Outside the box

Today is December 31, 2006. Besides being New Year’s Eve, it is also the day that Windows Defender leaves beta (apparently). I uninstalled the beta and attempted to install the latest version. I quickly found out that MS does not allow it to be installed on a Windows version below XP. I understand that they can support and de-support any product they like. However, I find it just a bit hypocritical to allow you to beta test a product, providing feedback to them, but you cannot run the non-beta on the SAME version. Oh well, I’ll get it over.

For the past year or so, I have been experimenting with Voice Over IP (often abbreviated as VOIP or VoIP). I have tested a number of providers, services and hardware solutions. Over time, I plan to cover many of these in more detailed posts. For this post, I would like to cover what, I think, is useful to the average home user.

To handle USA & Canada calling, I would suggest Skype. Skype is running an unlimited calling deal for one year for 29.95 USD (http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/). Until January 31, 2007, the deal is HALF PRICE, $14.95. I signed up the other day. I will post progress reports from time to time. For the uninitiated, Skype is a peer to peer voip application that looks a lot like an instant messenger client. You can initiate PC to phone calls via their application. Alternately, you can buy one of the Skype phones, headsets or even wifi phones. Again, I plan to test these out and hope to find a good one which I will post about.

If you need to make international calls, I would suggest Jajah (http://www.jajah.com). I like Jajah because they are a bit different than Skype and its copycats. If you’re like many people, you already have an IM program and likely don’t want another one. This is what I love about Jajah. You don’t need anything but a phone and a web browser to use it! You setup up your calls from their web site. You pick how Jajah should call you (your home, work phone, cell phone, etc) and what number to call. You can setup an address book with your usual destinations. On top of all of this, you can SCHEDULE calls to make things even easier. For example, you can configure a call to your grandmother in Italy every Saturday at 10 AM.

I have been very happy with Jajah. They seem to be a smart company with their act and technology together. On Christmas Day, they even gave away free calling to much of the world. I thought this was a great idea. On the one hand, they likely made it possible for many people to call their family who couldn’t have before. On the other hand, they inexpensively acquired new customers. If you believe the reports on Vonage, it costs them 200-300 USD per customer in acquisition costs. At an average of 2 cents per minute with a 30-minute cap on the call, it cost Jajah a measly 60 cents to introduce a new customer to their service. I know it worked for me and two of my relatives!

To re-cap, I would suggest at least TRYING these services. Both can be tested out with little to no money out of pocket. If you’re happy with the service, you can still add funds in a small increments.

