How to install Windows 2003 Storage Edition in NAS system

How to install Windows 2003 Storage Edition in NAS system

Just what it says. Typically Storage Edition is an OEM product and would be installed and configured by a VAR or OEM.

Add root certificates to Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone

How to add root certificates to Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone and to Windows Mobile 2002 Smartphone

Binary and install instructions for Verizon SmartPhone 2002/2003 devices.

Getting Things Done tips

PigPog :: Productivity and GTD


Good tips that might work for me in applying GTD for home and work.

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP

ClearType Tuner PowerToy made me a believer in ClearType.

When I turned it on with default settings, ClearType just looked fuzzy to me. I blew it off and attributed the poor quality to my failing eyesight (ok, I'm barely wearing reading glasses, but it ticks me off...).

The ClearType Tuner made ClearType useful on my new laptop (Compaq/HP nc8000 at 1400 x 1050 pixels).

Blog Editing Tools - w.bloggar

I'm testing a very slick blog editing tool - w.bloggar.

I have not performed an exhaustive search of blog editing tools, but this is the first one that meets my basic needs. Actually, it exceeds my expectations, so I'll use it for a while and see if I bump into any problems or 'must have' features.

I think the best is off line editing of the blog and keeping some works-in-progress saved locally until I'm ready to post them.

So far, so good.

Blog Editing Tools - w.bloggar

I'm testing a very slick blog editing tool - w.bloggar.

I have not performed an exhaustive search of blog editing tools, but this is the first one that meets my basic needs. Actually, it exceeds my expectations, so I'll use it for a while and see if I bump into any problems or 'must have' features.

I think the best is off line editing of the blog and keeping some works-in-progress saved locally until I'm ready to post them.

So far, so good.

Protecting Microsoft Exchange with ISA Server 2004 Firewalls

Protecting Microsoft Exchange with ISA Server 2004 Firewalls

test config with latest ISA Server.
Install MOM 2005 for testing.
write up notes on both installs and post.

IT Notes: RPC over HTTP Woes

IT Notes: RPC over HTTP Woes

reference for getting HTTP/RPC working

Working with Active Directory Permissions in Exchange Server 2003

Working with Active Directory Permissions in Exchange Server 2003

This guide is written for Microsoft Exchange architects and Active Directory directory service deployment planners. It provides these administrators with the information that they need to understand the permissions that are required to install and manage Exchange. Additionally, architects and planners can use the information provided about the split permission model to develop a detailed permissions strategy that fits the administration model of their organization. By using the included DSACLS command-line text file code, administrators can implement the permissions strategy.This guide answers the following questions:

• How does Active Directory store and manage permissions for Exchange user and configuration data?

• What permissions are set by the Exchange Administration Delegation Wizard, and what are "effective" rights or permissions?

• What permissions are set during Exchange Setup?

• What permissions do I need to perform various Exchange and Exchange service installations?

• What permissions do I need to manage the various Exchange features?

• How can I customize Exchange-related permissions in Active Directory to fit my organization's administrative model?

• What tools are available to modify Exchange permissions in Active Directory, and how do I use them?

Copyright and the Mouse: How Disney's Mickey Mouse Changed the World

Mickey News - Copyright and the Mouse: How Disney's Mickey Mouse Changed the World

This is an excellent article which summarizes Eisner's strategy to push changes in the copyright laws to prevent Disney assets such as Mickey Mouse from falling into the public domain.

Some quotes below.

"The Lion King, for instance, followed Eisner's belief that a single film was not merely a potential box-office money-maker but an industry unto itself, capable of being spun off into a Broadway musical and licensed to play in other cities; it would also merchandise soundtrack albums and T-shirts. It could, in short, be elevated into a recognizable brand, to be applied to a variety of products with a market life much longer than a single hit film. It was just a logical extension of the practice of strategically re-releasing the old hits every so many years.

To protect his marketing model, Eisner looked carefully at the European Union, where the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1996 extended copyright protection from the author's life, plus 50 years to life, plus 70. He and other Hollywood moguls worked on the premise that such copyright protection could also be applicable to popular culture, and lobbied Washington to extend the U.S. life-plus-50 limit by 20 years to cover movies and music.

To accomplish this, Eisner and his Hollywood colleagues took a two-pronged attack. First, they drafted Sonny Bono, a junior Congressman whose career as a pop singer had plummeted after he and his wife Cher divorced. Bono drafted a bill proposing the 20-year extension and the House of Representatives, in a fit of distracted lawmaking (this was during the national hysteria over the Monica Lewinsky scandal), rushed its passage by a voice vote in 1998.

