Videos

Microsoft previews their next System Update featuring avatars and more social interaction through games; Netflix is partnering with the Xbox 360 bringing access to their entire movie library; new party games titled ‘You’re in the Movies’ and ‘Lips’ are previewed; and everyone gets giddy for Final Fantasy 13.

Following up on our Cracking Open gallery of the first iPhone, TechRepublic editors joined Apple’s launch-day madness to secure an iPhone 3G for disassembly. Jason Hiner and Bill Detwiler recount their experiences battling long lines, Apple’s iTunes meltdown, and limited supplies at AT&T stores.

Bill explains how Mark Kaelin and he cracked open the iPhone 3G, what they discovered inside, and how the iPhone 3G differs from the original Apple iPhone. Jason gives a preview of several upcoming articles that will examine the latest business and productivity applications for the iPhone 3G. In closing, Bill explains his “conspiracy theory” that Apple tricked original iPhone customers into beta testing the iPhone 3G.

When you support small offices, home offices, and remote offices, you often run across older wireless equipment. Equipment that’s likely secured with MAC filtering and perhaps a hidden SSID and WEP encryption.

Most techs would agree that MAC filtering alone isn’t going to secure a wireless network and that even WEP and a hidden SSID aren’t much better. But does MAC filtering at least keep out the lazy hackers? In this IT Dojo video, Bill Detwiler shows you just how easy it is to spoof a MAC address.

Once you’ve watched this IT Dojo video, you can find a link to the original TechRepublic article, print the tip, and get links to additional remote support and administration resources from our IT Dojo Blog.

TechRepublic’s Section Editor John Sheesley joins Sonja Thompson in the recording studio to help her recap the top five discussions of the week. Find out which discussions and members are HOT this week. There might even be a little swag musical number at the end.

To listen to this week’s TR Out Loud as just an audio file, download the mp3.

Sure, it’s a federal holiday in the United States, but the show must go on! In this episode, you’ll find fireworks, the top discussions and most active members of the week, an irate moderator, photos sent in my TR members, canned fizzy lager, and much more.

To listen to this week’s TR Out Loud as just an audio file, download the mp3.

Most IT leaders either love centralization or hate it. In some organizations, you may love it one year and hate it the next. This episode of Sanity Savers for IT executives presents the top five arguments for centralizing your IT department.

Monitoring your users’ Internet activity is an often unwelcome part of an IT professional’s job. Few of us want to be the secret police. However, many companies require some level of Internet monitoring to ensure compliance with usage policies and to track problem users.

If monitoring software is too costly for your IT department’s budget, you may want to consider a technique that uses existing Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 functionality. In this IT Dojo video, Bill Detwiler shows you a simple monitoring solution that uses Windows Server 2003 Group Policy.

Before watching the video, you should realize this tip isn’t right for every situation. This method uses Windows XP and Internet Explorer’s local browsing history. To view the history files, you must physically visit each machine, remotely access the machine, or copy the files to a network location with a script. Furthermore, a sophisticated end-user could easily navigate to and delete the browser history. This monitoring technique is best suited when monitoring a small number of users, or better yet, a single, problem user. If you’re looking for a more robust Internet monitoring solution, I recommend you go with a commercial service or application.

Once you’ve watched this IT Dojo video, you can find a link to the original TechRepublic article, print the tip, and get links to additional remote support and administration resources from our IT Dojo Blog.

If you’re having trouble getting the green light for IT projects, then this episode of Sanity Savers for IT Executives can help. It provides five questions to ask yourself before presenting your project to the CEO or the management team.

ZDNet’s editor in chief, Larry Dignan, rates Gates’ many conference keynotes and product launches, separating the successful from those that missed the mark.

Working with Cisco routers and switches is a part of almost every network administrator’s job. Keeping your Cisco equipment configured for optimal performance can be a time-consuming process, but there are a few general rules that will make you a more efficient administrator.

