MVP Jubo Security Blog : Miscellaneous

Introducing: Live Mesh

jubo — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:53:02 GMT

You probably have heard it already, but if not then here it is. Microsoft's new product: Live Mesh. For more information check their web site at:

And at on10 you can see a video of what Live Mesh actually is. Check it out here: Hands on with Live Mesh.

IT HerOlympics; the Dutch Launch

jubo — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:52:00 GMT

Yesterday Microsoft Holland presented the IT HerOlympics, the Dutch launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. A couple of my colleagues and I went there and had a great time! Got there pretty early so I had some time to walk around at the event hall to get some information and pamphlets from several sponsors and/or partner(s) and of course Microsoft Learning.

After the keynote, presented by Michel N'Guettia, Business Group Lead Server & Tools and Erwin Hartenberg, Product Marketing Manager Windows Server 2008, some of us had to check their email, missed phone calls on their cell phone, PDA's or other gadgets.

After the coffee break there were several technical sessions. And we all went to the sessions that interested us the most. Of course, the first session we attended was the "Windows Server 2008 Technical Overview" presented by Tony Krijnen and Daniel van Soest. A very nice presentation and the topics were also interesting:

So much to tell and not enough time, that goes for Tony and Daniel. It was noon and time for lunch. About 2,000 people went after the sandwiches, drinks, coffee or tea... I hope next time they use a bigger building for the launch of the Microsoft products. After some walking around and having a few sandwiches, and checking out the event hall, it was time for another technical session. And where do you go to as Windows Security MVP? Right! The session of Steve Lamb called: "Security Improvements in Windows Server 2008". Steve Lamb, a technical security advisor at Microsoft, UK, talking about people, processes and technology. And topics like:

Effective Security
Overview Windows Server 2008 security
Architectural changes
NAP, Network Access Protection
Read-Only Domain Controllers
AD Rights Management
Auditing
Resources

An hour was just too short because there was so much to say. But fortunately Steve had another Q&A session at the end of the day. First we went to another session of Martijn Bellaard, called: "Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services", but it was just too crowded in the room, and too warm, to take any notes. Martijn wasn't finished yet when a person from the organization urged him to end it to leave the room for the next speaker. The hour was just too short again.

Then there was the last session. It was back in the "stadium 2" and this was a relieve after been in a few warm rooms because here in "stadium 2" it was a little chilly.

This was the Q&A session by Steve Lamb, who was wearing his coat to keep himself warm. But the session was most interesting. Many interesting questions and very clear answers with examples from real life. It was a real pleasure to talk and listen to Steve Lamb and hopefully we'll meet again.

The day came to an end. It was an interesting day and, and because our company had invited us for a dinner afterwards, it was time to get the bag of goodies. Everyone could choose a book from Microsoft Learning and so my choice was "Windows Server® 2008 Security Resource Kit" from Jesper M. Johansson and MVP's with the Microsoft Security Team. That will give me a few hours of interesting reading. Apart from the book there were also a few DVD's in the bag of Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008.

It was time to have dinner with my colleagues. Some I even saw for the first time...;) But as you can see below, we had a very nice dinner at Asian Tower in Nieuwegein. After visiting an event like this, a beer, a drink, a coke, good food and good company one get good ideas what to do with the software, the things we just heard/learned and setting up some internal projects... Server... SharePoint... test labs... etc. etc. Well, no matter what... I'm game...

(Click on a picture for a larger view...)

Credits: Special thanks to Chris Stuij en Jan Peter Koen for their invaluable comment and advice. And Ted van den Pangaard for making this day possible. And last but not least Kim... my wife... ;)

Microsoft TechNet Magazine (Dutch)

jubo — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:36:05 GMT

News for our Dutch speaking audience. It's here! The first Dutch TechNet Magazine. Will be published 6 times a year and, as I'm Dutch myself, it's totally free! Full of technical articles, news about cutting edge technology and more. Of course, this first edition is all about Windows Server 2008.

Subscribe here: Microsoft TechNet (Netherlands)

Guest Speaker: Alex de Jong

jubo — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:32:50 GMT

Yesterday, February 21st, we had a guest speaker at our company: Alex de Jong. He was invited to tell us something about the certification for Windows Server 2008. The certificates you have to get whether you're MCSE or MCSA certified. After the break he also showed us something about the differences between Server 2003 and Server 2008.It was really a pleasure to meet Alex and to listen to him. Looking forward to meet him too at the IT HerOlympics on March 6th, in Nieuwegein, Holland.

