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May 2008 - Posts
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This blog post is a MUST see for everyone!!! Sean is one crazy guy!!! to see Sean other videos check out YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/ye110wbeard or check out his blog/web site http://www.landofsilly.com I have to get him to come to MMS!!! :-)
Rodney and his Rockstars drinks.. I had one and that was enough for me! But Something tell me Sean & Rodney had about 5 each before their presentation!!!! 
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User Group Television (UGTV) is a monthly webcast dedicated to bringing informative programming to User Groups worldwide while providing Microsoft the ability to introduce up and coming informatino to user group communities as well as highlight our engagement with them.
Today's show includes an interview with Trisha Cardell, US Subsidiary Sr. Marketing Manager focused on ITPRO user groups, a demo on Operations Manager with Barry Shilmover, and an interview with John Martin from Server and Tools Online regarding advancements in the Community Platform.
UGTV is hosted by Michelle Fleming Toure and Alan le Marquand.
http://edge.technet.com/Media/UGTV-User-group-Television-for-ITPro-Debuts/ 
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Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007: Configuration 259 Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007: Configuration 339 Are you one of them? But I have never heard of this MS exam, have you? United States History Major 2 Source http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/certified.mspx 
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Last night I was check replying to a email from Reed before shutting down my PC for the night, when I caught a glimpse of a new blog posting from Trika, I took quick look at it. Trika Blog basically says that the 70-402 Exam aka cert name MCITP: Operations Manager (I never did like that name) has been put on hold for now. Well that is sort of good news as of Friday morning I had 11 exams on my list to complete ASAP, 70-089, 294, 298, 400, 402, 624, 640, 642, 643, 646, and 647, maybe replace 649 for 640,2,3. Anyways I passed 294 yesterday so now I at 10 exams on my list and with the announcement of 402 being put on hold that drop me down to 9 exams left! But Trika, didn’t stop with the announcement of 402, she also announce that 70-652 TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuration is going into beta any day and that a new exam 70-403 might be created for Virtual Machine Manager, so Now I’m back to 11 Exams on my list. I hope to try and book the beta exam for 70-652. So now I’m back where I started at 11 Exam on my list! Based on Reed’s advice I hope to be down to 10 very very soon. J One last thing she also announced was Live Meeting event on August 20th, (see below for detail) I will be there for sure. I kind of wish I was at TechEd to talk to her directly but Who haws time for it? System Center and Virtualization Certifications · August 20, 2008 at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?) · August 20, 2008 at 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?) Or come to my session with Jim at TechEd on Friday, the 13th** of June (LUN59). We'll be so reckless and devil-may-care--so transparent--you won't know what hit you. To see the full test from Trika Blog. http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/29/certification-s-building-7.aspx 
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With much relief I passed this exam today! My plan was to complete my MCSE by passing 70-298, however some contract work has come up and to make life easier I need to pass 70-624. So it look like will jump 624 ahead of 298 of now. I'm still on track to pass one exam each month! So far since December I have passed 70-401, 70-620, 70-622, 70-290, 70-291, 70-293 and 70-294 (today). If you have any tips for 624 let me know. :-) BDD and Office deployment here I come! 
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OWSUG is have 4 study group this summer, One for each of the books hand-out at the Energize IT Bootcamp event held on May 15th. Each exam averaged about 32 page a week or 5 pages a day, this might sound like a lot but it is not. We are trying to get an MCT or specialist to monitor each forum and to answer questions, so please post you questions to the forum on www.OWSUG.ca site. in the mean time we are looking for volunteers to: · Monitor the forum for their exam · To post Q&A about their exam on a weekly bases to a blog, We will create the blog for you. See examples: o Question http://smsug.ca/blogs/garth_jones/archive/2008/05/20/70-294-exam-week-1-q-amp-a.aspx o Answer http://smsug.ca/blogs/garth_jones/archive/2008/05/21/70-294-exam-week-1-q-amp-a-answer.aspx and No you don't have to be from Ottawa to monitor the forum or post Q&A We recommend that you subscribe to the appropriate Forums a RSS feed for this exam, Configuring Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure. RSS http://owsug.ca/search/Searchrss.aspx?o=DateDescending&tag=70-643&orTags=0 Forum http://owsug.ca/forums/46/ShowForum.aspx Forum RSS http://owsug.ca/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID=46&Mode=0 The exam review dates for 70-643 are: September 22, 2008 - Review Week 1 September 29, 2008 - Review Week 2
