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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To use it simply enter aviary.com in front of the URL  so for example you were at http://yahoo.com click in you address bar and change it to http://aviary.com/yahoo.com

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One feature many are not aware of is that if you use the Picasa web albums feature you may upload your files from your Iphone via email. Login online and go to settings in Picasa and turn-on email upload. This will ask you to enter some secret characters which will be appended to your gmail account. ie….EmailID.Secret@gmail.com.

Another thing I did was add this new special email to my email address in my gmail contacts. See article on sync of gmail contacts and email on this site.

Now when you are out and about you can snap a photo with your Iphone and tap email, enter the email and it will upload to a drop folder in your web albums. You can control the view of this Drop Folder folder such as making it public or private and manage your pictures as you do any of the others.

Another bonus is slideshows…in Picasa web albums you can click a folder and click”link to this album” on the right side and there is options to link or embed the album(s) and you can even create a slide show that will update with pictures in the folder automatically. Below is an example…

Picasa is a neat application and the workaround for email adds by Iphone works great!

I must say when I read at the Apple website I could sync to MsExchange I was excited. When I discussed this feature with the “phone guy” i was told it was another $15 a month….NOT the right price. I think this may have been for the “mobile me” service through apple but regardless I wasn’t paying anymore than the bare bones price.

I purchased the phone and started my 30 day trial. The Iphone has been great through it initial break-in and feel out. I use Google Applications, Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Picassa the works…configuring the Gmail account was a snap, but i wanted a calendar that i could push sync as well. I don’t want to maintain many copies or need to transfer or sync manually.

Well low and behold you can sync the Google Calendar and Contacts easily without any additional fits or fees. There is a tutorial here on configuring the phone to interface with your existing Google calendar and presto. Leave it to Google to step up and get it done without fuss or expense.

It is key to have a central hub for and this configuration works like a charm providing updates and syncing via any computer browser or my phone. This configuration provides the best of all worlds. Google has an application in the Apple app store that provides a hub to ALL things Google for the iphone as well.

Once configured your email, contacts, and calendar are in sync and update automatically. You even can have simple task management all in one simple place all in sync over the air. Well done Google!

It would seem Microsoft is positioning Windows Live to become a search and services portal and by somewhat forcing Windows users through the site there hoping some will stay and steer away from Google.

A key aspect of Windows 7 is it being coded in a more modular way. The same basic pipes are still there but the plan is by modular coding and testing they can have a more secure infrastructure and fewer bugs. This is really a result from the Vista burn that Microsoft is still shaking off today. A big feature set Microsoft is working with vendors on is faster booting and load times and improved accessory management (play DVDs without Booting the entire O/S).

I have to admit I am excited about the upcoming release. It seems Microsoft really gets it right about every other release so if things hold true it should be a winner. I read Steve Balmer is pressing the schedule of the release up nearly two years, if this is true and he pushes to hard not allowing time for testing it could be a disaster. Time will certainly tell.

Deskspace is a desktop manager that provides 6 desktops for your windows system. Hitting a hot key displays your desktops in a 3D cube which can be rotated easily by mouse or using arrow keys. You can drag applications to new windows and see all applications on all windows from the app utility in the tool bar.

The XP Power pack provides multiple desktops, but Deskspace provides a really refreshing graphical means to interact with the desktops and applications.

The application is fast, easy and highly customizable. http://www.otakusoftware.com/deskspace/