March 2005 - Posts
Looks interesting. You need to register to see the webcast
Source: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032269128&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US
In this webcast and learn how criminals use the Internet to infiltrate the security of your network. Learn about the underground economy associated with these threats and the co-operation of spammers and virus writers. We will also cover Phishing and attacks against the finance sector, Worms and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, and we'll address the issue of "Where are the network police?" Join us in this webcast as Mikko H. Hyppönen, Chief Research Officer of F-Secure Corporation, helps you understand Phishers, spammers and scanners, and how to better secure your network from these threats.
The download is a 10.4mb File with 01:06 of entertainment!
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=22CFC239-337C-4D81-8354-72593B1C1F43&displaylang=en
Install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) to help secure your server and to better defend against hackers. Windows Server 2003 SP1 enhances security infrastructure by providing new security tools such as Security Configuration Wizard, which helps secure your server for role-based operations, improves defense-in-depth with Data Execution Protection, and provides a safe and secure first-boot scenario with Post-setup Security Update Wizard. Windows Server 2003 SP1 assists IT professionals in securing their server infrastructure and provides enhanced manageability and control for Windows Server 2003 users.
Source2: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/mar05/03-30winservsp1pr.asp
REDMOND, Wash. -- March 30, 2005 -- Microsoft Corp. today released to manufacturing Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). This unique service pack provides customers with significant security enhancements as well as reliability and performance improvements. Building on a comprehensive collection of security updates, Service Pack 1 addresses additional core security issues by providing customers with a reduced attack surface, better protected system services with stronger default settings, and reduced privileges.
"With Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, our development team took the time to treat the root cause of many security issues, not just the symptoms. This service pack is very significant and should help address certain classes of exploits," said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Windows Server Division at Microsoft. "Service Pack 1 is a major component of our overall strategy to help keep customers as secure as possible. I encourage all of our Windows Server 2003 customers to deploy Service Pack 1."
"IDC research consistently finds that customers look forward to a first service pack after a product release to bolster the security of the Windows environment," said Al Gillen, research director for system software at IDC. "In the case of Windows Server 2003 SP1, Microsoft has brought forward not just the normal collection of updates, but several tools that promote more-secure network configuration and a streamlined way to administer the latest security releases."
Service Pack 1 Offers Customers New Security Enhancements
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 provides new functionality to address known security vulnerabilities and prepares companies to better face future security threats. These new technologies include the following:
- Security Configuration Wizard. Customers can more easily reduce attack surface area with the new Security Configuration Wizard. The tool reduces the attack surface by gathering information about specific server roles, then automatically blocking all services and ports not needed to perform those roles.
- Windows Firewall. Customers can increase their security with the new Windows® Firewall on the server, allowing networkwide control through Group Policy. Also released with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Firewall serves as a host (software) firewall around each client and server computer on a customer's network.
- Post-Setup Security Updates (PSSU). Servers are vulnerable during the time between their installation and application of the latest security updates. In response, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 blocks all inbound connections to the server after installation until Windows Update has delivered the latest security updates to the new computer.
Other Service Pack 1 features that offer customers a more robust security defense include Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Metabase Auditing, which allows administrators to identify potential malicious users should the store become corrupted, stronger defaults and privilege reduction on services to establish a minimum security threshold for applications, and the addition of Network Access Quarantine Control components to allow administrators to isolate out-of-date virtual private networking (VPN) assets.
"Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 has enabled us to take our network security to the next level, and installation was practically seamless," said Jonathan Addington, network administrator at K2 Corp. "With the latest security updates, we've once again reduced our system vulnerability to viruses, worms and hacker attacks, and added functionality that continues to reduce system management costs."
Increased Reliability, Performance and Extensive Testing
Customers also can expect to see an increase in overall reliability and performance with the enhancements in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1. Microsoft internal testing shows customers can expect increased performance and reliability up to 50 percent, depending upon workload, after deploying Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1. In addition, Microsoft worked closely with its hardware and software partners to ensure the highest possible level of application and device compatibility for Service Pack 1. Microsoft tested a wide range of server applications including anti-virus, firewall, database, communication, business intelligence, Web development, financial and more. Microsoft also tested many Windows Server-based devices for compatibility with Service Pack 1.
Microsoft Plans Security Enhancements for Small Businesses Server
From small businesses to large enterprises, Microsoft is committed to continually improving its customers' security. Customers will be able to obtain Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP1 within the next 60 days through the Microsoft Web site. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/downloads/sp1/default.mspx.
Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP1 will include the latest service packs and updates for Windows Small Business Server 2003 and its product components. Also included are built-in and customized integration capabilities to ensure customers will have a smooth installation experience. Service Pack 1 improves on the security, performance, collaboration and productivity benefits built into Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Is Available Today
Microsoft customers can obtain Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 free via download from the Microsoft Download Center; or through Windows Update), OEM preinstallation, CD order, or the Volume Licensing and System Builder programs.
As part of the worldwide rollout of Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP1, Microsoft will localize the software in 18 languages over the next two months.
Also today, Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition were released to manufacturing and will be available through various partners in late April.
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6ec50b78-8be1-4e81-b3be-4e7ac4f0912d&displaylang=en
The Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 are intended for use by Microsoft support personnel and experienced users to assist in diagnosing and resolving computer problems. For individual tool descriptions, see the Windows Support Tools documentation (Suptools.chm).
The Windows Support Tools for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 can be installed only on a computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
It is highly recommended that you remove all previous versions of Support Tools, including beta versions of the Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows Server 2003, before you run the Support Tools installation program.
In light of Windows 2003 SP1!
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841561
You install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on a server cluster. The server cluster is running a clustered Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 back-end server. You experience the following symptoms:
- If a user tries to access a mailbox by using Microsoft Outlook Web Access, that user receives the following error message:
500 - Internal server error
- If you log on to a client computer by using administrator rights and then try to access a mailbox by using Outlook Web Access, you are successful.
CAUSE
This problem is caused by some of the security enhancements that are included with Windows Server 2003 SP1.
In this scenario, when a user tries to access a mailbox by using Outlook Web Access, HTTP requests into the clustering API by impersonating the logged-on user. However, there have been security changes in Windows Server 2003 SP1. The security restrictions for the APIs that perform remote registry access have been changed. Therefore, the logon attempt is not successful.
RESOLUTION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft
Date Time Version Size File name
--------------------------------------------------------------
03-Jun-2004 06:01 6.5.7232.0 1,086,464 Davex.dll
I learnt something yesterday and thought I would share it with you.
Did you know that if you record TV to any kind of media and then lend it, to a mate that you are actually breaking copyright!
No, neither did I! It would seem that anything you record is for personal use only!
Yup, the title is right, check out the Adidas-1, it is a training shoe with a built in microprocessor that can change the cushioning you need on the fly!
And they will only set you back about £170!!!
http://www.adidas-1.com
Just found this an wanted to share it!
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/compshortcuts.mspx
Learn keyboard combinations to quickly access programs, functions, and documents
If you're looking to work more efficiently in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Internet Explorer, the key is using programmed shortcuts
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/mar05/03-30MSNVideoDownloadsPR.asp
REDMOND, Wash. -- March 30, 2005 -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of MSN® Video Downloads, which will provide daily television programming, including video content from MSNBC.com, Food Network, FOX Sports and IFILM Corp., for download to Windows Mobile (TM) -based devices such as Portable Media Centers and select Smartphones and Pocket PCs.
Since the launch of the Microsoft® Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center last fall, more than 20 new content partners, including CinemaNow Inc., MLB.com, MSNBC.com, MSN Music, MTV Networks Music, Napster Inc., SnapStream Media Inc. and TiVo Inc., have agreed to make video available online specifically formatted for Windows Mobile-based multimedia devices.
"The launch of Portable Media Centers in 2004 began a new era of portable entertainment, and today's announcement solidifies the continued momentum we've seen for portable video," said John Pollard, director of Windows Mobile Applications and Services Marketing at Microsoft. "With content from some of the most recognized brands in entertainment, MSN Video Downloads helps bring this vision to life, allowing people to take their favorite television shows with them whether they are on the train, waiting for a doctor's appointment, or keeping the kids occupied in the back seat of the car."
"Readily available digital video content remains a key driver for the portable multimedia player market," said Josh Martin, associate research analyst at IDC. "The proliferation and growth of video service providers will serve to fill the existing video content void and increase adoption of portable multimedia players such as Windows Mobile-based devices."
Who?
Source: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2005/050329a.html
HP today announced that its board of directors has named Mark Hurd to serve as the company's chief executive officer and president.
Hurd, 48, has served since March 2003 as president and chief executive officer of NCR Corp. (NYSE: NCR), where he has spent his 25-year career in a range of general management, operations and sales and marketing positions. Prior to his current responsibilities, he was NCR's president and chief operating officer, responsible for driving the performance of the company's five business units. Previously, Hurd served three years as president and chief operating officer of the company's Teradata division, which he built to be a global leader in enterprise data warehousing, analytic applications and data warehousing services.
Nooooo! It's okay I'm not a customer, but...
Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/594c85b0-a0da-11d9-95e5-00000e2511c8,_i_rssPage=b233afc4-f586-11d7-81c6-0820abe49a01.html
Japan’s Mizuho Bank, plagued by system problems since its launch in 2002, said on Wednesday it had lost confidential account data on 270,000 customers.
The retail banking arm of Japan’s biggest lender, Mizuho Financial Group, said data including customers’ names, account numbers and transaction histories had been lost at 167 branches over a span of several years.
The bank said an internal investigation had uncovered no evidence that the data had been leaked to outsiders or misused.
Humm .. again!
Source: http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?editorialsid=6625
Microsoft and the European Commission settled on names for the version of Windows XP stripped of the Windows Media Player-- Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional Edition N.
The name was suggested by the European Commission and accepted by Microsoft after the commission rejected 10 suggestions from Microsoft, including Microsoft's initial offering, "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition."
This makes a good read!
Source: http://www.msexchange.org/articles/Exchange-Databases-Disk-Consumption.html
Exchange databases need disk space, once they run out of disk space they can not continue to function. My aim in this article is not to describe methods of preventing or solving the disk space problem(even though I will provide a tip or two)- my aim is to describe and explain the way that Exchange databases uses disk space.
As a direct evolutionary phase that stems from my first article the subject I would like to address in my second article is again disk space consumption but this time by the Exchange databases.
What will you gain from this you ask?
The answer is simple - a better understanding of how databases consume disk space which will enable you to manage the disk space you control in a more efficient manner.
Source: http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?editorialsid=6617
Microsoft renamed and put out a release candidate for Windows Update Services on Tuesday.
Windows Update Services is the 2.0 version of Software Update Services, a free add-on for managing security updates in multi-user environments. For the last few years, Microsoft has referred to the next version of SUS as Windows Update Services. Now the official long name is Windows Server Update Services, and the official short name is Update Services.
The release candidate marks a key product development milestone and should mean that Microsoft will make good on a promise to deliver the technology in the first half of this year. The public download of Update Services is available at www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/updateservices/evaluation/trial/default.mspx.
Yeah Baby!
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/23/nasa_rtf_shuttle/
NASA says that its plans to return to flight are on track for a May launch, confirming that all of the criteria for a new mission have now been met.
The US space agency grounded its Shuttle fleet after the loss of Columbia in February 2003. The shuttle burned-up on re-entry, because of a gap in its insulation tiles. Superheated gases made their way into the craft during re-entry, causing it to disintegrate. The accident killed all seven astronauts aboard.
Found these today - get the news at the same time as everyone else!
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/rss/
Microsoft PressPass currently offers two RSS feeds that can notify you whenever new content is published:
Microsoft PressPass - Press Releases: Provides links to the latest Microsoft corporate press releases.
Microsoft PressPass - Top Stories: Provides links to the latest Top Story feature articles published by Microsoft PressPass. These articles provide in-depth background on Microsoft technologies and strategies, including executive Q&As and technology backgrounders.
What a daft name!
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/mar05/03-29EUComplianceStatementPR.asp
REDMOND, Wash. -- March 29, 2005 -- Microsoft announced today that it has accepted a number of additional changes requested by the European Commission relating to the design and description of the version of Windows without Media Player.
In addition to other technical and packaging changes to the version of Windows without Media Player, Microsoft has agreed to:
- Delete references in retail packaging that certain products won't work properly with this version of Windows
- Create a software package that will enable the re-installation of all the media files that the Commission ordered Microsoft to remove in its Decision against the company
- Change various registry settings
The company was required to develop this new version of Windows, which the Commission recently instructed Microsoft to name "Windows XP Home Edition N" and "Windows XP Professional N," as part of the Commission decision issued on March 24, 2004. A year to the day after this Decision, the Commission provided Microsoft with a list of additional changes to make to the product.
We are pleased to have finally received this feedback, and now that we have it, our interest and priority are in implementing the Commission's instructions as quickly as possible.
Ooops!
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/29/barclays_bank_holiday/
Barclays Bank is still investigating what went wrong over the Bank Holiday weekend to cause its network of cash points or ATMs to crash over the weekend.
Barclays customers could not get cash out until 5.00pm Sunday. The problem hit 1,500 machines in southern England. Telephone and internet banking were also affected
Some reports suggested this was due to human error - Saturday night was the start of British Summer Time so clocks in the UK went forward an hour. Early reports were that a Barclays employee may have moved a server's internal clock back instead of forward.
Barclays, which apologised for the problems, denied the time change was to blame.
