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Keep it in Your Pocket…
Here’s a tip for travelers going through Airport Security: you are going babe asked to empty your pockets … Everything, including wallet and car keys and passport. It all has to go in one of those plastic bins. Lots of coins? Put em in da bin. Matches? Bin em. You also have to take off…
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Drive Space Nightmares with Hyper-V
As you know, I have been using Hyper-V since before it was released, and am a huge proponent of the solution (although I am also a huge proponent of VMware). The fact that Hyper-V is also included in Windows 10 makes my life easier – I use it on my Windows Client for several reasons. …
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The (Solar) WInds of Change…
I used to love System Center. Simply put, if you were a systems administrator / engineer / architect it did… everything. It monitors, automates, protects, virtualizes, scripts, patches, deploys, integrates… everything in your environment. It is, in a word, comprehensive. It is also big. There was a time (prior to System Center 2012) when you…
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Rules: Why are they Client-Side only?
For several of my clients I use a great monitoring tool called SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM). It does a spectacular job of monitoring my environments and letting me know when there are issues. What I like to do is set up the mail alerts to let me know everything that is going on…
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Smoke ‘Em While You Got ‘Em!
Okay, as many of you know I am stuck at home with pneumonia, so I am not smoking anything this week. With that said, many of you know that I am a cigar lover, and have over the past couple of years accumulated a decent collection of them. The thing is, whenever I speak to…
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Saying Goodbye to My Best Friend
I have sat down several times over the past fortnight to write a goodbye to my best friend, but have not found the words. Jacob-pup was the best friend a man can have. He was not always well behaved, but he was fiercely loyal to me and to his family. Jacob joined our home when…
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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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The Bands: Who should I believe?
You think you have problems? I’m lopsided. It would appear that my right arm has taken 1,717 steps this morning, while my left arm has only taken 1,520. For the last few days I was thinking that either the Fitbit Charge or the Microsoft Band was more accurate than the other… but I couldn’t figure…
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Server Core on VMware
When I was a Virtual Technical Evangelist for Microsoft Canada I spent a lot of time telling you why you should use Server Core… especially if you were on Hyper-V. Why? You save resources. It is now over two years since I turned in my Purple Badge, and I still think Server Core rocks. In…
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Smartphone Etiquette
I have often heard discussions on how rude it is to pull out your smartphone during meetings, during meals, and so on. Personally I am against it, but I understand where there may be mitigating circumstances – sick parents or sick children for example. With that said, there are a lot of people who will…
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The Bands: Battery Fail!
Had you asked me last night which device was winning, it was a pretty easy call… I am really loving the Microsoft Band 2. So when I went to bed and turned out the light, I was happy to click the appropriate buttons to set my Sleep cycle… which was really easy to learn on…
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The Bands: Compatible Systems
On Monday I published my first article in the “Battle of the Bands” series between the Microsoft Band (left hand) and the Fitbit Charge (right hand). Yesterday I spoke about my first impressions, and the Microsoft Band seemed to be ahead. Today’s piece – connected applications – weighs heavily in Fitbit’s favour. I have been…
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The Bands: First Impressions
On Monday I published my article announcing that I was going to spend a month wearing two fitness bands: The Fitbit Charge (on my right hand) and the Microsoft Band 2 (on my left hand). In truth I picked them both up and started wearing them on Saturday, so as I sit here (Monday evening)…
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Battle of the Bands
Are you looking forward to the show? Do you want to rock? Yeah? Well… then you’ve come to the wrong place. Battle of the Bands is not going to be about music… it is going to be about wearable fitness devices. Once upon a time, a long long time ago (say… 2010) I bought a…
The World According to Mitch
The day to day ramblings of an IT Professional (and so much more…)
