techSOAP has MOVED!!!

You can now find all the same content at www.techsoap.net

It was great getting into the blogosphere with Blogger but in an effort to grow I have moved to my own domain name and to Typepad for the back end.

Please update your aggregators and links.

Thanks.

Brendan

Windows Celebrates 20 Years

"Bill Gates wanted to call Windows 1.0 'Interface Manager"

And 19 other interesting facts about Windows 1.0

Thanks Scobleizer for the reference to creole.spavia.com

It's a Tankless Job

Another tangent, but a good one. Here is a perfect example of NASA's work spilling into our everyday lives.

NASA - It's a Tankless Job: "It's a Tankless Job"

new XBox 360 commercials...

Time for a commercial break

this and this.

from scobleizer.

Next Version of Exchange Server to be 64-bit ONLY

From E2KSecurity

Exchange 12 to be 64-bit only
Breaking news: Exchange 12 will be 64-bit only. I have a lot more detail to post on this, but they're about to close the forward boarding door-- more when I land in Cincinnati in an hour or so. Here's a link to the umbrella press release from IT Forum.

Why the change? x64 technology is already widely deployed, and using it with Exchange reduces the I/O count dramatically-- by up to a factor of 4. This is huge, since IOPS are much more expensive than RAM or CPU. (If you don't believe me, try pricing 16GB of DRAM and a dual Opteron server compared to an EMC SAN and get back to me).

One objection I anticipate hearing is that this will strand customers who aren't on x64 hardware. I'm resistant to this argument, though, because even low-end servers now often include x64-capable CPUs, and this trend is only going to accelerate between now and the time Exchange 12 ships next year. Organizations that are planning to move to Exchange 12 after it ships can easily buy x64 hardware any time between now and the time they upgrade, usually without any increase in cost. Of course, I expect to hear criticism of this move because some customers won't be prepared to move to x64, but the fact is that there will always be customers-- for any product-- who don't want to, or cannot, upgrade when the manufacturer wants them to. Sure, there will be Exchange customers who will cling to their existing versions, but that has always been (and will always be) true for Exchange, Notes, Workplace, OCS, SAP, and any other software in this class.

The big news here, to me, is that Exchange is once again breaking ground in delivering a new technology-- and in this case, it's one that has the potential to radically alter the scalability and cost factors we're used to working with. I can't wait to get my hands on some E12 bits and start testing!

Microsoft Memos about the Services switch being thrown...

Here is a link to articles from one of Dave Winer’s blog with links to the actual internal Microsoft memos.

Bill Gates’ email

Ray Ozzie’s memo html

More on Office live...

I continue to hear more about office live and I get goose bumps.  Check out the section about the free domain name, website, and email for 50 users up to 2 GB for each mailbox…

 

Office Live Will Be A Huge Productivity Tool

The other product announced yesterday at the Microsoft Preview event in San Francisco was Office Live. Office Live will launch in Q1 2006.

My raw notes from the event are on CrunchNotes, and my profile on Windows Live went up last night. Rajesh Jha presented the product.

Office Live is not an online version of Office.

Office Live is a set of free, ad-supported productivity tools for businesses that will really help the small guys. The service will also have a premium subscription product that will have “less” ads, according to Bill Gates yesterday.

The core tools are a free non-microsoft domain name, website and up to 50 email accounts with 2 GB of storage each. Rajesh created a new website in the demo, adding content and images, in a minute or so. For a small company needing a informational website, it will be great. Given that the domain name, website building, hosting and email will all be free, this will be very attractive to a small business.

For customers needing more, Microsoft will offer a suite of additional productivity applications - 22 in all were announced yesterday. They will also support third party applications - ADP’s payroll software was shown integrated into Office Live. A set of APIs will be available for third parties to add their application functionality into Office Live.

Among the additional applications was an office document collaboration tool. You can share an office document real time with others, allowing them to view and edit it. Impressive.

Office Live should become a starting point for small businesses wanting a web presence and a general platform to run their business operations.

If Microsoft can hold on to them as they grow by offering additional services, it will become a lucrative product for them. And the ad inventory they will generate from page views will also be highly valuable to advertisers selling into the small business space.

There is a real chance Office Live will be one of the big revenue generators for Microsoft, both from advertising and subscription fees.

