Hi there! So you got an error message like below?

Internet Explorer 8 is not supported on this operating system

What does it mean? Two big reasons…

A) You had downloaded the wrong version of IE8.

You might have downloaded the 64bit version rather then the 32bit version or the Windows XP version when you have Vista installed. Go back to Microsoft download page and find the correct version.

B) You are using Windows 7 of which Microsoft has not released IE8 for it yet. From Microsoft’s website …

Windows 7 Beta already includes a pre-release candidate version of Internet Explorer 8 that is optimized for that release. Windows 7 enables unique features and functionality in Internet Explorer 8 including Windows Touch and Jump Lists which require additional product tests to ensure we are providing the best Windows experience for our customers. We will continue to update the version of Internet Explorer 8 running on Windows 7 as the development cycles of Windows 7 progress and plan to include the final version of Internet Explorer 8 in the release candidate version of Windows 7 later this year. For the latest information on Windows 7, visit the Windows 7 site.

Hi!

Here is a tip… well two tips.

A) If you have large exchange accounts - make sure you have increased the default limits of the new Exchange server to support the accounts you are moving. You might need to reboot for this to take effect (it did not seem to take effect straight away for me)

On Exchange 2007 - do the following …
Open Exchange Management Console, expand Server Configuration, click Mailbox and then right click Mailbox Database under the relevant Storage Group and click properties. Under limits - adjust the settings to suit your organization. These numbers are in KB (Kilobytes)

Just FYI:
1,000 KB = 1 MB
10,000 KB = 10 MB
100,000 KB = 100 MB
1,000,000 KB = 1,000 MB (1GB)
10,000,000 KB = 10,000 MB (10GB)
100,000,000 KB = 100,000 MB (100GB)

The default is 2 GB which is pretty low these days. Maybe not for a new Exchange deployment, but if you are doing a migration/upgrade - then you will probably need to update the numbers.

B) If you are going from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 - do a migration on the same server (Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2003) to a different Storage Group / Mailbox Store. This will allow Exchange 2003 to rebuild the database which will help reduce any corrupted messages when you do the second move to Exchange 2007.

An example of this would be to do the following …

On Exchange 2003 - Open Exchange System Manager and then make sure you have the Administration Groups/Routing Groups Enabled/Shown (Right click the root of Exchange System Manager (ie, usually it is displayed as your company name)) and click properties. Click ‘Display routing groups’ and click OK. You should now see something called Administration Groups. Expand this.

You will then have your Server name and then your Storage groups. Under your storage groups (ie, First Storage Group), right click and click New and then Mailbox Storage. Name it as temp or something similar. Create it in a location which has enough storage. Id say a different physical hard drive to help increase performance. After it has been created - it may take up to 15 minutes or so for AD to replicate (you might get an error so just wait).

Once done and the above is mounted - in the original storage group, right click on a mailbox (or several) and click Exchange Tasks. A wizard will come up. Select move, and then select the current Exchange server and then specify the new storage group you had created above. Afterwards when all the accounts have been moved - you can then use Exchange 2007 to move the mail boxes to the new server.

Even if you think your Exchange server is clean - save yourself some headaches and do the above first.

Now for client desktop settings… If they are using Outlook to connect via Exchange mode - then you might not have to do anything at all. The Exchange settings are stored in AD - so when Outlook opens after the migration, it see’s there is a new server and will connect without user intervention. You might have some issues if you have a client installed, like ActiveSync of which you may need to reboot / make sure no Outlook tasks are in Task Manager.

Overall - Migrations from Exchange 2003 to 2007 is not that hard. Just make sure you put time into it to find out any possible issues before you go live and of course, make sure you have a known good backup of your Exchange data! Plan for a long time - id say 24 hours per 100 GB of email (transfers will take less time.. but better to be safe, case you need to manually transfer accounts or have issues). So - a normal weekend for up to 150GB of email or a long weekend (Easter for example) if you have up to 300GB of email. If you have more… well good luck and happy working of Christmas! 

So - I got an email from eBay… I think… and it goes something like the below… (see attached image at the bottom also)

Hi Alan J Lee,

eBay wants to hear what you have to say about eBay.com.au – its features, policies, changes, fees and what you like or dislike about buying and selling on the website. That’s why we’ve created eSayers, the eBay.com.au member panel where you have the chance to give us, the eBay team, feedback on a number of topics that affect everyone who buys and sells on Australia’s leading online marketplace.

We’re looking to have around 15,000 people join eSayers, so if you’d like to have your voice heard sign up now. PLUS just by being an active eSayer and answering our regular surveys, you’ll have the chance to win great prizes and get access to special offers along the way.

Don’t miss out on having your say: Join eSayers now

More information

Who is this email from?
This email is being sent by i-Link Research Solutions on behalf of eBay.
eBay provided your name and contact details for the purposes of sending this invitation. Your contact details will not be kept by i-Link Research Solutions.

