Stargate SG-1 "200th" and a special announcement

This Friday was the 200th episode of Stargate SG-1. I did TiVo the pre-show, which (at times) was really funny. I especially liked the outtake clip where Carter was belittling O’Neil while they were shooting the "Solitudes" Episode. In this episode, O'Neil and Carter are stranded in an Ice Cave trying to chip the ice away of the DHD, so they can "dial" home. “

- Outtake from “Solitudes”. Jack and Sam are digging out the DHD. TAPPING (as Carter): You spent seven years on MacGuyver and you can’t figure this one out? We’ve got belt buckles and shoelaces and a piece of gum – build a nuclear reactor, fer cryin’ out loud! You used to be MacGuyver, MacGadget, MacGimmick, now you’re Mr MacUseless! Dear *God* - I’m stuck on a glacier with *MacGuyver*!

http://www.zippyvideos.com/133684941450925/stargate_sg_-_outtakes_-_macgyver_gag_on_stargate/


I saw this announcement this morning and it has totally destroyed my day. 'Stargate: SG-1' Cancelled

“Ant writes "The Sci-Fi channel has announced that it will not be renewing its (very popular) original series Stargate SG-1 for another season.The spinoff series Stargate: Atlantis will get the nod, though, airing for a fourth year. SG-1 aired its 200th episode on August 18th, and the SF series is the longest-running SF show on American television." Gateworld has further details: "New episodes of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis continue Fridays this summer starting at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, leading up to the mid-season finale on September 22. The second half of the season will begin in March, leading to SG-1's final bow on SCI FI in June."
http://slashdot.org/articles/06/08/22/130227.shtml

Liz and I are both great fans of both Atlantis and SG-1 and always look forward to Sci-Fi Friday. We also own all of the SG-1 DVD sets through Season 8. I do have to say that they have had a good long run and will be missed.

How to: Access Gmail using Outlook

Here is a quick way to be able to get your gmail email using your outlook client. I, personally, like the web interface of their site. But, for those who want everything in your outlook, here is a step-by-step way to do that.

Make sure that POP access is turned on for your Gmail account

Select Tools E-mail Accounts... from the menu in Outlook.

Make sure Add a new e-mail account is selected.

Click Next >

Choose POP3 as the Server Type.

Click Next >

Enter your Gmail account details in the Internet E-mail Settings (POP3) dialog:

• Type your full name under Your Name:.
• Type your Gmail email address under E-mail Address:.
• Type your full Gmail address under User Name: as well.
• Type your Gmail password under Password:.
• Type pop.gmail.com under Incoming mail server (POP3):.
• Type smtp.gmail.com under Outgoing mail server (SMTP):.

Click More Settings....

Go to the Outgoing Server tab.

Make sure My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication is checked.

Leave Use same settings as my incoming mail server selected.

Go to the Advanced tab.

Make sure This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL) is checked under both Incoming server (POP3): and Outgoing server (SMTP):

Type 465 under Outgoing server (SMTP):

• If the number under Incoming server (POP3): has not been changed to 995 automatically, enter 995 there.

Click OK

Click Next >

Click Finish.

Halo 3 Release Date Announced.

March 31st, 2007

Amazon has already begun to take pre-orders for Halo 3. How can you beat that... Get your copy without standing in line, fighting for a parking place at the mall or staying up until midnight (in a line) at some retailer... It is quick (single click ordering), delivered right to your door, no fuss - no muss... I have ordered my copy.

Have you?

First Cortana letter

From: "Cortana" cortana@bungie.com
To: hamish.sinclair@tcd.ie
Subject: ClosureDate: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 10:50:20 -0600
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Priority: 3

I have walked the edge of the Abyss.

I have governed the unwilling.

I have witnessed countless empires break before me.

I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear.

[I was there with the Angel at the tomb]

I have seen your future.

And I have learned.

There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.

I HAVE WON.

Oh, and your poet Eliot had it all wrong:

THIS is the way the world ends.

a friend of a friend


--------------------------
Now, go and watch the Halo 3 Trailer..
- A Friend of a Friend.

Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant

Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant v1.0

Here is a cool little tool that will programmatically executes a set of troubleshooting steps to identify the root cause of performance, mail flow, and database mounting issues. The tool automatically determines what set of data is required to troubleshoot the identified symptoms and collects configuration data, performance counters, event logs and live tracing information from an Exchange server and other appropriate sources. The tool analyzes each subsystem to determine individual bottlenecks and component failures, then aggregates the information to provide root cause analysis.

Exchange: SA will not start on a Exchange 2003 Server

Problem:
Came across this issue where after installing Exchange 2003 on a Windows 2003 SP1 Server, the System Attendant would not start. This was a new build and did not have Exchange loaded on it before. When attempting to start the SA Service, it would fail almost immediately. The event log would throw an event ID: 1005, Unexpected error Access is denied. Facility: Win32 ID no: c0070005 Microsoft Exchange System Attendant occurred. There was also an error in the ESM under the server properties where the log file directory states the location of the message tracking logs. The error was “An error occurred during a call to Windows Management Instrumentation” - ID no: 80041013 - Exchange System Manager.

Solution:
After spending a lot of time with Microsoft – The solution was painfully simple. On the Domain Controller there was a registry setting to restrict anonymous access. It was set to 2, the most restrictive. The Microsoft recommended setting for this is 1. Reboot the DC and...

This resolved the issue.

Why:
The registry settings on Authenticating DC, caused access denied up on anonymous SMB connection to IPC$

Half Life 2: Episode One - Update

I finished the game last night, I guess I was farther than I originally thought. The very ending is quite difficult and ammo was becoming an issue. I will try not to spoil the game for anyone. However, I have two words for you… Keep Moving!!! I spend a little too long in one spot and paid the price for it. (Squish – Like Bug). The last clip was kinda neat, but it left you with the same type of cliffhanger that the original game had. I would have liked to seen something a bit different. Maybe in the next release.

Now that the game is over, I still have to say that it is well worth the green.

- Waiting in anticipation for the next episode.

Movie Review: V for Vendetta (2006)

"From the pages of David Lloyd and Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel springs the enigmatic "V" (Hugo Weaving of The Matrix), a masked freedom fighter who's taken up arms against the totalitarian government in a futuristic Britain. Finding an unlikely ally in a young woman named Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman), V urges the citizenry to fight the oppression of the state. John Hurt and Stephen Rea also co-star." - Netflix

I am of two minds about this movie. One one hand it was a great, political, rebellious film portraying what people will do when their freedoms are trampled on by a Nazi-like, fascist, dictatorship. The symbolism and visuals were enthralling. However, on the other hand, I would not say that this movie is groundbreaking or visionary. It was more of a 1984 rip off. Natalie Portman is pretty and nice to look at (with hair), but her acting was really really bad. (or maybe it was the script) If you are into a political movie of a government that has going totally dark, then you will enjoy this movie. If you are a person that likes a good drama, it is a toss up. For the rest of you... you are seriously out of luck. Rated R for language and some violence.

Half Life 2: Episode One

As you all already know or have read, I am a big Half-Life fan. (counter-strike, DOD, HL, HL2, etc) Well, more accurately, I am a big Valve fan. This past week, Liz bought me HL2: EP1 from Amazon for something like $15 bucks. Let me begin by saying how impressed I was in its ability to rekindle my emotions from Half-Life 2 game. It started out strong and has kept going strong, given that I am only about half way done. The game is only slated to be about 5 hours of game play, but if you like wandering around and checking out things, you can easily spend double that. I had to check out everything, see how far I can throw a fridge, what would happen if I shot..., If you keep shooting a combine soldier – does he eventually become just a red spot… Also, there are many hidden passages and the puzzles are a bit harder than the original game.

And, Alyx is a real bad ass. She does a real good job helping out and her comments are at times just down right funny. She follows you around covering your back and at times taking all the bad guys on by herself. This addition to the Half-Life series has the look and feel of being a multiplayer campaign, that you can play by yourself. I know that I have said this before, but this one if defiantly a BUY!! Go and Get it!

Dora! Dora! Dora!

Allie’s Birthday Party

This past Saturday, it was Allison’s 3rd Birthday. So, Liz and I set off to have the most extravagant party a 3 year old would enjoy. We had the party in the backyard of Liz’s parents house, which is twice the size of ours (huge). Allie is really into Dora right now. There was Dora decorations and balloons, everywhere, on the house, plants, chairs, tables, cake and even a Dora piñata. On a side note, the makers of the piñatas no longer open by beating the cardboard object senseless, there are pull strings that the kids grab and yank. Much safer for all involved. There were about over 30 people, including kids. We had pizza’s, chips, soda, a clear liquid that had no bubbles (water), fruit punch, juice boxes, veggies, fruit, 3 different kinds of salad, and the for mentioned Dora cake. I rented 4 tables with umbrellas, a tent to put the food under, and a helium tank. Not the small one.. that is far to small. I got the big guy that weights a good 75 pounds. The kids had a great time, played in the pool, ran around, ate, ran around some more, jumped back into the pools (some with clothes on), and then did it all over again. Allie made out like a little bandit. She got a Dora doll house, Dora sleeping bag, Dora dolls, and a Dora Bike. (yes, a two wheeled bike) But, not all presents were Dora, she also got a clothes, a fairy bear from Wisconsin, and a Nemo body pillow, as well as, other things that would be to long to list out. Both her and Zuzu had a great time and had lots of fun with the other kids.

