Unanswered questions make a triumphant return to the front page

If you’ve got a keen eye, you may have noticed that the tabs on the front page have changed. After a brief absence, the “Unanswered” questions tab has returned to the front page.

Recent IT Questions, IT Answers and Discussions are still in the navigation, but some members gave us feedback that they missed the “Unanswered Questions” tab. So, naturally, we listened and brought it back!

The unanswered questions tab is a great way to start participating on the site — it lets you filter through and see the areas where our members still need help. Remember, you can also access unanswered questions by parent tag if you are only interested in networking or virtualization queries.

Remember that every answer earns you 15 Knowledge Points toward community fame, a free t-shirt, or even cool prizes (like, say, a Google Nexus One).

Happy answering, and remember, your feedback on the site is what we count on to make the community better! Don’t be afraid to tell us what you’d like to see.

Thanks,

Community Manager

The IT Blog Top 10: Jan. 14, 2010

1. Forrester points to 2010 changes in application development Jack Vaughn reports back that Forrester has highlighted cloud computing platforms, low-cost application frameworks and more nimble development as 2010 priorities.

2. Importing VMDK disk files into Sun xVM VirtualBox Rick Vanover provides an illustrated virtualization how-to on importing VMDK into VirtualBox.

3. Oracle-Citrix acquisition hits the rumor mill Colin Steele writes on the latest rumors about an even bigger Oracle acquistion goal now that it is completing Sun.

4. Linux inside at CES 2010 Linux is powering more than ever, reports Paul Ferrill live from CES.

5. How to use command line arguments in VBScript via the Wscript.Arguments Object Jerry Lees explains a helpful VBScript trick. Continued »

The most-watched IT questions this week: Jan. 12, 2009

… and we’re back! Here’s our grand return to our most-watched questions of the week. Don’t forget: Each question you ask and answer brings you closer to your shot at Winning the unlocked Nexus One phone. So go ahead: Ask away!

1. Tdizzle342 asks for help with a database structure and MrDenny, Carlosdl and Msi77 all happily chip in.

2. Gunzforlife fires away with a question about updating char which Carlosdl and MrDenny help him with.

3. Asharkawy asks about connecting Oracle Forms 10g to Oracle Database Express Edition, which Carlosdl answers.

4. Grandaddutt asks about name input in Visual Basic 6, and once again Carlosdl answers.

5. 535236917 encounters error Ora-06550; Carlosdl sorts through the numerology to explain the error, while Jcmdba offers some general error hunting advice.

Continued »

Sound off, get points, win a Nexus One!

That ghostly, mesmerizing light above? It’s the Nexus One boot screen, and it (and, err, the rest of the phone) could be yours if you enter the the ranks of the top 10 Knowledge Point earners over the next month. You don’t even need to be answering questions to get those points! Tweet out the contest if you’re on Twitter, for example, to get 250 free Knowledge Points. Simply ask a question and get 5 points. Don’t have any questions to ask?

Ok, we’ll make it even easier: Make a great comment that catches the eye of one of our IT bloggers, and you can receive up to 200 more points. Each blogger has been given a directive to seek out their “comments of the week,” and this week and next we’ll be scouring blogs for other great comments. Looking for some reading material? Browse through our full list of blogs, or choose from this list of bloggers who have agreed to keep an eye out this week (check back as the list is updated):

• Can you hear me now? Tales from a Cisco voice instructor
• Enterprise IT Watch Blog
• Network technologies and trends

Add an insightful comment that catches the blogger’s eye, and they might submit it as their “Comment of the Week,” and we’ll credit your ITKnowledgeExchange.com account with 200 knowledge points.

Users are only eligible to win one comment of the week bonus, and only quality comments will be nominated, so no spamming!

The IT Blog Top 10: Jan. 7, 2010

10. How to reset the Cisco Catalyst Switch to Factory Defaults Yasir Irfan offers up a helpful, illustrated tutorial.

9. Choosing a block size when creating VMFS datastores Eric Siebert has written a guide on how to choose the right size for VMFS datastores.

8. What is Changed Block Tracking in vSphere? Eric Siebert discusses how new block tracking features can ease incremental backups.

