Kurt Shintaku's Blog

File this under the "SAY WHAT?" category:
While deleting all the random friend requests I get, I stumbled upon some unknown person that wanted to "add-me-as-a-friend" that appeared to be a link spammer from Thailand but the person’s site name had the word "SMS" in it, so naturally, being a geek, I think to myself… hmm.  A Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 admin… maybe?  After all, we do sell SMS2003 translated into Thai.  Welllllll, it turns out to be some girl trying to get people to watch some Thai beauty/talent content and get them to "vote" for her using SMS text messaging.  And it’s all written in Thai making it fairly unreadable for us English speaking types.  And admittedly, yeah, she’s pretty cute.  Albeit 19 years old.  For the curious, here’s the site:  http://nutta086.spaces.live.com/default.aspx.  But I digress.

Windows Live Translator:  Japanese –> English
This got me thinking about Microsoft’s Windows Live Toolbar and it’s Language Translation technology.  Admittedly, I haven’t loaded up the Windows Live Toolbar in a long time because basically, I try to run as few plug-ins and services as I possibly can in an effort to maintain my OS and browser performance.

But many Japanese sites have some great information on them about sake, Information technology, gaming, Japanese cuisine, and other things that I’m interested in.  Hence… it’s time to install the toolbar for what is essentially a "one-click" translation function and let ‘er rip.

DOWNLOAD:
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=9ca66480-2d87-4341-87f6-86875d9a0908&bt=2&pl=3

So, if you install the Live Toolbar, and press the "translate" button on a foreign language page, it will translate the whole thing into English and put both versions side by side.

Pointing to Translations – Link based Site Usage
The web-based translator site is located at http://www.windowslivetranslator.com.  Basic usage for pointing people to specific translations is simple enough.  All you really need to do is stick the URL of whatever site you want and append it to the end of the following URL string:  http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/BV.aspx?&MKT=en-US#

Example:
A sake sommelier I know, Yuji Matsumoto maintains a Japanese language web site at http://jizakeworld.blogspot.com/, which can be translated by going to:

http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/BV.aspx?&MKT=en-US#http://jizakeworld.blogspot.com/

Happy translating!

Kids wake up on Christmas morning in their pajamas.
Parents say that they’ll be eating Apple Cobbler and to get plates from the cabinets.
Chaos ensues.

Merry Christmas everyone.  See you when I get back from E3.

I was at my parent’s place and discovered that their home PC’s system partition was nearly full.  Naturally the easiest way to free up some storage is to simply delete files that aren’t necessary on the hard drive – particularly in the c:windows directory. 

Here’s some quick ways to clear out some unneeded files and free up some space on your system partition.

• SERVICE PACK UNINSTALL (c:Windows$NTServicePackUinistall$)
  This is safe to delete, assuming you never plan on uninstalling the currently installed service pack.
  
• SERVICE PACK UPDATE/HOTFIX UNINSTALL BACKUPS (c:windows$NTUninstall********)
  These directories are safe to delete, assuming you never plan on doing an uninstall of any of these updates.
  
• DOWNLOADED INSTALLATIONS
  (C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload)
  (C:WINDOWSDownloaded Installations)
  These directories are safe to delete.
  
• SERVICESPACKFILES (C:WindowsServicePackFiles)
  DO NOT DELETE – This directory is where the operating system gets its backups from if in the event it needs to recover from some sort of file corruption that’s detected using Windows File Protection.
  
• HOTFIX MIGRATION (c:Windows$hf_mig$)
  DO NOT DELETE – This directory stores copies of the most recent versions of hotfixed system files so that older versions included in subsequently applied patches do not get applied to the operating system accidentally.  (See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824994)

• Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged – $7.99
  http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-882224260756-Xbox-Arcade-Unplugged/dp/B000G5R8JA/

Wik and Outpost are a little more cerebral in comparison to Geometry Wars.  This game though I think it worth buying for Bejeweled alone.  That game drives me crazy.  In any case if you haven’t bought a copy yet, go do it!  Because I won’t be dropping off a copy to you in the future.  I simply can’t get it any more.

