I went to go see the doctor last month, and he ordered an impressive panel of lab tests. The results came back, and they were mixed. Good news: my LDL cholesterol is low (119). Bad news: my HDL is 18, with a minimum recommended level of 40. So, that means I need to eat lots of oatmeal and get off my butt for some regular aerobic exercise. This morning, being that it’s the start of a new month, I hit the treadmill and then lifted some weights. My goal is to do this 3-4 times a week, consistently, so I don’t have to face Dr Schwartz’ scorn at Rotary meetings. Go me!
Category Archives: Musings
Motorola embraces EAS
Now this is interesting: Motorola has announced that they’ve licensed Exchange ActiveSync and will start supporting it when they release the A780 phone next year. That means that Exchange ActiveSync will be available on a Linux-based device, along with the PalmOS-based Treo 650. While this might seem like the kind of thing to give the Windows Mobile apoplexy, Motorola sees (and has labeled) the A780 as a midtier device that doesn’t compete with the feature-rich(er) Windows Mobile devices now on the market. EAS will be integrated with Motorola’s propietary MOTOSYNC protocol; it’s too early for me to tell what form the integration might take.
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Exchange ActiveSync troubleshooting
I’m working on an article on Exchange ActiveSync for the magazine. Unfortunately, I don’t have it working for my device yet– John’s iPaq 6315 works on 3sharp’s server, but something is funny with my server here at home, and I’m going to be troubleshooting it this week. A couple of resources that look useful: this extremely detailed TechNet webcast and Chris De Herrera’s troubleshooting guide (which mostly covers “regular” ActiveSync) on CEWindows.net.
Filed under General Stuff, Musings
Comments re-enabled
I have re-enabled comments, with the added requirement that you use TypeKey (which, fortunately, is free). As soon as I can get MT-Blacklist to work properly, I’ll enable unregistered comments, but for now you’ll need to sign in before commenting. Sorry about the inconvenience.
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Adopt-a-Sniper
Looking for a really unique way to show support for US troops? How about adopting a sniper? You can donate anything from rifle scopes and stocks to powdered hot chocolate and ramen noodles. These men do one of the most difficult, and dangerous, jobs in the military; they provide overwatch support to protect other troops in the field and at fixed locations like airbases. They operate in one- or two-man teams, and although they’re highly valued by the troops they protect, not every unit is able to support them with the equipment they need– they need, and use, a lot of special-purpose and unique gear. I’m going to box up a big load of baby wipes, protein bars, and ramen and ship it out this week.
Update: the boys and I went shopping on Friday; we ended up with about 30 lbs of stuff, including some big fluffy towels (steel gray, so they won’t show dirt), a football with a built-in pump, a case of ramen, a bunch of peppered beef jerky, and so on. It’ll go out via UPS tomorrow.
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Tony Redmond’s newest book, not reviewed
The publisher was kind enough to send me a review copy of Tony Redmond’s latest book, Tony Redmond’s Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 : with SP1. I haven’t had a chance to even open it yet, but I can say this: at $37.77 from Amazon, and at 4.3 lbs, it comes in at a very respectable US$8.78/lb. By way of comparison, Stanek’s Exchange Server 2003 Administrator’s Pocket Companion costs $14.13/lb, and my security book weighs in at $14.34/lb. Tthat’s just because it’s packed full of so much information. Or something.
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Entourage and runaway transaction logs
Jeremy Kelly is reporting an unusual interaction between Entourage and Exchange 2003. The symptom: transaction log bloat. The problem seems to occur when an Entourage client tries to submit a message that’s too large for the maximum message size limit set on that user’s mailbox store. Instead of reporting the error (and not resubmitting the message), Entourage happily tries to send the message each time it connects. If the message is large enough, and if this goes on long enough, the server will eventually run out of log space. Jeremy recommends a temporary fix of turning off httpdav, removing the offending message from the client, and re-enabling httpdav; no word yet on an ETA for a better fix.
Filed under General Stuff, Musings
Everything you ever wanted to know about Smartphone development
I just ordered an AT&T Audiovox SMT5600, so I went digging for development information. Then I found this page, which will keep me in reading material until at least this time next year. Wow. If you’re at all interested in the .NET Compact Framework, this would be a great place to start.
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Blue State Blues
This guy ought to be writing professionally! Blue State Blues as Coastal Parents Battle Invasion of Dollywood Values:
“I’m not sure where we went wrong,” says Ellen McCormack, nervously fondling the recycled paper cup holding her organic Kona soy latte. “It seems like only yesterday Rain was a carefree little boy at the Montessori school, playing non-competitive musical chairs with the other children and his care facilitators.”
“But now…” she pauses, staring out the window of her postmodern Palo Alto home. The words are hesitant, measured, bearing a tale of family heartbreak almost too painful for her to recount. “But now, Rain insists that I call him Bobby Ray.”
Even as her voice is choked with emotion, she summons an inner courage — a mother’s courage — and leads me down the hall to “Bobby Ray’s” bedroom, for a firsthand glimpse at the psychic devastation that claimed her son.
She opens the door to a reveal a riot of George Jones CDs, reflective ‘mudflap mama’ stickers, empty foil packs of Red Man, and U.S. Marine recruiting posters. In the middle of the room: a makeshift table made from a utility cable spool, bearing a the remains of a gutted catfish.
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Two Windows Mobile webcasts
Next week is Windows Mobile webcast week. There are two webcasts of particular interest for Exchange 2003 administrators: one on best practices for Windows Mobile deployments, and one for Windows Mobile/Exchange troubleshooting.
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Happy birthday and Semper Fi
From the fine folks at GoDaddy, a Marine Corps birthday card. I’ll be registering all my domains there in the future.
New Live Communications Server blog
Tom Laciano has a new blog focused on Live Communications Server. Based on what he’s posted so far, this will be one to watch. For example, this post on using certificates for mutual TLS authentication in LCS 2003 is pure technical gold. I plan to follow it regularly.
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Huntsville and Nazi rocket scientists
Interesting article on the front page of the WSJ today: “In Huntsville, Ala., Rocketeer’s Legacy Has Complex Echoes“. The article talks about the fact that von Braun, Stuhlinger, and other key players in NASA’s early booster development were participants (with varying degrees of culpability) in Nazi Germany’s industrial program. The primary source for the article’s claims of heavy Nazi involvement on the part of the scientists is Linda Hunt, a “media critic” who wrote a book on the topic. I haven’t read it, but it certainly didn’t get good reviews. It’s not clear to me that it would have been better to prosecute the lot of them immediately after WW II; doing so would certainly have made the not-yet-prosecuted much more reluctant to work here instead of for the fUSSR. However, it’s unpleasant to be reminded of the kinds of compromises that governments routinely engage in, One cool note, though: the article quotes my former coworker at NTI, Dave Cornutt,
MT-Blacklist 2.0 installation instructions
They stink (not least because they tell you to use the directory structure of the zip archive to figure out where to put things). However, if you read these instructions instead, you will be on the short track to enlightenment.
Filed under Musings
New white paper on Exchange regulatory compliance
What do you get when you combine Exchange Server 2003, KVS Enterprise Vault, KVS Discovey Accelerator, and SharePoint?
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