commerce-and-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/odp-cms-1
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/odp-cms
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/architecture
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/digital-experience-platform/docs/dxp-overview
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/install-and-configure-optimizely-graph-on-your-site
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/synchronize-from-optimizely-content-management-system
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/event-driven-synchronization
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/scheduled-synchronization
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/conventions-api
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/smooth-rebuild
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/enable-and-disable-website-languages
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/paas-cms-core-openid
https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/content-management-system/docs/upgrade-to-cms-12
Commerce Conect Documentation
Bulk import the following URLs
DXP Documentation
Bulk import the following URLs
Conclusion
Using NotebookLM creates an amazing space for combining all of the information together and joining the dots. It allows output that you can consume as videos, audio (which allows for a podcast style custom learning), mid maps and note outputs. It really revolutionises learning and combining information and by plugging this in to development teams as well it creates a powerful place for many different activies either research, task planning or anything else.
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