In the default modus operandi, Outlook 2007 likes to be in cached mode when running against Exchange, which is generally a *good thing*. Cached mode means there are (by and large) fewer occasions to go back & forth to the server, as it operates by synchronizing a local copy of the mailbox down to the OST file on the client. This means that operations such as content indexing (which Outlook now does by default), sorting, filtering etc, all happen on the client rather than hammering the server.

Outlook 2003 did this too, but 2007 offers a new capability in caching the calendars of other users on your behalf. Now that's generally a good thing too - it means that when you open someone's calendar in Outlook, it adds that user's calendar to your cache so that you can see it when offline, and if it's someone you regularly snoop on (let's face it, a lot of calendar lookups are just checking what people are up to, aren't they?), then it will be quicker in opening the calendar in future, since Outlook doesn't have to go back to the server for everything.

A possible downside to this is if you're in a large organization and you routinely (but occasionally) open lots of people's calendars - what then happens is that Outlook spends time and increases the size of your OST by dragging everything down to your PC.

There are a couple of options to mitigate this potentially unwanted behaviour:

• Remove unwanted calendars from your list. If you go into the Calendar in Outlook, you might see a large list of "People's Calendars", meaning you've viewed them before. You could right-click on each individual calendar on the list and choose "Remove ..." and it will ditch that item from your list and also stop synchronizing it (assuming you want to continue synching some other calendars), or...
• Go to Tools | Account Settings | double-click on <Exchange Server account> | More Settings | Advanced  and clear the check-box which says "Download shared folders..."

If you're experiencing problems with excessive calendar synch traffic, one of these options might sort you out...

//Ewan

SWAG == Stuff We All Get (named after the procedure of getting lots of branded merchandise you didn't realise you wanted - or maybe don't really...)

Anyway, for my session at IT Forum (UCM313 - Anti-spam Enhancements in Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2), I ordered a load of SWAG to dish out to the audience (the things you'll do to get a better feedback rating ;-), but since it was all ordered from the US, it got stuck in customs & I didn't get the stuff in time for going to Barcelona. I had wanted to give away SPAM-branded hats, Frisbees, lanyards, fly-swats (yes ...) etc, all ordered from www.spamgift.com - but they never arrived in time!

The coup-de-grace was going to be the SPAM can hat, ably modeled by my buddy Sandeep here...

I'll send some spare SWAG to the best anecdotes I receive by email or comments through this blog, on how you're using Exchange to beat the SPAM mail menace... so get thinking!

//Ewan

PS. Top marks to Hormel Foods for embracing the fact that "SPAM" is now as commonly used to describe junk mail as their fine tinned meat product. So many trademark holders crack down on people using their name, yet Hormel seem to have a refreshingly cool attitude to the whole thing... 

I got an email the other day from someone who'd been at my session at IT Forum (UCM313 - Antispam Enhancements in Exchange 2003 SP2), where I'd done a few demos of sending SPAM, in order to show how Exchange could deal with it. I'd used a command line SMTP utility to send SPAM messages directly to port 25 on the server...

The questioner asked how I'd done that - the answer, using a free tool from Craig Peacock called BMail, where I had a few CMD files set up to send mail from a text file dragged onto the CMD file.

C:\>bmail /?

Command Line SMTP Emailer V1.07 Copyright(C) 2002-2004 Craig.Peacock@beyondlogic.org

Usage: bmail [options]

-s SMTP Server Name
-p SMTP Port Number (optional, defaults to 25)
-t To: Address
-f From: Address
-b Text Body of Message (optional)
-h Generate Headers
-a Subject (optional)
-m Filename (optional) Use file as Body of Message
-c Prefix above file with CR/LF to separate body from header -d Debug (Show all mail server communications)

Ueful little tool for my demo, but also potentially good for automating the sending of log files, sending status messages etc.

//Ewan

I switched fairly recently from using a Qtek 8500 Smartphone (which I still use occasionally and love for its form factor) to an Orange SPV M3100 Pocket PC Phone, and have had a somewhat mixed experience as a result.

Pros: The M3100 has a nice screen, a slide-out keyboard (making on-the-hoof email and texts that bit easier than Smartphone... though I do like T9 on the Qtek's keypad). It's also 3G, which is useful... never really use the WiFi so that's not a great value add.

Cons: Even with it's relatively diminutive size, the M3100 is still over-big for a phone. But the biggest annoyance is really with the phone UI - it's nowhere near as quick to use as a phone, compared to the 8500 ... anything that means you need to tap the screen pretty much means you need to be looking at the device and using 2 hands.

Now, a couple of weeks after I got the device I was wakened up in the middle of the night several days in a row, because I'd forgotten to switch it to "silent" before going to bed (not as easy as it might be, since there's no "Profile" like there is in Smartphone, that could switch between silent/normal/outdoors etc).

I figured "someone must have cracked this!", and was delighted to find a neat bit of software called PocketZenPhone which not only implements the ability to have profiles (with a lot more than just sound volume etc), but to be able to schedule when the phone switches between them!

Now, I have the device automatically go into silent mode at 11pm and go back to normal at 7am... so even if someone sends me a meeting request for a different timezone or something that would fire reminders in the middle of the night, the phone will let me slumber on...

This has to be the best £5 I could have spent on Windows Mobile software!

One of the neat things with HTC Windows Mobile 5 devices on Windows Vista is when you activate the Wireless Modem over Bluetooth, Vista will just see the device and automatically detect it as a modem.

When you plug the device in to a Vista PC using USB (having first enabled Wireless Modem over USB on the phone), you may find that it won't be recognised.

A solution can be derived from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837637...

If you grab your standard HTC USB Modem INF file (you can grab a copy here if you don't have one to hand) and add the emboldened lines below into the relevant places...

[Modem1.NT]
DriverVer=05/13/1999
include=mdmcpq.inf
CopyFiles=FakeModemCopyFileSection
...
...
...
[Modem1.NT.Services]
include=mdmcpq.inf
AddService=usbser, 0x00000000, LowerFilter_Service_Inst
...
...
...
[Modem1.NT.HW]
include=mdmcpq.inf
AddReg=LowerFilterAddReg

Save the file out under a new name, and when Vista starts looking for the driver, tell it you want to point to a specific location. If it finds this file, you should find that Robert's your father's brother!

Have a happy Christmas - see you in the new year!