November 2007 Archives

I've scheduled my 291 exam for 7th December just to give me a deadline. As usual with prometric, scheduling this was horrendous. The website refused to acknowledge the email that it used to send me the exam confirmation last time and I had to call Prometric. After listening to the awful "Did you know you can use our website" automated recording (Yes I do know and I really would do so if the system recognised my user id!) I eventually got to a customer service rep. Prometric still have my email address, phone number and address from the UK. They wanted to clarify my phone number for identity purposes and none of my US ones worked. She read out the first 3 digits and after a couple of seconds I realised they were referring to my old UK employer! This was meant to have been changed when I first took my US exams in 2005 and they still hadn't updated the system!
Anyway, the exams booked - now I just hope I get the chance to study for it - this week has been really busy and I've not felt like studying - a 15 hour work day on Monday did not start the week off well.... Meanwhile my colleague is trying to find out what his MCP ID number is so he can register for the 2nd chance promotion and *then* go through the prometric hurdles. He is doing the same exam so there is nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry to persuade us to study.

I was using my paypal fob to sign into my MovableType 4 test installation and I entered the 6 digit code. I was surprised to see that Verisign rejected it. "That's odd" I thought until I realised I was holding the fob upside down and the numbers just happened to be readable that way up too! It is obviously too early in the morning to be debugging css code - so sorry Neil!

Update - this post is slightly out of date - please see my updated Configuring Open Manage Server Administrator (OMSA) page.

As mentioned in a previous post, we have several Dell servers that have Open Manage Server Administrator (OMSA) setup and one of the features of this software is the ability to setup alerts whenever an issue is detected by the built in monitoring system.  In the new version, 5.3, even more alerts have been enabled - mainly in the area of storage management.  To edit this setup you typically go to the website hosting the Server Administrator, log in and then set up all the alerts. Each alert is setup individually and takes several mouse clicks. One to open up the alert, one to select the alert process's, another to click apply and then another to click the Go Back to Alert Settings.  This is really inefficient and obviously takes a very long time to set this up on multiple servers. The process described in the extended entry below describes how you can set this up, quickly and efficiently by importing the same settings to your servers each time they are set up. Little customization needs to be done on each server but full instructions are provided.

Note- this post is slightly out of date - please see my updated Configuring Open Manage Server Administrator (OMSA) page.

If you have several Dell servers (or even just one server) then I would highly recommend downloading the Systems Management Dell DVD. Inserting this DVD in the server drive will then show you a list of all the firmware, drivers and software that needs to be updated on the server. This is a great tool for ensuring that your Dell server is up to date and you don't need to download all the patches each time on the server or even worry about where they are located on the Dell website. I find it really difficult to work out which files are needed and this DVD is really helpful. Included on the DVD is the OpenManage 5.3 suite of software that came out fairly recently. Note that if you install it then you will want to go back to the alerts page as there maybe new alert categories.

I know IBM do a similar service as I used to use it when installing Netfinity servers and I assume HP does too.

Incidentally I found out about this by subscribing to the Dell Technical Update Subscriptions

I just finished the free Electronic Discovery for Dummies booklet that Mike McBride blogged about. It didn't take long to read as it was 42 pages but it was quite interesting. Like Mike's review I found the book easy to read and a good start for IT Managers or someone who may need to talk to a CEO to explain implications of IT practises. In my case it will be useful to explain the implications of mail (and data) archiving policies. Several questions have arisen lately about archiving and deleting mail to reduce the load on the mail servers. Some of the reasons for doing this is cost, but then recovering all the data from all of the backup tapes could prove far more costly. However, having a short retention time for backups seems to be acceptable as long as the company has a strict policy for this and that it is adhered to.
I'm not sure what happens or if it is possible to have different retention schemes for different users (or management levels) but I do know that whatever solution is used, the ability to stop deleting things according to the policy must be possible in the case of an ediscovery request.
I passed the book along to one of our sales people as it is a good, quick primer and should really be required minimum reading for any tech dealing with backups, restoration and deletion of software.

