The Perimeter

Productivity training

RobA — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:18:22 GMT

Nice to see someone is focussing on getting out How-To videos, something I'm also working on at Microsoft for our internal productivity training (EPE). There's too much useful stuff buried in books that isn't being utilised. I reckon people only use >20% of what's in Microsoft Office products simply because they inherited the old ways of doing things from previous Office renditions; that and they're too busy to apreciate what's under the hood..

Does the Vista change the themes?

qiuxuezhizi — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:40:55 GMT

I search the theme for vista,but i can't install or change it.

I must use the third-party tools to crack the vista's theme.
but i think it will do harm to my system.

I want to know if the vista system can change the themes like XP.

if it was ,do you have some beautiful themes?
Shall I share it?>
hehe!

Why I can't use the web service?

qiuxuezhizi — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:29:43 GMT

The website is http://linoit.com/
When I click it
It shows:

For Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) users

Welcome to Online Stickies “lino”. We’re sorry but you cannot use lino with your browser. Please update your browser to the latest Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) to use lino. You can also use other browsers such as Firefox 3 or Safari 3.

For users seeing this page using IE7 or a browser that uses IE shell, please check your user agent setting on your browser, plugins, or toolbars. User agent setting may have been set to IE6.

But I'm using the IE7.
I don't know how to set it?

Secondary SMTP Server

KryptosKiller — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:31:23 GMT

Hi All,

We have a number of clients (20+) all running SBS 2003 Running Exchange, MX record pointing to the server's e-mail OK.

This is what I'm thinking, just need some feed back if it's possible....

Setup a Windows Server 2003 Have the SMTP running, set our customers secondary MX record to that mail server.

Would the e-mail be queued if there Mail server wasn't avaiable for some reason?

Thanks

Win a chillum chair at TechEd 2008

extreme — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:19:45 GMT

Rules & Important stuff:

No purchase necessary. To enter this sweepstakes, simply respond to this thread with:
[first name] [middle initial.][last name]
example: David N. Tesar
no later than 8 am ET Friday, June 13th. Open to any participant of the TechEd IT Professionals Conference who is a legal resident of the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia). GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING EMPLOYEES OF PUBLIC EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, ARE NOT ELGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SWEEPSTAKES. Employees of Microsoft and any person working directly on this program, exhibitors, sponsors of the Event, their support personnel and the respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and the immediate families of each (parent, sibling, spouse, child, or household member) are not eligible. Limit one entry per person, per registered Edge user ID.

The odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Five (5) names will be drawn at approximately noon on June 13, 2008 at the TechNet Zone area (where the chillum chairs are at) to win one of the prizes listed below.

Prizes. Five (5) Grand Prizes. One ‘Chillum Chair featuring the Edge Logo. (Approximate retail value US$179.00 each).

Winners will be selected instantly by a computer randomly choosing names of people who have posted to the thread and you must be present at the time of drawing to win. You must show a legal form of identity or your TechEd badge to identify yourself as the winner. Winners are responsible for any shipping fees associated with winning.

Legal stuff:

Taxes on the prize, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law. No substitution, transfer, or assignment of prize permitted, except that Microsoft reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event the offered prize is unavailable. Prize winners may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release or W-8 BEN form within 10 days of notification. If a selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim a prize or fails to return the Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release or W-8 BEN form, the selected winner will forfeit their prize and an alternate winner will be selected. In the event of a dispute all decisions of Microsoft are final. By entering, participants release and hold harmless Microsoft, their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents from any and all liability or injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this sweepstakes or the use of any prize won. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for Microsoft to use winner's names and likenesses for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation unless prohibited by law. By entering this contest, you signify your acceptance of the official rules.

This Sweepstakes is sponsored by Microsoft, 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052.

