Ramblings from another nerd on the grid
Triumph has joined forces with the estate of Hollywood icon Steve McQueen to create a limited edition motorcycle that pays tribute to the late actor’s love of the British brand’s products.
Based on the classic Bonneville T100, just 1,100 of the Steve McQueen™ Edition will be sold worldwide. Featuring a host of modified parts, the design is inspired by the Triumph Trophy TR6 that McQueen insisted on riding during the famous stunt scene in The Great Escape, and features a military-style Matt Khaki Green livery, stencil-style Triumph decal on the tank and the actor’s signature on the side covers.
Featuring a solo seat and black luggage rack, the McQueen bike has also been fitted with a rugged skid plate and small black-bodied headlamp. The Triumph Steve McQueen™ Edition features a host of other blacked out components, including wheel rims and hubs, handlebars, rear springs, mirrors and front mudguard supports.
To confirm the bike’s provenance, each machine is individually numbered with a plaque placed on the handlebar clamp, while owners will also receive a certificate of authenticity with their machine.
More information at http://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/triumph-world/news/2012-models.
I don’t think this is the most expensive phone ever made, but it’s certainly up there.
Go get them @ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx.
I love videos like this. office.com/vision
He with the best toys wins the snowball fight. Get it @ http://www.sharperimage.com/si/view/product/Crossbow-Snow-Launcher/200402?trail.
At the Nokia World keynote early this morning, Nokia announced it’s plans to connect a billion new people in emerging markets. In addition to the global vision, Nokia also announced availability of some new Windows Phone devices (pictured above). The keynote replay is currently on the homepage for Nokia World 2011 so go listen when you have a spare 90 minutes. The first 35 minutes is about the emerging market plan.
I like the look of the Lumia 800. I can’t wait to see it up close and personal. I’ll have to wait a few more months for the US launch, but it’ll give me time to read some of the reviews of the European devices. If you happen to be in the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany or the Netherlands, you can pre-order the device right now. See the price checker.
Ever notice the similarity in the wallpaper color and the colors on my blog? Total coincidence. Grin.
The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 provides storage (disks) over a TCP/IP network. It turns a computer running Windows Server into a storage device which provides shared block storage. You can use Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 to perform a variety of storage-related tasks, including the following:
The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 is an economical solution suited for a development or test environment and a small, medium, or branch office production environment. It enables storage consolidation and sharing on a Windows Server by implementing the iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) protocol, which supports SCSI-block access to a storage device over a TCP/IP network. For details on how to manage iSCSI targets, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg232606(WS.10).aspx
This download package includes the following items: Root:
Go get is @ http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=19867.
This download includes the Exchange Server Active Directory Schema Reference, which provides information about the changes that Microsoft Exchange Server makes to the Active Directory schema when it is installed. The Exchange Server Active Directory Schema Changes Reference includes changes made by Exchange Server 2010 SP2, Exchange Server 2010 SP1, Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007, and Exchange Server 2003.
Go get it @ http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5401.
Get it @ http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27748.
Looking for some Application Virtualization (App-V) information? Here’s a nice download page with all of the docs in a nice ordered list. Go get em @ http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27760.
I’ll take one. More information @ Engadget.
Last night at the AsiaD conference, Windows Phone President Andy Lees indicated NOKIA will announce Windows Phones at NOKIA World. Andy discussed the partnership with NOKIA and other OEMs as well as the Windows Phone momentum and developer support. See the interview by Ina Fried at http://allthingsd.com/20111020/andy-lees-video-highlights-from-asiad/ along with the highlight video. Comments about NOKIA World begin at 00:57 seconds.
See http://allthingsd.com/20111019/andy-lees-asiad/ for other topics discussed in the interview along with some pictures of the demonstrations.
I personally can’t wait for the NOKIA information. I have always wanted a NOKIA phone. It’s going to be on my list for Santa Claus. Hope I’m not on the naughty list. Well maybe I do.
Andy Lees, Microsoft Windows Phone President did some show and tell of his own at the AsiaD conference last night. In particular, Andy displayed the coming AT&T Samsung Focus S for the first time in public, the Samsung Focus Flash, and the HTC Titan.
For the first look pictures and more information, head on over to the Windows Phone Blog.
ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih brought some show and tell to the stage this evening. Checkout this picture of the coming ASUS Transformer.
Head on over to http://on.fb.me/msbboa2 and enter the Big Box of Awesome II sweepstakes. See http://apps.facebook.com/microsoft-bboa/contests/158276/rules for the official rules.
