Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Lack of awareness can sink a business concept—especially for local business owners. With people using paper directories less and online search more—even for local listings—a lack of online visibility could be devastating.

The all-new Bing Business Portal can fix that.

The Bing Business Portal does three important things:

1. Creates a basic business listing with contact information
2. Provides a platform from which business owners can highlight features and services, and reinforce brand recognition by adding photos and logos
3. Entice customers with deals that can be seen in Bing search results, on mobile devices and on the business’s Facebook page

Best of all, the Bing Business Portal is free.

There are two basic ways to get started. If the business was listed on the Bing Local Listing Center (LLC), they can claim their listing and get started. If not, businesses can start from scratch here.

To claim an existing listing, click on the link on the local listing page or visit the Bing Business Portal page and claim the listing via phone or PIN.

From there, businesses can add all of the fun features that help potential customers make better informed decisions. Add logos, photos, hours and payment options. Speak multiple languages? Mention it. Preferred parking? Highlight it. Does the business cross over into multiple categories? Select them. Then add links to the business Website, Facebook page and Twitter URL.

Restaurants and pubs can upload menus—and also have the option to create a mobile menu that customers can view from their mobile devices. They can even add categories and keywords to help refine the search and generate traffic.

And, because customers love a great deal, the Bing Business Portal enables business owners to create discount coupons, promotions or rebates. Simply use the Deal Editor to specify a category, a type (dollar amount, dollars off, percentage off, etc.) and add some descriptive information to help sell it in—like photos, an expiration date and disclaimer information—and then promote it for free on Bing search results, as well as on the business’s listing page and its Facebook page.

Any business that has a deal also will be highlighted on the Bing desktop search results, as well as the deal tab from the Bing for Mobile homepage.

To address the big pink elephant in the room, no, this blog is not dead.  I recently had some personal issues that took me completely out of the world of computing for a week but I’m back and will be posting again shortly.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

At least most of you.

Anyone looking for SharePoint Training specifically around architecting & optimizing ENTERPRISE SEARCH?  The following is available for free in case you haven’t seen this:

SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Search IT Professional Training

• Module 1: Search Management
• Module 2: Windows PowerShell for Search
• Module 3: Deployment and Scalability for SharePoint Server 2010
• Module 4: Monitoring and System Management for SharePoint Server 2010
• Module 5: Search Reporting and Analytics for SharePoint Server 2010
• Module 6: Connectors and Using the Business Data Connectivity Services in SharePoint Server 2010
• Module 7: Configuring User Interfaces for Search in SharePoint Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 8: Federated Search in SharePoint Server 2010
• Module 9: Advanced Search Security for SharePoint Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 10: People Search Administration and Management for SharePoint Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 11: Advanced Deployment and Scalability for SharePoint Server 2010
• Module 12: Upgrading from SharePoint Server 2010 to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 13: Deployment and Scalability for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 14: Advanced Deployment and Scalability for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 15: Linguistics for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint
• Module 16: Relevancy and Ranking for FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint

BLOG: SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search IT Professional Training
http://blogs.technet.com/b/tothesharepoint/archive/2010/10/25/sharepoint-2010-enterprise-search-it-professional-training.aspx

To relatively little fanfare – especially for a product that impacts so many endpoints – Microsoft Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 was released to manufacturing and available to customers with Embedded devices.

Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 enables enterprises to deploy, assess and update Windows Embedded devices, providing a single management solution that offers enhanced insight and control over IT infrastructure and systems by extending the capabilities of System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

It specifically provides the following capabilities – among other things:  (I’ve highlighted what each capability specifically means to Windows Embedded thin clients)

• Write filter handling (Critical to updating the thin client’s capabilities)
• Asset inventorying for device serial numbers, etc. (Important for tracking devices, the software revision they have, & their locations)
• End-to-end thin client provisioning, firmware tracking/inventorying, automated firmware upgrades.  (Mitigate security issues, upgrade thin client software images, etc.)

