Windows Phone: Round 2

When Samsung put out the Focus Flash in November of last year, I jumped on it. I was excited to try out the Windows Phone OS and while I still miss the real keyboard that I used to have on my Blackberry Curve, I’ve adjusted.

Form factor is a big deal for me when it comes to a mobile device. While I don’t always type with one hand, I like to have the option so I can reply to text messages and make calls while holding a coffee or walking my dog. Since my company primarily uses AT&T for mobile phones, the Samsung Focus Flash was the smallest device available, mirroring the form factor of the iPhone and I can work the keyboard without too much issue one-handed. I loved it.

I honestly love the Windows Phone OS. Everyone who asks, I tell them that killer features is the People Hub. No need to remember if your loved one sent you an email or a text with that valuable tidbit you need to reference – it’s all there in the history.

Feeling the pressure of the firehose of data coming at you via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Worry no more… create some groups for your key people so you don’t miss the highlights and peruse the other postings later. It’s wonderful.

I was pretty sure I had landed the perfect combination of phone OS and phone hardware for my needs. And then the crashing started.

Turns out lots of people with the Focus Flash were experience the “SMS of Death” issue. Attributed to the proximity sensor or some other such nonsense, random text messages would lock up the device entirely, requiring a battery pull to reset the phone. I read a lot of the forums regarding the issue, but when push came to shove, it just seemed to be an issue with this particular phone and there wasn’t a good solution.

I lived with it for a while. The Windows Phone rebooted so quickly that the battery pull wasn’t a big deal in the beginning. Sometimes I could read enough of the txt to not have to bug the sender to repeat themselves. And then it got annoying. And tedious.

So I started looking for other Windows Phone options. And they are all huge. Sure I’d love a Lumia 900 or an HTC Titan or whatever. But they just seem too big. So I managed – the pros of Windows Phone still outweighted the trouble with the Focus Flash.

Then quietly, I notice that you couldn’t buy new Focus Flash phones anymore. Instead of directly addressing the issue, it seems Samsung just decided to stop making the phone. In mid-May they started offering the Focus 2, which is a bit of a combination of the original Focus and the Focus Flash. The form factor is still small, just a bit bigger than the Flash and more rounded. And white. Very white.

So I jumped again this week. I figured I’d road test it at TechEd. At best, I’d have a solid phone that didn’t crash. At worst, I’d have a phone that wasn’t any better or worse than the previous one. Stay tuned.

End of the Month Round Up

I’m looking forward to attending TechEd in Orlando in two weeks. If you haven’t already signed up to attend, it might actually be too late! TechEd is sold out this year and they are accepting names for the waiting list only at this time. I imagine it will be a crazy time, filled with lots of learning and networking with peers.

I won’t be speaking this year, but that just gives me more time to attend some of the great sessions – I’ll be concentrating on Active Directory in Server 2012, Exchange 2010, PowerShell and some System Center.

If you are hoping for something more local to your home town, check out the Windows Server 2012 Community Roadshow. US locations will include Houston, Chicago, Irvine, New York and San Jose, just to name a few. Microsoft MVPs will be presenting the content, so don’t miss out a free chance to prepare for the release of Server 2012.

Another notable event that’s upcoming is the World IPv6 Launch. Check out which major ISPs and web companies are turning on IPv6 for the duration.

Finally, if you are looking to make some improvements to your personal, cloud-based storage and file management for your personal computers, take a look at SugarSync. I’ve been using it for several years and it’s been an easy way for me to access files from multiple computers and keep everything synced and backed up. I’ve even got a link for a referral if you’d like to try it out.

Supporting Women in Technology

I’m a bad “Woman in Technology”. I know this.

There’s been a lot of chatter lately about Women in Technology, Women in Business… particularly with the responses to the whole “Dell” thing and what not. But on many levels, I just don’t care.

Yes, there, I said it. I’ve got too many other things to concentrate on than to get stressed out about some sideways glace or inappropriate comment. That being said, no one needs to be harrassed at work, or their ideas discounted because of a difference in their sex. And some people are just crude and insensitive.

Sure it can be rough breaking into a male-dominated field. It can be hard working in a male-dominated company. It would be great if women were equally represented in every area. But most days I’d rather just concentrate on doing my job as well as I can.