The time he had, two hours, was just too short. For more information about Alex de Jong check out his web site: AlexdeJong.com. Alex also maintains a blog at: http://spaces.msn.com/a-dejong. But see also the one at the NGN web site, which is in Dutch.

Latest antivirus test results

jubo — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:07:00 GMT

McAfee not doing so well, Microsoft doing okay. Check out Alex Eckelberry, from Sunbelt, blog with the latest results from Andreas Marx of Av-Test.org. Links to PDF files with the results in the article.

The Lone Server Story

jubo — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:50:07 GMT

From: Lone Server

Once he was famous... Windows Server 2003. Now slowly replaced by Windows Server 2008. But there's one left... the Lone Server...

Watch video:

a short version (1:58):

a long version (3:14):

HeroesHappenHere, the official launch site for Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008, is also available now.

Remembering Judi/Tigg

jubo — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:26:37 GMT

Yesterday I received an email telling that Judi, aka "Tigg" passed away at 10:30AM EDT. Judi was a wonderful person, a very good moderator at the McAfee Support Forums, always trying to help the McAfee customers and the McAfee technicians. And sometimes, when we, the moderators, needed it, give us a smack on our heads.

Judi, you'll always be missed. Rest well in heaven...

New Downloads at Download Center

jubo — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:19:00 GMT

Actually as a note to myself, but there are a few interesting downloads available at the Microsoft Download Center:

SQL Server 2000 Books Online June 2007 Update

This update includes the complete documentation that shipped with SQL Server 2000, including corrections to inaccuracies that describe the protection when creating database objects using the WITH ENCRYPTION option.

Windows Script 5.7 for Windows XP

This download installs Microsoft® Windows® Script containing Visual Basic® Script Edition (VBScript.) Version 5.7, JScript® Version 5.7, Windows Script Components, Windows Script Host 5.7, and Windows Script Runtime Version 5.7.

Webcast: How Microsoft IT Does Information Security

jubo — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:17:00 GMT

When checking Donna's blog, I noticed that she refers to a podcast at the Microsoft Download site called: Information Security at Microsoft. But while listening to it I realized that it had to be a webcast with slides, audio etc. Did some searching at Microsoft Events and yes, here it is: How Microsoft IT Does Information Security. It was on TechNet in February.

If you're curious about how Microsoft handles IT security then you should watch this webcast. They give you an overview of the Microsoft IT environment and by examining the lessons learned and challenges Microsoft IT faced in managing and securing that environment.

Presenter is Mark Estberg, Director of Information Security, Microsoft Corporation.

I'm Making A Difference

jubo — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 15:23:00 GMT

This is a very nice initiative from Windows Live ^TM Messenger. Every time you start a conversation, Microsoft shares a good portion of the advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes.

To participate you need to install Messenger 8.1 and then add one of the following codes to your display name:

American Red Cross = *red+u
Boys & Girls Clubs of = *bgca
National AIDS Fund = *naf
National MS Society = *mssoc
ninemillion.org = *9mil
Sierra Club = *sierra
StopGlobalWarming.org = *help
Susan G. Komen for the Cure = *komen
UNICEF = *unicef

At this moment is more focused on the US, but at least you can start making a difference already. Start now and get involved. Put the banner on your web site or you blog. You can find more information about this initiative at:

Mozilla released Firefox 2.0.0.2 with 7 security fixes and Vista support

jubo — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 08:23:00 GMT

On February 23, Mozilla released version 2.0.0.2 of Firefox. Several security issues were fixed and many enhancements and fixes for Windows Vista. The following lists of security issues have been fixed:

MFSA 2007-07 Embedded nulls in location.hostname confuse same-domain checks
MFSA 2007-06 Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) SSLv2 buffer overflow
MFSA 2007-05 XSS and local file access by opening blocked popups
MFSA 2007-04 Spoofing using custom cursor and CSS3 hotspot
MFSA 2007-03 Information disclosure through cache collisions
MFSA 2007-02 Improvements to help protect against Cross-Site Scripting attacks
MFSA 2007-01 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.0.10/1.8.1.2)

Two important things before you download and install this new release:

Installing Firefox 2 will overwrite your existing installation of Firefox. You won't lose any of your bookmarks or browsing history, but some of your extensions and other add-ons might not work until updates for them are made available.
When you install Firefox 2 all of your Extensions and Themes will be disabled until Firefox 2 determines that either a) they are compatible with the Firefox 2 release or b) there are newer versions available that are compatible.

