Tech Junkies Getting Things Done (GTD) On NPR
On February 19, 2008 technology writer Omar Gallaga participated in an episode of the National Public Radio (NPR) show “All Things Considered”. The topic of the show was David Allen’s Getting Things Done method to increase productivity at work and at home.
For those not familiar with GTD, since being published in 2001 as a self-help book, it has grown into a near cult following of GTD’ers. Not surprisingly a large number of followers are technology junkies. It has inspired numerous web sites, blogs and software meant to allow you to adapt GTD principles into your life.
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dVUE6 Lighthouse - Latest Free Network Gadget
SYS Technologies has released their latest free network management gadget, dVUE6 Lighthouse. dVUE 6 Lighthouse is a graphical syslog monitor that shows the availability and alarm status of the five most alarmed devices on your network.
dVUE 6 Lighthouse converts syslog security levels into color-coded alarm levels. It pings the devices every 15 seconds and changes the availability indicator from green to red if the device fails to respond, alerting you to a down device.
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Microsoft Tech-Ed Developers 2008 Conference
The Microsoft Tech-Ed Developers Conference 2008 will be held June 3-6, 2008 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The four day conference will cover 16 technical tracks and offer more than 615 learning opportunities covering the latest in Microsoft technologies.
The keynote speaker will be Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
Who should attend?
- Enterprise Developers
- Infrastructure Architects
- Software Architects
- Solutions Architects
- Software Engineers
- Web Designers
- Web Developers
- Web Development Managers
For more information visit the Microsoft Tech-Ed Developers 2008 web site.
Microsoft Tech-Ed IT Professionals 2008 Conference
The Microsoft Tech-Ed IT Professionals Conference will be held June 10-13, 2008, in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The four day conference will feature ways to learn how to architect, plan, deploy, manage and secure connected enterprise solutions.
The program covers 20 technical tracks with over 770 learning opportunities. The keynote speaker is Bob Muglia, Microsoft Senior Vice President of the Server and Tools Business.
Highlights include:
- Breakout Sessions: More than 390 technical sessions that cover the latest Microsoft based products.
- Technical Learning Center: A hub for viewing Microsoft product demos, getting hands-on training, participating in small groups at more than 150 Interactive Theater Sessions, meeting one-on-one, or engaging with Microsoft experts.
- Hands-on experiences: Evaluate products from Microsoft and our most important industry partners.
- Connections with the community: 10,000 IT professionals to meet. 10,000 opinions to consider. 10,000 wits to engage and experiences to share. Add Microsoft product team members and industry gurus to the mix, and you’ll see why a Tech·Ed IT Professional crowd is like no other.
To find out more information visit the Tech-Ed North America 2008 web site.
Green IT Guide
The editorial staff at Computerworld has released a guide “Get Up to Speed on Green IT”. The guide gives an overview of three areas that IT can save energy and money by going green.
Data centers are large users of energy. Rising energy costs and data center expansions have IT departments looking at green options. The guide list seven steps to a green data center.
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CIO Radio - Internet Based Technology Talk Show
Looking for conversation that showcases important technology issues? CIO Talk Radio is an Internet radio talk show broadcast live every Wednesday at 9:00 AM Central time. Recent topics of interest:
- Green IT: The true ROI
- Social Networks: The Enterprise Adoption Challenge
- My CIO is an Alien! (great title)
- IT Initiative Failures: Saving a Sinking Ship
- Does Your IT Helpdesk Help?
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IT Departments Are Graying and It Is Starting To Show
IT departments may be facing one of their biggest threats ever. It is not a virus, a hacker or a never ending expansion. It is the aging workforce. Yes, IT is graying and it is starting to show.
As the baby boomer generation ages, so does the IT workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in four workers will be 55 or older by 2016. This comes at a time when higher income baby boomers are retiring early or changing to “quality of life” jobs such as education and nonprofit groups.
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Service-Now - ITIL Based IT Service Management
Service-Now.com is an impressive marriage of IT Service Management based on the ITIL v3 framework and Internet technology. For IT departments looking for a quick jump into ITIL based Service Management their service may be just what you are looking for.
Service-now.com is an On Demand IT Service Management solution licensed by subscription. Combining ITIL version 3 recommendations with Web 2.0 technology we offer a solution that is thoroughly modern in its delivery, price, and value. Approachable and attractive, integrated and complete, you’ve never seen IT management done like this before.
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Microsoft Mistakenly Sends Out Office Nag
Microsoft announced on April 15, 2008 that they had “inadvertently” published to WSUS servers the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) notifications update (KB949810) for 24 hours. Intended as a trial of an anti-piracy program, it was meant for a limited distribution to only to Chile, Italy, Spain and Turkey.
The OGA program is intended to display nagging notices on copies of Microsoft Office it deems illegal. As a result of the mistake Microsoft Office admin’s are on the warpath trying to figure out why their software was deemed to be illegal and how they can fix the problem. Some companies report their entire inventory of Office products are now reporting that they need activation.
Microsoft released an official statement addressed to WSUS Admin’s on the Microsoft WSUS Team Blog. They explain what happened, but not how it happened. Microsoft is offering their “full assistance” to anyone having problems or questions.
If you were among those unlucky enough to receive this update a good place to start is the following Microsoft forum thread “Questions regarding KB949810” . The notices would appear on machines running copies of Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007.
5S System Step 1 - The Sort Step
From the Japanese word is ‘Seiri’, the first step in the 5S system is sort. The concept of the sort step is to classify items in the workspace between necessary and unnecessary. You organize what is necessary and dispose of or put in place what is not. Take pictures of workspaces before and after the sort so you can post them. The pictures can be used to reinforce the 5S system as examples.
