I’ve had 4 cell phones in my life, 3 of which were Nokia phones. Two of those ran Symbian S60. My latest phone is the HTC Touch Pro2, which runs Windows Mobile. 4 years of using Symbian based Nokia phones moulded me in how I came to view phones. Using any other type of phone, I felt lost. Such was the case when I first used the Touch Pro2.

The Touch Pro2 came with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional on it. It was partly covered up by HTC’s Touch Flo 3D applications, which helped to ease me in, but underneath it was still Windows Mobile. Raw power, but rather unpolished I felt. Certain logical places for applications or settings were not there, and as a result I felt a bit lost.

Still, I persevered and grew to like 6.1. It was pretty stable, and I had only just got into finding out about the tons of applications that run on the platform. I could multitask much better than on any of my old Nokia phones. Into this mix however, Windows Mobile 6.5 was released.

On release day, I downloaded the ROM from HTC’s website. Before I flashed it, I had to find a way to back up all my stuff on the phone. Here again I ran into a brick wall, as unlike Nokia’s PC software, there is no easy way to back up a Windows Mobile phone. Eventually I discovered and used Microsoft’s MyPhone service, which while working, felt very disjointed.

Flashing the phone took roughly 10 minutes for the actual flash, and about 7-8 for the phone to do its first boot procedure. I was greeted with an updated version of Touch Flo 3D, and various other screens had been updated, but underneath precious little really had changed from 6.1. Most of the screens had been changed to make input options slightly larger, so as to make it more finger friendly, but in the end the stylus is still a necessity.

Windows Mobile 6.5 includes some extra applications like Microsoft’s Facebook application, the Windows Marketplace and so on that were previously separate downloads. Unfortunately I’ve seen memory usage go up, which can make the phone feel sluggish at times. I’ve also run into a bug where downloading weather data will cause the Last Battery Charge information to be deleted.

Overall, I feel like HTC didn’t spend a lot of time polishing this update. I hope that they will release more updates to help speed up the phone.

To add to the chaos, I read an article on GSMArena that stated Windows Mobile 6.5.1 was being worked on, which had a lot of proper new features. Now I am actually hoping that HTC will release that for us instead. I’ve read that the real focus of Microsoft is bringing out Windows Mobile 7 next year, which is fair enough, but I do hope that they won’t forget us still out there using current versions.

In summary, I have to say that Windows Mobile 6.5 as it stands now feels like a pretty weak release from Microsoft. It’s designed to just keep us hanging on until Windows Mobile 7 launches. Time will tell how history judges 6.5

When it comes to configuring Windows advanced computer settings on a wide scale, little if nothing can touch Windows Group Policy. Built into Windows versions since Windows 2000, the settings it can configure has grown with every release, where it now numbers over 2400 on Vista, according to Wikipedia. This level of control is probably the main reason Windows based computers rule the corporate world. Nothing in Linux, BSD or Apple comes close.

I’ve been playing with Group Policy for a number of years now, but only lightly. I’ve never had the chance to study it in depth or try out some of it’s features. It has also caused me some grief from time to time when a policy wouldn’t apply to a computer, but apart from that it has made my life as a Windows Admin much easier.

One of the additions to Group Policy introduced with Vista is the option to finer control removable devices such as flash drives and memory cards. Since the rise of the AutoRun based trojans a few years ago, having the option to deny read or write access to a flash drive is a big boon for those trying to control infections.

Unfortunately, this only works on Vista and above. XP does not have this feature available. I’ve seen some half hearted solutions to the problem by modifying a system file called USBSTOR.SYS and messing around with system services.

I’ve recently come across something called Group Policy Client Side Extensions which promises to make things even easier. Should this work as explained, I will be able to do things like create shortcuts on Desktops of users, which is not possible with standard Group Policy.

Group Policy can get very complex, but if done right it is a rewarding tool to work with.

Local Policy on my Windows x64 Vista Ultimate

For years, the LAMP stack has been a success story of the open source world. Based on the components of Linux, Apache web server, MySQL and PHP/Perl/Python, it has enabled many fantastic applications to be built: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Moodle and more. The ease of use for developers and admins has lead to this stack being almost the de facto standard for hosting these applications.

Generally these packages also worked under Microsoft’s web server, IIS, but usually with some difficulty in setting up and maintaining the site. Most of the projects help forums are for those who run it on the LAMP stack. Downloads are usually zipped, and need to be set up manually. Linux distros such as Debian may have the packages in their repositories, but they may be a little out of date.

