Time Matters Releases SR1A for Version 8

For those of you who did not know, Time Matters 8 allows you to check for available updates by selecting Program Updates – Check for Updates from the Help Menu.  If you check today, you will discover that Service Release 1A for version 8 is available for download and install.

SR1A provides four key enhancements:

• Adobe 8 Integration
• Microsoft Office 2007 Integration
• Windows Vista support
• TimeSheet support added for TM Only users

Remember to close all other applications before you install any Time Matters Service Release.  Also, if you choose to utilize the network autoupdate feature, advise your users to exit all applications and reopen Time Matters first.

Better yet, if you have any questions about installing a Service Release, call ITP.  We are here to help and will make the process is quick and painless.

Daylight Saving Time change in 2007

Daylight Saving Time will occur on different dates starting in 2007.  This may not seem like a big deal but it will affect alot of electronic devices that keep time.  If you just look around your house most electronics have a clock and alot of them adjust the time automatically for daylight saving.  Furthermore and more to the point of this article are the effects this will have on computer systems.   The most concerning issue for most people will be the impact on their electronic calendars.  A typical business solution is to have an Exchange server with clients connecting with Outlook and some users syncing to pdas.  In order to prepare for this change all of these systems need to be updated or everything during the shifted time change dates will be off by one hour.  Microsoft has prepared for this and is working on updates to resolve the issue.  However you do need to actually apply the updates to avoid any problems.  See link below for a complete description from Microsoft.

In August of 2005 the United States Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which changes the dates of both the start and end of daylight saving time (DST). When this law goes into effect in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November) than what had traditionally occurred.

The change in DST will have an affect on many automated and technology reliant products. Individual consumers, small to medium size businesses, and large enterprises may be affected by the new change in time. Computer-system related issues include, for example:

•	Calendar / scheduling applications
•	Date / time calculations (current and historical)
•	Transaction logging (UTC vs. Local Time)
•	Tariff billing applications

In many cases, making the necessary changes to accommodate the new DST legislation will be a relatively minor task. Users may need to manually adjust the time on their devices when the change occurs.

In other cases, more substantial efforts may be required. In some cases, systems and applications may need to be updated directly, while in others, the application may simply inherit or “read” the date and time information from the underlying system that it resides on so the changes need only be made to that underlying system. Given the broad range of technology in use today-and the integration of systems between customers, vendors, and partners-business and IT managers should determine what actions should be taken to mitigate the affects of DST 2007 on their organizations.

Complete Article here

Windows Vista Free Test Drive

Windows Vista should be hitting the shelves in about a week, along with Microsoft’s newest version of Office.  If you’re like most, you’ll wait at least a short while before implementing the products in your office.  However, you can get a sneak preview of the product right in your web browser.

Microsoft has set up a website that allows you to play around with Vista, as well as Office 2007, via a Virtual Machine web browser plugin.  When first connecting to the site, you’ll be prompted to install an ActiveX control.  Once completed, you will be able to use Windows Vista through your web browser.  To launch the session, click on one of the “Test Drive” buttons (related to any of the new features).  Just about all the operating system functions are available via the Start menu, as well as many full applications such as Office 2007.  Speed is a little slow, but there is a lot of graphic content being pushed through the system.

It’s a great way to get a feel for some of the new functions, such as the new searching capabilities, toolbar functionality, etc.  If you haven’t played around with the Office 2007 betas, now’s your chance to try out Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook 2007.

To access the test drive, use the following link:

http://www.windowsvistatestdrive.com/

John

Small Business Server 2003 R2 Release

Microsoft recently released the next revision for the SBS product.  Despite the mixup with the release causing delays, the new release adds some nice new functionality.  Although SBS 2003 is a solid product packed with features and the new feature set in R2 is not that extensive, Microsoft hit the nail on the head with the new features.  The new feature set includes green check of health, exchange changes, SQL server changes and expanded CAL rights.

The Green Check of Health is actually WSUS bundled with and integrated into SBS 2003 R2.  This is not like the typical free WSUS product you can download and administer yourself (and then never use) - instead you’ll access a feature in Server Management called Update Services.  This features solves the headache of manually making sure (or just hoping) all machines are updated with the latest patches.  Software updates for all of your connected systems are stored locally on the SBS server and issued according to schedule and administrator approval.  In addition there is a report showing the status of all computers on the network so you can see at a glance whether SBS and all its connected clients are up to date with the latest patches and security updates.

SBS R2 includes the 75GB mail store limit for Exchange (increasing from 16GB in previous versions).  Although you can manually change this on existing Exchange servers with Exchange SP2, installing SP2 is not the simplest task.  This is a blessing most people cannot appreciate.  Even in small businesses the 16GB limit may not be enough and setting up different storage groups or getting users to constantly clean their mailboxes and defragging the Exchange databases is a real hassle due to the insuffient size limit.

SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition has been replaced with SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition.  This has caused alot of controversy but in reality it benefits the customer.  In truth, SQL Server 2005 Workgroup edition is more closely matched in features to SQL Server 2000 Standard  than SQL Server 2005 Standard due to all of the changes in SQL Server 2005.  The inclusion of SQL Server 2005 Workgroup edition enabled Microsoft to price SBS 2003 R2 at a lower cost than its previous version which may allow for more customers to choose the Premium edition of SBS.