A spokeswoman for Barclays told El Reg: "We are still investigating what went wrong but early reports suggest a small piece of IT hardware." She would not elaborate on what the equipment is but said it was definitely not a clock
Here is something to keep filed away for a rainy day! Together with: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesrvr
Source: http://blogs.technet.com/gerod_serafin/archive/2005/03/24/401772.aspx
I don't know who started this list first, but it is useful for me. I thought that I would put it out there for everyone to use. I’ve added some versions that weren’t on it originally and made some corrections as well. If you find that this list is wrong or out of date, let me know and I’ll update it. The list is sorted by RTM date.
|
Release Name |
Version |
RTM Date |
Supported |
Extended Support |
|
Exchange 2003 SP1 |
06.05.06.7226 |
05/25/2004 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Exchange 2003 |
06.05.04.6944 |
06/30/2003 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Exchange 2000 SP3 |
06.00.04.6249 |
07/18/2002 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Exchange 2000 SP2 |
06.00.04.5762 |
11/29/2001 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 2000 SP1 |
06.00.07.4712 |
06/21/2001 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 2000 |
06.00.05.4417 |
11/29/2000 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 5.5 SP4 |
05.05.23.2653 |
11/01/2000 |
No |
Yes until 31-Dec-05 |
|
Exchange 5.5 SP3 |
05.05.23.2650 |
09/09/1999 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 5.5 SP2 |
05.05.01.2448 |
12/23/1998 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 5.5 SP1 |
05.05.18.2232 |
08/05/1998 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 4.0 SP5 |
04.00.72.996 |
05/05/1998 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 5.0 SP2 |
05.00.13.1460 |
02/10/1998 |
No |
Yes until 31-Dec-05 |
|
Exchange 5.5 |
05.05.06.1960 |
11/05/1997 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 5.0 SP1 |
05.00.00.1458 |
06/18/1997 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 4.0 SP4 |
04.00.54.995 |
03/28/1997 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 4.0 SP3 |
04.00.00.994 |
10/29/1996 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 4.0 SP2 |
04.00.00.993 |
07/19/1996 |
No |
No |
|
Exchange 4.0 SP1 |
04.00.00.838 |
05/01/1996 |
No |
No |
Watch out for this one. Not tried it yet, but if I get time I will tomrrow
Source: http://winzenz.blogspot.com/2005/03/mozilla-thunderbird-causes-issues-with.html
I haven't seen this issue before, but just heard a report of it today. Apparently, if you install portions of Mozilla's suite (esp. Thunderbird) on your Exchange server [1], it will cause issues with Exchange services starting and will cause Exchange System Manager to crash upon opening. That's obviously not a good thing. Event logs for the error generated by System Manager would be similar to the following:
Faulting application exadmin.dll, version 6.5.7226.0, stamp 406d1e32, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 5.2.3790.0, stamp 3e802494, debug? 0, fault address 0x000249d3.
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Microsoft Exchange Server
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 3/28/2005
Time: 10:58:20 AM
User: N/A
Computer: EXCHANGE SERVER
Description:
Faulting application exadmin.dll, version 6.5.7226.0, stamp 406d1e32, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 5.2.3790.0, stamp 3e802494, debug? 0, fault address 0x000249d3.
The apparent cause ended up being that Mozilla was replacing the default mapi32.dll file with it's own version and placing it in the \windows \system32 directory. The fix was to delete the mapi32.dll file that Mozilla placed in there and replace it with mapi32-moz-bak.dll (the backup copy Mozilla makes of the current mapi32.dll), then restarting the Exchange services.
Humm impressive, a call back from Elonex in just over two hours.
They are going to organise an engineer to come and pick it up. It would see the Hard Disk is actually located behind the display, so it's not an easy job to do in my kitchen ;-)
Asked if they could provide an MCE 2005 image (you have to ask don't you) but he said they can't really due to licencing issues. It would also seem that the new eXentia's have a different remote control that can do teletext. What is interesting is that it's still windows xp, so the licence key will work okay (in theory) and MCE is just an extension to XP
Anyway, let see how long it takes for an engineer to call and turn up
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=887612
When you try to use Microsoft Outlook Web Access, you may experience the following problem. When you log off Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and then log on again by opening Outlook Web Access in the same Web browser window, you may be redirected to the wrong page. This problem does not occur if you close the Web browser window and then log on to Exchange 2003 by opening Outlook Web Access in a new Web browser window.
This problem may occur when you are not using the default URL to log on to Exchange Server 2003. The default URL for Exchange is http://Your_Site_Name/exchange. For example, if your Exchange environment is configured to use a URL such as http://Your_Site_Name/Your_Virtual_Directory_Name for Outlook Web Access, you may experience this problem.
RESOLUTION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft
Date Time Version Size File name
--------------------------------------------------------
10-Mar-2005 03:31 186 Blank.htm
10-Mar-2005 03:32 884 Ctrl_calendar.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 8,454 Ctrl_calendar.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 32,093 Ctrl_calendar.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,408 Ctrl_calendarview.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 12,910 Ctrl_calendarview.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 76,663 Ctrl_calendarview.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 489 Ctrl_calendarviewprn.css
14-Dec-2004 20:57 12,985 Ctrl_calviewdaily.xsl
14-Dec-2004 20:57 12,374 Ctrl_calviewmonthly.xsl
14-Dec-2004 20:57 8,425 Ctrl_calviewweekly.xsl
10-Mar-2005 03:33 986 Ctrl_ctxtmenu.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 4,920 Ctrl_ctxtmenu.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 3,565 Ctrl_datepicker.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 35,382 Ctrl_datepicker.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 6,575 Ctrl_formatbar.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 19,094 Ctrl_formatbar.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,658 Ctrl_freebusy.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,349 Ctrl_freebusy.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 35,039 Ctrl_freebusy.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 3,068 Ctrl_message.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 16,027 Ctrl_message.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 6,636 Ctrl_mimeformatbar.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 11,742 Ctrl_mimeformatbar.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,352 Ctrl_notify.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:31 473 Ctrl_notify.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 5,694 Ctrl_poll.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,351 Ctrl_reminder.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:32 8,482 Ctrl_reminder.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 864 Ctrl_tabpages.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:32 1,408 Ctrl_tabpages.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 2,736 Ctrl_tree.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:32 26,880 Ctrl_tree.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 2,470 Ctrl_tree_pf.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:32 26,286 Ctrl_tree_pf.js
14-Dec-2004 20:57 1,909 Ctrl_tree_pf.xsl
10-Mar-2005 03:33 3,115 Ctrl_view.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:32 73,451 Ctrl_view.js
14-Dec-2004 20:57 42,533 Ctrl_view.xsl
10-Mar-2005 04:47 6.5.7232.90 1,086,464 Davex.dll
10-Mar-2005 03:32 6,183 Dlg_anr.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 6,915 Dlg_editname.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 22,901 Dlg_editrule.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,184 Dlg_editsignature.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 19,095 Dlg_gal.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 6,035 Dlg_gallookup.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 7,137 Dlg_junk.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,942 Dlg_movecopy.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 2,963 Dlg_newfolder.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 18,270 Dlg_options.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 19,887 Dlg_recurrence.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 27,575 Dlg_reminder.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 9,487 Dlg_rules.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 15,404 Dlg_spell.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 22,594 Dlg_taskrecurrence.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 9,893 Dl_appointment.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 7,835 Dl_composeapptrecurr.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,380 Dl_composecommon.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 14,895 Dl_composetaskrecurr.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 6,165 Dl_contact.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 3,687 Dl_folderview.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 3,788 Dl_junk.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 7,357 Dl_misc.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 5,441 Dl_options.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 13,263 Dl_task.js
09-Mar-2005 15:18 6.5.7232.90 2,567,168 Exoledb.dll
03-Mar-2005 21:51 6.5.7232.89 8,192 Exspmsg.dll
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,141 Frm_attach.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 28,843 Frm_composeappt.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 14,381 Frm_composecdl.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 27,724 Frm_composecontact.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 14,464 Frm_composenote.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 10,429 Frm_composepost.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 31,404 Frm_composetask.js
09-Mar-2005 14:02 6,319 Frm_forwardmeeting.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 493 Frm_logoff.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 25,359 Frm_mimecommon.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 49,641 Frm_mimenote.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,314 Frm_mimepreviewpane.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 2,418 Frm_previewpane.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 11,328 Frm_readappt.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 6,099 Frm_readnote.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,984 Frm_readpost.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 3,448 Frm_readreports.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 5,068 Frm_readtask.js
10-Mar-2005 03:22 6.5.7232.90 67,584 Owaauth.dll
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,932 Owaprint.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 10,499 Owastyle.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,702 Owastyledl.css
10-Mar-2005 18:37 5.3.18.6 316,672 Setupmcl.exe
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,060 Sps.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 216 Style-chs30.css
09-Mar-2005 14:03 203 Style-cht30.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 222 Style-jpn30.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 200 Style-kor30.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 204 Style-large30.css
10-Mar-2005 03:33 204 Style30.css
14-Dec-2004 20:57 6,941 Tf_galfind.xsl
14-Dec-2004 20:57 11,610 Tf_messages.xsl
14-Dec-2004 20:57 10,677 Tf_twoline.xsl
10-Mar-2005 03:32 1,501 Util_addrval.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 4,293 Util_buttons.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 3,438 Util_calendar.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 877 Util_calmessaging.htc
10-Mar-2005 03:32 8,747 Util_calmessaging.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 16,992 Util_forms.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 9,061 Util_mimemsg.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 17,315 Util_owa.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 14,167 Util_recipients.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 27,763 Util_view.js
19-Oct-2004 03:40 598 View-webpage.gif
10-Mar-2005 03:32 8,134 Vw_calendar.js
10-Mar-2005 03:33 1,062 Vw_calendarpart.css
10-Mar-2005 03:32 636 Vw_calendarpart.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 1,938 Vw_contact.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 2,659 Vw_dumpster.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 9,646 Vw_message.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 1,612 Vw_messagepart.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 34,462 Vw_navbar.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 8,926 Vw_search.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 5,333 Vw_task.js
10-Mar-2005 03:32 3,483 Vw_taskpart.js
10-Mar-2005 03:30 6.5.7232.90 5,181,440 Wmtemplates.dll
03-Mar-2005 21:51 6.1.22.4 371,936 Updspapi.dll
14-Dec-2004 07:27 11,282 Logoff.asp
Cor blimey gov'ner, this is damm handy
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=891968
This article describes a hotfix that enables Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to log an event in the Application log when a user deletes a public folder. To enable Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to log public folder events, you must perform the following procedure:
- Apply the hotfix.
- Set the logging level for public folders to Medium or to Maximum in Diagnostic Logging.
MORE INFORMATION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft
Date Time Version Size File name
--------------------------------------------------------------
17-Feb-2005 01:16 6.5.7232.83 3,257,856 Mdbmsg.dll
17-Feb-2005 01:46 6.5.7232.83 5,166,080 Store.exe
After you apply this hotfix, you must set the logging level for public folders to Medium or to Maximum. When you do this, the following event is logged in the Application log when a user deletes a public folder:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeIS Public Store
Event Category: General Event ID: 9682
Description: Folder /Name_of_Public_Folder with folder ID ID_Number was deleted by /o=Exchange_Organization_Name/ou=Exchange_Site_Name/cn=Recipients_Container/cn=User, user account Domain\NTAccount_Name.
Humm, interesting
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=839913
When you use a Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) client computer to access a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 computer, you may receive the following error message:
The page must be viewed over a secure channel
The page you are trying to access is secured with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
Please try the following:
Type https:// at the beginning of the address you are attempting to reach and press ENTER.
HTTP Error 403.4 - Forbidden: SSL is required to view this resource.
Internet Information Services (IIS)
CAUSE
This problem occurs if the OWA client accesses the Exchange 2003 computer through a third-party firewall server. For example, you use the following URL:
https://myserver/exchange
The SSL hardware accelerator that is installed in the third-party firewall decrypts the request and then passes the following URL to the Exchange 2003 computer:
http://myserver/exchange
Then, Exchange 2003 returns the following URL to the OWA client:
http://myserver/exchange
When the OWA client uses this URL to log on to the Exchange 2003 computer, you receive an "HTTP Error 403.4" error message.
RESOLUTION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft
Exchange 2003 without Service Pack 1
Date Time Version Size File name
--------------------------------------------------------------
19-Apr-2004 06:49 6.5.6980.82 67,584 Owaauth.dll
Exchange 2003 with Service Pack 1
Date Time Version Size File name
--------------------------------------------------------------
15-Jun-2004 17:07 6.5.7232.1 67,584 Owaauth.dll
So, at the start of 2004 I embrased the whole Windows XP Media Center thing and purchased an Elonex eXentia.
On the whole it's a very nice looking machine, and the preinstalled MCE 2004 works okay.
That was until yesterday. It had taken me months to get my wife to use the damm thing (it's took seconds with tghe Sky+ box), and all of a sudden recorded TV started to freeze when I rebooted it said disk failure !!
Doh! Luckly, I don't have much on it, but it's now time to see how good Elonex are.
I'm about to place a support call to get them to come out and fix it .. wonder how long it's going to take. I'll keep you posted ;-)
Humm
Source: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/23702004.htm
Kylie Minogue is set to headline this year’s prestigious Glastonbury music festival.
The sexy singer has allegedly agreed to top the bill on the final night of the three day British event which takes place in June.
Kylie is said to have been in talks with organizer Michael Eavis for months about performing at the hugely popular festival - famed for it’s muddy fields and wet weather.
This will put a smile on your case!
Customer: "I've been ringing 0700 2300 for two days and can't get through to enquiries, can you help?".
Operator: "Where did you get that number from, sir?".
Customer: "It was on the door to the Travel Centre".
Operator: "Sir, they are our opening hours".
Samsung Electronics
Caller: "Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?"
Operator: "I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about".
Caller: "On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?"
Operator: "I think you mean the telephone point on the wall".
RAC Motoring Services
Caller: "Does your European Breakdown Policy cover me when I am Travelling in Australia?"
Operator: Doesn't the product name give you a clue?
Caller (enquiring about legal requirements while travelling in France): "If I register my car in France, do I have to change the steering Wheel to the other side of the car?"
Directory Enquiries
Caller: "I'd like the number of the Argoed Fish Bar in Cardiff please".
