Blogs

Hi guys, this is something that truely knocked me out - check out the next gen of BBC with Windows Vista - site found at http://blog.mix06.com/virtualmix/archive/2006/03/17/BBC_demo.aspx and the video is linked through the video files forum on the site http://uksbsguy.com/files/18/videos/default.aspx ttfn David

Blogging as a Microsoft Employee is always a tricky decision as what to tell or not tell. I personally feel that it is very important that the true is always told and that information if not confidential should be disclosed as desired. A recent post has caused lots of controversy as it discussed from one managers point of view the reason why Vista slipped in the 1 st place. Some may find the contents of the posting quite damning, yet the reality is that in a complex project, some things are not perfect, or even fixable. The things that Philip has highlighted are often based on human characteristics, such as trust, friendship and self protection. Great in some circumstance and bad in others. Vista is still a great product, and when it does ship will significantly move the bar for quality operating systems, but this is not to say that it won’t have had a hurdle or two to jump or lost a few pounds during this marathon race. For now, enjoy Philip’s blog and perhaps reflect what you might do to protect yourself when...

Guys, this is hard to do, but we have had problems with the machine running the VPCs for the Ignite Tour this week (which means Scotland). The result is that we would not be able to show any demos. While this is very undesirable, we have taken the decision to postpone them until we can get the hardware sorted and the people back in Scotland. Any thoughts, please feel free to leave comments, otherwise we will see you soon. We should have the issues resolved for the other dates published so far ttfn David

Just spotted this one on the download list. If you want to get map information directly in outlook, visit the Microsoft mapping service (local.live.com) to download the outlook tool . According to the site this tool enables you to map your appointment and meeting locations directly from within Microsoft® Office Outlook®. Get driving directions, print detailed maps, find optimized trip routes, and estimate travel times. Receive reminders based on the estimated travel time. Even save details to view when you’re offline. It also allows you to send Outlook appointment location details to others—even those without the add-in. Finally you can quickly locate restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, gas stations and other points of interest near your meeting location and map the best route. ttfn David

The guys at Microsoft have released a paper for comment on how to use Certificates to secure wireless access on an SBS network. Read about it here: http://blogs.msdn.com/sbsdocsteam/archive/2006/05/16/599362.aspx They want your comments. I have already installed something similar in our office and at one clients. Having an Official Microsoft How-To will be very useful.

Hi, I love the new interface on Office 2007, but I occasionally can't find something that I knew exactly where it was in Office 2003. I then saw this excellent blog posting on how to find things from Word, Excel and PowerPoint- using a web based tool you click on a pseduo Office 2003 interface and find out where it has gone in 2007. http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/05/30/610907.aspx ttfn David

SQL 2005 Webcasts and Virtual Labs SQL Server 2005 is data management and analysis software that delivers enhanced security, availability, and scalability to mission-critical data applications—while making them easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Choose from a wide range of live and on-demand webcasts. Or take part in a virtual lab, which allows you to cut your teeth on the new platform by experimenting with its different capabilities. http://www.microsoft.com/sql/eval/webcast.mspx?wt.mc_id=sql.ad.01037 Free SQL Server 2005 Training Whether you are interested in database administration, database development, or business intelligence, you can access the E-Learning topic you want, when you want it, and learn at your own pace. Each lesson includes hands-on virtual labs and offline functionality. In addition, you may consider taking a free Microsoft Skills Assessment to help you meet your Microsoft SQL Server 2005 training goals. You'll receive a learning roadmap with additional skills resources including instructor...

The next meeting of the London Small Business IT Pro Group will take place on Thursday 8th June. Our guest this month is Ian Charles from Bulldog Terrier Systems who offer a hosted Kaseya solution. Ian will be talking about his company's offering. Doug Wilson from Hound Dog was also booked, but because I messed up the dates (sigh) he'll be coming later in the year (probably to our September meeting)..... If you are thinking of offering your clients Managed Service then come along and see how this offering will help you with the software side of that service. But as Amy Luby says, there's a lot more to Managed Service than installing a monitoring app! The meeting will be start at 5:30pm Thursday 8th June at Microsoft House, 10 Great Pulteney Street, London, W1F 9NB. Drinks (courtesy of Microsoft) and pizza (courtesy of our speaker) will be served and the meeting will finish around 8:30pm in time for those who travel any distance to get away and for the locals to retire to the pub :-) If you could let me know you...

You can get the Technology Toolkit from http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/sales_and_marketing/partner_initiatives/rightserver/default.aspx?page=sell which provides information on this tool and how it can help you spot, sell and close deals. If the toolkit is very useful then SBSC Members can also report their success to Microsoft and earn money to spend in the MS Merchandise store. To get details on the offer (which is available all over the world) can be found at https://www.mssboffers.com/Default.aspx ttfn David

Just to remind you that the next meeting of the London Small Business IT Pro Group will take place this coming Monday, 11th September. Following on from our presentation on Kaseya back in June we have two presentations on Managed Service software this month. The first is by Doug Wilson and Dr. Alistair Forbes from HoundDog Technology and the second is by Ian Blyth. Ian presently works for Pygmalion, but was the Lead Technology Specialist for MOM in the UK for 4 years. He will be talking about all things MOM and telling us what he can about the up and coming System Center Essentials. The meeting will be start at 5:30pm Monday 11th September at Microsoft House, 10 Great Pulteney Street, London, W1F 9NB. Drinks and pizza will be served and the meeting will finish around 8:30pm in time for those who travel any distance to get away and for the locals to retire to the pub :-) If you could let me know you are coming that would be appreciated. Just to remind you of the other dates we have booked this Autumn: 9th October...

I was browsing over at http://msmvps.com/blogs/thenakedmvp/archive/2006/06/07/100040.aspx and noticed the entry on WSS V3. Something you can do is fire up a Virtual Server on a test box and play with WSS V3 - it has some nice features. Another thing to blog on after I get off paternity ttfn David

After an exchange with an APC Support person a while back I discovered that you can get lots more information about your UPS by using a web browser. If you go :3052/">http://<servername>:3052 you get a login page to your attached UPSes. This gives a shedload more information about the UPS then you get from the PowerChute software. Well worth investigating.

I'm fairly convinced that there only a select few who Truly Understand MS Licencing. These are the High Priests. They are the only ones who are privy to The Inner Secrets. The Prolitatriat and the bog-standard Priesthood (who are on the Licencing Desk or who work for Distributors) are left to struggle on in the dark as best they can. Occassionally a member of the Priesthood or Redmond Forbid one of the Prolitariat have a flash of insight into the inner workings of Licencing. However the feeling of Enlightenment and Well-Being soon dissolves when one the High Priesthood gently explains that it really Isn't Like That At All. Gloom and Despondency then returns to those who are not so Enlightened.......