Sox Blog

WSUS Not Downloading Animated Cursor Vulnerability Patches

2007-04-04T11:10:00.000-04:00

My WSUS server will not download the Animated Cursor Vulnerability patches referenced on KB925902. A manual synchronization will not work either. Using the import utility I am able to download them manually using the Microsoft Update Catalog (Beta) however they do not complete the import and ofcourse 925902 does not show up in the Updates search on the SUS Box.

Is anyone else seeing this problem?

I called MS, they wanted me to use one of my support incidents for this, even though the Security bulletin clearly states that "There is no charge for support calls associated with security updates"

SUS Woes

2007-02-02T22:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight I spent a few hours working on an SUS issue to address the Super Bowl site exploit. I found that the SUS server did not push this patch consistently to all workstations connecting to the update server. For reasons that I have yet to figure out (with the exception of possibly another Windows Update) the IIS settings on the ADS SUS server was disallowing anonymous connections. I finally figured this out when I searched the local SUS host log (C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\ReportingEvents.log) and discovered an error being reported by the client when it attempted to contact SUS (Error: Agent failed detecting with reason: 0x80244017). This would occur as well when I attempted to force an update the to the SUS Server using the syntax “wuauclt.exe /detectnow” from the command line. It appears that machines logged in with elevated accounts did pull updates.

Machines that I found that didn’t have the patch picked it up as a high priority update when I manually went to http://windowsupdate.com. Machines running IE7 show the patch as an Internet Explorer patch using the same KB number as the Windows XP SP2 patch which machines running IE6 would be applying. Machines running IE 6 show it as an XP Update.

The good news is that I found this tonight and that all machines from here forward should pull appropriate patches. I am not sure if this warrants a message to the campus, but it is likely that all clients will pull updates upon the next power-up. I certainly learned tonight that is something we better keep a closer eye on. I’ll continue to the monitor this over the weekend.

Semester Back in Session

2007-01-23T09:07:00.001-05:00

The semester is back in session and I am podcasting my lectures again. All lectures that are given on Tuesday evenings are available on my course weblog.

Slide Share Test

2006-12-14T14:14:00.000-05:00

Vote Yes on Dec 12th

2006-12-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

I know that not many of you will see this posting but I think that those who may would be in support of my cause. For the past year I have been involved with the school district within my town on a commmunity planning committee. I wrote an editorial in response to an editorial that ran in Wednesday's (12/6/06) Press of Atlantic City Southern Ocean County Edition that will run this Saturday. I have copied the article below:

---

I’d like to respond to Fred Laurenzo’s letter from December 6th, "Little Egg doesn’t need new school" with the following comments. First and foremost I, as well as many other parents of Little Egg Harbor, appreciate the support that Mr. Laurenzo has confirmed in the need to maintain the school facilities properly and vote yes to Proposal I on December 12th.

I do however want to point out some inaccuracies in Mr. Laurenzo’s statements regarding the need for an additional school. The largest point that is missed in his letter is that although the district saw a drop in enrollment in the 2006 school year, there is still approximately 200 unhoused students within the district. In order to address unhoused students, the district has been using temporary classrooms which have reached the end of their useful life. At the current George J. Mitchell School, the district currently has 11 such classrooms that are now considered substandard by the State and must be removed. The district must apply for a variance to continue using them for a short term. I think that Mr. Laurenzo would feel much differently if one of his grandchildren was forced to have class in one of the temporary classrooms each day as the conditions of these units is highly undesirable. Additionally if you look around the town it is hard to imagine that the district will con tinue to see any type of decrease in enrollment. It is fairly safe to say new home building will continue and hence more children will be enrolling in our schools.

Furthermore, it should be noted that a no vote to proposal II will eliminate the possibility of receiving state funding that would be made available to offset the cost of building a new school. This could potentially have a negative tax impact in the future should the state come in and require that a new school be built. It needs to be clarified that the property tax impact of approving both proposals is approximately 25 cent per day on a home with a $300,000 assessed value. Let’s not take the chance of missing the opportunity to receive $12 million in State funding. Citizens of Little Egg Harbor, please remember to get out and vote yes for both proposals next Tuesday.

Looking for Podcasters

2006-10-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

I am looking for technology professionals who work in the higher education environment that would be interested in participating in a regularly produced technology podcast.

If you are interested please contact me.

Beginners Guides: Most Common Ways to Kill a PC - PCStats.com

2006-04-23T08:43:00.000-04:00

Interesting Article outlines the most common ways computers can be damaged and become defective.

Beginners Guides: Most Common Ways to Kill a PC - PCStats.com

Winternals Software

2006-04-23T08:33:00.000-04:00

Winternals Software For those of you who haven't been following this story, Winternals the maker of the one-time use Windows boot sector repair tool is suing Geek Squad and Best Buy for illegal use of their software and piracy. This survey is how they are going about collecting data from former GS employees.

Topic, topics, topics...