If you own SQL Server, Exchange Server, or Sharepoint Server, the Microsoft indexing/search services in Sharepoint can’t parse any of the new Office OpenXML file formats – .XLSX, .DOCx, .PPTX, etc.

You have to install these iFilter components to enable the Indexing engine to identify these documents in any of the above repositories so that search results from Sharepoint can properly identify OpenXML file content in them.  Without the iFilters installed, Sharepoint will fail to properly show XML documents in it’s results when people search for content in said documents in these data stores.

Yeah.  I know.  It’s about time these came out, ‘eh?  Boilerplate below.

—————–

This download will install and register IFilters with the Microsoft Windows Indexing Service. These IFilters are used by Microsoft Search products to index the contents of specific document formats.

This download will install and register IFilters with the Windows Indexing Service. These IFilters are used by Microsoft Search products to index the contents of specific document formats. This Filter Pack includes IFilters for the following formats: .docx, .docm, .pptx, .pptm, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .zip, .one, .vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vdx, .vsx, and .vtx.

To register these IFilters with a specific Search product, please see the associated KB article below:

• Office SharePoint Server 2007 – Office SharePoint Server 2007 registration steps
• Search Server 2008 – Search Server 2008 registration steps
• SharePoint Portal Server 2003 – SharePoint Portal Server 2003 registration steps
• Windows SharePoint Services v3.0 – Windows SharePoint Services v3.0 registration steps
• Exchange Server 2007 – Exchange Server 2007 registration steps
• SQL Server 2005 – SQL Server 2005 registration steps
• SQL Server 2008 – SQL Server 2008 registration steps
• Windows Desktop Search 3.1, Windows Search 4
  Because Windows Desktop Search (WDS) consumes IFilters from Windows Indexing Service, the IFilters will be automatically registered and available for use by WDS. 
  (Translation:  No further registration needs to take place after installing.)

DOWNLOAD:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=60C92A37-719C-4077-B5C6-CAC34F4227CC&displaylang=en

Windows Server® 2008 Networking and Network Access Protection (NAP)
By Joseph Davies and Tony Northrup with the Microsoft Networking Team
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/11160.aspx

This book describes how to plan, deploy, operate, and troubleshoot networks with Windows Server 2008. This book includes detailed instructions for all major networking and network security services including Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and IPv6, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Windows Firewall, Internet Protocol security (IPsec), quality of service (QoS), scalable networking, Domain Name System (DNS), Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), network authentication infrastructure, protected wired and wireless connectivity, virtual private network (VPN) connections, and the new Network Access Protection (NAP) platform.

The NAP section of this book contains 6 six chapters and over 200 pages of detailed technical information and instructions for deploying and troubleshooting the IPsec, 802.1X, VPN, and DHCP enforcement methods.

You can pre-order this book from the following online booksellers:

• Amazon
• B&N
• Bookpool

This is an old hack and it’s well documented all over the place so I don’t feel so bad about cutting & pasting the content but nonetheless it was taken from Computerworld.

By default, IE allows only two simultaneous download sessions from a single Web server. This can affect the speed of your Web browsing, because you’re not able to simultaneously download all the objects that make up a Web page, so the page displays more slowly. If you could force IE to download more objects at once, Web pages would display more quickly.

A tweak to the Windows Registry does the trick. With this tweak, you can force IE to use more than two simultaneous sessions. A good number is 10. Here’s how to do it:

1. Run the Registry Editor by typing regedit at a command line or in the Windows Vista Start Search box.
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftware
   MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
   Internet Settings.
3. Choose Edit –> New –> DWORD Value.
4. Create a new DWORD value called MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server, and give it a value of 10.
5. Choose Edit –> New –> DWORD Value, create another DWORD value called MaxConnectionsPerServer, and give it a value of 10.
   (Note: If you want to experiment with fewer or more than 10 simultaneous connections, change the value in both DWORD values accordingly.)
6. Exit the Registry and close IE. When you restart IE, the new value will be in effect and your Web browsing should speed up.

Expression Blend Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an update to Expression Blend. If you are currently using the trial version of Expression Blend, simply download and install this service pack and continue to use the trial. If you have purchased Expression Blend, download and install this service pack to update your copy of Expression Blend.