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Password Resets for Lowest Common Denominator

itprofessional — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:18:19 GMT

So how does ILM handle password synchronization to a system that doesn't support password complexity policies available in Active Directory? For example, what if I need to synchronize a password to a RACF security subsystem on an IBM z/OS mainframe? Older versions of z/OS (those without passphrase support), only support passwords that are 8 characters in length, and that can only contain special characters of @, $, and # sign. RACF passwords are also converted to uppercase characters, so how should I handle case-sensitive passwords being fed into RACF? Do you have a test LPAR that customers or potential customers can use to test various password sync and identity management processes against? I know that's wishful thinking, but thought would ask anyway.

Make your own how-to videos

EmilyAtMSFT — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:54:49 GMT

There's a new tool from Microsoft Office labs called "Community Clips" that you can use to create your own videos. You can download the tool from http://communityclips.officelabs.com/download.aspx.

Major problems with performing this process

GoldySJSU — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:57:53 GMT

I am trying to use this approach, but cannot install the ConfigMgr extensions. It only gives the options to remove them. How am I supposed to know a lab code when I cannot define it. I also have problems when I tryi to install a PXE provider, When I try to install the provider, it gives me the error that no provider is installed. Finally, I cannot locate the boundaries folder in SMS the SCCM version. Has anyone suceeded with this?

IT Professionals conference Registration for Sale

Boston — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:26:18 GMT

Hi,

I can not make the IT Professionals conference which I registered for. I can not get a refund either, I am willing to sell my registration as MS will allow me to get a substitute. Please let me know if interested.

shahhaque@gmail.com

Thanks
Shah

Who is going to MMS or TechED 2008?

KingCobra — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:43:09 GMT

I'll be at both and will likely take a video camera to record some of the action. Who's going? Anything in particular you want me to capture?

Should Microsoft make a laptop?

KingCobra — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:26:09 GMT

Should Microsoft make a screaming laptop the clearly demonstrates Windows Vista running as it should run? Would this "reference platform" sell? What risk would there be to our existing partner channel by doing something so bold?

Remote Desktop connection from Windows Vista Business to SBS 2003 Server

Theonlyone — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:29:34 GMT

I am having trouble trying to connect from home using my new windows vista Business computer to my company SBS 2003 server remotely...Any sugestions?

Edge Survey

AdamBomb — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:07:37 GMT

just a reminder that the Edge Survey is going live soon - if you're prompted to take it, please do - we'd like the feedback.

I'm supposed to get some of the survey results as the come in, so I'll use this thread to share those.

(I suppose if you have feedback about Edge you'd like to give, you can use this thread for that too)

Directory Services program manager interviews

extreme — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:39:01 GMT

Ok, I know this is short notice, but what would you like to ask the AD program managers?

I have some of my own thoughts, but I figure I'd just throw this post out there to see if anyone has any Qs they'd like to ask or have them talk about/clarify.

I'm doing interviews tomorrow.

do you ship?

AdamBomb — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:26:56 GMT

I know a lot of developers. One thing that makes me a little jealous is hearing them talk about how they 'ship' their products. In my career as an IT Pro, I've finished lots of big projects, but never got to attend a ship party afterwards. I've worked on some pretty significant deployments, that probably had teams and timelines that were similar in size to some product development teams, but at the end of the project, I remember just nodding our heads, shrugging our shoulders and moving on to the next one. My developer friends, meanwhile, were throwing big parties every time they released an update to their code.

Do you, as an IT Pro, celebrate the end of your projects? Should we?

Hijacking other blog posts

extreme — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:59:57 GMT

Ok, Adam Bomb made an interesting find on one of my blog posts (Self-healing NTFS). Amit had posted another "very similar" blog post without reference to my post at all. I'm not mad or anything like that, but I am curious what others think on this subject...

Do you think it's acceptable to "hijack" another person's blog post and put some slight changes into it with or without a link to the original, or should you always link up to another person's post and only put your changes/additional comments in your own blog post?

New video series: what were they thinking when they made this?