How can I check if this is a legitimate email?
If you’d like to confirm the authenticity of this email, forward it to spoof@ebay.com.au.

What if I have questions about eSayers?

If you have any questions about eSayers, contact support@esayers.com.au

So - do I trust it?  I got a few things to say to them… I should sign up - it is only my email address.. haha… these ‘Bidder 2′ things and double dipping re ebay fee’s/paypal and limits on posting similar/branded items … Hotmail makes it a little hard to view the source details of the email (ie, mail servers) but that probably wont help as it would have been a third party working for eBay sending it out (would have worked 10 years ago!)

(As I write this - google is showing no real info about the email… )

Update 1:  I filled it in etc… pretty basic stuff in it… would love to have a comments or feedback section but they did not have it.  They did not talk about anything like the Paypal requirments or the changes to how bidders are seen on their site (ie, Bidder 1, Bidder 2).  Oh well… I signed up… hopefully they will send something else in the future where I can give more feedback!

Update2:  Yes it all is legit.  I got another mail from them yesterday and filled that in also.  Now they are offering a chance of winning some cash!  Fingers crossed… could do with a few extra bucks

 So - I got one on my desk today to setup for someone (Acer Aspire One).  Stright away - taking it out of its box… it almost falls to the ground!  It is a weird box to open since it kind of all folds open rather then open at the top like a normal laptop.  So be careful to open it for the first time… see two pictures below… first one before opening and second one is how it opens (to the side) so that it will fall out if you are not careful!

Second… turning it on for the first time etc - the mouse takes a little getting used to (the buttons are on the left/right of the pad) so you might want to plug in a USB mouse.  After ~10 minutes of using it - I am more used to it now but I find myself double tapping on the mouse pad.

Due to a little lack of room on my desk (cough, should clean it sometime…) the power pack is pretty close to my wrist (also the fact I have not untangled the power cable 100%)and it is pretty warm.  Maybe a little too warm?  

Performance so far.. it is good.  I am doing windows updates on it as I write this and then will be chucking on Office 2003 plus ensure other things like acrobat reader and flash etc.  1GB of ram on Windows XP home is alright.  You wont be able to connect it to the corporate network as it is not a ‘pro’ version of windows (ie, XP Pro or Vista Business).  I dont think Vista will be a good idea, even with additional memory.  The sales guy gave us a Bluetooth mouse with it… but the unit does not have Bluetooth… doh!

The keyboard is a little hard to use.  But maybe that is just me?  I have not really used a smaller machine/keyboard before so I am not realy used to it at the moment.  It feels a little cheap?  But then - it is a cheaper machine.  For storing photo’s while you are on holiday, quick access to email or anything else which does not really require a really powerful machine I think it will be perfect.  No need to lug around a 2 1/2 kg machine.

Gosh… a little annoyed here. Bread (as in the stuff you eat, with something like cheese or peanut butter) seems to be getting stale faster and faster. After two days, it is almost uneatable. I do not store it in the fridge or out in the open w/ the sun. I either freeze it as soon as I get it home or chuck it in the cupboard for most of it’s short life. I find white bread is the worst, and the brown versions last a little longer. Have they changed something? Do they make it go stale faster in the attempt for you to buy more? Is it just me and where I live? Am I doing something wrong? Should I be eating it faster? 

 So - I started to install Windows 7 at work (the current build Microsoft released to the public a few days back).

So far I like it.  The actual install was similar to Windows Vista with the screen layouts/choices/options.  Installing was a little quicker I feel.  Afterwards - you are presented with the new Windows 7 desktop.  

I installed Microsoft Office 2003 (no Service Packs yet) and synced my Outlook.

I installed Microsoft SQL Server 2008 DEV edition (Mainly for the SQL client management tools).

Surfed the Internet a little under IE8 (www.smh.com.au dosnt work that well) but everything else so far is alright.

Tomorrow will be more setup/adjustments and see how it works with other things and in a day-to-day situation with work.  I still have my older install of Windows 2008 to fall back upon if needed.\

Update1:  Remote Administrator thingies click here

Once downloaded and installed (it took a few minutes of ‘doing nothing’ for me but completed without problems - you can then enter Programs and Features - and enable the tasks you are looking for under ‘Remote Server Administraton Tools’.  ie, you can add remote desktops via MMC or Active Directory tools or Hyper-V things.

Update2:  Chrome has it’s issues.  It will install after a few warnings and then once you open it - it kind of does nothing. A work around is to add “ –in-process-plugins “  (note the double –) to the startup of Chrome (right click, properties and adjust the target field - you might need to add ” to the program location).  Listed in several places on the Internet already like here and here

 Welcome to 2008, or is that 1708?  Might as well be 1708 with the lack of English (and probably other languages, but I can’t speak anything other than English!) skills found on the Internet.   Sure I might not have the best spoken or written English in the world – but it seems I am a billion times or so better than many other examples I can find.

