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  • This is broken! Great web site about broken signs, projects etc

    I was reading this blog from the Live Writer site and came across this link - it is just one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Link to ...the musings of a psycho...: This is broken! enjoy David
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  • Are you near Exeter, then sign up quickly for the Small Business Ignite Tour as it is coming to you on the 29th August from 6pm

    Once again the Small Business Ignite Tour is coming out and this time it is Exeter. You need to sign-up quickly, so go to http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/training/ignite/default.aspx?id=Exeter and sign up for the Small Business Tour (as opposed to the tour with a date in the past). If you do not know about the Small Business Ignite Tour, then this is the rough agenda: Introduce just how big the business opportunity is in the land of small business Introduce the topics of Flexible Working and Collaborative Business as these will be the basis of marketing campaigns this year from Microsoft into small business customers Demonstrate technologies that you can deliver to give your customers the benefits they demand - such as : working from home or on the road, using the tools in SBS, Windows XP or Windows Mobile Sharing files between workers, customers and suppliers in a natural and secure way using WSS and Office When to consider a hosted solution and when to consider SBS How to stop searching and start finding...

  • New Vista Gadgets

    There are some new gadgets on the web site - http://gallery.Microsoft.com/Results.aspx?vista=la... My Favourites are: (Outlook Info, Media Shuffler, Poker beta, IP Info) ttfn David

  • What is going on in the world of Windows Live Ideas - IM, chat and web

    You can see any Live areas you have access too by going to http://ideas.live.com You can now IM to Yahoo Messenger users. Try it | Learn more | View blog The Live.com site continues to be updated - there is just so much you can do to your home page. If you have not been here, have a go at http://www.live.com and see how much fun it can be. Try it | Learn more | View blog There are lots of things you can load onto your Live.com page, your toolbar, Live Messenger and more - the place to configure all this is the Gallery - http://gallery.live.com Of course, there is also: messenger.live.com toolbar.live.com ttfn David
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  • Getting IE to search UKSBSGUY.com, companyweb or any other site you happen to like

    I like using IE 7 - I use the tabs all the time, I like the integrated search, I use the Live Toolbar too. Then I discovered that I could add new search times into the IE7 and I thought this was amazing. I have included the web site that builds custom searches and also two search config downloads - one that enables searching of UKSBSGUY.com and one that searches http://Companyweb - assuming you have search enabled as per this entry . (For completeness I also include SBSBPI and UKSBSG search clauses too) So, how to build your own search options for the nice little box in IE7 - go to IE 7 Search Builder page and follow the instructions (which is basically doing a search on whatever page you prefer with the text TEST and then past the URL. The searches can be found at the download page on UKSBSGuy.com. ttfn David

  • Enabling Search against your Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) site, such as SBS 2003's companyweb

    I went looking for this post from me today on the web site and was astounded to discover that I had not done it. So, here is the deal - your nice WSS sites can all have search enabled by default - and this means search inside all the documents with them understood (rather than some poor quality text search that can not deal with binary file formats). To enable this it is very simple: 1) Load SQL onto your system choosing to upgrade the instance called SHAREPOINT 2) Go to the SharePoint Admin Page (on SBS this is http://localhost:8081/SearchAdmin.aspx ) and tick the box 3) go to the home page of your WSS site and notice the search box in the top right corner If you want to add more search providers, go look for IFilters and for PDF capability, go to http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2006/06/27/674.aspx ttfn David

  • Great R2 Spoof Advert based on DaVinci Code - good humour

    Microsoft often pokes fun at itself, but due to one of our competitors taking it a little too seriously some years back, these rarely come out to play in public. Well, have a look at this one . It was posted by Jules in the UKSBSG forum and I also got private messages from a few people saying that we should use this in the UK. ttfn David

  • Need to gen up on Windows Server 2003 Administration- then try this Webcast

    Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Administration Webcast Series Get the most out of the management and administration features of Windows Server 2003 with this series. ttfn David