2006-03-24T08:40:00.000-05:00

Here are some areas that Keith wants to cover in future podcasts….Topics, topics, topics....I’m very interested in Storage/online/nearline backup/Also wondering what rob is doing about firewallsI can talk about the new Apple intel dual core Mac Book Pro....I’ll find something mac to talk about....hahahI’d love to talk about disaster recovery techniques....What everyone is doing to protect their org...backup being just part of itIn my project plan:1. Rolling out Act for Web...plenty of headaches with the data set. Anyone else doing CRM?2. We are beginning the switch from Quark to InDesign, and managed workflow, but not that interesting to anyone not in publishing3. In the process of adding high speed cable or DSL to take the strain off our T-1 Infrastructure, doing all Sonic wall's, its going great. Awesome for DR too.Questions:On the web side....

Anyone running a RSS server, what are u using

colo hosting, who are you guys using

Configuring Magnetic Stripe Reader

2006-03-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

I am sure there is very few people out there who would ever have the need to know this but Scott and I spent an entire day figuring it out so I thought it would be a good idea to post up here in case anyone ever needed it. The task at hand was configuring the hardware settings on an Omni Combined Bar Code and Magnetic Stripe Reader to provide a custom output from the mag stripe to an input field within our ERP system.

These commands create a DATA FIELD that will print eight numbers with a Z At the beginning.

/E/D/FJ
JA
1
JC
l
JF
0
2
JF
0
8
JJ
Z
JK
D
B
JZ

To reset if needed ::
/E/D/FJ
JX
JZ

To turn off data entry mode

/E/D/FJ
JA
0

Podcast Updates

2006-03-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

Here is topics I am working on for the second episode recording of the Stockton Tech Podcast.
We should be all set to record our own audio tracks for this one.

Discuss:
New Blog Location (http://caxton.stockton.edu/stocktontech/). iTunes update coming waiting on RSS customization.
Change to weekly recordings?

Interesting Tech News to discuss: (Obviously we can alter and add as the recording time gets closer)
- XP on a MAC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4816520.stm
However no EFI support for Vista http://apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/E666E4A0A303D9AACA25712C008166C4
- Using Digg for Stock Manipulation http://www.siliconvalleysleuth.com/2006/03/digg_is_used_fo.html
- IE7 oh boy… http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125142,00.asp
- Dell Expands Outsourcing IT operations to India (http://www.theregister.com/2006/03/20/dell_india_grow/)
- Google Sued over Search Results http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/18/technology/google_lawsuit.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

Tech Topics:
- What's everyone doing with VMWARE
- Enterprise Backup Solutions - Scott and Bob will explain what is being done @ RSC and then highlight neat demo from EMC (http://www.emc.com/solutions/bura/backup/index.jsp)

- Firewalls (Rob)

43 Folders

2006-03-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

If you have seen 43 Folders yet, this is definetly a site to visit. It is a site that all IT managers need to review. There is weekly podcast that is broadcast by Merlin Mann that is certainly worth a listen.

PCWorld.com - Auditor Loses Data on Thousands of McAfee Employees

2006-02-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty crazy article about McAffee
PCWorld.com - Auditor Loses Data on Thousands of McAfee Employees

Why did I start the Sox Blog...

2006-02-18T09:59:00.000-05:00

I just realized that now that I have shared the address for this blog with many of you.. You are looking at it and really wondering what the heck I am doing with this blog. We’ll in actuality it was initially setup as nothing more than a test bed for some Stockton related work. But there is one positive I have found.. I like the fact that blogspot has the ability to post directly from ms word. I never really blogged that much.. but I found that if I start writing down new things that I learn or participate in it enables me to remember them better and then always have a place to go back to if I need to remember something

So that's really my reason for starting it...

Podcast

2006-02-18T09:35:00.000-05:00

Looking for suggestions for some podcast topics to discuss with our technology group. Also looking for participants via skype so let us know if you want to join the talks…

Here are a few of the topics that currently come to mind:

Implementing Cisco Clean Access or some alternative
Moving from Novell to Active Directory
The best method for recording via skype
What’s new and exciting in each persons work environment with technology?
Interesting technology related projects and implementations

Let me know what you got….

Podcast Research

2006-01-29T17:14:00.000-05:00

I spent some time today researching different methods for creating podcasts – specifically on how to create them with other people who are in different locations. Without a Mac and the ability to use GarageBand, I downloaded and installed audacity for the PC. One great way to incorporate multiple people on a call is to use Skype Internet Phone application and then record the conversation using HotRecorder. HotRecorder has an audio conversion option that will create an MP3. I’ll be doing more of this in the next few weeks so more notes will follow….

Hitachi Starboard

2006-01-28T09:27:00.000-05:00

We had a great training lesson this week from Jack Stewart from Hitachi on the StarBoard Interactive Display Device. Jack discussed the main features of the StarBoard which includes: Navigate, Annotate, & Input. He demonstrated the hand writing recognition tool and showed us advanced features of the StarBoard software. I learned new tricks for creating customized toolbars and new methods for using the different software modules.

