Canadian IT Pro Data Base : Events

Future of the Desktop Tour Starts Soon!!

damirb — Wed, 03 May 2006 01:03:00 GMT

I know I said earlier that I would not have too many technical posts or tour info on this blog, but since I am on the tour I thought it worth posting. On May 25, Bruce Cowper and I will kick off the Future of the Desktop Tour in Montreal. The tour will highlight Windows Vista and Office 2007 and should provide some valuable insight into how to deploy and manage the next generation desktop. Visit the Canadian IT Pro blog for more info and to register.

You Just Never Know What a Microsoft TechNet Event Can Lead To....

damirb — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:58:00 GMT

I got the following email through this blog from Matt Dean, who attended a couple of Microsoft events at our Missisauga office last week. His second event provided more excitement on the way home then he expected. Here's what he wrote me:

Hi Damir,

I'm sending this information to both you and Bruce Cowper. My name is Matt Dean and I work for the Simcoe County District School Board, one of Canada's largest geographic counties. Myself, 3 colleagues and a personal friend of mine came to the User Group event on the 22nd of March, 2006 (you recognized me and my friend as being at your event on Monday the 20th...).

After the event, there were some interesting things that happened that involved the Ontario Provincial Police.

The following is copied from my weblog at http://blog.mattdean.ca/

Myself and three other school board employees attended a great Microsoft event in Mississauga, ON today discussing how to lock down desktop workstations so that users didn't have to run as Administrators. However, after the event, we proceeded to McDonald's at Hurontario (Hwy 10) and Bristol. After a quick bite to eat, we went and grabbed gas and hopped onto Hwy 403. We took the 403 to Hwy 401 East.

A few moments after getting onto the 401 East express lanes, just before we came up to the Dixon Road exit, we noticed a vehicle going all over the road and causing problems. I gave Dan, one of the school board employees, my cell phone and he called 911 to report it. We ended up staying behind this vehicle for quite a while as Dan provided location updates to the 911 dispatcher.

After the other driver proceeded onto the 400 North exit from the express lanes on the 401, we followed (we were going that way anyways...). Around Hwy 7 and 400, we notice a police car passing us on the right. Dan relayed to me (I was driving) that the 911 dispatcher requested that I engage the 4-way signals, so I did so.

They then requested that we pull over behind them (police) right after two other police cars pass us in the far left lane. They cut across a couple of lanes of traffic and push the other car off to the shoulder of the road. We pull in behind (not too closely though...). They ended up taking two young (approx 5-6 years old) children from the back of the car. An OPP officer comes back to us and asks for my driver's license and tells us that they got it all on video as well as our accounts (there was a total of five of us, 4 school board employees including myself and a friend of mine) of what he was doing.

The officer goes back for a while and then comes back and asks us to follow him to a parking lot so we can fill out "Incident Reports". We do so. The officer hands out forms and pens to us all and we all start to fill out our accounts of what occurred. He then interviews us each seperately in the back of his car (the first time I've ever been in the back of a cop car... it's a tight space with that wall thing protecting the officer).

After the interviews, he tells all of us that the other driver was impaired and we'd likely be called to testify in court as they usually plead not-guilty. He says that this would likely be in about a year. During his speech, his wife calls and he tells her that he's on a call. We, including the officer, had a little laugh about that. The officer and his wife actually just bought a house. He then says that's all he needs and we can head home. Just before he hops back into his car though, I ask for my license back as he's forgotten that he's taken it.

The odd thing is that about 10 minutes after getting back on the highway, we notice the exact same car (same as in make and model) with a VERY similar license plate, with only the last number being different... 5 instead of 3.

Just thought I'd share this little tidbit with you guys.

Matt Dean

All I can say is good work guys!!!

Upcoming Tour Info and News About This Blog

damirb — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 06:47:00 GMT

First, I just posted on the Canadian IT Pro blog about the upcoming Future of the Desktop Tour whose content I am responsible for. Check out the post at http://blogs.technet.com/canitpro/archive/2006/03/09/421680.aspx.

This leads me to my second point, this blog will be changing focus somewhat. As many of you are aware, the Canadian IT Pro team at Microsoft has created two centralized blogs that now house the majority of the technical content we are delivering via the blogs. The Canadian IT Pro Blog is focused on IT Pro issues and the events we are putting on to support you, the Canadian IT Pro community. The idea was that instead of you going to four invidual blogs - this one, Bruce Cowper's, Rick Claus's and Barnaby Jeans' - to get all the content you need, why not just have a single place - the Canadian IT Pro Blog.

At the same time, a manager-focused blog was also launched to which our manager, John Oxley, as well as several outside parties, and Barnaby and Bruce contribute. Check it out at the Canadian IT Managers Blog.

The whole point of two key blogs instead of 4 or 5, is to make it easier for you to connect with us. Now, that does not mean that I will abandon this blog entirely. I actually plan on continuing to post here, but the focus will change somewhat from strictly technology issues to some of the other things I am passionate about. I'm going to start this off with a couple of posts this weekend on Formula 1 racing and The Sopranos.

The first race of the 2006 Formula 1 season takes place this weekend in Bahrain. It promises to be an interesting one and I'll give you my thoughts on qualifying, the race, the teams, drivers and anything else that I think might be worthwhile discussing. If you share my passion for F1 or are just curious, stay tuned.

