Seriously,
Do we really need to gice college kids a new reason to drink:
http://www.hasbro.com/games/en_US/cuponk/

Does your business allow non-company equipment on your network?
Do you know if all of your physical ports are secured?
Afraid of authorizing a non-company Windows PC?

These are only a couple of reasons you need to protect the volume license keys and KMS server(s) from rogue authorizations.  Microsoft has a document, Using Server Isolation to Protect the Key Management Service (KMS), available for download.

If you haven’t looked it over, you need to.
If you have read it and can’t figure it out, it’s because the document slightly outdated and the directions are incorrect.  The document appears it was written for a Windows 2003 server without having the Group Policy Management Console (gpmc.msc) or a Vista machine without the Remote Server Administration tools installed.  If you haven’t installed these tools yet, you really should. Vista RSAT  Windows 7 RSAT.

After reading the document I created a test OU and move my KMS server and a couple of clients into the object.  I then launched a remote desktop session to the KMS server and logged in locally to my client machines. I then proceed through the directions, double check everything and deploy the policy.

I open a command prompt on the clients and run gpupdate /force, and both the user and computer policies update successfully. I go to my KMS server and run gpupdate /force and after several seconds the sessions starts trying to reconnect. Not good, not good at all.

I turn my attention to the clients and run the resultant set of policy (rsop.msc) and find that the policy is being ignored. I tried pinging the KMS server and received no response. Something is definitely wrong here. I verify both the KMS server and client are in the same OU and that the policy is configured as written in the document.

Well it turns out the document was WRONG!!
The WMI filter in the document reads:
Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem where Version >= ‘6’
The correct WMI filter should be:
SELECT Version, ProductType FROM Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE Version >= ‘6′

I update the policy with the correct WMI filter and update the clients. Using my virtual machine console, I login to the KMS server and find it was unable to connect to the network.   Knowing that that the policy change the firewall rules, I open the services console (services.msc) and disable Windows Firewall.  A few seconds later network connectivity is restored, the group policy gets updated and I restart the firewall. 

And things are as they should be. Computers not in the domain can’t communicate with the server, those in the domain can and the server can see everything.

As everyone well knows SharePoint 2010 went RTM last month. It seems that Microsoft has snuck the release version of SharePoint Foundation to the download area.  Download Here 
Why not save yourself some time and download the Search Server Express 2010 also. Download Here

Who said that us geeks don’t have a sense of humor:

Ever been busy behind the router and wish a website would verbally inform you of your IP address?  Well your dreams have come true:
http://www.moanmyip.com

Now we all know that if you find a copy of Office just happen to be laying around, it’s not a good sign:
Office 2007 Lost and Found

I am passing along a request from our SharePoint user group.  It’s for a good cause, and you get to spend some time with a group of fantastic people.

Ready to connect with the local tech community for a good cause? GiveCamp needs your support. For one weekend in June, we’ll take on the technology wish lists of 20 non-profit organizations, and we’re looking for about 100 volunteers, both technical and non-technical, to help us do it.

A typical GiveCamp draws 75 to 100 volunteers. Individuals can work with their colleagues in company teams, or they can opt to be matched with fellow volunteers who have complementary skill sets. Everyone is welcome to head home for the evenings – but there are always the diehards who work from Friday kickoff straight through Sunday afternoon. Food and drinks, especially of the caffeinated variety, are provided, along with game systems for breaks.

Technical volunteers
We’re looking for graphic or UX designers, developers with .NET/Java/LAMP/Open Source/CMS experience, project managers, system/network administrators, DBAs, and non-profit technical consultants and web strategists.

Non-technical volunteers
Beyond the technology, there are many other aspects that make GiveCamp a success. We need non-technical volunteers to run errands, help with setting up and cleaning up, and everything in between. Whether you can offer a couple hours of your time or join GiveCamp for a couple days, your support is needed.

When & Where
Philly Give Camp will be held at the Microsoft Office in Malvern, PA
June 4th – 6th
Great Valley Corporate Center
45 Liberty Blvd., Suite 210
Malvern, PA 19355
Register Here