Arno Nel 2.0

links for 2006-11-30

• JS-Kit.Com - Free server side goodies
  Hello! JS-Kit.com allows you to add dynamic functionality to your own site. The service is completely free and non-obligatory. No kitting! Enjoy!
  (tags: web2.0-tools general-tools development-tools)
• We offer a wide range of online stores which include Appliances, Baby Products, Computers, Electronics, Florist, Gaming and Outdoor Equipment
  (tags: home-general)

Keeping Control of Your Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Sites with IT Governance

More Webcasts:

"In this session, we show you how to manage shared service providers, including the ability to use profiles, personalized sites, and audiences to deliver customized content to users of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. We also demonstrate the security, policy, and auditing features available to administrators of SharePoint sites. Learn how Office SharePoint Server gives administrators a high level of control over content and site management, in addition to the ability to securely delegate content management. We explore the powerful auditing capabilities that enable SharePoint site administrators to see who does what throughout the entire Office SharePoint Server farm. Join this webcast to learn how to manage your Office SharePoint Server farms more effectively, control and audit your Office SharePoint Server deployment, and perform a variety of important administrative tasks to help keep your Office SharePoint Server farms secure and available. "

View the webcast here

JS-Kit.Com

Now this is REALLY nifty. Put this javascript anywhere on your site, or blog post to allow users to leave comments.

<script src="http://js-kit.com/comments.js"></script>

 You can also do some variations, check out this site: http://js-kit.com/

To see it in action have a look at this post.

Ready for a new day?

A new Microsoft site hit the web at http://msnewday.com/

The site has some videos:

• Bob Muglia on the Wave of Innovation
• How Secure is Windows Vista?
• Smashing Silos
• Value Out of the Box
• Welcome to the New Office UI
• Enterprise Content Management
• Partners Bring Value to Business

As well as a Forum

Visio Models, Scenarios and Flowcharts for Office SharePoint Server 2007

Not sure if this has been posted before, but there is alot of good stuff here. From Technet:

These files are poster-sized documents created in Microsoft Office Visio. If you do not have Visio installed, you can download a free viewer (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73526&clcid=0x409). A plotter works best for printing these files.

Models

• Model: Business Intelligence (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73117&clcid=0x409 )
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Application Security (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73118&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Backup and Restore (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73120&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Topologies (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73122&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Baseline Site Hierarchies (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73124&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Customization (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73125&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Database Administration (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73130&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Enterprise Content Management (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73132&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Extranet Topologies (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73153&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Inter-Farm Shared Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73155&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Products Migration (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73156&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Search Administration (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73165&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Office SharePoint Server Shared Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73166&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Upgrading Office SharePoint Server Products (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73167&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Upgrading SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to Office SharePoint Server (1 of 2) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73168&clcid=0x409)
• Model: Upgrading SharePoint Portal Server Version 2 to Office SharePoint Server (2 of 2) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73169&clcid=0x409)

Scenarios

• Scenario: Enterprise Content Management (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73170&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: InfoPath Forms Services Customer Interaction Form (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73171&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: InfoPath Forms Services Expense Reporting (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73172&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: InfoPath Forms Services Insurance Claims (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73173&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: InfoPath Forms Services Permits (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73176&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: InfoPath Forms Services Supplier Survey (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73177&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Keeping Connections to Data Sources Current (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73178&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Large Corporate Internet Site (Infrequent Changes to Web Content) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73179&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Office SharePoint Server Call Center (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73557&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Office SharePoint Server Corporate Intranet Portal Site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73181&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Office SharePoint Server Departmental Portal Site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73182&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Office SharePoint Server Equities Research (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73183&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Office SharePoint Server Informational Portal Site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73184&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Office SharePoint Server Out-Hosted Portal Sites (ASPs) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73186&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Online News Internet Site (Frequent Web Content Updates and Searching) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73187&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Preserving "One Version of the Truth" for Distributed Workbooks (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73188&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Records Management in Office SharePoint Server (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73189&clcid=0x409)
• Scenario: Rendering Data from Spreadsheets to Web Parts (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73190&clcid=0x409)

Flowcharts

• Office SharePoint Server Planning Flowchart, Part I (application administrators) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73192&clcid=0x409)
• Office SharePoint Server Planning Flowchart, Part II (IT pros) (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73193&clcid=0x409)
• Office SharePoint Server Deployment Flowchart (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=73191&clcid=0x409)

Compliance Features in the 2007 Microsoft Office System

A new Whitepaper has hit the stands. From the Microsoft Website:

"Brief Description

This white paper describes compliance-related features and extensibililty opportunities within the 2007 Microsoft Office system that can assist you to meet the demands of regulatory compliance.