Operator: "I'm sorry, there's no listing. Is the spelling correct?"
Caller: "Well, it used to be called the Bargoed Fish Bar but the 'B' fell off".
Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: "Woven? Are you sure?"
Caller: "Yes. That's what it says on the label; Woven in Scotland".
On another occasion, a man making heavy breathing sounds from a phone Box told a worried operator: "I haven't got a pen, so I'm steaming up the window to write the number on".
Computer Capers
Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop".
Customer: "OK".
Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?".
Customer: "No".
Tech Support: "OK. Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No".
Tech Support: "OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?".
Customer: "Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'".
Tech Support: "OK. In the bottom left hand side of the screen, can you see the 'OK' button displayed?"
Customer: "Wow. How can you see my screen from there?"
Caller: "I deleted a file from my PC last week and I have just Realised that I need it. If I turn my system clock back two weeks will I have my file back again?".
There's always one. This has got to be one of the funniest things in a long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired.
This is a true story from the Word Perfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care department. Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for "Termination without Cause".
Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee. (Now I know why they record these conversations!):
Operator: "Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?"
Caller: "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."
Operator: "What sort of trouble??"
Caller: "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."
Operator: "Went away?"
Caller: "They disappeared."
Operator: "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"
Caller: "Nothing."
Operator: "Nothing??"
Caller: "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."Operator: "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out??"
Caller: "How do I tell?"
Operator: "Can you see the C: prompt on the screen??"
Caller: "What's a sea-prompt?"
Operator: "Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?"
Caller: "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type."
Operator: "Does your monitor have a power indicator??"
Caller: "What's a monitor?"
Operator: "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on??"
Caller: "I don't know."
Operator: "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??"
Caller: "Yes, I think so."
Operator: "Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall.
Caller: "Yes, it is."
Operator: "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one??"
Caller: "No."
Operator: "Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."
Caller: "Okay, here it is."
Operator: "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."
Caller: "I can't reach."
Operator: "Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is??"
Caller: "No."
Operator: "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over??"
Caller: "Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark."
Operator: "Dark??"
Caller: "Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."
Operator: "Well, turn on the office light then."
Caller: "I can't."
Operator: "No? Why not??"
Caller: "Because there's a power failure."
Operator: "A power... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in??"
Caller: "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."
Operator: "Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."
Caller: "Really? Is it that bad?"
Operator: "Yes, I'm afraid it is."
Caller: "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them??"
Operator: "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."
Hello everyone - does anyone read this at all?
Any way, if you do, i'll sim blog to this blog and my new one. Yeah that's right, a new one!.
I have been playing with communityserver, and it's not bad at all, nice and easy to install and tons better than .Text
So, check it out .. http://blogs.flaphead.com
Let me know what you think .. on the new blog of course
Came across this one recently and thought it worthy of sharing.
If you have Exchange 5.5/ Exchange 2000 / Exchange 2003 with SP1 and you are moving mailboxes across Administrative Groups between Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003, Move Mailbox will actually query the Exchange 5.5 directory for the user you are moving.
So you need to make sure that the legacyExchangeDN of the user in the AD has a matches with the obj-dist-name of the user in Exchange 5.5, otherwise you will get this error:
There is no such object on the server.
You could get this is your ADC Connection Agreements are set to one-way and not two-way
Also, the account you are moving the mailboxes with, needs to have the right permissions to the Exchange 5.5 org aswell as the AD and Exchange 200x
Yeah baby!
Source: http://www.symbian.com/press-office/2005/pr050322.html
London, UK – March 22, 2005 – Symbian Limited today announced that it has licensed the Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol for use in Symbian OS™, the leading open standard operating system for advanced mobile phones.
Under the terms of the agreement, Symbian will develop an Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol – plug-in – for the Symbian OS messaging architecture to enable Symbian OS licensees – the world's leading mobile phone manufacturers – to include in their Symbian OS-based phones direct over-the-air (OTA) synchronization capabilities for email, calendar, contacts and other personal information management (PIM) data supported by Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 .
Symbian will make the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol plug-in available to all Symbian OS licensees which, when coupled with a separate standard distribution agreement with Microsoft, enables the licensees, at their discretion, to implement direct synchronization capabilities with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 in their selected Symbian OS products with reduced time to market, improved interoperability and lower development costs.
Damm fine car - but ...
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4366733.stm
The former American car maker John DeLorean has died aged 80.
DeLorean, whose car company at Dunmurry near Belfast collapsed in 1982, died in New Jersey on Saturday of complications after a recent stroke.
The government had backed his factory with £80m of public money, in the hope that it would create 2,000 jobs.
He was acquitted of conspiring to sell $24m of cocaine to save the firm in Los Angeles in 1982 but died still wanted on fraud charges in the UK.
DeLorean, whose namesake car was turned into a time machine in the Back to the Future films, had been a rising executive at General Motors before starting his own company.
Manufacture of the DeLorean DMC-12 car began at the Dunmurry plant in 1981, with fewer than 9,000 cars rolling off the production lines before its closure in 1982.
Despite the firm's failure the car, with its unpainted stainless steel skin and gull-wing doors, gained a cult following.
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7166&feedId=online-news_rss20
The safety recommendations set out by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board are prompting NASA to make many changes to its operation of the International Space Station, as well as the shuttle fleet itself. The changes were set out in 220-page report released by the agency on Thursday.
After the Columbia shuttle disaster, CAIB gave NASA a list of things it must improve, including broad management changes and technical fixes. It did not specifically recommend safety improvements for the International Space Station.
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7162&feedId=online-news_rss20
The second of four gyroscopes aboard the International Space Station has broken down again after a circuit breaker failed on Wednesday. Ground controllers believe the problem was caused by a tripped circuit breaker.
The US-built gyroscopes are used to keep the station in the correct orientation, with each of the 227-kilogram instruments spinning at about 6600 revolutions per minute. At least two gyros are needed to control the station's alignment and, since one had already failed in 2002, this latest problem left the minimum number of gyros in working order.
Err, chocolate but not as you know it!
Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/55793.html
Al Ain Dairy and Austrian-based Hochleitner have developed chocolates made of camel milk. They will set up a chocolate factory in Al Ain to open in Q2 2006 which will have a capacity of 50 tons per month. Camel milk will be supplied by an Al Ain Dairy camel farm which is expected to add 2000 camels to meet supply needs.
I found this quite scarey and wondered if anyone else does too. The subliminal power of adverts is interesting, and so is it's affect on people.
One recent advert in particular is by Motorola and the catch phrase they use "Hello Moto"
It's amazing how many people have been greeting me with "hello Moto" and my name isn't event Moto!?! and it's catching as i'm using it now too!
TechNet Webcast: Implementing Exchange Server Security (Part 1 of 2): Securing Services and Messaging Protocols (Level 300)
Monday, April 04, 2005 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): Securing communication over networks is essential to securing your organization from intrusions, overloads, and interruptions of many types. In this first session of a two-part series on Exchange Server Security, we describe how to deploy a more secure Exchange Server 2003 infrastructure and how to secure its server services and messaging protocols.
Small Business Webcast: Choosing the Right Windows Mobile Device (Level 100)
Tuesday, April 05, 2005 9:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): With so many mobile devices now on the market, how do you choose the right one to take on the road? This webcast demonstrates how to use mobile devices such as the Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Tablet PC, PocketPC, and Smartphone. Learn how each of these devices helps you stay connected and how to decide which one is right for you.
Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Microsoft in the Mobile Enterprise
Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): : Microsoft Windows Mobile software is a key component of the Microsoft platform for the mobile enterprise. In this session, learn Microsoft's strategy for the mobile enterprise, understand the mobile ecosystem, and become familiar with the core enterprise features of Windows Mobile-based devices.
MSDN Webcast: Implementing Security for Mobile Device Solutions (Level 200)
Friday, April 08, 2005 - 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): Are you dealing with security issues and concerns with your Microsoft Windows Mobile-based solutions? This webcast will describe the various the security considerations for building mobile software solutions and the tools, technologies and strategies available to the mobile developer. Both traditional applications accessed through mobile devices and solutions designed specifically for mobile use can be affected. You will learn how to use the security features of the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework in conjunction with Windows Mobile-based PocketPC and Smartphone capabilities to provide more secure file storage and data access. During this 90-minute webcast will also cover how to protect mobile device communications with your application servers.
TechNet Webcast: Implementing Exchange Server Security (Part 2 of 2): Protecting Against Unwanted E-Mail (Level 300)
Monday, April 11, 2005 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): This second session of a two-part series on Exchange Server Security describes how to increase the security of e-mail that flows through an organization's Exchange servers. We also introduce you to Exchange Server 2003 features such as Real Time Block List support and Intelligent Message Filtering, tools making it easier to reduce the amount of unwanted e-mail before it spreads through your organization.
Quest Software presents Exchange - Management, Auditing & Enforcement
12 April 2005 09:30 - 12 April 2005 13:00 (GMT) GMT, London: In this half-day session, you will receive Quest’s field-tested and proven, step-by-step methodologies and product demonstrations that will enable you to make the most of your investment in Microsoft Exchange.
TechNet Webcast: Scripting Exchange with Collaborative Data Objects (Level 300)
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): Exercise automated control over Microsoft® Exchange Server (2000 and 2003) by using CDO, the Collaborative Data Objects library. You'll learn how CDO is put together, and examine scripts that send mail, modify mailboxes, manipulate Exchange user properties, and much more. This advanced session is best enjoyed by administrators with existing VBScript experience and a strong familiarity with both ADSI and WMI.
Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Extending Applications to the Edge with the Windows Mobile Platform
Thursday, April 14, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): In an increasingly competitive business world, providing real-time information and access from enterprise systems to remote workers is often essential to success. There are a number of challenges to empowering your employees and customers on the edge of your computing infrastructure, but there are answers to these challenges. Join us for a presentation focusing on how the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform can enable your organization to successfully extend enterprise systems, data and processes to your highly mobile workforce and help gain a competitive advantage.
Vistorm - Exchange Mobility event with Orange and Microsoft
19 April 2005 09:45 - 19 April 2005 12:45 (GMT) GMT, London: If you are deploying or have deployed Exchange Server 2003, did you know mobility is in the box? Why buy another point solution when you already have what you need from your IT platform?
Organisations have recognised the need to have an IT infrastructure that supports a flexible workforce, as this can provide them with the competitive advantage of access to information whilst mobile. However, making the right strategic choice for a mobile platform is crucial.
Microsoft®, Orange will be hosting this event with our partner for an overview of the Power of Flexible Working. Learn how you can leverage Exchange Server 2003 and the Orange SPV series to increase the productivity of your employees whilst making your IT infrastructure more secure.
TechNet Webcast: Troubleshooting Exchange Activesync and Outlook Mobile Access (Level 300)
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): Explore all aspects of troubleshooting Exchange Server 2003 Activesync and Outlook Mobile Access - from the initial design through to implementation and finally troubleshooting any problems that may occur. Take an in-depth look at: Configuring SSL; Installing certificates on Exchange, ISA server, and the mobile device; Configuring ISA server 2004; Dreaded HHTP error codes on the device; and Required IIS permissions. This session is prepared using the knowledge of over 12 months troubleshooting in the real world. If you're serious about accessing Exchange Server 2003 using Windows Mobile devices, then this session is a must.
TechNet Webcast: Troubleshooting Exchange Activesync and Outlook Mobile Access (Level 300)
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): Explore all aspects of troubleshooting Exchange Server 2003 Activesync and Outlook Mobile Access - from the initial design through to implementation and finally troubleshooting any problems that may occur. Take an in-depth look at: Configuring SSL; Installing certificates on Exchange, ISA server, and the mobile device; Configuring ISA server 2004; Dreaded HHTP error codes on the device; and Required IIS permissions. This session is prepared using the knowledge of over 12 months troubleshooting in the real world. If you're serious about accessing Exchange Server 2003 using Windows Mobile devices, then this session is a must.
Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Calculating the Business Value of Windows Mobile
Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): Microsoft Windows Mobile solutions can have a positive impact on your bottom line in two ways: a quick return on investment (ROI) for line of business applications such as sales force automation, and low total cost of ownership (TCO) for built-in mobile messaging and personal information management with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. This session discusses how to identify workflows that are candidates for mobilization, demonstrates a Web-based tool for estimating line of business ROI and mobile messaging TCO, and looks at examples of companies who have realized the business benefits of Windows Mobile solutions.
TechNet Webcast: Understanding the Exchange Store (Level 300)
Friday, April 29, 2005 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada): So just how does the Exchange Store work? Understanding this is critical to improve your chances of recovery from a disaster. Join this webcast to find out how, as we present topics including: Log files and database signatures; correct use of eseutil; low level understanding of offline and online backups; identifying the files required in a backup set; and database errors in Event Viewer. The webcast has the demos to illustrate the topics, and presents some surprising results. The content for this webcast was developed as the result of 12 months of training PSS across 5 continents, and condensed into this one session.
Oh err misses!
Source: http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?editorialsid=6608
WinFS, the Windows future storage subsystem, could end up in Windows XP as well as Windows "Longhorn" when the technology ships, Microsoft officials said.
"We are currently evaluating making the WinFS storage subsystem available on this platform [Windows XP] as well," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement.
WinFS is designed to provide advanced data organization and management capabilities, for better capturing and searching the relationships among data. Originally billed as one of the key enhancements in Windows "Longhorn," Microsoft decided in August to pull WinFS from the operating system. Instead the company plans to release a beta of WinFS when the Longhorn client becomes generally available. The Longhorn client is supposed to ship in 2006, the Longhorn server is scheduled for 2007.
Hold on to your pants!
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7157&feedId=online-news_rss20
Indonesia and Germany signed an agreement this week to install a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean. Though some of the pieces will be in place by October, it could turn out to be a race against time.