Tags: microsoft, officelive, techcrunch, web2.0, web+2.0

Microsoft is no longer an applicaitons company....

they are now a services company…… see below from Tech Crunch

Also, here is a link for a some real-time notes from the announcement yesterday

Windows Live - More than an AJAX Desktop

I blogged my raw, unedited notes from the Microsoft press meeting today real time on CrunchNotes. One of the two major announcements was Windows Live (best viewed on IE of course). Office Live was also announced, which I will be writing about later tonight.

Windows Live is a free, ad-supported AJAX virtual desktop. Most of the functionality could be seen in the Microsoft sandbox project called Start, which we profiled a couple of months ago.

However, Microsoft has added plenty of new features that add a lot of value to the product. Among them are email integration, a new instant messaging client, plaxo-like contact management and skype-like features that allow outgoing calls to normal POTS phones. Windows Live is also extensible via “gadgets”. After what I saw today, I despair for many a silicon valley startup.

The Desktop

The core features include a (now) standard AJAX desktop, wich a drag and drop interface, options to change the number of columns, ability to save searches, etc. There is a pre-populated feed reader on the left column, and adding new feeds is a one-click affair.

The really special stuff, though, are the Gadgets. These are third party applications that can be added to Windows Live via the Add Content feature on the top left. For current gadgets, check out MicrosoftGadgets.com.

One Gadget I added was the Flickr viewer. Adding it takes a couple of steps, and you are able to view Flickr photo’s via tags. Since anyone can create a gadget, I’d expect to see thousand so options in the near future.

Email

You can add a mail account directly to the Windows Live page and get Outlook Express-like functionality directly on the browser. This technology looks to come directly from the Kahuna project, which we have written about several times.

Instant Messaging & VOIP

This was the coolest thing I saw demo’d today. Windows Live will soon have a new instant messenger client embedded on the site. The IM feature will include the ability to make outbound POTS calls, like Skype. They’ve leapfrogged Google’s Gtalk in this regard.

There is also an advanced contact management feature that bakes in plaxo-like features (you control your own contact info and people pull it to keep updated).

Blake Irving walked us through a demo that included a search for restaurants near the TransAmerica Building in San Francisco. As he zoomed in and narrowed his choices, he chose a restaurant, and via a click called the resaurants’s normal phone line to make a reservation. I took a picture, which is up on flickr. The VOIP caller is pictured to the left.

The IM functionality will be released in December.

That’s all I’m going to profile for now. Additional features are discussed at ideas.live.com. I want to repeat, what really got me today was the Gadget extensibility and the full VOIP IM integration.

Tags: ajax, windowslive, microsoft, voip, techcrunch, web2.0, web+2.0, instantmessaging, email

How IT is taking on organized crime...

Does IT matter? It does against crime

I just had an interesting breakfast with Mark Eppley. You might know him as the founder of LapLink. But this morning he was telling a different story. Business really is about stories, you know. Do you have a compelling one? He does.

100 semi-truck-loads of goods disappear every day in the United States.

That’s his story. I had no idea. Billions of dollars in supply-chain losses every year. Turns out organized crime steals trucks. They usually find the trucks later on. But the load is gone. Some of this is in collusion with truck drivers. Some of this is just opportunity (a truck is left running at a truck stop, a thief breaks in and steals the truck, takes it to a drop-off-point where the load disappears into an underground marketplace).

In some overseas markets, he tells me, they are even more brazen. They’ll just kill the driver and take the truck.

Does this crime pay off? Well, consider a truck load of Viagra. One pallet of that stuff is worth millions. One truck can hold $30 million worth or even more.

Now you know how the spammers are being funded.

So, how is Mark Eppley’s new company,� SC-Integrity� (for supply chain integrity),� gonna stop them?

Well, with the Amazon model. Huh?

He’s sticking all sorts of data from the supply chain industry into a database and looking for commonalities.

You know, the same kind of system that Amazon uses to figure out that if you buy a Harry Potter book you’re probably going to be interested in other things based on the past behavior of other people who’ve bought Harry Potter books.

He also uses a variety of devices that are placed inside the cargo. They use a variety of information gathering and sharing techniques and techniques to avoid detection. He didn’t want me to share much about how the devices work but let’s just say they report back home where they are and other data. They also aren’t detectable and if jammed, that can be figured out too.

Does his anti-crime system matter? Well, he says they’ve already returned millions of dollars of goods back to their owners.