Overview

This white paper showcases compliance-related features and extensibility opportunities with the 2007 Microsoft® Office system, and demonstrates how the Office system can help you meet the demands of regulatory compliance. By focusing on a few core products, including Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server, Office client-side applications, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, this paper introduces built-in features of the Office system that address compliance requirements. The paper also focuses on the opportunities for developers to use expanded tools support to build customized solutions that facilitate regulatory compliance without bogging down business processes."

Get it here

links for 2006-11-27

• 10 Minute Mail
  Why would you use this? Maybe you want to sign up for a site which requires that you provide an e-mail address to send a validation e-mail to. And maybe you don't want to give up your real e-mail address and end up on a bunch of spam lists. This is nice a
  (tags: general-tools)
• Eilon Lipton's Blog : ASP.NET AJAX JavaScript Class Browser
  As part of an exercise in app building, as well as an exercise in doing useful stuff, I wrote a class browser to inspect the ASP.NET AJAX client libraries. It's a simple ASP.NET-based app, though most of the code is client-side. I wrote a simple reflectio
  (tags: development-tools)
• WiTS Overview
  The Windows Inspection Tool Set (WiTS) provides you with cross-linked, filtered views into a Windows system. View operating system information, processes, services, users, network interfaces and connections, file shares, printers and more. All views are l
  (tags: general-tools)

People Ready Business - The Ultimate Link List

Ok, new product launches almost always mean new buzz words at Microsoft. Information Worker, People Ready Business, Infrastructure Optimization, to name a few. What do they all mean? Ill spend a few blog posts talking about them and posting some links etc

So today, its "People Ready".

Who are the most important people in an organization? Yes, gentleman in the back with the blue shirt. "Its the People, Sir". Thats right.... its the people :)
An organization will succeed when it recognises the most important asset it has are its people, and should empower them with the right tools and technologies to drive the business forward.

At a press conference earlier this year, Steve Ballmer said:
“Twenty years ago this week, Microsoft — armed with our belief in the power of software to change the world — was listed as a publicly traded company. People-Ready is a natural extension of our founding vision of empowering people through software. Today we take this to the next level by showing how these tools now work together in new ways to enhance innovation and drive greater value for business,” Ballmer said.

“Fueling our vision is a series of software solutions resulting from a $20 billion R&D investment over the past three years that is producing new innovation in a range of categories. From business intelligence to the mobile work force, from collaboration to communications, and from CRM to enterprise search, the opportunity for software to deliver even greater customer value is limitless.”

“Getting the most out of their people is on the mind of every business leader I speak with,” Ballmer said. “Successful businesses understand that people drive business success and growth. At Microsoft, we understand that and are passionate about the idea that the right software can provide the tools to empower workers to become the drivers of business success.”

Watch the full Webcast here

According to Jeff Raikes, President of the Microsoft Business Division:

"A People-Ready business believes people are at the core of driving and achieving key business outcomes. We think that people are more important than processes, than systems, certainly than permanent outside consultants. The ultimate drivers of success are the people inside the organization. And a People-Ready business recognizes that, and invests in software and tools to really harness the power of its people. A People-Ready business believes that if you empower the people inside an organization you empower the organization itself.

We're fueling our People-Ready vision with an incredible pipeline of product innovation that will enable businesses to address challenges in areas such as Business Intelligence, Communications & Collaboration, Customer Relationship Management, the mobile workforce, infrastructure and many more. Consequently, we are investing more than $500 million over the next year to communicate this vision to customers worldwide, and will be mobilizing over 640,000 partners around the globe to help our customers share in this vision."

