Posted by: kurtsh | May 1, 2006

TOOL: Using Skype on Pocket PC Phones to send & receive long distance calls

While this isn’t a Microsoft technology per se, it is a reasonably interesting technology that runs over our Windows Mobile platform.
 
Taken from Dan Fernandez’s blog:
——————
Skype trick to never pay for long distance
Juval Lowy sent me this gem of a tip for how to use Skype on a PocketPC leveraging Verizon’s broadband network and have your calls automatically forwarded to your PocketPC (no more nights and weekends). It also works well when travelling assuming your hotel has broadband, plus anyone calling you only pays for local calls
You install on it SkypeIn and SkypeOut for the pocket PC.
SkypeIn lets you receives calls on 3 numbers of your choice anywhere in the world, routed to your pocket PC, has voice mail, etc for a small flat fee:
SkypeOut lets you call outside to normal phone numbers for VOIP prices (3 cents a minute anywhere in the world):
Wherever you are in a WiFi hotspot, your pocket PC becomes your free cell phone.
Now, you sign with Verizon a data deal for unlimited broadband access to their network using a PCMCIA card ($60 per month)

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/businessSolutions/mobileProfessional/remoteAccess.jsp?action=leRemote

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=1600

You connect over the Verizon card to the Internet, then use Skype as a cell phone where there is no WiFi.

Net effect – really cheap cell bill every month, plus you can use the pocket PC as a modem for your laptop anywhere Verizon has coverage. 

I use it mid-way: When I am on the road in Europe, I have SkypeOut on my laptop, and I use it as a cell phone, and I listed to my US cell phone voice messages via it.

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Posted in Product

Posted by: kurtsh | May 1, 2006

WEB: MSN Spaces releases new features

Interesting.  MSN Spaces has three relatively new modules for users to use and they’ve published a recent article on their Blog ("The Spacecraft") that goes into more depth on Expo:
 
Windows Live Expo:
Interested in advertising the stuff that you’re selling on the Windows Live "Classifieds" section?  Now you can using the Windows Live Expo feature.  Windows Live Expo allows you to put things up for purchase "regionally" – in other words, you can put things up for purchase that people in your geography specifically might be interested in.  For example:  Los Angeles Lakers tix,  signed UCLA jerseys, line passes to Circus Disco in Hollywood, etc.  You can do all of this at http://expo.live.com.  What the MSN Spaces module allows you to do is post these ads on your blog automatically.
Windows Live Favorites:
Do you have a list of favorites that you wish would follow you around?  That’s what Windows Live Favorites are.  They’re a list of pointers that follow you around where you log in, as long as the Live Favorites add-in is installed on the computer you log in to.  (Go to http://favorites.live.com for more info on this) These "Roaming Favorites" can not only be available to you when you browse the internet from say a kiosk computer, you can also post these favorites to your blog automatically for others to see.  For more info from the MSN Spaces team on this integration, go to: http://spaces.msn.com/thespacecraft/blog/cns!8AA773FE0A12B9E3!6097.entry
(The is the Live Favorite’s blog BTW:  http://spaces.msn.com/livefavorites)
 
RSS Feeds:
If you’re into syndication summaries, the RSS Feeds module will allow you to post article titles & summaries of other blogs or other news site’s content on your site.  Good for sites that are like-minded to you.
 
If you want to use any of these, just go to the Customize feature in your MSN Spaces blog and select "Expo" or "Live Favorites" or "RSS Feeds" modules and configure them as you please.

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Posted in Web

Posted by: kurtsh | April 30, 2006

WEB: Jeff Jones’ Security Blog

Jeff Jones’, the Director of our Trustworthy Computing division (think Security, Privacy, Confidentiality, Data Integrity, etc.) has set up a new blog, http://blogs.technet.com/security/.
 
He’s set it up to discuss potentially challenging security issues and decisions that we face. (such as the MSFT policy concerning how we treat internally found security bugs)
 
I’m looking forward to this.  I may even end up just posting pointers to his site.  This should be a very valuable blog for individuals interested in Microsoft security-related discussions.

