IT Professionals

Will Comcast Ban Me For Streaming?

Matt Hartley — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:02:17 -0500

Considering the fact that this is merely a test, myself opting to do a test Ustream.tv broadcast over the my Comcast connection leaves me wondering where Comcast will decide to draw the line. See, I used to create a number of creative how-to YouTube videos designed to help Linux newbies overcome the hurdles that some might face starting out.

It took one minor tweak, but I had the audio working easily. The webcam video was a no-brainer as it worked out of the box. But now I have to make a choice - do I keep streaming hoping that Comcast does not ban me for too much bandwidth use? I have been up and down their TOS and sure enough, it could not be more vague. So I am running the video streaming test today and may begin considering live shows for Linux how-tos, along with re-sharing the video via YouTube later. Tonight’s videos stream is made possible as my wife is out of town visiting relatives. After all, there is no way I would be doing this if she was home, she would never hear of it. And my dog and cat are going nuts over the fireworks, so I am sitting here typing this with my dog’s calming DVD on repeat - looks like it will be a long evening.

So what do you think? Will Comcast and other cable ISPs begin the self-broadcaster crackdown here in the near future? Considering I am using more upload than download, will they even care? Only time will tell, I will be using FiOS here very soon after we move back up north so I am tempted to try my limits, just because I am curious. Will I begin doing this on a regular basis? Nothing extreme, likely on a set schedule and with the idea of broadcasting and then recording tutorials. We’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out.

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Using Powershell With VMWare

Greg Hughes — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:24:44 -0500

At Tech Ed IT Pro 2008 in Orlando Florida, Richard and I talk to Hal Rottenberg and Carter Shanklin about VMWare’s support for Powershell. VMWare has added an extensive Powershell accessible interface to VMWare to simplify the automation of virtual machine related tasks.

Hal Rottenberg is a Senior Systems Administrator with IBM’s prestigious Internet Security Systems X-Force division in Atlanta, Georgia and has been with them since 2007. Prior to that, he worked for nine years in server support and a variety of other roles for Hewlett-Packard. He is also working on a book titled Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell: TFM. Carter is a product manager at VMware, Inc. who focuses on APIs and SDKs, most notably VMware’s PowerShell interface, also known as The VI Toolkit (for Windows). Prior to VMware, Carter was a developer for almost 15 years for both UNIX and Windows platforms. Before joining VMware, Carter was a developer at systems management company Opsware, where he spent almost 2 years using the (sometimes maddeningly complex) VMware APIs. Try as he might, Carter can’t seem to find a way to escape the life of writing code for fun and profit, and now spends quite a lot of his time developing demos and helping end-users become more successful in using PowerShell to manage VMware.

Windows PowerShell Cookbook: For Windows, Exchange 2007, And MOM V3 MacBook Air, VMWare Fusion, And The Windows Virtual Machine That Won't Start VMware - Now I'm Hooked Microsoft RTM's Virtual Server 2005 VMWare ESX 2.1 Update Who's using VMWare? Windows PowerShell My Switch From Boot Camp to VMware Fusion Alternative to VMware VMware Ships Free Virtual Machine App

Creating New Groups In Vista

Diana Huggins — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:00:32 -0500

Hopefully before you start creating groups, you’ve spent some time planning how you’re going to implement them. Creating groups at random kind of defeats the purpose of using them to simplify computer administration. Planning involved identifying how many groups you require, what they will be used for and group membership requirements.

After you’ve finished planning, you’re ready to begin creating them using the Computer Management console.

To create a new group:

Right click Computer and select Manage.
Select Local Users and Groups.
Select Groups.
Click More Actions and click New Group

Under the Group name field, type in a name for the group. Be sure that this is a name that makes the group easily identifiable from the others. Optionally, you can type in a description for the group.

Next, click the Add button to select the accounts that will be members of the groups. Type in the name of the account and click the Check Names button. Select the appropriate account from the list that appears and click OK. Repeat this process for any additional accounts you want to add. Once you are done, click Create and then click Close.

You can add additional accounts to the group at any time by double clicking the group to open its properties dialog box. Alternatively, you can also right click the group and select the Add to group option. Click the Add button to locate the account you want to add.

Once you are finished, you can assign permissions to the new group. For example, you can assign the group Read permission to a folder on the computer. Through inheritance, all user accounts who are members of the group will have read permission to the folder.

