Vista Ultimate 64-bit in place of 32-bit

Published November 7, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

I made the switch last weekend. Installed 64-bit Vista and reinstalled all my applications. To date, I’ve run across exactly ZERO compatibility issues, except 1, for which the vendor provided a 64-bit compatible version of their software.

All I can say at this point is that it just works better. Things are snappier. As Paul Thurrott said in a recent Windows Weekly podcast and blog post, 64-bit Vista is really a non-event as far as having issues goes.

My Dell D630 also now supports 4GB SO-DIMM’s, so I’ll be upgrading to 8GB when prices on those puppies comes down (somewhere ~$600 each – yikes!).

Lovin’ the “I’m a PC” campaign from Microsoft, BTW. Finally, Microsoft got it right.

Mobile Data Rates in Canada, Redux

Published November 7, 2008 Cellular , Telecom 0 Comments

It’s happening – Rogers now offers BES plans with much more reasonable prices.

Oh, I am SOOOO glad I didn’t sign up for a contract with Telus. Not gonna with Rogers either, but I WILL buy a device outright just to get these rates.

Ball’s in your court Telus, and I ain’t gonna wait too long.

Wow, grammar sucks tonight.

Over to the ‘Dark Side’ - Switching from WM to Blackberry

Published September 13, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments
Tags:

I made the plunge and switched to a Curve from my Treo 700wx, installed Blackberry Professional Software and, well, it’s OK.

Is it perfect - no, nothing is. As with most things there are some good and some not so good points. So here are my first impressions. . .

 

Good:

  • It’s small with a bright screen. Easy to hold.
  • Battery life is great.
  • Bluetooth works perfectly.
  • BPS data usage is WAY, WAY less than Exchange push. Where my office is, the EVDO signal is weak, and my Treo was constantly losing it’s data connection, and would be polling for my Exchange server all day. This was actually one of the biggest reasons for the switch (being in Canada where data rates are high).
  • Easy to learn.

What I miss:

  • Applications: I’m going to have to pay for some apps that were either free for WM (HandyShopper), or that I had purchased (AutoKeeper, ExpensePlus). Honestly haven’t found anything equivalent. I need (must) have a mileage tracking app that does it’s job in litres/100km. The only BB app I’ve found so far only does US gallons - HEY - RIM is Canadian! There’s a market up here!
  • Touch Screen - I like having a stylus - especially the after-market ones that double as a pen. Also makes web browsing a lot more usable (as much as that can be usable on these things).
  • A speaker phone - I actually miss this a lot.
  • A file system I can transfer files to and from the device directly via USB.
  • The little TS app for doing RDP.
  • Games - come on folks, Brickbreaker is just lame - I want my Cubis back!
  • My Treo keyboard - Palm got this right - RIM’s doing the best they can without infringing on any patents, but the Treo keyboard with the oval domed keys is the best I’ve used.

 

So I probably won’t stick with a BB forever. My goal is to get familiar with it as a user of the device so I can better relate to my clients, and even train them on their devices. The only other thing I need to do is get a new housing - long story, but my 8330 is PINK, thanks to an eBay purchase gone wrong. I figured I’d just get a new faceplate/housing, but the 8330 housing is slightly different than the 8310/20 housings, and they aren’t available yet. I guess I’ll just have to live with it for now as a sensitive new-age guy (SNAG).

I haven’t left you for good WM - I’ve got my eyes on the HTC Touch Pro - nice.

Gates & Seinfeld - Act I

Published September 6, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

 

Well. First impression is ‘huh?’.

Digging into the connotations of the ad (pardon the communications theory), we can go 1 layer deep (the only layer that matters), and the ad simply becomes one meant to introduce the persona of Bill Gates (perhaps to show people that he is, in fact, a real person).

Is this meant to drive business to partners? Not at this stage. As the internal Microsoft communiqué from Bill Veghte states, “This first set of ads . . . [are] an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context.”

