Josh's Tech World

BitCoin

2011-08-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

If you do not have an active BitCoin client and are not currently watcing and buying bitcoins, I think you are totally getting behind. This may never take over for national currency, but the power and technology behind it is amazing!

It's technical architecture was described in detail at: http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-287.pdf

OneNote 2010 and Windows Mobile 6 on MotoQ9m

2010-06-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

So this was frustrating, I spent a bunch of time trying to get OneNote 2010 Moible on my phone, I could not find a CAB file or anything. All I found was articles affirming that Office Mobile is released FREE for Windows Mobile 6.5. My guess is that there is no version of OneNote Mobile 2010 for my Windows Mobile 6.0 phone.

So I pulled out my old Office 2007 Enterprise CD, opened the OneNote CAB file, found the Onenote Mobile CAB file (ONMOBILE.CAB_1033), and copied it to my desktop. I then renamed it to ONMOBILE.CAB and copied it to the external storage card on my phone.

From the phone I executed and installed it. Now I can sync my OneNotes from my phone to OneNote 2010, as long as I keep my Mobile Workbook in 2007 mode.

Whew!

Plagiarized!

2009-02-25T17:35:00.001-08:00

In 2005 I wrote several knowledgebase aritcles for my company's support website (http://support.digitalfoundation.net/). Just yesterday I got a phone call from a confused and frustrated TechXpress customer wondering how we got the data he was attempting to send in to TechXpress for support. The problem is that TechXpress copied these articles that had instructions to email the support info to my company's support account.

Needless to say, I am disappointed in TechXpress and amused at the same time.

To make things more interesting, it as out on the newswire
Old URL: www.prweb.com/releases/2009/02/prweb2186994.htm

So I took advantage of of the situation and wrote a press release on my own company site. I have since been contacted by the owner who removed my articles and asked me to take down my press release.

Enterprise Search

2009-02-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Several months ago Microsoft released a new search tool call Windows Search 4.0 (an update to Windows Desktop Search). With Windows Search a user on Windows XP or Vista Machines can perform a search onthe network drive and recieve instant results.

This type of search capability is extremely powerful and productive, previously tools that provided such capability were extremely expensive (Google search appliance) and/or complicated (dtSearch).

I myself created an ASP based webpage that my clients could browse to. The webpage would perform an ISXXO query to the Index Server on the file server. This worked pretty good - but was a but buggy, not as fast, and definitely not integrated into the user experience.

It has taken me so long to figure out the Remote Query Capability of Windows Search because for me it was just not working. I finally ran into this article (http://biztechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=416) that explained for the Remote Query functionality of desktop search to work - the path you had to be accessing in the file explorer is \\computername\share using the IP address or FQDN woudl not work. I look forward to Microsoft updating this limitation in future versions of Desktop Search.

Windows 7

2009-01-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Yes the next versionafter Vista. Really Vista nowadays is a fine operating system. It is stable, pretty, and has some fancy features. But it is also a bit clunky in its attempt to provide tighter security.

Widnows 7 is what Vista should have been - it is FAST (was faster than Vista) - just as secure but ot nearly as obtrusive. Also has some great new Windows management tools. The Beta is comming out soon and I am really looking forward to it.

Back up your data!

2008-11-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

About a year ago I had a client lose all their pictures on the Hard drive f their home PC. They did not have backups and all the computer tools a typical tech guy has would not work. I had to send this out to a company that specializes in data recovery - in the end it cost $2000 and they got back ALL the data.

Recently, this happened again to another client who list their financial data in quicken. They certainly did not want to shell out $2,000 - I was hoping I could start putting the skills I have been developing in HTCIA to use. I met with the Computer Forensics Investigator for the SLO PD - he showed me plenty of tools - lucky for me this was not an easy recovery so there was alot for me to watch. In the end I was able to recover the Quicken data and have used these skills more than once on other hard drives.

Please, backup your data - and also be careful with what you store and transmit digitally.

Computer Forensics w/ the FBI

2008-02-29T21:36:00.000-08:00

So I had a neat experience the other day, being a member of HTCIA (A law enforcement, computer forensics group) we had our monthly meeting at the FBI office in Santa Maria. It pretty cool when you have to go through three different security gates/doors all with buzzers and cameras.