Mommy and Daddy are still trying to recuperate from the whole experience.

Man Laws 101

1: Under no circumstances may two men share an umbrella.

2: It is OK for a man to cry ONLY under the following circumstances:
(a) When a heroic dog dies to save its master.
(b) The moment Angelina Jolie starts unbuttoning her blouse.
(c) After wrecking your boss's car.
(d) One hour, 12 minutes, 37 seconds into "The Crying Game".
(e) When she is using her teeth.

3: Any Man who brings a camera to a bachelor party may be legally killed and eaten by his buddies.

4: Unless he murdered someone in your family, you must bail a friend out of jail within 12 hours.

5: If you've known a guy for more than 24 hours, his sister is off limits forever unless you actually marry her.

6: Moaning about the brand of free beer in a buddy's fridge is forbidden. However complain at will if the temperature is unsuitable.

7: No man shall ever be required to buy a birthday present for another man. In fact, even remembering your buddy's birthday is strictly optional. At that point, you must celebrate at a strip bar of the birthday boy's choice.

8: On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.

9: When stumbling upon other guys watching a sporting event, you may ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who's playing.

10: You may flatulate in front of a woman only after you have brought her to climax. If you trap her head under the covers for the purpose of flatulent entertainment, she's officially your girlfriend.

11: It is permissible to drink a fruity alcohol drink only when you're sunning on a tropical beach... and it's delivered by a topless model and only when it's free.

12: Only in situations of moral and/or physical peril are you allowed to kick another guy in the nuts.

13: Unless you're in prison, never fight naked.

14: Friends don't let friends wear Speedos. Ever. Issue closed.

15: If a man's fly is down, that's his problem, you didn't see anything.

16: Women who claim they "love to watch sports" must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the ability to drink as much as the other sports watchers.

17: A man in the company of a hot, suggestively dressed woman must remain sober enough to fight.

18: Never hesitate to reach for the last beer or the last slice of pizza, but not both, that's just greedy.

19: If you compliment a guy on his six-pack, you'd better be talking about his choice of beer.

20: Never join your girlfriend or wife in discussing a friend of yours, except if she's withholding sex pending your response.

21: Phrases that may NOT be uttered to another man while lifting weights:
a) Yeah, Baby, Push it!
b) C'mon, give me one more! Harder!
c) Another set and we can hit the showers!

22: Never talk to a man in a bathroom unless you are on equal footing:
i.e., both urinating, both waiting in line, etc. For all other situations, an almost imperceptible nod is all the conversation you need.

23: Never allow a telephone conversation with a woman to go on longer than you are able to have sex with her. Keep a stopwatch by the phone. Hang up if necessary.

24: The morning after you and a girl who was formerly "just a friend" have carnal, drunken monkey sex, the fact that you're feeling weird and guilty is no reason for you not to nail each other again before the discussion occurs about what a big mistake it was.

25: It is acceptable for you to drive her car. It is not acceptable for her to drive yours.

26: Thou shalt not buy a car in the colors of brown, pink, lime green, orange or sky blue.

27: The girl who replies to the question "What do you want for Christmas?" with "If you loved me, you'd know what I want!" gets an Xbox. End of story.

28: There is no reason for guys to watch Ice Skating or Men's Gymnastics. Ever.

Just so that we all understand the rules, read them again!

The top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs

Attn: Entrepeneurs

Everyone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today’s world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain name selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and services but clearly didn’t give their domain names enough consideration:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…
www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always
www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com

Valve Announces Development For Xbox 360

Valve®, a leading entertainment and technology studio, is pleased to announce development of future game releases for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

The coming titles will be powered by a customized version of SourceTM, the technology that powered Valve’s Half-Life® 2. Source provides state of the art performance in graphics, networking, artificial intelligence, physics simulation and more.

“The combination of Source and the 360 provides game designers the chance to create powerful entertainment experiences,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “Whether developing a traditional FPS, RTS, RPG or delving into new genres, the Xbox 360 is a great platform for expanding Source and our game experiences.”

The Valve 360 products are being designed to leverage the Xbox 360’s advanced graphics hardware and integration with Xbox Live® online game service.

… Halo, GTA and Half-Life all for the Xbox 360.. Need I say more?

Me as a South Park Character

A friend here at work sent this link to me. http://www.sp-studio.de/ It is how to make your own South Park character. There are many options that you can select, such as features, colors, items, clothes, background, and style. This is how I would look, if I was a character in South Park.


Make your own and enjoy.

Pirates of the Caribbean II - Dead man’s Chest

This weekend, I saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. My parents had the kids over so Liz and I could actually see a movie in a movie theater and when it is new and still fresh. So here is the review… Johnny Depp is as funny as ever playing the part of the gay pirate. Okay, Captain Jack Sparrow is not actually gay, more Bi… But, that is part of his charm. I will try not to spoil it for anyone that has not seen the movie yet. That will be an entry for later. It is full of action, plot twists, and flair. It is well worth the money to see this movie and Yes, I will be buying this one when it comes out. However, it is not as good as the first. But, there were not expectations for the orgininal. This one went in with HIGH expectations and only fell a little short. I have high hopes for the third one. Oh, and you will want to sit through all of the credits, there is a little funny at the very end.

For those who have seen the movie… I wonder what “mark” he left on Mr. Beckett. -Say no more!

Day of Defeat - Source

This past weekend, Valve had a free weekend to download and play DOD-Source. This is the Day of Defeat Mod built from the Half-Life 2 engine. The graphics are stunning, some new maps (well, new to me), and game play is what you would expect from a Half Life 2 Mod. I played quite a bit this weekend, ignoring the wife and kids.. Which is not so good. So, if you plan on purchasing this game be advised that it is a total time suck. But, well worth it. AND it will only cost you a Mr. Jackson to continue the onslaught of Allies vs. Axis. But, you have to ask yourself this question..

Half-Life 2 – Episode One OR Day of Defeat – Source… Two great games – Same Price.

See you there – verylost

Evils of the Night (1985)

A trio of aliens (John Carradine, Julie Newmar and Tina Louise) visits Earth on a quest for teen flesh, hoping to use it to create a youth serum. To help them with the diabolical scheme, they bribe two dim-bulb mechanics (Neville Brand and Aldo Ray) to stalk and kidnap a group of randy adolescents. Director Mardi Rustam's sci-fi thriller mixes the slasher-in-the-woods genre with the classic alien invader theme -- and the film is so bad it's good.

Let me begin by saying that I enjoy ‘B’ flicks and had no real expectations for this movie. Well, it did not even live up to that. This movie is really bad. The acting is horrid, the effects that were not pirated from another show (original Battlestar Galactica) were just down right dumb, and there was no plot, they say there is one, but I couldn't find it... “And the point of this is…??? What???” For those looking for nudity, there is some, but it is not even worth the effort. Nothing short a match could save this movie.

Day of Defeat

Years ago, I used to play this Half life mod. I forgot how much fun this game actually was. I was on Steam and noticed that I had DOD available for HL2. So, I set it up and played for a few hours on Friday night. It took a few games to get back into the swing of things and not knowing the maps was a bit of a hindrance. But, I managed to hold my own for a bit. There were a lot of people (kids) that did not like the fact that I just charge like them. I am sorry, but I don’t play like that. I much rather play a sniper or lay down suppressing fire for my team mates. On one map this guy and I took up a cross-fire position with some .50 cals and cleaned house. I think that I scored about 40 kills and he did almost 50. Another time, these two guys and myself charged into the enemy’s lines and I dropped down and unloaded with this belt-fed machine gun. Talk about fun… at least for me…

See you online…

Office 2007 Delayed

Here a shocker... That surprises no one - Ars Technica reports that Microsoft Office 2007 has been delayed again, this time into early 2007. 'Based on internal testing and the beta 2 feedback around product performance, we are revising our development schedule to deliver the 2007 system release by the end of year 2006, with broad general availability in early 2007' Tough bit of timing after this week's online preview of Office 2007."

I really like the Outlook 2007 Beta 2 version, as I stated previously. But, my Word keeps crashing on me.. :(

Firefly - The Half Series

Well, my wife and I finally rented and watched all 4 DVDs of the Firefly Series. At first, we thought that the acting was really really bad and that this was going to be really cheesy. But, so was Star Trek Next Generation at first – oh look, a space jelly fish… At the middle to end of disk 3, the acting improved and it seemed that the actors started to really enjoy what they were doing. Some of the prop still looked like cardboard cut outs and I swear that I saw an F-18 used as a space ship.