Schedule | Week | Date | Content | Pages | Weekly | | 1 | June 2, 2008 | 1.1: Deploying Windows in a Winodws Server 2008 Environment | 15 | 43 | | 1 | June 2, 2008 | 1.2: Congiguring Windows Deployment Services | 28 | | | 2 | June 9, 2008 | 1.3 Deploying Virtual Machines | 19 | 37 | | 2 | June 9, 2008 | 1.4 Implementing a Windows Activation Infrastructure | 18 | | | 3 | June 16, 2008 | 2.1 Configuring Server Storage | 30 | 30 | | 4 | June 23, 2008 | 2.2 Configuring Server Clusters | 18 | 41 | | 4 | June 23, 2008 | 3.1 Deploying a Terminal Server | 23 | | | 5 | June 30, 2008 | 3.2 Configuring Terminal Services | 27 | 27 | | 6 | July 7, 2008 | 4.1 Configuring and Manageing Terminal Services Clients | 23 | 23 | | 7 | July 14, 2008 | 4.2 Deploying Terminal Services Gateway | 15 | 37 | | 7 | July 14, 2008 | 4.3 Publishing Applications with TS RemoteApp | 22 | | | 8 | July 21, 2008 | 5.1 Installing the Web Server (IIS) Role | 29 | 29 | | 9 | July 28, 2008 | 5.2 Configuring Internet Information Services | 41 | 41 | | 10 | August 4, 2008 | 6.1 Understanding IIS 7 Security Accounts | 30 | 30 | | 11 | August 11, 2008 | 6.2 Controlling Access to Web Services | 38 | 38 | | 12 | August 18, 2008 | 7.1 Configuring FTP | 39 | 39 | | 13 | August 25, 2008 | 7.2 Configuring SMTP | 21 | 21 | | 14 | September 1, 2008 | 8.1 Configuring Windows Media Services | 50 | 50 | | 15 | September 8, 2008 | 9.1 Configuring and Manageing Windows Sharepoint Services | 50 | 50 | | 16 | September 22, 2008 | Review Week 1 | | | | 17 | September 29, 2008 | Review Week 2 | | | 
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OWSUG is have 4 study group this summer, One for each of the books hand-out at the Energize IT Bootcamp event held on May 15th. Each exam averaged about 32 page a week or 5 pages a day, this might sound like a lot but it is not. We are trying to get an MCT or specialist to monitor each forum and to answer questions, so please post you questions to the forum on www.OWSUG.ca site. in the mean time we are looking for volunteers to: · Monitor the forum for their exam · To post Q&A about their exam on a weekly bases to a blog, We will create the blog for you. See examples: o Question http://smsug.ca/blogs/garth_jones/archive/2008/05/20/70-294-exam-week-1-q-amp-a.aspx o Answer http://smsug.ca/blogs/garth_jones/archive/2008/05/21/70-294-exam-week-1-q-amp-a-answer.aspx and No you don't have to be from Ottawa to monitor the forum or post Q&A We recommend that you subscribe to the appropriate Forums a RSS feed for this exam, Configuring Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure. RSS http://owsug.ca/search/Searchrss.aspx?o=DateDescending&tag=70-642&orTags=0 Forum http://owsug.ca/forums/45/ShowForum.aspx Forum RSS http://owsug.ca/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID=45&Mode=0 The exam review dates for 70-642 are: October 6, 2008 - Review Week 1 October 15, 2008 - Review Week 2 Schedule | Week | Date | Content | Pages | Weekly | | 1 | June 2, 2008 | 1.1 Understanding and Configuring Netwrok Connections | 37 | 37 | | 2 | June 9, 2008 | 1.2 Understanding IP Version 4 (IP4) Addressing | 34 | 34 | | 3 | June 16, 2008 | 1.3 Understanding IP Version 6 (Ipv6) Addressing | 17 | 17 | | 4 | June 23, 2008 | 2.1 Understanding Name Resolution in Windows Server 2008 Networks | 32 | 32 | | 5 | June 30, 2008 | 2.2 Deploying a DNS Server | 22 | 40 | | 5 | June 30, 2008 | 2.3 onfiguring DNS Client Settings | 18 | | | 6 | July 7, 2008 | 3.1 Creating and Configuring Zones | 31 | 31 | | 7 | July 14, 2008 | 3.2 Configuration Zone Replication and Transfers | 23 | 23 | | 8 | July 21, 2008 | 4.1 Installing a DHCP Server | 20 | 38 | | 8 | July 21, 2008 | 4.2 Configuring a DHCP Server | 18 | | | 9 | July 28, 2008 | 5.1 Routing | 30 | 30 | | 10 | August 4, 2008 | 6.1 Confiruring IPSec | 34 | 34 | | 11 | August 11, 2008 | 7.1 Configuring Netwrk Address Translation | 14 | 38 | | 11 | August 11, 2008 | 7.2 Configuring Wireless Netwroks | 24 | | | 12 | August 18, 2008 | 7.3 Connecting to Remote Networks | 30 | 48 | | 12 | August 18, 2008 | 8.1 Configurating Windows Fierewall | 18 | | | 13 | August 25, 2008 | 8.2 Configurating Netwrk Access Protection | 44 | 44 | | 14 | September 1, 2008 | 9.1 Understanding Windows Server Update Services | 23 | 23 | | 15 | September 8, 2008 | 9.2 Using Windows Server Update Serves | 21 | 34 | | 15 | September 8, 2008 | 10.1 Monitoring Event Logs | 13 | | | 16 | September 15, 2008 | 10.2 Monitoring Preformance and Reliability | 12 | 41 | | 16 | September 15, 2008 | 10.3 Using Network Monitor | 15 | | | 16 | September 15, 2008 | 11.1 Managign File ecurity | 14 | | | 17 | September 22, 2008 | 11.2 Shared Folders | 21 | 40 | | 17 | September 22, 2008 | 11.3 Backing Up and Restoring Files | 19 | | | 18 | September 29, 2008 | 12.1 Managing Printers | 28 | 28 | | 19 | October 6, 2008 | Review Week 1 | 612 | | | 20 | October 15, 2008 | Review Week 2 | | | 
