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The Right-Wing Rabbi…
For those of you politicos the title is VERY deceiving. It’s about hockey, not politics. I met Rabbi Stephen Wise in the months leading to the birth of my son, Gilad. He is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Beth El in Oakville, Ontario. Since I’ve known him we have had a friendly rivalry, as…
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Ontario Lottery & Gaming–Another Cash Grab?
I was reading the Globe and Mail on the train the other day and there was an article about the Ontario Lottery & Gaming casinos, and their voluntary exclusion program (which they admit is relatively toothless and ineffective). The Self-Exclusion program (http://www.knowyourlimit.ca/self-exclusion.html) is a program where people who see themselves as having a problem can …
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HP Experts Day!
From January 11th to the 12th, HP will be hosting an “Expert Day” event on its forums. This is focused on HP desktops, notebooks, Windows and printers. HP experts will be joined by Microsoft MVPs helping HP users around the world. It is really a great opportunity to get help for your systems. They will…
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Mitch Visits One Police Plaza
A couple of weeks ago one attendee was a detective with the NYPD, and he offered to take me behind the scenes at One Police Plaza so that I could take a look at a few of the units that use information technology (IT) for a lot more than just paperwork and filing. I had…
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Customer Service… do YOU get it? Wake Up!
I spend far too many nights in hotels. One of the services I rely on is the wake-up call, and this week I was reminded of the episode of Seinfeld by that name… I got to the hotel, left my 6:30am wake-up call, and went to sleep with the peace of mind that I would…
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Airport Security
Yes, airport security is getting tougher… but for the frequent flier there are a number of options to make the experience easier, beginning with BEING COOPERATIVE. I got to #YYZ this morning without having checked in ahead of time, went through US Customs (was randomly selected for secondary screening!), then went through security and was…
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Troubleshooting MDT Scripts
I have a Windows 7 Deployment Point DVD that I created using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 for a client, and it has been a godsend during the past ten days. Because the client wants to make copies to send to their remote locations around the country, I spent a couple of hours scripting as…
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Laptops and laptops!
Many of you have pinged me in the last few days to tell me you are still waiting to read a review of my new laptop… the HP Envy 14 (Beats Edition). and let me tell you, it is one kick-arse machine! The review has been somewhat delayed due to a couple of professional obligations…
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When Our Work is REALLY Worthwhile
The title is of course misleading… work is almost always worthwhile – in one way or another. However this incident reminded me that some of us work for much more than a paycheck. I have spent the week overseeing the deployment of a secure IT environment for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Canada. As…
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Dawn of a New Day
Ok, the title may be overstating things a little. However today does mark a great change for The World According to Mitch. I would like to welcome all of my readers to MGarvis.WordPress.com. Huh? What do you mean? After so many years are you saying that Mitch, always the proponent of running your own servers,…
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Windows Automated Installation Kit–Save your time!
Some of you (chiefly those interested in Windows deployment) may have noticed that there seems to be a new Windows AIK available for download today (actually October 28, 2010). Please DO NOT rush out to download it. Here’s why, direct from Jeremy Chapman (Windows Deployment & Compatibility, Microsoft Corp): “The reason for the edit was…
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Flying the Friendly Skies
As I write this I am aboard a WestJet 737-700 plane bound for Halifax, my third (of five) TechDays Canada city. Halifax will almost be a forced two-day vacation for me (excepting my TechDays duties) because I (very uncharacteristically) forgot my cell phone at home. I will still be on-line via e-mail and such, but…
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Windows Phone 7… Catch It!
Over the last few weeks I have had plenty of opportunity to play with a number of Windows Phone 7 devices, and I am loving it! Windows Phone 7 is as friendly and simple as any other Phone OS I have come across, and much moreso than the myriad Mobile 6, 6.1, and 6.5 devices…
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An interesting tidbit about BitLocker to Go
Now here’s a great feature! I have grumbled in the past that encrypting a drive with BitLocker is a slow process, and although I do it so rarely, I was reminded yesterday that decrypting is equally time-consuming. I have a 500GB external drive that I need to decrypt because it is being repurposed, and because…
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Can they really be THAT inefficient?
It is the morning of September 9th, 2010. For the last week I have been tracking a package’s progress on UPS.com – they make a big deal that you can do that. So when Intel sent me an e-mail that my replacement motherboard had been shipped, I was glad that I could get on-line and…
The World According to Mitch
The day to day ramblings of an IT Professional (and so much more…)
The World According to Mitch 