Previously, each user or device connecting to a SBS needed to have a CAL, but the CAL was only applicable to that one server.  So if a second server was added they would have to purchase additional CALs for any user or device that connected to the new server.  Microsoft has changed the CAL so that it covers an additional Windows Server.  So as a business grows and needs to offload functionality to a second server (SQL Server, Exchange…) additional CALs are not required saving the business money.

SBS server has proven to be a great product with its feature rich and easy to use environment.  With the release of SBS R2 Microsoft has only added to the continued success of the product.

Wisconsin Small Firm, Solo and Technology Conference Recap

Another successful year at revamped and renamed Wisconsin Small Firm, Solo and Technology Conference.  I had the honor to present on the subject of email with Art Saffran and Rick Borstein.  Art discussed organizing and searching email as well as spam prevention.  Rick discussed email archiving in the new Adobe Acrobat 8.0.  I spoke on a grab bag of email subjects including hosting and blacklist as well as organizing email in case management systems and document mangement systems.  More on our presentation.

There was lots of traffic at the ITP booth with many old friends dropping by.  If I had to name a few areas that people were particularly interested in, I would say remote access and billing systems – especially PCLaw.  Over the next few days I will post some thoughts on both of these subjects.

Vista, Longhorn Server, and Microsoft Software Protection Platform

Microsoft recently announced that Vista, its new desktop operating system, and Longhorn, its new server platform, will both include a new anti-piracy technology called Microsoft Software Protection Platform. The Business Software Alliance’s most recent report estimates that 35% of software installed around the world is pirated.

The new platform will require users to register their copy of Vista or Longhorn or face limited functionality. This is nothing new. Microsoft has attempted to place similar limits since the release of XP. The new platform might more aptly be described as an “expanded” limitation. Among the features likely to be disabled are Aero, the new graphics capability in Vista. More persistent “You are using an unlicensed copy of Windows” messages are also likely.

Microsoft will apparently continue to allow unlicensed users to receive security updates. Pirated or legal, compromised copies of Windows put everyone at risk and create bad press for Microsoft.

For more information, please see Microsoft White Paper on Software Protection Platform.

How NOT to block spam

Everyone hates sifting through electronic piles of junk mail.  At best, it’s a huge waste of time.  At worst, you can inadvertently open a message that can infect your system with a virus or spyware.  An entire industry has grown out of the desire of individuals and corporations to stop the flood of junk.

While this is generally a good thing, it’s possible to go too far in the wrong direction.

There are a large number of services out there that compile lists of IP addresses of known spammers.  These lists can be useful as part of an overall spam prevention strategy.  When you use one of these services, the service will block messages from IP addresses in their “blacklist.”  However, it’s extremely important to examine where services obtain and how they generate these lists.

What happens if a service you’re using to block spam has a few incorrect IP addresses?  Anyone sending you an e-mail from one of those IP address will have it bounced back.

Now what happens when a service decides to take an entire block of 500 IP addresses and ban them because someone with an IP close to yours has been spamming?  You will be unable to send messages to anyone subscribing to the list. 

What if you switch to a new Internet provider and the IP address you’re now using was previously assigned to a spammer, so is blocked?  Same result – you will be unable to send messages to anyone subscribing to the list until you jump through their hoops to get it removed.

A number of these services are established by groups of individuals as “volunteer” organizations.  Most recently we ran into a large one called “SORBS” (Spam and Open Relay Blocking System).  There’s an excellent Wikipedia article describing the service here:

SORBS entry on Wikipedia

One of our clients that uses TDS DSL recently starting running into issues sending messages to certain domains.  It turns out SORBS decided to add approximately 500 TDS IP addresses to its blacklist.  Our client did not spam, nor did they have an open relay.  They were just unlucky that someone else with an IP address close to theirs did.  Instead of simply blocking the single IP address causing the issue, SORBS arbitrarily added an entire block of addresses owned by TDS to their system.  In fact, huge companies such as Hotmail, Yahoo and Google have had to deal with incorrect listings on SORBS.

To remove your IP from SORBS is not always an easy matter.  If you Google SORBS you will find many stories of how difficult it can be.  Because SORBS is run by volunteers, and it is a privately maintained list, they answer to no one.

While the goal is noble, SORBS seems to be a company that has pushed too far in the wrong direction.  In fact, some of these organizations are starting to get into legal trouble over these issues.  It’s hard to decide who to root for in situations such as these:

Spamhaus domain name may be suspended

Spamhaus is similar to SORBS in that they maintain a list of IP’s that are supposedly used by spammers.  I have not had the pleasure of dealing with Spamhaus, but based on the article above, it sounds extremely difficult to have your IP removed.  In this case the “spammer” actually won an $11.7 million judgment because Spamhaus would not remove them from their list.  Whether the plaintiff in this particular case actually is not a spammer is debatable.

What’s the solution?  People that utilize services such as SORBS and Spamhaus need to run additional checks against the IP addresses on the list.  It’s never a good idea simply to rely on a single source.  There are plenty of services out there.  In fact, DNSStuff.com will display hundreds of lists when you use the site to determine whether your IP is listed on any services.

In addition, the services need to be more responsive to valid user requests for removal from the list. 

Finally, they need to avoid applying overbroad policies when an IP address that is spamming is found.

If you have any questions at all, you can e-mail me at john@itprosusa.com.