I was surprised that it did not last a full season, on Disk 4 they had a gag real that stated that it was made for the Christmas party, but turned out to be the farewell party. The series itself had lots of sex (in almost every episode), violence and thievery. Yeah, I can see how most sponsors would have a problem with that. I mean Long John Silvers supporting a bunch of space pirates, I mean come on, really. :) But, they were thieves with some morals. I could also see how people in the bible belt would have a problem with that much sex on TV and the fact that prostitution was legal, but idolized as members of high-class society. There were several episodes that were good, but I honestly like the last two episodes on Disk 4.

Now that I have seen the entire series, what there was of it, I am going to rent Serenity the movie, again. All in all, good to see once.. but, not a buy.

Another Active Directory Cleanup entry

If you want to deactivate a class or attribute in the schema because you no longer need it, here is a real easy way.

1. Open the Active Directory Schema snap-in
2. In the left pane, click on the Classes folder
3. In the right pane, double-click the class you want to deactivate
4. Uncheck the box beside Class is active
5. Click Ok.

Easy...

Watching XPlay on G4

As I was watching XPlay on G4, my wife is calling me a Geek... Actually, what she said is that I am "Such a Geek, that I would actually watch people play games." and that it was like watching Golf. Not at all... This tells me what games are worth buying or tricks in how to beat the game. So, What is the difference between a Geek and a Nerd?

- The Geek has social skills.

How to setup replicas for Schedule+ data

For most companies, this is really not an issue. However, if you are an Exchange Admin with an international company or have split the Exchange Administrative Groups, you may want to setup replicas for the Free/busy information for some of specific sites. (I hate using the term "sites", since that is a 5.5 term.) For the sales or Executive users, this means that they will be able to view the other offices’ calendar information and book meetings with individuals in those offices. However, if a person turns off the sharing ability within Outlook, you still will not be able to see their data. The client overrides this server configuration.

Here is how you configure the Exchange Server:

1. Open Exchange system manager
2. Expand to public folders tree
3. Right Click and select "View system folders"
4. select Schedule+
5. Right Click for properties
6. Select Replication Tab
7. Click Add and select servers to replication with
8. Select Ok
9. Close System Manager
   

As a troubleshooting step, monitor the event logs on the Exchange Server for Event ID# 107.

Face of the SUN!!!

I knew it was hot over the weekend, I just did not realize that it was that hot. I go from white to lobster in about 2.2 minutes, so I stayed mainly in the shade. Liz had to stay inside in the air-conditioning, she does not do well in the heat. Liz and I broke out the kiddy pool for the girls play in and try to keep them cool. As a side note, boy, they tan quick. The girls were outside, with sunscreen, for about 45 minutes and they are a golden. (with tan-lines) :P They both had fun, we setup a slide-shoot into the pool. The pool is one that my sister gave to them last year, of a crab. The pool has little sprayers (which are legs) in which Allie enjoyed using to drown her little sister. “alldone..alldone.. ALLL DONE!!!!” (that is QUIT IT in Lexi speak). Then Lex figured out that she had a sprayer too and that the hose controlled the water pressure.. She gives a little yank on the hose and the water pressure goes up… :) Hey, Turn about is fair play. Allie would look at me like… Are you going to do anything about this??? Uh.. Nope… Then she would yell “Quit IT” And Lex would.. Everyone had fun, no one got hurt and everyone got wet… Including Daddy.

Finding Computers witha Particular OS

Have you ever wanted to know what OS versions, release, or service packs you have in your environment? Of course you do… Here is a quick way to find out.

1. Open LDP
2. From the menu, select Connection à Connect
3. For Server, enter the name of the domain controller (or leave it blank to do a server-less bind)
4. For Port, enter 389
5. Click Ok
6. From the menu, select Connection à Bind
7. Enter credentials of a user to perform the search
8. Click OK
9. From the Menu, select Browse à Search
10. For Base Dn, enter the base of where you want your search to begin.
11. For Filter, enter a filter that contains the OS attribute you want to search on.
12. Select the appropriate Scope based on how deep you want to search
13. Click the Options button if you want to customize the list of attributes returned for each matching object
14. Click Run and the results will be displayed in the right pane.
    

OR you can do what I do and run dsquery in a command line:

• Dsquery * -scope subtree –attr “*” – filter “(&(objectclass=computer) (objectcategory=computer)(operatingSystem=Windows Server 2003))”

Work around the house

In the past month, I have had some work done around the house. I have been complaining that the roof needed to be redone. It was not leaking, but it was old and due for replacement. There was some rot that needed to be dealt with, and so on… (and I wasn’t going to do it!) So, I got several bids from some contractors, including Home Depot. Home Depot - At Home Services was not the cheapest, but seemed to have it shit together. Boy, was I wrong. The job was to put a roof on the house and fix the gutters, since they were pulling away from the house. Signed the contract and all set to go. The Project Manager called stated that they were not going to do anything about the gutters. Hold on a sec.. If we put on a new roof and the gutters are not fixed, then what is the Fn point. He stated that it was not his problem and that his responsibility is to Home Depot. And if I did not like it.. To bad. So, I called the Sale Rep and told him what was going on. He told me calm down, since I was really pissed and that he would take care of it. Well, he got me a new project manager to begin with. The new project manager was a little more understanding, but the Sales guy is who went over and beyond. He came out to the house on a Saturday and fixed the gutters by putting in screws instead of the spike nails that were not doing the job. The only other complaint that I have is that they did not tell me when they were going to install the roof. Get this, I was in a meeting from 8-10am. This guy calls from Home Depot telling me that they have started working on the roof this morning, at 9:30am. WHAT??!!?? Would have been nice to know, since I had to drive home and put the dogs in the house. To add to the confusion, the sale guy nor the project manager were aware that they were going to start.

I also had Verizon put FIOS into the house. Much like getting DSL hooked up, talk about cluster. Verizon is the most unorganized bunch of “people” that I have ever had to deal with. It took 4 times to get DSL into the house, since they were too stupid to plug the cat-5 from the switch to the patch panel… This time it took 5 calls to get the date straighten out. They were pulling dates from the air, or somewhere else… I would get a call from some automated system stating the my technician will be out “tomorrow”, a weekday, between 8-5.. Hold on.. I work… So, I would have to call and fight with them about getting my Saturday appointment back. Finally, I compromised and took a day off, so I could have this done and spend time with the girls. There again, some notice would have been nice. A group shows up to lay the fiber to the house, a week before my tech is coming out. Luckily, Liz was still home and put the dogs in the house. The technician was on time, he said 1pm and it was 1pm. I like that in a person. I now have a 5 meg pipe to the house.

I guess it all ended well, I just wasted a bunch of blood pressure points in dealing with this.

80's Music Videos

I saw this on a friends site, http://www.paraesthesia.com/blog/ (Thanks Trav)… Do you remember when MTV played music videos and not the crap that it currently plays? No Real World or Road Rules or Cribs, just music videos…??? Yes it was the 80s and MTV was new and fresh. Well, here is a site that you can go and watch all the videos from bands long forgotten. http://www.freephotosandvideos.com/ Such bands like, A-Ha, Flock of Seaqulls, Baltimora, and Taco.

Enjoy

Nickname cache - LegacyDN

Outlook caching is a convenience, as well as a curse. Here is a quick registry setting that will turn off the Nickname Cache for all those LegacyDN issues that pop-up.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The registry change, listed below, will turn off your nickname cache. It does not delete it and if you set the value back to 0 it will still be there.

Note that the AutoNameCheck key and the NoNicknames value are not created by default, at least no since Office 97 (8.0). You must make the change at the appropriate level for the Office version, 10.0 is Office XP and 11.0 is Office 2003.


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\AutoNameCheck]
"NoNicknames"=dword:00000001

Movie Review: Bloodrayne (2006)

A half-human, half vampire sets out to destroy her vampire king father in this Gothic horror film based on the video game. Bloodthirsty Lord Kagan (Ben Kingsley) wants his daughter to become a full-fledged vampiress, but fanged femme fatale Rayne (Kristanna Loken) denounces her father's legacy and instead joins up with a trio of vampire hunters (Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez and Matt Davis). Billy Zane and Udo Kier co-star. – Netflix

Let me begin by saying that I really enjoy the game and had high hopes for the movie. I thought that the story line was adequate, but the acting was atrocious. The dialog was so bad, I would almost say that this movie was translated Japanese. (all your bases are belong to us) There was some good action, vampire killings, and blood-sucking of helpless pesants. Kristanna Loken, also stared in Terminator 3, does show off her assets in a love scene. But, it does not even attempt to redeem the truly badness of this movie. If you have 2 hours that you want to waste and want to watch a pointless movie, then go rent this movie. But, if you want the same level of action, but a far better movie rent Resident Evil. (Milla Jovovich)

Movie Review: Madagascar (2005)

Zoo animals leave the comforts of man-made habitats for exotic adventure in this animated family film. After escaping from the zoo, four friends -- a lion (Ben Stiller), a hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith), a zebra (Chris Rock) and a giraffe (David Schwimmer) -- are sent back to Africa. When their ship capsizes, stranding them on Madagascar, an island populated by crazy critters, the pals must adapt to jungle life and their new roles as wild animals. – Netflix

I actually own this movie, for the kids. (yeah, that’s it) Okay, it is really funny and really well done. This past weekend the family and I were over at a friends house and there was a bunch of other kids there, so, we put on Madagascar on the 60”. (it is a very nice TV) The kids were enjoying themselves watching TV and the parents got to talk. However, every once and a while we all would stop talking to watch our favorite part of the movie. I just love the penguins - “smile and wave, boys.. just smile and wave.” This is cute movie with a great cast. A must see for all to enjoy.