User Accounts In Vista (Part I) Creating New Groups Groups In Vista Group Nesting - What You Need To Know To Pass AGDLP - Another Exam Strategy Windows Vista Community - Up and Running Give A User The Right To Back Up Files And Directories In Vista (Part I) Google Groups Beta Vista SP1 Out Today! But Not Really Creating Vista Sidebar Gadgets With DesktopX 3.5

z/Journal

Lockergnome — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:04:52 -0500

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Broadband - Is Price Still A Factor?

Matt Hartley — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:02:35 -0500

Despite DSL often times being an option for potential customers at rates in the low $20-something range, it seems that even to this day, cost is a hurdle that is preventing many people from dropping dial-up. This may seem a bit extreme, but I have seen indications of this myself on a number of occasions.

So do you firmly believe that broadband adoption here in the States is where it should be? Well I hate to tell you this, but you would be a bit off. Again and again, we see people looking at the costs and more often than not, dial-up networking is where they end up.

Are these users in areas where broadband is available nuts? I do not think so myself. But by all means hit the comments and share your thoughts on the matter. I have certainly made my perspective clear enough. To me, it is just matter of treating it like a utility. Really, I fail to see how DSL is that expensive where available?

Is Broadband Growth Really Over? Seeking Reader Advice - USB Compatible Router? DSL Distance Challenges Making Sense Of The Motherboard (Part IV) Making Sense Of The Motherboard (Part III) Broadband Cost Increase for Some AT&T Customers Pipex Launches 8Mbps Broadband For £9.99/Month Mobile Broadband SBC Turns Up The Heat Why Dial-Up Is Worse Than Broadband

Texas PC Repair Techs - You Might Want To Read This

Matt Hartley — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:23:25 -0500

Still trying to get the actual story on what this Texas law actually means to those that repair PCs for a living, as I seem to be coming up with conflicting reports. Based on things going from one extreme to another, I took it upon myself to locate the law itself for further review. So here is what I was able to find (PDF).

Computer repair or support services should be aware that if they offer to perform investigative
services, such as assisting a customer with solving a computer-related crime, they must be
licensed as investigators. The review of computer data for the purpose of investigating potential
criminal or civil matters is a regulated activity under Chapter 1702 of the Texas Occupations
Code, as is offering to perform such services. Section 1702.102 provides as follows… and so on.

Let’s look at this closely, as like most laws written by people who have no idea what the letters IT actually stand for, tend to write dangerously broad spectrum laws.

“Computer repair or support services should be aware that if they offer to perform investigative
services, such as assisting a customer with solving a computer-related crime, they must be
licensed as investigators.”

Okay, so let’s join reality for a moment - nearly 90% of the typical residential repairs made are due to malware of various sorts, often times placed there to gather money from advertisers with spyware or fool someone into incurring toll charges (dialers) to the end user without their knowing. Sounds illegal to me. So here is the problem. The law indicates the problem can legally be removed alright. However you will not be able to legally help that same customer prevent the problem from occurring in the future by determining the point of entry. Brilliant, really, brilliant. I realize that most techs repair, patch and hand it back with such sound advice as “stop downloading attachments”. But there are instances where a client needs to know what is happening to create what appears to be an ongoing problem. You know, like when a client continues to have malware installed despite following all of the preventive advice offered. I have seen this happen first hand. Requiring a PI license in a state that is quite stringent with PI education requirements leaves many techs in a really lousy position if the law’s interpretation is taken the wrong way.

From the law enforcement perspective, I can see the logic in ensuring problems like illegal adult content and the like is handled by someone with a law enforcement background. But considering the fact that IT personnel have plenty of experience explaining where a problem appears to be coming from leaves me wondering where the value of this “law” really is?

I cannot stand “big government” nonsense like this and as far as I am concerned, this is just another instance of killing flies with a machine gun. Am I wrong? Hit the comments, share your perspectives. Also, if you have more familiarity with the Texas law in question, please correct anything I may have missed.

Disclaimer: Because of the nature of this article, please be advised that I am not able to provide any legal advice in this column. This article is merely sharing my discovery and my own perspective.

