Workstation Setup Checklist

Yet another workstation setup checklist.

The above is a PDF. The original Visio version is located here.

Downloadable eBooks

eRider Starter Kit. by Teresa Crawford & the Tactical Technology Collective Lots of information about developing a technology plan, and managing IT projects.


Asterisk: The Future of Telephony Jared Smith et. al.
Also available as an open source .pdf book as a free download. I don't know if this is what the Asterisk Documentation Project was supposed to become, but this is an outstanding book providing both a general overview of Asterisk and VoIP generally, and specifics related to hardware issues and the "dial plan"...argueably the most confusing and least documented aspect of Asterisk. Highly Recommended. Don't just download it, buy the book.

The Tiering of the Internet

The Boston Globe has an article about how the old telephone companies are lobbying Congress and the FCC to allow a multi-tier internet that would prioritize packet delivery, for a price.

The prospect of a tiered Internet with ''regular" and ''premium" broadband services is spawning fierce debate as Congress takes up a major overhaul of telecom regulations. The House of Representatives last month held hearings on a preliminary draft by two GOP congressmen, Joe Barton of Texas and Fred Upton of Michigan, that would give the telecom companies the freedom to establish premium broadband services. The telecom bill is due for action early next year.

A change along these lines would be different from the way the Internet has operated. ''The Internet model has been that carriers cannot interfere with the choices that consumers make," said Alan Davidson, Google's Washington policy counsel.

This is the old slice and dice game that they have tried to play since the bottom fell out of the long-distance market. The competitive local carrriers are basically dead, after exhausting themselves waiting around for the FCC to enforce interconnection rules with the old Bell system. The telcos and incumbent cable companies have been successful in banning municipal broadband or fiber schemes in several states. In other words, "if we don't do it...nobody else can either".

Now comes an announcement from Adelphia Cable today in the mail, that residential broadband (which goes for about $58/month) is now going to cost $78.00/month (for a 12 month contract) for "businesses" that are home-based. Hmm. No value-added. Half the present upload speed (384K instead of 768). No fixed IP address, still asymetrical speeds, and a 40% price increase. A fixed IP is another $20.00 per month. They include a "web site"...and 7 eMail addresses. "Business Class" indeed.

If Verizon residential DSL is available for $30.00/month that basically allows for the same or better speeds, will Adelphia be able to compete in the same market, with a product that has the same or lower speeds, for more than two-and-a-half times the price? And Verizon does offer a "business DSL" which includes a fixed IP address, for about $80.00/month. We have a client running a 12-seat computer classroom, and another 10 administration workers off of one of these Verizon connections.

Gizmo Phone Rates now 1 cent per minute

Rates to connect to conventional telephones in the U.S. have been dropped to 1 cent per minute by SipPhone, the Gizmo folks. The 1 cent rate is for their CallOut service.

I've been using the service for several weeks with good results. At home I use it for most domestic personal and business long distance calls. I also tried it on Sunday to Germany, with good results, although with some delay/echo. Still at 2.9 cents/minute the cost can't be beat.

I have it the software loaded on my laptop, which is kept up and running next to my desktop workstation. I put on the headset, and with a few mouse clicks, call my victim.

Ironically, I have never had a Gizmo to Gizmo (pure internet) call, only calls to to people's telephones.

The service also works well when providing desktop support for users via logmein.

All is not well with Dell

Over at Jane Galt's blog, is a detailed account of attempting to purchase a new computer from Dell.

As one who has specified or purchased over a million dollars of Dell gear over the years, this is not a happy development.

I think it is interesting, that these problems are not just on the back end of the sale, now, (after purchase) but it is actually right at the point of sale. I described a similar experience last March.

I will never understand organizations that make it difficult for me to give them my money. Whether it is non-profits who make it hard to donate, or commercial firms who make you jump through a dozen hoops before you are allowed to give them your credit card information, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

In a VarBusiness article about Dell this week, there are similar complaints:

[P]erhaps most pressing for Dell are concerns that its vaunted customer service and support has declined in quality. While (CFO Jim) Schneider said Dell is "working on some issues," he brushed off analysts and surveys that suggest customer satisfaction has dropped significantly this year.

The biggest mistake for any company to make is to give loyal customers a reason to look elsewhere.

Using Telnet to Test eMail

Users are having problems with eMail. A typical problem is that a single user from a single domain is having trouble sending to another single user in another domain. Others within the domain can merrily send eMail to each other, as well as the affected users. Go figure.

You can learn a lot about how smtp mail works by using telnet to manually create the messages. A simple example is illustrated here. A more complex example, when your smtp server requires that you log in to send mail, so that it doesn't perform an unauthorized 'relay' of mail, is located here. In this latter case you need to submit your login name and password encoded in Base64. So, a handy-dandy Base64 encoder decoder is located here.

Two other resources:

• Robert Benier has good discussion of command-line eMail located on O'Reilly.Net


• And don't forget the blat command line mailer, which allows you to automate eMail operations from a command line.

Current Settings: Author Status

The dashboard above was inspired by a recent entry over at Creating Passionate Users. Using a "slider", like sliders on a mixing board, you can calibrate the desirability of various features for a product. The trick is to find new sliders, for things not usually considered.

As they say, "Results Not Typical".