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OWSUG is have 4 study group this summer, One for each of the books hand-out at the Energize IT Bootcamp event held on May 15th. Each exam averaged about 32 page a week or 5 pages a day, this might sound like a lot but it is not. We are trying to get an MCT or specialist to monitor each forum and to answer questions, so please post you questions to the forum on www.OWSUG.ca site. in the mean time we are looking for volunteers to: - Monitor the forum for their exam
- To post Q&A about their exam on a weekly bases to a blog, We will create the blog for you. See examples:
and No you don't have to be from Ottawa to monitor the forum or post Q&A We recommend that you subscribe to the appropriate Forums a RSS feed for this exam, Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory. RSS http://owsug.ca/search/Searchrss.aspx?o=DateDescending&tag=70-640&orTags=0 Forum http://owsug.ca/forums/44/ShowForum.aspx Forum RSS http://owsug.ca/forums/rss.aspx?ForumID=44&Mode=0
The exam review dates for 70-640 are: October 20, 2008 - Review Week 1 October 27, 2008 - Review Week 2 Schedule | Week | Date | Content | Pages | Weekly | | 1 | June 2, 2008 | 1.1: Installing Active Directory Domain Services | 22 | 45 | | 1 | June 2, 2008 | 1.2: Active Directory Domain Services on Server Core | 10 | | | 1 | June 2, 2008 | 2.1 Working with Active Directory Snap-in | 13 | | | 2 | June 9, 2008 | 2.2 Creating Objects in Acti Directory | 23 | 39 | | 2 | June 9, 2008 | 2.3 Delegation and Security of active Directory Objects | 16 | | | 3 | June 16, 2008 | 3.1 Automating the Creation of User Accounts | 13 | 54 | | 3 | June 16, 2008 | 3.2 Creating User with Windows Powershell and VBscript | 16 | | | 3 | June 16, 2008 | 3.3 Supporting User Objects and Accounts | 25 | | | 4 | June 23, 2008 | 4.1 Creating and Managing Groups | 20 | 48 | | 4 | June 23, 2008 | 4.2 Automating the creation and Management of Groups | 10 | | | 4 | June 23, 2008 | 4.3 Administering Groups in an Enterprise | 18 | | | 5 | June 30, 2008 | 5.1 Creating Computer and Joining the Domain | 16 | 42 | | 5 | June 30, 2008 | 5.2 Automating the Creation of Computer Objects | 10 | | | 5 | June 30, 2008 | 5.3 Supportign Computer Object and Accounts | 16 | | | 6 | July 7, 2008 | 6.1 Implementing Group Policy | 16 | 38 | | 6 | July 7, 2008 | 6.2 Managing Group Policy Scope | 22 | | | 7 | July 14, 2008 | 6.3 Supporting Group Policy | 12 | 45 | | 7 | July 14, 2008 | 7.1 Delegrating teh Support of Computers | 11 | | | 7 | July 14, 2008 | 7.2 Managing Security Settings | 22 | | | 8 | July 21, 2008 | 7.3 Managing Software with Group Policy Software Installation | 13 | 33 | | 8 | July 21, 2008 | 7.4 Auditing | 20 | | | 9 | July 28, 2008 | 8.1 Configuring Password and ockout Policies | 13 | 38 | | 9 | July 28, 2008 | 8.2 Auditing Authentication | 6 | | | 9 | July 28, 2008 | 8.3 Configuring Read-Only Domain Controllers | 19 | | | 10 | August 4, 2008 | 9.0 DNS and IPv6 | 13 | 38 | | 10 | August 4, 2008 | 9.1 Understanding and Installing Domian Name System | 25 | | | 11 | August 11, 2008 | 9.2 Configuring and Using Domian Name System | 28 | 47 | | 11 | August 11, 2008 | 10.1 Installing Domian Controllers | 19 | | | 12 | August 18, 2008 | 10.2 Configuring Operation Masters | 16 | 44 | | 12 | August 18, 2008 | 10.3 Configuring DFS Replication of SYSVOL | 13 | | | 12 | August 18, 2008 | 11.1 Configuring Site and Subnets | 15 | | | 13 | August 25, 2008 | 11.2 Configuring the Global Catalog and Application Directory Partitions | 9 | 45 | | 13 | August 25, 2008 | 11.3 Configuring Replication | 24 | | | 13 | August 25, 2008 | 12.1 Understanding Domain and Forest Functional Levels | 12 | | | 14 | September 1, 2008 | 12.2 Managing Multiple Domain and Trust Relationships | 40 | 40 | | 15 | September 8, 2008 | 13.1 Proactive Directory Maintenance and Data store Protection | 53 | 53 | | 16 | September 15, 2008 | 13.2 Proactive Directory Preformance Management | 25 | 41 | | 16 | September 15, 2008 | 14.1 Understanding and Installing AD LDS | 16 | | | 17 | September 22, 2008 | 14.2 Configruing and Using AD LDS | 22 | 52 | | 17 | September 22, 2008 | 15.1 Understanding and Installing Active Directory Certificate Services | 30 | | | 18 | September 29, 2008 | 15.2 Configuring and Using Directory Certificate Services | 28 | 55 | | 18 | September 29, 2008 | 16.1 Understanding and Installing Active Directory Rights | 27 | | | 19 | October 6, 2008 | 16.2 Configuring and Using Directory Right Management Services | 16 | 45 | | 19 | October 6, 2008 | 17.1 Understadnign Active Directory Federation Services | 29 | | | 20 | October 13, 2008 | 17.2 Confiruation and Usering Activie Directoru Federation Services | 21 | 21 | | 21 | October 20, 2008 | Review Week 1 | 863 | | | 22 | October 27, 2008 | Review Week 2 | | | 