I had a blackberry today that would not receive mail from the BES server but could send. It could also send and receive PIN messages but not mail. To get the mail working I deleted the phone from the system and sent an activation request. I then obtained the password from outlook's email and entered it into the enterprise activation window on the blackberry - this hung and never completed. I then followed the Cingular instructions on how how to complete Enterprise Activation on a RIM BlackBerry. Details in the extended entry in case the Cingular site goes offline.

I've been getting an annoying dialog box that pops up whenever I tried to open a web page from the start/run or my address bar in windows. The dialog box would say "Windows cannot find . Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search."
I've just kept clicking ok (or ignoring the dialog box) and the page would load anyway. Today I found out from the mozilla bug database that this is normally caused by AdBlockPlus, an extension to assist in hiding adverts but in my case it turned out to be AdBlock - the original version. I removed adblock, installed the latest version of adblockplus and everything is working again.

Unfortunately I've had to disable the ability to search the comments on this blog as apparently the script was using up too much memory. I ran a search this afternoon and ended up with the generic 500 Server error page. Looking through the error log (which can be found in ~/logs/errors/domain name/http/error.log for dreamhost users) I found that mt search page was being killed before completing but only if I used the SearchElement=both on the absoblogginlutely blog (the other blogs are fine). I must admit I am a bit surprised at that as I only have 3103 posts and 1446 comments so I wouldn't have thought this would put *that* much strain on a server. Dreamhost just said that I was "using too much memory" and to check the MovableType forums for support :-( I did a quick search and that recommended fastsearch, but this doesn't support searching comments either, so for the time being the search will only do the content (although interestingly I can search with no errors from the admin interface).

Hopefully this won't be the same in MovableType4 which I might get around to upgrading too one day.

I'm very pleased with the new camera purchase so far. Unfortunately the picture quality may go down a bit whilst I work out how to use all the new settings on the camera.  The first couple of shots I took outside the house I couldn't understand why the camera was bleeping at me and then the photo was taken.  It turns out that the self timer was turned on and it was giving me 10 seconds to get into the picture!

I've also ordered a couple of extras to go with the camera, the rc1 remote control which enables you to take instant photos and 2 second delay photos with the remote. This will be useful for group shots and also for taking photos while reducing camera shake. I'm also getting a replacement  lens cap as the one that comes with the camera does not have a loop for attaching to a strap so I know it won't be long until I lose the original cap. I've already purchased a 2GB Compact flash card from Bestbuy for $35 with the camera as they had a good deal on the card and was even cheaper than Amazon.  I went for the extreme version of the card as it twice as quick as the ultra cards at reading and writing, with quoted speeds of 20mb/s and speed is important when writing many pictures to the card in quick succession when using the multi shot mode.

I'm also hoping that the tripod quick release mount arrives in the post this afternoon - I ordered it on Sunday and it arrived in Dublin this morning according to USPS. This is slightly longer than I hoped for, one of the books I ordered from Amazon at the same time arrived on Wednesday (although as usual with amazon, the other books have not arrived including the one that really needs to be here.)

The picture of Kate is a reduced and cropped version after she ate some of Katie's birthday cake. She's looking a bit sad as all the cake is gone and she is suffering from a cold/fever/virus infection (but she did cheer up when eating the chocolate and icecream cake)

BestBuy have a pretty good deal (or it looks like it to me) of a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP camera, 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm zoom lens, bag, battery and uv filter for $700 with a minimum of 8 per store, but you'll probably have to get there at 3am to get the vouchers they hand out - OR you could just order it online for the same price. I am sorely tempted by this one as the camera is normally 550-600 alone. I'll let you know what we decide!
Update You can actually get approximately $25+ off this price (on a subsequent order) by signing up for their rewards card. They are doing a holiday promotion gift package where you get $15 extra reward points (750) if you spend over $500 AND you get the original $10 reward for the first $500 and an extra 200 points for the next $200 - thats one less camera available for purchase ;-)
Update 2 I went to the store Friday morning and purchased this camera. Then I had a horrendous time trying to get hold of someone to cancel the web order but I eventually managed to. Fortunately Bestbuy's website have a feature where you can use the computer to call them so you don't have to waste minutes on your phone plan.