The quake that caused last year's devastating tsunami has increased the stress on other faults nearby, according to a study published this week. This has left the region primed for one or two major earthquakes, and possibly another tsunami.
The earthquake on 26 December, 2004, occurred when the dense India tectonic plate slipped under the Burma plate. This deformed the seabed leading to the tsunami that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
When an earthquake occurs in such a subduction zone, where one plate slips under another, it is often followed by another, in addition to the aftershocks. For example, on the Nankai subduction zone to the south-east of Japan, five of the last seven major quakes were followed within five years by major earthquakes along an adjoining segment of the fault, and three of those occurred within a year.
"Big earthquakes make other big earthquakes more likely," says John McCloskey of the University of Ulster, UK, who led a study that measured the changes in stress in the plate boundaries in the Indian Ocean and Sumatra (Nature, vol 434, p 291). This is because a big earthquake often increases stress in other sections of the same fault or those nearby.
It has been long expected and waited for but here it is. Go download it and run it against YOUR exchange system!
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=dbab201f-4bee-4943-ac22-e2ddbd258df3&displaylang=en
The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer programmatically collects settings and values from data repositories such as Active Directory, registry, metabase and performance monitor. Once collected, a set of comprehensive ‘best practice’ rules are applied to the topology.
Administrators running this tool will get a detailed report listing the recommendations that can be made to the environment to achieve greater performance, scalability and uptime. What's New in Version 2?
Many of the newest features help make the administration of the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool even easier. Some of these new features include:
- Support for Microsoft Operations Management (MOM) 2005. The tool can be configured to run under the MOM agent on each server. The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Management Pack for MOM 2005 watches for events raised by the tool and passes them on to the MOM console. If you are using MOM already, you do not need to run the tool manually.
- Scheduling capabilities. Administrators can supply credentials and configure the tool to run unattended automatically at regular intervals.
- Enhanced baselining capabilities. It is now possible to select the properties to compare and the values to check when performing a baseline comparison.
- Offered in nine languages. The entire tool, including rules and documentation, is available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, and Korean.
In a bit more detail:
Support for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005
For customers who have deployed MOM to their Exchange servers, Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer can now be run automatically as part of the MOM agent. This enables MOM to alert configuration problems found by Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer through to the MOM console. This means that customers using MOM do not need to manually run the tool. Details: Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer can be deployed locally to all Exchange servers in the organization. The MOM agent will run the command-line version of Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer (this is ExBPACmd) as a task at regular intervals. The command-line tool collects and analyzes data from the local Exchange server and writes each triggered rule as an event to the Application log of the server. The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Management Pack for MOM 2005 will then find these events and send them to the MOM console. Note When run in this mode, the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 to be installed on each Exchange server. This software is pre-installed as part of the Exchange Server 2003 Setup program, but it is not installed with Exchange 2000 Server.
Availability in all server languages: The complete tool, including rules and documentation, has been localized into French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Cheinese simplified, Chinese traditional, and Korean.
DNS collector: There are new capabilities to look up domain name system records. Because Exchange server depends on DNS, Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer can make sure that all records have been published correctly.
New export capabilities: Besides exporting the results of a scan in XML and HTML, the new version of the tool allows comma-separated value (CSV) format reports.
More flexibility in the command-line version: The command-line version of the tool has been updated to more closely align with its user interface counterpart. The command-line switches are now more intuitive, and it now supports automatic update checking.
Improved scanning scope: In earlier versions of Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer, it was not possible to collect the global configuration data (such as the Exchange organization) without scanning every Exchange server in the topology. With this new version, scanning an individual server (or specified collection of servers) also collects and analyzes global configuration and Active Directory data.
New ‘Best Practice’ category: Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer warns administrators about potential problems and best practices that are not being adhered to. Earlier versions of the tool would report both of these cases with a yellow warning triangle. A new ‘best practice’ category (indicated by a blue circular warning) has been implemented in the new release to help administrators prioritize the urgency of issues.
Group expansion collector: The tools can now take an Active Directory group object and expand the whole membership tree, including other child groups. This function is useful to verify that special Exchange groups have the correct membership assigned.
Last backup times collector: Make sure that Exchange databases are backed up regularly. A new function of the tool is to determine the last backup time for Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 2003 databases.
Permission checking infrastructure: In security-sensitive environments, it is a good idea to lock down Active Directory permissions as tightly as possible. However, this can make troubleshooting more difficult. Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer has new capabilities to collect and analyze security structures. The rules for identifying permission related problems will be supplied in a future XML update for the tool.
Performance sampling: The underlying data collection and rules processing engine now supports performance sampling and analysis. The rules for identifying performance issues will be in a future XML update for the tool.
Scheduling capabilities: The administrator can now instruct the tool to run unattended at set intervals. Through the user interface, you can set the frequency. Behind the scenes, Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer creates a new ‘Scheduled Task’ for the local workstation.
New baseline capabilities: Baseline options are used to generate a report of certain properties that deviate from user-specified values. This screen will be shown if the Baseline scan type is selected from the scan options screen (a link on the scan options screen will take you there).
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4355321.stm
Shares in Research In Motion have risen by 18% after the maker of the handheld Blackberry e-mail device said it would settle a patent infringement dispute.
The $450m (£233m) settlement came after a US appeals court upheld the case brought against Canada-based RIM by NTP, owned by engineer John Campana.
...
The dispute with NTP started in 2002 when the US firm claimed RIM had infringed on a number of its patents, including its radio technology.
Pending the appeal in December, Blackberry had been ordered to set aside a percentage of its US sales as a potential royalty to NTP. But the settlement prevents such a payment being made in the future.
Blackberry's latest results covering the three months to 27 November showed net profits were $90.4m, an increase of more than 500% on the same quarter in 2003, on turnover of $365.9m.
The company now has more than 2 million customers worldwide.
Shares in RIM closed up 18% at $78.96 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.
Hummm
Source: http://www.msmobiles.com/news.php/3673.html
High Tech Computer Corp. and Research In Motion announced plans to expand distribution of BlackBerry Connect on Windows Mobile-based devices from HTC to carriers around the world.
Carriers will soon have access to a wider variety of Windows Mobile-based HTC devices with BlackBerry Connect. In addition to previously announced models from HTC, new initiatives will include the deployment of BlackBerry Connect on HTC’s current generation of keyboard-based devices and will quickly expand to a wider deployment of Windows Mobile-based HTC devices.
“HTC continuously facilitates and customizes cutting edge technologies and various creative and feasible solutions for carriers. We are excited to broaden our product lines by offering global availability of BlackBerry Connect, providing our operator customers with easy-to-use, push-based connectivity,” said Peter Chou, President of HTC.
RIM’s BlackBerry Connect licensing program brings powerful and proven BlackBerry wireless services to HTC’s popular and innovative devices based on the Pocket PC and Smartphone versions of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform. Mobile customers will benefit from a compelling, high-value wireless solution that keeps them connected to communication and information while on the go.
Kool!
Source: http://www.chart-track.co.uk/html/frameset.htm
Nintendo DS achieves the biggest launch week for any UK console (either CD or Handheld) with a projected UK sales of 87,000 units.
Nintendo's UK GBA launch week (week 25, 2001) was an estimated 67,000, while GBA SP managed 47,000 (week 13, 2003).
However, before today Nintendo's Gamecube was the fastest selling console over a launch week with 69,000 units (week 18, 2002) thanks to an extremely low launch price for a static console (around £127). DS launched on Friday with 16 titles available compared to 13 for the launch of the original GBA.
Source: http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conceleb07.htm
Locally based television personalities Ant and Dec are planning an £8 million bid to buy Fouberts on the High Road according to a report in the Sun newspaper.
Owner Maria Lodica was quoted as saying that she has been in negotiations with Ant and Dec for 4 weeks and the Sun reports a spokesperson for the pair saying that they plan to covert it into a members' only bar and night club as well as a 5 star hotel.
They are said to have found financial backing for the scheme which will require £6 million to purchase the premises and another £2 million to refurbish it.
The five storey property is made up of 4 separate buildings and current includes a cafe, an ice cream parlour and a restaurant as well as the hotel. The owners have been looking to sell for some time and several major hotel and restaurant chains have been linked with the site which is the largest on the High Road available to buy. Rumours have been circulating that it was to become part of the Carluccios chain and there are also unconfirmed reports that the property has already been sold.
The report comes just after the Soho House group were quoted as saying that they were considering opening an establishment in the Chiswick area.
Hummmmm
Source: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/offshoring/0,3800003026,39128736,00.htm
Indian offshore call centre and BPO operations are suffering from high staff turnover rates because disaffected workers see it as a dead end job.
The study, by risk management consultancy Hill & Associates, puts the current staff attrition rate in Indian call centres as high as 40 per cent.
This has in the past been put down to the long unsocial hours associated with servicing overseas customers in different time zones and higher salary offers from rivals who poach each other's staff.
But the survey of BPO workers found the main reason for leaving, as cited by over 50 per cent of respondents, was that it is a dead end job. The staff attributed their exits to a lack of growth opportunities, expectation mismatches and dissatisfaction with company policies.
Night shifts, monotony of work and better salary offers elsewhere were given as reasons for moving on by only 39 per cent of the BPO workers questioned in the study.
Wow!
Source: http://news.com.com/IBM+lets+Millipede+storage+out+for+a+stroll/2100-1015_3-5615421.html
HANNOVER, Germany--IBM tantalized chip aficionados at CeBit here last week with a storage device that it says can achieve data densities of more than 1 terabit per square inch.
The MEMS prototype can hold the equivalent of 25 DVDs on an area the size of a postage stamp, IBM said. MEMS stands for micro-electrical-mechanical system
IBM researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, have affectionately named the device the Millipede because it has thousands of very fine silicon tips that can "punch" individual bit patterns onto a thin film of polymer. The Millipede uses the tips to create pits, or bit patterns, approximately 10 nanometers wide to represent the stored data. IBM says that the principle is similar to the older technology of data punch cards, but the Millipede can also erase and rewrite data
Huh? well it's time to upgrade from .Text to the new Community server. It should happen in the next couple of weeks or so. With some luck it should be live after easter.
It's gonna have some nice blogging and forums. Not sure if I want to use these yet. Let me know if you think a forum would be good?!
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4351639.stm
Japanese electronics firm Hitachi has unveiled its first humanoid robot, called Emiew, to challenge Honda's Asimo and Sony's Qrio robots.
Hitachi said the 1.3m (4.2ft) Emiew was the world's quickest-moving robot yet at 6km/h (3.7 miles per hour).
Two wheel-based Emiews, Pal and Chum, introduced themselves to reporters at a press conference in Japan.
They will be guests at this month's World Expo. Sony and Honda have both built robots to showcase engineering.
Wow, like CSI in a Courtroom!
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7130&feedId=online-news_rss20
Lawyers, judges and jurors could soon explore crime scenes in three dimensions in the courtroom, in the same way that video gamers explore virtual worlds.
Software called instant Scene Modeler (iSM) re-creates an interactive 3D model from a few hundred frames of a scene captured by a special video camera. Users can zoom in on any object in the 3D model, measure distances between objects and look at scenes from different angles.
Currently investigators try to recreate the scene of the crime in court by sifting through photos or sketches, but this approach is limited and time-consuming, explains Piotr Jasiobedzki, iSM's project manager at MDRobotics in Toronto, Canada. The software could also assist detectives during their investigations.
Could be interesting!
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/14/rim_instant_messaging_deals/
Research in Motion today put in place a pair of partnerships to boost the use of instant messaging on its Blackberry platform. The Canadian company signed deals with Yahoo! and AOL to bring their respective IM clients to the Blackberry.
The mobile email specialist has also inked a deal to incorporate its software on future handsets from Taiwanese Windows Mobile-based smart phone developer HTC.
In addition to AIM support, RIM said it will also bring AOL ICQ services to Blackberry, and improve links between the platform's email system and AOL Mail.
RIM already has a partnership with Yahoo! to deliver optimised content to the Blackberry. That's now extended to Yahoo! Messenger which, like AOL Instant Messenger, will appear on the Blackberry fully-branded. RIM said it will also enhance its support for Yahoo! Mail too, soon.
How cool is this!?
Source: http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/41049.html
Wireless USB products will be in the shops by Christmas, and the widespread adoption of the technology will rapidly kill off Bluetooth, Intel has claimed at its Developer Forum in San Francisco.
The wireless USB protocol will be completed by the end of March, and the access controller specification should be approved by the end of the year. Wireless USB is designed to be used at ranges of less than 10 meters and will allow peak data speeds of 480 mbps.
"In the next 12 months we will see wireless USB products in the retail sector," said Kevin Kahn, senior fellow at Intel.
"Many companies are ready to adopt this stuff and start shipping it. Multiple silicon builders are around to provide a healthy competitive market as well."
Kahn demonstrated a USB dongle that fits into a standard USB 2 port and would make any machine with a USB port capable of using the device. Over 200 companies are due to bring out wireless USB devices.
Key to the uptake of the new technology is ease of use. Bluetooth has turned off many users due to compatibility problems, but USB is well understood and some analysts rate it as the most successful interface in the world.
"The general consumer doesn't have a clue," said Jeff Ravencroft, technology strategist at Intel. "Thirty percent of returns to technology retailers are because of set-up problems. If it isn't easy to set up this isn't going to happen."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=0EGTS1YC5P5CXQFIQMFCM5OAVCBQYJVC?xml=/news/2005/03/16/ndi16.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/03/16/ixportaltop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=2312
The mystery over why Diana, Princess of Wales and her companion Dodi Fayed switched cars in Paris on the night they died was reactivated last night with the release of Government papers.
Official communications in the immediate aftermath of the crash suggested that the car in which they were due to travel broke down, forcing them to use another driven by Henri Paul, the deputy head of hotel security, who was also killed. Tests later showed he was three times the legal alcohol limit.
