Powershell released

Microsoft released there new scripting tool called "Powershell". This could be benificial to Administrators looking for a good scripting tool that can compete with the different types scripts that run on Unix and Linux.

I have just downloaded the program and documentation, so I hope to have some feed back on it as soon as I have some time.

Here is the link to the Powershell page

Using Group Policy to Configure Windows Firewall

I just recently decided to configure Windows Firewall through group policy. Why just now? well that was because I rolled out most of the XP operating systems with the Firewall configured during installation. Only recently did I discover people, programs whatever had made some changes.

So I decided to create a group policy for the firewall settings so I wouldn't have to walk around to everyones computers and set it up. You can change these policies to the local machine by opening up gepedit.msc or by using Active Directory Users and Computers then right click on your OU and then properties. Then you will be able to access the Group Policy Management Console by the Group policy tab and by clicking Open.

You can find the configuration under the Administrative Templates -> Network -> Network Connections -> Windows Firewall -> Domain Profile.

The different Settings include.
Protect all network connections
Do not allow exceptions
Define program exceptions
Allow local program exceptions
Allow remote administration exception
Allow file and printer sharing exception
Allow ICMP exceptions
Allow Remote Desktop exception
Allow UPnP framework exception
Prohibit notifications
Allow Logging
Prohibit unicast response to multicast or broadcast
Define port exceptions
Allow local port exceptions

These settings helped me keep consistent settings across the Domain.

Outlook 2003 Command Line Switches

Trying to troubleshooting Outlook problems can be a pain, so below are some common command line switches I use.

Just navigate to the Start menu then Run, Type the following with the quotes.
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe " /switch

/c messageclass
Creates a new item of the specified message class, works for any valid MAPI form. For example:

/c ipm.activity creates a Journal entry
/c ipm.appointment creates an appointment
/c ipm.contact creates a contact
/c ipm.note creates an e-mail message
/c ipm.stickynote creates a note
/c ipm.task creates a task

/CleanClientRules

Starts Outlook and deletes client-based rules. For non-Exchange users.
/CleanFinders

Sets Outlook 2003 Search Folders back to the default state (deletes custom Search Folders)

/CleanFreeBusy

Cleans and regenerates free/busy information.

/CleanProfile

Removes invalid profile keys and recreates default registry keys where applicable.

/Cleanpst

Launches Outlook with a clean Personal Folders file (.pst)

/CleanReminders

Cleans and regenerates reminders.

/CleanRules

Starts Outlook and deletes client- and server-based rules.

/CleanSchedPlus

Deletes all Schedule+ data (free/busy, permissions, and .cal file) from the server.

/CleanServerRules

Starts Outlook and deletes server-based rules. Used only with Exchange server accounts.

/CleanViews

Restores default views.

/FirstRun

Starts Outlook as if it were run for the first time.

/ImportPrf prffilename

Launches Outlook and opens/imports the defined MAPI profile (*.prf). If Outlook is already open, queues the profile to be imported on the next clean launch.

/Profile profilename

Loads the specified profile. If your profile name contains a space, enclose the profile name in quotation marks.

/ResetFolderNames

Resets the language of the default folders to the language of the Outlook client.

/ResetFolders

Restores missing folders for the default delivery location.

/ResetOutlookBar

Rebuilds the Outlook Bar.

/ResetWunderBar

Rebuilds the new Outlook Control Bar in Outlook 2003.

/Rpcdiag

Opens Outlook and displays the remote procedure call (RPC) connection status dialog.

/Sniff

Starts Outlook and forces a detection of new meeting requests in the Inbox, and then adds them to the calendar.

Cool Story about Water Activated Batteries.

Well I have been extremely busy this past week and will probably be even busier next week. So I will just post a link to a story I read that I found very interesting. It's not really a tech article per say, but oh well.

It's about a scientist coming up with a way to activate the power in a battery by adding water. It will help with battery life and storing of the batteries. Hope you find it interesting

Reuters Article

Disable "Manage Your Server" window through the registry

I had an interesting challenge the other day, it was to set up a bunch of employee's on a Terminal Server. One particular program needed to be installed as administrator due to security measures built into the software. To make a long story short I had to install the program under each user as administrator, there was no way to roll it out under group policy. The "Manage your server" pop up got annoying so I had to find a way to disable it for all accounts.

I made changes to these registry settings.
HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Setup\Welcome\
and right click and change the setting of "srvwiz" to zero.