This is all above and beyond the thin client management capabilities of SCCM today. (WEMD requires SCCM2007 R2 or R3) We are working closely with Hewlett Packard, Dell, and other thin client/embedded device manufacturers on this product to ensure that integration modules are designed specifically to enable it to manage new thin clients at the product’s launch later this year. 

It will manage – AMONG OTHER THINGS:

• Windows XP Embedded based thin clients
• Windows Embedded Standard 2009 thin clients
• Windows Embedded Standard 7 thin clients

If you have embedded devices like Thin Clients, ATMs, PoS systems, Digital Signage, kiosks, etc, you’ll definitely want to take a look at this exciting new technology for System Center Configuration Manager.

• DATASHEET:  Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 Datasheet (1.36 MB)
  http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/4/E64EF5B2-B30F-4D51-9A24-342EFBF340C0/WE-DeviceManager-Datasheet.pdf 
• PRODUCT SITE:  Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 Web Site
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/evaluate/windows-embedded-device-manager.aspx

New whitepaper that goes over the business level benefits of Windows 7:

Understanding the Benefits of Upgrading to Windows 7

The phone rings at 1:00 A.M., waking an IT professional with a call from the company’s key salesperson who is on the road in Asia. She needs access to confidential application data stored on the server back at headquarters. It’s an issue every enterprise faces—how can people be more connected from the road, without sacrificing the needed level of security?

How many times has this happened to you? What else keeps you up at night? Businesses need technology that helps people work better, but IT departments must balance end user flexibility with

tighter management of the infrastructure, data, and applications. This challenge is complicated by several additional forces competing for your time, attention, and resources: managing costs, planning for contingencies, and ensuring compliance with evolving industry and regulatory requirements. Exactly how well companies handle these forces in the context of their unique computing needs ultimately defines their efficiency, user productivity, and overall effectiveness.

Meeting both IT and end user needs in today’s business environment can be challenging. The Windows® Optimized Desktop relieves the common tension between end users and IT by providing the mobility and flexibility end users want while preserving the security and control that IT professionals need. The Windows Optimized Desktop—which incorporates Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center, and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)—helps organizations transform their desktop infrastructure from a cost center to a business enabler by helping IT make people productive anywhere, manage risks through enhanced security and control, and reduce costs by streamlining PC management. The investments in Windows 7 Enterprise have been shaped by the evolving needs of end users and IT professionals in the enterprise.

This paper explores the questions organizations should consider as they plan for desktop infrastructure that can help them better address client computing challenges. First, it takes a closer look at the issues many enterprise organizations face today, with questions in the first four sections to guide you in a desktop capability assessment for your own organization. Then, later in the paper, you’ll learn how Windows 7 Enterprise can help address the challenges you face.

• WHITEPAPER:  Windows 7:  For your Organization
  http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/8/E/08EA241F-243A-4663-92B5-B6D01B5B3B8F/Win7Org_LR_2011.pdf

INFO:  Microsoft Software Assurance "Interactive Benefits" Chart

A really cool document to help educate yourself about the different components of Software Assurance Benefits that are available.  It’s an actual interactive chart (PDF) that allows a person to click/hover over a given benefit and have its definition just appear on the screen.

It’s externally downloadable here:

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Software Assurance "Interactive Benefits" Chart
  http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/0/3/0039F316-45CF-4083-AA6E-C35DA9D25C1B/SA_InteractiveBenefitsChart.pdf

There’s also a companion Customer QuickStart Guide:

• DOWNLOAD:  Microsoft Software Assurance “Customer QuickStart” Guide
  http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/c/7/5c727885-ec15-4920-818b-4d140ec6c38a/SA_Customer_QuickStartGuide.docx

I repeat:  We are making the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target available AS A FREE DOWNLOAD.

What does this mean? It means you can install the Microsoft iSCSI software target on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system and use it as shared storage for Hyper-V Live Migration. Interested? Here are a few key pointers. The full announcement about the release of the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target from Jose Barreto.