The first suggestion that the car had broken down was made in a memo to the Prime Minister sent a few hours after the Princess died.
It read: ''The Princess and Dodi al-Fayed arrived at the Paris Ritz yesterday afternoon. They were immediately subject to media attention and when they left the hotel late last night they were surrounded by a number of journalists. They tried to leave quickly but the first hire car failed to start."
This version of events was repeated by Sir Michael Jay, the British ambassador to Paris, in a letter to Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary. He said: ''Because, apparently, their getaway car failed to start they got into another nearby car driven by a Ritz driver.''
However, a few weeks later, in a more considered appraisal of the accident, Sir Michael said they switched cars ''following a last-minute change of plan aimed at diverting the waiting paparazzi".
The papers, released by the Cabinet Office following requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, are likely to rekindle the conspiracy theories surrounding the death.
It was known that the couple had changed cars but it has long been assumed that this was because Mr Fayed ordered the switch in order to avoid the waiting photographers.
Trevor Rees-Jones, Mr Fayed's bodyguard and the sole survivor of the crash, said in his memoirs that Mr Fayed was concerned that the Princess should get back to his apartments without being harassed by photographers. Instead of using their usual chauffeur, he made a last-minute arrangement with Mr Paul to drive a car from the back of the hotel to put the photographers off the scent.
The documents also detail how Mohamed Fayed, the Harrods boss and father of Dodi, had engaged a pathologist to challenge the results of the tests showing high levels of alcohol in blood samples from Mr Paul.
This resulted in a third test involving the "medically more conclusive sample of fluid from the white of the eye", which confirmed the alcohol level and also showed Mr Paul had been taking anti-depressants
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=888624
When you open your mailbox by using Microsoft Outlook Web Access 2003, you may find that some attachments in your e-mail messages are not visible. However, these attachments are visible when you view the e-mail messages by using Microsoft Outlook.
CAUSE
This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:
- The e-mail message that has the attachment has a Content-ID header or a Content-Location header.
- The attachment is not contained in the body of the e-mail message.
RESOLUTION
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft,
No way!?!
Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052074,00.html
Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynet has learned that 18-year-olds who tell recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically given low security clearance.
“They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” the army says.
Fans of the popular roleplaying game had spoken of rumors of this strange policy by the IDF, but now the army has confirmed that it has a negative image of teens who play the game and labels them as problematic in regard to their draft status.
So if you like fantasy games, go see the military psychologist.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4339647.stm
Nintendo's DS handheld game console, has officially gone on sale in Europe.
Many stores around the UK opened at midnight to let keen gamers get their hands on the device.
The two-screen clamshell gadget costs £99 (149 euros) and 15 games are available for it at launch, some featuring well-known characters such as Super Mario and Rayman.
The DS spearheads Nintendo's attempt to continue its dominance of the handheld gaming market.
Since going on sale in Japan and the US at the end of 2004, Nintendo has sold almost 4m DS consoles.
This looks good - the alerts are kool too!
Source: http://www.jobserve.com/News/W2766.news
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ITsafe, a new initiative to protect home computer users from viruses and other threats online has been launched by the Government. The IT Security Awareness for Everyone website, www.itsafe.gov.uk, offers free advice as well as virus and threat alerts, allowing computer users to surf the net and send and receive emails more safely.
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The service uses information provided by the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC), the Government’s centre for electronic defence. It aims to reassure users by advising them on how best to protect their personal and business data. |
This is really, really funny! http://www.backuptrauma.com/video/default2.aspx
Good advert for "Live Vault"
An I know you WILL press the Third Button
So the articles are starting to come out thick and fast now!
Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/quotes_news.asp?cpath=20050309\ACQPRN200503091430PR_NEWS_B_NWT_SF_SFW011A.htm&symbol=MSFT&selected=MSFT&kind=&mode=stock&formtype=&mkttype=&pathname=&page=news
SAN FRANCISCO, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced the first details of its next-generation Xbox(R) video game system platform, highlighting how hardware, software and services are being fused to power enhanced game and entertainment experiences.
Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA(TM) Architect J Allard further outlined the company's vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an "HD Era" in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-definition.
"In the HD Era the platform is bigger than the processor," Allard said. "New technology and emerging consumer forces will come together to enable the rock stars of game development to shake up the old establishment and redefine entertainment as we know it."
Building on 10 years of innovation with the DirectX(R) API, the Microsoft(R) Windows(R) and Xbox platforms will enable ground-breaking game experiences in the HD Era. Illustrating what that means for gamers, Allard shared the first details about the next-generation Xbox guide. Persistent across all games and media experiences, the guide is an entertainment gateway that instantly connects players to their games, their friends and their digital media.
Features of the guide include these:
-- Gamer Cards. Gamer Cards provide gamers with a quick look at key Xbox Live(TM) information. They let players instantly connect with people who have similar skills, interests and lifestyles.
-- Marketplace. Browseable by game, by genre, and in a number of other ways, the Marketplace will provide a one-stop shop for consumers to acquire episodic content, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins and new community-created content.
-- Micro-transactions. Breaking down barriers of small-ticket online commerce, micro-transactions will allow developers and the gaming community to charge as little as they like for content they create and publish on Marketplace. Imagine players slapping down $.99 to buy a one-of-a-kind, fully tricked-out racing car to be the envy of their buddies.
-- Custom playlists. This feature eliminates the need for developers to support custom music in games. The guide instantly connects players to their music so they can listen to their own tracks while playing all their favorite next-generation Xbox games.
Typifying the HD Era game experience, the guide requires hardware designed with software in mind. System-level features of the guide such as custom playlists, the Xbox Live Friends list and voice chat are enabled at the chip level, liberating developers to focus on creating games, not developing for technical certification requirements (TCRs).
To support consumer demands for the HD Era, the next-generation Xbox is designed around key principles that let developers maximize real performance, using concepts they are already familiar with.
The next-generation Xbox hardware design principles include the following:
-- A well-balanced system that will deliver more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance
-- A multicore processor architecture co-developed with IBM Corp. that provides developer "headroom" and flexibility for the HD Era
-- A custom-designed graphics processor co-developed with ATI Technologies Inc. designed for HD Era games and entertainment applications
In addition, familiar software technologies such as DirectX, PIX, XACT and the recently announced XNA Studio -- an integrated team-based development environment tailored for game production -- complement the new hardware to help game developers unlock increasingly powerful and complex silicon.
The HD Era gaming platform will strike an elegant balance of hardware, software and services to power the new experiences consumers demand. Games and entertainment features such as the next-generation Xbox guide represent a shift toward more immersive and integrated consumer experiences. This shift will be further illustrated by a significant leap to high-definition graphics, where character movements and expressions are intensely vibrant and nearly indiscernible from real life; by multichannel, positional audio fidelity so clear and precise that players will be able to hear the faintest enemy footsteps sneaking up behind them; by richer online communications; and by an abundance of on-demand content for game consoles.
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2005/mar05/03-10GrooveQA.asp
Microsoft's plans to acquire Groove Networks, a leading provider of collaboration software for ad-hoc workgroups," will allow the company to better meet the needs of large and small organizations for borderless project teams, as well as bring Groove founder Ray Ozzie and other top executives to Microsoft.
BEVERLY, Mass., March 10, 2005 -- Microsoft will make its growing business and technology bonds with Groove Networks permanent today as it announces plans to acquire the Beverly, Mass.-based provider of collaboration software for ad-hoc workgroups.
The acquisition will add Groove's products to the lineup of Microsoft Office System products, servers and services, as well as bring the development talent and technology leadership of top Groove executives to Microsoft. Groove founder Ray Ozzie, the creator of IBM's Lotus Notes, will become Chief Technical Officer of Microsoft, reporting to Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates.
Once the deal is completed, Groove will become part of Microsoft's Information Worker Business, and will continue to be based out of its Massachusetts headquarters. Financial terms of the deal haven't been disclosed.
Years before Groove was founded, Microsoft named Ozzie a "Windows Pioneer" for his leadership and support for the Microsoft Windows platform. When Ozzie and his development team left IBM/Lotus and founded Groove in 1997, Microsoft invested in the company and its technology, which runs on the Windows platform and complements Microsoft Office System technologies, such as Windows SharePoint Services.
Old but worth sharing!
These pictures were an actual ad campaign that Saatchi and Saatchi managed for Club 18-30 in the UK. They skillfully managed to show several s * xual acts without necessarily offending the sensibilities of people. Count how many you're able to discover ...
It even became print ad of the year in the recent Cleo awards. They truly are marketing geniuses!!!
Humm and article that hasn't been removed yet!
Source: http://entmag.com/reports/article.asp?EditorialsID=79
Microsoft is being tight-lipped about the feature set for the next version of Office.
Expect that to change shortly as Microsoft aims to keep Licensing 6.0 Software Assurance customers by enticing them with the bells and whistles of the next version. In the meantime, Microsoft's moves in products and technologies adjacent to Office point to the future direction of the product.
Here are 12 things to expect in "Office 12."
A 2006 delivery date
There's not much detail beyond that yet. Some published reports have Microsoft trying to time the release of the Windows "Longhorn" client and "Office 12," the code-name for the next version. Microsoft also says it will release the next version of Exchange, code-named "Exchange 12" or "E12," in 2006 and close to the release of Office 12.
Could be worth a look!
Source: http://www.nemx.com/products/securexchangeimf/index.asp
With the introduction of Microsoft's Exchange Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) in May 2004, the need for a new kind of anti-spam solution emerged. While Exchange IMF provides server-side message filtering and heuristics-based message analysis, IT administrators demand increased functionality to allow them to better control both their organization's security and user's unique requirements. This increased flexibility provided by Nemx SecurExchange will benefit companies of all sizes, especially those that rely solely on native Exchange protection such as the IMF.
SecurExchange - IMF extends the IMF by:
-
Allowing any number of thresholds to be defined with different actions for each threshold range
For instance, a SCL rating of 4-6 can be assigned "Quarantine", while a SCL rating of 7-9 could be assigned "Delete"
-
Providing additional actions available to a triggered message. Additional actions like "reroute", "move to any sub folder", "copy to user", "send a message", and others may be assigned. Moving a message to any subfolder does not require Outlook 2003.
-
Allowing different thresholds and corresponding actions amongst different user groups.
For instance in a school environment, the "staff" group may have messages quarantined for a SCL range, while the "students" group would have those messages deleted.
-
Automatically or manually allow business partner's messages to bypass Exchange's IMF through SecurExchange's Friendly Domain capability, minimizing false positives generated by the IMF
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Creating Safe Sender's lists to prevent Exchange's IMF from archiving or deleting messages on the SMTP gateway / frontend server that exceed the gateway 's IMF threshold.
Bruces's blog is just so much of an eye opener!
Source: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/03/flaw_in_pintumb.html
This paper by Barry Wels and Rop Gonggrijp describes a security flaw in pin tumbler locks. The so called "bump-key" method will open a wide range of high security locks in little time, without damaging them.
It's about time physical locks be subjected to the same open security analysis that computer security systems have been. I would expect some major advances in technology as a result of all this work.
Oh err misses.
Source: http://winsupersite.com/showcase/office12_preview1.asp
Well Paul had published an article up on his supersite, but now it have been "Removed at Microsoft's request!"
Kool!
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7081&feedId=online-news_rss20
A rechargeable battery that can be fully charged in just 6 minutes, lasts 10 times as long as today's rechargeables and can provide bursts of electricity up to three times more powerful is showing promise in a Nevada lab.
New types of battery are badly needed. Nokia's chief technologist Yrjö Neuvo warned last year that batteries are failing to keep up with the demands of the increasingly energy-draining features being crammed into mobile devices (New Scientist print edition, 28 February 2004).
The highest energy-per-weight ratio in today's batteries is provided by lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. They are also cheaper in terms of energy delivered per unit of weight than alternative types of battery such as nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) and nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) types. But Li-ion cells have their drawbacks too. They eventually wear out, and they cannot discharge energy quickly enough for applications requiring power surges, such as camera flashguns and power tools.
Hummm
Source: http://www.ivision.com/pdfs/iMP-BESv40.pdf
The BlackBerry Enterprise Server iMP, when leveraged with the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 and the Exchange Management Pack, provides the most comprehensive monitoring solution for managing the performance and availability of an enterprise messaging environment on the market today. Leveraging the MOM 2005 foundation, the Blackberry Enterprise Server iMP allows you to extend your monitoring environment to manage the health and availability of your BlackBerry Enterprise Server infrastructure and handhelds through:
- State and Event Monitoring of Core Services
- Configuration Monitoring
- Performance and Reporting
- Integrated Operations Console tasks
- Infrastructure Diagram
Just in time for Paddy's day!
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d219b9da-9bb2-42e1-9313-9af968b5d492&displaylang=en
This is a desktop theme for Windows XP Home and Professional Editions. It includes a desktop wallpaper and a screensaver depicting images from around the island of Ireland. The images have been kindly supplied by Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
Found some docs about this.
Live Meeting 2005 Document: Live Meeting 2005 Deployment Guide
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=b46977d2-1d2c-40ea-8c83-793b85413859&displaylang=enThis guide provides the information you need to plan, understand, and perform a deployment of the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2005 console in your environment.
Live Meeting 2005 Document: Live Meeting 2005 Intranet Portal Administrator’s and Programmer’s Guide
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=c0ce5e7c-67c2-453c-8b31-95ff6f3b2873&displaylang=en
The Live Meeting 2005 Intranet Portal Administrator’s and Programmer’s Guide provides information to help administrators and developers to deploy, use, and customize the Live Meeting
This makes a good read!
Source: http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsid=466
These 10 anti-spam software solutions can help you stop spam in its tracks, restore lost productivity and save money and time.
Spam is a wildly growing contagion, a blight on the universe, the creation of the most disgusting denizens of the darkest depths known to man. Even with new technologies and techniques for limiting the amount of spam filling your inbox, it's tough to stay ahead.
