For Twitter, text START to 40404 if you are in the US and follow the instructions to confirm the device. When you are done create a contact named Twitter with the 40404 number. Now all you have to do is tell Siri to send a Message to Twitter saying “What you want to Tweet”

Facebook. You need to link your number to you’re account under account settings, mobile. Follow steps to verify you’re phone on Facebook on your profile. Next, Create a contact named Facebook with the number 32665 associated with it. Then all you have to do is say Siri send a Message to Facebook saying “Your status Update”.

This works fairly well. The only problem I found was when I activated Siri, and said, Send a Message to Twitter. Normally with a normal contact it would ask me what would I like to say, but in this case, it says it can’t send tweets.

So instead say Send a Text to Twitter saying “Your Tweet” it works great!!

Now if you have not done much with recording packages like me you have a lot to learn to take advantage of all the features or in particular learn the ones most useful for you any want you want to do. Like a lot of things, you need to learn the basics and then learn the methods your type of creation and or recording. The application can do so much you really need to step back and focus on a small sub set of tools as for it to not get overwhelming. Learn these and get your your creative rolling then move on to grasping more otherwise you will be bogged down.

I came across this website that has aggregated many fine tutorials and resources for you. http://audio.tutsplus.com/articles/general/17-amazing-ableton-live-tutorials/ I also have a youtube playlist of related videos. I find the hard part is accepting and understanding how everything is fluid and can be changed at anytime, like groove, tempo, notes anything. You can even grab an MP3 or clip(s) and just try jamming along or do a mash-up. Most any sound file can be brought into Ableton and it exports to any format as well. The Project files remain editable and fluid all the time.

Ableton offers a free unrestricted 30 day trial at their website www.ableton.com so you can try and experiment before you buy. I don’t think i will ever become a supreme musician, but it is amazing the instruments you can mess around with and the beats you can create. Sure beats a video game for a little fun a creative exploration.

The user who will be operating the system is NOT a tech savy person by any means. I found with a short 20 minute lesson I was able to explain the ins and outs of navigating the virtual systems and they were off and running.

Data Security is always a concern and in this case again all is quite simple the Virtual Machines were each individually copied to backup medium and the full system was also imaged for instant, redundant restore. Virtual machines may also be snapshotted for a quick restore, for testing of patches. application etc. Should things not work out simply step back to the previous version almost instantly.

Here are some great uses:

1. Old operating system that needs new hardware for a mission critical system you can’t update. Simply virtualize the system and place it on the new hardware. System is protected and risk is eliminated.

2. Consolidate hardware resources. Many systems can be virtualized and placed on a single single server reducing hardware costs, improving redudancy, and reducing power usage.

3. Virtual machines provide flexibility by separating the system from the hardware.

4. Provide easy memory upgrades and other hardware upgrades virtually. It is a simple matter to increase a machines resources from say 2 gig of ram to 4 gig of ram and see the improvement it may have. Then you can simply change the setting to place it back to a lower level if desired. Obviously you need the physical ram to allocate on the hardware but at the virtual level it is simply a matter of setting a parameter. Want to try to NICs, simply set it as two virtual cards and away you go. Everything is very flexible to meet the most demanding needs.

In my projects I have found that resources and loads on hardware and ram have been much lower than i thought and anticipated. In all cases of moving systems forward i have seen an improvement in performance of systems.

If you have been a technologist who has steered clear of Virtual Technologies like VMWare or Microsoft, give it another look. This is the second major project I have leveraged virtual technology and again it was a win-win. VMWare which is the base I am familiar with, has many free and demo versions on there website so you can test and trial before purchase.

Great article explaining some of the INS and out of these two Facebook features.

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So without further adue:

