Create your own virtual private network with Hamachi

By Gina Trapani of LifeHacker

"You can do things between computers on your local network you can't from out on the internet: like listen to a shared iTunes library or access files in shared folders. But using the free virtual private network application Hamachi, you can access your computer from anywhere on the internet as if you were home on your local network."

Pt.1 The Neocons - Ideology and Fantasy

Interesting view of how our world is shaped my the higher ups

[TechLife] Microsoft follows Oracle into Linux Market

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Microsoft Corp. is expected to announce Thursday that it's partnering with Novell Inc. to support Linux, an open-source software alternative to Microsoft's own computer operating system, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal's Web site.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 11/03/2006 11:36:07 AM

[TechLife] Flash 9 beta available for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Finally, the wait is over! Note that this is a "prerelease" of Flash 9.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 10/19/2006 06:05:06 AM

Can I get a Bio-Chip thingy?

So is this Bio-Chip a new medical marvel on the horizon or is it just a small device on its way to making us all into Terminators....you decide. Despite what I may think of them it is definitely grabbing some headlines as of late.

Wikipedia probably has a more complete history of the Biochip but the chip itself is a result of research from quite a few different areas: genomics, proteomics, computational biology, and pharmaceuticals to name a few.

Then there is that whole "Mark of the Beast" thing but you guys can just ignore that.... that will never happen to us.

[TechLife] could not deliver message time limit specified 4.4.7

We had a problem with email not being delivered to various domains. Here is an example of what the problem was:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

Subject: RE: DBA701 - Urgent
Sent: 4/13/2004 5:39 PM

The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

'test@testdomain.com on 4/15/2004 6:00 PM
Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified. Please retry or contact your administrator.

The problem turned out to be that there were no PTR records set up for the outside IP address. We had to find the problem by doing a search of the PTR records on www.dnsstuff.com using this format
45.123.17.77.in-addr.arpa, the outside address is 77.17.123.45.

http://www.unixhub.com/docs/email/rfc1893.txt

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 10/02/2006 05:49:00 AM

So....Where does the plan start?

This is what I've come up with so far in my quest to make sense of the business that is going on around me everyday. I do know that I still need to learn and read a lot more.

Pipeline Prospecting

Use various marketing materials to dig, analyze, and qualify all passive leads

· Customer Events

· White Paper Marketing

· Online Surveys

· Webcasts

· Online Advertisement Tracking

· Link Tracker

· Online Newsletters

Initial Sales Call and Opportunity Discovery

· Schedule interview

· Send out needs analysis

1^st Meeting – Conduct Business Assessment

Discuss challenges and needs to develop an overall picture of the business. This is done by determining the technologies that a business currently uses and then using that information to identify all of the business' services that execute and support the business mission.

Docs used: CSIR, SBSTAT

Proposal Development

After meeting

· Document key observations

· Feature proposal

· Risk Assessment

· Document Vision/Scope

· Document Project Structure

· Develop Project Plan and form teams

· Combine to design complimentary plan based on observations, risks, & business drivers

Schedule 2^nd meeting

Docs used: CSIR, FP, MRR, PS, RTT, SRAT, TLPPR, TMPPR, V/S, DTN, WS, SBSTAT, BR, CD, SR, UR, US, OR, ITRM, LD

2^nd Meeting – Present Proposal

Sales presents recommended proposal to client

· Discuss key areas of proposal with client

· Upon acceptance of proposal schedule site survey

Schedule 3^rd meeting

Docs used: TLPPR, TMPPR, ITRM

3^rd Meeting – Comprehensive Site Survey

· Perform technology assessment using assessment toolkit

Docs used: CSIR, MRR, TLPPR, TMPPR, SBSTAT

After technology assessment

Sales and Engineering work on developing customized deployment / migration plan and functional specifications

· Identify Core IT Gap Analysis

· Document Key Business Drivers

· Refine Vision/Scope

· Create IT Roadmap

· Detail Deployment architecture

· Draw up Microsoft Project Plan

Docs used: FP, FS, MRR, TLPPR, TMPPR, DTN, SBS, RMSS, WS, V/S, MPP, ITRM

Final Pricing and Agreement Development

· Bring together all relevant data for project including any updates in price, business drivers, scope, vision, etc

