Blog migration...

My previous Wordpress blog host has been shutdown, so it was time to move on. The logical choice seemed to be Wordpress.com, it was a direct import.

Unfortunately they don't make it easy to forward your subdomain, there's a $13/yr charge (which I was willing to pay), but they drop all "www" requests. That is where all my links point as well as links from other forums and blogs. Okay stop laughing, there is over four other blogs that link here ;)

Anyway, the next choice was Blogger/Blogspot, where we are now. It was super easy to point the domain here, GoDaddy which holds my domain even has a wizard to make the forward easy as 3.14159265...

Blogspot even take imports for XML, same as Wordpress exports! But not the same format as Wordpress (Finished: Sorry, the import failed due to a server error. The error code is bX-a9cw3d). A quick search pointed me to an article at Squidoo which then pointed to an XML conversion site Wordpress-to-Blogger. There was only a little massaging to be done, reporting and the re-addition of my About page (which needed updating anyway) and now we're here...

E-mail to Text Message

This has already been posted many places, but I'm tired of looking it up and dealing with glaring ads and pop-ups.

As you can guess, to send an e-mail to someone's phone as a text message, just replace the phonenumber with whomever you're trying to message, i.e. 4085551212@vtext.com.

• Alltel - phonenumber@message.alltel.com


• AT&T - phonenumber@txt.att.net


• Boost Mobile - phonenumber@myboostmobile.com


• Sprint Nextel - phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com


• T-Mobile - phonenumber@tmomail.net


• US Cellular - phonenumber@email.uscc.net


• Verizon - phonenumber@vtext.com


• Virgin Mobile USA - phonenumber@vmobl.com

Etiquette is 140 characters or less and just be aware some may not have unlimited texting, so be careful on the quantity and size of messages.

Firing a SysAdmin

Recently I had to replace an IT guy who'd gone off the rails. Something odd about this profession seems to cause an unusually high number of them (say, compared to other engineers) to drop off the radar and partially or completely disappear. It usually happens in one of two ways, they start with sporadic attendance, rarely answering phone calls and e-mail, then completely disappearing, or just the latter and they entirely stop all communications, possibly even leaving the area. Hard to say if it's something psychologically different with SysAdmins (we can be quite an odd bunch) or if it's the pressure and culture that spawns the flight response...

I've tried endless searches on "firing a sysadmin", "locking out an IT guy", etc., but nothing useful. So, I've compiled a list of things to examine when an IT guy goes AWOL and you need to lock them out, reclaim logins and check for holes.

• Firewall passwords & rules


• Router logins


• Switch logins


• VPN server login & configuration


• Domain Admin/root password


• Group Membership (Domain Admins, Schema Admins, Enterprise Admins, Built-in administrators, Exchange admins, root, wheel, etc.)


• Other domain admin accounts


• Service accounts (check Services logon list)


• User accounts (every employee should change password)


• Local admin accounts on client systems


• Hosting/DNS/Domain Name Services passwords
  
  
  
  • Web hosting logins
  
  
  • Registrar logins and contacts
  
  
  • Managed DNS
  
  
  
  


• Exchange/mail servers
  
  
  
  • Mailbox forwarding
  
  
  • Routing groups
  
  
  • Hosted spam filtering
  
  
  
  


• MS SQL/database accounts


• Auto-logins, i.e. kiosk systems


• Examine startup scripts and group policy


• Examine scheduled tasks, at or cron jobs


• Change wireless security key


• Change remote access accounts, i.e. GoToMeeting, TeamViewer, etc.


• Update 3rd party software passwords, i.e. anti-virus, backup, etc.


• Update 3rd party hosted software, i.e. Amazon S3, Salesforce, etc.


• Change vendor logins, i.e. CDW, Dell, Microsoft, Tigerdirect, etc.