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The Microsoft Management Summit 2008 Highlights Session is your opportunity to learn more about the latest developments in the Microsoft System Center suite of solutions. At the recent Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas, technology partners and customers got the chance to learn about the many new features of the seven new System Center solutions released in the past year: - System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
- System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2
- System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1
- System Center Mobile Device Manager
- System Center Service Manager
- System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1
- System Center Essentials SP1
This is your opportunity to see the new products first-hand, meet with your colleagues, learn best practices, and get your questions answered from Microsoft experts. Many topics will focus on the tips, tricks and best practices developed during real world deployments of these new product versions. Sessions will show how the latest wave of management solutions support:
- integration with your business objectives;
- integration across your IT disciplines;
- integration between your management products and technologies; and
- integration across platforms and vendor boundaries.
Take this opportunity to see how the seven new releases in the System Center suite can help you optimize your system management processes. Agenda 8:30am to 11:30pm
System Center Desktop Management Solutions · System Center Configuration Manager SP1/R2 · Desktop Optimization · System Center Essentials SP1 12:30pm to 4:00pm System Center Data Center Management Solutions · System Center Operations Manager SP2 · System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 · System Center Data Protection Manager 4:00pm to 5:00pm Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Cocktail Reception We would like to offer attendees (customers and Microsoft technology partners) an opportunity to stay a little longer to learn about the latest systems management related product offerings from some of the key ISV technology partners. These ISV’s add significant value to the System Center family of products by extending their reach to non Microsoft-based environments, demonstrating capabilities for device management and also connecting System Center products to helpdesk and other operational tools. Date: June 13, 2008 8:30 AM - June 13, 2008 5:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Location :
Microsoft
MPR / Please use Events Entrance
1950 Meadowvale Boulevard
Mississauga Ontario L5N 8L9
Canada RSVP: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032378006&culture=en-CA 
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humm, I guess there is some evidences that I did a podcast at EnergizeIT event! I was hoping it got lost some where, who would want to hear about how ConfigMgr / SMS and OpsMgr / MOM could be use to help save money and make a company more "GREEN" :-) You will have to watch Ruth's blog for details as to when it will come out! 
Ruth's post to two main blogs http://blogs.technet.com/CdnITManagers/ and http://blogs.technet.com/canitpro/ 
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This blog post is a sample of what could be done to help study groups by posting an exam question and answers. The blog post is sponsored by CTE Solutions 
Which of the following operation master roles are forest only roles? a) Domain naming master b) Infrastructure master c) PDC emulator d) RID master e) Schema master Answer: A and E, these roles must be unique in the forest. Domain naming master controls the addition or removal of domain from the forest. Schema master controls changes to the schema. All other roles are domain roles. 
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This blog post is a sample of what could be done to help study groups by posting an exam question and answers. The blog post is sponsored by CTE Solutions Which of the following operation master roles are forest only roles? a) Domain naming master b) Infrastructure master c) PDC emulator d) RID master e) Schema master The answer will be posted tomorrow. 