Several people have asked me how to download videos from Youtube and unfortunately KissYouTube is no longer working. However, GiveAway of The Day has Wondershare available for free (today only) that will allow you to do just this. Naturally this should only be used to download public domain content.

This is now the fifth (I think) Thanksgiving celebrated in the States. It's a funny holiday as part of it is so traditional with the relatives around, Turkey dinner and the listing of things that we are thankful for (and the football game) .  Kristen's brothers and family are up for Thanksgiving which is cool, Brian's daughters have been keeping us amused with Kate's love of spaghetti and attempts at clicking her fingers and Mia's pride in the pink cake we had last night and it was cute when she couldn't wait to give me the pretzel they had brought from the mall (and waited patiently for her tip - a piece of Kristen's pretzel).  I'm really thankful for the 4 day break as I need some rest and a chance to recharge my batteries. No studying will be done this weekend.

We all know that you should have good secure passwords and you can enforce this in Active Directory, but it is the other applications on the network that might raise a concern.
I got a helpdesk ticket saying that the password for a Peachtree database was not the normal one....the password that was the same as the company name! After trying password, no password I then discovered that a google search for Peachtree password removers comes up with tons of hits but no free ones. The shareware ones were about 60 bucks for a corporate licence but about $30 for personal use. However, one of them would demonstrate that it could actually break the password by revealing the first two characters of the password. I thought this might give me and the user a clue as to what the password could be. When the first two characters were revealed to be 12 it didn't take the user long to realise what the password was and they got it on the first attempt.
Sometimes it is really hard to demonstrate the reasons that passwords should be used and you would have thought that the importance of security and a good password for company financial data would be recognised...
I wonder what will happen if at the next Board meeting I do a demonstration of insecurity with LIVE data.....

It's rather ironic when the laptop Blue Screens as I start to install the debug symbols in order to debug a blue screen on a server. I think the pc is having one of those days - much like my past two weeks (I think I'm still trying to catch up on having 4 days vacation in October - and yet I've got two more days off at the end of this week - can't wait!)
Update Annoyingly, the pc reboots after the blue screen appears for about 2 seconds. I have turned off the restart on system failure option in My Computer properties. It occurs whenever I double click one of the symbol.exe files across the network.
Update2 After extracting the symbol files from a local version I was able to analyze the dump file and it told me that the problem was in ip_fw.sys - which at first glance looks like a firewall driver. Sure enough, a google search told me that it was from the wipfw openbsd firewall implementation on Windows. Removing the software means I can run the exe with no crashes. The strange thing is that I've never heard of wipfw before and I certainly didn't install it (by itself) as I log all the programs that I install and that wasn't one of them. I wouldn't be surprised if it came with another program such as wireshark or bidiblah or something along those lines...more investigation to come.

Anyone recommend a good Exchange 2007 book, of particular relevance will be upgrading servers (from Exchange 5.5 no less!)

A while back I managed to loose the quick release clip for the camera to attach it to my tripod which meant that I couldn't use the tripod. Seeing as though I will be having some indoor photo sessions in the near future with Christmas and the Columbus Flickr trip to the theatre, I decided to get it working again. I was debating getting a new tripod and the Opteka Tripod looked pretty good and cheap, but after a search on Google I tracked down a store that sold replacement quick release clips, so I've purchased one from Adorama. Hopefully the service will be good and the part is the right one!

A couple of people commented on my post about no ads with NBC on the web site stating that they got ads. I did a bit of testing tonight and with the NoScript firefox extension enabled, which should be used for safe browsing anyway, and doubleclick.net disabled, which should also be disabled for privacy reasons, then the adverts do not get displayed.

