Indexing PDF Documents in SharePoint Server 2010

After a recent post on indexing Acrobat PDF documents in Windows SharePoint Foundation 2010 (especially on SBS 2011 Standard), I was asked whether the process is the same for SharePoint Server 2010.

It is much easier for SharePoint Server 2010 as it was designed with the ability to index external file types from the start. You still need to install the PDF IFilter and make some registry changes. After that you simple need to tell the search service in SharePoint Server 2010 to index PDFs.

Here some references to help:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2293357

and

http://www.sharepointsharon.com/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-and-adobe-pdf/

The value of the veg-out

We’re all becoming a pretty serious bunch, constantly checking messages, texting, making calls on our mobile no matter where we are. Whatever happened to the simple idea of ‘taking it easy’ and ‘just doing nothing’?

The biggest challenge most people face today is not having ‘enough time’. For this reason they try and squeeze more and more activity into their daily routine. Typically, this results in very little ‘down time’. It also tends to creep into people’s sleep time. So today, most people are getting far less ‘down-time’ and rest than they actually need.

This constant on the go lifestyle may seem effective but all that it is really doing is running you down. Ever notice you don’t seem to have the energy any more and that you run out earlier in the day? Ever seem to find that you are less than 100% more of the time? Ever find that you seem to be caught in a rut more often (because your brain isn’t allowed to free associate)? Running at 110% all the time causes wear, on equipment and on people.

Many argue they can’t ‘veg-out’ because they’d feel guilty as no one else seems to be doing it, but sometimes as Mark Twain says:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.
http://www.typology.net/quotes/twain.html

We all need regular bouts of ‘veg-out’ time to allow our minds to rest, wander, explore new concepts and consolidate what we have learnt. Just because you ‘think’ you are doing nothing doesn’t mean your brain has stopped working. You have simply slowed the processes it has to deal with at the front, allowing more resources to be dedicated to what happens in the back room, behind the curtains.

Try some regular ‘veg-out’ time and see if it makes any difference. Watch a movie, talk a walk, listen to music, be with someone, whatever. But take a regular break. You’ll probably find that you’ll respond much better to daily life once you have some time to regularly rest and recover. Remember, all those people who don’t have ‘down-time’ simply do it because that is what every one else is doing and what did your mother say about jumping off a bridge?

CIAOPS SharePoint Bootcamp reviews

I am pleased to say that the feedback from the recent SharePoint bootcamps in Melbourne and Sydney has been extremely positive. here are some examples:

“Great venue + facilities. Outstanding content, with good labs and great takeaway materials. Incredible value for money – well worth travelling”

“It was a day jam packed with value… real knowledge and no fluff.. well worth our time and the investment of the course..”

“I learned enough to make this worthwhile, after about 30 mins. All the rest ramped up, and gave me so many ideas on how to both do things better, and leverage SharePoint so much more. Looking forward to doing the advanced SharePoint as soon as is available.”

“Robert thanks very much for an information packed day. All bases were covered with comprehensive notes, labs, a hard drive with VMs and content and ongoing access to your website and reference material. We covered a great deal of content in a short space of time and it was genuine 300 level technical material.”

“Just wanted to send my warm feedback and deep thanks for a very intriguing and interesting day at the SharePoint bootcamp! I learned a whole lot about SharePoint and the other products you’ve discussed, but mostly learned how much I didn’t know 😉 You were able to pack a huge amount of info in this day to leave a strong desire to use the study material and learn more about SharePoint.”

“I definitely did gain some knowledge on SharePoint 2010 from the one-day Bootcamp course in Sydney and its installation. In addition to that I also learnt something on Virtualisation from the VirtualBox software, especially when I encountered problems with its installation on the Memory setting and BIOS setup on the HP Laptop PC. It was worth the money spent, effectively with the 1-year free Subscription of CIAOPS Operations Guide valued at $300 & the free giveaway Iomega 500GB Portable USB drive ($100), the course is effectively free of charge.”

Of course there are some things that I need to work on including ensuring that everyone can get access to the hosted SharePoint training site before the session and ensuring that everyone is able to set up the labs on their machines. However, I’m really please with the positive feedback given this is my first attempt at something like this.

So where to from here? I am currently working on a advanced SharePoint course as well as something around Office365. I hope to be able to announce something soon for August, so stay tuned here.

If you have any suggestions about what you believe would be worthwhile to cover in my bootcamps don’t hesitate to contact me (director@ciaops.com).