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There is now a spa for kids in Dayton, Ohio at the new The Greene shopping complex! My "pedicure expenditures" now just tripled between my wife and two daughters! This is my six year-old getting a pedicure today. It is called "Sweet and Sassy" and does cuts, nails, piercings and parties for the little diva in your life. The funny thing is my wife and I were just discussing why one of these didn't exist when she got back from her last spa visit and my daughter really, really wanted to go with her. I guess coming up with a new idea for a business is hard work! Paying for it, on the other hand, looks pretty relaxing.
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I have been tagged as part of the "Five Things You Don't Know About Me" meme making its rounds in the blogosphere. You get "tagged" and then you tell five things about yourself others may not know. Once you are finished you "tag" five other bloggers and on it goes. My friend Kevin has tagged me so here goes:
- Like Kevin, computing was not my first career choice. I was a talented artist as a youth and not knowing much about how to make a living as an artist I decided I would become an Architect. Like most right-brain dominated creative's, I am sorely lacking in left-brain functions; specifically, mathematics. Once I discovered that Architecture was more than drawing pretty pictures of buildings and required serious amounts of math I moved on. I then moved on to Civil Engineering out of pure ignorance for the field of study. I thought I could draw more pretty pictures of buildings and structures. Let's just say the mathematical requirements are even steeper than that of Architect. And I didn't want to design sewers or highways in the end. I then stumbled across Graphic Designer and Illustrator. This is much more what I had in mind! I then proceeded to get my BFA in Visual Communication Design (illustration concentration - I like to draw pictures more than arrange typefaces in a pleasing way) from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. I transitioned in to the world of IT during my first job out of college creating art on a Mac. Desktop Publishing was just taking off and I spent many hours a day in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and what was then Aldus PageMaker. However, I found a had the ability to intuitively fix everyone's problems when their Macs went bad. I was soon elevated from digital artist to desktop technology support! From there my positions increased in skill and scope involving primarily Microsoft technologies. An IT computer geek was born! Like Kevin also alluded to, making a living in IT is much sweeter as opposed to making a living in the arts in the Midwest. My family has food and a roof over their heads!
- I also have a highly musical side. No I am not a singer - although I could be if God had given me a voice (I personally call this a cruel joke as I love to sing but cannot carry a note - I think - my wife could be lying). I play the drums. I started in college (Mom would never let me have drums) and played for about ten years. I was in a couple of bands that have never had a claim to fame.
- I like to drive fast and I hate to wear a seatbelt. Don't ask me why. My wife has been working me over since we met and I am now up to wearing a seatbelt about 50% of the time. I cannot figure out why I don't always strap the thing on - I just don't. I did have to finally make a conscience effort to curb my leadfoot as the points on my license were getting close to impacting my ability to drive to work! My new car is a Pontiac Vibe. By the time it gets up to 90 MPH I forgot why I wanted to drive fast in the first place!
- I have had the good fortune to travel to many interesting places around the world as part of my many jobs in IT. I love to travel and this gives me the opportunity to see new places and meet new people that I wouldn't normally get the chance to meet. I have been to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Melbourne and Hong Kong. In a few short weeks I will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the first time.
- I have the most amazing family that puts up with all the crap that having me for a father and husband entails. I have the most wonderful wife a man could ask for (even though she doesn't read my blog) and four amazing and gifted children: Gabriel (11), Trevor (8), Jessica (6) and Victoria (3). They keep me on my toes, keep me young and keep me amazed. They also give me the opportunity to occasionally act like a kid myself!
And now the hardest part of this whole exercise is trying to figure out who to tag next! I tag Long Zheng, Betsy, Brian, Paul and Jeff.
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There is now an official Microsoft KB article that details the steps for installing the Windows Server 2003 Admin Pak (adminpak.msi) on Windows Vista.
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A week out of the blogosphere feels good - and a refreshing way to recharge the batteries! Of course, now I have to wade through 700+ news items. I have not removed my laptop from its bag since December 22nd. It was hard at times, but I made it.
I noticed a lot of people are getting their blogs in a knot over Microsoft giving out some review laptops loaded with Windows Vista Ultimate to select bloggers. I wasnt selected so it is hard for me to be anything but envious. On the other hand, I find it hard to critisize the fruits of others hard labor. Will their view be influenced or slanted? Only time will tell. It would be extremely short sighted of them to compromise their blog's integrity for a laptop. In the long run reader's are savvy enough to tell posturing from the truth and then they will have no traffic or credability. Will they fabricate good reviews or old back on criticism? Again, I think no, they wont. I dont think (hope) they would trade a few not-from-the-heart blog posts for the next gift review unit to come down the river.
The week between now and January 8th when my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes will dismantle the University of Florida Gators seems like an eternity. Why the extra week? Why? You are only allowing more time for a student-athelete to do something stupid ill-advised and get themselves disqualified from the big game.
