December 2005 - Posts
I used to love playing Chinese Whispers, some of the end results were quite amusing ;)
Last week, PC Gamer released some "wishy washy" information about the release date for a next instalment of the Flight Simulator franchise. However, as you can see on the front page of AVSIM.COM, there is a more official version from the ACES team. I can't wait for the new forum threads with more rumours and gossip. I am sure this announcement will wet the tastebuds of many.
Quote:
In a communication received from representatives of Microsoft Game Studios late yesterday, AVSIM was informed that "the next instalment of the Flight Simulator franchise" is forthcoming, with a projected release date of Q4 2006. This information was released in response to the inaccurate release date published in US magazine PC Gamer's February edition; AVSIM delayed its publication of this note from MGS until it had verified that this information could be released to the public.
Further information is expected from MGS next week -- watch this space!
Owen has sung the TrackIR's praises... that is a good enough reference for me, I am off to purchase....
I would probably still be at the in-laws if it was not for BT Ireland screwing up the broadband connection on the day I arrived. Just my luck, but it forced me to stay away from a computer for a record amount of time. I simply do not know how anyone can work on a 56K Dial Up modem any more! The problem with BT Ireland’s home market is that when there is a “major issue” they have to contract an Eircom engineer to go to the exchange to do any work. That is like asking Microsoft and Apple to work “as a team” – it just is never going to happen.
I stayed amazingly sober for the holiday, except for one memorable night at the new Cornmarket Bar in Limerick, a great venue. A mate’s band was playing, The Funk Junkies, impressive group that you should look up if in Ireland.
The present of the year goes to my Brother in Law, Sean and his wonderful wife Laura for the Smoking Baby. Totally Non PC, but they get my sense of humour…
I have been keeping an eye on the blogs over the past couple of weeks. Some interesting ones are:
A post from Rob about the recent article that is sure to set the rumour mill going. I think that (in a round about way) this addresses that. But then, I’m guessing…
I see that Steve Lacey will be at CES next week. I had intended to get over, but it simply has become impossible because of local commitments. I am certain that some great things will happen at this years show. I am really going to miss Bill Gates Pre-show Keynote.
Jason has a nice post up about the beta testing process for Flight Simulator. It sparked a very lively discussion!
Chad Gross is getting old, and seems to have overnight turned into the Grumpy Old Man J don’t worry Chad, I am only 4 months behind you ;)
That’ll do for now… I have gone on too much already.
Since getting back from the West of Ireland, I have been trying to post for three days. Every time I try, something comes up. Currently I am working on a server with not one, but two failed RAID5 disks. There goes the holiday.
I wanted to throw this post up as a holder because of the recent security advistory from Microsoft. Keep the AV Up to date!
I am with Susan on this one....
Only yesterday did I have to update the Exchange registry settings to enable a larger information store. Man, having to do this stuff via the registry really does suck ;)
Susans post mentions that now we have another registry setting to enable the IMF updates.
So, if you too want a GUI. Post here!
Steve Lacey has yet another great post up. Worth a read if you want that warm fuzzy feeling...
I write this while travelling back from Limerick, where I just saw a pretty poor performance by Munster Rugby team against Newport Gwent Dragons. We did win, but did not get our bonus point and to be honest did not deserve it. I somehow doubt that we will get out of our group now… Sale will beat us, let alone give us the chance for a bonus point.
Oh well, at least there is only one more work week ahead before the break for Christmas and New Year. I can’t wait…. I need the break.
Speaking about Christmas, that brings me on to Christmas tunes and my Parrot. You see, I have an African Grey Parrot called Monty… he swears a lot… therefore I try to teach him new things that do not insult people so much. This time last year, I had been singing “Jingle Bells” first few lines to him for over 3 weeks to see if, at least once over the holiday, he would sing it for others…. Alas, he decided that he would wait until March. This year I have been trying the words “Merry Christmas”. But he seems to prefer “for f***s sake”… I think I will keep him upstairs when the In-laws are eating, otherwise I suspect Monty may be on the menu.
Ho Ho… Fa la la la laaaa and all that….
Every year people hand me a pair of socks or some “joke in a box” and say “Nick, you are the most awkward person to buy for, we never know what to get you.”
So, if you are inclined, here are my Christmas present recommendations for me…
1. Cash into my “Flying Lesson” fund. (Via Paypal if you want).
2. Heineken
3. play.com, amazon.com, cdwow.ie vouchers
4. A donation to Born Free.
You see…. VERY simple ;)
I meant to post about this a couple of months ago, but while away this weekend I saw it again and it reminded me to post. If you want a good 2 hours of laughs then please rent this movie out or find it on the satellite / cable channels.
Classic stuff…. With my favourite scene involving a Jukebox, Queens “Don’t stop me now” and snooker cues.
It seems that the “Add on” blocking article I wrote interested a good few of you. I had a load of emails from people asking the best way to find out the GUID’s for Add-ons that Internet Explorer was using, so I decided to write an article for Windows IT Pro magazine on the issue. Check it out in the January 2006 issue.