My Xbox has a blog??

A while back, I signed up to get registered for XBox Live. I wanted to make sure that I was able to get "verylost". Well, today I received an email from Xbox Live about an outage and noticed that I had an Xbox 360 Blog. Neat.. This is a blog for my XBox 360, when I get it, so it can chat to the world about me. I hope it says nice things about me and does not give away my 'sniping' tatics. So, if you want to see what I am playing or doing, check out my Xbox 360 Blog - http://www.360voice.com/blog.asp?tag=VeryLost

Movie Review: Underworld: Evolution (2006)

“Working together to expose the truth about their bloodlines, vampire warrior Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and werewolf hybrid Michael (Scott Speedman) learn the backstory to the ongoing conflict between the patrician Death Dealers and the barbarous Lycans. Len Wiseman helmed this atmospheric sequel to his 2003 debut film, Underworld, with Bill Nighy reprising his role as the father of modern-day vampires.” – Netflix

I am a big fan of the whole vampire genre.. Starting with my obsession with Vampire Bloodlines to any horror movie that deals with the supernatural. With that being said, I thought that Dracula 2000 sucked. I enjoy good movies like Bram Stroker’s Dracula and Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi. These are true classics and worth watching and to have in your DVD library. I saw Underworld some time ago and enjoyed it, as a rental. I think that this sequel is far better as far as for the action and storyline. Both movies are a rental with the possibility of a cheap buy (under $10). I still think that these movies are more like Matrix with a supernatural feel, rather than the mystical, fearful, and romantic sense that Bram Stroker’s Dracula portrays. There is some romance (and sex) between Selene and Michael. No nudity here, but there is a few breasts shots from some other vamps. (nothing to write home about.)

If you liked this movie or its predecessor, you will also like:
Sleep Hollow – A great movie with Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken
Dune – I would recommend the directors edition
Event Horizon – Another Great movie
Fifth Element – Milla Jovovich - Do I need to say more?

Bloodlines Sequel?

I have been getting questions about if I know if there is going to be a sequel to the game Vampire Bloodlines. The short answer is probably not. Back in February 2005, Troika announced that they are closing up shop for good. They were the makers of Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines, Temple of Elemental Evil, and Arcanum.

In a press release that stated, "We want to thank all of our fans for their support these past seven years, it has really meant a lot to us that there were people out there who enjoyed our games enough to create fan-sites and follow our progress as a company. But we especially want to thank all of our employees - we had the pleasure of working with the some of the most dedicated, hard working, creative people in the industry, and we really appreciate all that they did for Troika."

Eventhough the company is gone, their legacy lives on through their games, blogs, and the various fansites. You never know, someone may resurrect the Bloodlines storyline and make a new and better version. When that happens, you know that I will be there wanting my first taste.

AppleBerry???

Can it be true?? A Blackberry for the Mac? Say it isn’t so…

I saw this on Slashdot and I had to post…

"The Globe and Mail is reporting that analyst Peter Misek, who predicted a partnership between Research in Motion and IBM, is now predicting a partnership between Apple and Rim. The predicted result? The AppleBerry. 'Such a deal would have huge merit because each company lacks what the other provides. RIM wants a firm foothold in the consumer market and Apple doesn't have a presence in the booming wireless data sector, he said.'"

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/05/1455258&from=rss


End the humanity…

Same Anti-Virus Vendor

NO – NO - NO!!!!

Getting back on my security bent here for a second, there has been a lot of talk on the Exchange boards about having a single vendor for providing an Antivirus solution for the complete environment. This is where you are running a AV solution for everything in your enterprise, from the Exchange Server to the file servers to the workstations on everyone’s desk. If you do this, you are an IDIOT and are looking for an good ass-kicking. “Aren’t most big AV vendors the same or when they release their sig files?” Most of the big AV companies release their signature files within 4-24 hours of a new virus being released. I have found that Kaspersky releases it dat files the fastest, however, there have been major problems with their dat files being screwed up. (but, that is another rant) McAfee and Symantec are right inline with each other, then there is CA and various others. So, as you can see there is a spread of time when the new sig file will be released. Then there are the different variants that spring up, creating havoc when you are already down. (kick’em again - kick’em again)

Having a single solution will mean that it will sooner or later miss one and that one could be a -big- one. Simple conclusion, you'd better have at least two AV vendors scanning your environment for viruses. And since email is one of the major vectors of spreading viruses, your Exchange server definitely to be running a different Anti-virus solution than the rest of your environment. “But, it costs more money – they are giving me AV for Exchange for free.” Free is about what I would pay for this type of solution and you will be sorry, one day, for not having a multi-tiered solution for your environment.

In conclusion, having just one AV vendor for both your email and desktops might sound like a convenient solution. However, using the -same- AV engine on Exchange, servers, and the desktop is ultimately an invitation to infection. (and an ass-kicking)

Disable "unsafe" attachment blocking in Outlook

Don’t you hate it when someone sends you an attachment, especially if you need the file right now, and Outlook determines that it is “unsafe”. That is great for the common user.. However, I am not a common user. I ran into this problem when I needed to send a script to another team member that a customer was waiting on. So, I had to either zip it or put it on a pen drive. Pen drive was easier and I was able to throw it at him. (Could not hit the side of a barn…)
So, here is a way to disable this “feature”.

Add a registry string value under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\\Security called Level1Remove and add the extensions you want with leading dots and trailing semicolons like:
.rar;.vbs;.scr;.reg

Security - Your ONLY line of defense

Let me talk a little about security, not only network security, but security overall. Antivirus, Patching, and Anti-Spyware solutions are necessary and required in todays computer society. It is necessary and should be put in place from the very start, even on a home network. A firewall, even the built-in windows firewall, is a first step to ensure that you mitigate the risk of being compromised. However, there are several things that you can do on the Workstation, Server and Routers to help limit the risks. So, here is my TOP 10 list of ways to protect yourself and the company.

1. Implement secureity filters at the external router/firewall.
   TCP/UDP 135 (RPC)
   UDP 137, 138; TCP 139
   (This will stop over 80 percent of available tools for hacking NT systems)
   TCP/UDP 161, 162 (SNMP)
   
2. Change all system accounts passwords to strong passwords.
   
3. Enable NT security auditing on all machines:
   * Audit all failures
   * Audit successful logons
   * Audit successful security policy changes
   * Audit successful startup and shutdown of system events
   * Do not allow log overwrite
   * Save the audit logs regularly.
   
4. Restrict anonymous logons
   
5. Control remote access to the registry
   
6. Restrict access to the scheduler service
   
7. Rename the administrator account
   
8. Disable unneeded services, as appropriate:
   * RAS
   * Unnecessary network protocols
   * Server
   * Alerter
   * Messenger
   
9. Create a dummy administrator account with heavy auditing and a login script that activates an alarm.
   
10. And…
    Configure your firewall to deal with IP spoofing and Smurf attacks.
    * Look out for that Brainy Smurf, he is tricky one.

Which Star Trek character are you?

A friend sent this link to me. It will tell you which Star Trek character you are based on a series of questions. Check it out…

http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/startrek/


My results:
I always knew it.. But, this confirms it… I am EXPENDABLE…
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)

I feel like Crewman #5 from Galaxy Quest


Here are the results from some friends.

Uhura x 2
Chekov x 1
James T. Kirk x 2
Geordi LaForge x1
An Expendable Character (Redshirt) x 1

Blocking Specific Versions of Outlook

You want to be able to control which versions of Outlook connect to your Exchange servers using MAPI, to prevent users from running older, unpatched versions or from running beta versions. Or you may want to completely disable the use of MAPI.

Here is how to do this via the command line - where you can add it into a script for multiple server deployment.

Reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet \Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem /t REG_SZ /v "Disable MAPI Clients" /d "-11.5608.5606"
Net stop msexchangeis /y
Net start msexchagneis

Saving for my XBox 360

Okay.. For a geek, I am a little behind the technology cutting edge. Hey.. I have two kids and a wife, need I say more? So, I have been putting together a little savings plan together to buy my very own Xbox 360. I think that I even have my wife convinced that this is a good thing. She wants the bubble blasting game, Zuma. The one rule is that it has to be wireless. With my current Xbox, the cords are everywhere - Cat5, controllers, power, TV connector, ect. I think that she is tired of tripping over the controller cables. I am also getting FIOS (fiber) to the house for faster game play. (oh, did that come out???) I mean that it is enable faster downloads for email.. yeah.. that’s it.. email… So, I am looking at deals with wireless everything. I figure that it is going to cost me about $600, including a couple of games. I figure that I will have the money way before Christmas, but I might wait until the Christmas Sales come out or until Halo 3 has a release date. All this for Halo 3… uh, NO, No, no, no.. YES!