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Posted in Web

Posted by: kurtsh | April 27, 2006

RELEASE: Windows Server 2003 Security Guide 2.1 available for download

The Windows Server 2003 Security Guide provides specific recommendations about how to harden computers that run Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) in three distinct enterprise environments—one in which older operating systems such as Windows NT® 4.0 and Windows® 98 must be supported, one in which Windows 2000 is the earliest version of the Windows operating system in use, and one in which concern about security is so great that significant loss of client functionality and manageability is considered an acceptable tradeoff to achieve maximum security. These three environments are respectively referred to as the Legacy Client (LC), Enterprise Client (EC), and Specialized Security – Limited Functionality (SSLF) environments throughout this guide.
Guidance about how to harden computers in these three environments is provided for a group of distinct server roles. The countermeasures that are described and the tools that are provided assume that each server will have a single role. If you need to combine roles for some of the servers in your environment, you can customize the security templates that are included in the downloadable version of the guide to create the appropriate combination of services and security options. The server roles that are referenced in this guide include the following:
• Domain controllers that also provide DNS services
• Infrastructure servers that provide WINS and DHCP services
• File servers
• Print servers
• Web servers that run Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)
• Internet Authentication Services (IAS) servers
• Certificate Services servers
• Bastion hosts
Significant efforts were made to make this guidance well organized and easily accessible so that you can quickly find the information that you need and determine which settings are suitable for the computers in your organization. Although this guide is intended for enterprise customers, much of the information that it contains is appropriate for organizations of any size.

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Posted in Release

Posted by: kurtsh | April 26, 2006

TAP: Exchange “12” Unified Messaging & Mobility program

Want to help us gear up for Exchange "12" Unified Messaging and Mobility release?
Here is a great opportunity for few "right" customers.  If you might be interested, please respond to "michael DOT liu AT microsoft DOT com" and I will set up a call with you to go through details.  The Exchange team is currently recruiting our best global brand name customers with an interest in Unified Messaging or Mobility to participate in Fall advertising (Note: Only 4 Customers will be selected). 
 
The Exchange team would provide:
– Resources to deploy Unified Messaging to 100 Exchange "12" mailboxes or 20 mobile phones to deploy on 100 Exchange "12" mailboxes
– A dedicated MCS or Partner resource to help you deploy Exchange "12"
– Two 64-bit servers to run Exchange "12"
– For UM, a dedicated Unified Messaging consultant to integrate Exchange "12" into your PBX system
– Access to the Exchange Unified Messaging or client access program managers
 
Your obligation would be to:
– Participate in global advertising campaign
– Provide project manager
– Deploy 100 mailboxes on Exchange "12" beta 2
– Work with Microsoft, Partner and Unified Messaging consultants to assist with technical implementation to be started June 15 through September
– PR/Marketing resource to coordinate advertising activity such as ad copy approval, photo shoots, case study and video interviews and approval
 
This is a great chance for the "right" customer (meaning, a customer we are looking for) to develop a deep relationship with the Exchange product team and showcase you and your company’s technology leadership. Let us know if you are interested.  Send an email to "michael DOT liu AT microsoft DOT com" with the following information:
– Company name
– Contact email address
– How many employees
– Number of Exchange mailboxes
– Primary messaging system
 
Please note that this is a nomination process and not a guarantee of participation. Customers will be chosen based on a number of advertising criteria including benefits of E12 to the organization, name recognition, final target publications and geographies, etc.  We appreciate you being one of Exchange’s very best customers!

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | April 26, 2006

EVENT: Microsoft Southern California Visio Seminar and “Tips and Tricks” Session

Microsoft Southern California Visio Seminar and “Tips and Tricks” Session
8:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.,   Thursday May 25, 2006, Irvine, CA
 
Communicating your mission-critical data in a visual manner brings both greater comprehension and greater productivity. Visio 2003 is the tool of choice to easily create powerful, data-rich diagrams that enable you to communicate and share complex information more effectively than only with text and numbers. 
 
This session is designed specifically for the IT Professional. You will learn how to create all of the powerful diagrams and reports that spell success for your IT department and increase the visual comprehension of your work throughout the enterprise. You will gain specific insight into creating your own custom solutions on the Visio development platform.
 