I have been a member with HTCIA for three years now and have learned so much. When it comes to crime and obtaining evidence it is amazing how much stuff you can find on someone's computer, cell phone, and GPS unit.

Google Maps.. Gone Wrong

2008-01-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

Hilarious - a modern day Internet Horror short film!
read more digg story

Bill Gates' Last Day

2008-01-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

I was browsing around Digg.com - they now have a section for Videos and pics and came across a Microsoft video of Bill Gates' Last day in the office. Quite funny, I am sure M$ paid a pretty penny to make this. I think they are finally realizing the importance of being personal - and humor is a key way to starting a personal feeling. Bill Gates' Last Day

Vista Battery Saver

2007-12-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

So I am running Vista on my laptop, and it has a bunch of little gadgets and graphical candy built in. Let's face it, Vista is pretty. With all this, when you are using a laptop on battery, it really eats the juice.

I was doing a little search for more advanced power management, such as turning off Aero when on battery - and it is not built in. But I stumbled across an open source website sponsored by Microsoft that has all kinds of user enhacements and plug-ins: http://www.codeplex.com/

Vista Improved

2007-11-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo! Microsoft has released a VERY effective update that significantly improves performance for Windows Vista. This update is not automatically available via Widows update so if you are interested, you must go here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=941649eI am so much happier now with this performance update installed. From what I hear, this will be available in SP1, but why wait and torture yourself?!?

2007-10-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Within about three days of eachother I had two or three invitations to get LinkedIn - added as a member of someone's profile. So I finally decided to take a look. LinkedIn is an online networking tool - it's power is in how easy it is to find a close friend that knows someone you have been trying to meet, such as an owner of a lucrative lcoal business. Great for networking.

I have attended a networking group for about two and a half years, and got to know the members well, but never good enough to know who they rubbed shoulders with. Within 30 minutes using this tool, I was able to find which of my close friend's knew the business owners that I have wanted to reach.

In a way, this site is a business owner's version of MySpace - more business networking instead of social networking.

Technical Support for Macs

2007-08-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

If you do not know by now, our computer company is the "IT Department" for hire - local businesses outsource their computer department needs to us, so we deal with everything technical and that of course include Mac computers. The easy thing about technical support for Mac computers is a Mac user has so much pride in using a Mac. Macs are flawless, never crash, have a superior design, and a superior user interface. That is a rough version of the Mantra I hear when a Mac user sees me using a PC. That is what makes supporting Macs so easy - they do tend to be more stable and with this great interface the end users need less help. It also explains my surprise form this support phone call I had the other day:
End User: "I am having an email problem with my Mac."
Me: "OK, what happens?"
End User: "My Mac crashes whenever I open this specific attachment."
Me (Surprised): "Your Mac Crashes?.... Do you mean your email program freezes or the the computer itself is completely frozen... locked up?"
End User: "No not just the email program. the whole thing crashes."
Me (Surprised still): "Your Mac Crashes, and you are admitting it?!?"
OK, maybe I embellished the conversation a little but I had yet to meet a Mac user that would admit to any instability on their computer. Of course now, I am struggling to fix the problem. How do I get advice on a problem that no one believes? Not even myself.

Would life be easier hundreds of years ago?

2007-07-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Being a System Administrator, sometimes I think the part of desktop support would be easier if I started life fourty years earlier... maybe even four hundred years earlier. But then I came across this video that drew a good picture of most likely how technical support was back in the medieval times. That is when I realized that life is just as difficult and/or frustrating in every age, just in a different context! At least with these videos I can enjoy some humor.

Will it blend?

2007-07-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

A close friend forwarded me a link to this website: willitblend.com I have heard of this website before, the owner touts the amazing robustness of his blenders by blending ANYTHING. Today's video is the blending of an iPhone! I never thought I would see an iPhone ground to DUST! http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?type=unsafe&video=iphone I think the funniest part after you see this video is to look at the bidding action on the iPhone dust on eBay.

