Talking Out Loud with ASB

Random Thoughts to Close Out April 2008

2008-05-01T04:05:41Z

I haven't posted in a few weeks, but not because I don't have anything to write -- it's because I haven't mastered the art of dividing my time across all needs and wants. Here are a few thoughts that hint of posts to come: I need to write about Strategy, Leadership, and Success, particularly in a corporate context. I have a number of frustrations to put to virtual paper, and hope to do so during May. I'll be finishing up my Windows 2008 upgrade in a few weeks, even though Hyper-V...(read more)

Windows XP Service Pack 3

2008-04-24T11:39:17Z

As reported by ComputerWorld, the latest Service Pack for Windows XP, SP3, is finally available via the MSDN and TechNet download sites. This is only for the 32-bit version of XP, btw. Users of XP x64 will need to wait for Service Pack 3 for Windows Server 2003 in order to get an update, as the 64-bit version of XP (non-Itanium version) is based on the Windows 2003 code-base. I would expect this to be the last major software update for the 32-bit Windows XP family, given the Windows support...(read more)

My Favorite Newspaper Comics

2008-04-16T05:07:05Z

Over the years, I've enjoyed some great daily comics. I still have several collections of The Far Side , Dilbert , Calvin & Hobbes , and For Better or For Worse , among others. All of the aforementioned delight me in one way or another, but the one comic strip that has managed to fully capture the essence of family living is Baby Blues . What Dilbert did for the office, Baby Blues does for the family. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen one of the comics and thought...(read more)

Sad, Sordid Tale has many victims

2008-04-11T02:48:44Z

Marion Jones, who confessed last year to doping and was stripped of her medals , has left even more victims in her wake because of her participation in various relays . Because of her absolutely stupid actions, and her disregard for fairness and professionalism, many, many people have been impacted. I always wonder, in these situations, of the people whose lives were altered because they failed to get any medals -- people who might have gone on to get endorsements or other sporting opportunities,...(read more)

Centralized Social Networking

2008-04-09T10:00:01Z

Right now, I belong to a large number of social networks (more on that later). For the most part, I'm really only active on LinkedIn , but as more people connect to me on Plaxo and Facebook , my profile has been getting some action on those networks as well. As expected, the proliferation of such networks is giving rise consolidation and centralized management tools. The one I'm looking at today is HelloTxt , which allows one to provide a status update to all (up to 16, currently) networks...(read more)

An interesting Windows Vista article

2008-04-01T14:57:45Z

I just finished reading an article on Windows Vista from InfoWorld , and it makes several really good points. Windows Vista brings a lot to the table that gets de-emphasized by the masses. It's funny that when Microsoft releases a product that is primarily a refinement of the previous version (XP vs 2000) , there are complaints about having to spend money on something with just eye candy. (Mind you, there are a number of under-the-hood enhancements of XP over 2000, but let's not let facts...(read more)

Vista SP1

2008-03-31T21:52:28Z

It has been officially available for a couple weeks now, but some of us have been running it for over a month at this point . Of course, outside of the MSDN and TechNet avenues, the only way to get it was due to a Microsoft mistake . In any event, my home and work systems have seen tremendous benefit from the upgrade to Service Pack 1 for Vista, even though there are many who still don't like it. Not only did it improve performance -- especially on my laptop with 1GB of RAM (which ran...(read more)

Let's Get Ready to Virtualize!

2008-03-31T20:50:26Z

After many months, and a few miscellaneous upgrades to other parts of my network, I'm finally about to get a jump on my home virtualization overhaul project . A number of things have changed from the original plan, however. Since that plan was presented back in October, Microsoft has released Windows Server 2008 , with a beta of Hyper-V, their new server virtualization product . From a number of reasons, licensing benefits, 64-bit support and performance, and cost of systems management...(read more)

Vendor Patch Management Support

2008-03-14T10:39:59Z

ComputerWorld has a very interesting article this week that talks about how immature Oracle's patch management program for customers is, compare to Microsoft's . As the following quote indicates, there are things that vendors should be doing to provide their Enterprise and SMB customers with the necessary tools and information to keep their environments secure. "When Microsoft announced Trustworthy Computing, a lot of people laughed, but now you see a real difference," said Miko,...(read more)

More Professional Networking...

2008-03-10T11:06:39Z

I recently came across another Professional Networking site called Marzar because of a question and answer session on LinkedIn Answers . Of course, I joined to see if it is worthy of any hype, and so far, I think it has many of the little things which people continue to clamor for on LinkedIn. Each member has space for blogs and for an events calendar, as well as 25MB of space to store files and other items which can be shared. They are definitely going for the one-stop-shop portal mindset....(read more)

Working for a terrible boss

2008-03-09T15:11:27Z

Yeah, over the years I've had a few of those, but that's not where I find myself today. Instead, that's the subject of a very interesting question on LinkedIn Answers that asks how people have dealt with this situation. Unfortunately, in today's corporate climate, this happens far more than it should, but thankfully, there are things you can do about it. So far, there have been several very good answers. Share Post:...(read more)

Magazine Interview for Tech Article

2008-03-06T11:56:59Z

I recently had the privilege of being quoted for a technical article in BizTech Magazine , which is published on behalf of CDW . This is not the first time I have had the opportunity to contribute to an article , but this is the first time (other than the webcast) that I have had my photo taken for a magazine. Too cool! Much appreciation to the folks at BizTech Magazine for providing me with an excellent opportunity, and the photographer and his assistant who made made it...(read more)

It's Nearing Tax Time

2008-03-06T11:33:58Z

Don't be a procrastinator. File your taxes online, or use the downloadable editions of the various tax preparation software products (which is what I do) , or even see your accountant or your neighborhood H&R Block establishment (I did that only once - never again) . ComputerWorld just posted a review of TurboTax and TaxCut for the Mac , which is pretty interesting. Personally, I've used TaxCut for Windows in 10 out of the past 11 years, and it's still my favorite. I used to...(read more)

PowerShell News

2008-03-02T19:17:35Z

I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to keep tabs on PowerShell , or start converting all my scripts to PowerShell, but with the official release of Windows Server 2008 , I might just have to make more time. To make matters even more interesting, the folks at Quest Software have released PowerGUI, which is an IDE for PowerShell . And best of all, PowerGUI is free! If you haven't taken a look at PowerShell before, now's a great time to do so. Share Post:...(read more)

My Updated LinkedIn Feature Requests

2008-03-02T16:06:17Z

The month of February 2008 was a very busy one at LinkedIn , it seems. A number of improvements and modifications were made to the site , including network upgrades which now show Group Membership changes, a much maligned News function, and a major graphical overhaul of the User Interface. So far, I'm liking the new interface, which takes a little bit of getting used to if you are a very regular LI user. The performance of the site, however, needs a little work, as it has gotten noticeably...(read more)