I hate that rule that goes something like “You are NOT an employee of Microsoft Corporation or an employee of a Microsoft subsidiary; and”. Sad.
Finally! I installed Windows Phone 7.5 to my ATT HTC HD7S this morning and shortly after that success, I set out to replace the lame ringtone. Yes, you can now implement custom ringtones on your phone and although it isn’t as simple as finding a song in your music collection, it isn’t impossible either.
There are really several key aspects you must pay attention to. First, the Genre for the song must be Ringtone. Therefore you are going to need to edit the metadata for a song. Second, the song must be less than 40 seconds and smaller than 1MB in size. As you can see, you are going to need an audio file editor to create the ringtone you want. After creation you simply need to add it to your Zune collection on the phone so it will show up in the list of available tunes.
Want more precise instructions? See John Garland’s blog post on the subject @ http://wintellect.com/CS/blogs/jgarland/archive/2011/07/25/creating-custom-ringtones-in-windows-phone-mango.aspx. He covers all of the bases for you very nicely. Enjoy your sweet Mango!
The first ringtone I created is a 35 second clip from the beginning of “Down With the Sickness” by the rock group Disturbed. I’ve been using that track for presentation sound checks for years and it seemed only appropriate to pay homage. We’ll see what the folks in the grocery store think next time I’m there and receive a call. Evil grin.
See the official press release @ http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2011/oct11/10-13SkypePR.mspx
ASUS had their coming out party in New York City yesterday and showed off the shiny new Zenbook™. The new Ultrabook™ from ASUS has an impressive set of creds in the spec sheet. For instance, the ZenBook™ UX31 boasts a 450nit 1600x900 13” screen. That should be enough brightness for tanning purposes and vitamin D production. Here are the specs:
If you haven’t seen some of the pictures of this notebook checkout the following picture. I really need to see this thing up close and personal. I’m very curious how it really looks and feels, especially the keyboard. It’s a shame the keyboard isn’t backlit.
See the http://zenbook.asus.com/ website for more hardware porn, features, and all of the channel partners and retail locations where the Zenbook is about to go on sale. I did some checking and although it’s after midnight here, the embargo for the USA must last until west coast time. Got your credit card ready? Should be good for quite a few AA miles.
STAY OFF MY YARD !!!
Acer America today announced the North American availability of its first Ultrabook, the Acer Aspire S3-951. This featherweight Ultrabook powers on instantly, connects to the Web in seconds and provides up to 50 days of stand-by time, or 6 hours of continuous usage. As slim and easy to carry as a magazine, it includes a powerful Intel Core i5 Processor, speedy solid state drive for quickly booting the operating system, roomy hard drive, and essential USB and HDMI ports.
See the full press release at http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/press/2011/26448. See the http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/aspiresseries area for one hub of information.
Then of course there’s the other marketing site at http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/s-series-home. Two marketing hubs? Interesting. Ready to buy? Head on over to http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B005MR58MG and plunk down $899. It’s also available for pre-order at Fry’s and other locations. Check the specifications carefully.
Infomercial
This video is actually pretty good. But they should have named the S3 the USS Enterprise or something to go with the starfleet boldly go where no Ultrabook has gone before theme. Grin.
With a collection of data from Internet services and over 600 million computers worldwide, the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) exposes the threat landscape of exploits, vulnerabilities, and malware. Awareness of threats is a preventive step to help you protect your organization, software, and people.
Worldwide Threat Assessment is an analysis of the global impact while Regional Threat Assessment provides detailed telemetry by location. Protection methods appear in Managing Risk.
SIR volume 11 provides data from January to June 2011 and features the article “Zeroing In on Malware Propagation Methods”. Here’s the first paragraph from the article.
“Among the array of technical and non-technical mechanisms that malicious parties have at their disposal for attacking computers and stealing data, the zero-day vulnerability—a software vulnerability that is successfully exploited before the software vendor has published a security update addressing it—is especially significant for security professionals and attackers alike. Zero-day vulnerabilities—according to the conventional wisdom, at least—cannot be effectively defended against, and can arise at any time, leaving even security-conscious IT administrators essentially at their mercy. While technologies like Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) have been introduced to make it more difficult to reliably exploit software, and processes like the Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) have been shown to reduce the incidence of software vulnerabilities, these vulnerabilities continue to capture the imagination.”
Download the SIR 11 PDF now @ the Microsoft download center.
I nearly forgot to download the .ISO files for Office after the SP1 release. That is until I did a new install and went to fetch a key a little while ago. Be sure and get some.