  • UK Technet Windows Vista Events

    For those who need more info on Vista, want to see it, and will be managing it, come along to: • 11 September 2006, London: Windows Vista System Integrity Technologies Windows Vista will ship with several new system integrity technologies, including code integrity, secure startup, service hardening, mandatory integrity control and Internet Explorer protected mode. In this session, Steve Lamb explores how these technologies work to thwart malware's attempts to take over your computer. • 14 September 2006, Reading: What's New in Administering Vista In this session, we will examine group policy functionality improvements that have been made with Windows Vista. We will describe the new and updated features and how these help to alleviate the problems that were present with previous versions of Windows. ttfn David

  • Can small businesses make it online

    Wow, what a questioning title. I am not a "business online" expert, but I did find this article rather interesting and worth a read. It has some nice reminders about the importance of doing the basics right, such as customer service, shipping and core "business" such as invoicing, accounts etc. just a quick one :-) ttfn David P.S. I could suggest that Office Live might be the answer, but for true transactional stuff you need a transactional hosting partner that provides a "basket" function for you - of course, there is Commerce Server 2007....
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  • Office Live information from internal Microsoft Briefing - including where partner opportunity might exist

    Those guys at PTS-TV managed to secure an interview with Rajesh Jha who is GM for Office Live . He talks about how some partners are making "mash-ups" and others are building ontop of the solutions as it is a hosted web site and sharepoint. If you need a basic "What is Live", go to this page for more info The beta is coming officially the UK later this year as the US goes live and really provides an opportunity for those low hanging fruit customers who want a web domain and site, e-mail, calendar, contacts and some sharepoint functionality, but don't want a server. Will has put up a few thoughts on his blog . From the Link above, suggested reading includes: Office Live Developer Guide Preview and the Office Live Developer Portal on MSDN Stream (6 mins) Download (12.5mb) ttfn David
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  • Microsoft local.live.com map technology - when it works, it is amazing - or just have a nostalgic look at Concorde

    I have just posted a blog item about the latest SB Ignite tour event - hurray I hear you all say, but the thing that got my attention was I went to local.live.com to get a map and it offered me 3 views - road, aerial view (using satellite imagery) and then Birds' eye view. This is just an awesome, awesome, way to see where you are going - have a look at the blog entry - Nottingham, England, 7th September - be there to learn so much more - Small Business Partner Ign and click on picture then play around or click the concord map above - get your personal driving instructions, look at the hotel that is the destination for 8 different angles - makes it so, so, so much easier. I was just blown away by this. Not every location has a birds eye view yet, but the aerial images, routing and the occasional birds eye views are amazing. For more information on Birds' eye images, go to http://www.birdseyetourist.com or to see the local.live.com blog have a look at http://virtualearth.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace.... ttfn David

  • Nottingham, England, 7th September - be there to learn so much more - Small Business Partner Ignite Tour

    Click the map above to see the Local.Live.Com technology at work - you can get driving instructions to the venue, see the area by birds' eye view, map view etc. We will be there (I will be for sure) explaining, showing via live demos, talk about how to sell and make money while enabling your customers to get more from their systems, get truly mobile (using XP, Office, SBS, Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and Windows mobile solutions), more productive and easier to manage. If you want more details, go to http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/training/ignite/default.aspx?id=Nottingham ttfn David - see you there

  • Zune Prototype published

    This is such a screaming laugh - " Silberbauer Says " have a published a picture of the Zune. Enjoy, but don't come whining to me that it is not like this when it is delivered!! ttfn David
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  • Hybrid Disk Drives - Using Flash RAM to make disk drives more performant and reliable - and Vista ReadyDrive

    There is a great article at Computer World that talks about these hybrid drives as they are known. If you are not aware of them, then here is a very quick rundown. What are they: Traditional Hard Disk with larger cache (256MB-2GB) Uses Flash RAM instead of normal RAM Why is this interesting: Cache size is much larger Cache is not lost when power is turned off Disk can stay spun down for longer as cache can manage read/writes, saving batteries and reducing heat Saves 90% of the power required to read from disk when using the Flash RAM Improves boot time as some boot code can be stored in FLASH - or pre-cached at shutdown or hybernation There are two types of solution - one puts the cache physically on the drive and the other puts it on the motherboard, but the idea is the same. Some people worry about the life of the flash as there will be considerable writing to it. This is one of a couple of areas where Vista comes into the picture. Vista can be aware of the cache, so will manage disk reads, writes, spin up &...

