Every day you hear more bad news about the slumping U.S. economy. A report from the U.S. Department of Labor says that so far in 2008, the U.S. job market has shrunk by 438,000 jobs. But blogger Chip Wenz has some good news for you. There are jobs that are safer than others. Wenz writes, "If you are in the IT industry, your job is still a vital part of the economy. According to the Jobfox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions, developers, systems administrators, software implementation specialists, database administrators and technology executives are five of the top 25 positions to hold during these tough times." READ MORE.
From Microsoft Subnet editor Julie Bort: Earlier this month, Zune Arts released an online comic book series called "The Lost Ones." Zune is Microsoft's brand name for its collection of interactive entertainment offerings (the most famous of which is the Zune MP3 player). I asked my brother, Steven Goldstein, to review the comic book for the Microsoft Subnet blog. Steven is not only a long-time comic book collector, a graphic artist and photographer, but is also a member of a secret society called the "Dark Ones" that he won't really tell me much about. (I know it involves DarkCon, the gaming convention in Phoenix that Steve organizes each year.) All of which makes him the perfect choice to offer feedback on "The Lost Ones."
Given that VMware ditched its founder in favor of a Microsoft executive two weeks before reporting its Q2 results, one would have thought that the quarter would have shown a company bleeding red. Not so. VMware reported healthy revenue growth, healthy profits and increases in both U.S. and international software licenses. Plus, it is sitting on $1.5 billion in cash. From an enterprise's point of view, there is no urgent reason to worry about the company's financial standing. On the other hand, these Q2 numbers, along with its revised outlook, also point to potentially treacherous financial times ahead.
This problem was reported way back in December. The software will sometimes corrupt files when Windows Home Server users edit or transfer them on systems with more than one hard drive. This kind of lack of quality control is why users blame Microsoft for every problem they experience with their home computers. If Microsoft wants to repair its reputation with consumers, it needs to 1) Not ship products with major flaws. 2) Fix flaws a lot faster than eight months after they are reported.
SBS 2008: a lukewarm review07/21/08Between this lukewarm review of Small Business Server 2008 and the fact that it was conspicuously absent from the 2008 TechEd conference, it's hard not to wonder what Microsoft really wants with this product. It could be a vehicle Microsoft is using to appease its channel, now that way-to-low-to-make-a-living pricing for its online services has been revealed. (See Mitchell Ashley's blog post: S+S:The Kobayashi Maru of Microsoft) However, if you've used and mastered the previous SBS, based on Windows Server 2003, and you want to upgrade hardware and clients to WS2008/Vista, then seems as if SBS 2008 will still be a good bet for you. The price isn't as low as it once was, but the integrated management is what the package is all about.
Should you invest in NAC? Join the live debate tomorrow07/21/08
Join us tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22, 2 - 3 p.m. ET for Network World's first-ever live "face-off" chat. Security experts Joel Snyder vs. Richard Stiennon will duel over the question "Is network access control a worthwhile technology?" Snyder says yes and Stiennon says no. Come join us for this live debate where two of the industry's most outspoken (and entertaining) security pros will explain their positions. Each guest will answer the same question, have the chance to rebut the other's answers and to quiz one another. Attendees will also be invited to submit questions and share opinions. Snyder is a senior partner with Opus One, a consulting firm in Tucson, Ariz., and a member of Network World Lab Alliance. He has been working with networks and information security since 1981 and has penned several books. Stiennon is a security consultant, popular speaker and founder of Seccom Global, a managed security service provider focused on unified threat management. He writes the Stiennon on Security blog for Network World. As always, no registration is necessary for live Network World chat. Just login at www.networkworld.com/chat/
Yahoo will remain an independent company but Carl Icahn will be helping to lead it. The story of the failed sale of Yahoo to Microsoft is officially
over, it seems. The enterprise is best served by having multiple strong cloud contenders in the market place building out services and competing for business ... Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. While Microsoft would have benefited from owning Yahoo, the company just posted $60 billion in revenue and can afford to carry a weak online advertising business for a while. Yahoo shareholders may be the only real losers in the deal and maybe, with the pending deal for ad revenue sharing with Google,, they will wind up ok, too.