• Lastpass – Super secure password and document vault. Two factor authentication
• LogMeIn Ignition – Logmein client for Ipad / Iphone that works slick even on 3g
• Evernote – Remember everything, web clip from a browser, pic from a phone
• GoodReader – Open HUGE pdf documents, as well as many other types, wireless syncing
• CraigslistPro – Quick functional front end for craigslist
• NPR – Well designed app for accessing NPR stories, quick links to archived shows, music
• Slacker – Slacker is your own custom radio station that only gets better (SomaFM is good too)
• Reeder – Newsread feeder works well with all, direct connect to your google feeds
• USA Today – If you want the most popular mainstream headline news
• Scrabble – Great game and turn based play via Facebook connector
• Zinio – Online magazine reader, get a live magazine with active links, good newsstand
• Netflix – Stream movies from netflix (requires membership) great quality, selection is improving
• Kindle – Amazon kindle app is excellent, no surprises, access all your amazon content.
• Youversion Bible – Wide selection of translations and reading plans
• Health Apps – iMST / iMPD integrate really as one app with Diet & Fitness for windows vidiaone.com
• Guitar Toolkit – Tuner, Chord Reference, Scale reference, and metronome
• Facebook – Linked-in – Echofon – Manage your social media and twitter accounts
• TwitPad – A great way to stay in touch with my favorite video / podcast network
• Chess.com – Enjoy Sudoku – Stumble Upon – Are great apps to chilax with
• Flipboard – Great magazine like presentation of feeds from facebook twitter and more
• ABC Player – ABC Gets it, wish NBC and the others did too
• Kayak Flights – If you need to look up travel this is it – Just like the online website
• Dropbox – Need that unified storage? 3gb anytime anywhere from most any device

There are few more but these are the go to apps along with integrating gmail for my email and calendar. GoodReader has been a great surprise. I print chord charts for music and docs to PDF and stock them by the ton. You have large windows manual or reference this is the place to store and read it. Very customizable, take the time to glance at the help so you know all the ins and out first.

The come on to any of these services is they help you connect to people you haven’t seen in years and help you stay in closer contact with those you see regularly, share pictures and more. These websites encourage you to share more details so that you are easier found by friends. In the case of Facebook that was fine when they started, but they have repeatedly opened up your information accessibility to the world. Even though initially you may have set the access to private or friends only.

I point this out since many are under the assumption when they have set a privacy setting or interacted with a service such as this the settings are fixed. This is NOT the case, they can be changed or ignored via policy as is the case with Facebook. I use Facebook as an example but this could happen with any website. It is important to understand if you share anything even with a friend that doesn’t mean for example they can’t share it.

Social media has much to offer and as connectivity improves in the smart phone world you will see services and opportunities increase to interact with them. Televisions are being integrated with services so you will see IP in the TV allowing direct streaming of Podcasts and Internet TV as well as Netflix. It won’t be long you will viewing Facebook or the web directly on your TV. This is all good and decentralizes access and reliance on network and cable broadcasters.

Just know with certainty most information shared on the web via services is likely to be viewed by others. Take the approach when posting and sharing pictures and video that ANYONE can see it. As an example Government agencies and Employers are looking at content on the web when screening and considering candidates for positions.

Here are typical things you can do to protect yourself…

• Don’t share your status updates on walls or tweets while your doing them or in advance,  Share them AFTERWARD. Telling people you are not home is an invitation to be robbed.
• Do not share details online that are not easily located as part of public record.
• When making accounts at websites, don’t use real answers to security questions. For example mothers maiden name, high school, college mascot etc should be filled in with something totally ODD and unguessable. Much of the information like these questions are in public domain if people do the research they will find them easy enough.
• Don’t use your main email as part of your banking or secure site access. It is best to have a separate account for these which limits it use. It should also use HTTPS as a login such as Google Gmail does.
• Use password manager like LastPass.com to securely manage and generate secure passwords. NEVER have a web browser remember your log-ins or use a local password login manager. Make your passwords and usernames varied, include special characters and numbers.
• Be aware of location based services on your Smartphone that include location information when you post.
• Do not access banking or credit card websites from a public WIFI hotspot. It is simple for someone to scan for email log-in credentials thus starting a means of access. Use hotspots for simple browsing only.
• Always logout of your PC as well as place a PIN on you’re Smartphone. Many of the apps today on Smartphones will access your password managers, banks, social sites and other private information quite easily. Setting the PIN option will wipe the phone in the event someone tries to login repeatedly saving any potential loss. Your phone is easily restored if and when recovered.

The web is a fantastic resource but like anything you need to manage your information wisely and take simple precautions to protect you and your information. I am not paranoid just a realist and some people out there amaze me by not really looking at things and considering there impact. Keep sharing just share and access your in a smart way.

Restored the Image of the Server (to put the system back to square one) then restored the system state in DSRM, this did NOT work (still in UNC) , opened REGEDIT and deleted the key

“Dsa Not Writable” under “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters

Upon reboot the Active Directory services started and netlogon and the balance came up as expected. Obviously reg edits are at your own peril. I couldn’t find any work around solutions on the web other than rebuilding Active Directory from scratch and that really isn’t a solution at all in my book. So if your faced with a similar problem give this a shot, let me know if it helps you too.