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As a new MCT, I have been following discussion within the newsgroup (Yes, Ron Newsgroups!!! Not forums or RSS but Newsgroups!! :-) ) over the OpsMgr MOC. So this long weekend stated to talking with Brad Bird, Pete Zedger and Rory McCaw via email, I asked them about the MOC course for OpsMgr and how useful it was and did any of them have the errata for this course. They tell me it is broken which is consistent with what is being posted within the newsgroups. Anyway, they told me about the OpsMgr Bootcamps that is coming up in Toronto in June 17-20. OpsMgr Installation and Configuration (2 Days) Operations Manager 2007 Fundamentals (2 Days) What I'm really looking for study material for the 70-400 exam not really a course or Bootcamp, but who knows... if you want more information about the Bootcamp, see http://www.systemcenterforum.org/training/ Schedule | June 10-13, 2008 | New York, NY | June 17-20, 2008 | Toronto, ON | | August 12-15, 2008 | Houston, TX | September 16-19, 2008 | Calgary, AB | | October 14-17, 2008 | Atlanta, GA | November 25-28, 2008 | Toronto, ON | | December 9-12, 2008 | Iselin, NJ | | Tell them that you saw it on Garth's blog and that you are a member of the SMSUG.ca site, maybe you can get a discount. :-) Don't count on it but it is worth a shot. 
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At the Energize IT certification bootcamp there was a suggestion that in November that we have a book swap! I like this idea, everyone who has passed one of the exam bring their book to an event where they can swap with someone else to get a book they they can use to pass the next exam. Maybe we can do that at the party, the party was also suggested for the first week in November for all Study groups. Let Brad, Todd, David or myself know what you think of this idea! 
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I was talking to Kim on Thursday and he told me that CTE Solutions sold out of the first and second classes of this course! So they had added a 3rd on. Overview: This Official Microsoft 3-day instructor-led course provides students with an understanding of migrating and deploying Windows Server 2008, including installation, configuration, and upgrading. Special emphasis is given to upgrading common server configurations and using the Windows Server Deployment Solution Accelerator
For more detail check out their site! http://www.ctesolutions.com/promos/Course-6418-Deploying-Windows-Server-2008-Training-Ottawa.htm BTW Tell them you found out about it from the Ottawa Windows Server User Group. 
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Here is the last one that will interest some of you! Yes, I know that I am not long a developer any more but I had the pleasure of sit down with Susan, Kim and Mia from CTE Solutions at their Christmas party last year. All of CTE Solutions staff have been EXTERMLY good to the user groups and study groups within Ottawa! Without their help I’m not sure if all of the user groups would have grown to their size they are now! I can’t say enough about CTE Solutions and how them have help us. I hardy have the words on how much it means to study group particularly the study group executive committee Brad, Todd, David and myself for OWSUG, for CTE Solutions donating their classrooms for our study groups and their trainer time to helping out with all of the exam reviews for all of our study groups. I hope to see them all that the end of season party for both the 70-431 and 70-622 study group party or at the close out party for all three major UG within Ottawa at the end of June! (BTW Rumour has it we are giving away an XBOX 360 too at that party! so watch for details coming soon) Susan Ibach will be presenting the 536 exam in the June cram session. I've had the pleasure of working with this lady at TechReady and TechEd a few times now, she's tops. Susan Ibach has been teaching application developers for eight years. Before becoming a technical trainer she worked in a variety of development roles including programming, testing, configuration management and database administration. Here's a bit more about her. Cram for Exam 70-536:.NET Framework, Application Development Foundation on June 11, 2008 at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?) http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/17/cram-sessions-next-week.aspx 
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Here is another one that Trika's team is putting one! Cram for Exam 70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring For 70-640, your trainer will be Gordon Ryan of Longneck Consulting. When he's not at home in Australia, he's attending TechEds and other events around the world; you've probably run in to him. I just saw him last month; he came to meet me for lunch (at a bowling alley's going-out-of-business auction I'd blown off work* to attend so I could buy this ridiculous 1960s peacock blue bowling bench, the purchase of which I mildly regret now). He knows a lot of stuff. Read his spaces blog to figure out exactly what stuff he knows. Cram for Exam 70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring on May 21, 2008 at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?) http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/17/cram-sessions-next-week.aspx
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Tirka, posted a note about a cram session that her team is putting on for 70-620: Windows Vista, Configuring. Let full this session so that her team will put on more of these and help out everyone in the process! Details below. http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/17/cram-sessions-next-week.aspx Zach Niemann will be hosting the 70-620 cram. he is very funny, I got to hang out with him a little at TechEd last year. He led the 620 session I attended at the event and it was really helpful. Zach has helped students from all walks of life from career changers to 20-year Unix admins. He has a proven ability to help any student learn tough concepts. Previous clients include: Microsoft, HP, Federal Reserve Bank of NY, US Army, Goldman Sachs. Zach ... is the lead MCT Ambassador for the Cram 4 Exams area of <TechEd 2008>. Zach holds the following certifications: MCT, MCTS:Vista, MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, MCSE (NT4, 2000, 2003); MCSE+S (2000, 2003); MCSA+S (2000, 2003), CEH, CEI, JNCI, JNCIS-FWV, Security +, A+, Network +, and i-Net+. Cram for Exam 70-620: Windows Vista, Configuring on May 20, 2008 at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?) 
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Last night we has our Energize IT Certification Bootcamp event. We have over 75 people show up! It was a tremendous success. Notice how full the room is! 