7. Gartner acquires Burton Group, bolsters presence Robert Westervelt takes a look at the consolidation of security analysts, what it means for smaller shops and what it means for IT organizations.

6. Forrester points to 2010 changes in application development Jack Vaughan points to changes down the pipeline for application developers.

Continued »

Google’s Nexus One: Yours free!

You’ve heard the buzz, seen the videos (you haven’t?!), and now is your chance to win an unlocked Nexus One (aka, the Google phone) for yourself.

We’ll pick one winner randomly from the top 10 Knowledge Point earners between now and Midnight, Friday Feb 26th EST. How do you get points?

• 5 points for every quality question.
• 15 points for every quality answer.
• 100 points and beyond for answering bounty questions, like this Cisco networking question Uscgcwo4 answered.

But wait! There’s more: We’ll also have other limited opportunities, popping up here on the Community blog, on our homepage and on our Twitter account, @ITKE.

Our first opportunity? Tweet this out and we’ll award you an extra 250 points to get you started:

I’m doing the @ITKE #NexusOne Challenge by asking and answering IT questions. You can too! http://bit.ly/7mBwGP

And just in case you need a little more incentive, here are the Nexus One specs:

• Android Mobile 2.1 Platform
• 4 GB space (expandable to 32 GB)
• Cellular, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity
• 5 MP camera
• 3.7-in display
• Touchscreen
• Unlocked!

Good luck!

The Top 5 ITKE Blogs of 2009: Editorial

In addition to all the user-written blogs hosted on ITKE (check out 2009′s top member blogs here), we also host editorially written blogs from across the TechTarget network. Following are the 5 most popular, and you can also read our full blog roster.

1. Virtualization Pro

2. Server Virtualization

3. SOA Talk

4. Security Bytes

5. Storage Soup

The Top 5 ITKE Blogs of 2009: Member Written

With 2009 dead and gone (finally!), we decided to take a look back at what the most popular blogs were in the past year. To check back on the most popular individual posts, read through the IT Blog Top 10 archives. Think you can do better? Apply for a blog of your own by e-mailing me at Michael@ITKnowledgeExchange.com and maybe your blog will be up here in 2011!

1. SQL Server with Mr. Denny

2. David’s Cisco Networking Blog

3. Network technologies and trends

4. Unified Communications: Click to talk

5. The musings of an IT Consultant

The most-watched IT questions this week: Dec. 29, 2009

Once again, we bring you the most-watched questions and more in this week’s update. Have a question of your own? Ask it!

1. Rlino asks how to save file doc, xls, into database sql server 2000 in VB6, which MrDenny answers, with CarlosDL and Vatchy offering some helpful suggestions.

2. A reader asks the eternal question: EVA 4400 vs. EMC CX4 120. Read on for MrDenny’s answer and reasoning.

3. Jdleon woke up one day to find they had no connection to the mail server. Labnuke, MrDenny, and Nnf97 tried to help.

4. A funny thing happened to Wabcan on his way to Outlook 2010 (Beta): His e-mails disappeared. Technochic and MrDenny offered some tips.

5. Sherryborden has a numeric test in SQL that just isn’t working. CarlosDL welcomed her back and helped work through the problems. Continued »

The most-watched IT questions this week: Dec. 22, 2009

Want to know what’s the difference between me and you? Ask Dr. Dre. But if you want to know the difference between RDBMS and ORDBMS or active and passive switches, ask our readers. Below, we answer those questions and more in this week’s most-watched IT Questions.

1. A reader asks what is the difference between RDBMS & ORDBMS, with MSI77 and MrDenny chiming in, and CarlosDL laying down the snark.

2. Shircol says their problem is SQL Server Express 2005 cannot see a drive on the server (drive q) but MrDenny explains this isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.

3. A reader looks for development help on Exchange to intercept all emails at point of sending, but all they’ve gotten (so far!) is a shameless plug by Mrdenny.

4. A reader asks why IP addresses are divided into five parts, which Labnuke99 and Hetmil ably correct and explain.

5. A reader asks for SQL Server 2005 Performance optimization advice, which MrDenny and kccrosser offer gladly. Continued »