"Remote Desktop cannot verify the identity of the computer you want to connect to."

This is good, but it's rather annoying to be notified each time you want to connect to a server! To turn off the warning,
- Open the Remote Desktop Connection application and click Options.
- On the Advanced tab, select the option Always connect, even if authentication fails.

What started out as a blog post regarding Bill Gates' idea to enforce postage stamps on email to reduce spam has now become a bulletin board for desperate people requesting money from the millionaire.

See it for yourself - this is hilarious!
http://geekswithblogs.net/tpatel/archive/2004/03/10/2718.aspx

Thanks Arun, for catching this one!

• Deep integration with existing Microsoft technologies from System Center, Windows, Office, and Visual Studio product families
  
• Enabling new scenarios via a powerful self-service portal to reduce helpdesk costs
  
• A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) that provides an authoritative view of your managed IT infrastructure and services, including all relevant information about current and desired state, past history and future plans, associated incidents and problems, and related change requests.
  
• A core set of automated IT processes that map to the ITIL-based Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF)
  
• An extensible platform that enables customers and partners to extend the product with Management Packs and Microsoft Operations Manager

I downloaded the System Center Service Manager Beta 1 from Microsoft Connect. I am planning to evaluate this product along with Nitrogen, as I mentioned in my earlier post.

The Beta requires that you install .NET Framework 2.0, a series of hotfixes for .NET 2.0, SharePoint Server 2007, and SQL Server 2005 SP2. You also need to create a Shared Services Provider (SSP) on SharePoint Server 2007 before you can start installation of Service Manager.

 

You can always tell a Windows 3.1 user by the way he closes a window, even in Windows Vista. A Windows 3.1 user almost always closes a window by double-clicking on the left of the window. That's because, back in the times of Windows 3.1, there was no close button on the right of the window.

Take a look at the left of a window in Windows 3.1:


The box with the big dash is called the control box and clicking on it will yield a menu showing options to minimize, maximize and close. Double-clicking on the control box closes the window! And that's where it all began.

A user can activate the menu by pressing Alt+Spacebar. Why? Because the big dash on the control box is actually a representation of the spacebar. The MDI child window also has a control box, but with a smaller dash. So, how do we activate this menu? Yup, you guessed right - Alt+Hyphen!

It is rather interesting to note that the 'double-click-on-the-left-to-close' functionality is still available in Windows Vista, and probably forever in every release of Windows. The Alt+Spacebar and the Alt+Hyphen features are still available too, even though the control boxes don't bear the dashes anymore. As for me, yes, I do close windows from the left at times. Ahem.

I'm off to Bahrain on Tuesday to spend the Islamic festival of Eid Al Adha with family & friends. Being an Indian resident of the UAE, I will need a visit visa to enter Bahrain.

I was delighted to know that a Bahrain visit visa's can be applied for and received over the internet! The Bahrain government has taken a great step forward in simplifying the visa application process and making it available online.

You simply visit the Bahrain eVisa website, enter the required passport information, make sure that you meet the eligibility and submit your application. The fees for issuing the visa is paid online by credit card. Within 3 days, the authorities will verify your application and you can print your visa online. Bon voyage!

Eid Mubarak!