View the rest of the Executive QnA

So yes, thats alot of marketing stuff to take in. Want more?
Here are some more links to get you reading:

Video Soundbites:

• CEO Steve Ballmer on Microsoft’s People-Ready vision (.wmv file, 2 min. 23 sec.)
• Tim Huval, CIO, Bank of America Global Wealth & Investment Management Group, on how employees realize their potential with Microsoft software. (.wmv file, 28 sec.)
• Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer and chairman of Tommy Hilfiger Corp., on the importance of being a People-Ready business. (.wmv file, 31 sec.)
• Microsoft Corporate Vice President Chris Capossela demonstrates People-Ready software, innovations in unified communications and collaboration. (.wmv file, 2 min. 57 sec.)

Virtual Newsrooms:

• People-Ready Business Launch Virtual Newsroom

Press Releases:

• Q&A: “People-Ready Business”: What Microsoft’s Vision for Business Means for Mid-Market Customers (March 21, 2006)
• Microsoft Announces "People-Ready" Business Vision (March 16, 2006)
• Executive Q&A: What Is a "People-Ready" Business? (March 16, 2006)

Webcasts Speech Transcripts:

• Steve Ballmer On-Demand Webcast: "The People-Ready Business" - March 16, 2006 (1 hr. 7 min.)
• Written Transcript of Steve Ballmer's Remarks: "The People-Ready Business" - March 16, 2006
• Presentation Accompanying Steve Ballmer's Remarks: "The People-Ready Business" - March 16, 2006 (.ppt file, 1.4 MB)

White Papers & Analyst Reports

• White Paper: "The People-Ready Business" - March 16, 2006 (.pdf file, 12 pages, 337 KB)
• Newspaper Insert: "Inside Your Company Is a Powerful Resource" (.pdf file, 5 pages, 3 MB)
• Research Summary, Keystone Strategy: "Information Technology Drives Growth" - March 2006 (.pdf file, 2 pages, 354 KB)
• White Paper, Keystone Strategy: "Enterprise IT Capabilities and Business Performance" - March 2006
• Analyst Report: The High-Performance Workplace Defined - Gartner, July 22, 2005 (.pdf file, 4 pages, 51 KB)
• Analyst Report: The Information Workplace Will Redefine the World of Work - At Last! - Forrester, June 1, 2005 (.pdf file, 22 ages, 695 KB)

Microsoft Resources:

• People-Ready Business Web site
• People Ready Partner Info

Other Resources:

• eWeek - Microsoft Outlines its Vision for People Ready Business
• InfoWorld - Microsoft eyes People Ready Software
• Internet News - People Ready to Drive Microsofts Growth
• Forbes - Vista Not People Ready
• Adrants » 'People Ready' Microsoft Ad Gets Reality Treatment

blogmailr

Published with BlogMailr

Best Inventions 2006

 The very popular video sharing server, YouTube, won Time Magazines Best Invention of 2006 competition. Pretty impressive if you compare it to some of the other inventions eg:

The Air Matress: a floating Matress, yours for a cool $1.5 million

Check out the rest of the inventions here

The Most Important Microsoft Release of the Year

Interesting post from the Microsoft commentators at Microsoft Watch where they say:

"But getting lost a bit in the noise and hype is one Microsoft product release that, in the long run, may end up being the most important, especially on the enterprise side. And that product is Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007."

Which product do YOU think will be the most important to your organisation, Office/Sharepoint, Vista or Exchange.

You know where my vote goes :)

Team Direction Project Plus 2007 Beta - a 2 minute review: Part 1

Ok, the idea with Team Direction is that if you have Sharepoint, Groove, MS Project or MindManager, and you want to share Tasks between all of them with a team, then Team Direction might be what you are looking for.

Here is a quick guide via screenshots. This is project organiser.

I start by creating a new project, and filling in some details.

This now creates the Team Direction Workspace showing the project tasks gantt view.

I then click "Share" to create the Sharepoint Workspace and assign user access, but could easily do some Groove sharing too.

The Sharepoint Workspace is created.

I can go back to the client, assign a task, and Sync back to the Sharepoint Workspace.

You also have the ability to import/export to and from aplications like MS Project and MindManager:

All of the above, including the installation, took me all of 5 minutes to setup, and even though its a beta product, i had no problems at all.

I havent used this in an actual project yet, but will definately demo to our Project Office soon and give feedback. Watch for the second part of the Review.