Even though it’s not directed squarely at business customers (where the real $ is), the fact remains that business people are also consumers. So as B.V. suggests, it’s an ‘icebreaker’ - akin to an initial conversation with business prospects where we talk about the weather and attempt to build rapport.

Is it well done? Obviously not as sharp as the MAC vs. PC ads, but then we’re comparing 2 professional actors with Seinfeld and Bill Gates, who’s never been known for being a riveting speaker, never mind an actor.

Just as with the Mojave Experiment, Microsoft is inching into this campaign and not trumpeting the virtues of Windows vs. MAC, but by trying to make it ‘people’ focused. With Mojave, they accomplished 1 thing - it got the conversation started. This ad takes it to the masses via TV.

I think it’s a reasonable approach, but I’ll be disappointed if they don’t start getting more aggressive, and soon. There’s been too much talk about businesses waiting for Windows 7, and the sooner Microsoft dispels the Vista myths, the better. Mojave did that, but wasn’t main stream. Time to get this train moving a little faster.

RSA 2008 Keynotes

Published July 10, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Couple of good ones to listen to / watch.

www.snipurl.com/rsa2008

XP SP3 on WSUS

Published July 2, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

That’s a good one . . . Rimshot

XP SP3 Slipstream RWW ActiveX Update

Published July 2, 2008 Tech 0 Comments
Tags:

To follow up on my post and Susan’s blog post, see below for a message I received on the SBSC MS support newsgroups. I did NOT do it this way, but thought to stick it here in case someone else finds it useful (i.e. in case it works without resetting IE).

For one of the PC’s I did a reset on, and RWW/RDP is working. . .the key under HKLM in ‘Operation 1′ is NOT  there (looking for “{7584C670-2274-4EFB-B00B-D6AABA6D3850}” and NOT “ClsID”). The key IS there under HKCU as described in Operation 2′.

Note the “Key name” is “{7584C670-2274-4EFB-B00B-D6AABA6D3850}” and not “ClsID”. . .

. . . this is a known issue which hasn’t been fixed. However, you can check if the following workaround can be applied to the workstation:

1. Click Start-> Run  type Regedit  Then open register list.
2. Follow the below operation 1 or operation 2 to modify the register: ClsID: {7584C670-2274-4EFB-B00B-D6AABA6D3850}

Operation 1. two Methods to enable the “TS Component” displayed in “Add-on Management” list.
==================
a. Add Key Under:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\PreApproved
The Key name is ClsID.

b. Add Key Under:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats
The Key name is ClsID,
and then, add subkey, “iexplore”
and then, add “DWORD Value” in “iexplore” key, value name “Flags”, set value to 4

Operation 2. Enable the component could be used in IE7, delete key: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\ClsID
==================
1. Close the register.
2. Open website. Direct to the Remote web workplace.
3. click Connect to Server Desktops . It will show a warning, then click OK button.
4. On the right-below of web, there will occur a little-image of warning, move cursor on it, it will show Manage add-ons
5. Double click the little-image, show a dialog Manage Add-ons
6. Confirm the Show: items is add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer
7. On the Disabled item, click Microsoft Terminal Services Client Control (redist) 
8. On the Manage Add-ons  dialog down, in Settings scope, choose Enable  it will pop a dialog, click OK button
9. Click OK button.

Wired Ad in 1998

Published July 1, 2008 History , Tech 0 Comments
Tags:

ALTERNATIVE WEB SITE DESIGN. Lethal tech. Lethal style. DHTML. Flash. RealAudio. www.mediafear.com

 

Wow. Lethal. Gone.

This Day in Tech History

Published June 30, 2008 Tech 0 Comments
Tags:

My wife & I got married 10 years ago in May, 1998. As women tend to be (in my life anyway), she wanted to do a bunch of stuff I would never have even considered - like putting together a time capsule (ever notice these things are never marketed to men?).

Wow, does time fly.

We opened it up on the Saturday morning after our ‘official’ anniversary dinner the night before (we love Hy’s - steak & Caesar salad can’t be beat), and spent the rest of the day reminiscing.

