SMB Nation 2010 is just around the corner … Oct 22-24, 2010, in Las Vegas. Every year, Harry Brelsford puts together a really great conference for the SMB (Small/Medium Business) marketplace. Whether you are looking for technical training, business ideas, or simply mingle with your peers, this is “the” conference to attend.
Author Archive for KW – Page 45
For the past year, I have been recommending Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) to my residential customers for anti-virus/anti-malware protection. Yes, it’s free! Yes, it works! However, MSE was initially released for single-PC personal/home use only.
But, starting in October 2010, Microsoft will become free to use for small businesses (up to 10 computers). Click here to read more!
Over the past year, the product has won awards and certifications from a number of independent agencies, such as ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs and PC Advisor, and last January, PC Advisor named Microsoft Security Essentials to its list of the “Best Free Software.”
HP brought it’s SBS/WHS Roadshow to Tampa FL on Sept 15, 2010. Kevin Royalty, an SBS MVP from Cincinatti OH, was the guest presenter. We had over 30 people in attendance. Thanks to all who helped get things set up for this event. The session went from 6:30p to 9:30p. After that, about a dozen of us headed over to WingHouse for more technical conversations!
http://blogs.technet.com/b/blainbar/archive/2010/08/30/hewlett-packard-new-datavault-vail-and-sbs-mvp-kevin-royalty-roadshow-coming-to-a-city-near-you.aspx
The August 2010 meeting of the Tampa Bay SBS User Group featured a presentation from Kevin Brown on version 2.0 of Symform, the unique decentralized cloud-based backup solution.
March 14th is ithe official holiday for Pi! I wish I could take credit for the following, but I cannot. It comes from CNN and Elizabeth Landau – http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/13/pi-day-and-american-pi/
Pi is the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle. Celebrate it on Saturday, March 14! In honor of Pi Day, March 14 (because it’s 3/14, like 3.14), I came up with the basis for this song, inspired by Don McClean’s 1971 song “American Pie,” when I was in high school. Feel free sing along with that tune.
American Pi
by Elizabeth Landau
A long, long time ago, it was one December when I thought I’d found the end of pi.
And if I’d had some batteries, my efforts would have surely pleased
That math fair judge, and that’s no lie.
But tests and papers made me shiver with every paper they’d deliver.
More bad news in chemistry,
Just needed that time to study.
I can’t remember if I cried when I realized that I hadn’t tried
Before something clicked off deep inside
And then, my calculator died.
CHORUS:
So why, why can’t I calculate pi
I just want to see the numbers 3.1415
And if that’s all, then let’s keep it alive
‘Cause my calculator seems to have died.
My calculator seems to have died.
Did you write the law of sines, or draw two perfect parallel lines
Without a ruler helping you?
Can you still use a protractor, or find just one imaginary factor
Of a polynomial of order 2?
Well I had a TI-83 when a great misfortune came to me
The screen began to blur – I couldn’t even find my curve!
I was a lonely teenage computer freak,
My pencils were chewed but my glasses were sleek,
And the future was looking pretty bleak
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
Books, eraser, graphing paper, I was just a young number chaser
Searching for the holy grail.
Like Archimedes, Ramanujan, and Gregory, Leibniz, van Ceulen,
I could approximate, but then I’d fail!
My calculator was in a daze,
It just wouldn’t run on new AAAs.
The math fair was in an hour
And I was still out of power.
I knew that I was running out of time
A new formula would have been sublime
But all that I could do was rhyme
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
“We know it’s not the pi you eat, this pie’s a far more delicate treat
And it can be so much fun.
Well, Pi is a movie, Pi’s a perfume,
The digits of pi could fill a room,
But could ever find the very last one?”
And although this poem was nice and sweet
In my heart I knew it couldn’t compete.
The other kids had proof.
I felt like such a goof!
And, as I sat down I felt disgraced,
Like I had just gotten a pie in the face.
I knew that I had really lost the race
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
I met a guy in Period 3 who seemed like he could help me
At least he didn’t turn away.
My calculator looked so sad, but I know this kid of course was glad
To make me feel worse on Pi Day.
He said, “I can’t believe you were so dumb.
All you need is a new lithium.”
I asked, “What do you mean?”
He wouldn’t even come clean
And tell me there’s another set of batteries besides the quartet.
So until I get some, and it resets
I think I’ll eat some pie.
So why, why can’t I calculate pi
I just want to see the numbers 3.1415
And if that’s all, then let’s keep it alive
But my calculator didn’t really die!
I originally blogged this at http://msmvps.com/blogs/kwsupport/archive/2010/03/14/pi-day-song.aspx
No, this was NOT written during Christmas time. It’s March, and I’ve been up all night trying to upgrade Windows 7.
Jingle Bells (Windows H*LL)
Dashing through the house
Looking for a mouse
O’er the stairs I fly
Asking God — “Why?”
Nothing’s going right
It’s the middle of the night
It’s no fun to sit and glare
At the laptop over there
Oh,
Windows H*LL, something smells
Rebooting one more time
It ain’t fun, can’t you tell
When I can’t think of better rhymes
Oh, Upgrade dies, and how time flies,
Looking for some help
Oh, what fun it is to find
That Susan’s still online!
Windows H*LL, something smells
Rebooting one more time
It ain’t fun, can’t you tell
When I can’t think of better rhymes
Harry Brelsford, CEO of SMB Magazine and host of the annual SMB Nation conferences, spoke to the Tampa Bay SBS User Group on January 20, 2010. We had a good discussion not only on SBS, but also VOIP/Cloud-based solutions.
I write this song for our MVP lead (Mark Clagett)
My Favorite Things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwTphY_QMUo&feature=fvwrel
Summits and con-calls and unscheduled meetings
Newsgroups and emails, outside it’s still raining
Bundles of patches all tied up in string
These are a few of my favorite things..
Dev teams and schedules, while running and talking
Day time and night time, and yet we keep moving
Servers and testing with bugs that need fixing
These are a few of my favorite things
When the calls stop,
When the lights go out,
And it’s time to brave the cold,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel … so old!
Happy Birthday.
I will be in Redmond WA from Dec 7-11, 2009 attending a Microsoft “deep dive” training session on the Windows Small Business Server platform. This is a unique opportunity, as there will only be 40-50 MVP’s from around the world at this event. The purpose of this training is to provide in-depth knowledge of the SBS platform to better support the Microsoft user forums and to provide input and feedback to Microsoft on the product(s) we will be working with.
Yes, the wait is over. Windows 7 is ready to officially hit the streets tomorrow (Oct 22, 2009).
I have been beta testing Windows 7 for most of this year, and presented Windows 7 to a group of 165 I.T. professionals in June (see I.T. Tiki Tour).
Please contact me if you are interested in rolling out Windows 7 to your business, or want to upgrade your current Vista computer to Windows 7.