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FEARLESS SECURITY
LIFE IN THE INFOSEC INDUSTRY: TALES FROM OUTSIDE THE FIREWALL
No-holds-barred discussion and commentary on security and other IT matters.

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Fearless Security

MAY 2008

[5/6/2008]
Microsoft 0, Yahoo 1
- Posted by: Tony Howlett Glenn Kramer
So goes the first round in what is surely going to be a 15-round slugfest. I for one was glad to see the Bellevue brawler knocked back into his corner for a change. They are so used to their pursuits falling gratefully into their arms, swooning to be the momentary affection of the ultimate beach bully.Yes, Yahoo may yet concede, given the pressure from their shareholders, but I think the Internet is going to continue to be a more interesting place with companies like Yahoo and Google running around. After all, do you really want ads popping up in your Word or Excel docs? How tightly do you think they will integrate their ad... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE.

LAST COMMENT
Wow, a lot of spelling and grammar errors. Is this professional writing?...
frankandkim -May 07, 2008 (Article Rating:

)

IT 911
EXPERTS AND RESOURCES ON CRITICAL ISSUES AS THEY HAPPEN
When Microsoft security fires flare up, when a crucial patch will affect your networks ability to function, when you need a single place to get all the information on a situation that could affect your network, make IT 911 your first and last stop. Windows IT Pro authors and editors will have all the information and provide expert insights and experiences to help you.

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IT 911

MAY 2008

[8/3/2007]
A Dreary Black Hat
- Posted by: Tony Howlett
8/1/0/7 It’s raining here as the Annual Blackhat security conference starts here in Las Vegas. Its a rare event in the desert, keeping the skies overcast and cooler than the average 105 degrees F in July. An inauspicious beginning to a conference trying to refocus its mission while broadening its audience, a hard thing to do even when you aren’t under new ownership. The show was sold last year to CMP Media, not exactly your avant garde, counterculture company so its going to be hard put to keep its just this side of legitimate cred. However, Blackhat always was the respectable grown up cousin to the accompanying Defcon unabashed... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE.

LAST COMMENT
"...perhaps a transition to more corporate participation is a natural thing. After all, we aren’t ge...
oldfashionedgirl -August 03, 2007 (Article Rating:

)

HEY MICROSOFT!
TAKE A MESSAGE FROM IT

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Hey Microsoft! Blog

MAY 2008

[5/12/2008]
Exclusive Video: Microsoft Execs Give Details of MMS 2008 System Center Announcements
- Posted by: Karen Forster
At Microsoft Management Summit 2008 in late April, I talked with Microsoft execs Brad Anderson (general manager, Windows and Enterprise Management Division) and Larry Orecklin (general manager of System Center and virtualization) about significant recent Microsoft announcements for IT professionals who manage mixed environments. In these videos from MMS, Brad and Larry discuss the following ground-breaking announcements: In addition to managing Windows, the System Center family will manage various flavors of Linux and UNIX, both physical and virtual; System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) will manage non-Microsoft... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

INDUSTRY BYTES
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE WINDOWS IT PRO EDITORS

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Industry Bytes

MAY 2008

[5/12/2008]
Crow Canyon offers Unique Outlook on Help Desk Tools
- Posted by: Caroline Marwitz
"Only a couple of companies—ourselves and a small one-man company—offer Help desk applications built on Outlook," says Darrell Trimble of Crow Canyon Software about the company's recent release of CCS HelpDesk 4.0. "To us it is insane to create a completely separate application with redundant function to what most organizations already have—Microsoft Office." With CCS HelpDesk, formerly named Outlook HelpDesk, request tickets are entered in one of three possible... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

YOUR SAVVY ASSISTANT
THE MISSING LINK TO IT RESOURCES

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Your Savvy Assistant

MAY 2008

[4/28/2008]
Microsoft Gets Personal
- Posted by: Christan Humphries
Microsoft wants to know who you are (i.e., wants you to do silly things and then post a video of them on its "Who Are You?" Web site—www.wewanttoknow.net). Karen Forster explains the company's campaign in her December 2007 article "Microsoft Asks: Who Are You?" (InstantDoc ID ... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

SECURITY MATTERS
A BLOG BY SECURITY EXPERT MARK JOSEPH EDWARDS

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Security Matters

MAY 2008

[5/8/2008]
OSSEC 1.5 Now Available
- Posted by: Mark Joseph Edwards
OSSEC 1.5, a popular open-source intrusion detection system (IDS), is now available. The new version introduces support for Checkpoint, Smart Defense, and Shorewall logs, as well as Postfix and Asterisk logs, among several other new features. If you haven't tried OSSEC then consider doing so. It runs on Linux, UNIX (OS X and BSD), Windows, and Solaris, and offers "a correlation and analysis engine, log analysis, file integrity checking, Windows registry monitoring, centralized policy enforcement, rootkit detection, real-time alerting and active response." Oh, and it's... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