I would also recommend searching the registry for srvwiz and change the value to zero. I say this if you already logged in as any other user. There are other references to this but I haven't had to make any changes to the other values.

As a side note make sure you back up your registry.

Future with IPTV

With VOIP starting to become mainstream and a lot a large service providers having offerings for internet telephone, the question is what’s next? My guess is IPTV. Hardware for this type of service has started to take off with sales expecting to exceed $6.8B, and subscribers up to 68.9M by 2009, which I read over at IPTV news.

I have yet to find anyone with a set top box that delivers IPTV. But I know of a decent amount of sites that have streaming TV and movies by providing Television over IP. These are great services, but the quality sucks. I still find myself watching episodes of Lost or Heroes the day after if I miss the show because of work.

In an article over at IPTV-Forum they boost that Spain has 200,000 subscribers to MaLigne TV service. Although reading through the article it seems that most early adopters are countries other than the United States. I would guess this is because of the monopoly of the current cable networks.

So will IPTV and TV over IP co-exist? Once the quality and buffering of streaming tv becomes better I know I will find myself watching more shows, news, and movies over the internet than watching normal broadcast TV. I think I’m willing to watch "free" TV with Ads, than pay for TV and still have Ads. If you do a search for online TV there are quite a few listings for streaming video.

Cool links for Streaming TV.

ChannelChooser

Live Online TV

Free Tube

also check out ABC, NBC, and FOX all provide shows the next day.

The Best Free Windows Software

I've seen a ton of top 10 lists, but after reading comments people leave and looking at my own computer, I realized there are a lot more than 10 free windows applications that I use or consider the best. I decided to compile a "short" list of my own. So if I ever wipe my drive, I will have quick list to retrieve the applications I use. Guess I should call it a top 50+. They are in no particular order.

Firefox
Opera
Thunderbird
Open Office
Gaim
ClamWin
VLC Media Player
Keepass
Cygwin
Eraser
TrueCrypt
FileZilla
7zip
Autoit
PDFcreater
AVG
Avast
Audacity
Tuxpaint
SamSpade
Winscp
Putty
Comodo Anti-virus
Comodo Firewall
R-Firewall
Gimp
Democracy
Trillian
Notepad++
Azureus
uTorrent
VMWare Player
Cdex
Foxit
Juice
Blender
Songbird
K-lite Codec Pack
K-lite Mega Codec Pack
XP Codec Pack
Spybot Search & Destroy
Black light rootkit detector
Rootkit Revealer
Google Web Accelerator
Google Earth
Picasa
DVDFab
Gspot
Ripit4me
Tor
CCleaner
Wireshark
Nmap

Google going mobile.

Google launched there mobile service for Gmail today. If you have logged into your Gmail account you would have noticed the Ad to point your mobile to www.gmail/app. This is a great idea, people driving around not just talking on the phone but trying to read email. Oh wait guess that's a bad idea. Now all I will need is a video out for my mobile and attach it to my gps screen in my car and I will be all set.

Keeping on the mobile solutions topic, over at Adage.com there is an article about Chad Hurley, annoucing at a OgivlyOne Digital Media Summit that YouTube might go mobile. So how they will make money, it's anyone's guess. I think embedding ad's in the video's they host on YouTube isn't a bad idea but adding them to video's downloaded onto your phone is horrible. The broadband video market will be huge with some estimates in the billions.

Other Articles about Mobile Gmail.
BetaNews
The Inquirer

Articles About Mobile YouTube
Adage.com
Crunch Gear
Tech Crunch

Samsung Electronics develops 16-chip package

Amazing this is just what I need, a 16GB Flash chip for my Cell Phone or MP3 player.
Samsung Electronics developed the industry's first process to enable production of a 16-chip multi-chip package (MCP) of memory which is a small form factor high density chip, that can enable up to 16GB MCP solution. This 16GB will be the max for the new chip.

" For the new 16-chip process, Samsung introduced wafer-thinning technology that eliminates 24/25 of the thickness of each fabricated wafer to reduce the overall thickness to only 30-microns. This is just 65% the thickness of the 10-Chip MCP wafer (45-microns) Samsung developed in 2005 and similar to the size of a human cell, which measures 20 to 30 microns" Stated Samsung

They claim they will be able to mass produce this chip at a fast pace. So we could this some time soon, even though they did not release details on when the plan on releasing the chip or on the price.