I know this is going to be doing the rounds, Kristen got it in a text message about 30 minutes after the game finished, but she couldn't forward it. I found it at MotorCityBuckeyes

Evernote is available for free today. This is a pretty good note taker program that has been around for ages. If you are familiar with OneNote, then you will be fairly familiar with how this application works. If not, then go take a look at the main Evernote homepage

I'm now able to get Windows Photo Gallery working on the home pc - I no longer get the cryptic error message when I try to run the program. It is pretty similar to Picassa and I must admit I prefer the Picassa interface for most things. The one thing that I love in WPG though is the Panorama feature. All you have to do is select your photos and choose Make - Create panorama. The software then intelligently stitches all the photos together and saves you a very large file on your disk. Unfortunately the upload facility to Windows spaces only uploads a thumbnail, you don't get the full benefit of the files. I've uploaded three panoramas to my spaces account. The best way to see them is to select the Full view icon on the right of the page, then click the gear icon at the bottom and then select pan and zoom. This gives a really good display of the Niagara Falls and the Scioto River panorama that I took fairly recently. However to see the full size, original photo you will have to go to my Panorama pictures on Zooomr and then click on the All sizes button.

I missed The Office last week so I checked out nbc.com to see how the video online would be. Due to the fact that it uses a flash player I thought it would be a good idea to use Internet Explorer for the browser. All went well until after the second (annoying) advert break. I don't mind sitting through adverts, but when it is the same advert played at every break it gets really annoying. So after the 2 break IE refused to carry on and play chapter 3 and more. I switched over to firefox to see if that would work and was surprised to see that it would actually play. The real bonus is that for some reason firefox skips the adverts so I can watch the whole thing without them - somehow I don't think that is what NBC had in mind :-)

I just created the Computers, Management and Electronics facebook group to assist in keeping up to date with people who graduated or taught the university course that I graduated from in 1994 at Salford University, 13 years ago!
This is my first group management in Facebook - hope it works out ok.

I'm currently about half way through the prep for my 70-291 exam and its hard going. The third and fourth chapters were on subnetting and dns - both subjects I was reasonably comfortable with until I started reading the book - they seem to make the explanations really complicated and there are a lot of formulas to learn (in the case of subnetting) and that is not something I've done for a long time. Even my GCSE's at the age of 16 had limited formula learning needed. It's also hard to come home from a long day at work, have tea and then start on 2 hours of studying each night, but unfortunately it's the only possible way forward at the moment :-(

Yesterday Kristen and I decided to go to the Ohio Music in Education Association Marching Band finals held at one of the local High Schools. We were there for a couple of hours and got to see several bands perform and march. As it was the State finals, the standard was really good. I had never been to one of these shows before but Kristen had participated in them so we both enjoyed the experience from different perspectives. At the awards presentation each of the drum majors would do a salute when their score was announced and I've included a quick video of one of them - it made me think of the characters in Camberwick Green

A couple of the bands had costumes, the last band we saw did a Pirates of the Caribbean theme and the flag bearers were dressed as pirates. Another theme was on insects with the band playing Incy Wincy Spider (among other tunes) - each of their tubas were decorated with a spider motif which was pretty cool. We had a great afternoon out, the weather was fantastic, really warm and lots of people were out wearing tshirts - in November!

I needed to read a Word2007 document on my home computer this evening and had to download the following files to read the document -

• Word 2003 viewer - 12MB


• Word Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3 - 12MB


• Office 2007 compatability pack - 28MB

The 120 day evaluation of Windows Home Server is now available for purchase from Microsoft. Technically the eval is free, but they charge $5.99 for shipping (in the US). I'm not sure why they are not just making it available for download - maybe that comes later. Unfortunately they are not making the full version available on MSDN or Technet Plus Direct (for the first version of the software) which is a real shame - I'd have probably purchased a subscription to Technet Plus if they did. I'm not sure whether I'll get the eval, I've been less than impressed with the performance and reliability of the system so far. After my recent backup corruptions I reinstalled the clients on all of the pc's but now only the desktop and laptop will backup - Kristen's pc refuses to do a backup.