My Worst Nightmare

2007-07-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

I came across this video and it is absolutely my worst nightmare. I think I need to go home early today after seeing this.

Fun in the office

2007-06-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

We got our projector installed last week in our conference room/breakroom/theatre. The projector and our 9' wide screen work really well for training, watching movies, and impressing prospective clients. Last night I was cleaning out the garage and came across my old Nintendo, so I decided to bring it to the office. I just spent about 10 minutes hooking it up to our projector and surround sound stereo. There was a little excitement as I finally accomplished one of my ultimate childhood dreams and was left totally dissappointed. When you blow up the graphics of a Nintendo and play Mario bros. - little Mario is about 1 foot tall on the screen and the graphics look terrible! Here is a link to a video on how to beat Mario Bros in about 5 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yl_XPkcTl4 Since I have YET to beat the game, maybe having it on a bigger screen will help.

Microsoft Surface

2007-06-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

People are flipping out about the capability of Microsoft Surface (Demonstrated on the Today show 05/30/2007). This was quite an amazing demonstration of what Microsoft could do with this amaziong touch table. It looks like the DiamondTouch that is designed by Mitsubishi. Microsoft's unveiling on their software, Microsoft Surface, is not the first however. After installing Warcraft III on my Windows Vista Laptop I stumbled across this video using the DiamondTouch to play the game Now I just got to figure out a way to get my paws on one of these tables!

Vista Amazing

2007-05-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

So I have had PLENTY of complaints with Windows Vista and have replaced my upgraded desktop with a newly installed laptop and all my problems are gone. Yes, Vista with an upgrade is a guaranteed headache. You may try to power through all the problems, but you will still be plagued with performance problems in the end. I love my new PC and as soon as I get all the important data of the desktop I upgraded, I plan to format that PC as well.

Vista Woes Continue

2007-04-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

ZIP files wouldn't open and finding the place to associate file expentsion was difficult (Control Panel -> Default Programs). However there are no valid options to fix the ZIP file extension. after about an hour of browsing Ifound a helpfil File associate fix at: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm - Thanks Doug! Just ran the little REG file fix. Open the Default Programs app and selected the correct thing to do with Compressed ZIP files and I am all set. My former TIF file problem was however easily fixed in the Default Programs tool in the Control Panel. Even though this is a fast machine, with 2GB of RAM, vista has its slow lag times. I cannot wait until SP1 and HEAVILY recommend anyone who is willing to try or test vista should do a full install, not an upgrade. I still have aweird error whenever I put in my Mobile Phone: OnConnect is shutdown - what is OnConnect anyway? and MFC71.dll was not found. GRR! A quick search of the hard drive for this file and a copy to c:\windows\system32 fixed that error. Other than that, I have no idea what is now working of if I really accomplished anything other than removing the error message. And Windows Media Player 11 natively supports PodCasts now right? No! That is how I ran into my ZIP file problem. I had to look for a podcast plugin that is offered as a ZIP file. GRR. On the positive side, Vista is pretty. Heh, I feel so much better.

Laptop Upgrade to Vista

2007-03-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Now that things have smoothed out on my Vista upgrade, I decided to try my own advice in regards to my laptop. Recall, I recommended to forgoe the upgrade and perform a fresh install. So about an hour an a half later, not only was Vista installed, but on a laptop that is officially not supported by HP for Vista. All the major components worked: video, sound, & wireless. I just had to adjust to the correct resolution and ask Vista to find a driver for my memory card slots (yes I just to told it to find one on the internet and it automatically downloaded what it needed). This install was quite easy and for a laptop with only 512MB of RAM I am impressed. I am still planning on a memory upgrade since I have not given it a real workout yet. Still I have so many questions to answer: How well does Vista play in a network environment? What security features are going to conflict with daly business tasks? How many components of the existing networks will need to be upgraded before Vista can take advantage of shared printers from XP, or network aware anti-virus? Boy did I open a can of worms!