Carolyn Gudmundson, a former Microsoft manager who has admitted stealing hundreds of
thousands of dollars from the company, wrote a letter of explanation and apology, reports a post in Todd Bishop's blog. The story is a sad one of a high-paid, high-flying executive gone awry. Gudmundson has admitted to falsifying expense reports for domain names purchased on her corporate credit card. She admits to submitting the same receipts repeatedly for reimbursement.
Microsoft news from Network World
Is Live Search making headway against Google? It's a marginal gain but a gain none the less. The June numbers show Microsoft's Live Search gained 0.3 percentage points, putting them at 9.2 percent. Google lost that ...Read more
Mitchell Ashley is a serial entrepreneur who is currently CEO and Chief Strategist of his fourth company, Converging Network, LLC.
UAC and Pre-Vista/2008 Ready Applications - Part OneIn tonight's post I provide a background story about UAC and Pre-Vista/2008 Ready Applications. In my next post, I will then go over the technical reasons for why UAC and ...Read more
Tyson Kopczynski is a specialist in Active Directory, Group Policy, Windows scripting, Windows Rights Management Services, PKI, and IT security practices and the author of Windows PowerShell Unleashed.
A Better Windows World: On the Radio"If it sounds good, you'll hear it; If it looks good, you'll see it; If it's marketed right, you'll buy it; but if it's real, you'll feel it." - Kid ...Read more
Ron Barrett is president of RARE-TECH, an IT training and consulting company. He is a co-author of The Administrator's Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers, How to Cheat at Administering Office Communications Server 2007, and a contributor to many other titles.
Why did you choose the ‘Dark Side’ and become a programmer?I am teaching an introduction to .NET programming class this week and I always like to ask what got the students interested in becoming a programmer in the first place. ...Read more
Chip Wenz is an instructor for New Horizons and holds is a MCSE, MCSA+M, MCDBA, MCAD, MCSD, MCTS, MCPD and MCT. New Horizons offers a monthly giveaway for free training. See right column for details.
How should an individual be punished for cheating? In my last blog I talked about the different punishment standards recently introduced by Microsoft. A test-center (CPLS) only faces a suspension, where as an individual faces a life-time ...Read more
Randy Muller, MCT, MCSE, MCSA, MCDST, is currently an instructor with Global Knowledge. Global Knowledge sponsors a monthly giveaway on Microsoft Subnet (see details, page right: Giveaways and Contests ... HINT: June trivia answer is "beta test").
Building the Anywhere OfficeA lot has been made about baseline benefits and ROI, however it can be difficult for the average information worker to see how it will improve their job performance and ...Read more
When not writing Microsoft-related books, Alex is a senior IT consultant and involved in many early adopter and TAP programs, working with new technology often 2-3 years before public release.
SQL Server has a Fuzzy Future - Zoomix acquiredA recent blog posting of mine referred to Fuzzy Lookups and Fuzzy Groupings in SSIS and the ability to merge duplicate data based on inexact matches. Well, someone at Microsoft ...Read more
Brian D. Egler, MCITP-DBA/MCSE/MCT, is currently an instructor with Global Knowledge, teaching various Microsoft training courses. Enter the free monthly giveaway sponsored by Global Knowledge. Details are on the right of this page.
I didn’t say your baby was ugly, I just returned my iPhoneJudging by the amount of traffic (and comments) on my post regarding my iPhone 3G experience, I guess I may have hit on a topic about which no one is ...Read more
When not co-authoring books such as Essential SharePoint 2007, Sue Hanley is an information architect.
Server 2008 as a Workstation, Chapter 3: Simulating VistaBecause I often teach classes about Vista in which Vista runs in a virtual machine, where you can't see the AERO interface, I like to use my laptop to demo ...Read more
Glenn Weadock is an instructor with Global Knowledge, teaching the MCSA, MCSE, Server 2008 and Vista tracks. WIN a free 'Cool Stuff' gift from Global Knowledge. See details to the right of this page.
