Rumor has it, the enigma known as Frederick J. Jacobs may make a return to the pro wrestling arena on January 24 for the HCWA. Totally rumor though…the crack reporters at jakekappus.com are investigating this rumor and will let you know if it is confirmed or not.
Note to self, never buy essential hardware from Chinese re-sellers on Ebay….
Since my Macbook is down..AGAIN, I rediscovered that I had a Windows 7 laptop sitting on my desk and needing attention. And for some reason when I sit on this laptop I start playing and researching cool new Windows 7 features. I stumbled upon Raf’s blog and found out that the Windows 7 public beta will be available as part of the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription quarterly update kit, which starts shipping January 5, 2009.
I really wish I would have started beta testing Windows 7 on another laptop as this one with the Intel 915 chipset does not support the new Aeropeek features. Bummer.
I took the 70-238 exam today and passed to round out the MCITP certification for Exchange 2007. It wasn’t easy as there were several questions that made me stop and go..WTF is this doing on an Exchange exam?
I’m taking a break for a little while on certifications I think. I do have to think about renewing my Cisco Wireless certs here next year sometime.
Christopher Budd over on the Microsoft Security Response Center posted this information about the IE Security vulnerability that was reported by everyone and their in laws today…
We’ve just published our Advance Notification for an out-of-band security bulletin release. We plan to release the security update tomorrow, Dec. 17, 2008 to address the vulnerability we’ve discussed in Microsoft Security Advisory 961051. Our target time, as always, is 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. We’ll be holding two special webcasts to give you details and take your questions.
· December 17, 2008 1:00 PM Pacific Time
· December 18,2008 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Apparently this vulnerability only affects about 1-2 percent of all websites, but I’m sure that number will grow as the exploits manifest. Either way, don’t mess around, get the patch.
OK, after this I promise to give your RSS reader a rest. 
A few days ago, before I was about to make a call to the ACLU, Aaron Tiensivu’s blog informed me that Vista/Server 2008 SP2 beta was released to the public.
The link to the changes is here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335036.aspx?ppud=4
A quick synopsis from the Technet article:
Thanks to the rich instrumentation capability of Windows operating systems, we are able to understand the types of issues that our customers experience while respecting their personal information and privacy preferences. We use this information to focus improvements in Windows, but we also share this information with our software vendor partners to help improve the reliability and compatibility of non-Microsoft applications. For example, in Windows Vista SP2, Spysweeper and ZoneAlarm, now work with POP3 e-mail accounts.
Our goal for Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 is that applications that are written by using public APIs and that run on the Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 operating systems will continue to work as designed.
Microsoft has already released several application compatibility updates which allow more applications to work seamlessly for the end user. These appear in Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2, but they are also available through Windows Update. Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 contain additional application compatibility fixes for individual applications.
For more information about previously released compatibility updates, refer to article 947562 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=128900.
The SP2 standalone installer:
SP2 also includes a Service Pack Clean-up tool (Compcln.exe) which helps restore the hard disk space by permanently deleting the previous versions of the files (RTM and SP1) that are being serviced by SP2. The Pack Clean up tool can also be run offline while creating slipstream images to reduce the size of the image.
Want the bits? Fetch!
Five Language SP2 Standalone
ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
x86 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86
x64 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64
IA64 for Windows Server 2008 ia64
I’d like to blame the site being down for the past few days on my host Dreamhost, but I can’t. Dreamhost has been stellar to me for almost 10 years now.
I could blame the cold weather and snow too, but the site is hosted in Southern California so nope, that’s not going to fly either.
Let’s just say I had some technical difficulties while struggling with the First Amendment.
I will say that the time down has made me think about retooling this site a little bit and maybe spawning off a site for the Techie Stuff and keeping this one for my seemingly unpopular personal opinions. So you’ll see some changes here over the next few weeks once the inspiration hits.
And if you’re reading, let me know. You don’t even have to give your name, just a shout to say what’s up.
No need to reply Randy, I already know you’re reading every word I write. 
At first I thought it was just a weird issue with my laptop, but I’ve been through 2 laptops, 3 rebuilds and now Vista SP2 beta and it still happened. Google was not my friend in this case so I went digging to find the answer.
It was the “Send to Bluetooth” plug-in for Office 2007. I didn’t even realize that had a use.
If you’re experiencing this error, and don’t need to use the Send to Bluetooth function, just disable it in each Office application by going to the Options Menu, Manage: COM add-ins and uncheck Send to Bluetooth.
There is also a second fix for Word 2007 as well. Like a bad troubleshooter, I did both at the same time. I know…
1. Start Regedit.
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data
3. Right mouse click on the “Data” folder and delete it.
4. Close Regedit.
I’ve finally gotten my hands on the new Guns & Roses record, Chinese Democracy. The Use Your Illusion albums were the soundtrack of my teen years thanks to my old friend Brian Prigge. We listened to those CD’s over and over in his 79 Monte Carlo. Good times…
Now I’ll admit, I wasn’t going into it expecting the old GNR of Izzy, Slash, Axl and crew so I wasn’t very optimistic. I read most of the press about this album for the past 11 or so years and heard about the cavalcade of musicians that were in and out of this record and wasn’t expecting much.
But… I will say this, it’s not bad. The *** stars that everyone is giving it is fair. I might give it *** 3/4 when I get a few more listens. It’s been on repeat most of the day here in my office so it’s gotten a workout. The album starts of strong with the title track “Chinese Democracy” which took a few listens for me to really start to like. It like the rest of the album is very layered and sounds like it took 11 years to make. The second track “Shackler’s Revenge” is my least favorite track and is about to be bounced from my ITunes playlist. Axl, please don’t let Buckethead write any more songs…
The rest of the album is what is growing on me slowly. I had heard “Better” when it was “leaked” last year and thought it was a strong track. Might be the best one on the entire album when all said and done. I’ve heard it at least twice on XM now. Other very notable tracks include “Street of Dreams”, “Sorry”, “Catcher in the Rye”, the epic “Madagascar” and “Prostitute” which almost sounds 3 Doors Down-ish.
If you’re on the fence as to whether to buy the album or not, think of it this way. If you bought “The Spaghetti Incident” and liked it, you’ll LOVE this. If you bought that album and hated it, you’ll still LIKE this album. I for one HATED The Spaghetti Incident and gave it to my stinky Air Force dorm roommate after 1/2 a listen. It was THAT bad. Go get it, and listen to it on a long trip or two. I think you’ll be glad you did.
I just scheduled the 70-238 (PRO: Deploying Messaging Solutions using Exchange Server 2007) today for next Thursday. After I pass that exam (though I’m a little worried about this one), I will earn my second MCITP certification.
I’d take a break after that, but I probably should renew my Cisco wireless cert (CCNA: Wireless?) and think about SQL and SBS 2008.