My grandmother managed to write us (and the rest of her extended family by proxy) a 23-page letter, and since died at the ripe old age of 95. Lots of laughter and tears - that letter alone was reason enough to do the capsule.

I did also manage to put in the September 1998 edition of PC Magazine (OK so we didn’t seal it right away), along with the August ‘98 issue of Wired. I’ll poke through these and blog on some of the tidbits I find.

For this post, let me see. . .

The Future of Microprocessors (Q3, 1998):

Intel: Mendocino - A Celeron with 128K of on-chip L2 cache.

AMD: K6-2 - Features a faster MMX unit and 3DNow!

Cyrix: MII - Essentially a renamed 6×86MX that runs at higher core and bus speeds.

IDT: WinChip 2 - Features faster FP and MMX units as well as 3DNow!

Last nugget today: How much for a PII-400 w/ 512K cache? $589 in 1k lots.

Who says computers are expensive?

 

L8r,

Dave

XP SP3 Upgrades & Slipstream Install Issues with SBS RWW

Published June 28, 2008 SBS , XP 1 Comment
Tags:

Some days I’m a tech-head, and some days. . .well you get the rest.

So I just said in my iPhone post that I don’t like being an early adopter - right, Dave - shake your head. XP SP3 probably has cost me ~4 hours of grief over the last couple of months. Maybe I’m just a poser, but I think not - people keep telling me I know what I’m doing, which feels great, but I’d rather be golfing than troubleshooting an RWW problem.

So I created an XP slipstream install disc for a client PC that needed a wipe & load, thinking it would ’save me time’ (I can hear you laughing). I’ve done a few SP3 upgrade installs, and also had the RWW issues that are widely known (you have to manually enable the TS ActiveX control in IE to get RDP working from within RWW). BUT with the Slipstreamed installation, the ActiveX control ISN’T even there. Here’s a Technet thread talking about this, and there are even comments on Susan’s blog asking about it.

So figuring I’d get a credit because it appeared to be a genuine Microsoft issue, I whipped out my credit card and spent 2 hours on the phone with Microsoft support on Thursday, after getting a poor response from the SBSC managed news groups (it doesn’t seem to matter sometimes how much effort you put into detailing the initial questions there - 50% of the time, they come back with suggestions that aren’t related). The final result was to RESET IE7, and voila, the ActiveX control installs.

Funny, I just noticed the MS support guy who helped diagnose the problem posted the fix at the end of the Technet thread. They did give me a credit too. Isn’t this how it’s supposed to work? :)

So why does resetting fix the issue? I’ll never know, but I know I’ll do this next time before calling support. I had the Google toolbar installed, and the MS tech suggested this might have caused the issue, so I tested the theory out on an slipstreamed XP SP3 installed PC I built the other day to do Wireshark captures on my VoIP system. I hadn’t tried to use RWW with it, so I knew it would be a good test. I HAD already installed the Google toolbar on it as well, so before doing a RESET on IE7, I manually uninstalled the toolbar, and reboot. The problem still was there, so Google wasn’t to blame, and nothing else except Wireshark and OfficeScan were on the PC.

RESET IE7, and boom - all fixed.

While I’m at it, I can also say the upgrade-SP3 method (not slipstreamed) is far from an automated process to make sure it works correctly. Basically, the only time it’s been successful (and they have ALL had the TS ActiveX issue) is when there’s no anti-virus installed. In Calgary the beginning of June, and upgraded my parents XP MCE 2005 Dell, and all sorts of issues (freezing menus & just general weirdness). MS telephone support was there to make suggestions (forgot about this one, so add another 2 hours onto my SP3 labour this past while), and in the end, the solution, which has worked reliably for me since, is to use MSCONFIG to do a selective startup, go to the Services tab, check the checkbox to hide all Microsoft Services, and disable the rest. Reboot, install SP3, reboot, reset MSCONFIG to start normally, and then the only issue (I know of) that’s left is to enable the TS ActiveX control (not an issue for my parents).

Some days.

Next Page »

Latest

RSS