Kirk talking about powershell. 
Kai Axford was the other presenter and after hearing from Graham Jones from www.wantug.com all the accolades about Kai, I know what him mean! If you have an change to see Kai, do so, it is well worth your time. 
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Each Monday I go out for dinner before the study group session to the Foolish Chicken. I have come to know the owners and staff well. Anyway on the weekend they got reviewed by the local paper (see below). I'm told that the reviewer is extremely hard on most restaurants and that this review is exceedingly good for her! Anyway, if you are in Ottawa and want Chicken and Ribs, stop by the Foolish Chicken. 
From http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/columnists/story.html?id=0570a293-4300-4920-81fb-80647bdf2eab Anne Desbrisay, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Sunday, May 11, 2008 The Foolish Chicken 79 Holland Avenue, 613-321-4715 www.foolishchicken.ca Access: steps to restaurant and to washrooms Price: starters, $5 to $9.50; sandwiches, $10; main dishes, $10 to $20 Open: Monday to Friday for lunch; dinner, daily A kid of mine travels along this particular stretch of Holland Avenue weekly. He reports that the smells drifting out from the brown, brick restaurant with the funky chicken sign are so amazing, he nearly dies. Every time I mention a restaurant I'm reviewing, he has a tiresome refrain: When are you doing the chicken one and can I come? So we did the chicken one -- not planning to review it, so much as to shut him up. We went with the family for dinner and were impressed with the husband-and-wife team that runs the place, the staff that make you feel welcome, and with much of the food. Returned with a friend for lunch. And a third time because the sidewalk chalkboard advertised homemade pecan pie fresh from the oven and I'm an easy target for pecan pie. This is chicken that makes you want to have a succulent, messy picnic feast with it. But until it's truly picnic weather, the feasting can happen pretty comfortably inside too -- over two floors of comfortable, colourful surroundings, with eye-popping art by local artist Alison Fowler prettying the walls, and an appealingly easy-going atmosphere permeating the place. If you stick with its strengths -- rotisserie chicken, gooey-chewy-tender ribs, and great desserts -- the Foolish Chicken restaurant makes good sense for affordable family dining. This is wet barbecue fare, the chicken rubbed and roasted, the ribs nicely spiced, basted with a thick, sweet-spicy sauce that doles out enough tang to balance the sugar, with a light smokey perfume on the finish. I've had them cooked just right -- the ribs crusty and chewy, the meat soft and lightly clinging to the bone, the rotisserie chicken crisp-skinned and juicy fleshed. With the bird and the pig, you get a choice of potato -- sweet potato fries, freshly cut potato wedges, "twice baked" potato (scooped out, mashed, stuffed, covered with a boring mild cheese, baked again) a blob of coleslaw and a small cornmeal muffin. They've been sometimes dry, sometimes burnt crisp, sometimes bang on (which is why we go three times). They make a pretty good Caesar salad. The bacon is real, and nicely crisp, the parmesan is freshly grated, the greens are bouncy and tossed with a well-lemoned and -anchovied dressing. As far as mayonnaise-based Caesars go, it's a pretty good one. The chicken they use on the spinach salad is rubbery (oddly, not the yummy rotisserie birds I had assumed they surely use) and though the spinach is fresh and the candied nuts are nice, the citrus dressing is acrid and artificial tasting. The pulled pork is a generous sandwich, though it's not the highlight of this place and it would be greatly improved by a less-dull bun. The menu lists a few sandwiches (we like the boneless rib wrap, we're ho-hum on the veggie foccacia) and a cheese burger (apparently homemade, but the patty is juiceless, cooked to dry.) But don't be foolish, now. Stick with the chicken and ribs. And whatever you do, don't neglect dessert. Few joints like this have desserts that warrant saving room for, but with its homemade sweet endings, The Foolish Chicken exceeds expectations. A gooey, dark and cakey brownie comes with ice cream. A lime, coconut cheesecake is excellent. Best of all so far has to be the spice cake served with warm rum sauce. We are told it is a recipe from grandma. No fool she. 