I am constantly seeing things like ‘wen/wat/wud/wif’ rather than ‘when/what/would/with’ or ‘any1’ rather than ’anyone’.  What is up with that?  Yes this is a rant!  But I feel something is wrong.  Maybe not a huge issue, as I am sure most people on the Internet these days will understand such shortened versions of, but what happens in a few years when your online aviator/profile meets your real life profile?  Looking for a job somewhere, and your possible future boss google’s you and finds all of these childish postings and websites/pages on the Internet?  Down go your chances of scoring that job!

I can see several reasons for this… probably the biggest, is age.  Yes – it is probably a 12 year old sitting on their parent’s computer after school mucking around, and trying to look cool in front of their online friends.  But why are we seeing it more?  I can only guess it is because the Internet today is a dozen more times accessible to almost everyone then what it was a few years back.  I doubt it would be an adult who has just left University – well I hope not!  I feel it is the younger generating with higher/unrestricted access to the Internet due to the kids being bought.  This could be because they have been bought up with the Internet and as such are the new generation of Internet users.  They see it as more of a way to socialise with others then as a business tool.  I guess they also feel anonymous on the Internet, behind possible fake details.  They feel they know everything – like that 14 year old that drives his mum’s car at 2am in the morning.

Another big reason could be mobile devices.  It started with SMS (which later because ‘TEXT’) messages from mobile phones.  You had 140 characters to put together a meaningful message.  And as such, people took shortcuts.  ‘you’ became ‘u’ and ‘today’ became ‘2day’ for example. Doing this could save space within a message so it can be transferred a single message rather than as two, and as such – save a few bucks and time per month.  This could also be extended to mobile devices which are on the Internet, such as the new Nokia phones/iPhone’s etc.  They have a small keypad/keyboard and screen – making larger posts almost impossible.  But then I don’t think these devices were created to post an entire page on a forum somewhere and as such, could be accepted for smaller posts.  If they could auto correct common slang…

But then again, it could be all of this ‘meme’ stuff.  One person sees it and tries to out-do the next and so starts the cycle.  Trying to be-little/flame others to try and make themselves to a higher position then the prior.  

It cannot be a teaching issue because I am sure everyone who has an IQ above 70 will know a number is not in a word – anywhere.  They don’t teach slang like ‘wut’ at school, and I am sure our wonderful teachers everywhere in the world would shoot down someone who submitted something like that or used it anywhere in class. 

How can we resolve it?  I guess by making it seem like a bad thing but I don’t see that happening for a long time.  You can see forum posts asking for information/sales details of a product/service, and the replies are in perfect English and the requester’s post is in this Internet limbo English thingy which looks stupid.  The repliers have had made no effort in pushing the original poster to correct themselves.  We need to make it seem to be unacceptable that bad English (and of course other languages) is used to community to others.  Sure, we could do things like to include ‘any1’ in a spell check to be corrected to ‘anyone’.  This will still cause people to use slang, but it will reduce the visible effect of it on the Internet.  But this isn’t a solution to this possible issue.  Well – is it even an issue?  What do you think?

Where else is slang like this used?  Is it used in love mail to other people?  Is it used in email?  Is it used on a high school project or proposal to your boss?  Some yes and some no. I doubt anyone would send something to a boss or school project without a spell check so why can’t do it on the Internet?  Do you have any examples?  Do you know of any reason why it seems to be more and more common today?  Is it an age thing?  Do you do it?  What do you think should be done, if anything?

Here are some examples I have found on forums regarding bag language and how it seems to be accepted.  I will update it as I find more.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1062154&p=1

 What is up with spam these days to blogs etc… normally I get ~10 a week to my site, which I block so they dont even come up - after the end of the weekend just been (weekend of 18th Oct 2008), I had around 40 alone!  Grrr annoying, I need to click ‘mark as spam’ 40 times! My poor finger gah!

 o, I have creating a new zone on our DNS servers (Microsoft DNS) and while creating the zone on the secondary DNS server - I had the error below.

Title:    DNS
Error:   The data on the secondary zone failed to set.  The IP address is invalid.

So - after a few minutes… I worked out the issue.  It was related to the IP address I had assigned the zone.  I had assigned the secondary DNS server’s primary IP address to the IP address of the master (ie, it was checking itself to do the transfer… rather then looking at the master).  I couldnt work it out stright away - I had just done two other domains and they worked without issues.  I guess time for more coffee.

I am following @HadronWatch on Twitter.

The time is 1:08PM EST in Sydney… and we are still alive… no black hole! Maybe it has already happened and the black hole has bent time/space? Maybe they are in +35 GMT or something now?

Some links…

What is a Hadron Collider?

What is the worst that can happen?

Some webcam’s here

Popcorn instructions

A really big CMS system (similar to where I work)

(The above links, besides where I work - came from http://twitter.com/HadronWatch)

Oh a countdown until it starts… or finish?

Update:  Well - still around… I think?  Are we?  Did it blow up the world?