• Remote system logins/wireless


• Check systems in the field for items above


• Check for keyloggers on all systems


• Phone system accounts and logins
  
  
  
  • Change all voice mail pins
  
  
  
  


• Update building alarm security codes
  
  
  
  • Contact for alarm company if the person is on the access list
  
  
  
  


• Update access information/logins at colocation facilities

That's what I came up with so far for a Windows-centric network. Anything you can add?

Software in my Binder

Earlier this year I covered what items I carry in my backpack, this time it's about what software I carry in my soft-sided TechNet folder. Of course there's the usual operating system and application disks, but there are a number of rescue and utility disks as well...

Operating Systems and Applications

• Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 2003 R2, 2008, 2008 R2 (32 & 64-bit versions)


• Office 2003, 2007 & 2010 (all 32-bit)


• CentOS 6.2 (64-bit)


• Fedora 16 (64-bit)


• Ubuntu 11.10 (64-bit)


• Knoppix - Live Linux boot disk


• VMware ESXi 5.0 (64-bit)


• DVD with Windows and Office Service Packs

Rescue and Utilities

• Acronis True Image & Disk Director - Disk imaging and partition management


• SpinRite - Attempts to fix hard drive issues


• Darik's Boot and Nuke - Securely wipe hard drives


• Ghost - Disk imaging


• WinPE - Windows Preinstallation Environment

Anything you like or recommend (preferably free)?

Function Keys at the Command Prompt

This is sort of a noob post, but I'd forgotten about these, even though I use the command prompt almost hourly at work.

With a cmd shell open:

Press     To Get
F1           Last command displayed one letter at a time
F3           Repeat last command
F5           Displays the last commands one-by-one
F7           Displays the command history
F8           Cycles through the last commands, typing a character or two will cause it to match the prefix

There are a couple more, but they don't always respond correctly and IMHO are less useful.

Microsoft Case Studies

Need that extra push to get a budget approved. Perhaps you need ammo to bring into fruition (or shoot down) the latest whim of those in executive row. Microsoft Case Studies may have your answer.

Divided by Industry, Business Need, IT Issue, etc., with searchable fields as expected, there is a good amount of video and downloadable content to help make or break a case.

Google Website Backup

Google offers a lot of things, and I mean a lot, but this isn't really one of them. And yet, in a fashion they do.

A good friend of mine recently lost a rather good blog post due to a server issue (it was on a Linux box, so I'm not sure how that could ever happen ;^) and there wasn't a backup.

In a moment of brilliance (or just a misfiring synapse) I suggested he do a Google search for his lost post and see if they had a cached version of it. And low and behold, they did, crisis averted. If I could come up with great ideas like this more often, having a job would be unnecessary :)

Amusing Computer Quotes, Part II

Enjoy...

"The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents."
- Nathaniel Borenstein

"The great thing about a computer notebook is that no matter how much you stuff into it, it doesn't get bigger or heavier."
- Bill Gates

"In all large corporations, there is a pervasive fear that someone, somewhere is having fun with a computer on company time. Networks help alleviate that fear."
- John C. Dvorak

"After growing wildly for years, the field of computing appears to be reaching its infancy."
- John Pierce

"Programmer - an organism that turns coffee into software."
- Unknown

Verizon Survey - Not!

Five days after I switched to AT&T, I received an e-mail from Verizon with the request: "Please tell us how we can improve".

I thought I would let them know they might try having a better selection of smart phones (sorry, 19 different flavors of Blackberry only count as one), letting customers know when more suitable plans/pricing is available and how about the ability to use unlocked, non-Verizon approved, phones.

But when I clicked on the survey link in the e-mail I got this:

[caption id="attachment_357" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="No Survey for You!"][/caption]

I guess they really don't want to know what I think they can do to improve...

Out of Band Windows Update

As you may or may not know, Microsoft releases patches every second Tuesday of the month so that businesses can plan on having a regular update schedule.

This week Microsoft released two critical patches one for Internet Explorer and the other to fix code generated by Visual Studio. Since this is outside of their normal release cycle, it's definitely time to patch your PC.