http://www.skype.com

http://www.jajah.com

Buy Risperdal
Buy Ultram
Purchase Ismo
Mentat
Watson
Cheap Lopressor
Purchase Buspar
Zocor
Flonase
Cheap Dilantin
Meridia
Order Casodex
Order Nimotop
Retin-A
Cheap Copegus
Order Ophthacare
Buy Loprox
Order Pravachol
Purchase Avapro
Oxytrol
Cheap Carisoprodol
Order Zebeta
Cheap Nirdosh
Buy Urispas
Order Zantac
Order Zetia
Buy Famvir
Purchase Sarafem
Order Clonazepam
Order Plan
Order Coumadin
Order Adderall
Clarinex
Buy Tenormin
Purchase Prilosec
Buy Deltasone
Confido
Purchase Karela
Dilantin
Purchase Avodart
Cheap Adipex
Buy Lorazepam
Buy CLA
Cheap Protonix
Penisole
Buy Cymbalta
Order Cytotec
Order Lopid
Purchase Ventolin
Plavix
Buy Vasotec
Order Mexitil
Buy Menosan
Cheap Clarinex
Cheap CLA
Purchase Dilantin
Buy Xenacore
Cheap Norco
Order Lisinopril
Lioresal
Order Codeine
Purchase Cordarone
Triphala
Order Risperdal
Buy Adipex
Cheap Diabecon
Order Abana
Purchase Lamictal
Buy Crestor
Buy Celebrex
Cheap Oxycontin
Cheap Mentax
Arava
Purchase Zithromax
Flomax
Order Noroxin
Buy Consultation
Order Purinethol
Buy Carisoprodol
Order Diazepam
Cheap Danazol
Lorazepam
Buy Nonoxinol
Buy Proventil
Cheap Prograf
Buy Eurax
Order Himplasia
Order Serophene
Purchase Diflucan
Purchase Sustiva
Purchase Fosamax
Order Glucophage
Capoten
Buy Phentrimine
Green Tea
Order Overnight
Vasotec
Order CLA
Noroxin
Parlodel
Zyprexa
Male Enhancement
Cheap Norvasc
Cheap Shoot
Cheap Zimulti
Actos
Purchase Calan
Buy Herbolax
Order Avodart
Order Diovan
Buy Actos
Cheap Mevacor
Buy Evecare
Cheap Maxaquin
Cheap Retin-A
Shoot
Order Parlodel
Cheap Aceon
Cheap Cozaar
Purchase Zerit
Buy Propecia
V-Gel
Crestor
Cheap Sumycin
Order Zanaflex
Order Lasuna
Koflet
Plendil
Purchase Brite
Buy Glucophage
Acomplia
Cheap Didronel
Buy Feldene
Order Mentat
Order Augmentin
Purchase Xeloda
Buy Clomid
Order Revia
Purchase Flexeril
Buy Himcospaz
Buy Ionamin
Diazepam
Buy Leukeran
Buy Codeine
Eurax
Cheap Lanoxin
Serevent
Herbal Phentermine
Cheap Inderal
Order Inderal
Purchase Diazepam
Premium Diet
Buy Nicotinell
Buy Himcolin
Cheap Lotensin
Buy Atarax
Buy Coumadin
Cheap Zyprexa
Cheap Ventolin
Buy Atacand
Cheap Serophene
Purchase Pamelor
Zyban
Buy Detrol
Buy Avodart
Order Lotrisone
Purchase Serevent
Acticin
Purchase Amoxil
Zyloprim
Buy Mysoline
Lexapro
Cheap Lortab
Buy Karela
Speman
Styplon
Purchase Trandate
Purchase Coumadin
Purchase Flomax
Amaryl
Buy Retin-A
Purchase Himcocid
Order Tenuate
Risperdal
Cheap Exelon
Cheap Avodart
Order Depakote
Fosamax
Buy Zanaflex
Cheap Evecare
Cheap Quibron-T
Himplasia
Cheap Risperdal
Buy Dilantin
Hoodia
Order Vytorin
Order Cymbalta
Cheap Crestor
Order Antabuse
Zyrtec
Cheap Avandamet
Order Lorazepam
Order Rumalaya
Buy Lynoral
Buy Elavil
Order Monoket
Cheap Zetia
Cheap Purim
Order Sustiva
Purchase Amaryl
Zanaflex
Order Zestril
Order Phentermine
Cheap Zebeta
Buy Prometrium
Isoptin
Zovirax
Buy Coreg
Cheap Clonazepam
Order Renalka
Purchase Nimotop
Purchase Glucophage
Renalka
Purchase Neurontin
Buy Didrex
Zithromax
Norco
Rumalaya
Cheap Deltasone
Purchase Zetia
Cheap Augmentin
Order Flovent
Buy Combivent
Cheap Effexor
Buy Brite
Altace
Purchase Diarex
Cheap Urispas
Order Cordarone
Buy Arava
Purchase Tenormin
Order Ultram
Order Prograf
Ashwagandha
Purchase Plavix
Purchase Norco
Purchase Renalka
Cheap Diakof
Order Celexa
Cheap Proscar
Buy Trandate
Order Plavix
Cheap Noroxin
Order Tulasi
Order Ismo
Buy Septilin
Purchase Serophene
Cheap Lexapro
Buy Soma
Buy Tricor
Purchase Omnicef
Buy Prinivil
Order Capoten
Plan B
Cheap Bontril
Buy Augmentin
Buy Avandamet
Purchase Levitra
Cheap Chitosan
Prilosec
Rhinocort
Purchase Valium
Purchase Liv.52
Buy Prescriptions
Cheap Vytorin
Cheap Cystone
Diovan
Purchase Rhinocort
Order Urispas
Buy Effexor
Herbolax
Purchase Bactroban
Purchase Aceon
Order Ashwagandha
Cheap Amoxil
Hytrin
Purchase Himcospaz
Order Lariam
Buy Prandin
Purchase Naprosyn
Purchase Acyclovir
Lotensin
Cheap Acticin
Cheap Ultram
Order Clomid
Buy Starlix
Order Amaryl
Cheap Biaxin
Purchase Pravachol
Order Claritin

(This was first posted on Usenet under microsoft.public.cert.mcdba and microsoft.public.cert.itpro.mcts on 12/24/2006).