But I do know that I’m “bad” at actively supporting women in technology and I like work to improve on that. So I make sure that I spend time recognizing and appreciating what women can and have accomplished.

One of the ways I do this is by attending conferences geared toward women. They open me up to the accomplishments of other women, expose me to great female speakers and give me a chance to learn about the challenges and successes faced by many in their professional lives.

Last week, I attended the conference put on by the Professional BusinessWomen of California, at the Moscone center in San Francisco. This was my first time attending this event and I was impressed with the number of women in attendance and the quality of the content and speakers.

While not technology focused, the sessions were inspiring and informational to women in any field. Using Gender Intelligence to Build Credibilty, Balancing Your Life in Your “War Zones” and Negotiating With Confidence were just some of the topics covered.

Another annual conference that I’ve attended and mentioned before is She’s Geeky. Usually held over a weekend, this event brings to together women who have interests in STEM fields to network and talk about the things that interest them. It’s a great opportunity to learn something novel or try your hand at running a session of your own.

Check out their websites and watch for upcoming events. You’ll probably be impressed – I always am.

Also, if you’ll be at TechEd in Orlando this year, reach out to Jessica DeVita of UberGeekGirl. She has some great ideas around bring women together to mentor other women. Check out her recent blog post about what she’d like to accomplish.

For Some of Those Women in Tech…

You might want to check out the Women Who Tech Teleconference, which is taking place via phone/web on May 23rd. For a nominal fee, you can attend several panel discussions revolving around programming/development and entrepreneurship.

The topic list isn’t geared toward “Women Who SysAdmin”, but I might find myself there just to check out the discussion on Digital Rights and Online Privacy. One of the panelist is Kaliya Hamlin, the founder of She’s Geeky, which is a favorite conference of mine for women.

So check it out and see if it’s up your alley!

Using Email Categories Within An Exchange Organization

Do you use the categories feature in Outlook to identify your mail? If so, you might want that category information to be passed to others in your organization. Starting with Exchange 2007, all categories get stripped from sent messages. Below is the PowerShell you can run to ensure that the category information stays put.

set-transportconfig -clearcategories $false

To turn it off again, change the flag to $true.

Upcoming May Events – Password Stealing; Windows Deployment

Pacific IT Professionals May Meeting – On May 8th This Month!
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 – 6:30pm
Topic: Sam Bowne – CCSF Professor and CISSP will be presenting on Stealing Passwords Remotely & Malware Analysis. Join us to hear Sam talk about Stealing Passwords Remotely & Malware Analysis – it should be a great technical security discussion meeting where you can ask questions and hear some interesting things about Malware and password security.

Please remember to RSVP if you’ll be attending.

Also a few upcoming events from Microsoft –

TechNet Webcast: Everything You Wanted to Know and Ask about Windows Deployment (Part 1)
Registration URL: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9807963 or http://bit.ly/JLTQLM
Date/ Time: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 – 9-10am (Pacific)
Abstract: In this demonstration-rich, question and answer webcast, Windows Product Manager Stephen Rose moderates an open conversation with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Product Manager Michael Niehaus and deployment guru Johan Arwidmark. They discuss the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 release as well as tips and tricks from the experts about using the Windows Deployment Toolkit.

TechNet Webcast: Everything You Wanted to Know and Ask about Windows Deployment (Part 2)
Registration URL: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9807964 or http://bit.ly/Kgny8y
Date/ Time: Thursday, May 17, 2012 – 9-10am (Pacific)
Abstract: In this demonstration-rich, question and answer webcast, Windows Product Manager Stephen Rose moderates an open conversation with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Product Manager Michael Niehaus and deployment guru Johan Arwidmark. They discuss the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 release as well as tips and tricks from the experts about using the Windows Deployment Toolkit.

Surprise – You Might Have a New Certification!

Last week, Microsoft announced some new changes with the certification program, particularly bringing back the MCSE title for Cloud technologies. MCSE now stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert instead of the older Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. And the related certification, the MSCA has also been updated.

With all these new changes the exams associated with the achievement of these new titles has been adjusted slightly, which may mean you might just be an new MSCA without even trying.

Yesterday, I got an email congratulating me on my recent certification, the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate for Windows Server 2008. That was a fun surprise, so congrats to any other newly minted MSCAs out there!