And while you are at it, surf on over to see if you're running the latest Java and Adobe software. As Windows continues to make progress on the security front, hackers have been adapting by using vulnerabilities in Java, Acrobat and Flash; and they also use many others, like QuickTime, so it goes a long way to check that software you use is the latest release.

Gmail Unleashed

Great googly moogly! After five years Gmail (and Apps) is no longer in beta. And instead of yelling it from the rooftops (since many businesses won't rely on beta products) they are just mumbling it quietly.

I guess Google doesn't need the business since they are pretty much just printing money at this point.

Your Own Blog as a Resource

I thought I'd share the irony: for the second time this week I've used my own blog as a resource. Once for Exchange 2007 logging and then today to find the wireless key viewer link.

At least someone finds it useful ;-)

SaaS and Cloud Computing

I happened upon an interesting article by my favorite tech curmudgeon, John C. Dvorak, in PC Magazine. In the July 2008 issue (yes, I'm still way behind on my magazines), he puts together a list of good reasons why "the future" of computing, namely SaaS and Cloud Computing is just another way to make even more money and can actually be problematic for companies. I've always felt that small companies can benefit greatly from hosted services and cloud applications, but larger companies need to tread lightly when making the ROI comparisons and need to understand the inherent issues having data and servers off-site, managed entirely by a 3rd party. Previously I couldn't fully articulate all of my concerns, but Dvorak does a brilliant job of bringing them to light. Below is his list, from Ode to Shrink Wrap, with some of my own comments.

1. The Network Sucks - Unless bandwidth is good and no one is running BitTorrent or the like problems will ensure. (VoIP anyone?)

2. There's No Protection from Government Spooks - The government can get access to all of your data anytime. Do they even need a search warrant anymore?

3. Industrial Espionage is Easy - Depending on the vendor it may or may not be "easy", but how many public companies and public institutions have been hacked in the last few years?

4. It's Too Expensive - It'll start cheap or free, but goes up from there. Anyone that has witnessed an SAP implementation knows this well.

5. It's Not Mechanisable - People like shrink-wrap, cool graphics and shiny boxes. I suppose the electronics store could have a card to take to the register similar to buying Sudafed.

6. Users Have No Sense of Ownership - People like having things, like books, boxes, disks, etc. It's just not the same printing a receipt from a website.

7. When Online Software Companies Go Under, So Does Your Software - And you are left with a unusable backup of your data; maybe thousands can be spent getting it converted. Where did the data go the XDrive.com was storing. I had data there, albeit just to test the service, and received no notice when they closed down.

8. Users Are Subservient to Terms-of-Service Agreements - Imagine getting shutout because you violated line 2419 of the service agreement, will you still be in business by the time it gets sorted out. What if a new uglier agreement comes along?

9. Users Have No Control Over Versioning - You get upgrades whether you like them or not. If they break your application or the way you use it, where are you in the support queue? I'm sure they'll treat a small company the same as a multi-million dollar customer...

10. Potential for Gouging - Sort along the lines of number 4, but if they have you over a barrel and you don't have the resources to switch to a new provider (or worse they are the only one who offers the service) then start coughing up more money.

Again, I don't think SaaS and Cloud Computing is inherently bad, but it is something that needs strong consideration before putting all the company eggs in someone elses basket.

It's Linux too

Just back from a long a trip to Panama which was eventful yet fun.

On the first airplane leaving SFO I was watching the spinning hourglass on the entertainment screen in the seat in front of me. The captain then told us the system was experiencing some issues and they would be rebooting it.

So they did, three times. I snapped a pic on the second reboot. It finally started working, but a number of the games were broken and unplayable, plus the media (read mp3 player) was all but useless, since I had to manually advance the playlist after each song finished. By the end of the flight, the music stopped playing altogether.