  • Exchange 2007, Office 2007, Collaboration, Business Intelligence and Unified Communications - More PTS-TV Videos

    So, having written about the Vista messages on the PTS TV Channel, I realised that there were a number of Information Worker related TV sessions, so here they are. These cover the areas in the titles, so here they are - this is about meeting the team too: PTS: Collaboration using Exchange and SharePoint Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment on this video View John Westworth's Blog PTS: Exchange Server 2007 Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment on this video PTS: Business Intelligence - Business Score Card Manager / Excel / SQL (BSCM Demo) with Chris Parkes Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment on this video View Chris Parkes' Blog PTS: Information Worker - how to get skilled up in IW and Office 2007 Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment on this video PTS: Information Worker - How important Search can be to your business Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment on this video PTS: Unified...

  • How to get content filtering (anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-malware), archival services, DR / Continuity and Encryption services for your SBS box at a great price

    As many of you know, I have always argued that MS online services only serve to complement our other solutions. One classic example of this is the Hosted Exchange Services - now before you run around with your fingers in your ears shouting "LALALA", have a look to see what they are. These services work with an existing Exchange server - ala SBS, so there is no threat to the SBS system at all. We then offer 4 services which includes those listed below, but the nice thing is the price. On the How to buy page is lists the prices - these are per user and you can start at 5 users - oh, and this is real per user, so if you have 20 aliases for 5 users (eg sales, support etc) - that is 5 users: Estimated Pricing All prices below are based on estimated retail pricing (per user, per month licensing). This pricing would apply to a small business with as few as 5 users. Services Prices Comments Microsoft Exchange Hosted Filtering $1.75 US Exchange Hosted Filtering is a fully managed service that employs multiple...

  • Microsoft's Anti-virus and Anti-spam technologies for an Exchange Server - ForeFront

    This is not something for every Exchange / SBS user, but it might be interesting to some. We have released our "ForeFront" security technologies that includes mail clensing as an option. CNet gave it a small amoutn of coverage, but you can get more information from the Microsoft web site . It is worth noting that to buy ForeFront you need a volume license agreement, hence why I said it *might* not be ideal for smaller businesses. For most SBS customers, the Hosted Exchange Services may well be the right answer at the right price. ttfn David

  • Microsoft is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't sort out security in windows Vista

    One again I was scanning the news when this article caught my eye. It discusses the complexity of trying to make a more secure OS for Vista while also trying to enable application compatibility. I once discovered that we had over 10,000 "fixes" in previous OSs to cover for bad applications to ensure they ran, rather than breaking them by putting in place more robust APIs. Microsoft around the time of Windows XP SP2 started to change this, we now favour security over compatibility. Having said that, we have put in place a HUGE amount of technology to make applications run, but rather than breaking security we put in new ways to allow them to work without opening up a security hole. In my opinion, one of the biggest holes in Windows today is the number of users who run as administrator and then ignore any warnings we put up. If we had a dialog box that said "By clicking OK you agree for us to scramble all the files on your hard disk" I wonder how many people would click OK if it let them view...

  • Two PTS-TV videos about Vista

    Windows Vista. An exciting operating system, but is there more to it than "eye candy". Can finding information, making systems easier to manage, support great applications and making another step change in Security really do enough to persuade people to buy? I don't have the answers to this yet, but there are now a total of 4 PTS-TV videos on Vista (2 newer ones with Mike Dixon and Tim Tiscornia and two I recorded a little while ago now). You might want to go see what it is all about :-) Obviously the downloads of Vista Beta 2 have closed, but this will be shipping in Action Packs , so you can still evaluate it yourself. Hopefully RC1 is not too far off and you can see the progress we are making in closing bugs. The videos for PTS -TV are always found at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/blog/pts-tv/ and the Vista ones are: PTS-TV: Tim Tiscornia Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment on this video PTS: Vista Stream this video Download video (right-click/save as) Comment...