IT Town Hall Meeting With Geek Squad Founder? Self-Employed Techs Must Read This Book PC Repair Wake-Up Call Geek Squad And Client Trust Requested Since 2004 Less Than a Month to Go Till the 4th Annual Mobile Tech Expo Upgrade an iPAQ hx4700 to 128 MB of RAM Microsoft, Texas AG, Take Down Two of World's Top Spammers In Texas You Must Have A PI License To Examine Computer Data Obama wins Texas (delegate fight)

Troubleshooting Permissions In Vista Part II

Diana Huggins — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:10:07 -0500

What happens to permissions when you move or copy? When you copy a folder that has specifically been shared (rather than just inheriting sharing from its parent), the original remains shared, but the copy is reset to Not Shared. However, if you copy the folder to a drive or folder that is shared, it will inherit the sharing setting of its new parent location. The same goes for moving a folder. Any specific sharing permissions it has are removed, but it’s free to inherit sharing from the new location.

When you copy or move a file or folder from an NTFS drive to a FAT or FAT32 drive, all NTFS permission settings are removed, leaving it wide-open for anyone to access.

When you copy to another NTFS drive, or within the same drive, any old NTFS permissions assigned specifically to the original are stripped away, and it inherits NTFS permissions from the new location. To copy, you must have Write permission for the destination. The user doing the copying becomes the CREATOR OWNER of the copy.

When you move a file or folder to another NTFS drive, the permissions work just like copying. Any old permissions are removed, and the file or folder inherits permissions from the new location. You must have Modify permission for the file or folder being moved and Write permission for the destination drive or folder. The user doing the moving becomes the CREATOR OWNER of the file.

When you move a file or folder to a different location on the same NTFS drive, however, permissions work a little differently. The moved file or folder does inherit permissions from the new location, but if any permissions were set specifically for that object, they’re retained and they override the new inheritances. You must have Modify permission for the file or folder being moved and Write permission for the destination drive or folder. The CREATOR OWNER doesn’t change.

Managing & Troubleshooting Access To Resources: Exam 70-271 (Part VII) Securing Folders And Files In Vista Part VII Vista Special Permissions Troubleshootin' Hardware Managing & Troubleshooting Access To Resources: Exam 70-271 (Part III) Effective Permissions Set Registry Permissions Using Group Policy A guide to troubleshooting your PC Prevent Permission Inheritance (2k/XP/2003) Preventing Permission Inheritance In XP

Master Data Management

Lockergnome — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:30:20 -0500

This SAP Insight explores the importance of master data and the barriers to achieving sound master data, describes the ideal master data management solution, and explains the value and benefits of effective management of master data.

Many organizations operate under the belief that they are using master data, but the truth is that they are relying on data that is dispersed and trapped in information silos throughout the enterprise. This data — often inaccurate and inconsistent — is propagated throughout the organization and beyond. Organizations that attempt to achieve master data consistency across their distributed IT environment face an unenviable task. True integration at the business process level — where the real value lies — is not easy to attain.

Get your free insight report today!

Who are the Operation Masters? Pillar Data Defies And Redefines Storage Management Centralized Management Software: Best Practices To Control Your Data Center IBM Storage Infrastructure Management For Growing Data Needs KeePass: A Free Encrypted Password Manager Rename Master Understanding The Slide Master (PowerPoint 2002) Data Backup and Management System Measurement Decision Theory

The iPhone And MS Exchange - We Have Arrived

Matt Hartley — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:35:58 -0500

Finally, we have an iPhone that I can see myself giving a rip about.

“The price is (finally) right, Bob“! At the rate of $200 vs past price points seen with the iPhone, I do not feel like getting one for my wife is a total waste of money. In the past we had $600, then $400. That is insane, I am sorry. But $200 is at least on planet Earth.
MS Exchange. This was total deal breaker for me. And to be fair, to use this in an enterprise environment without this funcionality is just plain silly. So kudos for making this happen with the latest iPhone release and updates.

Now there are a number of other features, but those are the two biggest that struck me. Yeah, 3G is important too, but it was not the deal breaker for me that the other stuff was. Am I pumped enough to get one of these badboys for myself? Not really as I am have a nearly new BlackBerry that suits my needs just fine. That said, I may indeed be looking to the iPhone when my existing phone is due to be replaced. Congrats to Apple for not taking Google’s third party (can’t someone else do it” approach to real enterprise class options for the mobile device. It’s about time. Should be interesting.

One Last Time - Really Is It Time For An iPhone Yet? The iPhone SDK Is Going To Be Huge And The Keyboards Have It Looks Like A BlackBerry The iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange, after all iPhones have Arrived: First iPhone unboxing pictures at MacRumors.com