· Basis for SLA

Docs used: FP, TLPPR, TMPPR, MPP, FS

4^th Meeting – Present Final Agreement

· Discuss proposed project plan and come to agreement on pricing and features

· At this meeting all final pricing and requirements will be laid out for the project

Docs used: TLPPR, TMPPR

Upon signing of agreement begin Technical Design

· Use specifications to develop plans

· Begin performing traceability audits

· Update Project Plan and begin to follow

Docs used: MRR, TLPPR, TMPPR, DTN, SBS, RMSS, WS, TG, MPP, FS, PD

[TechLife] Firefox Extensions For Geeks

Mozilla's Firefox browser is a great tool for surfing the Net. And thanks to a growing number of free Firefox extensions, it's an especially good tool for people who want every possible ounce of browser power.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 9/29/2006 05:06:03 AM

[TechLife] All About the Processes

I think the problem I am having at work is directly related to the processes that we use for our business processes.... there are none. The company is still being ran the same way it was ran back when it was a one man shop 12 years ago. Since the company doesn't really have to stand on its own to survive I think that has actually stunted growth. There was an attempt to bring the company up to speed but that didn't work out. So that brings us up to now and with us trying to move to a new business model we need to get some processes in place.

So here is a starter list of what I need to create:

Managed Services Transition Plan

• Site Survey Process
• Managed Services Technical Design Process
• Flowchart Process
• Managed Services Migration Plan
• Pilot Implementation Process
• Functionality Acceptance Process
• Disaster Recovery Plan

Internal Communication Proceeses

• Internal Change Management Process
• Internal Configuration Management Process
• Internal Release Management Process
• Internal Incident Management Process
• Internal Problem Management Process

External Communication Processes

• External Change Management Process
• External Configuration Management Process
• External Release Management Process
• External Incident Management Process
• External Problem Management Process

Sales Process

• Qualification

I'll have to work with the team to get these processes knocked out. I already have the Qualification in the Sales Process and the Site Survey in the Managed Services Transition Plan.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 9/17/2006 10:03:00 AM

Business, Technology, and Analysis Paralysis

I am currently at a point in my life where it is time for me to start realizing the goals and paths that I have put down on paper. It really doesn't have anything to do with any time based deadline I placed upon myself but actually everything at this point in time is coming together and I need to move in order to keep the momentum going.
I work as a Network Consultant for a small IT firm and last year I came up with an idea of how to move the company onto a more profitable path. I created a plan and pitched it to the president, he liked it but wanted it to be implemented by someone else. Fortunately that fell through and after a few more months of revising the plan I got other people on board with my idea and pitched it again. This time I was in the drivers seat and it was my chance to show what I had. This is where the analysis paralysis started kicking in, things happened to be going pretty well but the momentum has somewhat slowed down and now I'm seem to be in a loop of researching and brainstorming. I need to do research for tools, research for marketing, research for operations... all this research but it seems I may be spinning my wheels a bit too much. I also do work for the parent company and I don't quite have it balanced out yet. I need to get on the ball and treat this as if I was doing this for my own company. I already have the backing from everyone and I need to make good on my promises.

[TechLife] NX server and client released under GPL license

2X software have released an NX server as well as a client to the community. Finally a fully featured GPL server as well as client is available to the general public and can be included by DEFAULT in all the distributions thus making them Terminal Servers.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 8/31/2006 10:13:16 AM

[TechLife] Robotics vs. Helotics - Will Japan be the mid-21st century superpower?

Technological progress rarely goes at a steady pace, though. It has its spurts and leaps, generally driven by force of necessity, and there are signs that the advance of robotics may be about to speed up dramatically. Necessity, well-known as the mother of invention, may be about to go into labor.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 7/06/2006 05:10:58 AM

[TechLife] The Pirate Party of the United States site launches

We are proud to announce the creation of a new website on this famous date of July 4th, 2006. Now you too can fight the good fight against the lack of representation for the user and draconian laws used to serve the corporations while ignoring the will of the people. Find official stances and forums at our site. Let this day mark a new era.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 7/05/2006 04:41:45 PM

[TechLife] Senator Ted Stevens Downloads the Entire Internet and Complains It's Slow!

