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February 2004 - Posts

I found out yesterday that my wife is pregnant again and we had it confirmed in a scan this morning. Baby is 6 weeks and 5 days old and is due on the 16th October. Added to that, Im moving to a bigger house tomorrow (which is lucky it seems ;) so I Read More
We've covered this before but KC has an excellent post on the intricacies of the Microsoft Product Development process and how these processes impact decisions as to what features go where. Read more here. Read More
Skype now does conference calling. For a company like mine, where most of the staff work from home, stuff like this is great. Click the link to call me if you want to try it out. I do seem to get an abnormal amount of random calls from Polish people Read More
Just found details of a plugin that sendmail are working on to facilitate caller ID for e-mail. "Authenticated sender technologies like Microsoft's Caller ID are essential to help address fraud and spam in Internet email," said Eric Allman, CTO at Sendmail. Read More
KC has blogged links to the press release and technology page for a new product to be released in 2005. “Exchange Edge Services will perform three major functions critical to overall e-mail protection, security and hygiene. As an SMTP relay, it Read More
The Exchange Team have set up a Cafe Press store where you can get clothing designed by the Exchange team themselves. Cool! Details here. Read More
Just found an interesting site with details of an old Atari 7800 game called Ninja Golf which, unsurprisingly, involves ninjas playing golf. You can even download the ROM and emulator and have a game yourself! Fore...Aiiiieeee!! Read More
For anyone on the SP2 beta, Microsoft have posted up a new build of Windows XP Service Pack 2. This is build 2082 and can be downloaded from here (Beta Access Required). Read More
I've tried creating my own and given up :( Anyone know of a good source of CSS files for .Text? Read More
ActiveXbox is looking for volunteers to help post news on the site. The job requires 10 minutes a day Monday through Friday, no HTML experience is necessary. Serious inquiries only Click here for more info. Read More
Evan Dodds has an interesting post about the IsAlive function on Exchange 200x clusters. If you have any involvement with Exchange clusters, it looks like Evan's blog is one to watch. In Windows "MSCS" clusters, one of the big things it does is monitor Read More
Sorry I didnt do part 2 of the exchange bits.. Im having a sucky day today. I have a cold (again!) and my wife's car got broken into but i'll get back into the swing of posting this evening And.. I got myself a new mug... Details to follow :D Read More
In a bid to clear off my RSS queue, I have a plethora of Microsoft Exchange stuff for you this afternoon. Kyle Lewallen has an interesting piece on the use of the PFDavAdmin over at the Exchange Team Blog. What I do want to write about is using this Read More
Apparently, Telewest Broadband are working on a device that will generate smells when you get e-mail/IM Inside the device would be 20 disposable pockets of different scents, which could be combined - like the coloured ink cartridges on a printer - to Read More
Sony are starting to make some sweet laptops. The original Vaio line, whilst feature packed, was ugly. Their recent iMac copy range was also nasty. The new K series is still feature packed, boasting integrated 802.11b/g WLAN connectivity, 512MB of Read More
Microsoft have released a couple of useful new tools. The first is the Diagnostic Tool for the Microsoft VM. Following legal action from Sun, Microsoft are withdrawing support for the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine (MSJVM). This tool can be used to Read More
This via Steve Bink What does the future of gaming look like? What are your hopes, dreams and fears? Do you wish you could influence game developers’ decisions, but feel powerless to do so? Microsoft’s “If You Ruled the Gaming World” Read More
Full server restores are something every exchange administrator has to do at least once, even if only for DR purposes. However, single mailbox restores are something that happens more often. This How to article was created, with love on valentines day, Read More
If you use SharePoint for anything, you'll know all about web parts. Sig Weber knows more than most and has some great web parts for you to download, inclusing a .NET RDP client. Cool Thanks to Colin for the link Read More
If and when Microsoft come up with the Xbox equivalent of the MVP program, surely Amanda Murphy will be the first one. Amanda just blogged about Microsoft's new Xbox live Giveaway for people living in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, or Read More
Its surprising how few AD admins know about this free tool. Quite simply, if you have to do any GPO adninistration, this tool WILL make your job easier. The GPMC lets administrators manage Group Policy for multiple domains and sites within one or more Read More
I was talking to one of my friends earlier and the subject of blogs came up. He's looking to advance his career (aren't we all?) and I said he should get a blog. He said that there wasn't much point as he didnt have anything to say that would be worth Read More