SQL Server 2008 Installation Strategies and Best Practices - Part 1 of 5SQL Server 2008 Installation Strategies and Best Practices Part 1 of 5 ...Read more
Ross Mistry is the author of SQL Server 2008 Management and Administrationand other SQL Server titles. When not writing books, he designs SQL Server, Active Directory and Exchange solutions for Fortune 500 companies.
A good post on the OpsMgr 2007 Authoring ConsoleStever Rachui, technical reviewer for the upcoming System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Unleashed book, also shines with OpsMgr 2007 support. He recently blogged on which console to use for MP authoring ...Read more
Kerrie Meyler's current book, System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed is now available. Check out out this free chapter.
20 most useful Microsoft sites and moreMicrosoft Subnet is dedicated to make your job easier and your day more fun. Here are a few of our biggest hits:
20 great Windows open source projects you should get to know
6 free security tools you shouldn't live without
20 most useful Microsoft web sites
10 funniest Microsoft YouTube videos
9 worst Microsoft products
Library of free chapters from best-selling Microsoft books Read More
Imagine Cup 2008 Final Competition Paris
iTunes Achilles' Heel In iPhone 3G Launch
Microsoft Analyzers Tools - Free help that's worth trying
Windows Server 2008 High Availability Alternatives - Failover Clusering & Network Load Balancing
My response to “my Vista 64-bit runs just fine"
The next class for our newest IT members
Converging on Microsoft podcast series 07/15/08, Network World
Mitchell Ashley talks with interesting people about topics in the world of Microsoft.
Latest episode: Citrix CTO Simon Crosby claims the hypervisor war is over
Previous episode:
David Lynch discusses managing virtualized environments
3/31/08 (30:54)
All previous episodes.
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Patch Tuesday features four patches, skips Access bug
Microsoft has included four patches that fix a total of nine bugs in its monthly Patch Tuesday cycle. None of the patches are rated critical, all are rated important. The company did not include a patch for bug in Access that has been making headlines, although workarounds are available, but it did include Microsoft's patch for a historic multi-vendor patch to close a hole in the Domain Name System protocol. The other three patches fixed holes in Outlook Web Access, SQL Server and Windows Explorer.
READ MORE
A MICROSOFT TRAINING COURSE WORTH UP TO $2,500 FROM NEW HORIZONS
New Horizons Computer Learning Centers is sponsoring a monthly contest on Microsoft Subnet. One lucky reader will win a free Microsoft training course worth up
to $2,500. Next deadline is July 31. Check out the New Horizons' catalog and start dreaming of your free class. Entry details available here. (Hint: answer is "Try things out" and can be found here.)
WIN FREE BOOKS FROM PEARSON EDUCATION
Win one of 15 copies of the book Essential PowerShell by Holger Schwichtenberg, published by Addison-Wesley Professional (a $39.99 value). Plus, READ a chapter excerpt. Entry details available by clicking here. (Hint: answer is "".NET Framework 2.0 or later" and can be found here.)
A $500 GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE
Global Knowledge is offering a $500 gift certificate to be given to one lucky Microsoft Subnet reader. Entry details available by clicking here. (Hint: answer is " and can be found "here."IPv6" and can be found here.)
In response to the recent onslaught of SQL injection attacks against Web sites using ASP, Microsoft has developed a new static code analysis tool for finding SQL Injection vulnerabilities. Web developers can run the tool on their ASP source code to identify the root cause of the attack. The tool will also scan ASP source code and generate warnings related to first order and second order SQL Injection vulnerabilities.
PRODUCTCheck out Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope. Download this and turn your computer into a virtual telescope, based on imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world.
BLOGThe Microsoft Exchange Team Blog is offering step-by-step instructions to Exchange admins who are seeing iPhones being linked up to Exchange. This post includes advice for implementing policies and more.
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