Kurt Shintaku's Blog

A new eBook has been compiled by The famous Don Jones over at Powershell.org called “The DevOps Perspective”.  Quote the authors:

We’ve recently released a new, free eBook entitled DevOps: The Ops Perspective. So much of the DevOps conversation centers around software development – Agile methodologies and so on – that we wanted to step back and take a look at what IT Operations needs to bring to the table. DevOps, after all, isn’t “no Ops,” and so this short book is designed to give Operations some perspective on their role in the new world order.

It’s available in .PDF, ePub, Word, HTML, Word .DOC, text, etc. however there is a documented warning about .PDF:

“PDF Users: Penflip’s PDF export often doesn’t include the entire ebook content. We’ve reported this problem to them; in the meantime, please consider using a different format, such as EPUB, when you’re downloading the book.”

I recommend .DOC.  You can then PDF the thing if you wish.  Or republish to Kindle MOBI for you Kindle users like me.

• DOWNLOAD: Free eBook, “DevOps: The Ops Perspective”
  http://devopscollective.org/2016/01/04/free-ebook-devops-the-ops-perspective/

Keep your existing 15GB base storage on OneDrive before it drops to 5GB on Jan 31, 2016. Go to the link below, click on the button while signed in to OneDrive and your account will not be affected when the amount of free storage changes from 15 GB to 5 GB and the +15 GB camera roll bonus is discontinued.*

REDEMPTION: Keep your 15GB based storage on OneDrive
https://preview.onedrive.com/bonus/

With the introduction of the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, a new Surface Dock is now available and the current Surface Pro 3 Docking Station will be discontinued as the new Surface Dock is also compatible with Surface Pro 3.

USING THE SURFACE PRO 4 ON THE SURFACE PRO 3 DOCKING STATION:
If you decide that you don’t want to purchase the new Surface Dock, but instead use your existing Surface Pro 3 Docking Station with your new Surface Pro 4 (which has changed dimensions), we have made available an adapter that attaches to your Surface Pro 3 Docking Station so your Surface Pro 4 can snugly hold your new Surface Pro 4.

CHOICES:

• You can get this adapter at no charge (plus shipping and handling) through Microsoft’s Customer Support or through your commercial reseller.
• However, if you don’t want to wait for this to be shipped to you or you want to avoid the shipping and handling, you can print out your own adapter with a 3D printer.

See downloads page for instructions and schematics. Please note that the quality of the 3D printing will depend on the printer used to make these and your 3D printer must be able to accommodate a build volume of 10.3mm x 100.8mm x 285.4 mm. The Surface Pro 3 Docking Station Adapter schematics is available in two different file formats, .STP and .STL. Please choose the format best suited for your 3D printer. Please note that these instructions are for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

• DOWNLOAD: Schematics for 3D printed Surface Pro 3 Docking Station Adapter https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50006&tduid=%242f33f37b8deb68e4398d0f0f3f778c86%24%24256380%24%242459594%24%24TnL5HPStwNw-oVdCFdpz1Pdz0CxBAZeSEw%24%24%24

This is a neat tool that allows Windows 10 users to adjust the audio volume of each specific application in Windows.  The utility sits in the system tray and will register a setting for each running application. 

It is completely free.

• DOWNLOAD: EarTrumpet for Windows 10
  https://github.com/File-New-Project/EarTrumpet/releases

There’s the great site called “Fast Track Resources” that lists out basically everything that someone would want to have in order to successfully get Office 365 adopted in their organization.  For example:

• Define a vision and identify business scenarios
  Executive Sponsorship Template (3mb)
  Getting to know Office 365 (1.5mb)
  Identify Key Stakeholders (2.5mb)
  Identify Scenarios Template (2.3kb)
  Define Vision Template (2.1mb)
  Customer Case Studies 
• Prioritize solutions and create an adoption plan
  Adoption Plan Guide (7kb)
  Champions Program Guide (2.2mb)
  Define and Prioritize Solutions Template (2.1mb)
  Project Template (53kb)
  Sample Adoption Plan (1mb)
  Adoption Planning Tool 
• Commit resources and execute an adoption plan
  Office 365 Learning Center BoM (228kb)
  Troubleshooting Guide (42kb)
  Teasing Videos (48.9mb)
  Communication Guide (296kb)
  Order your SWAGs 
  Office 365 Learning Center 
  Office Videos YouTube Channel 
• Measure, share success, and iterate
  Measuring Success Guide (2.2mb)
  Sample User Satisfaction Surveys (147kb)
  Office Blogs 
  Office 365 Roadmap 

The site’s located here:

• SITE: FastTrack Resources
  http://fasttrack.office.com/resources

One of the references on this site is “Order your SWAG”.  This is a pointer to the Marketing Merchandise Store for Office 365. 

If you’re looking to purchase stuff like pens, notepads, mugs, t-shirts, posters, and all that jazz that are Office 365 branded, (aka SWAG) this is the place to purchase them from.

• SITE: Office 365 Excitement Merchandise Store
  http://www.co-store.com/iw

Get the Microsoft Office 365 training you need. Gain the skills needed to set up and manage Microsoft Office 365 for your organization.