Can this system be foiled? Yes. But he says that’s not the point right now. The point right now is to raise the bar on the criminals and make them react to the system. Most crime, he says, goes to where the easiest fruit lies. His customers, he says, will be very happy if they reduce their losses by a few percent.

Oh, and do trucking companies prosecute drivers? Usually no. They usually just fire the drivers who then go across the street and do it again at another company. The trucking industry has a shortage of drivers, he says, so they’ll usually hire anyone without a criminal record.

So, what he’s doing is looking not at the driver, but at the route, or at the truck stop, or at other common patterns. What’s the probability of a trucker carrying a load of diamonds getting hit at a certain truck stop? His system will know over time. Just the same way that Amazon knows the probability that you’ll buy a Tom Peters book after you buy a Harry Potter book.

Does IT matter? Ask the criminals who are behind bars.

Vladville - Exchange 2003 SP2 for SBS

Here is a nice down to earth walk through with some very good cautions for installing Exchange 2003 SP2 on a SBS server.

Vladville - Exchange 2003 SP2 for SBS: "Exchange 2003 SP2 on SBS"

Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2!!!

This is a WONDERFUL service pack for Exchange 2003 that adds a ton of features and truly brings exchange 2003 to where it should have been on Day 1.

Here is more on it and links to downloads.

Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Turns out I have been making a lot of these mistakes....let's see how long it takes for me to fix them. :)

Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox): "Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes"

do you miss your old Backpack?

Check out the new online Backpack.  Its an online collaboration tool to stay organized.

Here it is.

This is from Chad over at Tech, Gadgets, and IT.

Apple has One more thing...

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new iPod!  Steve Jobs’ timing is impeccable.  Its 15–30% thinnner than the previous 20gb color iPod.  It comes in 2 flavors 30GB and 60GB for $299 (same price as before) and $399. 

Of course there’s the nano from 5 weeks ago that coincided with the new version of iTunes, but now there is another new version 6 to support the video.  That’s right the new ipods do video.  You can purchase music videos, download trailers, and now TV Shows they day after they air!!  Here’s more on the new iPod.  and here’s more on iTunes 6 (which includes gifting by the way.)

Then there’s Front Row.  So far its like Apple’s answer to Windows Media Center, with a remote! Here’s more on Front Row.

They also announced a new iMac.  Figures I just bought my wife a 20inch iMac in July.  Oh well.  Click here for more on the iMac.

Here’s the point of my summary of their announcements.  Apple is doing such an incredible job with applications, with hardware, and with marketing them that they are the best out there in presenting cutting edge technology to HOME USERS.  Apple can’t compete in the IT market for the majority of businesses outside of the creative world, but they are certainly doing a GREAT job transforming the home user experience and in my opinion raising the bar for what Microsoft will need to do to innovate with their applications to compete in the home user space.

I live in both worlds and the more I know about Microsoft’s products and the more I know about Apple’s prodcuts the more I can appreciate them both for their strengths.  I am most definitely a fanatic for both. 

Here’s Steve Job’s presentation.

 

Microsoft and Yahoo may merge IM

Microsoft and Yahoo may merge IM

Microsoft and Yahoo, holders of 44% of IM (instant messaging) traffic globally, will effectively merge their services. Although neither company would confirm the story to the Wall Street Journal, reports suggest that the services will work together without the use of a third-party client, like Trillian. Both Microsoft and Yahoo have pledged moves towards interoperability for some [...]

Get Skype off your Corporate Network

Skype is a P2P app, all clients relay traffic instead of going through central servers. Even if you aren't making a call on Skype, you are still relaying traffic for all other Skype users.

If you watch your network bandwidth, a relay can use 80-128K, double that for actually making a call plus relaying.

Its in the fine print of the agreement for the software. Like anyone actually reads it though.

If you had 10 clients on your network, figure the bandwidth being sucked out of your T1!

I'm going to do a sweep of my network to see if its on any workstations without IT knowing about it.

Here is the article from Network World.

http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2005/092605tolly.html

Office 12 will support PDF natively in all apps�

Some huge news on the Office 12 front….Office 12 will support PDF natively in all apps.  Just how much support I don’t know exactly…here is a link to some good info on the announcement that Microsoft made first to its MVP’s.

http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones/archive/2005/10/01/476067.aspx

ROLLYO - Roll your own seach engine!!!