PederVM — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:16:44 GMT

Adam wrote this on his blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/adamca/archive/2008/01/29/my-interview-with-bob-muglia-bigwig.aspx

"I have a request for you: At some point you've been using a Microsoft product, and asked yourself "what were they thinking when they made this?" If you'll let me know what product you were using, and what made you want to ask that question, I'll grab my Edge camera and do my best to find an answer for you."

Lets help Adam create a new video series category.

I want Adam to chase down the SharePoint team and interview them about why they think "unexpected error occured" or "unknown error" would be helpfull to know when SharePoint [1] sees some kind of failure.

[1] It doesn't matter if it is WSS or MOSS.

I saw the errors a couple of times when i tried to create a new website and the Farm Services user account were locked out. I think i got three or four more extra grey hairs that day until i found out about the real failure.

Don't get me wrong, i love "unknown errors" because then i have to do unknown things to correct the problem and my boss allows me to yell obscene things at the computer (yelling obscene things is good for your blood pressure and so is good dark beer and chocolate).

What questions do you want to ask the Server Core PM?

extreme — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:29:57 GMT

I'm doing an interview with the program manager for WS 2008 Server Core on 2/13 and would like to know what questions you'd like to see asked/answered?

What Was MS Thinking w\Vista SP1 Release?

chaaker — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:29:21 GMT

I cannot believe Microsoft has announced the RTM of Windows Vista SP1 and then is going to make customers, sys admins and enterprises wait 6 weeks to get a copy of it. I cannot understand the logic of waiting until it appears on retail shelves and new OEM computers due to a "small subset of device drivers" so we can all experience the errors in unison. I surely see delaying the auto-update features - those set of drivers may get fixed. However, allow those who make their livings with technology to manually download the service pack as they can correct any problems from those drivers.

Microsoft is effectively going to push all of their fans to download this service pack illegally from the torrents and file sites as soon as it is leaked. Not a good position to be in. Another insular decision that, to me, illustrates the "two steps forward. one step back" nature of Microsoft goodwill.

Highway to PowersHell

ye110wbeard — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:46:19 GMT

I'd just like to formally apologize for the community at large for the horrible singing ability of the little Gerbil in "Highway to PowersHell".

The little pest has been punished and is now being forced to run treadmill in my Geo Tracker.

Embedded video does not play

JPenrose — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:17:06 GMT

Any idea why posted videos refuse to play from this site (that's all videos that I've tried [>8])? Silverlight installed... <check> update to SL... <check> every video on this site doesn't play... <check>.

Help a brother out...

Vista is great or it sucks?

extreme — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:17:06 GMT

I know there is a lot of discussion out there about Vista. I've been running Vista since November 2006 on my personal laptop and have my own list of +/- with it, but before I give my own thoughts I'm curious to hear your true, unbiased opinions about it from each of you out there.

What do you like or dislike about Vista?

User Isolation

Moaner — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:35:51 GMT

The end of the video touches on user isolation! Thats sounds promising. Would like to learn more about the concept especially as regards crash protection.

I've had a few instances w/ TS2003 where one user would inadvertently bring the whole server down!

SmartPhones

ye110wbeard — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:26:36 GMT

What's everybody out there running for a Smartphone?

I had some rather "generous angels" drop a Palm Treo 750w on my lap for Christmas... LOVE THIS THING!

Plays a mean game of solitaire too... :)

More on Groove and SCE07

AdnanRafik — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:03:48 GMT

Hi Edge team, you are doing a wonderful job. It was one of my dream to have this sort of website for IT Pro when I first saw Channel 9 many years back.

I'm looking for information where I can find why and How Groove can help the businessmen and to the people who are movig all the time. I'd appreciate if you take the interview of Groove guy.

Plus some technical interview of SCE2007 and how it can help the mid-size business.

I'll be publishing about these technologies myself on my blog adnanrafik.com/blog but at this time you will see few posts since it is new. :)

Keep doing this good job. I'm gonna put the link and publish in my next newsletter.