For those wondering, Microsoft iSCSI Software Target was technology we acquired from StringBean Software back in 2006, and was previously only available for production use by OEM providers of Windows Storage Server 2008 appliances.  Individuals could only otherwise get it via MSDN/Technet subscriptions for testing purposes only.  Now, with its release to customers of Windows Server 2008 R2, anyone can set up iSCSI solutions at no cost – especially for folks setting up labs or environments that don’t have their own NAS or SAN solutions, or folks that are interested in configuring low cost disk-to-disk backup solutions.

Folks…we just made it possible for anyone to set up their own NAS solution with just a Windows Server 2008 R2 installation & Gigabit Ethernet adapters!

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft iSCSI Software Target
  (You’ll probably also want to grab the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator as well.)
• BLOG:  Free Microsoft iSCSI Target!
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2011/04/04/free-microsoft-iscsi-target.aspx

Just caught wind of this… limited space since it’s a virtual lab so sign up if you’re interested!

——————

Join AppSense, Microsoft and Citrix for A Day of Virtual Desktop Labs

April 27, 2011 at the Microsoft Technology Center in Irvine 
April 29, 2011 at the Microsoft office in Downtown Los Angeles

Are you evaluating or deploying virtual desktops in your environment?
AppSense, Citrix and Microsoft are pleased to be delivering A Day of Virtual Desktop Labs and we hope you can join us! It is being held at the Microsoft Technology Center in Irvine on April 27th 2011 and also on April 29th at the Microsoft office in Downtown LA.

This seminar offers the opportunity to spend a day with Microsoft, Citrix, and AppSense testing the latest technology. This day provides hands-on, technical training sessions to implement and deploy AppSense Management Suite, Citrix XenDesktop 5, and Microsoft App-V. During this lab session you will have access to a personal workstation environment and learn, step-by-step, how to install a virtual desktop from a best practices perspective.

• Click here to register for April 27th
• Click here to register for April 29th

The Windows Thin PC Community Technology Preview (Beta) is now live for folks to try. Here’s the announcement from the Windows Team Blog:

Thin is “In” Especially When it Comes to Getting More Life out of Computers that You Already Own

Last month, we blogged about an upcoming community technology preview (CTP) for Windows Thin PC, which is a locked down version of Windows 7 designed to help repurpose existing PCs as thin clients extending the life of existing hardware. As a follow-on to the CTP post I also discussed ways to think about thin clients in your environment when using server based desktops and applications. Throughout MMS, I heard many customers express interest in this technology and ask about the timing of the Windows Thin PC CTP.

As planned, we are happy to announce that the Windows Thin PC public CTP is now available! Although the final release of Windows Thin PC will be provided as a benefit for Software Assurance customers, we heard feedback that you wanted us to broaden the access of the CTP, so we’re pleased to announce that this CTP is public and therefore available for all customers to evaluate. UPDATE: Please note -To download the public CTP of Windows Thin PC you must first register on the Microsoft Connect site homepage.

For those who have been following our updates, this CTP version includes some new features which we had not previously talked about:

1) RemoteFX support for a richer, higher fidelity hosted desktop experience.

2) Support for System Center Configuration Manager, to help deploy and manage WinTPC images.

3) Write filter support helps prevent user and application writes to disk, thereby improving security at the end point

More information and resources can be found on the CTP download site, and as always we encourage you to install the preview and send us feedback via the tools on the Microsoft Connect site.

DOWNLOAD: Windows Thin PC Community Technology Preview
https://connect.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/program6810

Prepare for an automatic Windows Update that will block the rogue SSL certificates that were issued by Comodo.  In case you hadn’t heard, Comodo accidentally issued certificates that illicitly represent:

• login.live.com
• mail.google.com
• http://www.google.com
• login.yahoo.com (3 certificates)
• login.skype.com
• addons.mozilla.org
• “Global Trustee”

Yeah.  Not good.  Users could hit a web site claiming to be one of the above and the certificate would verify their authenticity as legitimate.  This would enable them to capture those users authentication credentials and other information they enter in.

More details are posted here:

• Microsoft Security Advisory (2524375)
  Fraudulent Digital Certificates Could Allow Spoofing
  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2524375.mspx