http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/18/nigeria

Even though I have my phone number on my blog, I don’t get too many calls – usually valid calls from customers who need help, or from people who want genuine advice.  But on Saturday I had my very first Nigerian scam call.

Me: Hello

Him: Hello, am I speaking to Ms Eileen Brown

Me: Yes, how can I help?

Him: I’m from Nigeria and I found your number on the web

Me: Yerssss…….

Him: and I wondered if you could tell me your email address

Me: Why do you want my email address?

Him: So I can do business with you.

Me: You can’t do business with me, you’ll have to do business with my company

Him: I want to do business with you

Me: Who do I work for then?

Him: I don’t know

Me: Well I suggest that if you don’t know who I work for then you’re going to find it quite hard to do business with me

Him: but I want your email address to do business with you

etc. etc.

This back and forth went on for quite some time, him trying to get my email address from me, and me telling him that if he knew who I worked for it would be really easy to do business with the company.  On and on it went back and forwards until I got bored with his lack of knowledge about who I was and how easy it would be to do business with me.  heck if you search on the web, my email address is on the Technet UK website!

And he didn’t have the sense to hide his number from me either.  Thank you caller ID.

So if you’re bored with the thought of scammers or have ever received a call from Ghana at +233 2402 14572 too, please have some fun too.  After all – he’s paying for the call :-)

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/18/jerry-y

So Jerry Yang is going to step down from being CEO at Yahoo according to Adam at Mashable and Maggie at the BBC.  With shares at $10 or so I’ll be watching with interest to see where he’ll be off to next.  And it will also be amusing to read all of the news bubbling up around the blogosphere as to whether we’ll start negotiations to buy yahoo again and at what price… 

Will we?  I really don’t think so…

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/17/and-jus

I often wonder what makes a blog post interesting enough for people to read the rest of the post and realised when I saw this post the other day that it’s the catchy title and first couple of lines holds the attention.

I don’t usually read the unlimited potential team blog but this post held my attention demanding further reading about the far reaching impact that technology can have on peoples lives.

So I’d recommend that you take a bit of time to browse the site and have a look at some of the things we’re doing in Central and Eastern Europe that don’t actually conform to some of the things you traditionally associate with Microsoft.  Their mission is to “enable sustained social and economic opportunity for those at the middle and bottom of the world’s economic pyramid—the next 5 billion people”. Wow…

I’m really impressed.  This team is making such a difference to so many peoples lives – and I’d so love to work for them…

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/14/some-up

Kevin pointed out that he’d found the new updated Windows Live services have been launched along with a new refreshed home page.  I’d noticed the new look Hotmail the other day when I logged in, but I was really impressed about the range of things that are on offer and will be coming up over at Live.

I’ve had my Hotmail account for almost 10 years now and, at I’ve signed up to new services as they’ve been released.  I dump any service that I don’t find useful – some after a few weeks, others after months.  So what do I still use?

Hotmail.  I use this daily – I’ve got 2 non alpha numeric characters in my email address and I get 1 junk mail per month.  I wish I’d had non alphabetic characters in my UK hotmail account as this gets “quite a bit” of spam.  Shame I can’t rename it…

Live spaces.  I talk about my home life, my chickens and my “hobbies” here as well as sharing photos with my family to reduce the amount of email flow backwards and forwards.  Having a “home” blog allows me to separate my work and my home life and it stops my mother asking me tricky questions abut Exchange too :-)

Messenger.  I use this in addition to using Office communicator with PIC to communicate with buddies.  The messenger bot on my blog home page goes straight through to this too

Live Writer.  Offline blogging.  How the heck did I ever manage without it?  Cutting and pasting with word just wasn’t the same – and now the ease of inserting images has made the whole blogosphere much more dynamic

Sky Drive.  I’ve got loads of folders on here, some private, some shared, some public (to share documents after a Connecting Women in Technology event for example)

So what am I REALLY looking forward to?

Event homepages.  About time too.  That’s really useful for anyone who has a community and doesn’t have the knowledge to create an effective web presence – these updated services look like they’re going to give you exactly what you need.

So it’s certainly good news at least for the Colchester Chicken society…

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/13/falling

Aargh! I’m turning into my mother.  Growling about poor spelling on signs in the food market, grumbling about poor apostrophes but this example has made me mutter all week about falling standards in retail.

It bothered me so much, I went back to the shop last night (which has branches throughout the UK) to take a photo.

Where’s the quality control here? Or am I just getting old?  But I did have some fun musing about what the alternative meaning of the label could possibly be…

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/11/thousan

Off topic I know, but as a frequent flyer I was fascinated to see this simulation of planes flying around the world.

watch the traffic increase as night turns to day – and the amount of night time flights over to Europe from the US.

Hat tip to Kim for searching this out.

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/10/the-val

I’ve  been meaning to blog about this for a while – but as I didn’t go to tech.ed last week, it sort of slipped my mind.

Deeps went around tech.ed in Sydney asking people who had a technet plus subscription what value they got from the subscription.  Here’s the video of their interviews.  Alex did the same in tech.ed Barcelona and I’ll share the finished video with you when it’s ready.  I think we need to do a webcast too about the sort of stuff you get in the actual subscription as so many people aren’t really aware of this.