Windows Vista Upgrade - Part 2

2007-03-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Still troubleshooting. I get a buzz every time sounds are played through the speakers. I also get an error about a failure to load some DLL file. Apparently it is a creative labs application, so I am uninstalling all the Creative labs apps. Bottom line: Don't upgrade to save time. You will spend less time with a fresh install of Vista, reinstalling your apps than you will if you upgrade and have to troubleshoot each new problem that comes up, and the peace of mind of a fresh install is totally worth it!

Windows Vista Upgrade

2007-03-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

So I decided to upgrade my PC this morning to Windows Vista. I started the upgrade at 7AM, having a little bit of foresight, I decided to unintall Anti-Virus and the disk defragging software. As of 10AM Windows Vista is running, but my Mobile PC synchronization & PDF printing (cute PDF) are not. We have been playing around with Vista for around 6 months since RC1. I even used Vista RC2 for some manager seminars we hosted back in January. So the interface is familiar, but I have not tried some of the device applications. An upgrade/reinstall of Cute PDF 2.7 fixed PDF printing. But I am spinning my wheels on ActiveSync & Chapura PocketMirror. In addition I plan to install Office 2007 Enterprise. I will keep you all posted.

Office Remodel

2007-02-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

So we are remodeling our office. My brother came down last weekend to help us expand this wall, then decides it is better to tear it out and start from scratch. At that point, this project immediately doubled in size and cost. And since I'm involved, I am going crazy on electrical and data. In just 30 feet of space I have 20 Ethernet drops (10 on each side) and 5 - 20A electrical circuits. Serious power. Without my brother I would have never gotten this project started, and now that we tore the wall out, there is no going back. As of this weekend, we need to finish the sheetrock, putty the walls, finish the elctrical & data wires, prime, then paint. My business partner and myself are doing this all on our own. Maybe to prove to everyone that we are not the typical computer geek. I just hope to finish it soon.

Seminar

2007-01-24T22:58:00.000-08:00

I never thought preparing for a seminar would be so involved. I am trying to equip the office managers of our client and help them use the collaborative tools in Outlook to better manger their employees. In addition to a good seminar and PowerPoint slides - We cleaned the office, set up catering, cleaned out the refrigerator and even had to prepare for extra parking and provide signage. I could have postponed the seminars and still not be prepared. Hosting seminars is definitely something that needs practice to perfect!

2006-12-30T23:38:00.000-08:00

The latest excitement in my world of IT is that I passed the Microsoft Small Business Specialist exam (70-282 )! I do not know what I was thinking scheduling the test the Thursday before Christmas. During the test there was this jackhammer in the background. And then after you finish the test, Microsoft wants to give you a chance to review the questions to comment on them. Of course on this phase you cannot fix any wrong answers. It was a terrible feeling finding a wrong answer and there was nothing I could do about it. I knew then - this was the question that would have passed me. I could not review any further - the idea of stumbling across another incorrect answer was too stressful. Finally after the question reviews, they post your test result - passing was a great feeling! From here I hope to get the business qualified as a Microsoft Certified Partner.

2006-12-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy with some of the systems I have been working on. Dioptics - a sunglasses company has a $40,000 router - it also doubles as the PBX for the Cisco VoIP system they have as well. In all the router, switches, phones, and wireless access points easily exceeds $400,000 and I got to play on it! It started about ayear ago when I first helped them monitor bandwidth with MRTG. They have a dual T1 pipe and the funny thing is, their Internet is slow. So they asked me to come by again and take a look. At the same time, another client's exchange server had a degraded RAID5. That is supposed to be trivial to fix. You call Dell order a replacement drive, drop it in and you are done.. right? Not in this case. The RAID refused to rebuild - I attempted to upgrade the RAID firmware - when that did not work I called Dell support. As soon as they heard that I upgraded the firmware they told me I was screwed. The server still booted up - so I could back up the data. They suggested a complete backup - destroy the RAID and build a new one. Reinstall and then restore. Instead I build a second RAID array and used a disk copy program. Of course I did a backup but no restore was needed. It is funny, most people start a blog when they are going to have a kid or do something really new and special with their life like travel the world. I finally start bloging to list the major achievements I have accomplished in business. Expect more soon. I also hope to post memories of previous experiences from my first tech job. I could write a book about that!