To see more Demo's check these out from the Team Direction site:

Introduction to TD Project

Instant Communication

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 extensions

The NOV CTP for these extension have been released. This is what Microsoft download has to say:

Overview

This Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services contains the following tools to aid developers in building SharePoint applications:
Visual Studio 2005 Project Templates

• Web Part
• Team Site Definition
• Blank Site Definition
• List Definition

• Web Part
• Custom Field
• List Definition (with optional Event Receiver)
• Content Type (with optional Event Receiver)
• Module

• This stand-alone program generates a Site Definition project from an existing SharePoint site. The program enables developers to use the browser and Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer to customize the content of their sites before creating code by using Visual Studio.

Go get the extensions here

[Edit: The "SharePoint Solutions Blog" has a nice walkthrough and screenshots for this download, check it out here ]

Best Practices in Enterprise Knowledge Management

Some new whitepapers have been published to the KN World website by leaders in the Knowledge Management world.

Passing the Cringe Test Has Knowledge Management Made It to Prime Time?

Once upon a time, saying the words “knowledge management” was the fastest way to get thrown out of a meeting. And not only would you be ejected, you would never be invited back.

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Andy Moore

People Judge Relevance. Machines Calculate Evidence

Does the man make the machine? Or the machine make the man? A pilot can't fly without a plane. A doctor can't diagnose without a centrifuge.

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Paul Sonderegger

How to Correctly Design and Implement a Dashboard

A Step-by-Step Guide A dashboard is a vital tool for monitoring the daily health of your organization. From a single interface, decision makers have access to key performance indicators (KPIs)—

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Daryl Orts

Building the Search Center of Excellence

Search is strategic; however, the strategic potential of search is not captured by the act of acquiring a powerful search platform alone. Pioneering firms are now developing a new kind of management approach to help deliver maximum value across multiple search-driven applications: the “search center of excellence.” It is a structured approach, utilizing a focused cross-functional team, and it is emerging as a practical tool to drive search innovation and deliver high quality online experiences.

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Hadley Reynolds , Silvija Seres

Implementing KM: Practitioners Share Best Practices

Most customer service organizations today will admit that effective knowledge transfer is the most crucial element to resolving customer problems.

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Inquira

Mistakes to Avoid and Principles for Success

Knowledge Management through Portals Many organizations today still struggle to get value from their knowledge management (KM) efforts. Even companies that have been benchmarked as the “best practice” can easily fall

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Brandon Lackey , Michael Behounek

Knowledge is Power Best Practices in Semantics Management

Knowledge is power. Though said in the 16th century by author and philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon, the meaning of the phrase is even more applicable today as companies around the world are dealing with an overwhelming amount of data

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Jeff Dirks

Answering Customers’ Questions the Intelligent Way

The Importance of Multiple Search Methodologies Enterprises face a difficult challenge when it comes to simultaneously improving the quality of customer service and reducing service costs. More products, growing product complexity and rapid change substantially increase the amounts of information...

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Anand Chopra

Knowledge at the Point of Decision

What a Robot Really Want A small, two-legged robot stands atop a glass-topped coffee table. On its two dimensional world, it has to contend with a potted plant, an old TV Guide and several coffee cups..

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006]

Enterprise Search: The Foundation for Risk Management

If you can’t find it, you can’t manage it. Unfortunately, many executives have discovered this too late in the game—when they face regulatory compliance penalties, legal troubles or a corporate scandal.

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Laurent Simoneau

Realizing Measurable ROI with Multi-Language Content Management

What is content management worth? That can be a philosophical question. If you ask a content author, you'll hear about the way content creation and review is made easier

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Jon Parsons

Hosted XML Content Management: Is It Right for You?

Publishing organizations have long recognized the value of migrating content to XML to attain the benefits of content reuse, reduced localization costs and single-source publishing..

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Dan Dube

Who is That “he?” Using Pronouns and Anaphors in Text Extraction

Text extraction is a powerful tool to find and categorize elements in unstructured documents. These elements, or entities, are connected together to form the relationships, facts and events...

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Gregory F.Roberts

Beyond First Call Resolution Diagnostic and Measurement Practices for KM

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006] - by Andrew Cohen, Ph.D.,

The Hidden Costs of Product Information Publishing

Manufacturing enterprises have placed a sustained focus on information management solutions to support and augment the design, development and production process.

Posted 01 Nov 2006 / Enterprise Knowledge Management, Vol V [November/December 2006]