Jack’s visit was also allowed us to showcase how we are using the Hitachi product as part of the newly integrated control system that we have prototyped in D004. The control system eliminates the need for web-based control for our Phoenix/AMX Media system allowing an instructor to come into the room and turn on devices without the need for launching a web-browser on the lectern PC. We plan on implementing this new control system as part of the new classrooms in the F-Wing Overbuild. We did an onsite demonstration of this new system on January 5, 2006. NJEdge also streamed the event and has a link to the WebCast.

SharePoint Update

2006-01-28T09:13:00.000-05:00

I installed SharePoint on my Windows 2003 VM and it worked like a champ. I am having problems however getting it into production. I first attempted an install on ACAD6 which is already running SQL Server 2000 and IIS for two other applications. The SharePoint install broke those other processes. During the install you are prompted to have it setup the database and IIS links for you or to do this manually. Had I selected the other option I may have been able to avoid this problem. Uninstalling SP fixed the other two apps, after I went into IIS and manually set anonymous access was to be allowed for the web services. When you do a reinstall – it doesn’t give the option to reselect the custom installation. I also had the same results when I attempted this install on ACAD4 which runs WSUS for fac/staff.

CERT Graduation

2006-01-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

Today I completed the last day of required training to become part of Stockton College’s first Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) team. So you may ask, what exactly is CERT. Well essentially the CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. This program was formed through a joint effort of the Stockton College Police Department and the Campus Health and Safety Officer. The required training for C.E.R.T involved 20 hours of hands-on classroom training. 18 CERT members out of the 22 that started graduated this Friday. They are Lydia Javins, John Davis, Kelee Gudzinas, Robert Fornuto, Pedro Santana, Josie Stalling, Sara Gendlek, Bill Shackleton, Paul Chambers, Dennis Lepore, James Merlock, Edward Carty, Robert Haviland, Dianne Hill, Terrence Hardee, Barbara Teel, John Smith and myself.

Recent Purchase

2006-01-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

A Panasonic RR-US360 Digital Voice Recorder.... Why I am not sure yet, it just seemed like a cool tech tool that I can use.

NJCUITMA Meeting

2006-01-19T15:04:00.000-05:00

Today I attended a meeting of the New Jersey College and University Information Technology Managers Association (NJCUITMA). The event was hosted at the Middlesex County College. The president of the organization Neil S. Sachnoff is the Executive Director of Information Technology at this school.

After seeing a demo of some of these products during Educause last summer, Neil decided to ask Microsoft to come to one of our meetings and demo three of Microsoft’s “Almost-Free” products. Microsoft sent one of their top guys, a Productivity Advisor by the name of David M. Norris. David’s background in the Microsoft product line was extremely fluent, which was best exemplified by the excellent responses that he provided to questions that were asked by both myself and members of the group. I was extremely impressed with his level of knowledge as well as the enthusiasm he displayed for the products that we looked at.

David first demonstrated Microsoft’s SharePoint Services application. Although I had previously heard about this product, I had never paid much attention to it before today. SharePoint is an extremely powerful collaboration product which has many uses in the educational environment. David showed us how to create a centralized page for managing information and content and demonstrated how SharePoint ties into the Windows Server and Exchange environment. A central page can be used for announcements, event listings, online journals, online photo albums, threaded discussion boards and other links. The tool is a free download for Windows 2003 users. The SharePoint Portal (not free) product provides management tools for the Services module along with additional features that the free version does not offer. I was most interested in the Document Library feature which allows for multiple users to work collaboratively from a centralized repository with additional features such as searching, file locks, version control and shadow copy. SharePoint also allows users to incorporate external web site content using a web capture tool or even import RSS feeds.

The second product demonstration was on the Microsoft Producer application. Producer is a really straight forward application that enables a user to easily capture and synchronize audio, video, slides and images which in turn creates rich-media presentations. I had seen this application before but also have not had the chance to play with it that much. The obvious benefit of Producer over strictly using PowerPoint is that it allows you to insert Video and Audio with narration all as one component. With PowerPoint when you use video you are limited to only having video on one slide. The resulting files from Producer are HTML. I will check this out, however I want to spend some time figuring out the best way to create some AVI files from video on DVD that I have. The operation of this is also similar to Microsoft’s Movie Maker application that comes free with Windows XP Professional.

David spent a few minutes reviewing the two Learning Essentials modules for MS Office. There is a module that geared for teachers and one that is geared for students. Most of these tools fit better in the K-12 arena. One neat tool shown was a question generator for creating tests within Word. I was impressed however because it took most of the thought process out of using the tool and allows the creator to focus strictly on the content to be generated. These products are also a free download.

The final package that was demonstrated by David Norris was the Shared Computing Toolkit. This package, also a free download, is an interface for defining local and group policies on workstations. It is very useful when deploying workstations that are intended to be used in a public environment such as in a computer lab or kiosk. The package essentially makes the job of securing a machine and restoring it back to its original state after each use very easy. All of these configurations are possible without the software but you need to know the proper registry hacks or policy configurations to modify. There are additional features such as inactivity timeout and on-demand systems restore which I will look into further.

Welcome to the new blog

2006-01-17T10:54:00.000-05:00

This is research project of the blogger.com site that I will be working on over the next few weeks. Don’t be surprised if you end up seeing some real nerdy things up here. Thanks for checking in.