Microsoft finally decided to help people who run Windows Servers to be able to easily join in on the party. The result was the Web Platform Installer, more information can be found here

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While the focus of the tool seems to be to promote ASP.Net based applications, PHP based applications are also available and supported. Indeed, supporting these PHP applications has made installing products like Moodle and Gallery a lot simpler, as the package has scripts that set up the correct rights on folders, connection to the database and more.

The Installer sets up various aspects of IIS for you, installs a Microsoft SQL Express Database, PHP and other tools you will need for the applications.

At the moment, the number of applications is still quite small, but it is growing. Applications I wish to see in the future include PHPBB3, MediaWiki, and most importantly, Joomla. Microsoft does not package the applications themselves, but rather provides the guidelines and tools to create the packages. Hopefully members of the above mentioned communities will band together to package the apps to eventually have them appear in the Installer.

The Installer makes life easy in many ways, but it is not the be all end all. Admins still need to test the security of their websites, directory permissions and so to ensure the most secure website possible.

Overall, I really like this tool and hope that in time it will continue to grow and offer more and more killer applications. Microsoft have done sterling work to get PHP to run better and faster under Windows, and this is hopefully a sign of even more things to come.

When I started my new job, part of my brief was to come up with a migration proposal for the school network. The old Novell Netware system was (and still is) failing to meet the needs of the school. My colleague was also asked to do the same thing when he started a week after me.

Being a Windows admin, my natural plan was to run Windows Server on the network. My colleague however is a Linux fan, and his vision was based around Linux. We’ve argued to a standstill over this, with both of us realising we are not going to change our minds. So we set out to craft our proposals. Most people would have suggested that we work together on it to craft a better vision together than alone, but due to our ideological differences, this wasn’t possible.

Since February, we’ve been chipping away, frequently stopping, restarting and even starting over. However, about a month ago things went into high gear as we neared our deadline. My colleague had a stunning change of view close to the deadline, where he changed to using Google Apps for parts of his proposal. We argued over this as well. I am impressed with the idea behind it, but not so much that I’d make my network dependant on it yet.

The due date came and we duly handed in the proposals. After that, it was up to management. So the infamous waiting period began, where we waited to hear the outcome. We didn’t enjoy the fact that it took quite a while. Apparently management were doing research of their own, but this turned out to be only half true.

This past Friday (11 September), the decision finally came. After having a long discussion with the owner of a support company that has been involved with the school for years, the choices were made. My Windows solution for Server and Exchange were accepted, while my colleagues Linux firewall, Squid cache and Dansguardian filtering was chosen above my ISA Server.

Apparently we not rolling out Vista and waiting for Windows 7, but since we may not get 7 under a special South African School’s license, I think Vista will creep in on the network. XP is aging rather badly, and only our wildly mixed hardware stops a quick roll out of Vista. Office 2007 is being rolled out though, which was a mutual decision and choice by everyone. There will be pain for people, but it will pass. One can’t ignore new software forever…

While I’m happy I won the core of the migration, I hope I get the chance to sneak in more Microsoft products at some stage. I have a feeling that content filtering is going to be a problem, and I’m hoping that I can bring in ISA to save the day.

Now the real fun and hard work begins in December, when the migration happens. That should prove highly interesting to say the least…

Using 2 internet browsers is an increasing trend for many people these days, as they switch between browsers for speed, security or features. The most popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Firefox, and between those 2, most people have all they need.

However for some users, more browsers are needed, whether for web design work or a craving to experiment with different browsers. Here is a snip of my Quick Launch Toolbar:

From left to right: Internet Explorer 8, Maxthon 2.5, Firefox 3.51, Opera 10, Chrome 2, Safari 4

That is a total of 6 browsers. The reason I have so many is because of the work I do in Joomla for my job’s website. I like to test the pages in multiple browsers to get a feel for speed, font and layout issues as well as general usability.

I find that each of my browsers has pros and cons. Some have more features that are useful, some are faster, some have the right balance. Chrome is useful for raw speed on sites, Opera for layout issues due to its strict method of handling web standards, IE for certain sites, especially some useful Microsoft websites. My default browser however is Maxthon. It has the perfect blend of features I need to make my life easier. While not the fastest, I am more than happy with it.

For all the hype around it, I’ve never been all that huge a fan of Firefox, and as such I rarely use it. Safari rarely gets used as well, as the layout and controls feel strange to me.

Thanks to competition, IE has been forced to grow and improve, which is a good thing for those who just want to get on with the job. In turn, other browsers have been forced to be innovative to stand out, and this has lead to a win win situation for the customer really. There’s certainly never been a better time to be a web surfer.