It's no wonder then that anti-spam software is such a growth industry. Ferris Research estimates that anti-spam software will be installed on as many as 500 million seats by 2008, up from 11 million in 2003. Choosing the right spam control system is ultimately based on many of the same factors as any other IT deployment decision—primarily total cost of ownership and return on investment. What you're really trying to do is save dollars and reduce lost productivity. Here we will examine 10 solutions representative of the burgeoning anti-spam market—all built to filter spam at the server level.
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=895613
Wednesday, March 30, 2005: 10:00 AM Pacific time (Greenwich mean time - 8 hours)
This WebCast will discuss Microsoft Operations Manager Exchange Management Pack for Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1. It will also talk about both new and improved features. It will also discuss how to deploy and use it in an enterprise environment.
This is a Level200 session that will be presented by Irfan Soomro.
Irfan Soomro has been with Microsoft for more than four years supporting various versions of Microsoft Exchange Server. He is currently a member of the Exchange Escalation Services team.
Source: http://whitepapers.zdnet.co.uk/0,39025945,60110253p,00.htm
Over the last few years, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the threats highlighted by the CAN-SPAM and Internet Spyware Prevention Acts have driven major changes in the systems, processes and security inside organizations.
Some of these regulations are designed to stop sources of spam, viruses and spyware. Others intend to make companies more responsible for the protection of customers' privacy and more accountable for the substance of their financial reports.
All have a pronounced affect on corporate email.
In this paper, we address both general and industry-specific business regulations and how they impact an organization's email system. Special attention is paid to the special concerns in financial services, health care and public sector groups, but companies across all industries and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels are under pressure to respond to new regulations and concerns about outbound email content.
Interesting reading!
Source: http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microsoft-xbox/594331p1.html
For several GameSpy editors, Game Developers Conference (GDC) is one of the best and most enjoyable events held each year. One of the primary reasons for GameSpy's GDC love is that the editors get to interact with some of the best talents in the business. Recently, some of GameSpy's friends in the development community shared a ton of details on Microsoft's next console system. Keep in mind that all of this information is based off of alpha development kits and current projections for the final hardware. Everything is subject to change. In the first part of our Xbox expose, I'll cover the console's hardware components and software goals. Since the final name of the next Xbox hasn't been revealed yet, I'll refer to the system by its codename, Xenon.
...The Xenon is an extremely impressive piece of hardware. It will allow gamers to see things like complex lighting in gameplay, amazing details through high-level shading (impeccable clouds, fur, grass, cloth, water, marble, ground, etc.), incredible textures, and new post effects (increased motion blur, heat distortion, depth of field, light blooms, etc.).
While people have already been correctly speculating about the removable hard drive and the standard DVD media, I was surprised at the inclusion of the camera. I haven't heard a single rumbling about a Xenon camera prior to GDC. The optional hard drive is a bit understandable; the only gamers that care about it will buy it anyway, while casual gamers won't care about the performance and convenience gains a drive offers. The standard DVD isn't too surprising considering that HD-DVD drives will be too expensive for inclusion in a console system in 2005.
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=329041
This article described the Microsoft official co-existence and migration support for Novell GroupWise.
MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft offers two connector products for co-existence with and one product for migration from Novell GroupWise:
- Microsoft Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise
- Microsoft Exchange Calendar Connector
- Microsoft Exchange Migration Wizard for Novell GroupWise
Specific versions of these products have been tested with specific versions of Novell GroupWise. The following list details the specific supported configurations. In each case, the server that hosts the Connector for Novell GroupWise must be running the specific version of Exchange Server.
- Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 support Novell GroupWise versions 4.1x, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2x, and 5.5x.
- Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1 support Novell Groupwise versions 4.1x, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2x, 5.5x, 6.x and 6.5x.
Note Novell GroupWise version 6.x and Novell GroupWise version 6.5x are now supported when the Connector for Novell GroupWise is running on Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or when using the Migration Tools on Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 1. There will be no support for these versions of Novell GroupWise with the Connector or Migration Tools from other versions of Microsoft Exchange Server.
Humm, not sure I would want to be the first to do this!?
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7114&feedId=online-news_rss20
The race to launch the first commercial passenger spacecraft is gaining pace as one of the Ansari X Prize competitors, AERA Corporation, signed an agreement with the US Air Force on Monday to use the launch services at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is the first space tourism company to do so and claims it may be ready to offer tourist flights as early as 2006.
The US company - which competed in the 2004 contest to fly the first commercial craft to the brink of space under the name American Astronautics - says it could be as close as 18 months away from offering sub-orbital rides to space tourists aboard its Altairis rocket. The space vehicle is scheduled to be unveiled in New York City, US, in April 2005.
Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, by comparison, plans to offer sub-orbital space flights in 2007 or 2008. It will license technology developed by the X Prize winner, SpaceShipOne.
The announcement on Monday comes during a flurry of activity in the space tourism industry. The US Federal Aviation Administration recently released its draft regulations for licensing and regulating commercial passenger spacecraft. The FAA will hold a public hearing on those guidelines in Washington, DC, US between 29 and 31 March.
Bring it back baby!
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/07/gartner_offshore/
Businesses looking to save money by outsourcing customer service functions are risking losing customers and paying even more for the privilege.
Although researchers from Gartner predict the market for outsourcing will grow from $8.4bn in 2004 to $12.2bn in 2007 they say 80 per cent of projects started to save money will fail to do so.
Despite the growth in outsourcing the overseas component of this will remain small. In 2005 less than two per cent of the call centre market is made up of offshore companies, rising to less than five per cent in 2007.
Up to 2008, 60 per cent of firms that outsource sections of customer-facing processes will suffer customer defections and other hidden costs which will outweigh any possible savings.
Gartner points out that it is possible to save between 25 and 30 per cent if outsourcing is carried out carefully. But badly managed projects can "reduce the quality of the customer experience, dilute the brand values of the company and fail to deliver cost savings."
Alexa Bona, the report's author, also warned that staff turnover was far higher in offshore call centres than in-house departments. In-house call centres typically lose 19 to 25 per cent of staff each year while offshore centres can see 70 to 80 per cent turnover.
She further warns that 70 per cent of the top 15 Indian-owned firms offering call centre services will be bought, merged or marginalised by the end of 2005.
Bona warned organisations should not underestimate the time required to make an outsourced relationship work.®
So, this is quite a good program, but I think they have cocked things up now!? Here are two articles that should be in existence. I wonder how long it will be until they are pulled?!
Scripting and Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
You just installed Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, and now you’re having difficulties with your scripts. Here’s some insight into what’s happening and what to do about it.
So a few months ago you dutifully installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 on all your computers, then saw your life flash before your eyes when you discovered that you could no longer use your system administration scripts (or any other system administration tool besides Group Policy) to remotely manage those computers. Fortunately, that story had a happy ending: based on the knowledge gained from a Tales from the Script column and from a number of sample Service Pack 2 scripts found in the Script Center, you were able to regain the ability to use scripts to manage those machines. No doubt it was quite a shock to find out that your scripts were temporarily disabled, but at least you knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and could rest assured that your scripts would now work forever and ever.
And then you downloaded and installed the beta version of the new Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware utility.
As many of you know from painful experience, spyware is software that gathers personal information about you and/or reconfigures your computer settings, all without your knowledge or permission. Sometimes spyware is just a nuisance: it might continually reset your Internet Explorer home page. At other times spyware is downright malicious; some programs, for example, steal the credit card number you type in when ordering something over the Internet. Needless to say, a utility that can get rid of spyware is a utility worth having. That makes AntiSpyware a must for anyone concerned about Internet security.
Unfortunately, though, there is at least one drawback to AntiSpyware. Install AntiSpyware and run the program in real-time mode. Now try to run one of your VBScript or JScript scripts. The script won’t run; instead, you get a message box telling you that someone is trying to run a script on your computer and asking whether you want to allow the script to run or want to block the script from running. If you choose to block the script, not only will the script not run, but it will be marked as a script that should never be run. If you try to run the script later on, you will be notified that the script has been blocked. You will then need to remove the script from the list of blocked scripts before you can run it.
892375 End users may be prompted to allow or block administrative actions that originate from a central management tool after they install Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) on a computer that is managed by Systems Management Server 2003
End users might be prompted to allow or block a Systems Management Server (SMS) script that a domain administrator has scheduled to run against an end user's computer. This occurs after Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) is installed on end-user computers in an enterprise-managed environment.
CAUSE
There is a potential issue between Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) and computers that are managed in an enterprise. Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) might prompt the end user to make decisions whether to allow or block administrative actions that originate from a central management tool.
Microsoft is currently aware that a potential issue exists with Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS). Other programs might be affected in similar ways by Windows AntiSpyware (Beta).
This made me chuckle!
Source: http://www.stationeryisbad.com/movie2.html
Let's face it. Stationery isn't very good. And when it comes to note taking, it just isn't up tothe job.
That's why we created Microsoft® Office OneNote™ 2003 - the note taking application that combines the freedom and flexibility of pen and paper with the power and efficiency of digital tools.
With OneNote you can take, organise and share your notes easily and intuitively on your laptop, desktop or tablet PC. And not a leaky pen in sight.
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Source: http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/NEWS/050307+SL+rwc+schedule.htm
The sixth Rugby World Cup will be played for the first time in France from 7 September to 20 October 2007. The 48 fixtures are assigned over twelve cities, including 10 cities in France: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, St Etienne, Toulouse, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lens and St Denis. These cities shall host the twenty qualified teams, one of whom will succeed England, world champions in 2003.
| POOL A |
POOL B |
| ENGLAND |
AUSTRALIA |
| SOUTH AFRICA |
WALES |
| OCEANIA 1 |
OCEANIA 2 |
| AMERICAS 3 |
AMERICAS 2 |
| REPECHAGE 2 |
ASIA 1 |
| POOL C |
POOL D |
| NEW ZEALAND |
FRANCE |
| SCOTLAND |
IRELAND |
| EUROPE 1 |
AMERICAS 1 |
| EUROPE 2 |
EUROPE 3 |
| REPECHAGE 1 |
AFRICA 1 |
|
|
| Date |
Match |
|
8 September 2007 |
England v Americas 3 |
|
14 September 2007 |
England v South Africa |
|
22 September 2007 |
England v Oceania 1 |
|
28 September 2007 |
England v Repechage 2 | |
Oops...
GFI KB: http://kbase.gfi.com/showarticle.asp?id=KBID002294
The information in this article applies to:
- GFI DownloadSecurity for ISA Server 6
- GFI MailSecurity for Exchange/SMTP 7
- GFI MailSecurity for Exchange/SMTP 8
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Following the BitDefender virus definition files update of 2nd March 14:20 (CET), MailSecurity will start blocking all emails and action the email according to the action configured for virus infected emails. This issue is caused by an incompatibility between the BitDefender virus definition files and the virus engine update mechanism in MailSecurity.
Whilst each virus update is tested (automatically), this particular update - even though tested - caused an unexpected result. GFI was not aware of certain changes which had been done to the BitDefender engine. A new set of BitDefender virus definition files has been made available at 15:42 (CET) for customers who had not updated with the problematic definition files. Customers who did not download a set of BitDefender Virus definition files between 14:20 (CET) and 15:42 (CET) where not effected by this issue.
If MailSecurity was configured to quarantine virus infected emails, these emails can be approved from the Moderator client, or the Web Moderator client. In this case the Web Moderator client can prove to be much more efficient for the job. More information on the Web Moderator client can be found at the end of this article.
If MailSecurity was configured to delete virus infected emails, these emails cannot be recovered.
If MailSecurity was installed in VSAPI mode, the message body and attachments would have been removed from the email, and the following text would have been added instead:
This mail has been deleted because a part of it (body or attachment) violated GFI Content Security's security policy. That mail has been deleted by the GFI Content Security BitDefender Engine Module |
Humm
Source: http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1772619,00.asp?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
| Microsoft may not be willing to talk file-system futures, but it is working to back-port its future file-system technology to Windows XP. |
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| Microsoft is back-porting its WinFS file-system technology to Windows XP, the same way that it is doing with its Windows presentation and communications subsystems, according to company officials.
The acknowledgement is significant, given that Microsoft has been reticent to offer any details on WinFS since the company decided in August to cut the WinFS information storage and retrieval feature from both the client and server versions of Longhorn. |
A couple of documents about the Sender ID Framework have been posted up on Microsoft.com
Sender ID: Sender ID Overview
The print-ready brochure describes the benefits of authenticated e-mail and of Sender ID implementation to both senders and recipients.
Sender ID: "Implementation Tips for the Sender ID Framework—Creating Your SPF Record"
The print-ready brochure describes the benefits of authenticated e-mail and of Sender ID implementation to both senders and recipients.
What is Sender ID?
The Sender ID Framework (SIDF) is an industry protocol combining the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and the Microsoft CallerID for e-mail into a single standard, offering a range of implementation alternatives available at no cost for senders and receivers. SIDF is designed to verify that each e-mail message originates from the Internet domain from which it claims to come based on the sender's server IP address. Reducing domain spoofing will help legitimate senders protect their domain names and reputations, and help recipients more effectively identify and filter junk e-mail and phishing scams. The SIDF is a valuable e-mail authentication solution to help defend your e-mail from being spoofed or forged while protecting your company’s online brand and reputation. When including the SIDF Purported Responsible Address (PRA) or “Mail From” check results with your existing anti-spam heuristics, you can help improve e-mail deliverability, reduce false positives and false negatives while decreasing customer complaints.