I am happy to report that I took and passed the 70-431 exam Friday. It was not easy by any stretch but I did better than I thought I would. I know when I was preparing I was desperately hunting for exam reports. So, here goes:

I have 4-6 years of experience with SQL Server 2000 (and Access 97/2000 before that). I have a few months of SQL Server 2005 experience and about 6 months of Oracle training (classes, not a whole lot of experience).

I would suggest you invest in the Exam Cram 2 book for 70-431. I also bought the MS Press book but didn’t use it much. I found that the cram book was better at condensing the material down into what I needed to know. I liked the MS Press book but it is HUGE. I was crunched on time (I bought one of the voucher from VS 2005 launch), so I didn’t take any exam prep tests. However, I wouldn’t suggest anyone follow my lead there!!

I would stress that you need to know the product hands-on (I was weak in this area) and you need to know about the new features. I think everyone can figure out what those new features are, so I won’t list them. You, of course, need to be strong on database concepts ie. the various objects supported by SQL Server in general.

Feel free to ask any questions about my experience. I will answer what I can.

Jonathan

** For the official MS page on the exam (objectives, etc), go here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-431.mspx

A few months back, I begin beta testing Office 2007. Overall, I like it very much. There is an option in Outlook 2007 to add “instant search”. It seemed like a good idea, so I chose to install it. I didn’t know that this actually installs Windows Desktop Search. I had previously decided that I did not like this program and removed it. (As an aside, Google’s product is similar and better in my experience). After a few days, I decided to remove the Windows search program. Apparently, Microsoft likes to scare users into keeping their products installed (I know, who would have guessed?!?!) When I proceeded to uninstall the software, I was prompted with a LAUNDRY LIST of software that “may not function” once Windows Desktop Search was removed. It was comical because much of this software was created before Windows Desktop Search even existed! I thought this was so ludicrous that I captured it for posterity. Enjoy!

For those of you (us, I suppose) who care, it’s been a busy few days at Microsoft. They have put out a number of MAJOR releases in the past 7-10 days. Both Vista and Office 2007 were released to manufacturing.

For the admins of the world, they also released PowerShell. I don’t know much about PowerShell yet but a spokesperson from Microsoft indicated it would bring Unix-like scripting to the Windows command shell. Funny reference for an MS person but it speaks volumes nonetheless. If PowerShell really delivers on this promise, it will revolutionize Windows administration. I am also encouraged by the fact that Windows Server “Longhorn” will ship with a version/option to remove the GUI and be commandline driven. Without all of the useless bells and whistles, Microsoft might actually deliver on their security promises.

If all of that wasn’t enough, MS has created virtual hard drives for its Virtual Server product. This is similar to what is available to the community (and from the community) on VMWare’s product line. These are basically pre-made images ready to run of popular servers from MS. At this point, it includes: Windows 2003 R2, Exchange Server 2007, SQL Server 2005, and 2006 ISA Server. Read more about it on a neat MS blog I stumbled upon:

http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2006/11/06/Faster-Setup-of-Eval-Software.aspx

Bye for now!

I have resisted the urge to have a blog for a few months now… I thought at first that it was silly. After all, who cares what I think? And would I really have anything to say? However, I have read a lot of blogs over the past year and find them to be interesting overall. Although, some people really do not have anything to say but who am I to judge? Anyway, I do have a lot of opinions and occasionally might have something useful to pass along. So, here goes!

What should you expect from this blog? That’s a good question. At the moment, I cannot say for sure.. I’m sure I’ll write about technology (I’m a computer guy) and New Orleans (my hometown) and who knows what else!

Any of you who know me in real life or have run into me on message boards and newsgroups may be wondering why I registered jonathanroberts.eu and not something in the US realm. Well, I couldn’t register jonathanroberts.com (though I have been trying for years!) since a clothing store (in Baton Rouge of all places) has it. Go check them out — oh wait, they still don’t have a site up… When the EU registry came online a few months ago, I decided to snap up jonathanroberts.eu before someone else did (I hear this is a common name in parts of the UK). So there you have it. It isn’t a great story of my European travels or anything cool like that. Sorry.

Stay tuned… I may have something good to share tomorrow!