Tech Friday: Remote Access Redux

LogMeIn is a web-based remote access program which is clever enough to find its way around firewalls. Much like Windows remote desktop sharing, you can send an eMail to a person with a web link, and when they click on the link, it installs a tiny program on their workstation which allows you to perform maintenance or offer support to the user. LogMeIn is available in several versions, from free, for remote support, to the most comprehensive version LogMeIn IT Reach which gives access to several server and system functions on the target PC.

LogMeIn IT Reach is sold as a software service, per month at $12.95/month. Their Pro version, which might be ideal for supporting end users, is priced per technician...who can then support any number of workstations.

There is a review at PC Magazine.

QuickBooks Pro 2006 update available

Don't know what the catch is here...but the folks at www.nonprofitbooks.com are offering QBP2006 for free. ??

Ok...I got it. You have to buy their product, which essentially turns QB into a fund-accounting solution. By doing that, you get the free QB.

Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit

The latest 12/27 PC Magazine has a discussion of a free toolkit from Microsoft that can be used to lock down public and lab computers. This basically sounds like a GUI that allows you to manipulate registry settings.

Microsoft's free Shared Computer Toolkit lets you configure a PC that can be used to research the Internet, look up resources, and run approved programs; it also stops users from making permanent system changes, running arbitrary programs, or introducing malware... You don't need an IT degree--the kit leads an administrator through the steps of locking down a system.

The toolkit and documentation are located here.

The toolkit is designed for Windows XP Service Pack 2, and for the NTFS file system. FAT file systems must be converted to NTFS.

Book Shelf: Time Management for System Administrators

Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas A. Limoncelli. ISBN 0-596-00783-3.

From the first chapter...

Time management is difficult for SAs because we are constantly being interrupted. How can we get anything done if we are constantly pausing to fix emergencies or respond to requests that arrive in person, via email, or via the newest source of interruptions, instant messages (IMs)? How many times have you told your boss that a project would take two uninterrupted days to complete, which means a month of actual time? Returning to a task takes a long time. If an interruption takes one minute, and it takes two minutes to return to your project, you're actually traveling backward in time! H. G. Wells would be impressed! Worst of all, returning to your project after an interruption can lead to errors. Often, when I'm debugging a problem, I find the actual "error" was that I skipped a step after returning from an interruption!

Management judges an SA by whether projects get done. Customers, however, judge you by whether you are available to them. These two priorities play against each other, and you're stuck in the middle. If you are infinitely available to customers, you will never have time to complete the projects that management wants to see completed. Yet, who approves your pay raises?

Why a book on time management just for SAs? This book needs to be different from your average "time management" book because SAs are different. In particular:

• Our problems are different. SAs have an unusually high number of interruptions that prevent us from getting our projects done.
  
• Our solutions are different. SAs can handle more high-tech solutions such as request trackers, email filtering with procmail, automation scripts, and other tools unsuitable for the average, non-technical person.
  
• We lack quality mentoring. SAs need to learn the fundamentals of to do list management, calendar management, and life-goal management just like anyone else. However, our normal career path usually doesn't lend itself to learn these things. Our mentors are technical peers, often on email lists, and often in different parts of the world. There are fewer opportunities to learn by watching, as a supervisor often learns from a director.

Santa Claus List: December 2005

Each year, clients ask what to do with the leftover budget money. Hah Hah. No really. Unlike some years, this one doesn't appear to have some kind of overarching must-have theme... as it has been a relatively quiet year in software/hardware-land. So maybe it would be a good year to play catch-up. So, here is the first iteration of the 2005 Santa Claus List, which includes tactical and practical ideas as well as some blue-sky wishes.

1. Broadband everywhere. Between offices. At headquarters, for every remote or home-bound employee, for every remote or home-bound client of your agency. DSL or cable connections for $30.00-$50.00 month.

2. A fixed IP address for every office. Typical "consumer grade" broadband does not include a fixed IP address, and they either forbid or block any any attempts to run a internet server from such dynamic addresses. The internet is for everybody. That should include the ability to provide communications, applications and content as well as to consume it.

3. An end to so-called "digital rights management" copy-protection schemes that prevent consumers from playing their legally acquired and paid-for music and video from being played on any device of their choosing. I'm tired of being treated like a criminal by the likes of Sony.

4. 2 gigs of RAM, and 120 gigs of hard disk space for everyone. A 2.4-2.8Mhz processor for every Windows workstation.

5. Windows XP for all Windows-based computers. The "window" for getting all computers on the same operating system is closing fast. We've had a good run of a couple years with XP. But Windows Vista is on the way.

6. LCD monitors. Larger LCD monitors. The saving in power costs and desk space will more than justify their expense, and there are several available in the $400.00 range.

7. In the stocking stuffer department:Three-button, optical mouse with a scroll wheel. New mousepad.

8. Books from the TFNP bookshelf and/or a subscription to the Safari on-line books database. Also, any book from Henzenwerke for those with database/FoxPro/SQL and Linux interests.

9. Desktop Software: X1 and Onfolio.

Any further ideas?

Monthly Introduction December 2005

Welecome to Tech for Non-Profits, the unplugged version of Microdesign Consulting. We feel that non-profit corporations and NGOs deserve the same advantages that technology can bring to for-profit business. To that end, we've dedicated ourselves to finding cost-effective ways to bring the benefits of wide-area networks, computer databases, and, lately, IP videoconferencing and Voice over IP to our clients.