Thoughtsofanidlemind's Blog

  • Microsoft’s PST capture tool appears… eventually!

    A collective sigh settled upon the worldwide Exchange community after Microsoft’s much-anticipated but late release of their free-to-use PST Capture tool occurred today. The tool was originally announced in July 2011 for delivery by the end of the year. Essential testing, especially through a restricted external test by some members…

  • Monday miscellany

    Some random thoughts to fill in the vacuum of a boring Monday afternoon in January… First, why doesn’t the Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone 7.5 display a status bar to show the current state of the battery, wireless connectivity, and so on? You can reveal the status bar, but…

  • Shared mailbox or public folder

    A recent question asked to this blog as to whether I thought it a good idea to use a public folder as a repository for a shared calendar. My answer was “no” as I consider using a shared mailbox to be a much better response. That answer deserves some explanation, so…

  • Twitter can make twits of us all

    It might be that the nature of Twitter will either delight or infuriate those who consume its feeds. I’m not quite sure which side of the line I come down on, but I do continue to use Twitter. My problem with Twitter is two-fold. First, there’s the low to very low signal…

  • Exchange 2010 Inside Out receives “Distinguished” award

    I received a note from Microsoft Press yesterday to let me know that Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Inside Out had received a technical publications award. The note said: “Every year, Microsoft Press enters our highest quality titles from the past year into the Technical Publications competition hosted by our local chapter…

  • More observations on Windows Phone (and the Nokia Lumia 800)

    I received quite a reaction to my post about moving from iPhone to Windows Phone 7.5 and the Nokia Lumia 800 (I note that Paul Robichaux, a died-in-the-wool Apple fan if one ever existed has now declared his lurking desire for a Lumia). That post contained some initial observations about how…

  • Moving back to Windows Phone

    I’ve been using an iPhone 3GS for the last two years and have enjoyed the experience. I even wanted to get an iPhone 4S before Christmas but couldn’t get one for love or money anywhere in Dublin. I might not have tried as hard as was necessary to procure a…

  • December 2011 articles posted on WindowsITPro.com

    Happy New Year to all! This post lists the articles that I posted to my WindowsITPro.com blog during December 2011. Enjoy! Reporting Exchange Server 2010 Client Access Licenses (December 29) discusses the two types of Client Access Licenses (CALs) supported by Exchange 2010 and offers some advice as to how you…

  • A visit to Craven Cottage

    There’s something impressive about professional sport when it is played at speed and with precision at the highest level. Wednesday evening saw my sons and I pay a visit to Craven Cottage in London to see Fulham FC welcome Manchester United in an English Premier League game. Fulham had won the…