ROLLYO: "Roll your own search engine.
Create personal search engines using only the sources you trust. Relevant. Reliable. Rollyo.
Learn more about Rollyo "

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.

Microsoft Gets into the VoIP game...

Microsoft gets into the VoIP game

Marketwatch: Microsoft buys VoPI provider Teleo.

Ahh, this is the tool I saw at Demo and I said it's a potential Skype killer.

It hasn't turned out to be that yet, but this sure is interesting news. I didn't know about it, by the way. I have some inquiries into our mergers and acquisitions department to see if they can tell me more.

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

Scoble Experience

I have posted excerpts from Robert "Scobleizer" Scoble who is a Microsoft Technology Evangelist many times. I wanted to share an experience I had with him in July. I was trying to find some answers to some nagging questions related to some Microsoft software and as a reader of his blog I knew that he posted his mobile number on his blog. So, I figured I will take advantage of his accessibility and call.

I got his voicemail, no big surprise, and left a message with my questions. The day wore on without a call back, until 6pm or so when my phone rang. He was driving home and returning calls. We chatted for a few minutes, on Microsoft, on Blogging, RSS, and tablet pcs and finished the conversation.

What a testament to Microsoft that they have allowed and now even required Robert to blog and truly evangelize Mirosoft.

I encourage you, if you're an IT Professional that uses Microsoft products, to check in on his blog now and again. Its helpful and sometimes even fun.

WinFS Beta 1 released - runs on XP and Vista!!!

Update: WinFS video to Channel 9.

From Scoble:

WinFS beta 1 released

Oh, looks like we can talk about WinFS today (they were holding me back until 6 a.m. tomorrow, but news got out early). Tom Rizzo of the WinFS team just posted that the beta 1 bits are up.

I did a Channel 9 interview which will be posted soon. They built an app that they showed me built on top of WinFS that blew my mind. WinFS is gonna enable a new style of app. More when the video is up.

Oh, and they demonstrated the whole thing on Windows XP. So, WinFS will be downlevel and doesn't require Windows Vista.

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

Unbelievable Veritas Security Hole

Unbelievable VERITAS security hole

Wow, this is hard to stomach. CERT is reporting TA05-224A: "VERITAS BackupExec Uses Hard-Coded Authentication Credentials". It's astonishing that any company could be so stupid as to ship a product that still uses hard-coded credentials; it's a wonder that it's taken this long for an exploit to start circulating. (Note that this is different than the vuln-o-rama announced last month.)

According to Symantec's page on the vuln, only BE versions 8.0, 8.5, and 8.6 have the flaw. I'd bet that's a significant portion of the installed base, so a) I hope they're protected and b) I sure would feel more comfortable if the page also said "hey, don't worry, we fixed the problem in BE 9". My concern is that BE 9.x and 10.x have the same, or similar, problem but that attackers haven't found the creds yet.

Update: Symantec updated the vuln page last night with this additional page. Turns out that BE 9.0, 9.1, and 10.0 are vulnerable too. Sheesh. Making things worse, to fix the remote agent you have to uninstall the remote agent, reboot, install the new version of the agent, and reboot again. There's no hotfix.

[Exchange Security]

Blogger for Word

Blogger for Word

Posted by Blogger for Microsoft Word

Microsoft helps set Guiness World Record for Counter Strike.

Microsoft helps set Guiness World Record for Counter Strike.

5,500 play Counterstrike and set world record

Michael Anderberg: The coolest Guinness World Record Ever - set by Microsoft.

Ahh, so that's what you do with a Unisys ES7000 32 CPU/32 GB RAM server and 5,500 people in Sweden!

Now THAT sounds more fun than Foocamp!

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

egro-over-engineering

Ergonomics gone overboard.....here.

Google Fill in the Blanks

Google Fill in the Blanks....Here is a new way to search that I hadn't ever seen. I learned about it from the Google Blog
.

To answer a question like "Who invented the light bulb?" Using a wildcard you would get better results from Google by entering: "the light bulb was invented by *"

* is the wildcard fill-in-the-blank value.

Click here to read the full post from Google. My favorite part is the recommended search at the end of the post.

Treo 670 running Windows Mobile Confirmed!!!??

There were rumors in Feb and March on the Treo 670.....but apparently Engadget has confirmed it with videos of a Treo 670 running Windows Moblie!