Planned Agenda:
• Boost Productivity for the IT Professional:
  o Enhanced network shapes, Detailed rack diagramming
  o Reverse engineer a database model
  o Enhanced Project Timeline, Web mapping and Design
  o Define a Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory directory service
  o Plan the UI model including tips on Selection, Visio saved as XML
  o Create Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams
  o Reverse engineer a relational database for design scenario’s, Revise a complex installation diagram
• Communication & Collaboration:
  o Saving a rack diagram as a Web Page
  o Tracking changes Diagram annotation
  o Integration with Sharepoint
• Visio 2003 as a development platform
  o Visio diagrams as web parts, Diagrams using web services
  o Real-world Examples 1 – Business Process Diagrams Automated
  o Real-World Examples 2 – Drill-down from Global Maps through Shop Floor
Thursday, May 25, 2006   8:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Microsoft Corporation, Irvine, CA 
3 Park Plaza, Suite 1800
Irvine, California  92614
949.263.3000
Event ID:  1032294373

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Posted in Training

Posted by: kurtsh | April 25, 2006

INFO: “Windows SafeSystem” – Windows Vista’s new sector-level backup capability

Windows Vista has a new sector/block-level backup and restore feature. We call it Windows SafeSystem internally aka "system image backup". The exact public feature name is in flux, but it has been known as "CompletePC Backup" recently. It is available on Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate SKUs. 

In Windows Vista, you can use this application to do a full backup and restore of your system (boot disk, system disk, and optionally other disks). There is no further granularity for Vista RTM, but we will provide more options in the future.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | April 22, 2006

INFO: Scripting MOM… a Technet article series

Scripting MOM Part 1 – The Basics
By Brian Wren, Senior Consultant, Microsoft Consulting Services (Southern California)
This article is the first of a four-part series on writing scripts in Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005. The purpose of the series is to compare scripts in MOM to those written for Windows Script Host (WSH) so administrators can leverage the large amount of knowledge and materials already invested on scripts for Windows Script Host. While background information and references to supporting documentation will be provided as appropriate, the series does assume a working knowledge of MOM 2005 and basic script-writing using Windows Script Host.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | April 22, 2006

NEWS: Microsoft Installs Silicon Valley’s Largest Solar Panel System at Its Mountain View Campus

Microsoft Installs Silicon Valley’s Largest Solar Panel System at Its Mountain View Campus
System Offsets Electrical Demand During Peak Load, Reducing Impact on Environment

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Feed=PR&Date=20060421&ID=5660525&Symbol=US:MSFT

 

Additional Environmental-friendly initiatives at Microsoft Silicon Valley:

    — Replacement of high-energy lighting with more efficient lighting
    — Reduction of hours of operation for heating, ventilation, air
       conditioning (HVAC) and full lighting
    — Adjustment of set points and efficient operation of HVAC systems
    — Reduction of parking lot ground cover landscaping to reduce irrigation
       requirements
    — Modification of water timing to improve water effectiveness
    — Continually monitor heating and cooling systems so that they at maximum
       efficiency

—————————–

    — Recycling and conservation. Microsoft has an extensive recycling and
       conservation program at its corporate headquarters that reduces waste,
       and conserves resources at all the company’s facilities, recycling a
       daily average of 24 tons of material. The company also recycles old
       PCs, monitors, servers and other surplus hardware. In addition,
       Microsoft participates in programs throughout the world that refurbish
       thousands of PCs every year and donate them to schools and
       nongovernmental organizations.
    — Employee transit. Microsoft encourages its employees to take action in
       their daily lives through car-pooling programs and alternative
       commuting choices. At many campuses, the company offers public
       transportation passes to its employees and assists with the arranging
       of van and car pools. One of the most popular days at the SVC is the
       "bike to work day," when employees are encouraged to pedal their way to
       the office.
    — Environmental design. Software and hardware products are designed to
       comply with worldwide environmental regulations. Microsoft does not use
       heavy metals, such as lead or cadmium, in packaging for any of its
       products, and the company restricts the use of toxic substances in its
       manufacturing operations as well.
    — Vendor requirements. As a global company manufacturing all over the
       world, Microsoft requires that all vendors abide by the applicable
       environmental laws and follow good environmental practices that reflect
       the spirit of those laws.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | April 22, 2006

BETA: Internet Explorer 7.0 Beta 2 Release delayed to April 25th

FYI:  The release of the official Internet Explorer 7.0 Beta 2 was postponed 7 days to April 25th.
The bits will be posted to the web on that day.

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Posted in Beta

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