Interesting
Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/03/04/385230.aspx
... Today I wanted to talk about three aspects of accessibility as they relate to IE and Windows in general. First is access to the Windows OS for individuals with disabilities, second are a couple of hints for users of screen readers using IE in XPSP2 and finally is a request for feedback to help guide our development in IE7 and beyond.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/03/iss_resupply/
ISS residents Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov can look forward to bit of light unpacking after the unmanned Progress resupply vessel successfully docked with the station earlier today, Reuters reports. The payload includes 160 days' worth of food, 494 kilograms of water, and 175 kg of fuel for the station's Russian thrusters in addition to 109 kg of air and oxygen, equipment for the primary oxygen-generating and carbon dioxide-removal systems, and 32 oxygen-generating canisters.
Also aboard are digital cameras which Chiao and Shapirov will use to inspect space shuttle Discovery for damage during its intended return to flight trip to the ISS scheduled for 15 May. Some of the oxygen and fuel aboard Progress are intended for emergency use by the shuttle crew should any such damage oblige them to abandon their vehicle and bunk down in the ISS awaiting a rescue mission.
Source: http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/secadvisories/default6.asp?VName=Vulnerability+in+VSAPI+ARJ+parsing+could+allow+Remote+Code+execution
This vulnerability exists in the ARJ archive file format parser.
The ARJ archive file format is too flexible, especially in the file name field in the local header. This file name is stored as a null-terminated string and limited only by the overall size of the local header (local header size is stored as a 16-bit value and is limited to 2,600 bytes only).
If the file name exceeds the maximum allocated size, the VSAPI scan engine still copies this file name into a 512-byte buffer, overwriting the succeeding data structure. One of the fields in the said data structure is a pointer to another data stucture. The next instruction after the copying of the file name is an assignment instruction to a member of the structure that is referred to by the overwritten pointer. The said routine causes an illegal memory access.
Thus, it is possible to create a specially-crafted ARJ archive file that overwrites data after the allocated 512-byte buffer. This specially-crafted file could possibly execute an arbitrary code.
Source: http://www.virginglobalflyer.com/News/Landing.jsp
This warm and bright day in Salina, Kansas will go down in history as the day that Steve Fossett set a great aviation world record for speed around the world solo, non-stop and non-refueled.
After 67 hours and 2 minutes of grueling sleep deprivation and 12 unappealing diet milkshakes, Steve finally touched down in front of an excited crowd of public and press at Salina Municipal Airport at 19:50UTC, despite having some very worrying problems earlier in the flight.
At the start of the flight, Steve experienced intermittent failures with the Global Positioning System and then, as the flight continued, fuel readings indicated that the aircraft had lost a significant amount of fuel shortly after take-off. Both of these problems were serious threats to the flight’s continuation. It was ’touch and go’ at times, but Steve seemed to have luck on his side, with good tailwinds pushing him along across the last leg of the Pacific Ocean.
As Steve exited the cockpit and waved to the crowds, he managed to gingerly stand up and walk even though he, as expected, appeared to be weary and tired. His happiness at completing the attempt and getting back on the land to see his wife Peggy, however, was obvious and his smile said it all.
When asked how he was feeling, Steve remarked: "That was a difficult trip. I mean it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. To be on duty for three days and night with virtually no sleep." Steve added: "I was in control and I think I was able to make rational decisions and didn't make major errors, which is a great danger when you get this tired." He was very relieved and added, "It happened successfully and on the first attempt."
Despite admitting that he did not sleep at all in the first day and only had half a dozen naps for the rest of the time, Steve said: "I feel great. Well, yes I could do with a shower and I could do with a little sleep, but I really do feel great."
Steve added that he was looking forward to having a real dinner after all those milkshakes.
Of the crowds Steve said: "I do these things because I want to do them for my self esteem and my personal satisfaction, and this is the first time a big crowd has come out to support me on a project and in the records that I do. I think that's a really good sign that all these people share the enthusiasm and excitement for an airplane adventure."
Steve said the record was "the most important aviation record yet to be done, but it's not the last important record...I'm not ready to announce any new projects, but, in fact, I have three projects in planning right now."
Sir Richard Branson, who was there to congratulate Steve immediately on disembarking from the aircraft, gave him a high five and soaked him in champagne. Later Richard, who can now have his watch back, said: "I poured the champagne over him to try and cool him down a bit...he stinks to high heaven."
Of Steve's condition Richard added: "He is wide awake. I just asked him whether he might go back and have a sleep and he said "no I plan to party," so I suspect he'll still be going for another 24 hours."
Richard also maintained that Steve is just relieved to be alive and thought that Steve began to relax and enjoy the flight when he had crossed the Pacific Ocean.
The entire Mission Control team was there on Steve's arrival. Jon Karkow, from Scaled Composites, thanked everyone involved in the project and said: "It's been a real team effort." And when Steve was reunited with Kevin Stass, Mission Control Director, all he needed to say to the man who has guided him throughout the flight was "what a job".
Although the flight has been recognized as the first solo trip around the world by Guinness World Records, it is still to be sanctioned by the National Aeronautique Association (NAA). When it is, it should be recognized as the fastest non-stop, non-refueled circumnavigation ever.
by Liz Cotterell
Source: http://www.homecomputermagazine.com/index.htm
WELCOME to the home page of the UK’s only free computer magazine for home users. Home Computer Magazine is a monthly computer magazine, written by professional journalists. We have over ten years experience in publishing consumer computer magazines. Contributors to these pages have worked on a wide variety of titles including Microsoft Windows XP: The Official Magazine, PC Plus, PC Format and many more.
Home Computer Magazine is distributed electronically in unprotected PDF format.
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7070&feedId=online-news_rss20
An uncrewed Russian supply ship successfully launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan on Monday to begin a two-day journey to the International Space Station. The ship's main cargo is equipment for the next space station crew, but it will also bring a few items to prepare for the return to flight of NASA's space shuttle, planned for May.
The Progress cargo capsule is ferrying more than two tonnes of supplies from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, to the two-man crew of the station. It is projected to arrive at the orbital outpost on 2 March (2015 GMT).
Provisions include 160 days' worth of food, 494 kilograms of water, and 175 kg of fuel for the station's Russian thrusters. Also onboard are 109 kg of air and oxygen, equipment for the primary oxygen-generating and carbon dioxide-removal systems, and 32 oxygen-generating canisters.
Yeah Baby, where are they ... there is no worse noise than that of a dentist's drill!
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7058&feedId=online-news_rss20
Dentists, put away your drills. Synthetic tooth enamel can seal tiny cavities without the pain, and with less damage to the patient's teeth.
Cavities form when acid produced by mouth bacteria starts eating away at the tooth's protective enamel layer. Early on, these lesions are too small for fillers such as resins to stick properly, so dentists have to drill bigger holes that destroy some healthy parts of the tooth.
Bloody hell! You would really not want to get in the way of this!
Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077
The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture.
"I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, UK. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."
The research came to light in documents unearthed by the Sunshine Project, an organisation based in Texas and in Hamburg, Germany, that exposes biological weapons research. The papers were released under the US's Freedom of Information Act.
Looks like they can't cope with the demand!
The site is really busy right now, and we've had to put you on hold for a short while until some other people have got the information they need.
Some web statistics to keep you occupied whilst you wait:
Over the last year, we have averaged 40,000 hits per day on the site.
In the week before the attempt started, we had an average of 250,000 hits per day.
Day 1 - Up until take off we had 4 million hits on the GlobalFlyer website
Day 2 - In the 24 hours after take-off there were 11 million hits on the GlobalFlyer website
Day 3 - NASA reporting 1 million hits per hour being served from their image snapshot server. They have upgraded their web infrastructure to a cluster of Cray SuperComputers.
- 80 Megabits of data currentyly being served per second from the GlobalFlyer website
Thanks for your patience.
Source: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/WindTunnel/Activities/knots_vs_mph.html
Knots is how the speed of aircraft and boats is measured. Both miles per hour and knots is a speed which is the number of units of distance that is covered for a certain amount of time.
1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 6076 feet per hour
1 mph =1 mile per hour = 5280 feet per hour
Mach 1 = 661.7 knots = 761.5 mph
I didn't know this, but if you enabled Security Auditing of Successful Logon Events for the OUs where the workstations and the Terminal Servers reside. When a user logs onto their workstation they will generate the following events in the Security log of the local machine:
Interactive Sessions (console):
Event ID: 528 - Logon
Event ID: 551 - User initiated logoff
Event ID: 538 - User Logoff
RDP Session:
Event ID: 528 - Logon
Event ID: 682 - Session reconnected to winstation
Event ID: 538 - User Logoff
So I can log when I log in as administrator on my SBS server!?!
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/Kids/Facts/index.jsp
The Pacific Ocean - covers 64 million square miles (165 million square kilometers). It is more than twice the size of the Atlantic. It has an average depth of 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometres). And yet if you were to reduce the size of the earth to the size of a football, our mighty ocean would have the effect of making it feel slightly damp. Forty-six percent of the world's water is in the Pacific Ocean; that's around 6 sextillion gallons of water. The Atlantic has 23.9 percent; the Indian, 20.3; the Arctic, 3.7 percent.
Saudi Arabia - Scotland exports sand to Saudi Arabia, there are no rivers in Saudi. Saudi Arabia has the only stretch of railway track in the entire Arabian peninsula - one line from Riyadh to Dammam, via Hofuf and Abqaiq. Trains run three times a day except Thursdays. Saudi Arabia took over from the United States as the highest producer of oil in 1992.
The Atlantic Ocean - The Atlantic began to form during the Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. At one point the north pole was in the middle of the north atlantic. The Atlantic holds 17 million quadrillion gallons of water. It connects to the Arctic Ocean to the north, and to the Antarctic Ocean to the south. If all the gold suspended in the world's seawater were mined, each person on Earth could have about 9 pounds of gold. Lloyd's of London accident records show that the famous Bermuda Triangle in the South Atlantic is no more dangerous than any other part of the oceans. The Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific Ocean.
Sahara Desert - is the world's largest desert and is the size of 8.6 million sq km. It covers large parts of North Africa, including Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. The highest temperature ever recorded there was a staggering 58 degrees celcious in Aziziyah, Libya.
Although there is an annual rainfall in the desert, it is only a couple a millimetres and it's generally very dry.
Mumbai - singlehandedly handles about 25 percent of India's domestic and 38 percent of its international air passenger traffic. Virgin Atlantic Airways is launching a new route between Mumbai and London with flights three times a week starting March 17.
Mumbai's suburban rail systems carry a total of 2.2 billion passengers every year. Incidentally, the world's population is 6 billion.
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/mar05/03-02NewXboxDevelopersPR.asp
In another creative coup for its next-generation Xbox® platform, Microsoft Corp. today announced that esteemed video game developers Yoshiki Okamoto, president and CEO of Game Republic Inc., and Tetsuya Mizuguchi, chief creative officer and producer of Q Entertainment Inc., have aligned with Microsoft Game Studios to develop exclusive next-generation Xbox games. The announcement comes on the heels of last week’s news that video game legend Hironobu Sakaguchi, president of Mistwalker game studio, has joined with Microsoft Game Studios to develop role-playing games exclusively for the next-generation Xbox platform.
For more than 20 years, Okamoto has been thrilling gamers with franchises such as "Street Fighter" and "Resident Evil." Widely considered an industry pioneer, Okamoto is best known for his ability to conceive and drive completely new game genres. In July 2003, he founded Game Republic, where he and his team have next-generation Xbox exclusive titles currently in development.
Microsoft have release some additional language versions of ActiveSync 3.8 after the original english version was release in January
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/results.aspx?displaylang=en&freeText=Microsoft+ActiveSync+3.8
Microsoft ActiveSync 3.8 is the latest synchronization software for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and Smartphones. ActiveSync 3.8 contains fixes making synchronization more trouble free than ever before and includes all the significant improvements brought to you in ActiveSync 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7.1: it is easy to install and use while offering the best levels of reliability.
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File Name: |
MSASYNC.EXE |
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Download Size: |
3641 KB |
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Date Published: |
3/2/2005 |
Could be interesting!
Source: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1771898,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532
ZigBee, the low power mesh based wireless networking spec, may be heading to your home soon.
Originally targeted at industrial control and monitoring systems, from HVAC to office lighting, the latest ZigBee Alliance quarterly Member Meeting had a newfound emphasis on home automation and consumer electronics.
No Way!?!
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1508650,00.html
THE BBC licence fee should be replaced by a tax on the ownership of a personal computer instead of a television, ministers said yesterday.
Tessa Jowell told the BBC that the licence fee would be retained for at least another ten years until 2017 in return for abolishing the Board of Governors. But the Culture Secretary conceded that technological advances would mean that a fee based on “television ownership could become redundant”.
More than six million households have access to high-speed broadband connections and the BBC has begun experimenting with broadcasting video clips over the internet.
A legal loophole highlighted by the communications regulator Ofcom means that viewers could watch television and listen to radio over the internet and mobile devices free, potentially costing the BBC millions of pounds in licence fees.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Green Paper setting out the BBC’s long-term future proposed a solution that could end the traditional fee.The paper suggested “either a compulsory levy on all households or even on ownership of PCs as well as TVs”. It said that technology might render it difficult to collect and enforce the fee.
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/10pm_wed_update.jsp
Steve Fossett, in conjunction with Mission Control, has decided to carry on past Hawaii and should arrive at Salina tomorrow at around midday.
The flight has been significantly assisted by trailing jetstreams over the Pacific Ocean that were higher than predicted, with tailwind speeds in excess of 130 knots. As Steve heads to the north-east of Hawaii and changes direction, however, these winds will drop significantly to as low as 30 knots.
At 04:00UTC this evening, Steve had 3,200 pounds of fuel remaining and fuel consumption has dropped to around 160 pounds per hour. The draining of the wing tanks to the central main booms was successful and its completion was the turning point of the attempt according to Jon Karkow. Once draining was completed, Mission Control was able to accurately measure the amount of fuel in the aircraft, which was roughly the amount they had estimated.
If Steve continues to have reasonable tailwinds and manages to continue flying the aircraft at its optimum fuel efficiency, he should make it back safely with some fuel to spare.
