Development

Jul 2 2008   1:57PM GMT

If no one is answering the front door - try the back door

Posted by: Troy Tate
awareness, diagnostics, howto, CIO, blogging, DataManagement, Development, browser, troubleshooting, metrics, Performance, web, website, design, customer service, www

I recently went to Target and was going to look at my daughter’s wedding registry to see what she and her fiance had selected. When I got to the registry kiosks, there was a Target team member and a customer having problems getting into the service. The Target team member was on the phone apparently with another store or technical support. I heard things like “This is happening at all of the stores.” “We can’t get it to work.” “How do you reset this thing?”

Since there was another open kiosk, I thought I would try my luck and see what errors may appear. The main kiosk user page is intuitive and I immediately found the wedding registry icon and clicked it as any customer would. The application immediately responded with an error page describing some issues with scripting or something. Ahhhh… so I was receiving the same error as the other customer.

Well, the IT detective side came out in me and I started back over at the kiosk home page. Target designed this page with lots of options and ways to get to information that a customer may be looking for. Along the side of this page I found another link to get into the various registry areas, baby, wedding, etc. I clicked on that topic, navigated my way to the wedding registry and lo and behold… I was able to print out my daughter’s wedding registry while the other customer and the Target team members were still grumbling about the other kiosk.

I want to commend Target for providing multiple navigation means around their website. I would hope this experience would encourage more of the same for other vendors. I know, in IT, we like to restrict how many paths a user can go through an application to get to the same information, but in this case, Target did the right thing and provided good customer service.

Jun 18 2008   7:25PM GMT

Did you see this? - 10 Cool Powershell scripts virtual lab

Posted by: Troy Tate
Powershell, administration, howto, DataCenter, DataManagement, Development, Exchange, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft, troubleshooting, Networking, Security, policy enforcement, reporting, tools

Microsoft has some great virtual labs which can give an administrator some quick education over a lunch hour or a short period of time. One of these virtual labs is the 10 Cool Powershell Scripts lab. If you have not started with Powershell, then this may help you get moving in the same direction that Microsoft is moving… back to the command line!

Enjoy & keep your skills fresh.

Jun 18 2008   7:20PM GMT

Did you see this? - Microsoft Assessment & Planning Toolkit 3.1 Beta

Posted by: Troy Tate
administration, diagnostics, beta, DataCenter, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft, troubleshooting, Networking, LAN, Monitoring, metrics, Performance, reporting, tools

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is an integrated platform with tools and guidance that make it easier for you to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your IT needs. It offers easy inventory, powerful assessment and actionable recommendations for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Microsoft Application Virtualization (formerly SoftGrid), System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office, and SQL Server. The popular Windows Vista Hardware Assessment readiness tool has now been replaced by the MAP toolkit platform.

Jun 18 2008   7:15PM GMT

Did you see this? - Sysinternals LIVE!!

Posted by: Troy Tate
administration, Microsoft, Sysinternals, awareness, Data security, diagnostics, howto, CIO, Database, DataCenter, DataManagement, Development, Microsoft Windows, troubleshooting, Networking, LAN, network analysis, WAN, Security, forensics, Monitoring, Policy, Performance, reporting, tools, web, website, www

If you’re a fan of the Sysinternals tools, check out the beta of Sysinternals Live, a service that makes it easy for you to execute Sysinternals tools directly from the web without hunting for and manually downloading them. Simply enter a tool’s Sysinternals live path into Windows Explorer, or at the command prompt as \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\<toolname> or view the entire Sysinternals Live tools directory in a browser.

If you have not used these tools yet, then you are definitely missing a critical item for being successful in your IT position. Check them out… it may save your reputation some time!

Jun 17 2008   2:05PM GMT

Did you see this? - Online e-book library

Posted by: Troy Tate
administration, awareness, howto, CIO, Database, DataCenter, DataManagement, Development, Exchange, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mobile, Networking, IT education, LAN, network analysis, WAN, Oracle, SAP, Security, SQL Server, Storage, Virtualization, metrics, Performance, research, web, website

Check out this digital online library for IT professionals. Bet you can’t read just one!

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

May 9 2008   6:20PM GMT

Did you see this? - a live honeynet

Posted by: Troy Tate
anti-virus, Data security, howto, CIO, DataManagement, Sandbox, Security, antivirus, forensics, malware, Monitoring, research, honeynet, honeypot, botnet, SQL Server

I just came across the Shadowserver Foundation. According to their mission:

The Shadowserver Foundation is an all volunteer watchdog group of security professionals that gather, track, and report on malware, botnet activity, and electronic fraud. It is the mission of the Shadowserver Foundation to improve the security of the Internet by raising awareness of the presence of compromised servers, malicious attackers, and the spread of malware.

This is a great resource to find out what’s happening “in the wild” and to help sell security protection to your organization. This is real stuff happening in the real world. For example, take a look at how detailed the blog entry is on the winzipices.cn SQL injection / malware attack. This gives you enough information to fight the threat and feel confident you understand it.  Well done to the Shadowserver Foundation!

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together &
practice safe networking!