You may remember a while back I blogged about a friend of Rob Scoble, DJ Amber.. Well she has a new single out called Your Love [Whatwithall] You can hear a sample here. The full track will be one of ten remixes featured on the forthcoming http://www.karmacoda.com Read More
I can't quite decide if this site is genius or just insane :S Barcode art is, as you may expect, a site about barcode art. There are barcode clocks, barcode collages and you can even create your very own barcode just in case you want to label yourself Read More
Another great post from Michael Palermiti, this time on his own experiences with monitoring server performance. I am starting a series of my own brain dumps on monitoring server performance best practices for all the system admins (specifically Read More
First off, Microsoft have a new site where you can get access to all of their available security guidance. It has the rather appropriate title of Security Guidance Center and can be found here. Secondly, Microsoft are now accepting orders for their Read More
Michael Palermiti (Another new Exchange blogger from PSS) has a post with links to 2 great articles written for Microsoft OTG (Microsoft's IT Department) Chek it out here. Believe me, poor disk subsystem design and implementation is the #1 reason for Read More
Evan Dodds, an Exchange Support Engineer with Microsoft PSS, has posted an excellent workaround for a problem I've experienced before when installing Exchange 200x clusters. Exchange 200x clusters install in two separate phases: In the first phase, the Read More
Since I broke my HP mug the other day, I've had to resort to drinking my tea from a Bob the Builder one. Amusing as this may be, I need a new one. Anyone know of any half-decent free mugs? Read More
According to What PC Magazine UK, there are now more internet hosts running Windows Server 2003 then Windows NT4 The number of website hostnames running Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows Server 2003, overtook those running on Windows NT4 earlier Read More
Amanda Langowski has a neat post over on Exchange Team Blog detailing the method that ESM uses for domain controller discovery. It's neat because I didnt actually know it and now I do - read it and you can too :) Read More
Mike Lee has posted an excellent entry on the Exchange team blog about assessing the performance of the disks on your Exchange Server using JetStress If there's one thing that's true of all busy Exchange servers, it's that they generate massive amounts Read More
Via Rob Scoble.. Scott Hanselman is a Microsoft Regional Director so he gets to do lots of presentations to and for Microsoft. Here, he shares his presentation tips as well as a list of useful tools. This is great for anyoune speaking at conferences Read More
This is particularly appropriate to my current project as it's all about server consolidation using Exchange Server 2003. As e-mail messaging continues to grow in both volume and business importance, organizations are looking for new options to manage Read More
As if i needed one.. MSMobiles.com reports that you can now get Rock Paper Scissors on Windows Powered Smartphone but only on 2003 devices :( Being that it took Orange 3-4 months to fix the MSN messenger issue, im not optimistic about an SP2003 upgrade Read More
Visio is one of my favourite office apps :) Microsoft have released the Resource Kit tools to aid you with deploying Visio 2003. As the download page is a marvel of brevity, I'll tell you what the RK tools include. You get Group Policy and SMS Read More
Via Steve Bink Citrix Consulting conducted a bandwidth analysis project of Microsoft Exchange 2003 server using an Outlook 2003 client interface to test various simulated user scenarios. The same scenarios were also tested and compared on the new Microsoft Read More
Microsoft have a new site where you can submit your ideas and feedback for ongoing development of the Windows Server product line. Help us improve Windows Server by providing us with your suggestions and ideas. All feedbacksubmitted will be sent to the Read More
For a limited time, VMWare are offering $100 rebate to any MCP/MCSE's purchasing VMWare As a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) or Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), you're on the forefront of developments in information technology, and Read More
After 48 hours of prolific posting at the end of last week, I gave myself the weekend off :D Lots going on over the next couple of weeks: - moving to a bigger house on the seafront (which will be nice for working in the summer) - Jessica is on half Read More
Eurodata have a half day seminar on Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003 and how then can be used to to create a secure, reliable mobility solution. The briefing will focus on: Windows Server 2003 implementation and the importance for the correct Active Read More
Microsoft are offering a free upgrade to Virtual PC 2004 for any licensed users of Connectix Virtual PC 4.x and 5.x but you have to be quick as the offer ends March 31st In February 2003, Microsoft acquired from Connectix Corporation the leading-edge Read More