How to Perform an Offline Defrag on Exchange

I can not believe that I have not posted this before.

Part of the routine maintenance on Exchange Servers to take the Information stores down and run an offline defragmentation on them. This is done because the size of a database does not shrink as items are deleted or moved from within. Over time the database will grow through normal usage and could reach a size that is unmanageable. By routinely doing a defrag, we can make current used space contiguous (improved performance), eliminate unused storage space, and compact the database thus reducing its size.

The database is defragged using the ESEUTIL.exe command found in the c:\exchsrvr\bin directory. Eseutil basically copies all the current storages (mailboxes) and exports them to a newly created file. The process runs until all information has been copied to the new file. Then the original database (priv.edb) is deleted and the temp database is renamed to become the new compacted priv.edb.

Preliminary Steps (Both Processes)
1. Stop the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant (This will stop all other associated services as well)
2. Determine that enough space is available to run the offline defrag.

Same Server Defrag Steps
1. At a command prompt, change directory to the location of the database
2. Type the command below, including quotes:
“c:\program files\exchsrvr\bin\eseutil” /d e:\mdbdata\store1\priv.edb
3. The defrag will begin and the status will be displayed.
4. Once the defrag has completed restart the Microsoft Information Store (this will start all other necessary services).
5. Restart Exchange Service Anti-Virus software services.
6. Start a back-up run on the newly defragged database.

Separate Server Defrag Steps
1. From the original Exchange server, map a drive to the remote server with enough space for the defrag.
2. Create a blank directory on the remote server called exdefrag and copy the files below to this directory.
Ese.dll, jcb.dll, Eseutil.exe - located in the c:\winnt\system32 directory
Priv.edb - located in the e:\mdbdata\store1 directory
3. Open a command prompt on the server where the files have been moved to.
4. Change directory to the exdefrag directory that was created.
5. Type the command below, including quotes:
“c:\program files\exchsrvr\bin\eseutil” /d e:\mdbdata\store1\priv.edb
6. The defrag will begin and the status will be displayed.
7. Once the defrag has completed copy the new smaller priv.edb file back to its original server.
8. Restart the Microsoft Information Store service where the database resides (this will start all other necessary services as well).
9. Restart Exchange Service Anti-Virus software services.
10. Remove exdefrag directory from the remote server and logout.
11. Start a back-up run on the newly defragged database.

A same server defrag is much easier and far less of a hassle, but if you don’t have the necessary space, it is possible to defrag the store on another server.

Outlook Deleted Item Recovery

How to Recover Deleted Items from any Outlook Folder

Under Outlook's default settings, deleted item recovery is possible only from the deleted items folder. The following registry modification will allow one to recover items from any Outlook folder, including items that were hard deleted, using shift-delete. It should be noted that the prerequisite for recovery of any deleted items, is that a deleted items retention time has been specified for the private and/or public information store on the Exchange server. Only items deleted within the specified retention period are recoverable. The following solution has been tested, and is known to work on Microsoft Outlook 97,98,2000, 2002 (XP), and 2003.

1. Run regedit on client workstation and locate following hive
2. HKLM---Software----Microsoft----Exchange-----Client-----Options
3. Add a DWORD and name it DumpsterAlwaysOn
4. Give the newly created DWORD a value of 1
5. If Outlook is running, close it and restart it.
6. Set Outlook Client to open user’s mailbox
7. Highlight inbox
8. Select recover deleted items from the tools menu
9. Select the messages that need to be recovered and click on the recover button.

Full Exchange Log Drive?

How to remedy a full Exchange log drive

Under some circumstances, it is possible that the drive partition that contains the Exchange transaction logs may fill up. This can be caused by either backups not completing successfully, or an extremely large amount of mail being sent or received in a short amount of time. A filled log drive will cause the Exchange Store to stop and users will not be able to connect to the server.

An online backup needs to be run to clear the transaction logs from the Log drive. The log files can be moved before they fill up and a backup can be done. However, there will be no access to the server while the logs are being moved.

Here are the steps to move the log files from the log drive to another drive.

1. Connect to the server
2. Run the Exchange System Manager
3. In System manager, go to the Administrative group of the server
4. Expand the Admin Group, expand the Servers container, Click on the server name
5. Expand the server, Click on the First Storage Group container
6. Right click on the First Storage Group Container, Choose properties
7. Click the browse button under the Transaction log location
8. Select the E drive and the MDBDATA\Store1 location
9. Click OK to close the dialog
10. Click ok to close the First storage group properties
11. A warning will appear telling you that the database needs to go offline to complete. Click OK
12. Log files will start moving to the new drive.
13. Close System manager once complete.

Once the log files have been moved. Start a backup to have them removed/cleaned up. After the backup has been run successfully, the log files must be moved back to the correct location on the Log drive.

Yes, it is true that you can check the enable circular logging and restart Exchange. This would effetely flush your logs, However, that means that your point in time restore just went out the window.

Exchange 12 and Office 12 - Review

I have not talked much about Exchange 12 or Office 12 (2007). I attending some webcasts and a meeting held at Microsoft about Exchange 12, it looks really cool.. Requirements are a bit steep. The ESM console has been changed, again, hopefully in a more logical manor. There is even more integration with Office, Exchange, VOIP, IM, etc… With the introduction of even more things that tie your environment together has a tendency of breaking.

So… I had to give Office 12 a try. I had Beta 1, in which was buggy as all hell. Much like my Mac experience, Poof, where did my application go? It shutdown – hopefully you saved. The ribbon bar, common functions that people use all the time, takes time to get a handle on it. Some things that I use all the time, like “save as” are not there. But, do not fear, you can customize an additional menu bar with all the things that are missing. I just downloaded and installed the new rev. Beta 2, which seems to be a little more stable. It has not crashed on me yet.

I really like what they did with Outlook. Much like Office 2003 (11), you have the same Mail / Mail folders view, they have added a To-Do Bar that has a calendar, events for the week and task bar. I really like this feature. Having a calendar and what I have scheduled right there for me to look at. LOVE IT. They have also added a feature of color coding emails, I don’t really use it or like it. I could see some sales or executive using this feature, but it really does nothing for me.

Also, they have build in an RSS feed into your Outlook client. Kinda cool, if you are into RSS feeds. I setup a couple which I look at, on a weekly basis.

All in all, looks cool and would like to see what the final product will shake out to become.

Exchange (SMTP) and Cisco PIX Firewall

There is an issue with sending and receiving SMTP mail from an Exchange Server through a Cisco PIX Firewall.

The solution is to be performed on the Cisco PIX, disable the MailGuard (SMTP fixup) feature on the PIX firewall, which is on by default. Run the following command form the PIX command line:

No fixup protocol smtp 25

Here is the step-by-step according to Microsoft.
To turn off the Mailguard feature of the PIX firewall:
1.Log on to the PIX firewall by establishing a telnet session or by using the console.
2.Type enable, and then press ENTER.
3.When you are prompted for your password, type your password, and then press ENTER.
4.Type configure terminal, and then press ENTER.
5.Type no fixup protocol smtp 25, and then press ENTER.
6.Type write memory, and then press ENTER.
7.Restart or reload the PIX firewall.

While the Cisco PIX firewall is generally a capable firewall, the MailGuard SMTP proxy feature has long been a source of problems, not just for Exchange, but for SMTP servers in general. However, it is an easy fix to resolve.

Here is the Microsoft article on this:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320027

Movie Review: The Church & Firefly

The Church (1989)
“Michele Soavi (Cemetery Man), best known as Dario Argento's protege, directed this film, which was originally released as Demons 3. The story begins in the 13th century, as the Knights Templar destroy a village to erect a cathedral on the land. Flashing forward to the present, the cathedral is now haunted and, because a long sealed crypt has recently been opened, a torrent of evil spirits is rushing through the building.” – Netflix

Another Argento flick that is worth a watch. Great story line, even though the acting is a bit cheesy. It is not a film that is full of action that keeps you on the edge of your seat like Mission Impossible III. Argento’s films are more “mental” than anything else. There is some nudity in this film, not much to speak of. There is also two sex scenes, one involving a goat-like demon creature.

Firefly (Disk 1)
“Set almost 500 years in the future, this short-lived but much-loved TV series follows the adventures of the ragtag crew (Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk and others) of the transport spaceship Serenity. No job is too small, too dirty or too close to the line of illegality for the crew to tackle to remain fed and fueled. But when a passenger is wanted by the ruling Alliance regime, the Firefly must hide out the dangerous fringes of space.” - Netflix

Well, the movie Senerity now makes more sense. It begins by explaining the Captain and First Mate's relationship, the civil war, and how the crew became together. It also introduces the Allance, the Preacher, and the ambassador (high-paid hooker). I throughly enjoyed the first two eposodes - sex, violence, pillaging, sexy actresses… How did I miss this series? It must have been at the same time as Babylon 5, SG1 or Star Trek. I am glad that they started putting many of the TV shows on DVD. Yes, I did rent the A-Team for old time sake - “I pitty the fool”. I will defantally have to rent the rest, these actaully may be a buy. We will have to wait and see.

