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December 20

MOSS Command Line install

I think back on the planning for MOSS and while there was much in the way of custom site design, taxonomy and capacity planning there was little planning for the install of the product other than by way of the Microsoft documentation. It seemed to me at the time that it was pretty straight forward to install the product using thise guides.

 

While that documentation is pretty good, it does not address one of the fundamental issues that crop up after the initial install. When you install the MOSS product, the GUI allows you to specifically name each database EXCEPT the config db. That DB will be named Sharepoint_configDB{guid} and while you could probably live with one DB named in that way, most DBA's would not be happy about it.  Since MOSS is based on a SQL backend, you probably want to keep your DBA happy, and if you are the DBA as well as Sharepoint admin, you will prefer this install procedure.

 

In addition to leaving the install in a nicely named condition, I believe that the more important reason for using the command line install is that it makes the install of MOSS easily reproducable. In the event of a crash or the need to set up more than one farm, the MOSS command line comes in very useful.

 

In my setup readme document, I go over some very basic info, such as how to determine the version level of an existing farm which experienced admins will already know but it is really geared for someone installing for the first time. View the readme file (pdf) for the instructions on the install and download the install command line files in a zipped file.

 



6:36 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 31

My inner aversion

I am the geek of my household. Everyone knows it, they all come to me to ask questions about computers. Notice I said about “computers” and noticeably NOT gadgets. I have never aspired to the what the public thinks is sexy in an electronic geegaw. Is it is an blank spot in my education or the internal struggle between what is popular and what I can tolerate? 

Lets take the case of the iPhone. Neat little device, very handy I am sure, would not turn one down if it was provided to me (which it appears my work will be doing in the near term much to the chagrin of my iChild) but is it something I could not live without? I don’t think so. I have never really gotten the appeal of the handheld device. The screens are much smaller than I would want, the battery life is usually abysmal and the features overwhelming.  I believe that a phone should do one thing 100% reliably and that is make and receive calls.  I am also sure that the various wireless carriers would tell you in cool, advertising rhetoric that they have the best coverage, etc. Tell that to me when I cannot get a signal out in the wilds of Pelion, SC and I may slap you upside the iFace with an appropriate make of phone.

Don’t misunderstand me however. I love electronics of all sorts, from the blu-ray disk to the digital slr to the near useless netbook, I buy into the whole urban myth of Americana, that things make you happy; perhaps that it’s entirely patriotic to run out to Best Buy and buy a new TV. I just have an inner aversion to small handheld gadgets that everyone seems to want these days. Or maybe, it’s not so much an aversion to the products as to the time it takes away from the more important devices in my life, like a real computer. Maybe I am afraid of the addictive properties of said handhelds, or maybe I am just full of crap.

Either way, I would not turn one down if offered….



8:17 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 22

An open question about Mr. Sanford

I don't pretend to know the whole truth, only that which I glean as everyone else does. The facts have been public knowledge for the last few weeks. More details than perhaps you and I would prefer to know, sometimes in excruciating detail. I wont go over every detail but there are items that I feel need to be addressed.

The fact that our Governor paid $8000 back to the state of SC bothers me. It has been said it was for appearances sake. I ask you in all honesty, would you pay that much money back just because of embarrassment? Or because you thought it was expected? Most people of the state of SC do not have that kind of money to just to make a statement.

But was it a statement or restitution? If it was a statement, as posited by Mr. Sanford, then what was his purpose? If it was to make the people of SC believe in him again, I am afraid that has not worked. If it was to save political face, then the fact that his own party has turned on him with some asking for his resignation, is evidence that has not worked either. If, in fact, it was restitution then the next item is very relevent to the discussion.

The SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) investigation took two days to conclude. In that time they could find no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The State Newspaper has FOI’d at least 600 pages of phone calls and documents from the state house in Columbia with presumably more to come. Did SLED look at these documents during the 48 hours the investigation took? Was there time to do so or was the fact that the Governor is their (SLED’s) boss have a detrimental effect on the outcome of the probe? I would suggest, for the good of the state and country, that the FBI look into what was done and how. If it is a case of the fox guarding the henhouse then the only possible way out of any assumption of coercion by Mr. Sanford would be to have the federal authorities look into the case.

If the FBI clears the case with no criminal wrongdoing uncovered then I say lets drop it and move on. Governor Sanford can then continue his term of office with only the barbs and jabs of the press to contend with, and probably the same from Jenny.



5:12 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 06

On spam, stupidity and forms....

Einstein once said "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." And where the internet is concerned I am in complete agreement. I say this because I started getting porn links from the contact us page I had posted on the site. The ignorance of that is beyond words since the only place that the email was going was directly to me. So of course I had to take the contact us form off the site.

What is the point really? Do these people get some kind of sick joy out of it?

Do they get paid by the irritation? Because if they do, they should be rich. I think it's just the pissy side of humanity coming out, the side that secretly roots for auto crashes or wants to fondle little girls. Or maybe its not so secret, given that they are sending porn links.

Spam is an unknown quantity to me, not sure how anyone would make money spamming. Or what kind of person would do so. And you know I know the difference between sending out a single unsolicited email trying to sell me something and real spam.

 

So for now the a*holes have won the battle. I give in, and take the contact us down. My wish would be that I could have a software torpedo that I could send back along the line to give you, the true spammer, a really special experience.

 



2:15 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

Product Bling
Manufacturers seem to think that all products must do more in order to make them worthwhile to the buying public. Take the case of an Sharp copier that connects to the internet. The ad indicates that the user might want to print out directions to an eating establishment for their clients. I have multiple problems with this. First, Can you imagine having to wait at the copier while another employee surfs the web to find just the right restaurant and then print out the directions? The copier lets you connect to your network and print files directly from the copier, in our case that could cause long lines since we have terabytes of documents and it is doubtful that the user would know BEFORE walking to the copier, where the document is located on the network.
 
Another issue, is this how people actually work? I say no. I work in an office and 99.9% of the time the information workers will look something up from their desk and print it at the printer, then get up and go get it. So, is there really a market for copiers that do this or is it something someone dreamed up to make their copier stand out from the rest?
 
This is an example of "Product bling"; the addition of features that don't increase the usefullness of the product but increase complexity. I see it as a crisis in confidence of the product. When a manufacturer cannot find ways to sell their product that differentiate them from the others, they throw this "Product bling" into the product. A PR type says "lets add an ironing board to the toaster, that will set us apart" and the engineer thinks, "is that such a good idea?" but says "OK , we can do that" since that is what the engineer is paid to do.
 
The example of the copier is just one of many, I am sure if you begin to look at products and what they are capable of now you can name 5 in the next 5 minutes that are the same way. I would love to make the suggestion that manufacturers pull out the un-necessary options in their products, make them more user-friendly, make them more modular and easier to maintain and above all, less costly. If a manufacturer could do that, then they would have something to brag about in their ads.


11:09 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)