Microsoft’s Windows Azure has beaten all competitors in independent tests using Compuware’s CloudSleuth testing tool. Article triggers heated discussion.
What do you think about the article? Lots of interesting comments.
I still haven’t given up the idea that my Samsung 55” HDTV can be successfully driven by a cool little Windows 7 or Windows 8 box. Zotac just announced Zotac Zboz. Catchy name. Sounds familiar.
I’d like to put something like this in my entertainment center and have it record FIOS TV from a Ceton USB or HDHomeRun Prime network tuner.
Anyone doing this? I tried this before with an ATOM based Acer Revo and it didn’t work out so well. Anyone have thoughts on the chipset in this? Click the pic for the manufacturer information or the link below.
See http://www.zotacusa.com/zbox-amd-e-350-apu-all-in-one-zboxnano-vd01-plus-u.html. Looks like they have a .PDF data sheet at http://www.zotacusa.com/specsheet/ZBOXNANO-VD01-PLUS-U.pdf.
Train. Coffee shop. Soccer field. Now you can connect, collaborate, and get things done—virtually anywhere—using Microsoft Office 365. Guided by business productivity expert Katherine Murray, you’ll get a running start with Office 365 cloud-based business services. And you’ll take wing as you learn best practices for connecting the people and resources you need, and orchestrating the results you want.
Connect, collaborate, consult, and create from virtually anywhere
Title: Microsoft® Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime By: Katherine Murray Publisher: Microsoft Press Formats: Print, Ebook, Safari Books Online
Print: July 2011 Ebook: July 2011 Pages: 336 Print ISBN: 978-0-7356-5694-9 | ISBN 10: 0-7356-5694-0 Ebook ISBN: 978-0-7356-5693-2 | ISBN 10: 0-7356-5693-2
Release information at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2011/07/15/rtm-d-today-microsoft-office-365-connect-and-collaborate-virtually-anywhere-anytime.aspx.
Free eBook download @ http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/2/F/12F1FF78-73E1-4714-9A08-6A76FA3DA769/656949ebook.pdf.
This download includes the Exchange Server Active Directory Schema Reference, which provides information about the changes that Microsoft Exchange Server makes to the Active Directory schema when it is installed. The Exchange Server Active Directory Schema Changes Reference includes changes made by Exchange Server 2010 SP1, Exchange Server 2010 SP2, Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007, and Exchange Server 2003.
This is the September 2011 edition of the reference guide. Go grab it @ http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5401.
Microsoft SQL Server Sustained Engineering group is pleased to announce the release of SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3. Both the Service Pack and Feature Pack updates are available for download on the Microsoft Download Center. As part of our continued commitment to software excellence for our customers, this upgrade is free and doesn’t require an additional service contract.
SQL Server 2008 SP3 contains fixes to issues that have been reported through our customer feedback platforms and Hotfix solution provided in SQL Server 2008 SP2 Cumulative Update 1 thru to Cumulative Update 4. Service Pack 3 also includes supportability enhancements and issues that have been reported through Windows Error Reporting system.
A few customers requested updates in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 SP3 are:
See more information at http://blogs.technet.com/b/dataplatforminsider/archive/2011/10/06/sql-server-2008-sp3-is-now-available.aspx.
Get the download @ http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27594.
My condolences to the Jobs family, Steve’s friends and colleagues, and the Apple employees.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZWKWQQ
REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2011 — A new era in television begins this holiday where your entertainment becomes instantly searchable, easily discoverable and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways from a single device — Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to roll out the next generation of TV entertainment on Xbox LIVE, the online entertainment service for Xbox 360. Nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers, including Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K., Telefónica in Spain; Rogers On Demand in Canada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and MediaSet in Italy, will begin rolling out entertainment services to the console this holiday, in more than 20 countries.
See the full press release at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2011/oct11/10-05XBTVPR.mspx. You can also get more information at the http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/10/05/microsoft-amp-partners-introduce-new-era-of-interactive-entertainment.aspx blog post on this subject.
Now I need to study this more fully especially considering my TiVo Series III is due to be replaced before too long. MCE, XBOX or TiVo? Should be fun regardless.
Today Apple held a small press event at 4 Infinite Loop and managed to crash all of the “live” blogging sites covering the event. That was followed by apple.com crashing. After the smoke cleared an iPhone 4S emerged with an updated processor, gpu, camera, and other solid features. Get all the information at http://www.apple.com/iphone/ or click the pic above.
http://windowsphone.com/marketplace is a great way to look at all of the applications and games available for your device. Be sure to check it out when you have a few minutes from the big screen on your desk. Enjoy.