Movie Review: Four of the Apocalypse (1975)

I finally rented Four of the Apocalypse (1975), Fulci’s western. “One of filmmaker Lucio Fulci's most explosive spaghetti Westerns, Four of the Apocalypse is now available in its original, uncut version with Fabio Testi in the role of Stubby Preston, a gambler who leads a pack of renegades in search of freedom and reinvention. Only the villainous Chaco can run them off their path, roping them into a game of cat and mouse in the middle of a desolate and dangerous land.” - Netflix

Fulci is famous for horror flicks that I have previewed in the past, which are quite good. I do have to say that normally I do not really enjoy Westerns. Red River is about the only one that I would say that I actually enjoyed. However, he did really a nice job and actually enjoyed watching how the movie played out. Now there is some nudity (Lynne Frederick) who is quite attractive and young looking. So, seeing her topless is worth a half star. There is also a “rape” scene, which I am putting in quotes. The scene is more of “taking advantage” of a helpless girl and not the graphic violence like in the movie Death Wish with Charles Bronson. There is a lot of violence portrait in the Four of the Apocalypse against men, women, and children. Nothing very graphic, just the after affects of a slaughter. If you like westerns, I would recommend that this is worth a rental.

My drive in...

I can handle ignorance. If you don’t know how to do something, then I am happy to help out. There are often times where I have no idea of what I am doing and will ask for help. But, just plain stupidity just pisses me off.

Let me begin by saying that I drive this strech of road twice a day, sometimes more depending on the day. At this one point on Evergreen, it changes from two lanes down to one. The sign clearly states “Left Lane End, Merge Right”. I often will let either one or two people in, just to be nice and add to those Karma points. Today, this DUMBASS, probably an Intel, desides that I am either I am nicer than I actually am or he will squease me into the shoulder. Cause, clearly, I have to merge into his lane. Think again, Asshole! I guess that you are too Fucking Stupid to Fucking READ!!! What part of “Merge Right” don’t you FUCKING understand. There is one more aspect that he forgot to take into account. He is driving a nice car and I drive a ’97 pickup, do the math, dipshit.

I hate Stupid People!

Movie Reviews

I was asked off-line about my reviews and what movies I “do like”. I don’t think that I have been unreasonable or unfair about my reviews. If your movie sucks, I am going to say that it sucks or is a load of crap. For those who know me personally, I don’t tend to sugar coat things. So, (JIM) here are a few movies that I do like and I think are worth watching or even ------------------ wait for it --------------- BUY.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith – Angelina and Brad trying to kill each other.
Laura Croft – Angelina kicking ass while in tight outfits.
Hitch – FUNNY !!!!
XMen I/II – Love the comic and the movie is even better.
Ocean’s Twelve – Not as good as the first.
Batman Begins – nice to see the beginning, but not one of the best.
Day After Tomorrow – Remember “Global warming is just a theory” (yeah right!)
I, Robot – say nice things to your computer, once in a while.
Pirates of the Caribbean – All most as fun as the ride.
Sin City – What is not to love??? Can we say Jessica Alba.
Fantastic Four – Even more Jessica…
Taking Lives – Well.. it is not for the plot…
Underworld – Sexy Vampires and Werewolves… Can we say Bloodlines?

Movie Review: Serenity & Aeon Flux

Here are a couple of movies that I watched over the weekend. Here is how they ranked:

Serenity (2005)
Picking up where his cult show "Firefly" left off, writer-director Joss Whedon's tale of galactic unrest follows Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), captain of the transport ship Serenity, and his scrappy but loyal crew. When the ship picks up two new passengers -- fugitives from the powerful coalition ruling the universe -- "Mal" and his mates find themselves at the center of a cosmic conflict, pursued by military forces and space-roaming savages. - Netflix

I originally was not interested in the series Firefly, but after seeing this movie, I will have to put the first season in my queue. I realize that it this was based on the TV series, in which I have not seen as of yet. I felt that I was missing some of the underlying story and character development. I liked the movie, however, I would have to recommend that you see the TV series before watching this movie. There was a lot a action and great story line, but… it would have been so much better to have a clearer understanding of what was going on from the beginning. Still an enjoyable movie and almost worth a buy.



Aeon Flux (2005)
In the 25th century, a rampaging virus has forced the remnants of humanity into the seclusion of a last redoubt. But political conflict swirls within, and the climate is ripe for revolution. Aiming to hasten an uprising, the leader of the underground rebellion (Frances McDormand) dispatches acrobatic assassin Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) to eliminate the government's top leader in this futuristic thriller based on the popular animated MTV show. – Netflix

I loved the MTV series Aeon Flux and was looking forward to this full length movie. Now, I realize the MTV version was a cartoon and this was a live action video, and so most of the stunts are not possible with a live human. With that being said, the stunts were fantastic and non-stop action. Storyline, however, was lacking and did not live up to my expectations. I much prefer to watch a episode of Dark Angel or La Femme Nikita to gain the same level of ass-kicking. If you have a couple of hours to kill, it is worth a watch.

Here it comes!!!

Idokorro Mobile Desktop 2.0 - NEW!

Mobile Desktop now supports Microsoft Terminal Services and Remote Desktop connections and SSH tunneling using Mobile Desktop to connect to any computer on your network, view the screen, and control the keyboard and mouse using your BlackBerry device!

In addition to supporting VNC connections, Mobile Desktop now supports Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections to Windows computers running Terminal Services or Remote Desktop. Support for SSH tunneling provides greater security. Mobile Desktop can be used to connect to any computer,including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, QNX, OS/2, and more. Mobile Desktop delivers the best performance on BlackBerry 8700 devices, but supports any color BlackBerry device with handheld software v4.0 or higher.

Mobile Desktop pricing starts at $45 USD per BlackBerry device.

Blood in the water - E3 Report

Damn, it was like seeing a shark feeding frenzy between Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Here is my take on how things played out. Sony’s conference was totally underwhelming, prices were totally unrealistic, and left people wondering why do I want to buy a Playstation. Microsoft’s 360 had a awesome conference, besides, if people can get Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4 on the X360, I would be suprized on why anyone would spend $600 for a PS3. Sorry, no "Developers, Developers, Developers" Then there is the Wii, the name is really stupid (And Weeeeeeeee!), but the game play looks cool. The controller seems to be very intuitive and it is a nice change from the hack, slash, kill, destroy, games for the X360. Plus, Mario and Link are back in action, a plus for all those underage or non-violent types. Sorry Sony… Better luck next year…

Darth Maul Dual Lightsaber

I was checking out a site that I get some of my “geek” stuff from and saw that they have the Darth Maul Lightsaber in stock. A former co-worker bought the Mace Windu saber, which was very cool. However, I would want the Darth Maul - Red Blade - (episode I A Phantom Menace) (Can be assembled as a double bladed lightsaber or used as two, battle damaged, single blade lightsabers.)

These lightsabers have speakers in the handle to make the “sounds”, expecially if you hit something with it.. Like your friend… :P The “blade” lights up and down when you turn on and off your saber. To top it off, it is really frinking bright.

It is very cool for the true Star Trek Geek or even the lesser Geeks. However, if you are married, expected to be in the dog house when this “toy” comes home. Check it out at ThinkGeeks website.

Live long and Prosper.. (uh, I mean) May the force be with you…

Changing OWA 2003 Timeouts

Ever wonder how to change the default OWA timeouts for Exchange 2003
Here is the steps from Microsoft - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830827

1. On the Exchange front-end server, log on by using the Exchange administrator account, and then start Registry Editor.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeWeb\OWA
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type PublicClientTimeout for the name of the DWORD, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click the PublicClientTimeout DWORD value, and then click Modify.
6. Under Base, click Decimal.
7. In the Value data box, type a value that represents the number of minutes for the time-out. This number must be between 1 and 43200. (43200 minutes are equal to 30 days.) If you do not set a value, a value of 15 is assumed.Note The maximum possible value is 43200 for 30 days.
8. Click OK.

Important You must restart IIS for the changes to take effect. Also, if you set the TrustedClientTimeout value to a value that is lower than PublicClientTimeout, the TrustedClientTimeout value defaults to be equal to the PublicClientTimeout value. Likewise, if you set the PublicClientTimeout value to a value that is greater than the TrustedClientTimeout value, the TrustedClientTimeout value defaults to be equal to the PublicClientTimeout value.


However, If you are like me… and like command line, so here are the instructions for using the command line.

1. Reg add HKLM\system\currentcontrolset\services\msexchangeweb\owa /t reg_dword /v “publicclienttimeout” /d 30
2. Reg add HKLM\system\currentcontrolset\services\msexchangeweb\owa /t reg_dword /v “trustedclienttimeout” /d 30
3. Net stop w3svc
4. Net start w3svc

I personally think that my way is easier… :)

Granting Send on Behalf of Permissions

Often, an executive may request that this type of permission be given to a trusted assistant so that the assistant can respond to general inquiries . For that reason, Outlook allows you to set this permission directly from the Delegates tab. When “send on behalf of” permissions are granted to a user, the user can send email messages from the account it was granted permissions to. The message will show the recipient that the message was sent on behalf of the modified account.

