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Tips for disaster recovery readiness for Exchange servers

The Microsoft Exchange team has a very nice blog. Since disaster planning, business continuity, and disaster recovery has been on everyone's minds lately it seems appropriate to point out this article from their blog.

You Had Me At EHLO... : Tips for disaster recovery readiness: "Tips for disaster recovery readiness"

Windows Based Treo officially announced

Choice. Innovation. Partnership.: "The new Treo, available in early 2006, offers Broadband Access, a QWERTY keyboard, and familiar Outlook Mobile applications for easy e-mail access."

Symantec Reports that Mozilla browsers more vulnerable than IE

Security is a game EVERYONE needs to be in on.  There isn’t value in the finger pointing to different platforms since we are all on the same playing field.  As in any sport you get specialists for positions as well as good all-around players, each with their own pros and cons.

Here is the CNET article about the Symantec announcement.

Google Plans its own WiFi Service?...

I just started seeing this on Memeorandum. 

Here is the article via the Washington Post

NASA's new Space Exploration System....

Ok, so if you know me or even just a quick look through my blogs will tell you that I am a very interested in the space program at NASA.  I love it.  I always have. 

NASA’s Return to Flight was and is a VERY big deal.

Their announcement on the 9.19.2005 an EVEN BIGGER deal.  Its the announcement of the new NASA Space Exploration System.

It’s like NASA kinda went retro.  Anyway, I hope that you find it as exciting as I have and do.  If you go to the NASA Home Page there are also links to a cool flash site on the system. 

Slingbox....my next must have gadget

Ok, so I am a Tivo addict, and despite the fact that Windows Media Center looks great and even seems to work well, I don’t want to pay $2000 for a DVR that needs patching just like my laptop.  Besides, the last thing I need is for my wife to have to use a computer to watch TV.  I hear her frustration every time I contemplate a Windows MCE for my DVR. 

But I digress, I have Tivo and I love Tivo, it blows the doors off of the Time Warner DVR I tried.  Tivo is to TV as iPod is to Music.

So how do we extend our TV viewing?  I want to try this new device that makes your home TV setup, be it just cable, satellite, DVR, Tivo, and pushes it through your broadband connection or just your home network to any Windows PC! 

I haven’t decided if this needs to be a “research” purchase or a wish list item for Christmas.

Click here for the more on the Slingbox.

Microsoft's New Photo Sharing app...

Microsoft has made a lot of announcements this week at the PDC ‘05.  One of many is the new photo sharing app codenamed MAX.  Click here.

Video on Office 12

FROM Scobleizer

Jeremy says Office 12 rocks

Jeremy Wright: Don’t make judgements on the new UI until you’ve watched about 20 minutes of the video.

The Lost Art of Note Taking

the post below is from Michael Hyatt’sWorking Smart blog.

Recovering the Lost Art of Note-Taking

I spend most of my work-life in meetings. Note-taking is a survival skill. Yet, I am surprised at how few people bother to take notes in meetings. Those who do sometimes express frustration at how ineffective the exercise seems to be. In this post, I�€™d like to expound on why I think you should take notes in meetings and then offer a few suggestions on how to do it better.

1. Note-taking enables you to stay engaged. The real benefit is not what happens after the meeting but during the meeting itself. If I don�€™t take notes, my mind wanders. I daydream. As they say, �€�the lights are on, but no one is home.�€� However, when I take notes, I find that I stay more alert, focused, and actively involved. My contribution to the meeting is thus more likely to add value to the topic under discussion. This is why I take notes even if someone is officially taking minutes.

2. Note-taking provides a mechanism for capturing your ideas, questions, and commitments. Not everything can be resolved in the meeting. Some ideas require incubation. Questions require further research. Commitments require follow-up that cannot be done until after the meeting. Regardless, note-taking provides a way to capture the content of the meeting, so that I can processes it after the meeting.


3. Note-taking communicates the right things to the other attendees. When someone takes notes, it communicates to everyone else that they are actively listening. It also communicates that what others are saying is important�€”it is worth making the effort to record their insights. If you are in a leadership position, it also subtly establishes accountability. Your people think, If the boss is writing it down, he probably intends to follow-up. I better pay attention. As a leader, your example speaks volumes. If you take notes, your people will likely take notes. If you don�€™t, it is likely they won�€™t.

But how can you more effectively take notes? Let me offer four suggestions:

1. Use a journal-formatted notebook. If you have something else that is working, great. Stick with it. If not, I recommend one of the Moleskine notebooks. The name (officially pronounced mol-a-skeen-a, although it can vary) comes from the French spelling of �€�moleskin,�€™ which the oilcloth covering resembles. I use the Large Ruled Journal and never go anywhere without it.


2. Keep your meeting notes as a running journal. I give each new meeting (or topic) its own heading, along with the current date. The notes run continuously until I fill up the journal. Then I begin a new one.


3. Use symbols so you can quickly scan your notes later. I indent my notes from the left edge of the paper about half an inch. This allows me to put my symbols in the left margin. I use four:


1. If an item is particularly important or insightful, I put a star next to it.


2. If an item requires further research or resolution, I put a question mark next to it.


3. If an item requires follow-up, I put a ballot box (open square) next to it. When the item is completed, I check it off.


4. If I have assigned a follow-up item to someone, I put an open circle next to it (similar to the ballot box but a circle rather than a square). In the notes, I indicate who is responsible. When the item is completed, I check it off.


4. Schedule time to review your notes. This is the secret. I scan my notes immediately after the meeting if possible. If that is not possible, then I do it at the end of my workday. If I miss several days, I do it during my weekly review. Regardless, I take action on those items that I can do in less than two-minutes. Those that will take longer I enter into Entourage (or Outlook for you PC users) either as a task or an appointment.

That�€™s all there is to it. If you have additional suggestions, I would love to hear from you.

Acquisitions day!

Oracle buys Siebel

Wow, it's big aquisition day today. Oracle just bought Siebel for $5.9 billion, according to BusinessWeek.

Skype sold to eBay for $4.1 billion

from Scobleizer

Skype sold to eBay

Amazing! Congrats to my former boss, Lenn Pryor. Skype was just sold to eBay for, if I read this right, $4.1 billion.

Jeff Clavier looks at the details.

Some people have come up to me and asked me "does this deal make any sense to you?" It does. eBay is a marketplace. It's about putting buyers and sellers together. Now, how can you make that marketplace more efficient? Voice and video.

Selling things is easier when you can tell and show. Skype is all about that.

But it still is a shockingly large deal and my former boss right now is looking like the smartest guy around.

Apple Announces iPod Nano

The next iPod from Apple...



Click here to read more.