HYPERBOLE, EMBELLISHMENT, AND SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION BLOG
TRUE TALES, SNAFUS, AND URBAN LEGENDS ORIN THOMAS

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Hyperbole, Embellishment, and Sys Admins

MAY 2008

[3/27/2007]
Tales from the Forums: Community Choice Awards
- Posted by: Orin Thomas
For the next few weeks we will be running the Windows IT Pro community choice awards in the forums. You will decide which products, from buyers guides published in last year’s magazine, deserve to win. You can enter a simple vote, or post about your experiences with the product. Each time you express an opinion, you increase your chance of winning a $100 Amazon.com voucher. We want to know about your experiences and impressions, positive or negative, about the products listed in our buyer’s guides. So far three product categories have been posted, with more to follow soon. Don’t hold back and tell us what you... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

YOUR CAREER
GETTING STARTED, GETTING AHEAD, GETTING BETTER IN YOUR JOB ORIN THOMAS

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Your Career

MAY 2008

[6/4/2007]
Self Paced or Instructor Led Training
- Posted by: Orin Thomas
There are two basic ways of studying for certification. You do it all yourself or you go to a class. Before I go any further I’ll point out that I write Self Paced Training Kits for Microsoft, so there is a bit of an incentive for me to push one method over the other. On the other hand, I’ve also run instructor led courses. Anyway, now that that is out there, on with the post… Each type of study suits a particular person. If you simply can never find the time to study out of hours, or you need someone to give you a bit of a push when it comes to motivation, going to a class can be your best option. Some people simply need the routine... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE.

LAST COMMENT
Good observations. It differs for many now though since a quick look around the folks attending the ...
SCG -December 29, 2007 (Article Rating:

)

WE'RE IN IT
REAL-WORLD TECH STORIES FROM PENTON MEDIA'S IT TEAM PENTON MEDIA IT TEAM
Penton Media's IT team is in the trenches and ready to share their war stories about OS migration, desktop deployment, systems management, messaging, networking, architecture, and infrastructure.

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We're in IT

MAY 2008

[12/11/2007]
Using a USB Flash Drive to Recover Windows Vista
- Posted by: Chris Ripkey Penton Media IT Team
Using a USB Flash Drive to Recover Windows VistaHere is something that we have extremely valuable during our Vista Deployment, the ability to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) from a USB Flash Drive. This is especially helpful for our Home Office users at Penton. From there they can perform a variety of tasks, like running Startup Repair and restoring their PC using the Complete PC Restore Wizard. Please note that the Complete PC Backup and Restore option is only available on certain Windows Vista installations. For... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

RUMOR MILL
RUMORS AND SPECULATION ON COMPUTER INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS MICHAEL DRAGONE
IT pro Michael Dragone puts his ear to the ground and reports on the latest industry buzz.

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Rumor Mill

MAY 2008

[9/3/2007]
Microsoft Contemplating a Purchase of RIM?
- Posted by: Michael Dragone
Rumors surfaced this past Friday that Microsoft is contemplating a purchase of BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM). I first saw this juicy tidbit mentioned in Paul Thurrott's WinInfo Short Takes: Week of Septembmer 3 (InstantDoc ID: 96953). Soon after I read Paul's piece, I noticed that Computerworld had entered the fray with an article detailing the rumor, including comments from industry analysts. This particular rumor... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

WINDOWS IT PRO'S Next Tech
TECH TRENDS TO WATCH JEFF JAMES
Senior Editor Jeff James scopes out new-technology finds of interest to IT pros.

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Next Tech

MAY 2008

[4/4/2008]
Microsoft Sets Sights on High Performance Computing
- Posted by: Jeff James
While recent news headlines may be focused on Microsoft's attempt to buy Yahoo!, or its decision to continue shipping Windows XP for low-end PCs, the Redmond software giant has been making great strides in an area that hasn't been getting as much press attention: the high performance computing (HPC) market. Last November, Microsoft announced that it had released the first public beta of Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008. Unlike the standard, enterprise-oriented editions of Windows Server 2008, HPC Server 2008 is focused on serving the needs of the HPC market. "The basic concept of HPC is any workload that requires more than... READ THE ENTIRE POST HERE. MAKE A COMMENT

Making IT Work
Tips for IT Pros Michael Otey
Windows IT Pro's technical director Michael Otey mines his experience to share tips and thoughts for saving time and bolstering productivity, with a focus on using SQL Server Express.

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