Oh boy....I wonder what I could get for an unlocked 650 on eBay?

The Intelligent Design of Business Evolution
On an ordinary day in 1974, it was boredom that changed the world as we know it. Anthropologist Donald C. Johanson had been laboring for weeks with his team in a region of Ethiopia, on the hunt for evidence of... [Fast Company Now]

Exchange 2003 SP 2 features

This article has the official Microsoft scoop on Exchange Server 2003 SP 2. Included in SP 2 are some impressive new mobile functionality as well as my personal favorite: Increase Standard Database size to 75GB!!!

Interestingly as a side note, Microsoft touts the Cached mode for Outlook as a way to increase number of users per Exchange Server. Never thought of it that way, but good spin I think.

MSN to Launch Virtual Earth but is it a Google maps killer?

So will MSN Virtual Earth be a Google Maps Killer? Who knows but officially its live on Monday I guess. I heard about it as it was leaked through Scoble's blog but even he didn't link directly to it. He does give a little glimpse of how it got out.

After seeing what the moon is really made of from Google Moon last week, its seems that the MSN Virtual Earth team have some catch up to do to establish credibility, but it sure is nice to finally see another software company truly pushing Microsoft to innovate and compete. Its been a while since they've had some tough competition that Microsoft couldn't just buy.

I love Google, but I like pulling for the underdog, which strangely happens to be Microsoft in this case.

Decent article on Exchange2003 SP2 Anti-spam features

I found the link to the article below from Exchange Security but I think that despite Microsoft's efforts, which seem sincere, still the best option is choosing a company to outsource corporate anti-spam efforts.

It takes far too much time and effort to achieve even close to the accuracy that an gateway anti-spam service can deliver. Interestingly, despite Microsoft's "multi layered" approach with the Exchange Server System and SP 2 for Exchange 2003, we still see that Microsoft bought Front Bridge


Great article on SP2 spam filtering

My choice for Gateway Spam Filtering is: SpamSoap

Microsoft buys FrontBridge

Microsoft buys FrontBridge

Just got the press release: Microsoft is buying FrontBridge, a hosted message hygiene service provider. This is primarily interesting because of FrontBridge's strength in compliance solutions; they have a broad range of services built around compliance for email and IM. Their hosted anti-spam services got good props from eWeek, but I think the combination of their data centers (which promise a 99.999% uptime SLA) and their compliance services opens the door for MS to diversify beyond Windows OneCare into a broader scope of direct service provision. I can't wait to see what part they play in the promised Exchange 12 updates for better compliance and message hygiene.

[Exchange Security]

Symantec Disaster Recovery Strategies seminar... in Cancun

Got an email today from Symantec touting their new "Symantec Disaster Recovery Strategies" conference. It's in Cancun, in October. The email says:

Learn from the experts who best know VERITAS technology, while enjoying beautiful Cancun! It's the perfect combination of work and play.

Training sessions run from 8:00 to noon; the rest of the day is free to "meet in small discussion groups, meet one on one with the instructor, or absorb what you have learned while relaxing by the pool." Now this is the kind of conference I could get into! I mean, TechEd and Exchange Connections are draining because there's so much, y'know, work stuff going on. It's hard! Thank goodness Symantec is going to help out by dialing back the pace a bit.

I thought of making fun of their list of covered topics by adding "Hangover Recovery Planning", "High Golf Availability Design", and "Maximizing Your Return on Bikini Watching", but that would just be unfair-- people might think I'm bitter at not being asked to speak :)

[ personal to Devin: no, you can't go. ]

[Exchange Security]

RDP now vulnerable?

Microsoft recommends changing default ports to protect from potential DoS on RDP.

From Microsoft

From eWeek

space shuttle - RETURN TO FLIGHT

The Space Shuttle Discovery will lift off from Launch Pad 39B at Cape Canaveral today in less the 4 hours. This is the first Space Shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster. If you want to watch, go to www.space.com The crew is loading as you read this.

To read more about the RETURN TO FLIGHT go here!

Why should we trust Microsoft to detect Spyware?

Here is a interesting post from Scoble, and while he and Ed Bott make some great points, all roads need to lead to accountability and diversification. Just like you shouldn't invest all your life savings into one company stock, you shouldn't trust just one vendor for AntiSpyware services. Microsoft's offering is good, but now requires more knowledge by end users on what to do, and unfortunately the people that know what app does what, aren't the ones that have chronic Spyware problems. I am looking for and hoping for a panacea.