1. Open ADUC
2. Find the account you want to modify
3. Right-click the user account and select properties
4. Select the Exchange General tab. Click Delivery Options.
5. In the Send on behalf group, click add
6. Add the user that needs the permission, and click Check Names.

Easy.

XBox 360 - Halo 3 - GTA IV -

I was over at a friends house, where he was showing off his Xbox 360. I SO WANT ONE!!! It is very nice, wireless everything, controllers and internet connection. And it appears that a new Grand Theft Auto (GTA IV) is going to be released on a 360. According to Slashdot “Despite expectations that this would be the least eventful of the E3 pre-conferences, Microsoft's Peter Moore drops the news that Grand Theft Auto IV will be on Xbox 360. Rockstar and Microsoft have teamed up to do exclusive episodic content in the GTA gameworld for the 360. Slated to release October 16, 2007 in North America, October 19 in Europe. Other details include lots of support for Live Arcade titles (Sonic, Galaga, Street Fighter II), the official unveiling of Shadowrun for the 360 and PC, the airing of the Halo 3 Teaser Trailer (which is already on Xbox Live), and much discussion of 'Live Anywhere'. This last is an expansion of Xbox Live to PC and cell platforms in addition to the Xbox arena.”

I did get to see the Halo 3 teaser (I mean Trailer)… http://www.xboxyde.com/leech_2576_en.html

Save your pennies... :P

Outlook Tip: Direct-book a meeting with a conference room

You can book the meeting at the same time you create the meeting and invite the attendees. The meeting room availability can also be displayed when viewing the attendees information.

To invite individual and reserve space in a conference room, follow these steps.

1. Click on the Calendar folder in Outlook.
2. On the ACTIONS menu, click Plan a Meeting.
3. This will place you in the “Plan a Meeting” window.
4. At the bottom left of the screen is a button called INVITE OTHERS. Choose this button to select the names of the attendees. Double click on the individuals name to be added as a REQUIRED attendee.
5. Select the conference room name to hold the meeting in and then select the RESOURCES button. Automatic booking will not happen if the conference room is in the REQUIRED section.

*NOTE: Individuals should be listed in the REQUIRED or OPTIONAL section. Conference rooms (Resources) MUST be placed in the RESOURCES section.

6. After selecting the names and conference room, click the OK button to close the dialog.
7. The FREE/BUSY information for the attendees and the conference room will now appear.
When someone (or conference room) is not available, it will be listed as a BLUE BLOCK. You can right click on the block to see information about what is scheduled at that time.
8. At the bottom of the “Plan a Meeting” window you can select the date and time for the event. If you would like the system to FIND a time when everyone is available, choose the AUTOPICK button to the left of the date.
9. Once you have chosen the date and attendees, click the MAKE MEETING button at the bottom of the screen. This will RESERVE the time for you in the conference room and the system will send out a message to everyone that you invited.

DVD Rewinder

You have got to see this… I SO want one…

When you stop and think about it, most VHS Tape players will rewind a movie in a matter of minutes. The DVD player was supposed to be a technical advancement in the viewing of motion pictures but rewinding the movies before putting them away took twice the amount of time that my old VHS machine did. Finally someone has come up with the answer to this problem. Check-it out!!! And it is even on SALE!!!

http://www.dvdrewinder.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1

(If you actually purchase this, I have got an "Air Guitar" I can sell ya')

What exactly is Goodwill???

I was looking at one of my Annual Reports for a stock that I own. In reading the 10-K, I wondered “Why is it that I own this stock???”… But, getting past that, I was looking at their balance sheet. Here is where you get to see how much the company made and spent for the previous two years. Just as a side thought, you should really make more money that you spend, (+) is a good thing and (-) are bad… just a thought. I guess that this company is taking lessons from the Federal Government. Back to the subject at hand, I found this entry.. Goodwill - $15,000… huh?? What the F is Goodwill and how can you put a value on it. According to American Century “An intangible asset that represents the value of a corporation's name, customer service, employee morale, and other such factors that are anticipated to translate into higher earning power. However, as an intangible asset, it does not have a liquidation value and accounting principles require that it is written off over a specific time period.”

So, it is a made up number… gotcha.. So, why not have it be a trillion dollars? I guess it is easier to justify some fictitious lower number than making it equal the amount of money Bill Gates spends for a new house. I love accounting… NOT…

Joke of the week - Stupidity

Here is a good one from the same friend...




In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.

On a Sears hairdryer – “Do not use while sleeping.”
(That's the only time I have to work on my hair.)
====================================


On a bag of Fritos – “You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.”
(The shoplifter special?)
===========================

On a bar of Dial soap -- "Directions: Use like regular soap."
(and that would be???....)
============================

On some Swanson frozen dinners -- "Serving suggestion: Defrost."
(but, it's just a suggestion.)
=======================

On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom) -- "Do not turn upside down.”
(well...duh, a bit late, huh!)
==========================

On Marks &Spencer Bread Pudding -- "Product will be hot after heating."
(...and you thought????...)
=======================

On packaging for a Rowenta iron -- "Do not iron clothes on body."
(but wouldn't this save me time?)
==============================

On Boot's Children Cough Medicine -- "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication."
(We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5 year-olds with head-colds off those bulldozers.)
===========================

On Nytol Sleep Aid -- "Warning: May cause drowsiness."
(...I'm taking this because???....)
==============================

On most brands of Christmas lights -- "For indoor or outdoor use only."
(as opposed to what?)
==========================

On a Japanese food processor -- "Not to be used for the other use."
(now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.)
==============================

On Sainsbury's peanuts -- "Warning: contains nuts."
(talk about a news flash)
==========================

On an American Airlines packet of nuts -- "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: say what?)
===========================

On a child's Superman costume -- "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."
(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)
========================

On a Swedish chainsaw -- "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals."
(Oh my gosh.was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)
===========================

Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread the stupidity and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to (maybe even chuckle)

Joke of the week: Scrabble

I got this in an email from a friend and I just had to share... !!!

Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble.
(Wait till you see the last one)!


DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:!
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE (haha!!)

THE MORSE CODE :
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the ltters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE


ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE


AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

Yep! Someone with way too much time on their hands! (Probably a
son-in-law)

Movie Review: The Believer

The Believer - " This is the story of Danny Balint (Ryan Gosling), a young Jewish man from New York City struggling with the conflict between his beliefs and his heritage. Balint eventually joins a neo-Nazi organization, rising up the ranks to become a leader in the white supremacy movement. The Believer is a psychological examination into the forces of intolerance, both on the individual and society as a whole." - Netflix

Here is a F'd up movie right here. Here is a kid that is part of one world and so desperately wants to be part of another. There is so much hate and rage in this person, that you almost feel sorry for him. However, after seeing American History X, this movie fell short, even near the end, where he begins to turn back to the Jewish faith. Both American History X and The Believer type of movies where by taking an destructive hate filled individual and seeing the hatred dissipate. There is a single bit of nudity and sex in the film, where Summer Phoenix is having sex with Billy Zane. Oh, did I forget to mention that they are father and daughter. Incest is best…???? It really did not add anything to the movie, so… Why is it there besides the F'd up factor???...

Final verdict - It is a rental, unless you are really into these types of movies.

Movie Review: Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci

As most of you know, from my comments about other movies and Netflix, I really enjoy watching movies. As of late have really enjoyed watching Horror movies by Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento. Dario’s Daughter, Asia, appears in some of his movies that I would not allow my daughter to even view. But, she is a great actress and attractive to boot.

Some movies that I have seen that were produced by Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci are:

Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror - This documentary on his work studies all of the giallo master's films through his upcoming "Sleepless." Argento himself comments on his career and divulges some of the secrets he has used in his craft. Also interviewed are Piper Laurie, Alice Cooper, and another master of horror, John Carpenter.” – Netflix

A great overview of the work that he has done as of late. Also some great interviews by John Carpenter and Alice Cooper.


The Stendhal Syndrome – “Italian director Dario Argento weaves together horror and suspense in this cult-classic thriller. While investigating a serial rapist and murderer in the famed Uffizi Museum, young detective Anna Manni (Argento's daughter Asia) begins having visions that the paintings around her are coming to life. While Manni is hallucinating, the rapist captures, tortures and violates her, driving the young detective to insanity.” – Netflix

It is really different, like a bad acid trip with very little nudity and some violence. Not one of his best films, but defiantly a rental.



Contraband – “Fabio Testi and Ivana Testi star in this Lucio Fulci-directed action-adventure in which the head of a gang -- Luca Di Angelo, an idealistic family man and cigarette smuggler in the treacherous Naples underworld -- finds himself hunted down by rivals who've already murdered his brother and kidnapped his wife. It's a game of cat and mouse … and no one knows who'll win.” – Netflix

There is lots of gore, violence and good storyline. There is a rape scene that is disturbing, but not really graphic. I have seen far better, with less done. I almost felt like the censorship boards had a hand in it. I probably would have to say that it was almost a waste of time.