In this IT Dojo video, Bill Detwiler demonstrates the following time-saving tips for the Cisco IOS:

1. Shortening commands to their fewest unique characters
2. Using timestamps to generate better logs
3. Quickly returning an interface to its default configuration with the default interface command
4. Using the begin or include commands to filter command output
5. Running Privileged Mode commands from Global Configuration prompts with the do command

Once you’ve watched this IT Dojo video, you can find a link to the original TechRepublic article, print the tip, and get links to additional remote support and administration resources from our IT Dojo Blog.

Find out what topics were most popular in TechRepublic’s discussion threads this past week, and learn which TR members were most active in the Forums. Some of the other things you can expect in this episode are photos, a question of the week, and comments we pulled together from TechRepublic’s Bring Your Kids To Work Day.

To listen to this week’s TR Out Loud as just an audio file, download the mp3.

TechRepublic’s Sonja Thompson gets a little help in the studio from her bozz, Jason Hiner. Find out what discussions are topping the charts this week, which members are cooking with full steam on the boards, and much more.

To listen to this week’s TR Out Loud as just an audio file, download the mp3.

You won’t be able to land your ideal CIO position by surfing job ads and firing off resumes. You have to do the right kind of preparation and legwork, and this episode of Sanity Savers for IT Executives will help you get started.

Windows passwords are a necessary evil. They help protect our systems, but they can also be a real pain in the neck. Employees leave, IT workers quit, IT consultants fail to properly document deployments. Regardless of the cause, you’re left with a locked account and perhaps a locked system.

In this IT Dojo video, I demonstrate how quickly and easily reset local account passwords, including Administrator, on most Windows systems. The Offline NT Password and Registry Editor is a Linux-based utility that can reset passwords on Windows-NT based systems that use NTFS, including Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista. The tool creates a boot environment through which you can reset passwords via a series of text menus. The Offline NT Password and Registry Editor isn’t the most polished utility, but it is effective.

Hacker tool?

Before anyone starts flaming me in this video’s discussion for sharing “hacking advice”, let me make the following point. First, it is possible for unscrupulous individuals to bypass security measures with tools such as this. But, there are also plenty of legitimate, work-related reasons to reset a Windows password. The Offline NT Password and Registry Editor is just another tool in the IT professional’s arsenal.

Use the tool at your own risk!

There are also risks associated with using this tool. As it is editing the Windows registry, the Offline NT Password and Registry Editor could easily render a system unbootable and even destroy existing data. This is especially true of accounts that use the Encrypting File System (EFS).

Once you’ve watched this IT Dojo video, you can find a link to the original TechRepublic article, print the tip, and get links to additional remote support and administration resources from our IT Dojo Blog.

TROLOV brings you another round of highlights at TechRepublic, including the top five discussions of the week and the members who are burning up the boards. TechRepublic’s Sonja Thompson wrangles Toni Bowers back in the studio this week by promising not to subject her to silly stunts. She lied.

To listen to this week’s TR Out Loud as just an audio file, download the mp3.

One of the top priorities of a CIO is to articulate a vision for how technology can support and transform the company. There’s no way to achieve that without effective communication.

This episode of Sanity Savers for IT executives provides three useful tips for CIOs to build the kind of effective communication that will enable them to succeed in IT’s corner office.

Check out this episode’s companion blog post and read the original article that inspired this episode:
Strategies for boosting communication with the CEO and fellow board members

Like every profession, IT has its own set of dirty little secrets that its members don’t often talk about out loud. However, if IT leaders aren’t aware of these issues then they can quietly doom your department to failure.Episode #2 of Sanity Savers for IT executives shines the spotlight on five of these dirty little secrets.

Once you’ve watched the video, you can read the original TechRepublic article, download a PDF version of the article, and read what your peers have to say about this topic in the companion blog post.

When it comes time to interview job candidates, you probably know that there are some questions that are simply off limits. However, there are also some seemingly innocent questions that could get you into hot water.

Episode #7 of Sanity Savers for IT Executives tips you off to several types of questions that you should avoid during job interviews.

Once you’ve watched the video, you can read the original TechRepublic article, download a PDF version of the article, and read what your peers have to say about this topic in the companion blog post.