2004 December

Today has been nuts. With that in mind, I’ve got a lot of ground that I’d like to cover here. This being the case, I have decided to segment today’s report up into sections so that this ADD driven masterpiece of literary madness could make sense in some capacity. Thanks for bearing with me! ;o)

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! - The IT industry’s answer to the help column, only slightly more medicated. Today’s Just Ask Matt is a recap of Tuesday’s question. I received some great feedback that I would like to share with each of you today. As you can see from the original question, Chris was having […]

If I had a dollar for every person, especially seniors, that have called me because of issues with spyware or viruses…I’d be a very rich man. So this leads me to a very important realm of thought. Could there be a viable way to help seniors out with their computer woes?
Please understand, I am the […]

Hi all. The past 24 hours have been action packed for me. I got the majority of the new equipment I ordered, detailed in the post “It’s Better to Receive Than Give?” . I was just walking home Wednesday afternoon, turned the corner and saw the FedEx truck rolling to a stop in front of […]

Shawna McAlearney of SeachSecurity.com writes:
Saving pennies on VoIP could cost your enterprise the whole enchilada. Voice over Internet Protocol offers many benefits and appears inevitable for enterprises, but before you jump into it with both feet - as many enterprises are expected to do next year - it’s crucial to consider quality of service, manpower […]

While most of us were busy predicting insecure Web browsers would be the downfall of the Internet, the folks at Mozilla were slowly positioning themselves to save the day. As a result of promotions like Switch, Spread Firefox, and a 2-page New York Times ad, Mozilla Firefox has been downloaded over 13 million times […]

Man, what a crazy holiday. With Christmas unloading a bundle of people needing help with their new devices that Santa so thoughtfully brought them for the holiday, it turned into a real three-ring circus for me.
Still, I have a lot to ponder about from this past year. I have been one of the fortunate ones […]

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! - The IT industry’s answer to the help column, only slightly more medicated. Today’s Just Ask Matt is dug out from Chris Pirillo’s Weblog. While it is addressed to the Web community at large, I thought it might be worthwhile to share my thoughts in addition to sharing any responses […]

Whether we like it or not, some people just prefer Internet Explorer. Yes, I realize that I rip on it more often than not. I would like to come clean by saying that my main reason for going off on that browser is mostly stemmed at the fact that it is such a target for […]

After reading my last post, Jim Sutton contacted me to be a guest on his “Wireless Tech Radio” program. I’m tentatively scheduled to be “on the air” on Weds, Jan. 19 — time TBD. Check out the site if you are into Wireless stuff, it’s not just WiFi.
—————-
Matt:
I was catching up on some Lockergnome reading […]

Scribbled by Matt Wilkinson
JustCallMatt.net
I’ve installed a lot of Wireless LANs, mostly in residential settings, in the past couple of years. In an earlier post, I touched upon one of my frustrations stemming from the popularity of the technology. Now I’d like to share some of my favorite brands and products in this space.
Routers:
* D-Link […]

Scribbled by Matt Wilkinson
Yes, yes, Christmas is about giving. Well, I gave a little to myself today. You see, I’ve been a good boy, and I deserve a few new toys. Namely:

a Viewsonic VP201s 20.1″ LCD Monitor
a Linksys WET54GS5 54Mbps Wireless Ethernet Bridge with 5 Port Switch
an IOGEAR GCS104U MiniView 4 port USB KVM & […]

This database contains information about DLL files that are included with selected Microsoft products.
DLL Help exists to help developers, system administrators, and other IT professionals who face file version conflicts with Microsoft software. Use DLL Help to identify the software that installed a specific version of a DLL file.
Note This tool does not provide direct […]

The Microsoft SQL Server Health and History Tool (SQLH2) allows you to collect information from instances of SQL Server, store this information, and run reports against the data in order to determine how SQL Server is being used.
SQLH2 collects four main types of information:
1. Feature Usage – What services/features are installed, running and level of […]

The Microsoft IT Academy program is aimed squarely at addressing the IT workforce shortage. It empowers schools to prepare more students for academic studies or certification by offering high-quality IT training programs based on Microsoft advanced technologies. For full details on this exciting new workforce development initiative, please visit: www.microsoft.com/education/msitacademy.
Pearson VUE is a participating testing […]

Secunia Advisory: SA13664
Critical: Moderately critical
Impact: DoS
Where: From remote
Solution Status: Vendor Patch
Software: Snort 2.2.x
Description: Marcin Zgorecki has reported a vulnerability in Snort, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service).
The vulnerability is caused due to an error in the printing of TCP/IP options. This can be exploited to cause an unspecified DoS […]

Scribbled by Matt Wilkinson
JustCallMatt.net
2004 has been an odd year for me in many ways. I’ve been straddling two worlds career-wise. My 14 year run up the corporate IT food-chain from Help Desk Guy to IT Director came to an abrupt end (or a long pause) with a downsizing at the beginning of the year. It […]

Scribbled by Matt Wilkinson
JustCallMatt.net
Holiday Greetings, boys and girls! What kind of goodies did you get this Christmas? Here’s a sampling of some of the great items I received so far:
* Kensington Laptop Desktop USB
* Crumpler “Crisp Suit” laptop messenger bag
* Real Clay Poker chips and professional playing cards
[…]

The previous article provided you with a brief overview of Software Update Services, outlined the requirements, and walked you through the installation process. The next part of the article will look at some of the options that are available when configuring an SUS server.
If you perform a typical installation of SUS server, it will be […]

Scribbled by Matt Wilkinson
“…And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile… And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful Wife…” ~ Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads

Large Automobile… Nope, our little Toyota doesn’t count, nor does the 77 Belmont Bus
Beautiful House… Check
Beautiful Wife… Check

Two out of three, […]