Maybe an obvious one but its actually quite a common misconception that by upgrading your front end servers to Exchange 2003, you get OWA 2003 (I know of at least 2 people that thought this). This KB article explains how various combinations of FE and Read More
Paul Robichaux has been doing some spring cleaning and found two boxfuls of Secure Messaging with Exchange 2000. As his 2003 version is due any time now, they have to go. If you're interested, read his blog here. Any chance of a signed 2003 copy, Paul? Read More
Dont worry, its nothing rude ;) Find out here. with that, I bid thee goodnight... :) Read More
Ok.. second to last one for the day and then i'm off to bed ;) Over on the Exchange team blog, Nino Bilic tells us how to see what MMC snap in version you have on Win2K "Now - this is one of those things that should be easy and obvious. How do you figure Read More
An interesting article in Technet from Jeffrey Jones When we launched our first security newsletter in December, I asked you to send me your comments and feedback so that I could be your advocate at Microsoft for security issues—and you delivered! Read More
Neil asks when someone will invent a wireless charger for electrical appliances and end the misery of untangling the multitude of chargers for various devices we all seem to carry these days? I'm pleased to tell you that they already have. Splashpower Read More
Via KC The MS events team have set up a link for bloggers to point to Tech-Ed at http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=404299. They want to track the clickthrough rate via that link, so they can determine if there is enough traffic to make it worth possibly Read More
Techland are holding a seminar on the 2nd March on IP based KVM (Keyboard Video Mouse) Switches Avocent make KVM's for HP, Dell and IBM too. Its worth going along as the location is an excellent hotel in Runnymede (Where the Magna Carta was signed in Read More
Microsoft have released a paper that outlines situations in which you may need to deploy more than one Active Diectory forest. "This paper describes the conditions that warrant creating more than one Active Directory forest for a single enterprise, including Read More
The UK lottery jackpot this saturday is 17 million quid. If im a bit late with my first post, you'll know why ;) Everyone I know says that if they won the lottery, they would never work again. Im sure I would. I think having lots of money would empower Read More
Found an interesting article on decompression bombs as a means of Denial of Service attack.. "Here's an example scenario: A mail arrives at your super-barbed-wire-protected mail gateway. The gzip-compressed attachment - only 7k big - is grabbed by the Read More
Error Messages Occur When You Install an Exchange 2000 Computer When you install Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on a computer, you may receive the following error message: Setup failed installing sub-component information Read More
A week ago, I received an Orkut friend request from a guy called Kynn Bartlett I checked out his profile and his testimonials all checked out and he seemed like a nice enough guy so I added him. Today I received this: Weird. For the last few days I've Read More
Well I seem to have beaten Tuesdays record. Yesterday I managed 18 posts and I even got a couple of hours karate training in ;) Let's see what happens today :) Read More
I know I said I was going to bed but i just noticed the post count.. The second lot of 50 seem to have come a lot faster then the first 50 (probably the 30+ posts in the last 40 hours have had something to do with it ;) Here's to the next 100 :D I Read More
One more before I go to bed... Fark.com Finally have an RSS feed Now I shall sleep well :D Read More
Paul over at MoDaCo has these phones available in a free prize draw. You have to be in the UK to enter and you need to have an existing Orange contract. Prize draw closes on the 15th. Personally, Im pretty disappointed with the MS Smartphone. It was Read More
I found this article by Scott Granneman the other day and I thought i'd share it with you. "Well, it finally happened. Right before Christmas, I had a little visit from the FBI. That's right: an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation came to Read More
Alex McLeod has blogged about a problem you may encounter when extending the AD schema either during ADC installation or when running forestprep (although looking at the installation, I'd guess it would apply to other MS products which extend the schema Read More
Via Neil You can get your very own poster and coaster by contacting jono and telling him what you're doing with the .NET Compact Framework. He says you can even swear if you like. Hurrah! While we're on the subject of free stuff, anyone know of any Read More
Not only is 2006 the year when we supposedly get to see the RTM version of  Longhorn but its also when we get to see The Simpsons: The Movie! DVD fanatic got some inside info from Mike Reiss, a writer and producer for the show. Read More