For more detailed information see the release notes.

It's strongly recommended that you upgrade to this latest version. You can download your (language) version here.

Today Bill Gates webcast

jubo — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 06:34:00 GMT

January 29, 2007
1:45 p.m. PST / 4:45 p.m. EST

From Times Square in New York City, join Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates for a live webcast celebrating the worldwide launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System.

See: Events and webcasts.

Extended Support for Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition

jubo — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 06:49:00 GMT

Yesterday Microsoft announced the addition of an Extended Support phase for the Windows® XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition operating systems.

With the addition of Extended Support, the support life cycle for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition will include a total of five years of Mainstream Support (until April 2009) and five years of Extended Support, matching the support policy provided for Windows XP Professional.

Source: Microsoft PressPass.
See also: Windows Life-Cycle Policy.

Re-Awarded as Microsoft MVP

jubo — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 13:58:00 GMT

Yes, it's October 1^st and it's official now. Today I received the notification that I have been awarded for the 4th consecutive year with the MVP Award.

Thank you Microsoft! Thank you Melissa, thank you Gerard. Thank you anyone else... It's great to be part of this wonderful community.

I'm very grateful to be part of the McAfee Help Forums community too. Proud and thankful to be working with all the other excellent moderators there.

New Release: Windows Live Writer

jubo — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:15:21 GMT

While watching/listening to Pink Floyd's DVD called Pulse I noticed that there was an update for Windows Live Writer 1.0 (Beta), it's now build # 141. It has many new features, I haven't tried them myself yet, but it looks good. Just go to the Windows Live Writer Blog for all the details.

You can download the new version from the blog entry or just go to the team blog: Writer Zone.

By the road... that DVD is just GrEaT! If you want a few hours great music and a wonderful show you can order your copy at our friends at Amazon dot com.

2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 Technical Refresh

jubo — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:06:00 GMT

Today is really a good day. More good news and this time about Office 2007. The Beta 2 Technical Refresh is available for download. But if you want to save anything as PDF file, you need a add-in. The first thing you might want to install is the 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS. You'll find more downloads at the Download Center.

One thing is very important: prior to applying this Beta 2 Technical Refresh update, you must have installed the Beta 2 version of the associated 2007 Office system product. BUT! Beta 2 Technical Refresh updates are compatible with the Microsoft Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 pre-release product.

Friday night is a good night to install software...

Windows Vista RC1 available for everyone!

jubo — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 07:47:00 GMT

Good news for those who want to try Windows Vista! The R(elease) C(andidate) 1 is now available for everyone. Just go to the Vista web site: Get Ready for Windows Vista and see if your computer is capable to run Vista.

Just to make sure, this is not the final release, it's still a test version. So, do not install it on your production machine but on a test machine or another partition. Even if your computer, or actually the video card, can't run the special "aero" stuff, it is worth while to install Vista. It just looks great!

Windows Vista RC1

jubo — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 08:51:00 GMT

Windows Vista RC1

And the screen shot is my desktop. Last night I installed a new copy of Windows Vista. It was installed from an external hard drive connected to a USB 1.1 (!!) port. Yes, it's on one of my old test machines. It only has 384MB RAM on 730MHz processor. So it's not the fastest computer and that's why I'm missing the special aero effects in Vista. But so far I just love the new release.

Learned something new about "Network Level Authentication", a new secure way of connecting to the Vista computer using Remote Desktop Connection. For more information see this Windows Vista Help and Support page.

Really like the Vista side bar and gadgets. The RSS feed, the clock and the weather information. And there are more gadgets available.

Now, we only have to find out which antivirus to install on this version of Windows...

Windows Live Writer

jubo — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:16:00 GMT

Just installed a very nice tool to write entries in this blog. It's called: Windows Live™ Writer. Setting it up was actually a piece of cake. Detected almost al the settings automatically. I only had to tell it that I was using the Community Server and had to enter the domain name. Then it started downloading the other things and I'm ready to go...

I'm glad that it comes with a spell checker too... ;-) For more information about Windows Live Writer see the teams blog: Introducing Windows Live Writer.

Happy writing...

Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard

jubo — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 17:02:00 GMT

It's time to get serious about something. In a week it's time for the FIFA World Cup football or soccer as it is called in some parts of the world.

Just noticed a very nice program at the Microsoft Download Center, which may help you getting through these terrible weeks. Download: Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard!

Have fun!