  • SBS 2003 R2 delay and what people are saying baout it - especially Vlad

    Sometimes you have to shout about when you think things are right while others are putting it down. SBS 2003 R2 - I have had sooooooo many conversations over the last 9 months about why this feature is in or out. I ended up being very blunt, saying, this is the 2nd release of SBS 2003, it has a bunch of new features ala Windows Server 2003 R2, yes, it might not have everything in we wanted, but the "Green Check" and SQL 2005 are significant enough that NEW customers and existing customers should look at it. Now, here we are, having just releases SBS 2003 R2 and we are pulling it back in due to bugs, before it has reached the shelves for most people. I was expecting flak, but instead I see comments like this at Vlad's site saying thanks for us actually being bold enough to fix the problem. It is also worth going to his site to see the video!!! This is why I love the Small Biz community - we can be honest with each other. At the Small Biz Blog we were able to say that there is a quality issue and we...

  • R2 delayed by a few bad files

    I knew a day or so that this was coming - R2 was delayed because a few of the core files were "old" versions and should have been updated. As expected this will delay R2 being in the shops and at distributors. As expected Susan B has blogged on this and I saw it at ZDNet . The usual SBS Team are saying very little about it, as you would expect, but worth looking at http://seanda.blogspot.com/2006/07/r2-recalled.html . So, still coming, just a wee bit delayed. ho hum - better it is stopped now than when in the hands of customers!! ttfn David

  • Microsoft's online strategy discussed at analyst meeting

    I saw this article from the NY Times and thought I would share it. It is a report on MS plans for Internet enabling even more things that we do. Some key statements from it included: "any big payoff from those investments would not come for a few years" - so this is a long term play "Internet search, according to Microsoft, will increasingly become seamlessly integrated into the Windows desktop operating system, Office productivity software, cellphones powered by Windows and Xbox video games" - I like the idea of hybrid utilities and the fact that search is a tool for me to do something, rather than something I explicitly have to go to a web site to do "In a demonstration, Mr. Mehdi showed some of the work being done by a group exploring the future of advertising in Microsoft’s research labs. In a digital television prototype, a viewer who liked a dress worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in an episode of “Sex and the City” could click on it, automatically pausing the video...

  • Microsoft releases campaign builder tool for partners - Non-marketing folks can use it (as well as the marketing ones) as a step by step process for delivering Microsoft aligned marketing campaigns to your customers

    Imagine the scene - Microsoft is running a marketing set of events and awareness to encourage customers to buy their technology. We tell customers that they need to work with SBSC specialists and point them to the bCentral web site. However, at the same time, you also get the materials you need from Microsoft to run your own campaign - be it post cards, handouts, telephone scripts, letters. And using a simple tool it will take you a few minutes to create the materials. Below is a walkthrough of how I built a campaign for SBS using 5 types of material (Telemarketing script, Postcard, Business Letter, e-Mail and Flyer) 1st off, you need to visit the Campaign Builder Web site and log in. This enabled you to choose the campaign that is right for you. You may notice it looked at the fact that I am a registered partner with the SBSC badge, so suggested the SBS Campaign (there are also campaigns for solutions that major in Office, Windows, CRM and so on). One I had selected the campaigns, it is simply a case of walking...

  • UK Research shows that small business owner managers are doing everything to avoid working at the weekend - is this good or bad news for IT suppliers?

    I came across this article which suggests that small business owner / managers are avoiding working at the weekend. The article is backed by research from Barclays Bank . There are a few facts that really sound out to me: The development and uptake of new technologies is having a positive impact on hours worked: - 46 per cent of businesses with internet access work a standard 5 day week, compared to just 35 per cent of those without. Owners of small and medium businesses in the UK work 24 hours longer each week than the rest of the UK workforce 43 per cent said they now will not work weekends compared to 36 per cent in 2003 and Sundays have become even more precious with only 29 per cent admitting to working on that day compared to 36 per cent in 2003. On average entrepreneurs are spending over 15 hours a week – equivalent to almost two full days for most workers – on administration. Six out of ten entrepreneurs feel that regulation is a barrier to doing business, particularly in larger SMEs, where...
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(c)David Overton 2006-23