=====================================================

Ed asks why should anyone trust Microsoft to detect spyware?

Ed Bott: Dear Microsoft: Why should we trust you to detect spyware?"

Ed is so right on with this post it isn't funny. EVERY MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE SHOULD READ IT NOW AND FOLLOW HIS ADVICE!

I get asked a lot "how do we win customer trust?" You know our execs care about it. They sponsor programs like "trustworthy computing."

But, it starts here with Ed's post. He nails it. I thought about saying more, but he just so completely nails it that I can't improve on it.

On a tangental issue. I keep thinking back to Ballmer's respect of Google (in his interview last week with me he mentioned that Google is one of those companies that does interesting stuff).

What Google did was to nail the trust issue. They didn't piss off end users to serve some other business end. Now, maybe they were lucky enough not to have other business needs to serve. I guess we'll find out as Google expands into other markets. But, Google's primary competency has been to earn customer trust.

If Microsoft wants to grow its business it needs to really get this stuff right. Listen to Ed. Enough said.

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

MBSA 2.0 Released

MBSA 2.0 released

Microsoft today [JULY 1, 2005 ]released version 2.0 of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. Among its many other new features, it can scan for Office security updates (among other products), it works with WSUS, and it presents more data on potential vulnerabilities. Go get it now.

[Exchange Security]

The HP 6500 - a Blackberry and Treo killer?

Check here at Gizmodo

Spyware goes to the rootkit level...

Spyware "Cool Web Search" has stooped to new levels of malice in its effort to exist undetected on a pc. According to this article it has taken on rootkit characteristics. True rootkits reside at the kernel level of the OS and can hide themselves from the rest of the system while changing any and nearly all system settings like user accounts, passwords, etc.

The latest Google speculation

Kuro5hin.org: Who will Google Buy Next?

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

Pod Slurping?

from E2KSecurity

Pod slurping?

From the "sounds dirty, but isn't" department, the newest security threat to corporate America: pod slurping. Abe Usher wrote a small executable that can be run from an iPod connected to a PC. When run, slurp will find and copy all of the document files it sees in subdirectories of c:\documents and settings. I hate it when that happens.

[Exchange Security]

Microsoft Announces to Graphic Tool

From Scolbeizer:

New graphic tool from Microsoft announced

Announcing Microsoft Acrylic. "Acrylic" is the codename for an innovative illustration, painting and graphics tool that provides exciting creative capabilities for designers working in print, web, video, and interactive mediums.

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

MSN brings tabbed browsing to IE a little early

Here is the article from PC Mag

Apple's First Intel may be from the Pentium M family

Click Here to Learn more about how the Pentium M may be the best first step for Apple in the Intel world. So much for the G5 PowerBook.

MORE LINKS ON THE APPLE INTEL ANNOUNCEMENT

Click Here

APPLE ANNOUNCES SWITCH TO INTEL CHIPS STARTING 2006

With the move to be completed by 2007 its a major deal. Interestingly, you will be able to run Windows on a Mac but not MAC OS X on anything but a Mac.

Read more from ZDnet here.

LENOVO (IBM) HITS THE TABLETPC GAME

http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2005/06/07.html#a10329

$$ for contact information?

I have decided that I will start submitting my friends contact information to Jigsaw. If you are a friend and think that I have enough of your information to submit it to Jigsaw to make a quick buck then please send me $2 to keep your information private.

what is this world coming to? Information truly is valuable even if its just your little black book or your entire customer database!

don't worry I won't submit your information.


=================================

Jigsaw and Steve W. Martin: spammers

Jigsaw.com, which pays its customers for uploading other people's contact data. Jigsaw is much worse than Plaxo; at least with Plaxo there's some utility to making your contact information available. Jigsaw bills itself as a sales lead database, and (to their credit) their TOS prohibits spamming-- but I'm still not thrilled with the idea that someone I know made a buck (literally; Jigsaw pays $1/contact) so that boneheads can send me spam. I'm sure a lot of more famous bloggers (cue: Scoble!) will probably be hearing from this guy soon.

[Exchange Security]

SoberQ virus is a sobering reminder.