Thanks to Jeff for the original post…

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/06/uc-or-n

One of the key concerns about whether to implement Unified communications in an organisation is who has the skill set to manage and administer it.  Since UC is relatively new, finding someone with hands-on experience of UC is going to be an issue. So what you need to look out for is the correct mindset as opposed to the particular skill set  You’re going to need someone who knows how to learn and who enjoys learning as the technology evolves.

I suppose as long as you have a basic but solid grounding in Windows and Exchange Server technology, you’ll be able to make a natural transition into the role  - it’s a natural extension of the Exchange Administrator role.  So you see how important the server team is when you’re considering UC deployment.

There are lots of perceptions about hiring someone with telephony experience too – but as far as telephony goes, the UC administrator need only know enough to be able to communicate well with the PBX/telephony team and find out what they need or hire an outsourced telephony vendor to help with the voice deployments.

And finally, during a project you need to roll out Unified Communications in a series of waves, starting with your committed enthusiasts to a wider set of users, and from less critical applications to more critical ones. This way your early adopters, who treat setbacks as a learning experience, can find potential problems before they can cause a loss of confidence among less patient users.

http://seobiker.com/smx-london-2008/

Search Marketing Expo hits london! I was fortunate enough to get to attend the second SMX in London this week, along with the usual quality sessions and speakers. A cold and miserable London backdrop was insufficient to hamper the enthusiasm or buzz of the delegates who had come from right across Europe - from the Baltics to the Black Sea, Paris to Penzance - to attend a variety of well thought-out informational and interactive sessions carefully designed for the whole spectrum of the search marketing industry… and with something for everyone: industry professional or company owner, corporate site or SME.

With an excellent level of support from Microsoft Paid and Editorial departments - including Nathan Buggia and Tor Crockatt, plus European and U.S. Search Professionals, the conference was highly anticipated by all. With three tracks running simultaneously this year for all slots, it indicated just how much demand there is by information-hungry companies and search professionals. Chris Sherman, beautifully assisted by the lovely Vanessa Fox, guided the event smoothly from the kick-off session with Microsoft discussing its new offerings through to Web Site panel conclusion.

Much of SMX London 2008 is covered on numerous blogs, including SEO Gadget who spoke for the first time at SMX and did a sterling job! For me, I particularly enjoyed the link building sessions with the eloquent Brian Turner, the dynamic Dixon Jones and the very smart & amusing Matt Paines and the various International / European SEO sessions with Andy Atkins-Kruger, the lovely Lisa D, Duncan Morris et al.

With many opportunities to meet people and network, great organisation, truly superb sessions and a sound central London location, the SMX really hit it on the nail with this one. Looking forward to the next SMX in Europe, in Munich, April 2009.

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/11/05/exchang

I like the idea of these LabCasts.  You follow along the webcast and do hands on config yourself using Virtual Labs.  I like playing with the interface  - it helps me learn faster so I thought I’d forward some of these on in case you’d like to join in to these labcasts.  Info follows:

6/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 4 of 5): Configuring Unified Messaging and Enabling Remote Client Access (Level 200)

With Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, employees get anywhere access to their e-mail, voice mail, calendars, and contacts from a variety of clients and devices. Join us for part four of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover configuring Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging and remote client access with Exchange Server 2007.

7/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 5 of 5): Using Local Continuous Replication and Cluster Continuous Replication (Level 200)

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 enables new levels of operational efficiency through capabilities that optimize hardware and networking investments and features that help make administrators more productive. Join us for part five of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover using Exchange Server 2007 local continuous replication and cluster continuous replication.

113/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 1 of 5): Installing Service Pack 1 and Transitioning from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

For most businesses today, e-mail is the mission-critical communications tool that enables people to produce the best results. For IT professionals, delivering a messaging system that addresses these needs must be balanced against other requirements such as security and cost. Join us for part one of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover installing Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on Windows Server 2008 and transitioning from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007.

14/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 2 of 5): Configuring an Edge Server and Compliance and Retention Using Exchange Server 2007 RTM (Level 200)

For most businesses today, e-mail is the mission-critical communications tool that enables people to produce the best results. For IT professionals, delivering a messaging system that addresses these needs must be balanced against other requirements such as security and cost. Join us for part one of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover installing Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on Windows Server 2008 and transitioning from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007.

20/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 3 of 5): Managing and Administering Exchange Server 2007 Using the Management Console and Management Shell (Level 200)

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 enables new levels of operational efficiency through capabilities that optimize hardware and networking investments and features that help make administrators more productive. Join us for part three of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover managing and administering Exchange Server 2007 using the Exchange Server 2007 Management Console and Management Shell.

21/11/2008 TechNet Labcast: Exchange Server 2007 (Part 4 of 5): Configuring Unified Messaging and Enabling Remote Client Access (Level 200)

With Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, employees get anywhere access to their e-mail, voice mail, calendars, and contacts from a variety of clients and devices. Join us for part four of the five-part Exchange Server 2007 series. In the labcast series, you receive practical technical information and learn proven techniques by watching demonstrations and using hands-on virtual labs that require no complex installations. In this labcast, we cover configuring Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging and remote client access with Exchange Server 2007.