Kevin Stass said: "We're cautiously optimistic. I think this is the best way that we describe it because, until he's done this turn, we'll monitor the winds. If it is as forecast then we're expecting him to land in Salina early tomorrow afternoon."
Without the tailwinds there is a possibility that Steve may not make it as far a Salina, but he will definitely reach land. There are various landing strips on which he could land and he does not need as much runway as he did to take-off.
Paul Moore, Project Director, said the record was back within Steve's grasp and was relieved that all efforts had not been in vain. Steve is setting his sights on Salina, but as Paul points out, he's not home yet: "This is not yet a walk in the park, he's still got a long way to go. If anything else happens in the next few hours it could still knock Steve off course."
Both the aircraft and Steve's endurance are being pushed to their limits. Through only having regular two-minute naps, a strain in Steve's voice has been detected. On a live phone interview, however, Steve sounded relatively confident and seemed to be in higher spirits than he did when leaving Japanese airspace. "The jetstreams have been extraordinary, I have hit it very well...I believe that we no longer need to give further consideration to landing in Hawaii and I have every hope to landing in Salina tomorrow," said Steve.
The chase plane will not intercept in Hawaii, but in Los Angeles or Denver instead.
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/record!.jsp
Steve Fossett has proved once more that he is a record breaking adventurer. At 18:01 UTC when he reached Ferar, Steve broke the world record for "distance without landing" which was last set in 1962 by a B-52.
When it arose that Steve might not make it back to Salina due to the loss of fuel, a conference call was arranged between the Contest and Record Board, who oversee record setting activities in the US. The Board discussed the interpretation of the record setting rules and since Steve had exceeded the 12,000 mile distance set by the B-52 it was determined by vote that the world record was now his.
This is of course, said Richard A Ionata, from the National Aeronautic Association, pending certification that he complied with all the necessary regulations up to point of reaching Ferar.
Jon Karkow broke the news to Steve a few hours later. Jon said that Steve gave a little chuckle, and, in his usual low-key style, said "hey, how 'bout that?".
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/8am_tues_update.jsp
Mission Control have released a statement this morning regarding a loss of fuel in the early hours of Steve Fossett’s flight, which could lead to the attempt being abandoned.
There was a discrepancy of 2,600 pounds in readings between the fuel burn and a series of probes in the main beams of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in the first three and a half hours of the flight.
During last night, Mission Control carried out various tests, but still know little as to why and how the problem occurred. Early flight fuel readings have been concluded to be ’not accurate’, and the lower reading of the amount of fuel onboard is the one that has been taken into account by the team for safety reasons.
Jon Karkow from Scaled Composites was unable to say whether it was due to leakage or evaporation. "We really don’t know what it is... It's more than likely a system issue, such as a fuel venting line. It's been very puzzling for us, and we saw it quite early on."
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4312059.stm
Steve Fossett's attempt to fly solo, non-stop around the globe without re-fuelling is in trouble.
His GlobalFlyer plane has reached China - half way around the world - but he has insufficient fuel to get him home to Kansas without favourable winds.
Mission controllers will have to decide whether to call off the attempt before Fossett heads out over the Pacific.
Want to open up spaces between you and the cars around you?
Step 1: Tie these balloons to your car.
Step 2: Drive VERY FAST.
Step 3: Watch people freak out.
Step 4: Tell the nice officer you thought they were real.
About time too!
Source: http://www.winzip.com/prodpagewzcou.htm
WinZip Companion for Outlook makes it easy for users of Microsoft Outlook to zip and encrypt attachments when sending messages.
Zipping attachments saves transmission time, conserves space in Outlook mailboxes, and saves disk space for both the sender and recipient of the e-mail. The Companion can be configured to automatically zip your attachments, ask whether or not you want them zipped, or let you zip and attach files manually with just a few mouse clicks. Toolbar and menu items allow you to control the Companion's functionality on a message-by-message basis. In addition, sensitive attachments can be easily protected with the same built-in advanced AES encryption found in WinZip 9.0
Source: http://www.segway.com/aboutus/press_releases/pr_030105a.html
Segway LLC released the Segway® Golf Transporter (GT), a new personal transporter configured to give golf enthusiasts a new way to cruise the course. With extended-range batteries, a golf bag carrier, enhanced traction tires, and a special standby key, the Segway GT provides the golfer all the tools needed to experience the game in a fun, unique way.
Expected to cost $5,495.00
More details here: http://www.segway.com/segway/model_gt.html
Can I have one plesase
Source: http://www.segway.com/aboutus/press_releases/pr_030105b.html
Segway LLC today introduced the Segway® Cross-Terrain Transporter (XT), a new self-balancing human transporter that provides enhanced performance on a variety of terrain with minimal environmental impact. The new transporter features all-terrain tires, a robust new fender design, new extended-range lithium-ion batteries and specially tuned software.
Due to be prices at $4,995.00
More details here: http://www.segway.com/segway/model_xt.html
Interesting Mr Bond!
Source: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000640033887/
This is a fairly simple and useful trick to score yourself a gigabyte’s worth of free online file storage. If you already have a Gmail account, you can use it as a central file server that is accessible from anywhere you can access Gmail. If you don’t have a Gmail account… read on. We’re going to install a shell extension that will allow you to mount your Gmail account as a virtual drive on your desktop, so you can perform basic file manipulation operations without having to go through the web-based interface. Drag and drop, batch copy, create folders and delete files as you normally would in Windows Explorer, and be able to access your virtual drive from virtually anywhere.
Now I don;'t know how true this is, but I thought I should share it
The original message was written by a lady whose brother and his wife learned a hard lesson this past week.
Their house burned down.... nothing left but ashes.
They have good insurance so the home will be replaced and most of the contents.
That is the good news. However, they were horrified when they found out thecause of the fire.
The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom.
He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal things....curling iron, hair dryer. He kept saying to her, "No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures".
Then her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In in the bathroom. The investigator had one of those "Aha" moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more home fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else.
He said the plastic they are made from is a THIN plastic. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed.
When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.
Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk into the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb.
Once it cooled down it would come on. That is a warning sign. The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many homes that have been burnt down due to them.
I wonder what happens if your having a bad hair day :-|
Source: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1771265,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532
A company in Japan has developed a technology for camera-equipped handheld devices that uses face recognition technology to authenticate users. Omron says its Okao Vision Face Recognition Sensor can increase the security of mobile devices such as camera phones and PDAs, and protect the data they contain.
According to Omron, as the capabilities of mobile devices such as cell phones grow, the need for security increases as well, since they increasingly include remote access systems, and payment and planning services. Omron's Okao can protect such information should the device be lost or stolen, Omron says.
With the high rate of attacks on women in secluded parking lots, especially during evening hours, the Sandton City Council has established a "Women Only" parking lot next to Sandton City.
Even the parking lot attendants are exclusively female so that a comfortable and safe environment is created for patrons. Below is the first picture available of this world-first women-only parking lot.
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/10pm_Tues_update.jsp
At the latest press conference, Steve Fossett had almost geographically reached the halfway stage after 8,950 nautical miles and 27 hours and 13 minutes of flight time.
Steve was just entering Pakistan airspace at 04:00UTC, was still on schedule, and had entered daylight. According to Project Manager Paul Moore, he is in "remarkably good spirits for someone who's been awake now for, pretty continuously, over 24 hours".
As Mission Control Director Kevin Stass remarked, however, Steve has trained vigorously for this world record attempt and describes Steve's sleep as "power napping". Steve will also have a autopilot to keep him at level flight when he is feeling restful and the Mission Control team continuously monitors his altitude and course positioning. If anything was to go wrong, they could wake him and warn him by phone.
Paul added that there are no signs that Steve's decision-making abilities have been affected from the lack of sleep and said Steve's "uniqely suited to these sort of extreme events".
Previous problems with the Global Positioning System (GPS) have only fleetingly re-ocurred since the initial two hours of flight and the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer has 9,600 pounds of fuel left, which Jon Karkow described as "pretty good". Now that the fuel is almost half used the wings, which pointed upwards at the beginning of the flight due to the weight of the fuel, are now less bent and will continue to lower as the flight goes on.
The highest altitude reached during the flight so far is 49,500 feet.
All the team remain confident in the attempt's success and of the aircraft's performance. "All in all, we're pretty satisfied with where we are at the moment, " said Paul.
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/first_intercept.jsp
The chase plane made its first intercept with Steve while crossing the coast of Africa about 15 hours into his flight. They reported that he was 'chirpy' and sounded "remarkably together."
Having flown over 6400 miles at just over 47,000ft, Steve is in good condition and is not experiencing any technical problems with the GPS or with his temperature sensor that had cut out briefly during the night.
Will Whitehorn, PR director for the Virgin Group, was in the chase plane. He said that Steve "sounded extremely relaxed and considerably less tired than one would expect." He added: "I think he's feeling quietly confident at the moment."
Describing the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, Will said: "It was like a beautiful swallow against the Atlas Mountains, not like any aircraft I've ever seen before." He also said the wings were "curled" up, although Clint Nichols from Scaled Composites said that as the plane loses weight as a result of less fuel, the wings will gradually get straighter.
The chase plane has already refueled in Malta and is heading towards Dubai where they will wait for Steve before making another intercept.
At 13:00 local Salina time, Steve had just approached Libya and was just a couple of hours away from being one third of the way into his journey. He said: "I am comfortable enough. I have elbow room. I'm not really complaining." However, he did say that he was aware of the distance left and that the nights seemed particularly long.
Kevin Stass said that the aircraft was currently "chugging along at 330 knots" and estimated that he may well be halfway through the route, flying over India in 12 hours.
Sir Richard Branson speaking over the phone at the 1pm briefing said that it will give Steve a "lift" to know he is getting close to the halfway mark. "It's not easy what he's having to go through, but his body has done it three or four times before," he said. "Steve's stamina is stronger then anyone else I know alive."
"I'm a little bit tired, but I've done this before so I think it will work out fine," Steve said via the satellite phone. "I look forward to another good day tomorrow."
Source: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/launch.jsp
As the sun set over Salina, 8000 people watched from the side of the runway as Steve Fossett and the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer successfully took off into the air.
After more than a month of unavoidable delays, excitement was at its peak as crowds assembled in the biting cold, gathered around portable radios and sitting with friends and family. 27 privately piloted aircrafts flew in especially for the event, and traffic built up all around the area.
Some spectators had arrived especially early to make sure they gained a good view of the aircraft. Rick and Robin Chester, parents of selected aviation K-State student Monica Chester, arrived at the runway at 14:30, waiting more than four hours for the event. "We were really happy that we waited," they said. "We were freezing but it was well worth the wait."
Saying that an earlier take off would have been more preferable, Richard said that because of the strong jet-streams Steve was quite happy to wait. The head winds also needed to get down to 10mph and they did not do so until ten minutes before take-off, making it "perfect conditions" for flying.
Leaving at 18:47 CST, it was a smooth take-off except for a moment when the aircraft dipped dramatically towards the runway. "When it dipped we were a little bit nervous," Sir Richard Branson said afterwards, although Jon Karkow said it was not an unusual procedure during a climb.
After take-off Kevin Stass, Mission Control director, said: "Everyone at Mission Control is really pleased that the Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer had successful accomplished take-off."
Richard said it was "an enormous relief to see it lifting off because it had never flown before with such a load of fuel on board."
Saying that the aircraft's take-off was a "beautiful sight", Richard said that having left Salina, its "next stop Salina. Something I never thought I'd be able to say with a plane!"
I know it's old news but I didn't realise this!?!
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3428673.stm
The king of computer software Bill Gates is to receive an honorary knighthood from the Queen for his contribution to enterprise in the UK.
Mr Gates, the world's wealthiest man, is also being honoured for his work on poverty reduction around the world, said the Foreign Office.
As an American citizen he cannot use the title "Sir" but will be entitled to put the letters KBE after his name.
Microsoft said Mr Gates, 48, was "absolutely delighted".
The entrepreneur will be presented with the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire at a "mutually convenient" date.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/28/jet_adventure/
Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett will - conditions permitting - lift off from Salinas, Kansas, today in what he hopes will be the first non-stop, jet-powered circumnavigation of the world without refuelling. He hopes to complete the 23,000-mile journey aboard his Scaled Composites Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer in around 80 hours - assuming he ever gets off the ground.
The GlobalFlyer has never been tested with the full fuel load which will make up 83 per cent of the take-off weight. Fossett admitted to a press conference: "It will be very scary to take off in a plane this heavy."
He can, however, take comfort from the fact that the aircraft is the brainchild of Burt Rutan, he of the Ansari-X-prize winning SpaceShipOne. Rutan specialises in composite aircraft construction, and designed the propellor-driven Voyager which - with Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager at the controls - flew non-stop around the globe in 1986.
Rutan has brought this experience to bear on the GlobalFlyer, as the blurb explains:
The aircraft is a trimaran-like construction with two huge external 'booms' which hold the landing gear, and 5,454 pounds of fuel on either side of the pilot's cockpit in the centre on top of which is the single Williams turbofan jet engine. The construction materials used for the structure of this aircraft are all graphite/epoxy. The stiffest carbon fibers are used in the construction of the wings, and the skin is a sandwich of graphite/epoxy and Aramid honeycomb.
Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/quotes_news.asp?cpath=20050228\ACQDJON200502281325DOWJONESDJONLINE000539.htm&symbol=MSFT&selected=MSFT&kind=&mode=stock&formtype=&mkttype=&pathname=&page=news
French videogame company Ubisoft Entertainment SA ( 5447.FR) said Monday that it has acquired some sports games of Microsoft Game Studios, a unit of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), for an undisclosed amount as part of a larger plan to expand its product line.
The French company said it has bought hockey game NHL Rivals, football game NFL Fever, basketball's NBA Inside Drive and baseball's MLB Inside Pitch from Microsoft Games.