Neil Cowburn blogged that I'm Content Master's Exchange Guru. Thanks for the link Neil. Neil is Content Master's mobility guru and an MVP on the .NET Compact Framework so if that's your thing, I'd recommend his blog. The great thing about working at Read More
Colin Walker has a tip on using RBL's in Exchange 2003. This is something covered in the Exchange 2003 lab I mentioned the other day and is certainly worth looking at. Colin mentions about the potential issues with missing mail through the blacklists Read More
This via Mary Jo Foley Microsoft is fielding a prototype of a new tool that eventually could become a member of its Visual Studio Tools for Office family. The prototype tool, code-named "Niobe," is designed to simplify the development of applications Read More
Following on from the link I posted yesterday for the Messaging Security Guide, Markus Klein from MSExchange.org has a guide on enabling S/MIME on Exchange 2003. Read More
Ive already mentioned the patch once today as its been all over the news. I would expect most of the people reading this to already have appropriate patching regimes in place. However, take a moment to think of anyone you know who owns a Windows PC Read More
Chris Kunicki has blogged about the Office 11 SP1 screenshots on Neowin. He takes the opportunity to revisit the bugfixes vs new features debate which KC also discussed the other week As Technical Writer formerly known as IT Operations Manager, my personal Read More
I'm currently pulling together a definitive list of Exchange related skills for a project I'm working on and I thought I'd throw the question open to everyone. If you were bringing together a team for an exchange project (migration, documentation, proof Read More
Microsoft have released some new Exchange 2003 KB articles: The removeorg option in Exchange Server 2003 This article discusses the removeorg option that is available with the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Setup program. With this feature, Read More
John Porcaro blogged about Jost Lunstrom finding himself unemployed. A recent article in Texas Monthly tells his story: This winter, as headlines around the country trumpeted the comeback of the economy, 47-year-old Jost Lunstroth entered his eighth Read More
When Im working at home, I usually have Sky News on in the background. They just had a report on the latest critical vulnerability in Windows/IE, how you can use Windows Update and how users should make sure they keep their PC's updated. Im sure its Read More
Ryan thinks I may be taking over from the Scobleizer following my large run of posts yesterday. Maybe ;) Simply, I post when I think of stuff and I seperate it out rather than plop it in a single post because people who subscribe to my Exchange category Read More
VNUNet reports that Microsoft really are ending support for NT4 this year. I sure hope so. NT4 was goood in its day and the roots of the current Microsoft OS family are derived from it but its about time we let it go, Read More
More great stuff from the Technet Flash. Times in brackets are GMT times Windows & UNIX Interoperability on 1 March 2004 (10.00am) Migrating from UNIX to Windows 1 March 2004 (2.00pm) Exchange Server 2003 Technical Overview on 2 March Read More
Just got the new style UK Technet Flash and I like  :D (click here if you want to subscribe) In it are loads of great loooking events coming up over the next month or two at TVP in Reading (Except for the HP one). Microsoft and Intel Read More
Quest have posted up the Archive of a recent webcast on Exchange Migration Planning. While it does have content specific to Quest's Exchange toolset, it also contains some great tips and insights into the planning process in general. Register to download Read More
Someone asked me if I played soccer the other day. My answer, as always, was "Sure, Every Week... On the PS2 ;)" Glad im not alone in considering EA Sports a valid form of exercise <grin> Read More
Spim, spim, spim, spim.. Spim! Wonderful Spim! doesnt quite have the same ring to it..... Computer cops report on a new phenomenon for IM users. Spim or junk instant messages are less common than their e-mail counterparts but IM is less prevalent in Read More
Neil Hobson has an excellent blog post about  how to setup and use the MailQ utility to view the mail queues of multiple Exchange 2000 servers. Read more here. Read More
Anyone who's ever worked with me will tell you that I read a lot. Where others skim, I read because when I work with or on a particular product/platform/server I dont like any surprises. Moreover, I like people to get the impression that when I talk Read More
I just got an e-mail from Matt, with a link to a company in the US called Liebermann Inc. My first observation was how much their site looks like Apple.com but they have some cool stuff. The monitors look awesome and remind me of when I worked Read More
How can something as simple as an online journal, that I write myself, provide me with so much information? I recently blogged about my brother's e-mail issues - Colin Walker is right on the mark with the answer (Colin has an excellent Sharepoint based Read More