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This is unfinished Blog post from my time in the UK!!! For whatever reason, I never post this blog! Ok, I have to say that most of my time in the UK has been great but today (Sunday) I has the most interesting experience with respect to customer service! The hotel that I'm staying at does not provide free Internet access! you have to purchase access from BT Openzone Wireless access. In this day and age, I don't know why hotels that cater to business travelers don't include free Internet access, but that is another issue. So this morning I woke up and turn on my laptop to check email. Since I'm meeting up with Cliff today I thought that I would give him some details as to where I am and may try to skype him. Anyway's I has some problems with the Internet access and didn't think much of it, I decided to go for breakfast and reboot my PC at the same time. When I came back to my room I logon back into my PC and I still couldn't get access to the Internet. I finally decided to call the support number. Well after ~ 15-20 minutes someone finally answered the phone. During my call with them they told me that they are doing maintenance worldwide! I objected and told them I was paying allot of money to use their service and asked why wasn't this maintenance done at 2 am when it would affect the least amount of client? Needlessly to say the call centre person could not answer that but assured me that it would be up in a few hours. Few I said a few hours! He said a few hours. I told him to pass along a message to his manager, that this was unacceptable and that I would complain to the manager of the hotel that I was stay at too. he did seem to care, all he wanted was for me to get off the phone with him. So I walked down to the front desk and ran into the Day shift manager. I told her about the Internet issue and how I was surprised that the Thistle hotel chain did not have free Internet access in all rooms. She was very nice but told me NOT to expect BTOpenZone wireless access to work at all today, she said this occurs on a regularly bases. I paid £27 or $54 for just "5-days service" which according to BTOpenZone is 30 hours of service! or ~£1/hour or $2/hour! This is more than my monthly Internet access bill at home! At this cost I expect to get a good level of service 24 hours a day and great service from 6am until midnight daily. I understand the maintenance needs to be done but this should be done at 2am or so and even then it should have minimal disruptions. Slower access to the Internet and maybe some locations down but not the whole system! I was not even offer a discount or increase in server or anything, just it will be back later and try again. Now if the hotel had provide the Internet access and they perform the maintenance on Sunday morning, how can you really complain about the service if it is not costing you anything extra at the seriously overinflated rates! So does this make me want to use BTOpenZone. Nope it does not! Does this make me want to use Thistle hotel's again, nope it does not. Next time, I will do the booking of flights and hotels. This way I'm the only one to blame for this, if anyone else does book a hotel for me here are my rules for picking a hotels are: - How many stars does it have?
- What is the closest hotel to where I need to be?
- Is Internet access included?
- what is there to do near the hotel?
- what other things does the hotel have: Pool, restaurant, parking, etc.?
- do I belong to the loyalty program? ( I dislike loyalty programs as I would prefer a good rate, clean hotel, nice rooms, etc. then points)
Well it is just before 3 pm and the Internet is still down, that makes it 5 hours now... so say away from BTOpenzone it is not worth it. The Garden Hotel in Manchester is looking better and better all the time, it is an older hotel that could used to be renovated but it was clean, had Internet access, lots of HOT water, walking distance to where I needed to be, walking distance from the train station, friendly staff, it could use more TV stations but so far all of the UK hotels have only had 4-6 stations. BTW The Internet access finally came back at 7p.m. that night! 
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I found this post card in a restaurant called the Fab Cafe in Manchester, I had a good laugh at it. 
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This bad joke was passed on to me by someone who has all his "newbie" read these sentences fast, he does this about 4 weeks after they start. I am we Todd it. I am sofa king we Todd it. 
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A question came up on the myITForum mailing list about starting a User group. I have posted my my reply only so that it does not get lost and when I have time I will expand on each major point as to some of the benefits and downside to each. If you have any questions, I encourage you to send me an email or to post a message on myITforum mailing list, OWSUG.ca site or SMSug.ca site. Keep in mind this was written for System Center crowd but most, if not all applies to other products such as: SBS, Exchange, SCE :-) , SQL, etc... Don’t forget there are a few UG / SIG leaders on the list have can give you some insight on starting/running a UG /SIG. As a User Group leader, one thing that I will always suggest is to create a Special interest group under a bigger group, this has many advantages. First off it allows you to send about broadcast emails to their group list thereby allowing for a bigger audience right for the get go, plus it has a lot less work for the executive board. As for you first presentation. - Find a presenter o Local MVP o Regional MVPs o Local MS IT Evangelist o Local TAMs o Local Trainers o Vendors (but be careful as you don’t want a sale presentation) o MVPs o Product team - Pick a date o Midweek, I find work best (Tuesday – Thursday) - Pick a time o Daytime: remember that day time presentation may give you a bigger audience, plus some people will be able to convince their boss for time off for the event. Plus it can be easier to find a boardroom to use, like the local MS office. o Evening: you will get more Consultants and local presenters like this time because it does not interfere with their “day job” - Pick a venue: o Free parking & close to buses routes help drive attendance - Find a sponsor for food and door prizes o MS options § TAM § Product Team § Local IT Evangelist o CPLS’ (Training Centers) o Vendors § SCCM Expert § 1E § Etc. o Event Drop of rates § I go with a 35% drop of rate for most events § However some event like this one, I expect only at 10-20% drop of rate. - Get a web presents, this help for other to find your group (Ron tell me that he has something in the works that might be cool, so Bug him to give you a preview! J , Sorry Ron) o Make sure that Live and Google have searched your site - Use Clicktoattend.com for registration for the event. - Have business card printed with UG/SIG details, give these out to everyone. Give extras to Executive members to hand out Ongoing ideas: - Try for quarterly meetings - Make sure to announce your events to: o Myitforum o FAQShop.com o All the UG /SIG executive TAMs o To other UGs in the area. - Associate with other UGs o Locally (exchange, widows, Server, Storage, etc) o Asked to have you UG added to a list like this one http://owsug.ca/content/usergroups.aspx on every other group that you know of. This helps with Google/Live ranking - Blog you events - Get a Domain name! - Create an Executive committee - Setup roles for each executive o Maybe have business card printed for each executive o Give the executive an email address to use o President, VP, Marketing, Web master, etc. - Talk to local CPLS’ about your UG/SIG they can help direct new users to your UG - Talk to the local College, so that their students know about US/SIG - Consider NOT calling you group a User Group, use IT Professional group/association instead. 
