It doesn't get any busier, just more new stuff doesn't get done.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 8,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 13 years to get that many views.
All my main development machines are now running Visual Studio 2012. I have a few new projects in VS2012 and have begun updating my old projects to it as well. I ran into an annoying issue today that I need to post.
My Blog by Email site was built using VS2010 and ASP.NET MVC 3. My new machine, which I am working on right now, is running Windows 8 and VS2012. Recently a new user started using the site and discovered a few bugs I needed to get fixed. I cloned the repo from Bitbucket and opened the solution in VS2012.
My first tip-off that there was an issue is when the Migration Report displayed 7 errors all on the _bin_deployableAssemblies\ folder.
BlogByEmail\_bin_deployableAssemblies\Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.dll: Failed to backup file as C:\vsp2k12\BlogByEmail\Backup\BlogByEmail\_bin_deployableAssemblies\Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.dll BlogByEmail\_bin_deployableAssemblies\System.Web.WebPages.Razor.dll: Failed to backup file as C:\vsp2k12\BlogByEmail\Backup\BlogByEmail\_bin_deployableAssemblies\System.Web.WebPages.Razor.dll (... Plus 5 more files)
My second is when I went to run the project and the build failed for the same 7 files.
If you recall the _bin_deployeableAssemblies folder is used to aid in bin deploying MVC 3 applications to [shared] hosts which don’t have ASP.NET MVC 3 loaded. You can read more about it here [@haacked.com].
It turns out this isn’t required in VS2012 as I found here :
Starting with MVC 3 Tools Update we are now using Nuget package references, which means that your project is automatically bin-deployable. Since the tooling gesture is no longer necessary it was removed from VS 11.
The fix here is really simple. Remove the files and _bin_deployableAssemblies folder from your project. Everything should compile just fine.
Now the one part I have not figured out is where or how we get the files that used to be in _bin_deployableAssemblies. I don’t see them in the bin folder as I assumed they would be. I will need to do some test deployments at my host, Arvixe (I think they didn’t have MVC 3 loaded). Add a comment below if you h ave some knowledge around this.
After spending my Saturday getting my new Windows Home Server 2011 server setup just right (I am plowing and installing over WHS v1) I came to the realization that the workgroup is stuck at WORKGROUP. Stuck you ask? Yes, stuck. Since WHS2011 is using certificate services you can’t change the workgroup name through computer properties. Plus for some reason the setup wizards never asked.
I did come across a post that said you can press <alt>+<f10> at the computer name screen and set it, but I was way to far into my fourth load to start over again now (Yes I would have if I didn’t find this great little video). Using PowerShell type in the following two lines of script. Your workgroup name will be updated. Remember no spaces etc.
$sysinfo = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem
$sysinfo.JoinDomainOrWorkgroup("workgroupname")
Of course now that I am done, this shows up in search from TechNet: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4127.how-to-change-a-workgroup-name-on-windows-home-server-2011-and-windows-storage-server-2011-r2-essentials-en-us.aspx
I am simply listing this that it may assist someone, I have no idea if this may break something on other systems. It worked for me very well, but I must express, use at your own risk.
Being an IT Slug, I find myself using a lot of different tools. Many tools are ‘first installs’ when starting to use a new box. Since I have been thinking about changing jobs, which means a full forklift of my toolbox to a new machine, I decided to start writing down what I have installed, sitting in the tools folder, etc. I was about to put the list in my regular notes system, Google Docs, but decided to put them in the blog instead. There are boat-loads of tool lists out there, so why shouldn’t I have my own? 🙂
The list is in no particular order, just as I found them in my head or on my system. Perhaps I will organize them some day…
It just didn’t look complete without the links to the products. Not that its hard to get these days with the efficiency of Google search.
Add a link to your toolbox in the comments!
Yes, once again the shit colectith and stinkith, and I must get it the heck out. While sweeping up the kitchen floor and pondering the pile seeping over from the adjoining playroom. Enough! I just can’t take this anymore. I head off to the garage to grab a large paper garbage bag. You know, one of those used to put leaves in during the Fall.
Over the next hour I start digging through the piles of toys and junk. There are two racks of bins to put stuff in which haven’t been moved in years. There is much stuff behind them as there is in them. I move them away from the wall and start tossing stuff out.
Bag two!
Bag three! Now I am on a roll!
I have worked my way down and have hit a toy box. Damn these kids have a lot of shit. Just too much stuff. I bet they don’t even know half of what is here. Shit half of this stuff is bits an pieced to games and other toys. There is no way these games can be played again, the needed pieces are all over the place. Knowing which pieces go to which non-played-games, they start going in the trash. This stuff causes more stress than it’s worth. If I screw up and throw out the absolutely-most-important-game-ever, well we can deal with it then. Like they say, it is much easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission.