The environment is operating in mixed mode and this was on a Win2K server SP4.

Tell the politicians you to leave the internet open and free to everyone.The Internet Freedom Act is not good, it is simply a catchy name to limit our rights, limit our choices and give innovation the boot. You can go to http://www.savetheinternet.com/ and learn more about why Net Neutrality is a good thing and sign the petition against the Internet Freedom Act. The Internet is what allows us all to communicate openly, The Internet Freedom Act will gag you and your freedom of choice.

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Also of mention on the application front for streaming music is SomaFM. Stream music via browser or iphone with several commercial free channels…Two of my favorites are Boot Liquor and Covers. This is great for when you just want something a little outside the mainstream and here is the link http://somafm.com/listen/ If you hear something on the channels you like you can bookmark it for buying on itunes later. The stream quality will change depending if your phone is on WiFi or Edge so you always get the best quality with minimal buffering. Drawbacks….on Iphone the channel will play for 20-30 min and you need to press play again. I presume this is to reassure SomaFM your still listening and they are not wasting bandwidth. SomaFM is commercial free and is listener supported.

Pandora is a new kind of radio that plays only music you like. Pandora works via a browser and Iphone application that allows you to make your own station(s). Simply enter an artist or a song and it will serve you that artist or song along with similar tunes. You can vote each song up or down if you like and skip it if you hate it. This is a great way to experience artists you have never herd of and the tunes served typically do fit the profile well. You can see information about the artist and bio when the songs playing. Pandora is commercial free and allows you to save many personal channels. The application and service is free. http://www.pandora.com/#/stations/create/

So when you are tired of the same old playlist, step outside the box and expand your horizons with these great browser and Iphone applications.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Theperfectgift!.wmv (1233 KB)

The title said “The Perfect Gift”, I will let you all decide.

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Also of mention regarding Twitter and Social feeds is Yoono
Yoono is an add-on extension for Firefox that will give you a window on the edge of your browser and display all the feeds from your Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, AIM and related social networking accounts. It updates the feeds regularly, allows you to post and can be easily closed or opened as needed. Another extension worth a look..

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Google services Gmail, Calender, Docs and Picasa have become my primary presence online. Accessible and integrated to my Iphone this provides me the one stop two way service anyone would expect. Anyone who puts down Iphone’s email capabilities and calls it a toy just hasn’t tried this configuration. (see related article in my blog). Google’s only downside is task integration on the Iphone itself.

Reqall.. Reqall is a web application that has an optional browser component and an iphone application that focuses on memory and reminding you. The great part of Reqall is you simply talk and it creates the list item and can categorize it for you as well. It will email you a daily itinerary of your to-do list / appointments, and integrates with Google Calendar. So for example if you said “meet Bill at Mcdonalds 2pm next friday, contact 603.123.456″ Reqall will turn speach to text, adding an entry into your calendar for 2pm next friday. If you look at the entry Reqall made you will see the phone is active so simply tapping it will dial it, this works the same for web addresses. If you provide a date, Reqall will use the date or date range to make the entry.
Those who are old school will enjoy the fact you can type your entries as well. Reqall is quite smart and understands locations or contexts like “at work” “at home” etc. You can also forward an item you get in you email inbox to your Reqall account and it will insert in right in. Everything stays in sync and you have a web interface via browser as well. The browser add-on for firefox allows for clipping web info and pops up reminders as well. www.Reqall.com check it out…This application gets high marks. The web interface is a tad clunky but the system under active development so i am sure it will improve.

Evernote is an application that could be thought of as an information agregator. It allows for capturing almost anything you want to remember and works very well. It’s free version is a bit limited in monthly traffic if you do pictures and web pages alot but it is really usefull for grabbing and collecting things. I use it alot for my phone to grab a picture or to grab ref material on the web. Evernote has a free desktop application and firefox add-in that makes capture and management painless. The iphone app is limited but works smooth. I use Evernote as part of the capture process and if it is something that will require action move it into the Reqall side of things if needed.

So for now this combination looks to be solution for applying the Getting Things Done principles to my task management. I can collect an manage my day to day all electronic and have all accessible and in sync on the phone or at the desktop.

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