Don't Miss Out on some Fun Stuff

Please tell me you've seen the tweets and gotten the emails! 

I'm co-chairing PacITPros 2nd TechDays SF - two days jam packed with a crazy menu of sessions to choose from, brought to you by some great speakers - many of which you'd pay 6 times the amount to see at TechEd.

Not going to TechEd?  Then this is the place for you to get the much of what you need to know about Cloud, Azure, PowerShell, plus some extra goodies on SharePoint 2013, Lync, Remote Desktop and Hyper-V!

The fine folks at Xantrion are sponsoring us and we've got our schedule available as a mobile app by EventBoard.  So go register now.  Otherwise, you are making me feel bad.

Speaking of Azure, if you haven't done the 90 day free trial, it's totally worth looking at.  Microsoft is even running a Virutal Networking challenge where you can win some pretty decent prizes, like a Surface Pro. 

Because 365 Days to XP EOS was SO YESTERDAY!

You probably saw it mentioned a million times yesterday. End of Support for Windows XP is April 8, 2014. Today, it's probably old news. Or you've noted it and moved on. 

Well, unless you've moved to Windows 7 or Windows 8, you still need to pay attention - yesterday's news or not.  Check out the Springboard Series Blog and Steven Rose's post on the countdown to the end of XP Support.

And in case you missed them, here are a few other products with End of Support dates in the recent past or near future.

Server 2003 - 7/14/2015
SQL Server 2000 - 4/9/2013
Office 2003 - 4/8/2014

Exchange 2010 SP 1 - 1/8/2013
Office 2007 SP 2 - 1/8/2013

TechDays SF is May 2nd/3rd - Check out our speaker list on Twitter!

This year, I'm a co-chair for the PacITPro's TechDays SF.  If you didn't attend this event in 2012, you should take a close look at what we are offering this May.  The event is two days and we are offering multiple tracks with a variety of sessions on Windows Server, Client, Cloud and PowerShell all for the bargin price of $300. Please visit www.techdays.org for more information or to register.

We are also using EventBoard Mobile for easy access to the most up to date information and schedule.  I recommend downloading that app for your Windows Phone, iPhone or Android.

Our speakers include some very well-known, knowledgable folks who've spoken at other popular conferences like TechMentor and TechEd. Most of them have Twitter handles - if you aren't following these people yet, I'm sure you'll find some interesting enough to add to your list.

• @VirtualChrista - From  Microsoft, Christa Anderson will be presenting two sessions, "Delivering Applications with Remote Desktop Services in  Windows Server 2012" and "The User Configuration Cage Match".
• @scevans - Steve Evans will be presenting "IIS: Choose Your Own Adventure" and "Designing Hyper-V for the Real World".
• @nhawkins - Nick Hawkins will be co-presenting "Designing Hyper-V for the Real World" with @scevans.
• @grouppolicyguy - Darren Mar-Elia will be breaking out of his Group Policy shell to bring you "!0 Tips for Success with Private Cloud".
• @gblock - Glenn Block will be lighting up the room with "Managing the Cloud from the Command Line".
• @alexandair - Joining us from Serbia, Aleksandar Nikolic will be presenting "Remote Management of Windows Server 2012 with  Windows PowerShell".
• @cacallahan - For those of you who support or dabble in SharePoint, CA Callahan will join us again to bring you two sessions on SharePoint 2013.
• @ubergeekgirl - Our fearless leader of PacITPros in Southern California, Jessica DeVita will be part of the Women in Technology panel discussion.  Joining her will be @adfskitteh, @VirtualChrista and me, @jkc137. 
• @KevinRemde - Also from Microsoft, Kevin Remde will bring us "Windows 8 Deployment" for those of you planning to move beyond Windows 7 and "Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V".
• @chrisavis - Often PacITPros' host for our monthly meetings at Microsoft's office, Chris Avis will be bringing us two session on Azure, including Azure IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).
• @mminasi - Mark Minasi, one of the household names for those of us reading technical books, will be presenting several sessions, so be sure to put one on your schedule: "Manage Server 2012 Like a Pro or, Better, Like an Evil Overlord!", "Changes to Storage in Windows 2102: Storage Gets a Bit SANer", "Understanding Dynamic Access Control: the File Share Recharged, Reimaged and Compliance-Enabled".
• @richardhicks - If you are looking for the latest in Remote Access, don't miss Richard Hicks and his "Next Generation Remote Access with Windows Server 2012 DirectAccess" session.
• @richcampbell - Richard Campbell will be presenting "People, Process, Tools - The Essence of DevOps" as well as host the Run As Radio: Women in Technology Panel
• @adfskitteh - Part of the Idenity & Access Management team at Microsoft, Laura Hunter will be covering "Strong Authentication for BYOD" and "How Microsoft Has Adopted Office 365 and Azure"
• @JeffHicks - Need more PowerShell? Choose from "Troubleshooting Active Directory with Windows PowerShell", "10 PowerShell Mistakes, Trips and Traps and How to Avoid Them" and "File and Folder Provisioning with PowerShell and Windows Server 2012".  Want more Hyper-V? Learn how to "Build a Windows 8 Hyper-V Lab"

We have a few other speakers in the works and are looking forward to putting on a great event, please join us - you won't be disappointed!