A few years ago, the Shuttleworth Foundation started a project called tuxLabs. In a nutshell, they were taking old unused and donated computers, refurbishing them and then setting up computer labs in very poor schools. By using the old and donated hardware and using a customised version of Linux, they were able to establish a lab for a fraction of the cost of what it would normally cost a school. The other idea was to cluster the schools, so that they could help each other out when technical issues arose.

When it started, it went well and it soon expanded. So long as the old hardware didn’t break, most labs ran pretty well, and brought computer education to children who had never seen one before. The labs were mostly set up in primary schools in the poorest suburbs of the Western Cape, and it proved to be a hit. Later it expanded to other provinces and some high schools.

However, as time went on, the Shuttleworth Foundation decided that the project was a success, and as such was viable enough to stand on its own. Some members formed a new company to put support behind it, and that’s more or less when the decline started. It wasn’t due to the people of the new company not working hard enough, but rather due to the fact that there were so many schools, and few trained staff members at those schools to work in the labs.

Technical requests mounted as the hardware gave issues, as well as lack of training on the school staff side. Some schools just gave up entirely on using the lab, since so many computers were broken, or they had no one who could manage the lab. At other schools, despite some heavy anti theft measures in place, equipment still got stolen. The volunteers who had helped before lost interest, as the company behind the labs wanted to charge support fees, and this went against what they originally signed up for. This led to even more pressure on the company to settle issues. The backlog started reaching 3-4 weeks at times.

It’s actually sad to see this decline, because in theory the idea behind these tuxLabs was fantastic. Never mind Linux vs. Windows, this was simply about bringing computers to the poorest of the poor. The system wasn’t perfect, but kids learnt how to move a mouse, type and do research. Some played games and just had simple fun they wouldn’t have had otherwise. In some areas the lab was/is used by members of the surrounding communities, and again it was bringing something new and fantastic to people who never had that resource before.

So while the tuxLabs have been on a steady decline, they did create a path for others to follow and help bridge the digital divide in South Africa. For that they deserve a huge round of applause and a lot of respect.

Two months ago, my new job saw an all time bandwidth traffic record of 151GB being used. This was an astonishing feat, as the previous high had been 90 odd, and during the June time period students were writing exams, so usage should have been quite low. Traffic was running at a constant +-300 kb/s, which was impacting our speed quite a lot. This was running right during the night, which was very weird.

After scratching our heads we were at a loss to describe how this had happened. Neither I nor my colleague had been downloading files nor running torrents. We suspected a member of staff had been doing so, or a student who messed with a staff member’s pc. We then went on a wild hunt to find this but we had no luck.

By happenstance, we got warned that we were sending spam, and after doing some detective work to find out what happened, the truth finally came out. One of our servers was being used as a proxy for spam. This particular server was set up with Squid and Dansguardian to provide internet access for students, and due to a rather messed up Netware authentication situation at work, my colleague gave the server a public IP address.

The end result was that spammers found the computer and used Squid as an open relay to send their spam. We have no clue how many messages must have passed through the server before we locked it down, but I imagine it must have been in the tens of thousands.

After locking things down, my colleague discovered that hacking attempts were taking place, as it appeared someone was trying to log in via SSH through a dictionary attack. Luckily this failed due to strong passwords, but it was still an astonishing site for me.

In all, we learnt some valuable lessons when it comes to what you let loose on a public IP. It’s happened once more since then, as my colleague was testing something and forgot to firewall the server. Luckily we caught it the next day and he shut it down.

Hopefully we don’t have a situation again like that someday. It’s embarrassing and a security risk.

When it comes to email servers for Windows, there are a number of options, mostly commercially based products for small to medium business, or the really big groupware products for larger entities. When it comes to quality free mail servers, there doesn’t seem to be a really big range of choices.

Enter Hmail Server. I had previously heard of this software a few years back, but apart from looking at the website, I never got around to using the software. At the time, the versions available were licensed under the GNU GPL.

A few months back when I was busy with my Joomla based project, I came to the conclusion that I needed to test certain email based parts of the package, but without a live domain it was proving to be tricky. I remembered Hmail, and I decided to set it up on my pc to act as a mail server for Joomla.

The latest edition of the server is no longer under the GPL, but it is still free software. The install file was just under 3mb in size, which surprised me. For all the functionality it offered, 3mb seemed too small. Nonetheless, installing it was pretty simple. Hmail needs a database to store mail and it’s configuration, and it lets you use 1 of 3 different types. Since I had a MySQL server going, I simply used that option, and after a few more mouse clicks, the server was up and running.