Regarding a recent vote, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) explained why he voted against the amendment (basic net neutrality) and gave an amazing primer on how the Internet works: "It's a series of tubes." and "...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday." Story includes an mp3 link.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 7/02/2006 09:45:49 AM

[TechLife] Teach your kids some real computers skills, the hard way - install linux

I'm one who has come to learn Linux and actually enjoy it, so teaching my kids how to use Linux is definitely a must. I think they could also benefit from a whole lesson in computers and how they work. Of course, this is coming from a guy who pretty much lives on the computer.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/30/2006 01:29:20 PM

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

[TechLife] Jon Stewart Takes On Congress' Gamer Haters

Jon Stewart took on congress, again, last night and their idiotic attack on video games.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/22/2006 04:08:05 PM

[TechLife] AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours

AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/21/2006 04:57:16 PM

Testing sidenotes

Just seeing if this will really work on this blog.

[TechLife] Open Source Shooter Nexuiz at version 2.0

The best open source shooter has been released at version 2.0. Many improvements have been made, specialy performance and netcode. But also the visuals have improved. All in all, best open source shooter ever.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/19/2006 10:30:12 AM

[TechLife] How To Remotely Monitor Windows Memory Usage

Adding extra RAM when your machine doesn't really need it is pointless. Here's how to tell when it's time.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/17/2006 09:52:44 AM

[TechLife] How To Run Your Own Name Servers With ISPConfig And GoDaddy

This tutorial shows how you can run your own name servers for domains that you register with GoDaddy. Of course, this works with every other registrar as well, although the procedure might differ a little bit. To do this, you need two servers with two different public IP addresses and with ISPConfig installed, and of course a GoDaddy account.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/14/2006 07:03:51 PM

Pirate Party

Pirate Party USA forums
Pirate-party.us
Pirate Party (Lane Media Site)

[TechLife] Documentation for Windows Small Business Server 2003

Very useful list of documentation for anyone who works with SBS 2003.

Backing Up and Restoring Windows Small Business Server 2003

Connecting Mobile and Remote Users

Deploying Windows 2000 Server Terminal Server to Host User Desktops in a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Environment

Deploying Windows Mobile 5.0 with Windows Small Business Server 2003

Deploying Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server to Host User Desktops in a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Environment

Documentation for Windows Small Business Server 2003 with SP1 Transition Pack

Getting Started: Windows Small Business Server 2003 with SP1

Hosting a Business Card Web Site

How to Install and Configure Small Business Accounting 2006 on Windows SBS 2003

Information Workers Guide to the Windows SBS Computer Network

Installing and Securing Microsoft CRM 1.2 on a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network

Installing and Securing Microsoft Small Business Manager 7.5 on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003

Migrating from a Peer-to-Peer Network to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network

Migrating from Small Business Server 2000 or Windows 2000 Server to Windows Small Business Server 2003

Migrating from Small Business Server 4.5 or Windows NT Server 4.0 to Windows Small Business Server 2003

Moving Data Folders for Windows Small Business Server 2003

Publishing a SharePoint Web Site Accessible to External Users

Running Multiple Servers in a Windows Small Business Server Environment

Step-by-Step Guide to Adding and Managing Additional Servers in a Windows Small Business Server Network

Windows Small Business Server 2003 with SP1 Release Notes

Securing Your Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network

Step-by-Step Guide for Configuring and Using Fax on Windows Small Business Server 2003

Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Server Update Services on Windows Small Business Server 2003

Updating a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network Using Software Update Services Server 1.0

Upgrade Requirement Messages for Windows Small Business Server 2003 Setup

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Upgrade Best Practices

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Troubleshooting

Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Small Business Server

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 6/06/2006 07:27:00 PM

[TechLife] Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands

Article describing how to repair Windows XP when your PC is inaccessible from the standard boot procedures, and you have to use the recovery console as your last resort!