Steve Lacey posted a link to an amazing gamer playing Geometry Wars, a downloadable game for the XBox 360. Nice!
It reminded me of this video (warning, a bit of *** on that site) of the World Tetris Finals. So Cool... some people have way too much time!
I'll stick with Flight Simulator and Call of Duty.
If you wind your wife up too much, you have empty Coke cans thrown at your head.
Chad Gross emailed our MVP group this evening reporting an issue where he had performed a swing migration of a Small Business Server, and had brought over GFI Faxmaker with it. The problem he had was that the users could send Faxes via Outlook as usual using the 123456789@faxmaker.com address method, but not send using an Outlook contacts Fax Address.
I remembered that I also had this issue before with a GFI Faxmaker installation after a migration, and the answer for anyone else that may come across the issue is quite simple:
GFI Faxmaker, when you "Fax Enable" a domain account, creates an entry for that user under the AD Domain Email Address Account called FAXMAKER. However, it does not modify the Exchange server Recipient Update Services policy and therefore after the migration this address is not created.
To resolve the issue, simply open up the users email addresses in the AD account and add a "Other Address" called FAXMAKER, with the local domain email address.
For example, mine is FAXMAKER nick@mydomain.local
Hope this titbit helps someone!
If you are reading this post, the main "pain" is over. [:D]
- Your DNS has updated
- You are reading this blog on a stable server (thanks to Susan Bradley)
- You are on a stable and reliable host (Vlad, you are the man)
- You are on a new codebase of Community Server (Good riddance .TEXT)
Anyway... Chad has a good post on what happened here if you fancy a read.... we will hopefully upgrade to Community Server 2.x when it is released.
I don't know how to even pronounce that - "Rijksdriehoekscoordinaten" let alone talk to you about the different projection systems. Lucky we have guys like Arno ;) His interesting post on "Projection Hell" is a good read.
Rick dry hock score dination?
Ricks dryhok sco ord ination....?
Nah, I can't get it....
I got a notification from the Snitz Forum administrators today which I thought serious enough to pass on the word. If you are running Snitz Forums, do two things... first, subscribe to the security notifications section of the snitz forums. Second, follow the instructions in this thread.
Microsoft has announced the availability of Windows Small Business Server (SBS) on Microsoft Update (MU) and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Starting tomorrow, fixes to issues that are found in the SBS product that are important enough to be widely distributed will now be available through MU and WSUS.
The Windows Small Business Server team is recommending Microsoft Update or WSUS to be the method for keeping your Windows Small Business Server network Up-to-date and Secure. For guidance and information, please visit the SBS download Center
If you are interested in installing WSUS, please refer to Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Server Update Services on Windows Small Business Server 2003.
What updates are available now?
There will only be 2 updates available through MU\WSUS at this time and they will only apply to SBS 2003. These updates are not new; they are the existing updates previously available through our Download center.
Hotfix for Windows Small Business Server 2003: KB 833992
· Description: This download address a particular way mail downloads can fail when using the POP3 connector in Small Business Server 2003. This issue causes the process IMBDOWNL.EXE to be hung with the CPU utilization at 25, 50 or 100%. A warning with event ID 1067 will be recorded by the POP3 server in the event log when this error occurs.
· Security/Critical/Recommended? Recommended
· Available sources: MU, WSUS, and DLC
· New update/Changes to existing update? Re-release of old Update which was previously released through DLC
Update for Windows Small Business Server 2003: KB 835734
· Description: There is a problem with how the POP3 connector processes certain messages downloaded from a POP3 server. This problem could result in the POP3 connector accidentally re-sending certain messages to recipients who are not part of the SBS server e-mail domain. This may happen only in the cases where the POP3 connector is used to download mail from an external POP account. Customers using Exchange to host their mail internally will not experience this problem. This update resolves this issue. All SBS customers are encouraged to install this update.
· Security/Critical/Recommended? Recommended
· Available sources: MU, WSUS, and DLC
· New update/Changes to existing update? Re-release of old Update which was previously released through DLC
What Updates will be available in the future?
All updates that SBS releases will be available on MU\WSUS.
What other products that SBS ships will be available on MU\WSUS?
The major products now supported are: Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL, SharePoint Services and Outlook
How do I configuring WSUS?
As some of you have seen, SBS is now a category in WSUS Admin. This category only covers SBS specific fixes. You will need to select the other available applications that are on your SBS server so that the updates for those applications will also be downloaded.
Upcoming Update:
In a few weeks there will be one SBS 2003 SP1 update that will become available on Microsoft Update. I will be sending you mail to elicit help to validate it. Once some of you have signed of on it, it will go live on MU.
My Good friend Arno Gerretsen has just gone live with his blog. I am delighted to welcome him! I strongly suggest subscribing to his RSS Feed as I am certain he will be posting some gems.
The links are on the sidebar.... but here they are just in case:
Arno Gerretsen's Blog
RSS Feed