Category: Article
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Fifteen Tabs: Shut em all down!
Those of us who try to keep the banging of our heads against a wall to a minimum will have long since learned that we don’t know everything, and more often than not there is someone out there who knows more than we do. “But Mitch, how can you say that? I read your blog…
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Will you pay?
An article showed up in my Inbox today: Intel Core i9: It’s not whether you need 12 cores, but whether you’ll pay for them. It is an interesting read, and a very good question. I have always liked ZDNet. Their people do a good job of keeping a pulse on the industry. Their question is…
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With Friends Like These…
There is no little doubt in my mind that nothing brings out the worst in people better than a contentious election campaign. In Canada this usually means six to ten weeks of slight animosity. In the United States – a country where the presidency holds much wider global implications – it is often a two…
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Remembrance Day vs. Christmas Decorations: The battle begins.
I was listening to talk radio as I drove home from wherever recently and there was a discussion about Christmas decorations, and the discussion was whether or not it is inappropriate (In Canada) to put up Christmas decorations prior to Remembrance Day (November 11th). One of the commentators said that Christmas decorations before Remembrance Day…
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Since When…?
Those of us who have been in the IT industry for a while remember the heady days of never having to reboot a server… otherwise known as ‘The days before Windows Server.’ Those days are long gone, and even non-Windows servers need to be patched and restarted. But how do you know when it last happened?…
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Another Milestone for TWAM
A few weeks ago – somewhere around the second week of November or so – this blog hit a bit of a milestone. It welcomed its 183,060th visitor of 2015. That may seem like a bit of a weird number to celebrate… but it is significant in that it is the same number of visitors…
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OEM Servers: Myths vs. Realities
In a recent conversation I realized that there are still a lot of misconceptions about OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) operating system rights with regard to Windows Server. While I am not here to say who is right and who is wrong (whether one should or should not buy OEM operating systems), I still think it…
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Distinguished Names for Complex Items
Distinguished Names are pretty simple, right? Well… it depends on several factors. To figure out the DN for swmi.ca it is… dc=swmi,dc=ca. An Organizational Unit is not much harder… Let’s take an OU called Toronto in the swmi.com domain… ou=Toronto,dc=swmi,dc=ca. Simple. But what happens when we add a little complexity to our environment? Say… OUs within…
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An Open Letter to Application Developers
Dear Developers, I want to thank you for continuing to build applications and programs and other software that makes my life better. As an Infrastructure Specialist I feel my kind and your kind have developed a nice symbiosis over the years – I build the environments on which your solutions run, and you make my…
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2015: My New Year’s Resolutions
I can honestly say that I don’t think I have ever made New Year’s Resolutions… at least, I have never written them down. At the end of 2014, my annus horribilus, I am looking forward to a spectacular 2015. Yesterday afternoon – December 30th – I was looking at my dashboard on www.asana.com – a…
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Surface Pro 3: Two weeks later
Are there problems with it? Yes. Do I absolutely love it? I love my kids and my dogs… but I suppose I do like it as much as I have ever liked a laptop or tablet… and I have had quite a few of them over the years! What are the problems? There is really only…
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Home Entertainment in 2014
As some of you know I recently moved into a new condo. Unlike my previous living arrangements, I will be living here alone… although my children will visit, they (and the dogs) will be living with their mother. You all know me as a Windows guy, and that has not changed; however there are so…
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Sad Times for an Industry
I used to say to my audiences that while the number of jobs in IT will go down, the best will always be in demand. I then spent several months essentially unemployed. The IT field has changed dramatically over the course of the last few years. I suppose it is natural for an industry as…
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Honesty in Advertising
This week-end I lambasted a friend who hosts/produces a radio show about travel for posting that a particular hotel chain wanted to appear on his show to discuss his product, but refused to provide a free stay in exchange for the privilege. I also told him that I know the entire industry works that way,…
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Do you believe…
This Easter week-end I made an unlikely call to a radio talk show on Ottawa’s CFRA. Don’t get me wrong… I have called radio stations before, and am no stranger to being on the air. However the circumstances of my call this particular Sunday morning were probably… out of character, or at least unexpected. The…
The World According to Mitch 