I have not seen these movies yet by Fulci, but I am interested in seeing Four of the Apocalypse, Lucio Fulci: Don't Torture a Duckling, Conquest. I will have to post my comments on these after I watch them.

Sybari's Antigen for Exchange

Got this email requesting my opinions on Sybari's (Microsoft) Antigen for Exchange product.

-----------------------------------------
Hi,
We are planning to migrate from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2K3. And we want to EVAL Sybari Antigent for Exchange. Have you use this product? If so can you share your experience or comment?

TIA
-----------------------------------------

I have used Sybari's Antigen for Exchange for the past 5 years at a previous company. AND IT ROCKS!!! or the kids say (RAWKS!) You have the ability to run up to 9 scanning engines, CA/MacAfee/Norton/NAI/etc.. The base package gives you 4 engines (2 CAs) and you can purchase more at an additional cost. I had 6 engines and I can say that the company never had a virus infection due to an email. Now the end user's hotmail or Yahoo was a different story, but that was not part of my job. It is not the cheapest product out there, but it is an solid product. I also liked their Spam gateway with the real-time updating, but that is a different rant.

Bottom line, go for it.

Tip of the Month - Outlook's Auto Complete

For those who are using Outlook, ever wonder how it know what name I am typing? Outlook's auto complete feature attempts to be helpful by suggesting email names that are similar to what you're typing, by providing a list of possible names. A couple of keystrokes, an auto complete suggestion, and you don't have to type the entire email name every time. Seems both simple, and handy.

Unfortunately it's not quite simple, and it can be both convenient, and frustrating, because email names you expect to be present are not, and those that you never want to look at again keep popping up.

Disable E-Mail Address Auto complete
When you compose mail with Outlook 2003, whenever you start typing names in the To, CC, or Bcc fields, Outlook 2003 will try to automatically complete the name based off of names or e-mail addresses to whom you have previously sent e-mail. While some people like this feature in that it can theoretically save typing, others find it an annoyance. If desired, you can disable this auto complete feature:
1. Click "Tools", selecting "Options".
2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Preferences" tab.
3. Click "E-Mail Options".
4. When the "Advanced E-Mail Options" dialog appears, uncheck "Suggest names while completing To, CC, and Bcc fields".
5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.


Deleting an E-Mail Address
Deleting an address from the nickname list is also very easy: use the up or down arrow keys to highlight it, and then press delete.

Exchange Performance Tip - Increase Log Buffers for increased memory buffer

“The msExchESEParamLogBuffers storage group attribute governs the number of Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) log buffers that are used by the Exchange information store. ESE uses a set of log buffers to hold information in RAM before it writes to the transaction logs. Using these buffers improves transaction logging performance. For large servers, the default value of 84 is too low. This can cause excessive disk I/O operations to the transaction log drive and, therefore, significant performance degradation if the server is under load or if users are sending large messages. Increasing the number of ESE Log Buffers improves performance, although it also causes more virtual memory usage.” - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/guides/Ex2k3DepGuide/8081823f-aec6-4f5a-a043-b4b196b89b84.mspx?mfr=true


1. Start ADSI Edit
2. Double-click the configuration container, expand CN=Services, expand CN=Microsoft Exchange, and then expand CN=Exchange Organization Name
3. Expand CN=Administrative Groups, expand CN=Administrative Group Name, and then expand CN=Servers
4. Expand CN=Exchange Server Name, expand CN=Information Store, right click CN=Storage Group Name, and then click Properties.
5. In the Select a property to view box, click msExchESEParamLogBuffers
6. In the Edit Attribute box, type the appropriate value (based on your version of Exchange) for msExchESEParamLogBuffers, and then click Set.
7. For Servers that are running the original release version of Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2003 SP1 or SP2, set this value to 9000.
8. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Enjoy.

Exchange 2003 SP2 additional features

I have posted before how to increase your performance of your exchange server. However, if you are running Exchange 2003 SP2, you might want to check out these settings.

Registry settings

The database size limit registry keys are read when the database mounts (not when the service starts) and when each limit check task runs.

You must set registry parameters for each database on the server. The registry entries are located under each database entry in the local server registry. Accordingly, you must reset the registry keys manually if the server has to be rebuilt using the /disasterecovery setup switch.
The registry setting is created in the following registry location, the GUID in this key (Private-SID) is an example and should match the value of the objectGUID attribute on the database’s AD object:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\(ServerName)\Private-SID
Database Size Limit in GB
The Database Size Limit in GB setting is the configurable maximum size of a database not to exceed the maximum licensed size of your database. For Standard Edition, you can set the database size limit between 1 and 75 GB. By default, the limit is 18 GB. Follow the steps below to change the maximum size of the database:
1. Launch regedit by going Start > Run and entering regedit then hitting Enter.
2. Browse to the following folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\(ServerName)\Private-SID
3. Right click in the right hand pane and select New > DWORD Value.
4. Enter “Database Size Limit in GB” without the quotes for the name.
Note: The registry value mentioned is a decimal, not a hexadecimal.

Behavior When the Database Size Limit is Reached
The database size is calculated at 5:00 AM server time daily. This check is done against the physical database file size, if this file size is over 90% of the total database size limit, then the check will calculate free space in the file and subtracts that from the total file size.
When the database size is 90% of the Database size set in the registry key above, an error event (ID 9688) is logged in the Application event log.
With Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or later, the server performs the following tasks when the database size limit is reached:

* If the first check after a database mount finds the database size above the limit, the database will not be taken offline but an error event (ID 9689) will be logged in the Application event log.

* If it is the second check, an error event (ID 9689) will be logged in the Application event log and the database will be taken offline.

After the database has been remounted, the administrator has until the next database size check, 5:00 AM server time, to take corrective action.

Exchange Performance Tip - Increase of the "ESE Buffer"

Increase of the “ESE Buffer” the Database Cache for increased Exchange ESE performance:

The Store Database Cache is also known as the ESE buffer, and it provides a large caching area for database transactions before they are committed to the store. By default, Exchange Server 2003 queries the memory configuration of the local computer, and then allocates 898MB of Ram if the /3gb switch is set in the Boot.ini file or 576MB of Ram if the /3gb switch is not set.
Where a server is heavily loaded or where disk performance is not optimal, a large ESE buffer increases overall system performance. Depending on the configuration, you may have to increase or reduce the size of this buffer to obtain the best overall performance.

In a scenario where Exchange Server 2003 is used in an environment where it co-exists with other server-side programs, it may monopolize the available memory resources. The Dynamic Buffer Allocation (DBA) algorithm is responsible for returning memory to the operating system if other programs require it. However, you can manually limit the memory that Exchange Server 2003 uses by reducing the ESE buffer.

On servers that have more than 2gb of memory, it may help to increase the size of the ESE buffer.

1. Start ADSI
2. Under Configuration Container, where servername.example.com is the fully qualified domain name FQDN of the server, expand CD=Configuration, DC=Example, DC=Com
3. Expand CN=Services, expand CN=Microsoft Exchange, expand CN=Organization Name, expand CN=Administrative Groups, expand CN=First Administrative Group, expand CN=Servers, and then expand CN=server name.
4. Under CN=Server name, right-click CN=Information Store, and then click Properties.
5. In the Select which properties to view list, click Both.
6. In the Select a property to view list, click msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax
7. In the Edit Attribute box, enter the following value: 311296 (This value equates to 1.2gb for the ESE Buffer/Cache for use)
8. Click Set and then click okay
9. Quit the ADSI Editor.
10. Allow sufficient time for this value to be replicated throughout the AD forest.
11. Restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store Service on the Exchange Server.

My Revenge is Complete

I returned from the spirit realm, thanks to the help of a Dragon God who restored me back to life. Okay, get this, I have my team of about 6 people (7 including me), the emperor sends an entire army (including golems) to kill us. I mean come on… 10,000 vs. 7… Now, I do have to say that 4 of us are complete bad asses, but still... We managed to kill off about a hundred and then flee in our flying fighter. (yes, there are these flying ships complete with missiles and shields) I never said that this “game” is realistic, just lots of fun.

We manage to fight our way into the place, did I forget to mention that it is floating? Remember, the whole army is hell and gone trying to kick our ass in some temple in the mountains. There is my old master, the emperor, looking more powerful than ever. He offers me a place by his side, but I am bent on REVENGE! Being faster than him, I take advantage of my speed to doing a hit-hit-hit-jump away strategy. This works for a bit, until he gets tired of my insolence. Then he starts hitting me with these “special” powers. Well, I have powers too. I morph into a fire demon and pound his ass for a bit, until my chi runs out. Which it runs out really really quick. Switching to my sword, I finish him off.

I do have to admit that it took me about 8 attempts to get the combo right. And by the end, I was really hurt bad. One more hit and I was through.

Playing mostly good, I think that I will play the game again this time being a lot more Evil.

Still a great game.