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We have created study group forums for both of the available System Center exams. 70-400 System Center Operations Manager 2007, Configuring 70-401 System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuring 
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The Calgary Systems Management User Group (CSMUG) is an informal association of area professionals working in IT Infrastructure with a specialization in Application Management. We are dedicated to informing and educating members about advancements in systems management with a special emphasis on virtualization technologies. It is the mandate of this congregation to provide a mechanism for sharing common experiences to better understand these technologies and how they can help the organizations our members serve. Technology and knowledge transfer may include case studies/experiences, best practices, tools (Systems Management, Virtualization, 3rd party ESD solutions, etc.) and user created utilities.
Our goal is to bring together industry professionals and forge direct associations with major vendors like Microsoft, VMWare, Citrix, etc. to stimulate understanding of current and emerging technologies. With enough visibility and impact, we hope to become a focal point for vendors and industry professionals to develop knowledge and better the Systems and Application knowledgebase in Calgary.
If you are a member but don't have an account here yet, please register at CSMUG.CA. Your access will be updated as soon as we get a chance to do so.
If you are not a member but would like more information, please email info@csmug.ca . Thanks. 
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All of the Energize IT Certification Boot Camps are sold out except for:
May 22
Regina, SK
Register now
May 26
Victoria, BC
Register now
If you are in that neck of the woods sign up now! Why wouldn't you, you get a free exam book and exam voucher!
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I have just been informed that the EnergizeIT Certification Bootcamp within Ottawa is SOLD OUT! We have 120 people signed up already and 50 people on the wait list! I'm trying to setup an second presentation but it look like that will not happen. What does this mean to you! - If you have not signed up already, do so as this will help us gather support for a second bootcamp. sign up here
- Arrive early the event starts at 5:30 p.m. on May 15th, 2008.
- FILL OUT your evaluation form! This is the only way to get the certification book and voucher!
- Remember that OWSUG.ca will have study group for each exam!
If you are waited listed remember that the OWSUG.ca will have study groups for these exams. Watch the forums for more details: 70-299 Implementing and Administering Security in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network http://owsug.ca/forums/33/ShowForum.aspx 70-640 Configuring Windows Server® 2008 Active Directory http://owsug.ca/forums/44/ShowForum.aspx 70-642 Configuring Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure http://owsug.ca/forums/45/ShowForum.aspx 70-643 Configuring Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure http://owsug.ca/forums/46/ShowForum.aspx 
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Finally Zune's can be used within Canada!!!! I bought a Zune a while back only to find out that Zune.net blocked all Canadian connection to their site! Well I reviewed an email from Rod Trent today, letting me know that I can use my Zune. For those of you who care this is my Social site, I'm upgrading my Zune and the software now, the setup program does not like my ConfigMgr applying software updates to my PCs.. <Grr...> but I will work around that soon. :-) From: Rod Trent
Sent: May-06-08 1:17 PM
To: 'Garth Jones'
Subject: FW: Zune Canadian Release Date Officially Confirmed Garth… Feed: Bink.nu
Posted on: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:56 PM
Author: Sumeeth Evans
Subject: Zune Canadian Release Date Officially Confirmed | Any Canadian Zune fans out there? I've just received the press release confirming the Zune release in Canada. Starting today, the Zune software can be downloaded at www.Zune.ca. For the Zune...
Continue this aticle on Bink.nu |
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Todd is one of the key members of OWSUG.ca and he was asked by the RunAs Radio team to do a podcast on SteadyState. Todd Lamothe Resets Our Computer with Windows SteadyState! Richard and Greg talk to Greg Lamothe about Windows SteadyState. SteadyState allows administrators to configure PCs to roll back to a base configuration after every reboot. Combined with Group Policy for restricting access to resources you can create the perfect kiosk computer that cleans off all traces of the previous user, ready for the next. http://perseus.franklins.net/runasradio_0055_tod_lamothe.mp3
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This is a Collection of rumours and sound bytes, listed in no particular order. - ConfigMgr Rules
- One of the OpsMgr MVPs is a MAC user (I don't say this one! I know the person in question will seek revenge on the "original" quoter, I'm just stirring the pot. <Evil Grin> )
- Did you bring the boots?
- Do you want a puck!
- I want meat!
- That was the best meat meal I had at MMS!
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This was my first MMS conference. There is one word to describe it. WOW! If you only get the chance to attend one conference per year, in my opinion this is the show. First of all, it is in Las Vegas and this venue is suitable to the location. I attended Read More...
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