Main Hmail console window

Hmail supports the 3 standard internet mail protocols, SMTP POP3 and IMAP4. It has a lot of other features as well that make it pretty modern. About the only downside is that you have to set up accounts by hand I think, though I may be wrong.

I’ve also used it at my job to help create an e-mail server for an adult education course that showed people how to use e-mail. Previously they couldn’t send and receive, but after setting up Hmail, the course suddenly became a lot more realistic.

In short, this is a quality free product that is being given away for free. Evaluate it, it may just be what you are looking for and can save you a lot of effort when setting up a mail server.

For more information, visit the website here

Mxit is an instant messaging service that was designed here in South Africa. By stroke of genius, it was designed to run on any number of cellular phones instead of the PC. Due to its wide range of phones supported, it quickly grew to be the platform of choice amongst the youth of this country to communicate. Since it’s cheaper to chat than to send tons of SMS’s or to voice call, Mxit has become ingrained in the culture of the youth today.

I myself use the program almost every day to chat with my friends. I’ve been using it since 2006, when it was still in it’s infancy. I’ve seen it grow, have teething troubles, and then grow some more. I’ve cursed it when it’s been slow, loved it when it was fast. Social events are planned on Mxit without blinking an eye. It’s really become second nature to almost everyone who uses it.

However, I’ve also noticed the downsides to its addicting nature. Children walk in shopping malls eyes glued to their phones, without seeming to know where they are. I have friends who would chat non stop when visiting me, which was incredibly rude as they spent more time chatting online than actually talking to me. I myself have stayed up late into the night chatting sometimes, and while I can handle that, many school children can’t. When they only get 3 or 4 hours sleep, they become tired and irritable at school and struggle to learn anything.

Mxit has also taken a lot of flack in the media because it has been linked (sometimes falsely) to kidnappings, spreading pornography, school “slut lists” and more. In most cases, it is the users that give it a bad name, as they are simply taking a platform and using it to their own ends.

One thing that saddens me though is how Mxit is used by some of its users to blatantly sexually lure people. I used to chat in a special chat room called the Dating Game, where the aim is to chat with people, flirt a little and perhaps develop a friendship. However, I long since stopped using the service because it has become polluted with girls/ladies/somebody offering naked pictures/videos of themselves for airtime. I have no idea if they really do send back in return for the airtime, as I haven’t and won’t be testing that out. For all I know, it could also easily be a scam to get airtime.

It is situations like that however that give Mxit a bad name and reputation. They do try their best to filter such content and moderate chat rooms, but the sheer amount of messages flowing through the system makes it near on impossible.

In the end, it’s not really Mxit at fault I guess. They simply provided a platform and service, and has been tarnished by a number of users actions. In many cases, the exact same things can happen on Windows Live Messenger and other chat networks, but since Mxit is so easily accessed by the youth compared to computer access, the bad vibes will probably follow Mxit around for some time to come.

Almost every school has a computer network these days it seems, some small, some medium and some very large and complex. The South African government is trying to get computers and computer labs into every school in the country, which is both an ambitious and commendable project.

One thing that doesn’t seem to be getting attention though is who will be managing these computers and labs. Giving the job to an already overworked teacher is an incredibly bad idea. 99.9% of the time, teachers don’t have the skills not training to properly manage a network, but they are often given the job because they know a little about computers. There are a few amazing teachers out there who are able to handle the job though, and I salute them as heroes. The real person who should be doing the job however is the network administrator.

Unfortunately, it seems that most schools don’t know about this person, or don’t have the budget to hire one. That is really unfortunate as by hiring one, they can save themselves a lot of problems in the future. Network admins are trained to handle the network and if they do their job right, can save everyone a lot of misery.

Sometimes though, it doesn’t quite work out right. Schools hire people who are not properly qualified for the job. This can happen because the school is desperate, can’t afford a proper admin or doesn’t know better. At my current job, the previous admin wasn’t a network admin, rather a graphics and web designer. The end result was that the school network was in a terrible shape when my colleague and I took over earlier this year.

I think for many schools, the concept of having someone specialised to just handle computers is a concept they struggle with. Yet, in today’s age and with tomorrow’s world coming, the position is as vital and necessary as the bursar or receptionist. Once schools accept this and make the effort to sort the budget out to allow for this person, that school can offer a well looked after network as one of its selling points. IT will truly become useful in the class and school, and won’t be just a marketing ploy.