Goodbye Google?

I opted for a Gmail account back in the day when you still needed an invite to get it. It still said "Beta" on the logo. My gmail account has been my primary email address for pretty much EVER. I had an over abundance of blog subscriptions in my Google Reader.  I've got stuff in Google Drive. I use Google Calendar to share data with my hubby who's an Apple fan-boy.  This blog is on Blogger.

And now I'm falling out of love. I'm worried about the compatibility with Microsoft and Windows 8, on my computer and on my phone. The end of support (and extension of support) for Exchange Active Sync is worrisome. And now they've told everyone to use CalDAV, but that's going away too.  And Reader, well, everyone knows about what's going on with Reader.

But my gmail address is so ingrained in stuff, I'm just not sure I'll ever be able to cut the ties. But maybe a partial migration - I'm not sure. I'm really liking the two-factor authentication features. So instead of rushing and making any rash decisions, I'm taking it slow.

When it comes up, I change an email address registered with something away from my Gmail address. Starting to spread my eggs around in some other baskets, so to speak.

I took this opportunity to start fresh with my RSS feeds.  Today, instead of hunting for a place to move my subscriptions to, I culled them down to about a dozen feeds that I gravitate toward on a daily basis. New feeds will have to earn their place on my reading list and I'm hoping by July 1st, I'll have found a new home for them.

What are you plans for your use of Google services?  Have they finally jumped the shark?

New Toys: HP Envy x2

I landed myself a new toy a few weeks ago, an HP Envy x2 laptop/tablet convertable. The screen is detachable so you can opt to just take the tablet portion with you.  I was considering a Microsoft Surface Pro, but I was facing some upcoming travel at the time and wanted to go with a device I could be sure would arrive before I left and I REALLY wanted a real keyboard.

The HP Envy x2 is has 2 gigs of RAM and 64 gigs of storage space, basic Windows 8 pre-installed with a 32-bit Atom processor.  This is NOT a workhorse machine.  I consider it more like RT-plus; able to install all sorts of Windows applications, but doesn't have any of the enterprise features. 
However, it makes a great "portal" to the Internet, any of your cloud storage and the battery life is pretty decent. I've taken it to several conferences and it's lasted all day connected to WiFi and performing the type of tasks you'd often do while attending a conference - taking notes, checking email, browsing the web, social media, etc.

The majority of the guts of the machine are behind the screen - battery and hard-drive, etc, otherwise it wouldn't work when disconnected from the keyboard base.  The keyboard contains another battery and it will use the keyboard battery first when connected to that, leaving you the most charge possible while you are in tablet mode.

Couple things that bug me:

1. The screen is top heavy compared to the base when it's connected.  It will sit fine on your desk, but tends to want to topple backwards if it's on your lap. Also, it will rock if you are tapping moderately hard on the touchscreen.
2. When the two parts are connected and folded closed, the machine is slim and slides in and out of a laptop bag easily. When the screen is disconnected the hinge where the screen snaps in is locked in it's open configuration, making it easy to snag on the edges of a bag and difficult to stow when you only need the tablet part. I find myself wishing for a little latch I could switch to swing it back into closed position.
3. The spacebar is really sensitive, often giving me an extra space when I'm not expecting it. That just takes a little getting used to. I'm not a big fan of the "island" or "chicklet" keyboard style - with all the keys evenly spaced in straight rows - but that's my own personal issue.

Good things:

1. The touch screen is bright and responsive.
2. The power cord isn't very bulky or huge. It has a proprietary connector that's flatter than most laptop connectors to allow for the cord to power the device in laptop or tablet mode.
3. It has a great all metal casing, so it feels sturdy. Of course, this means it can't be serviced by the user, or probably much at all. 
4. At least one of the USB ports is powered even when the device is off, so you can charge your phone. I discovered this when I was at a hotel where the available plugs were pretty far from the bed. I was able to use the longer computer power cord as an extension to bring the laptop closer to the bed and then charge my phone from the laptop, allowing me to keep the phone on the bedside table.  (A must when your phone is also your alarm!)

The bottom line, I'm pretty happy with the device overall.  It's pretty unique its design and meets my needs.