Data Scraping

One of the topics that came up in class during the module on SharePoint's search function was data scraping - specifically, the benefits and caveats of doing it. Not long after, I came across this article in Wired about scraping.

It provides examples of how some of the bigger companies are either endorsing or looking the other way on applications that harvest data from their services, while other companies frown on it (either for legal or technical reasons).

http://tinyurl.com/23o3uv

Carlsbad? or CarlsGOOD?

While my boss and I were in San Diego, my friends Dave and Ethan took us to dinner at West Steak and Seafood, one of the restaurants owned by the company they work for, West Development, Inc. I had the Petite Prime Filet with Eggplant Ratatouille and Au Gratin Potatoes. If you're in the Carlsbad, CA area, I highly recommend it.

http://www.weststeakandseafood.com

SharePoint Training

I was in San Diego last week attending a training class on Microsoft Office Sharepoint Services (MOSS) 2007, which is why I didn't have time to post anything. The course was a Planning, Information Architecture, and Design (PAD) workshop entitled 5-Days to a Successful MOSS Deployment, and was a fantastic class. The course was delivered by Bob Mixon, a SharePoint MVP, and experienced consultant. This course offers the perfect blend of soft and hard skills training that provide an effective framework for creating a successful SharePoint solution. Both technical and non-technical staff alike will benefit from the course's holistic approach to implementing and using SharePoint effectively.

Course info: http://tinyurl.com/3b2v7l
Bob Mixon's site: http://www.bobmixon.com

TinyURL

I was noticing that some of the text on my page wasn't rendering right on some browsers, so I decided to remove all the full URL links, and embed the links into the relevant text on the page, as well as include TinyURL links at the bottom of each post.

I've also embedded a TinyURL tool in the footer at the bottom of the page. If you've never used it before, it's a great way to provide short links for long URLS.

Redacted!

So, my first post (after the introduction) isn't as cool as I thought. After reading this article:

I discovered that the updates and transforms don't apply when doing a group policy based deployment. Boo!

http://tinyurl.com/2sgbdd

Netflix Offline

Lifehacker posted an article referencing instructions on how to take Netflix streaming movies offline using a GreaseMonkey script. Now, I personally don't even have a Netflix subscription, and many of you might know that I have a fairly extensive DVD Collection of legally purchased or otherwise acquired titles, but for those of you that might be interested in such a thing, the how-to is here:

http://tinyurl.com/24xb7r

Caution: salty language may appear on the target site, and I make no warranty or guarantees on the software required in the how-to.

Update: After reading quite a few posts in the thread, it looks like NetFlix may be suspending the accounts of users who are doing this, so proceed at your own risk.

Weighty matters

Like many others, I've started the new year with a resolution to lose weight. I've been cutting out certain foods from my diet, and started excercising again. I came across an article on Lifehacker this morning on some sure-fire tips to lose weight and burn fat faster.

The original article is at health.com.

http://tinyurl.com/33t3tx

Slipstreaming Office 2007

This week I've been working on slipstreaming Service Pack 3 into our Office 2003 network install package. We're not quite ready to upgrade to 2007 yet, but I've been looking at the deployment process, especially since Service Pack 1 just came out. I came across this blog posting on the Microsoft Wow blog. Apparently, you just throw the updates into a folder and they're applied during the install as a post-install task, rather than having to update the binaries used in the installation. It consumes more space, I assume, but it's a heck of a lot easier.

Check out the article here.

http://tinyurl.com/2v4lh8

Yet another blog I probably won't update

Every now and again, I come across an article I feel like sharing with my friends, family, or random strangers. So, here's my new blog. I'll try to post a short description, the URL, and populate the keywords.

I'll add a few tonight to get it started.