Bag four! Progress has been made, two hours have gone by and I am wearing down. This is an excellent start and there is an absolute noticeable difference. Tomorrow is another day, and more shit will go. And oh yes, this is just the beginning. My goal for this year is to get the garage organized so I can work out there and get things done. There has has been a pile of “Garage Sale” stuff in my workbench area for two years. I have had it and it has to go. If my wonderful wife doesn’t do something with the pile she just has to sell, it is all going to Purple Hearts, or other charitable organization.
You may have no idea how nice it feels to reduce and purge the crap out of your life, until you just dig in and toss out. The stuff is just not needed, stop hording.
By Getting a solid start in March, this will be a great Purging Year, just like some of my previous ones. My reward the return of a garage I can work in, and organize (Need to find a refrigerator though). I have owned a vice for 6 years and haven’t mounted on the work bench. Instead I use make-shift clamps, stupid.
By the way, I have an old 1U and 2U server going to the recycler, I you need them let me know before they are gone.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Switch to use to conect to a Windows server console from various OS’s:
Remote Desktop (Vs. Client Connection Manager)
Windows XP < SP3
/console
Windows XP SP3
/admin
Window Vista [< sp1]
/Console
Windows Vista (Business) [sp1]
/admin
Windows 7
/admin
Windows Server 2003 (incl. R2) [sp2]
/console
Windows Server 2008
/admin
Note RDC 6.1 (6.0.6001) supports Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 6.1
Connects to the console session of a server
Connects you to the session for administering a server.
Why the heck don’t they just put a check box on the login form?
As I dig deeper into IT security and am exposed to more and more about security I can’t help to think about things from a security point of view. It is getting to the point where the security point of view to something is my first point of view.
As usual this time of year, I am involved in a lot of different audits and reviews. While going through a clients requirements for their vendors I started to think about mobile phone. Not any in particular, but all of them in general and how much the space has changed over the last five years.
What I am really curious about is why nobody seems to be leading the enterprise space for mobile phone and devices. Sure it seems iPhone is taking over and are a huge presence in corporate environments; though from a security point of view its all a scary proposition.
What is missing is the ability force policy and lock-down mobile phones and devices. I can’t set policies to say, all phones must have a password, and that password must be at least six digits long. Sure these parameters can be set from the phone, but not being able to centrally control this stuff is a big fail.
Now Windows phone 6.5 was a big piece of crap, I know this, but what it had that most others do not is the ability to set policy on the phone from active directory. Exactly what you need to do in an enterprise. If you are running a Blackberry server you have some good controls around the phone, though I know fortune 500 companies who are dumping their BES servers for Blackberry Express Servers because it’s just too much money to maintain the BES server for an ever-dying space.
I guess I understand why Microsoft jumped after the consumer phone space, wanting to jump on iPhone bandwagon, but they left a huge space untapped. I saw a tweet today that only 6% of Chinese have cell phone, and what a space to get into. I guess there is a lot of potential there, but personally I find it easier to make money closer to home, and here in the States we need enterprise class phone. Top functioning iPhone, Windows Phone 7 class phones with a solid ability to set policies on them and restricting users from overwriting those policies.
I am not sure who will be first but I can’t wait. Whomever it is, they will produce billions in revenue, billions.
Perhaps what needs to be done is not rely on the phone development companies but third parties to develop controls for mobile phones, so a whole gamut of phones can be locked down by central policy. The company would need to build apps for the different phone types and be able to lock those apps down so they cannot be uninstalled by users, or if they are the needs to auto-wiped at the same time.
It’s not horrible that phone development companies are concentrating on the user experience, there are a lot of really great phones being produced. Someone needs to move on the security space around these phones as the continue to infiltrate deeper and deeper into corporate America.
I work in a Windows world, so this idea is from a Windows Server view. Build an application which installs in active directory which allows you to register users phones with their user accounts. On the phones an application is installed which is used to force the policy on the phone. I wonder if there would be issues controller password, and other security aspects of a phone. Meaning, will the manufactures allow you access to those parts of the phone with their SDKs.
Load the application on the phone, register the phone with AD and allow the system to lock down the phones based on the policies you have set. As long as the application is found on the phone (plus verification through certificates) the phone may be used and send/receive email, etc.
If the application is removed from the phone, the phone is auto-whipped. This application can also provide encryption services for the phone. PGP verify emails on your phone anyone?
This can’t be an original idea, but I do like it. It is a great way to allow the phone development companies to concentrate on UX and someone else enterprise security. Hardware support for this would be useful too.
Tell me what you think of this idea, or if it already exists, point it out to me, I would love to check it out.
3/11/2012 Update:
So my new employer is using a company for this exact purpose, http://www.good.com. Good technology which interacts with the companies Exchange server instead of the phone. It allows the removal of service without having to wipe everything on the phone when an employees leaves. To me not a great solution, but a solution nonetheless.
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I feel bad I am late to the game on this, but the most important part is that I am in the game.
For more information about SOPA and PIPA please use google or these links:
I really like the writeup in the Dreamhost blog. If these bills go through it will be the end of the Internet as we have known it. And not for the better.
And of course this blog too will be shutdown on the 18th. Sorry to my one follower, but it all for the better.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.
Stuff From an IT Slug 