David Lemson posted a link to an excellent new document on how Outlook 2003 can be optimized to get a better user experience from Exchange Server "Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 introduces a number of new features that enable improved information worker Read More
Through my work with Microsoft, I've worked with a few PM's. I frequently talk to non-MS people and refer to PM's and they have no idea what Im talking about. For thos people, Chris Pratley provides an excellent explanation of the role of PM's at Microsoft Read More
Microsoft have some upcoming security related chat sessions Trustworthy computing with Mike NashMike Nash, Vice President of Microsoft's Security Business Unit (SBU), invites you to join him for a one hour discussion on security issues with Microsoft Read More
It had to happen.. The exchange team have launched their very own blog. This will hopefully be packed to the gills with interesting stuff and the first post (well actually the second;) is no exception telling all about how they came up with the Read More
Maybe this is old news but.. I just found Tapestry, which allows you to subscribe to web comics (including Dilbert) via RSS. now if i can just get an RSS coffee maker (maybe an esppReSSo machine? ;).. Read More
Where do you get your info from? For Exchange, I use SearchExchange (all the techtarget sites are good) and for systems management, I use MyITForum  Back in the old days, when I was doing production NT support, John Savilles NTFAQ was Read More
Neil over at MS Exchange Blog posted a reminder about a support webcast on Thursday covering the new IRM functionality in Outlook 2003. This is a cool feature andthis webcast is certainly worth a look if you have, or are planning to implement, Office Read More
Chris over at office zealot has blogged about his observations with Sun StarOffice 7.0 "..First, it took me a bit of time to find the StarOffice entry page, Sun runs there website like the only users that come to their site are sysadmins looking for Read More
Why didn't Microsoft have bloggers back in the days when I used to have to do systems support? Every time I post a question or a request on an MS blog, I always get the response I'm after. A recent post from Sean Alexander, Group Product Read More
Phillipe Majerus is truly the daddy when it comes to building Windows CE versions of RegEdit and he now has a version available for Windows Powered Smartphone. Get it here. Note: your phone will need to be application unlocked as this application Read More
First off, Microsoft have released a bunch of downloadable seminars covering various Exchange topics but before you all go off on a mad rush to download them, they're for Exchange 2000. Not sure why they have only just been released - maybe KC can Read More
Josie just sent me a link to a bill of the Ontario Legislative Assembly. It seems that Dwarf tossing is illegal and "A person who contravenes.. is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for Read More
Motorola seem to be making some cool looking phones nowadays. The only problem is that previous motos i've owned have always been dire to use. The MPx200 is a notable exception but it has an MS operating system and not a motorola one. That said, im Read More
OMA is one of the new features/selling points of Exchange 2003. I use it occasionally to access my MS corp e-mail and I know Chris has been using it with his new MPx200 Smartphone. Personally, I prefer Server ActiveSync as its more like the Blackberry Read More
OK So you've read the planning and deployment guides, you've built your test lab and you've commissioned your first live Exchange 2003 server. All of a sudden, it starts running like a  dog. So now what? You read the Troubleshooting Exchange 2003 Read More
I went to Karate last night to try and shake off the last of this flu (luckily it doesnt seem to have got me too bad) Anyway, it looks like im entering the Kata competition at this contest in Ireland. The kata I'll be doing will be Fukyugata Ichi (and Read More
Yet more opportunity for you to play with Exchange Server 2003. Microsoft UK have a new series of 100% subsidised hands-on labs for MS Partners. Solution Hands-on Labs are one-day solution-orientated training events, introducing the key goals, technologies, Read More
OK Apparently we cant call them prescriptive guides anymore as it implies that MS is telling you how to use their products, which isnt allowed. You can find reams of tested guidance material at the MS Exchange Library. The planning and deployment guides Read More
Just found an interesting article comparing the performance of Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 and VMWare 4.0 It should be no surprise that VMWare comes off better in terms of performance as it always has. What is interesting though is that in the authors Read More
Dilbert is not a comic strip - it's a life tool.. Today's lesson is how to sell projects to your boss. Read More
For any Red Vs Blue fans, check out PSA #6 Also now available in WMP9 format Read More
Melanie Spiller is a new blogger over at Office Zealot She already has some excellent posts and its definitely worth taking her RSS feed if you are (or want to be) a writer. Here, she blogs about her pet peeves as a copy editor. This makes great Read More