Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) Service Pack 1

OK, folks, back up your systems, and get ready for the update! I would recommend doing an image backup (Start/Control Panel/System and Security/Backup and Restore/Create a System Image) before deploying the SP1 for Windows 7, regardless of the version. You can get the Technet information here: (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff817622(WS.10).aspx), and an easier to read summary on the service pack here: (http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Polishes-Desktop-OS-101452/).

- Bob Reinsch, Microsoft Exchange/Windows 7 Expert; MCT, MCITP LinkIn with Bob

PowerPoint 2010 Tip: Give your SmartArt "bounce"!

You can add a lot of pizazz to your presentation by applying custom animations to SmartArt.

After creating the desired SmartArt, select the object by clicking on it. The object will appear in a frame.

From the Animations tab on the ribbon, select an animation for the SmartArt. By clicking on the More button you can see the entire library! As you slide your mouse over a selection, you will see a live preview of the way the animation will appear.

Once you have chosen an animation, a number will appear to the left of the frame indicating that the object is animated.

Click the Effect Options button on the Animations tab to build the slide one piece of the object at a time. Click the Preview button on the left end of the Animations tab to review the effects you have chosen.

For even more control over the effects, click the Animation Pane button and a task pane will open on the right side of the Window. Each part of the animation will be listed, and by clicking on the drop down menus, you can select even more options! (The numbers in the task pane correspond to the numbers that appear to the left of the SmartArt object.)

 

 

- Irene Heckert, Microsoft Office Expert; CTT, MCAS, ITIL Certified, MOS LinkIn with Irene

Ease of Use vs. Secure

Everyday there is news of a security breach.  A hacker has attacked a website with a DDoS or malicious code has infected an employee's computer and has spread it to the rest of the office.  These types of security breaches may not have happened to you, but they do happen and eventually they will happen to your network.  The question is: Are security events such as these or others completely preventable?  The answer is no, however what we can do is help mitigate these types of events by applying a simple security axiom I have taught for many years in my security classes.  "Ease of Use vs. Secure"

IT security departments constantly are torn between business directives and security directives.  On one hand administrators need to balance the needs of users with the needs of security.  The two work in a vacuum most of the time in IT.  If something is done in IT that is considered "Ease of Use" meaning its easy for the administrator to create or implement then it probably is not very "Secure".  On the other hand if something is "Secure" it is likely to be more intensive to create or implement and not very easy for users to use.

As you can see in diagram above, with "Ease of Use" on one end and "Secure" on the other, business needs for users tend to be less restrictive  while IT needs tend to be more secure.  If IT implements things that satisfy user needs and not security needs, eventually there will be a breach.   However there can be a happy medium between the two so that security breaches are less likely to happen.

Lets take a look at an IT practice to see how this really works.

Last month Vodafone learned a hard lesson about users sharing passwords that access a customer database. Vodafone's Breach

Vodafone's practice of allowing shared passwords with the company (Ease of Use) was easier for users and administrators, however it was not a secure practice.   Although Vodafone rectified the issue, it should have never been allowed to happen in the first place.  Does your company practice "Ease of Use or Secure"?

- Tom Pruett, Cisco & Security Expert; MCT, CTT+, CISSP, CWNA, CEH, CHFI, CCSI, CCNA, MCSE LinkIn with Tom

What a Model Really Is!

Recently, I have been doing training in Visual Studio 2010 and within the courses there are two design patterns discussed: Model-View-Controller (MVC) (Patterns and Practices: Model View Controller), and Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM)(THE MODEL-VIEW-VIEWMODEL (MVVM) DESIGN PATTERN). In the past I have done presentations on MVC however I had difficulty in properly explaining what the “Model” portion of it pertained to.

Today it dawned on me what this “Model” is: it is the business model of an application. It represents the entities that the developer has to work within the application. I originally thought that the Model represented the data model since I had been teaching Entity Frameworks. However the data portion is outside of the model. What this means is that the mechanism of retrieving the entities for the Model, and persisting changes in the Model into storage, are not part of the Model itself.

The Model is represented by the entities we are working with which is not a simple concept. Since if you are thinking in terms of data only it would be incorrect. I believe that is the first step in truly understanding the MVC and MVVM patterns, as well as Model-View-Presenter (MVP). It is important since when analysis is performed the context is the overall business/organization issues and entities, not just a database.

If you are interested, we have classes that cover some of these design patterns, specifically, MS10262 on Window Applications (WPF), MS10264 on Developing Web Applications, and MS10265 Data Access Solutions (Entity Frameworks). All of these courses are taught with Visual Studio 2010 (a wonderful upgrade) and both Visual Basic 10.0 (VB2010), and Visual C# 4.0 (VC2010) are used in the classes.

- Leslie Koorhan, .NET Expert; MCT, MCSD (.NET), MCTS, MCDBA, MCPD LinkIn with Leslie

Excel Tip: Use AutoCalculate to get a quick total!

Do you need a total in a hurry but don’t want to bother with a function? Click and drag to select (highlight) the cells you wish to include in the total. Look at the status bar (bottom Window frame) to see the Sum, Average, Count, etc.

If the cells are not adjacent to one another, hold down the CTRL key while you select the cells.

Need other functions instead? Right click on the status bar to see a menu of other commands available.

- Irene Heckert, Microsoft Office Expert; CTT, MCAS, ITIL Certified, MOS LinkIn with Irene

Recommendation: CODE Magazine

I recently got a renewal to CODE Magazine.  This great magazine has really good articles for developers, and the source code in the magazine is color-coded, just like it is in the Visual Studio editors.  They also have sample code available on their website that you can copy for projects as well.

In the most recent issue, Jan/Feb 2011, they have an interesting article by the publisher of the magazine, Markus Egger. The story covers the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight ListBox. In the article, Markus shows that by using styles and templates you can turn that ListBox into almost any representation of multiple items that you can imagine. It is really fascinating and something I think that every WPF/Silverlight developer should know. In fact, if you are still doing Windows Forms, and really needed convincing that it was time to switch to WPF, this should do it. 

Another recommended article for reference is Getting Started with Windows Phone 7 Development. 

- Leslie Koorhan, .NET Expert; MCT, MCSD (.NET), MCTS, MCDBA, MCPD LinkIn with Leslie

Resize picture attachments using Windows 7 or Outlook

Manage Picture Attachments using Microsoft Outlook

If you email photos using Microsoft Outlook, you might like a quick and easy way to "shrink" the file size.


In Outlook 2007, after you attach a photo, click the Insert tab on the ribbon, and then click the dialog box launcher in the bottom right corner of the Include tool group. The Attachment Options task pane will open on the right side of the message window.


Notice the Picture Options area in the bottom half of the pane: click the drop down arrow and choose to resize your picture to Small, Medium, or Large size. You might want to click the check box at the bottom of the pane to automatically "Show when attaching files."

In Outlook 2010, this feature has been changed. To downsize a picture attachment in 2010, after you have attached the picture, click the File tab to access the backstage view of the message window. In the Info category, choose the option at the top to "Resize large images when I send this message." Images will be a reduced to a maximum of 1024x768 pixels, which must be done on a per-message basis. Click the File tab again to return to the message window.

A third option exists for Windows 7 users. Select one or more picture files in an Explorer window. Right click on a file name and choose Send to/ Mail recipient from the menu. The Attach Files dialog box will appear. Choose Smaller, Small, Medium (the 1024x768 default), Large, or Original Size. Click the Attach button and a new message will be created with the images attached and sized as you have selected.

- Irene Heckert, Microsoft Office Expert; CTT, MCAS, ITIL Certified, MOS LinkIn with Irene