The second prong was to revamp the Copyright Act and toughen a piece of legislation that would halt the trade in digitized copyright material.

Windows IT Prolympics: The Competition

Windows IT Prolympics: The Competition

I'm already studying for my Windows 2003 certs, may as well try for a free TechEd 2005 trip.

Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE--October 4, 2004

Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE--October 4, 2004: "Script to create a summary of the contents of AD OU's"

Works like a charm.



oulist.zip

Mertline ink jet refills

Meritline was the cheapest place to get refills for Mom's HP multipurpose inkjet printer.

Google Desktop Search Download

Google Desktop Search Download

It still says Beta, but its very different from an earlier incarnation of the desktop search.

Right now its indexing all my mail (700 Meg) in Outlook and my files (80 & 120 Gig). Its been crunching most of the afternoon.

Google Desktop will compete with Lookout. I use Lookout to index my mail and files. Its pretty awesome, with most searches taking <3 seconds. It doesn't have boolean searches, but typically I don't need that feature anyway. Also, Lookout was purchased by Microsoft and Outlook 2003 is a 'base' application for me.

I'm testing on my primary home workstation and will note any issues and cost/benefit of Google Desktop versus Lookout.

Current Status:

Note: one-time indexing is in progress.

Indexing is performed when your computer is idle.

Outlook email is only indexed when Outlook is open.

92,930 items indexed so far.

Microsoft Online Seminars

Microsoft Online Seminars

Home page for all Microsoft online Seminars. All the ones I have viewed have been very high quality, at least at the 200/300 level. I think the 100 level are overview or sales oriented.

FinePix 3800 - link for Sarah

Fujifilm: Support & Contact Center: FinePix 3800

Sarah had problems today uploading images from her FinePix 3800 to her laptop. This link is for all the manuals and drivers for the 3800.

Multi-TeraByte Storage Bricks

Redesigning Multi-TeraByte Storage Bricks

This is a bit dated (June 2003), but I think its a viable design. I think a scaled down version could be a viable home SAN.

My current concern is power consumption and noise. As I walk through my home in the dark, all I see are blinky lights. TiVo in the family room, the basement is 'alive' with lights and noise from the server rack (unfinished side of the basement). My upstairs office is has two wireless access points, a switch, wireless phone, print server, cable modem and two UPS's.

Yikes!

Replacing NIS with Kerberos and LDAP

Replacing NIS with Kerberos and LDAP HOWTO

The article targets OpenLDAP and a UNIX centric solution, but much of this applies to a NIS to AD migration as well.

Recommendations

Things I like

Mobile Phone
Samsung i600 with SmartPhone 2003
PowerTasks - tasks synch with Outlook is brain dead, PowerTasks makes SmartPhone tasks useful. You can edit, complete, change, delete tasks and synch with Outlook. This is a must-have.
SmartNotes - supports synch with Outlook notes, this is a must have.

Mobile Phone tools
Boxwave synch cable, 115V and car adapter. Wonderful device. The synch cable let's me synch at client sites, the adapters make certain my phone won't die while I'm on the road.

Home Entertainment

DirecTVio - Tivo is OK, DirecTVio is awesome. What is the difference? Tivo has a separate subscription and the resolution is about the same as a VCR. DirecTiVo subscription is covered in the DirecTV monthly subscription and the resolution is the same as your DirecTV image. Wonderful.
TiVo Hacks - 120 Gig drive upgrade. Yah! This is wonderful. Our TiVo crapped out the first week of the Olympics. I'm an Olympics junkie, so we went out and bought a replacement TiVo.


PC Hardware

Keyboard - Microsoft Natural Keyboard - just about any model
Mouse - Microsoft Explorer optical mouse
Scanner - Epson 1670
B&W laser printer - Brother 5140 - best bang for the buck. I networked with an old HP JetDirect I got off eBay


PC Software

Document Management - PaperPort 9.0 Deluxe. Its a great document management solution. It will OCR and index all your docs so you can find them again. This application has been a lifesaver.

Image Editor - Adobe Acrobat Elements 2.0. Baby brother of PhotoShop. I had an earlier version of PhotoShop and it takes a graphics arts degree to use the bugger. Elements 2.0 has a nice balance of manual features, wizards and 'recipes' that are very, very useful for home users. The price is a sweet spot as well.

Image Management - Adobe Photoshop Album - great org tool for digital images. Album includes editing and publishing tools (web, cd), and links to Elements for more sophisticated editing requirements.

Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Update

Download details: Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Update

download and install update

Solaris 10 - Free Training/Overview

New Features of the Solaris 10 Operating System (WS-9000-S10-90)

Check out this weekend. Online course, four modules, appears to require Flash.

LinksysInfo.org Support Site - Downloads

LinksysInfo.org Support Site - Downloads

Firmware upgrade downloads for WRT54G

Firefox Extensions

Mozilla Update :: Extensions - Add Features to Mozilla Software

I like Foxfire, but some things like ad blocking, Google Toolbar and Blog-It! that I have in IE were missing from Firefox.

No longer! They work as advertised, and with my initial testing, I like the AdBlock for Firefox better than AdSubtract Pro I licensed for IE.

History of the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool

The Development History of the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool

Background for the ExBPA tool.

Managing GTD Projects in Outlook

Managing GTD Projects in Outlook

This is a pretty good approach to managing projects in Outlook based on Getting Things Done.

viksoe.dk - GMail Drive shell extension

viksoe.dk - GMail Drive shell extension

If you have a GMail account, you can add this file extension to your Linux or Windows box and add a remote drive to your workstation. The install is painless and added a GMail Drive under My Computer on my WinXP SP2 box.

I copied a bunch of photos to the drive, about 18 Meg total. I received some timeouts copying groups of files, but not individual files. This was from a broadband connection at my home.

I will post some photos later today.

AnandTech

AnandTech

Interesting article about a Windows user who switched to a Mac for a month.

I think its a well balanced article, but I keep thinking about the cost/benefit of the move as well as basic productivity for someone your average Windows user.

E-Mail Icon Maker

E-Mail Icon Maker

This is pretty cool. Icons for my various e-mail addresses are below.

GMail:

Yahoo Mail:


Hotmail:

Determining Operations Masters in a Win2K Forest and Domain

Determining Operations Masters in a Win2K Forest and Domain

dumpfsmos.cmd

Very useful for documenting FSMO's during site discovery. Saves time and can be run from any DC in the domain.

Microsoft TechNet: Exchange Server 2003 Interoperability and Migration Guide

Microsoft TechNet: Exchange Server 2003 Interoperability and Migration Guide

Summary

The Exchange Server 2003 Interoperation and Migration Guide was created to help messaging administrators and consultants to connect and migrate non–Exchange Server messaging systems to Exchange Server 2003. It describes the process by which you design an efficient Exchange Server 2003 interoperability and migration strategy. It includes prerequisites and actual procedures for connecting Exchange Server 2003 to common non–Exchange Server messaging platforms, including, but not limited to, Lotus Notes (and Lotus Domino) and Novell GroupWise. Connector components including Exchange Connector for Lotus Notes, Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise, Calendar Connector, and general connectors based on SMTP and X.400 are described. The Exchange Server Migration Wizard, the fundamental tool for migrating user data, is discussed at length. There is also a troubleshooting chapter to consult if you encounter issues with interoperability and migration.

Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System

Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System

This guide helps you with these challenges by guiding you through the process of evaluating your existing environment and pointing out the technical considerations that influence your design choices. It presents recommendations for designing an Exchange 2003 messaging system. It also describes improvements in Exchange 2003, Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, and Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 and identifies network infrastructure, hardware, Active Directory® directory service, and administrative concerns. In addition, this guide discusses considerations that can help you design a highly reliable and consistently available messaging system, including storage technologies, clustering, server tuning, and client configuration.

What's wrong with the standard undergraduate computer science curriculum

What's wrong with the standard undergraduate computer science curriculum

Interesting article from a guy I noticed from photos he posted (pretty decent photographer).

Course Catalog - Solaris OS System Administration

Course Catalog - Solaris OS System Administration: "CX-310-014"

Solaris 9 Exams and training. Just reference, looking for some good training material.

An Overview of the Sender Policy Framework

An Overview of the Sender Policy Framework

Good article on SPF, Overview, Implementation and reference links. I think SPF could be very effective, but I think Meng Wong probably made a mistake hooking up with Microsoft and integrating SPF with Microsoft's anti-SPAM initiatives.

So it goes. I am implementing SPF for my domains.

Google Groups : 43Folders

Google Groups : 43Folders

43 Folders referrs to the number of manila folders you use when you setup the Getting Things Done file system.

43 Folders is a web log started by Merlin Mann. Its a pretty neat site and the Google Group may be a useful resource.

Configuring SMTP in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server

Download details: Downloadable Book: Configuring SMTP in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server

It looks like this is an older document that was updated. Its addresses all aspects of SMTP configuration for Exchange 2000/2003.

