Sunday November 4th, 2012, 2:00am marks the end of Daylight Saving Time for most of the United States and Canada. So be sure to change your clocks before you go to bed!
You can’t remember if you lose or gain an hour? I find repeating the following phrase helpful: “Spring forward, Fall back” — or is it “Fall back, Spring ahead”???
A local columnist where I live (Tampa FL) wrote an article recently titled “If Google Buys GM…”. The author is Chris Ingram. I thought it was a hoot. Hope you enjoy it!
http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2012/sep/18/naopino2-if-google-buys-gm-ar-503868/
You bought Windows 8 Pro, and now you want to watch and record live TV? 
Surprise! Windows 8 Pro does NOT come with the Windows 8 Media Center Pack.
But, for a limited time only, you can request from Microsoft a free product key that will enable Windows 8 Media Center Pack on your computer.
So, get busy and request it now!
Are you running or supporting a Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 network?
Are you planning to introduce Windows 8 clients to your SBS 2008 network?
If you answer YES to both questions, then you will want to take a look at installing SBS 2008 Update Rollup 6 (KB 2729101) to your server.
Specifically it addresses/fixes 3 issues:
As always, it is strongly recommended that you have a good backup of your server before applying updates.
Step 1 – Approve update either through WSUS or MU
WSUS:
Microsoft Update:
Step 2 – Install update – this takes less than a minute to install
Step 3 – Restart your server
Google recently announced that they will discontinue support for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) for its online apps and services by mid-November 2012. This decision is based on Google’s policy to only support the most recent version of a browser, and it’s immediate predecessor.
IE9 is currently available for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 2008 servers). IE10 is scheduled to be released in late OcTober.
This announcement by Google specifically impacts Windows XP users, as Windows XP does not and will not support IE9. This means that XP users may experience some loss of features when using things like Google Apps.
Please note that you can continue to use Google as your search engine with IE8 on your XP workstation. That is not being affected. Only online services such as Google Apps are impacted.
Solutions?
If you have questions, please contact me.
Microsoft Press announced today that the PDF version of Mitch Tulloch’s book Introducing Windows Server 2012 (RTM Edition) is available as a free download!
The current “cool” thing is to have more than one monitor on your workstation.
But, what if you have multiple computers that you regularly use at your office or workbench? Perhaps your primary workstation with two screens, a laptop you are using for some development work, and your server?
Up until now, you would either have three keyboards/mice, or you would be using a KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) device to share between the computers.
But now you have another choice — Mouse without Borders
Mouse without Borders (MWB) was developed in Microsoft’s “The Garage” – a company wide program that encourages grass roots invention, tinkering and exploring new ideas.
With MWB you can use one mouse and one keyboard to control up to four separate computers, with no additional hardware! Not only can you move your mouse seamlessly from screen to screen, but just like you can move (drag) a file from one folder to another, you can drag files and folders from one computer to another with MWB!
Note: AFAIK, it only works with Windows operating systems. Give it a try!
OK, I admit – it’s alright to change your opinion about something once in awhile.
Back in June, 2012 I asked some friends by email if any of them had installed the new Bing Desktop app? Microsoft had released the Bing Desktop app an optional download through Windows Update/Microsoft Update (WU/MU).
I had read one very negative article (from Digital Trends) that reviewed the new Bing Desktop app. The title of the post was: “Bing Desktop for Windows: So lame that it’s practically spamware”.
Well, I’m not just going to take one person’s word for it. So, I installed the Bing Desktop onto my trusty (and crusty) 6 year old workstation. And guess what? I love it!!
I love the desktop photo of the day. Each day is so different, from various places from around the world — North Carolina fall colors, artic fox cub, or a view from Tuscany, Italy.
I also like the easy way to browse, without having to first open up a browser window. I have the Bing App situated as an automatic drop down from the top of my screen. Or I simply press Windows+H top open up the Bing bar.
Give it a try!
Vlad Mazek (CEO, Own Web Now) announced the ExchangeDefender CloudShare file sharing and synchronization platform on July 19, 2012.
There is a one page overview that compares CloudShare to Dropbox, YouSendIt, Google, Skydrive and Box on his site.
To all my business clients, friends and family:
It’s been several months since I last reported on the status of my health after going into the hospital last September with a diagnosed “congestive heart failure”. If you don’t have time to read the details, in two words: I’m improving!
Now, for some details:
My cardiologist did an echocardiogram of my heart yesterday, and they just called to say that my “ejection fraction” (EF) continues to improve – 20% in Sept, 25% in Nov, 35% in Jan, 45% in April and as of July 18th I am up to 50%. Wahoo!!!
My associated PT/INR score (which measure how thick or thin is my blood) has remained in the 1.2-1.5 range ever since September. Recently we upped my Coumadin to 7mg and then 8mg, and that seems to have made major improvements, as my PT/INR last week was up to 1.9.
In June I had a full blood workup done, and generally everything was in range or just slightly above normal limits. My A1C keeps falling (down to 6.4). My “bad” cholesterol is still a bit high, and my glucose went up slightly (got to stop eating those bad things!).
I was told last September that it would take a year for me to recover, and they appear to have been correct. I continue to walk a mile every day (generally around 8pm or after), and recently my wife has started to join me J
Thanks to everyone for their prayers and words of encouragement.
KW