Month: August 2007

YAYTV ! (Yet another YouTube Video)

We have just posted another video on YouTube. This one provides a general overview of the installation and operation of the Trend Micro CSM Suite for SMB client software. The video takes you through the installation of the software on a desktop workstation as well as some basic controls of that software from the Trend Management Console on the server.
 
The direct link to the video is :
 
 
and as always we welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have about our videos. You’ll find our complete list of videos by clicking here.

Here’s an interesting site

In a World of exploding “social networking” websites here’s one that I thought was rather interesting. Basically you put a small software agent on your workstation and it keeps track (no its not spyware) if there are any updates to that software available.
 
More that that the agent keeps track of what software you use and how long you use it for. It then stores that information in an online profile. That profile can then be viewed by others so see what software you are using. This can alert people the fact that you’ve found a new piece of software and you are using it extensively.
 
Finally, all the program usage statistics are cumulated by application so you can exactly how much programs like Firefox and IE are being used.
 
Interesting concept isn’t it?
 

Thanks for that

Just like to acknowledge David Mackie, a fellow SBS’er that I met a few years ago at TechEd who wrote some nice things about me in his blog. Click here for the full post.
 
It is nice at least once in a while to get SOME recognition for the contribution that is made to the “community”. Sure I know there are plenty of other who do a heap more than I do but… it is still nice.
 
I find it interesting that after having some of my YouTube SBS videos viewed over 17,000 times I have only ever received a handful of acknowledgements. I’ve done these as a free offering and although it would be nice to receive a donation, no matter how small. I will continue to create these videos for free, however I am becoming more circumspect about how often I do them.
 
The major issue I have is that I have been contacted by people seeking support on SBS who aren’t willing to provide anything in return – not even a thank you! Now, I am happy to help out where I can but after a recent reality check I have discovered that my help is being “abused”. People are just taking, taking, taking and stupid me was just giving, giving, giving. So now, the free contributions that I will continue to make are determined by the thanks and donations I receive in return. If I don’t get much then any new contributions will be few are far between.
 
Why? Well, once I thought about it rationally, why am I spending all this time and effort to create free content when I getting ZERO in return (not even much thanks)? I should perhaps be spending more time developing Saturn Alliance where I stand a far better chance of making money. Selfish? Not if I want to survive, I’m sorry.
 
So, for a change I am tickled pink at David’s kind words, unfortunately from what I have seen they are few and far between in this “community”.

Microsoft Steadystate

Sick of having all these changes made on your Windows XP machine at hom eor the office? Well Microsoft has just released a new tool called SteadyState.
Windows SteadyState, successor to the Shared Computer Toolkit, is designed to make life easier for people who set up and maintain shared computers.
     
An easy way to manage multiple users

You can manage whole groups of users as single user accounts. The new Windows SteadyState console makes it easier than ever to create and modify user profiles.
 
 
A locked-down platform for stable shared computing

Not every computer user should have access to every software capability. Your system can be more stable and consistent when you limit user access to control panel functions, network resources, and other sensitive areas.
 
     
Set it and forget it

Once you have everything set up the way you want it, you can share the computer and rest easy. Any changes a user might make to the configuration or hard disk can be undone by simply restarting the machine.
Interesting to see how well it works in an SBS environment, but if it does then it could be very handy.
For more info about SteadyState see :
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

The most vulnerable part of your PC may not be Windows

Recent surveys have shown that the greatest number of vulnerabilities that exist on user systems these days are related to all the add on programs that are installed.
 
Applications like iTunes, Flash and Acrobat to name but a few are rarely updated once they are installed yet they continue to be used on a regular basis. The problem for most users is how do they keep up with all the updates that maybe required on their systems? Not easy.
 
Here at least is a web site that wil tell you what is not up to date :
 
 
Microsoft Windows Update is used to determine if your system is missing security updates from Microsoft.

The Secunia Software Inspector covers the most common/popular end user applications:
* Internet browsers
* Internet browser plugins
* Instant messaging clients
* Email clients
* Media players
* Operating systems

Windows Server SP2 issues

Here are some articles from Microsoft about issues that may arise once you install Windows Server Service Pack 2 onto your system :
 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936594/ You may experience network-related problems after you install Windows Server 2003 SP2 or the Scalable Networking Pack.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939421 Best practices and known issues when you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 on a Windows Small Business Server 2003-based computer.