Exchange Server 2003 Upgrade Resources

Microsoft TechNet: Microsoft Exchange Server TechCenter: Upgrade to Exchange Server 2003

All-In-One reference for Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 upgrade information.

Minute Guard

Minute Guard

I had a Verizon billing snafu after Sarah left for Georgia Tech. I thought I added her to the IN Service where she can make unlimited calls to other Verizon mobile phones (and most of her friends). This was not the case.

Minute Guard is a service that tracks minutes used automatically (via e-mail or SMS). The fee is $25/year for a family (2-5 mobile phones).

Yes, I know you can go to VerizonWireless or press #MIN from your mobile phone, but I don't have that kind of time each day/week/fortnight to track the bloody phone minutes.

Even though I sorted out our plan (now 2000 shared minutes and IN Service for Sarah), I'm testing Minute Guard for 30 days.

Jim McBee's Mostly Exchange Web Log

Jim McBee's Mostly Exchange Web Log

I met Jim at an Exchange/AD early adopter session in Atlanta (1999?). Pretty sharp guy and author of Exchange 24/7.

Does he have an RSS feed??

ISO Recorder Power Toy

ISO Recorder Power Toy

I may have posted this before, but there is an XP SP2 update.

This is a very slick tool for generation of ISO files from CD's as well as for burning CD's from ISO files without a full blown package like Nero or Roxio.

Microsoft Outlook DLL error after NAV 9.0 upgrade

NAV generates a DLL error when Outlook starts up after upgrading to the 9.x release. Run the SavPluginUtil.exe and delete the Extend.dat file to fix.
SavPluginUtil.exe

Update for Windows Server 2003 (KB827214)

Download details: Update for Windows Server 2003 (KB827214)

This is a new update to Windows 2003 for the default IIS SMTP and it impacts Exchange 2003.

Cygwin

Cygwin Information and Installation

Cygwin is wonderful. There was a bug with the previous install I did, so I plan to re-install the latest build (Sept 5) later this week.

del.icio.us - bookmark manager and publisher

del.icio.us

Not sure about this yet, but I'm looking into it to organize and 'publish' my bookmarks and have them available and searchable where ever I might be.

Pros
Portable
Parallels what I'm doing with Blogger
Stop posting simple links to my blog
Start linking to my links

Cons
Current users appear to be Mac freaks
self-described as pre-alpha-alpha release

Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Planning, Deploying, and Administering

Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Planning, Deploying, and Administering

MIIS 2003 resources. Walkthroughs are particularly interesting. I can't find an MS-Press book on MIIS.

ISO Recorder 2 Beta

ISO Recorder 2 Beta

New release of tool. I used the original because its free and faster than built-in WinXP CD-burning utilities.

Gallina

Gallina

Migrate Subscriber Data

Migrate Subscriber Data

Cisco IP tools - AnswerMonkey Site.

Netopia - - Internet Equipment - Documentation Center

Netopia - - Internet Equipment - Documentation Center

Wierd changes to Blogger this morning. Is is just my server change, or something bigger.

FreeGuide TV Guide

FreeGuide TV Guide

Just what it says. I'm testing to see if I can get DirecTV listings.

Gmail Notifier

Gmail Notifier

Awesome tool that sits in your task bar to notify you (hence the name) of your mailbox status on GMail.

airfagev - Home of Proud Pinoy Smartphone Users

airfagev - Home of Proud Pinoy Smartphone Users

SmartPhone freeware

New Media Musings: Foiling spyware, browser hijackers, dialers

New Media Musings: Foiling spyware, browser hijackers, dialers

This is a *huge* issue for home users. I have spent lots of hours debugging and delousing infected machines for friends and family.

Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Walkthroughs

Download details%3A Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Walkthroughs

BMI - Standard

BMI - Standard

Body Mass Index. I'm considered at risk because I'm 215 lbs and just under 6'3". Kind of scary consider the tonnage I see at the fast food counters, but I'm headed to under 200 and possibly under 190. We shall see.

Pocketref.com

Pocketref.com

PocketRef Version 3 is awesome. Its an engineers dream reference. I think the Handyman one looks pretty good, too.

How to Upgrade TiVo

How to Upgrade TiVo

How to upgrade your Tivo.

Our Tivo died last Thursday. Disk just isn't spinning up. During the Olympics, no less. I bought a new one at Best Buy for less than warranty replacement of the drive (120 days into the 90 day warranty, but that's another story).

Anyhow, I have a spare 120 Gig drive (who doesn't) and will test upgrading.

Telephone Tone Menagerie

Telephone Tone Menagerie

Very cool telco sounds and ring tones. I might test on my i600, if only to annoy people.