To find out more about the new certification offerings go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-overview.aspx

Interested in Learning More about Windows Phone?

Go “Behind the Tiles” and learn more about the “Metro” style interface and the future with Windows Phone at your local Best Buy!

Attend a Nokia Lumia 900 instructor-led demo lab
Get the latest information on Windows Phone for IT and Developers
Play with some of the latest and greatest Windows Phones
Network with peers and Windows Phone experts
Have a chance to win great prizes

Food and beverages will be provided to help you recharge your battery.

The number of attendees at each event is limited, so don’t delay. Register today (registration code: MVP) to join in. Dates vary by location from April 23rd to May 17th.

Participating Best Buy locations include:

Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Dallas and Houston, TX
Minneapolis, MN
Irvine, San Diego and San Francisco, CA
New York, NY
Portland, OR
Redmond, WA
Waltham, MA

Junk Mail Settings via GPO & Exchange 2010

One of my most popular blog posts is “Control Outlook 2007 Junk Mail Settings via GPO“. I’ve used this policy and corresponding text file for nearly two years now, without any issues.

And then I upgraded the mail server to Exchange 2010 SP1.

It was reported to me (and the “interwebs” confirm) that the import and processing of the text file for the “safe senders” has a bit of a special “feature”. If you have any addresses on the list that match your internal domain, they are removed a few minutes after the import happens. And if you manually add any internal domain addresses to the safe senders list, they disappear too. This happens with the Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 client.

There is quite an extensive forum posting about the issue from early 2011 that you can check out. It includes some PowerShell to adjust transport rules so that domain mail has a reduced spam level. I haven’t tried that though, as this issue isn’t mission critical for our office.

But if you or your end users have noticed this behavior, it isn’t insanity. It’s just not working the way it did with Exchange 2003.

You Don’t Have to Be Bored in Mid-March!

There are several exciting events this month that I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out on.

TechDays SF – 3/22 and 3/23, San Francisco, CA

Is TechEd North America too far away? Do you not have the training and travel budget you hoped for this year? Maybe you are looking for a local event that more than one of the IT Pros in your company can attend… Look no further – TechDays SF is on March 22nd and 23rd, located in downtown San Francisco. Don’t miss out on this great event for IT Professionals!

Speakers and Topics will include:

Stephen Rose (Microsoft) – Windows 7 Deployment
Harold Wong (Microsoft) – Exchange 2010 and Lync
Joey Snow (Microsoft) – How the Cloud will Impact IT Pros
Chris Avis (Microsoft) – System Center
Mark Minasi (Microsoft MVP, Author)- 10 Things to Know about Windows 2008 R2 Server; Windows 8 Server
Darren Mar-Elia (Microsoft MVP, Author) – Best Practice for Group Policy Design
Jason Helmick (Author) – Powershell Beginner and Advanced
Richard Hicks (Microsoft MVP) – DirectAccess; Microsoft Forefront
Steven Evans (Microsoft MVP) – IIS 7 for IT Pros; Windows Failover Clustering
Chris Henley (Veeam Software, Author) – Backup Solutions
CA Callahan (Author) – SharePoint

… And many more, check out the speakers (http://techdays.org/speakers) and session abstracts (http://techdays.org/techdays-sf-sessions/) for more information. This fabulous two-day line up is only $300 if you sign up now. Register at http://www.techdays.org/, early bird pricing ends soon!

Microsoft VIP Event – 3/18, Santa Clara Microsoft Store, 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd

See Windows 8 at a private VIP after-hours evening gathering at the local Microsoft Store. Play with Windows 8 in an immersive environment while we celebrate, network, and talk modern apps. Experience new Metro style gadgets that revolutionize a whole new generation of cool.

Microsoft IT Camp – 3/19, Mountain View, CA

IT Camps are semi-structured, no-fluff events exclusively designed to serve IT professionals. They are a free, in-person learning event for anyone seeking professional development as it applies to IT Professionals. The agenda is intended to deliver a technical overview and hands-on experience that is less formal or structured than traditional instructor-led training.

Participants will have a chance to perform hands on activities / exercises individually or as a team. At the end of the day, we encourage everyone to share their thoughts and experiences with the rest of the group. Come prepared to have fun, be excited, and interact in a group.