You can get specific information about the SP1 update in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article (944811), Description of Expression Blend Service Pack 1, or the Microsoft Knowledge Base article (944809), Issues that are fixed in Expression Blend by Expression Blend Service Pack 1.

An updated User Guide is also available for Expression Blend SP1. To install the updated User Guide, see Expression Blend Service Pack 1 User Guide and follow the instructions.

DOWNLOAD:  (1.0MB)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a07196d1-971b-4710-99c8-d3d9603ccfcb&DisplayLang=en

YEAH!  Below is the boilerplate but basically here’s the upshot of what the MSI Utility does:

1. FOR SMS/SCCM2007 USERS THAT WANT SOFTGRID
   This tool is primarily for folks using SMS2003 R2 or SCCM2007 software distribution systems.  The tool essentially helps folks using Softgrid to push their packages out using SMS/SCCM.
2. DISABLES MANDATORY CONNECTIVITY TO SOFTGRID SERVER
   Prior to this tool, you needed to have a Softgrid server online for the Softgrid packages to "check back with".  Now with this utility, it’s possible to disable this functionality.

The MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization is a new tool designed to extend virtual application deployment in certain key scenarios. In cases where a computer running Microsoft System Center Virtual Application Server is not available, the MSI Utility allows delivery of sequenced applications directly to Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization for Desktops and Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization for Terminal Services.

The MSI Utility enables the distribution of virtual applications without streaming. Instead, it uses Windows Installer to load and configure virtual applications. By leveraging this standard format, the MSI Utility achieves Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 platform version-agnostic distribution of virtual applications if supported by organizational Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) systems. As such, the MSI Utility is a stepping stone to the richer deployment options available in Microsoft System Center Virtual Application Server 4.5.

The MSI Utility extends application deployment methods to a broad range of ESD systems, including Systems Management Server 2003 and System Center Configuration Manager, as well as other methods such as network shares, removable disks, and memory keys. By using an ESD system to deploy virtualized application packages to disconnected SoftGrid Application Virtualization Desktop Clients, users can run virtualized applications without connecting to a computer running Microsoft System Center Virtual Application Server.

Feature Bullet Summary:

• Deployment of virtual applications via ESD systems
• Deployment of standalone virtual applications via network shares, removable disks, and memory keys

DOWNLOAD:  (8.0MB)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=37a9e590-4f55-44ac-93e1-36eb63a09240&displaylang=en&tm

Experience the power and promise of Office Communications Server 2007!
Seating is limited – Reserve your spot today!

We would like to extend to you an invitation to an Office Communications Server 2007 Ignite event! This 2-day hands-on technical workshop is intended to provide you with key information regarding Office Communications Server 2007.

This workshop is the best way for you to get introduced to Office Communications Server 2007. During the event, you’ll have the opportunity to walk through guided hands-on labs with OCS 2007, and to hear about the technical details behind the features and deployment steps for OCS.

By attending the OCS 2007 Ignite Training, you will:

• See an overview of Microsoft’s Unified Communications Vision
• Deploy an Office Communications Server 2007 Infrastructure
• Understand the Rich Presence Model in OCS 2007
• Experience the On-Premise Web Conferencing Capabilities of OCS 2007
• Configure and test the Voice and Telephony Features of OCS 2007

Course Modules

• Architecture
• IM and Rich Presence
• Conferencing
• Manage and Troubleshoot
• Voice Architecture
• Voice Capabilities
• Unified Messaging
• Compliance and Archiving

Dates and Locations:

• February 7 – 8, 2008
  8:30 am – 4:30pm
  Microsoft Irvine Office
  Suite 1600
  3 Park Plaza
  Irvine, CA 92614
  Phone: (949) 263-3000
• February 11-12, 2008
  8:30 am – 4:30pm
  Microsoft Los Angeles Office
  Suite 3300
  333 South Grand Ave.
  Los Angeles, CA  90071
  Phone: (213) 806-7431

TO REGISTER:
Please contact me for registration code and online registration link as seating is limited and this session is reserved for our Enterprise customers only.