PS Notre Dame will continue its streak of losing in bowl games.
I have about five extra pounds to shed thanks to the holidays. My committment is to lose 45 lbs. by my birthday in June. I swear it! :) I have had success in the past, but I have also had success in putting it all back on. I have to be strong of mind and body to make this work.
And now Back to Exchange! Exchange 2007 is now available for download on MSDN and TechNet Plus Direct.
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Even though the support wizards at Zune told me it wasn't compatible, I had a hunch it had more to do with me trying to install the previous version of ZuneSetup (the one that wasn't Windows Vista compatible) than the version of Vista I was using. Sure enough, in the comments and through my own confirmation I found this to be false. I re-imaged my laptop with a fresh install of Windows Vista Enterprise and ZuneSetup 1.2.5511.0 installed like a champ. My only complaint now is that I cannot authenticate my DRM from behind my company's firewall. I'll need to get all my song's authorized at home first.
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As I posted yesterday, Zune finally released its Windows Vista compatible client. I had called Zune support two times previously and had gotten credible support. However, this was terrible. After gleefully downloading the new update, I would launch ZuneSetup and then I would be told "No Zune Software Updates Available." I rebooted, tried it a couple of times again, always getting the same result. I am running Windows Vista RTM Enterprise edition. After totally stumping the level one technician who offered advice like "lower all of your IE security zone settings to the lowest option and turn off your anti-virus and pop-up blockers" I was escalated to level two. This gentleman had even less advice to offer. Is it the right version? Yes, 1.2.5511.0. Did you download it from www.Zune.net? Yes. "Let me check some things; can I put you on hold?" Please. He comes back on the line and asks me what version of Vista I am using. RTM Enterprise. "That's your problem. This update doesn't support Enterprise Edition. That update comes out in January." Excuse me? "This update only supports the Home edition." Say what? Let me get this straight: the most downloaded and used versions right now (Business, Enterprise and Ultimate) are not supported, but the Home edition, which wont go in to wide distribution until January 30th, works now with this update? "That is what I was told." Ugh. Shoot me now. If anyone has installed the new version on the Enterprise Edition of RTM Vista, please let me know.
This guy didn't fare much better!
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I love reading TechNet Magazine. They always have a host of timely and well-written articles in every issue. And as much as I try to go "paperless" having a printed magazine comes in handy when in an airport or when I have to spend extended amounts of time in "my office." On occasion they will have some bonus posters or materials included in each issue. My all time favorite is now available from Microsoft Downloads as a .pdf file. It loses some of its impact and grandeur not being in poster form, but IMO it is a goodie nonetheless.
TechNet Magazine Active Directory Component Jigsaw Poster
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The Zune team has finally released a version of the software and marketplace that is officially compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista. I have not installed it yet so I cannot vouch for the performance but I will have it in place tonight and will let you know if any glitches turn up. Read more about it at the Zune blog here.
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I blogged a long time ago about VMWare's ability to convert a Microsoft vitual machine to VMware's virtual machine format. Finally, Microsoft has come out with a converter to do the same! Read on here.
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Something weird is going on over at Flickr. Could just be a blip, perhaps something has crashed? All the photos in my blog linked to my Flickr account cannot be viewed and when I sign in I get the resulting screenshot . . . odd.
Technorati tags:
Flickr,
Flickr Outage
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Now that you will soon be able to download that shiny new copy of Exchange 2007, you should begin in earnest designing the environment in which you want it to operate (and you know that means someone up the food chain will want a pretty picture of said design). So, without further ado, here are the Exchange 2007 Visio stencils. Just in the nick of time! I am a little disappointed that they arent done in the "new" style Microsoft has been using for all of its Visio icons, but rather the "old" flat Visio 2000 style. Nothing like this to make the new technology look old!
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From the Exchange Team blog "You Had Me at EHLO" (which IMO is one of the best blog titles ever): Exchange 2007 is RTM.
Documentation
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From on10.net comes a link to some great XBox 360 themed wallpapers for your Zune. Now, if only I could sync my damn Zune with Windows Vista. Rumor has it that internally all the Microsofties have the patch that makes the Zune software Vista compliant, but the rest of us have to wait until, oh yeah, consumer availability of Windows Vista in anothe4 45 days. Come on, wrap it in the "beta" verbiage like everything else and let us download it already!! Zune wallpapers courtesy of 360style.net; a sweet XBox lifestyle site.
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I was hoping this would come sooner than later! Microsoft has started to release gadgets for the Windows Vista sidebar! I am happy about this for three reasons:
- They work well
- They interoperate well and
- They look good!
Outlook was also a logical choice for some of the first gadgets. PIM information naturally lends itself to a "dashboard" interface for easy reference.
Calendar info
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