• Managing Office 365 Identities and Requirements
• Enabling Office 365 Services
• Office 365: A day in the life of the End User
• Designing for Office 365 Infrastructure
• Introduction to Office 365

Read more at the link below:

• LEARNING: Microsoft Office 365 Training
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/office365-training.aspx

[this is a 3rd party event driven by Catapult Systems – a Gold Solutions Provider of Microsoft, and not driven by Microsoft per se]

Taken from the System Center Universe web page:

Join us for the FIFTH annual SCU, a one-day globally available technical event featuring Microsoft product gurus and community experts. The 2016 event will include two full breakout tracks to allow for more speakers, topics and content.

• Track One – Enterprise Client Management: This track will feature cutting edge presentations from Microsoft experts including Wally Mead, Johan Arwidmark, Kent Agerlund, John Savill, and Cameron Fuller.
• Track Two – Cloud & Datacenter Management: This track will feature renowned technology gurus Symon Perriman, Dieter Wijckmans, Pete Zerger, Steve Rachui, Roman Yuferev, Matt Dowst, and more expert level insight.

The live event will be centered at the Irving Convention Center, with a live-streaming broadcast for all virtual attendees and simulcasts. Don’t miss out on this cosmic experience of knowledge and community interaction.

DATE/TIME:
January 19, 2016, 8:45AM

LOCATION:
Irving Convention Center
Dallas, TX

REGISTRATION:
http://www.systemcenteruniverse.com/

Interested in security? Want to protect your data in the real world?

See how Windows addresses security as a whole system, one layer at a time. Explore methods of developing a secure baseline and how to harden your Windows Enterprise architectures and applications from pass-the-hash and other advanced attacks.

VIDEO: “Advanced Windows Defense”

• https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ignite/2015/BRK2311?ocid=player 
• https://myignite.microsoft.com/#/videos/3cdc6b4e-b89f-e411-b87f-00155d5066d7

POWERPOINT: “Advanced Windows Defense”
http://video.ch9.ms/sessions/ignite/2015/decks/
BRK2311_Ozkaya.pptx

2016 represents a major release for Office, across PCs, Macs, mobile phones and tablets with new end user experiences for simple users and power users alike.

The Office 2016 release also includes more manageability, security and deployment options for IT and for Office 365 ProPlus deployments you can even choose how fast you decide to enable these new capabilities in your organization.

• VIDEO: Office 365 ProPlus – What’s new in 2016 and beyond
  https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ignite/Australia-2015/PRD335
• POWERPOINT: Slide deck for Office 365 ProPlus – What’s new in 2016 and Beyond
  http://video.ch9.ms/sessions/ignite/australia/
  2015/Clean_Arena2_AlistairSpeirs_
  PRD335_151119_1530.pptx

Office 365 Fundamentals examines the building blocks of Office 365 and the evolving role of IT Professionals.

Microsoft Office 365 is a combination of the cloud services and the latest productivity applications. The course starts with examining the Office 365 architecture from the prospective of the IT Professional, then takes the student through deploying Office 365 and finishes with rolling out changes to applications and services.

The course has 6 modules:

• Introduction
  Office 365 delivers the capabilities that users demand while allowing IT to stay in control. However, this change requires IT Pros to adapt their traditional client-server skills for the cloud computing era. In this track, IT Pros will see how new features come to Office 365 first, learn about the new tools and processes to migrate on premises workloads to Office 365, and prepare for the new operational role of IT Pros.
• Office 365 for IT Pros
  This session introduces IT professionals to the core foundations of Office 365 that enable the economy of scale and completeness of capability. Get an inside look at how the Office 365 team advances the software, operational processes and team responsibilities that go towards delivering an enterprise class service. Finally, see the management tools and reporting capabilities that IT professionals can use to manage and control their Office 365 environment.
• Getting started with Office 365
  This session details Microsoft’s recommended deployment methodology for Office 365. Deploying a cloud service is unlike a traditional client-server deployment project and requires new skills and methodologies. With Office 365, IT departments can quickly get up and running with a pilot and move to production with the right set of capabilities. Learn about the deployment process, tools and actions used to simplify the start of your Office 365 experience.
• Deploying Office 365
  This session details the options and considerations when expanding a pilot Office 365 environment into a production deployment. Unlike on-premises implementations, IT professionals can scale out their Office 365 tenants with ease. However, with added scale, it is important to start to automate user provisioning, add a production domain and set up the desired workloads.
• Office 365 Service Communications
  This session focuses on the Office 365 Service Communications rhythm.  As an always up to date service, maintaining communication channels between IT professionals and the Office 365 team is critical. Learn how Office 365 service alterations, upgrades, planned maintenance, and service health are communicated and how to engage with Microsoft.
• Office 365 Change Management
  Office 365 is continuously evolving service. This session shows how Microsoft roles out improvements to Office 365 and how to manage changes to Office 365 services and applications in your environment.

To enroll in the course, visit the URL below:

• TRAINING: Office 365 Fundamentals
  https://mva.microsoft.com/en-us/training-courses/office-365-fundamentals-8288?l=7z2okgxy_4904984382