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This post was prompted by a couple of off-line inquiries into my experience with a recent VIPRE Enterprise deployment. I should point out that this is NOT my first deployment of anti-virus software . I've rolled out McAfee , Trend, and Symantec server/client solutions. I was probably found because of my activity on Twitter , since I was whining about it one day... In any case, here's my story. My client, a 3 shift manufacturing bakery with 90 clients and 5 servers, was looking to me and another consultant for suggestions for a replacement to Trend CSM, since it was expiring. It was suggested that we try VIPRE. I hadn't used it, did a bit of research, and eventually agreed to that it would be a good fit. It was easy to roll out, and even easier to manage. One issue I immediately called SunBelt about was the Admin UI, and it's inability to list the known vulnerability list without bogging down, and eventually bringing the server to it's knees. NOT a good th...

Customer service these days seems to be lacking, when they should be excelling. I was talking about this topic with a co-worker yesterday over lunch. We both agreed that providers of goods and services need to be even more attentive to their customer base these days, especially in light of the fact that the economy is in such a mess. Image via Wikipedia My wife had received a call from our local Time Warner sales staff, suggesting we could save money by purchasing their bundled voice/data/cable package. We looked at the numbers and decided we could. At that time we used Dish Network for TV , Vonage for voice, and Time Warner/ Earthlink for data. It seemed like a no-brainer to her. She pays the bills, and it makes her life easier to pay fewer, especially when a 3 year old is demanding your undevided attention, or the laundry needs to get done, or the house needs to be cleaned, etc, etc, etc. ...

NOTE: After a cursory view of the Symantec forums, it's come to my attention that it is NOT best practice to use Rapid Release, unless directed by Symantec or if you have this worm. I would compare this closely to M$ release of patches that are special in nature, and would normally only release these if the system exhibited specific symptoms related to said patch. In other words, use at your own risk. Image via CrunchBase Downloading and Installing RapidRelease Definitions: Open your Web browser . If you are using a dial-up connection, connect to any Web site, such as: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/ Copy and paste the address ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/antivirus_definitions/norton_antivirus/rapidrelease/sequence/ into the address bar of your Web browser and then press Enter.(this could take a minute or so if you have a slow connection) Now select 92114 folder or a higher. Open the folder. Select the file symrapidreleasedefsx86.exe When a down...

I like scripting . It helps me manage my client PC 's, perform redundant tasks, push out software updates, among other things. Most of the users on my network do not have privileges to install software, so this affects how some of my scripts function . I discovered that setting GPO to install applications with elevated privileges doesn't mean that the logon scripts also get processed the same way. This annoyed me, and I quickly found a solution. Introduce CPAU, from http://www.joeware.net/ . A neat little utility that takes the place of RUNAS, and very easy to use. I use it to launch my domain logon script, as it copies a HOST file , and other batch files run locally by the scheduler service, which are not allowed write by ordinary users. The following line encodes a file that will run logon.cmd using the credentials provided it. \\mydc\netlogon\cpau.exe -u mydomain\UserWithPermissions -p UserWithPermissionsPassword -ex \\mydc\netlogon\logon.cmd -file \\mydc\netlogon...

A co-worker of mine sent this thread of email, telling me about a prank one brother was pulling on the other. From what I could understand, between the tears of laughter, was that "Dan Smith" was having some issues using a Hickory Farms gift card, given him by his Grandma-ma. He must have contacted Hickory Farms, and was told they would get back to him. His brother learned of this, and decided to send him an email from hickory.farms@yahoo.com ,explaining why he wasn't going to get a refund. What ensues is hilarity... Names and email addresses have been changed to protect my butt. Oh, read from the bottom up. I'm lazy, and I'm not sorting it for you... -- On Tue, 1/27/09, Dan Smith <dansmith24@gmail.com> wrote: From: Dan Smith <dansmith24@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Refund To: Nicholas.J.Jones@corporateamerica.com Cc: Bryan.J.Eberhart@corporateamerica.com, smith0105@yahoo.com Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 3:48 PM Jus...

I love Indian food . My wife does too, I think because she knows it's time for me to have a beer, glass of 12 yo scotch or whatever happens to be in our liquor department that night, and get my "creative juices" going. Tonight, I really made something quite tasty. Chicken in coconut milk , and Potlakaya (snake gourd) w/ chick-peas . I saw a recipe for Potlakaya Perugu Pachadi, and it looked pretty good, so I modified it to include chick-peas, and changed some of the ingredients. Chicken in Coconut Milk Image via Wikipedia Couple of skinless breasts 1 TBSP Ghee, or butter, or Olive Oil. Your heart, your choice. Medium onion 1 clove garlic 1 TBSP sugar 1 TBSP vinegar 1 Tsp salt 2 TBSP Garam Masala or your favorite curry 1 can Coconut milk 1 Yam or Sweet Potato 1 bell pepper, your color choosing Chop onion and garlic. Sweat over medium heat in Ghee, or butter, or olive oil . Your choice, your heart. Add sugar, salt, vinegar and curry. Let it bloom for about 1 min...

My wife and I recently purchased a Panasonic SDR-H40 for capturing video of our son and daughter, after our Canon MiniDV crapped out last year. It was disappointing when the Canon failed again...TWO times this thing decides to get tape debris caught in the heads. This was the most delicate camera ever owned, and captured excellent quality footage, but I will NEVER buy another tape-based machine. The Panasonic falls short in the quality department as compared to the Canon, and we knew that going in. The maximum video quality is 10mbps, which seems to be pretty good quality on a laptop. I haven't tried it on a analog TV yet. Image via CrunchBase I needed to post these clips on YouTube for family and friends located in various parts of the planet, and rapidly discovered that the MOD files stored on the SDR-H40 can be accessed easily as plugging in the USB card, and waiting for udev to automatically mount it on my shiny new installation of Ubuntu. I discovered that t...