It seems that with the awakening of the SoberQ virus we have a new kind of virus that generates email. In previous viruses, Klez for example, it created email will no valid content and wasn't RFC compliant, and even spoofed senders and recipients. The SoberQ virus apparently sends email that is RFC compliant so many spam filters miss it. Spam Soap, what I use for work and for home email, catches it, and was catching it very shortly after the outbreak occured over the weekend for the US.

Here is a link to Spam Soap: http://www.spamsoap.com

Here is a link to more on the virus: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1816192,00.asp

Picking the Pope's Domain Name: "How did a writer in Florida know to buy the BenedictXVI.com domain name more than two weeks before the new pope was elected? By Amit Asaravala."

(Via Wired News.)

The First iPod.

Take a look into what G.W. has on his iPod. If you ask why is this on my blog. This is a huge step forward for the President as a person in our society and as a user of technology, even if one of his staffers loads the thing. From a tech standpoint, it points to a pervasiveness and a blurring of who uses even the latest technology.

I for one appreciate even knowing that we have a president who has become even more personal.

I can't wait for the "First Blog"

YaGoohoo!gle: "

YaGoohoo!gle:



Someone created a search engine mash-up of Yahoo! and Google. Link
‘

(Via Boing Boing.)

"

(Via Creative Procrastination.)

The Vee Pee's new Tee Vee

Mr. Al Gore, Father of the Internet, has a new TV network.

Off Subject, but I am a believer in the value of our space program...so here is a little update on the shuttle. Getting there...

Microsoft to have new in car computer? hmmm....interesting. Who will be first?

Click Here

also from Autoblog

nice blogs....

www.creativeprocrastination.com
www.freegray.net

check them out!

good RSS aggregators...

In my futile quest for a nice, tight, RSS aggregator I have become filled with a bit of disdain for the lack of a nice plug-in for Outlook, Entourage, or Safari. I did find a nice one for Firefox on a Mac, but that doesn't help me much. There is still too much of the web designed for the IE world. If you have one, that you think I should try out, let me know.

epson R800

great printer...terrible windows xp drivers. Works great from a mac. come on bill. it doesn't have to be this painful. wysiwyg please!

spam volume is up...but... so is naivitae.

I have seen the volume of spam increase easily 100% since Sept/Oct 2004 and yet it seems that despite the fact that everyone "hates" spam, these spammers still find purchase in the soil of naive emailers.

To me this is going to become like voting; where everyone complains about the state of the election but still only 40-50% of the voting public actually casts a ballot. If you choose to NOT vote then in my opinion you have less of a right to complain about the state of your government. Democracy works only when the people participate. Perhaps the beauty of a democracy is that it has a filter for the people that choose to only follow. Those are the non-voters. The voters are the ones that want to feel like they can control the way they are governed or at least through the process of a representational government begin to affect a change.

Spammers gain momentum and fuel (email addresses) from the value that they have in their lists and/or in the value of 1 out of million people that click on the link to V i @ GR A in the email. Who are these people that click on the links in spam? They may very well be the same people that complain yet don't vote. By NOT clicking on the link in a spam email you are voting to not have your email address used by spammers.

Please understand that while I say this with my proverbial tongue pressed into my proverbial cheek, I do believe that there is some truth in this message.

-cozthegrov

upgrading upgrading upgrading....

My career to this point has been built on Microsoft's back; that is, without the big MS I wouldn't have a job, or a certification to renew, or clients to service. Nevertheless, I am frustrated with how MS seems to make it less and less simple and/or affordable to keep up with their technology. For example, I can't move from retail boxed Office suites to an Open License office suite. There is NO upgrade in the Open License program, outside of Software Assurance. So the SMB market that is always growing has no simple migration path into a manageable software infrastructure other than coughing up a lot of $$$.

mac mini....

i love it. i am and will continue to be a die-hard pc advocate. newly i am a mac advocate. and no they are not mutually exclusive. it all depends on the purpose. i love my powerbook g4. i love my xp machine. here is the dillemna: i need to upgrade my pc, do i go mac mini or new dell?

argh...ne'er the less i am sure that there will be buyer's remorse. the question is which yeilds the least?

to blog or not to blog....

tonight I entered the world of blog. this blog will be a treatise on my experiences as an IT consultant for a leading regional IT Services company, and a leading spam filtering company. their names will come later, for now its more about getting your and my feet with my new blog.