I only bring this up because everyone seems to gloat and post pictures when a Windows system has to reboot in public. My point being, there isn't a perfect OS and there never will be as long as we humans do the programming. As soon as Skynet is active and creating the programs, it'll be better for all of us ;-)

Amusing Computer Quotes

Enjoy...

"Those parts of the system that you can hit with a hammer are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software."
-- Anonymous

Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
-- Isaac Asimov

 "Science is supposedly the method by which we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. In computer science, we all are standing on each others' feet."
-- G. Popek

"I sit looking at this damn computer screen all day long, day in and day out, week after week, and think: Man, if I could just find the 'on' switch..."  
-- Zachary Good

Thanks to Guillaume for some of them.

Only one DC?

Okay, maybe this is a soapbox item, but I've been to too many companies with only one domain controller.

Most of these companies have a full system backup running, but upon complete failure a restore will take a few hours minimum. One such outage and the cost of labor to pay an IT professional to restore a domain controller is about break-even, with an example price of $700+  for a Windows Server license and the cost of a cheap server or desktop. That of course doesn't really cover the true cost; if you have a company of twenty-five employees sitting around waiting for the server to come back online, now you're really talking money. With another domain controller present (with sufficient resources), the clients may never even notice the difference should a primary system fail.

Unfortunately, many small companies look at the short term cost of items rather than focusing on the immense cost of a prolonged outage or lost productivity with subpar equipment or dated technology. But in tough economic times many of these choices are made for them.

Free Vista Resource Kit eBook

Yes, free Vista Resource Kit eBook. Not sure how long it'll be available so get it while it's hot!

Read Them All

Most people like magazines, right? They are thin, portable and the text comes in easily digestible chunks (aka articles). I am apparently a big fan as I am currently subscribed to ten, yes ten, magazines.

Now it started rather simply, I would get Car & Driver or MotorTrend for a year or two and then stop after I found I wasn't reading them. Once I got into the IT field however, I felt compelled (and still do) to subscribe to magazines that help me stay current, learn new trends and teach me solutions I can pass on to my customers. Sounds innocent enough, but I can't read them all. Most sit unread until a year goes by and they are recycled. I imagine I could just put the recycle bin under the mailbox saving myself a year of guilt.

I originally only subscribed to Windows IT Pro (Windows NT Magazine at the time), but as time passed it seemed that I should get whatever free magazines I could; too much knowledge can't be detrimental, right?

So now it seems to have spiraled out of control and I have periodicals showing up every few days. The list I've created below shows what I'm paying and how I wound up with some of them. If only I could ingest ten magazines a month, I would be extremely knowledgeable and would be able to command a higher consulting rate. But alas, I seem to have more time for PGR4 and GH3 than to feed my brain.

As I sit here typing, surrounded by three stacks of unread/partially read magazines, I've come to the conclusion (okay, I came to this before writing) that I will do my best to read through one a day. If I don't, I will recycle one of the oldest periodicals chosen from the pile. Hopefully I will stick to it and it will be the start of a very useful habit. And I better get started, mail is delivered again on Monday...

TechNet (free)

Redmond (free) (was Microsoft Certified Professional)

Windows IT Pro ($29, was WindowsNT and Windows.Net)

Redmond Channel Partner (free)

PC Magazine (used frequent flyer miles)

Via (comes with California's AAA membership)

Grassroots Motorsports (comes with NASA Racing membership)

Money ($10)

Reader's Digest (gift from mom)

National Geographic (gift from in-laws)

Microsoft Press E-books

Microsoft Press Books, while not always the best in their catagory are certainly useful. One feature I've come to really appreciate is that most of their books include a CD-ROM containing a full copy of the manual in eBook format, typically PDF.

This isn't to say other publishers like Sybex and O'Reilly don't do this, but it seems far more common with MS Press. Anyone who's lugged a 1310 page tome around with them can appreciate a searchable PDF.

For the last few months, my first search on a given tech subject is for a MS Press book with an eBook.

About

The About page has finally been updated.