As well Sunday, March 12 marks the start of the sixth (and final?) season of The Sopranos. I have been hooked on this series since season 1 and, despite the ebb and flow of the quality of each season and eposide, find the series totally entertaining. Like The Sopranos? Let's get into a discussion.

Connect to the Windows Media Stream for the Build '06 Tour Toronto Stop NOW!!!

damirb — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 22:01:00 GMT

One of the things I love about working with the IT Pro team at Microosft is that we get to try new things and see how they work. Right now (1:55pm EST on March 9, 2006) we are streaming the Toronto stop of the Build '06 Tour LIVE on the web. If you can, connect to the Windows Media stream by going to http://media.canitpro.ca/build06 or mms://media.canitpro.ca/build06. This should let you see and hear what is being presented at the John Bassett Theater at the Metro Toronto Convention Center live. If you do connect, leave us a comment and let us know what you thought. Should this be something we do for future events as well? Let us know!!

Sometimes the things I get to do are just too cool!!!

We have a definition for AKU!!

damirb — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 01:46:00 GMT

Thanks to Dwayne Lamb of VisualByte in Toronto for digging up the definition of the term we have been using a fair bit on the TNX:TechNet Exchange Tour. The acronym AKU stands for Adaptation Kit Update, which is a set of code sent to OEMs to update Mobile 5 devices.

Like we said on the tour, you need Adaptation Kit Update (AKU) 2 to fully support all of the features of the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) of Exchange Server 2003 SP2, including Direct Push Technology and remote and local wipe.

Thanks again to Dwayne for digging this up!!

I'm taking a break but come see Rick and Bruce at the Build '06 tour

damirb — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:27:00 GMT

Having just completed the TNX: TechNet Exchange Tour, I get a bit of a break from touring until the Future of the Desktop tour in May. I should now have more time for blogging both here and on the Can IT Pro blog so stay tuned.

I have posted the info on the Build '06 tour starting later this month in my previous post. Please register for this event on a secure, well-managed infrastructure and come and see Rick and Bruce share their wisdom.

Build '06 Tour is Coming to a City Near You

damirb — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:24:00 GMT

"How can I find more time to focus on larger IT issues, not on day-to-day tasks?"

This is just one of the many questions that TechNet Canada has heard recently from IT professionals across the country. Our answer: TechNet BUILD’06—the must-attend Winter Tour. Created by the TechNet Canada team for IT professionals like you, TechNet BUILD’06 is a must-see opportunity to explore new technologies, speak one-to-one with Microsoft technology experts, and discover how you can leverage the power of the latest
offerings from Microsoft, including Microsoft^® Windows Server™ 2003 R2 operating system, Virtual Server 2005 R2, and Internet Explorer 7. To learn more, click here.


Date	City	Venue
February 28, 2006	Victoria	SilverCity Tillicum
March 2, 2006	Vancouver	Paramount Vancouver
March 7, 2006	Halifax	Empire B, Park Lane
March 7, 2006	Ottawa	Coliseum Ottawa
March 9, 2006	Toronto	Metro Toronto Convention Centre
March 14, 2006	Montreal	Paramount Montreal
March 14, 2006	Calgary	Paramount Chinook
March 16, 2006	Edmonton	SilverCity Edmonton Mall
March 16, 2006	Quebec City	StarCité Ste-Foy
March 21, 2006	Winnipeg	SilverCityPolo Park


As a BUILD’06 participant, you’ll also receive a complimentary copy of Virtual Server 2005 R2— one of the most cost-effective virtual machine solutions you’ll find.

What's New in BizTalk Server 2006 slides now available on MS web site

damirb — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:36:00 GMT

The slides from the TechNet Monthly session What's New in BizTalk Server 2006 can now be downloaded from http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/6/c/a6c4a976-da3e-4950-8c46-c3964cbbec1f/TechNetMonthly-WhatsNewBTS2006.ppt, which should have some more bandwidth than my own site.

TechNet Monthly BizTalk 2006 Slide Deck

damirb — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:52:00 GMT

Those of you that attended last Thursday's TechNet Monthly on What's New in BizTalk Server 2006 can find the PowerPoint slides of my presentation by clicking here. I really enjoyed meeting you all and I hope you were able to pick up some info on BizTalk Server 2006 and see how you can leverage it your business processes.

On the Road Again...soon

damirb — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 07:41:00 GMT

Well, it seems like only yesterday that I wrapped up the SQL Server 2005 Launch Tour and I'm off on another adventure across Canada!! This time my partner in technological information delivery will be Rick Claus, another IT Pro Advisor at Microsoft Canada. Rick is based in my home town of Ottawa and, unlike me now living in the Greater Toronto Area, can be a Senators fan without too much peer pressure thrust upon him by other family members.

Rick and I will be off on the TNX:TechNet Exchange Tour focusing on collaboration and communication. This means we are going to show you how to implement an infrastructure that includes Microsoft Exchange 2003, Windows SharePoint Services, and Live Communication Server 2005 to enable true collaboration among your internal and mobile workforce and extend this to Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. It promises to be an exciting all-day session filled with technical content that you can implement in your organization.

To get more information or to register for the TNX:TechNet Exchange Tour, go to http://www.microsoft.ca/technet/tnx. I look forward to seeing you there!!