Monthly Archive for June, 2006

Blackberry stuff

Published
by
ben
on June 30, 2006
in Blackberry
. 3 Comments

I've spent a fair amount of time this week deploying a Blackberry server and handsets for my new company (well, not my company, but you know what I mean). I haven't installed a Blackberry Enterprise Server since version 3.6, we are now on version 4.1 and the installation routine has been updated and simplified slightly in the new version:

  • You don't need to muck around with cdo.dll anymore. The DLL and Patch that used to be required for cdo.dll is rolled into Windows Server 2003 SP1.
  • You don't need to install MSDE anymore. It's done automatically by the BES setup program.
  • Since MSDE is set up for you, all of the choices to do with the SQL database have been removed from the setup program.

The BES I have been configuring is actually running in a virtual environment, which is a concept new to me ... but the end result is exactly the same as if it was installed on a physical server.

My next task has been documenting the configuration. This involves creating an extremely detailed Word document (using a standard company template) detailing the configuration with diagrams and installation instructions, and a 2nd document which will be a single sheet containing all the basics you would need to know if you were left to look after a bunch of Blackberry users for a few weeks. Good documentation is incredibly valuable but it's such a time consuming process (and not my most favourite thing to do ....)


Blackberry Topology

Blackberry Server tip of the day

Blackberry log files have to be kept in check or they will slowly consume all of your free disk space. I would recommend turning logging off completely, and then just switching it on for troubleshooting if required.

Start > Programs > Blackberry Enterprise Server > Blackberry Server Configuration

On the Logging tab, change all instances of “Debug log daily file” to “No”.

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Crap domains

Published
by
ben
on June 30, 2006
in Random stuff
. 0 Comments

A while ago when the .eu level domains were made available to the public, I tried to register www.benstokes.eu and www.stokes.eu. My application for www.stokes.eu was unsuccessful, which annoyed me as that was the one I really wanted. It annoys me more, that many months later www.stokes.eu is deserted and still gives a DNS error. Why register it if you're not going to use it??!

The registration process for .eu domains was a bit of a joke during the 'landrush' period, you basically had to apply and pay for a domain (along with loads of other people applying for the same names), and then your registrar applies on your behalf. On the day they were made available, the registrars could only apply for one domain every 10 seconds, to make it fair to everyone. I don't think it's very fair though that I don't get my money back for my failed application. Instead I get a credit for an alternative .eu domain, but the trouble is, all the best ones are gone already.

So I thought I'd jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon and I started looked for words ending in eu (thinking along the lines of del.icio.us), If I was French I would have loads of words to choose from but the English dictionary was drawing blanks. On a tangent I wondered if www.stok.es was available, I checked and it was! I registered it immediately, but on reflection now I'm wondering if my new domain name is really a bit sh.it, exactly like Rob Manuel says ...

Anyone want a .eu domain? I've got one going spare ...

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NewDotNet: Filthy spyware

Published
by
ben
on June 7, 2006
in Rants
. 2 Comments

My definition of spyware is software that:

  • Installs without your knowledge or consent
  • Does not appear in add/remove programs
  • 'Phones home' with information, normally about Internet browsing activities

NewDotNet claims that their software is not spyware, and yet it meets all of my criteria above. I discovered it on my laptop yesterday, it's one of those annoying 'search' programs that replaces the 'Page cannot be displayed' page when you type in a bad URL (like ww.google.com). I wonder if anyone actually uses these search programs?

The thing that really annoyed me was the removal process for this software. It doesn't appear in Add/Remove programs. You cannot simply delete the folder containing the DLL from your C: drive as you get an 'Access Denied' message. OK, so how about deleting all references to newdotnet and new.net from the registry, rebooting and then deleting the files? Not a bad approach, and I've used it to clean spyware from my machine before. But, you can't do it with newdotnet because it will break your winsock stack, and therefore all of your network devices will stop functioning. The next time you reboot you will get an error message and be unable to access the Internet.

But why would a program want to re-engineer your winsock stack though? The answer is because doing so can allow all DNS queries to be forced through the newdotnet DLL, so that when you request a bad or malformed URL such as http://ben.stokes in your browser, newdotnet will perform the DNS query instead of your usual DNS server, and if the domain does not exist, it will redirect your browser to 'quickbrowsersearch'.

So you can see it's truly awful software, one might even so far as to call it "a pile of wank". There are stories in forum posts about people who have reinstalled Windows just to get rid of it. Below are some links including more information on what newdotnet does and how to clean it off your system:

Since newdotnet have been known to file lawsuits to people who accuse them of writing spyware, I will point out now that the article above is based on my personal thoughts, opinions and experiences, rather than facts.

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