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 5/25/2006 05:33:26 AM

10 Principles for Life (Playing the Game)

These principles for life are:

1. You will receive a body
2. You will be presented with lessons
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons
4. A lesson is repeated until learned
5. Learning does not end
6. "There" is no better than "here"
7. Others are only mirrors of you
8. What you make of your life is up to you
9. All your answers lie inside of you
10. You will forget all of this at birth

There are rules to life..... but of course I'm just stating the obvious. It is a game that we all play and one that is either won or lost based off of how its perceived. As we go through life we learn the unspoken rules of the game at the same time we are learning the "general" rules that everyone learned (depending on where you are). We use those rules, the guidance from our parents, the influence from our friends and the world around us to navigate through this maze of a game. Even though we may seem to be lost, we are still in control.

Get Moving

There hasn't been that much blogging from me for awhile, I'll give a quote here or there and possibly a story I found on Digg. Other than that there really hasn't been much to really say what the hell is going on. I guess one of the big things going on right now is the fact that I finally got my plan approved at work. Well what does that really mean and why is it a good thing for me? Well I get to change the business model of the company I work for, planning to make it go from an unprofitable VAR (Value Added Reseller) to a business based off of Managed Services. Other than the possibility of earning more money I'll be acquiring new skills in just about every area of business (Sales, Marketing, Operations,...). So if I decide to stay for a while or move on to start my own place, I'll leave with a lot of skills that are going to benefit me greatly.

[TechLife] Windows vista delayed to 2007

Microsoft has delayed the release of its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system to 2007.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 3/22/2006 05:48:40 AM

My Path

"Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: 'Does this path have a heart?'"

~ Carlos Castaneda, 20th century mystic and Toltec warrior
from The Teachings of Don Juan
Vision Quotes

[TechLife] ISPs will soon back the P2P and bittorrent revolution for Television

This article explains why it is in the best interest of ISPs to actually back the TV over P2P and bittorrent revolution.
GREAT READ!!!

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 3/04/2006 08:35:23 AM

[TechLife] Huge collection of videos of MIT lectures

Learn as if you were there...

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 2/24/2006 05:10:31 AM

[TechLife] The End of the Internet?

"Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received."

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 2/02/2006 09:41:22 AM

[TechLife] How To Troubleshoot Any Networking Problem

Tech author extraordinaire Mark Minasi shares a bit over two dozen "rules of network troubleshooting." This will be new for some, a good review for others, and a handy reference for all.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 2/15/2006 05:08:34 AM

[TechLife] The End of the Internet?

"Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received."

read more | digg story

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 2/02/2006 09:41:22 AM

[TechLife] They are trying to ban IM

Ever since my co-worker started talking about the upcoming ban on IM clients in the office I set out looking for away around it. Even though I am one of the IT guys here and I could just ignore the nonsense my co-worker was talking about and go on my merry way I figure I had better be nice. So being nice is to continue to use IM but just use it in a way that any eyes peering over my shoulder wouldn't know what in the world I was doing.

I ran into Meebo in its early stages but my attention span then jumped to some other new shiny tech gadget, so I forgot all about it. I can't remember how I stumbled upon it again but I'm glad that I did. If need be I can talk on Yahoo!, AIM, ICQ, MSN, Jabber, or GTalk all from the comfort of my tabbed browser. What it lacks in fancy icons, audibles, and animated emoticons in makes up for in the This-is-just-really-cool department...not to mention useful for those who need ways to get around the ban of IM clients wherever they are at. If you need help with that just check out their forums for some advice.

So don't just try it because I say its cool, try it because you want to stick it to the man!!!

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 1/12/2006 11:16:00 AM

[TechLife] 25 Reasons to Convert to Linux

25 reasons why many institutions, companies and governments are changing to Linux.

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 1/11/2006 01:52:18 PM

[TechLife] Play more than 10,000 Nintendo and Sega games !

NES, GameBoy, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, Colecovision, PC Engine are all here ! Playable straight in your browser without any install !

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Posted by TJ to TechLife at 1/11/2006 02:06:14 PM