Posts by ScottK

Crypto-upstart subpoenas Glassdoor to unmask ex-staff believed to be behind negative reviews. EFF joins the fray

Re: Business Model

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-07/adelaide-lawyer-wins-defamation-payout-over-bad-google-review/11942064

Vote rigging, election fixing, ballot stuffing: Just another day in the life of a Register reader

I had the same thought a few years ago and stuck my musings on line. Apologies for the longish read and it being on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/scott.knights.33/posts/10153031717036038

As sales crash, Gartner wonders who can rescue the smartphone market ... Aha, it is I! 5G Man!

Re: suffering because of Brexit

As the pound crashed after the referendum, costs of imports increased. Come Brexit day, if (when) it ever happens, the pound is likely to crash some more. On top of the cost of the goods, cost of transport will also increase as fuel is priced in USD. Even goods manufactured in the UK will still need transporting and will still rely on a foreign supply chain in many cases. About the only thing to really benefit is the domestic tourism industry as people holiday at home and overseas visitors benefit from the cheap currency.

The higher costs leads to higher inflation figures. The usual fix to try counter inflation is to raise interest rates, but the BoE lowered them after the referendum to try stimulate the economy (which lowers the value of the currency even more) and they have been stuck at record low levels ever since. They don't really have many other levers to use.

If there is no deal, then under WTO rules UK has to apply the same tariffs globally. If they don't tariff imported goods while tariffs are applied on exports, then overseas imports will flood in, leading to manufacturers that cannot sell overseas going to the wall. In addition, politicians are likely to find themselves being lynched by UK farmers (so maybe not all bad...).

All in all, a shit pile of the highest order with the poorest people in the country the worst affected.

Facebook blames 'server config change' for 14-hour outage. Someone run that through the universal liar translator

Re: Facebook was down?

Stupid enough that the local plod had to issue a statement asking people to stop ringing 000 (999 equivalent in Oz) to report Facebook being down.

Translating Facebook's latest 'Hard Questions' PR spin – The Reg edit

Targeted ads

I don't get targeted advertising. It seems to be braindead.

I just bought a new car. I used the web to look at pricing and read reviews. I am now constantly seeing ads for this car.

I was already interested in the vehicle beforehand so the ads were pointless then. Since I have bought the vehicle the ads are even more pointless now. Do they think I need another one and have completely forgotten about the product since I bought it last time?

Munich council finds €49.3m for Windows 10 embrace

Just where do you get your information from?

Part of my job as an administrator in RDS environments is keeping an eye on exactly what is written into registry hives to keep them as small as possible for fast logons. Some applications (looking at you Samsung printer drivers) are very chatty and will write a lot of unnecessary garbage into user reg hives, so I just remove it again or exclude it from being saved in the first place if using something like Citrix profile manager.

The registry does not record all information about everything you do. I don't know which conspiracy theory site you read this on, but it simply is not true. If it were, then registry hives would be growing at an absurd rate with all this logging, yet somehow I am able to always keep user registry hives down to less than a couple of megabytes in size. If I see that a users NTUSER.DAT file has unexpectedly grown, I will analyse it to see which application is doing something stupid and fix it. It might save a recent file list for some applications, so that you can go back to what you were last working on, but that is hardly a key logger.

Every key and value that is written into the registry has a date/time stamp, in the same way that files have a date/time stamp. So yes, when you install or use an application, it will record the date and time for any values that are written for that application, in exactly the same way that config files will get their date/time stamps updated when you install or use an application that uses config files. It is just more granular as you can see when a specific value was changed, rather than just knowing when the whole file was changed.

If you are that paranoid about what is being saved in the registry, you can always export it to a text file. That way you can look through every value that is in there along with their date/time stamps. There are also some excellent utilities such as REGSHOT and Sysinternals PROCMON and RU for analysing what has been written into registry hives.

Alternatively set up mandatory profiles for your users. These are preconfigured profiles that are read only. All changes are discarded at log off. That way you can be sure nothing is being saved. They are a pain in the arse to manage though.

Australia to review effectiveness of ISPs' copyright-defending website blocks

Re: Ah, is that why....

I also use Dodo for the simple reason I am unable to get NBN and they offer a cheap unlimited ADSL service. I am in a fixed wireless NBN area and the installer could not get a consistent signal.

The ADSL is on a telstra line and I can find no difference in performance between this and my previous much more expensive and capped internode connection. The only problem I have had in two years was a Telstra issue. I am using my own router rather than the crap they supply.

I have not had to contact their support, so can't comment on it. However, they did manage to spell both the username and password I asked for incorrecty, so I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

Microsoft reveals career-enhancing .PNG files

Certs

I have various certs for MS, Citrix and other products. I don't want to do them as I consider them largely pointless and I find studying to memorise crap I am unlikely to ever use simply to pass a test annoying to say the least. I do them under protest when my employer needs them to retain partner status.

With most MS products now focusing heavily on powershell, there are a lot of questions on this. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Posh, but if I am doing something which has the potential to cause catastrophic damage to an environment, there is no way I am going to rely on memory. Even if I am 99.999% certain I know the correct syntax I am still going to look it up and test before I do it for real. Therefore the questions are totally unrealistic.

"You want to do something which could royally fuck up your AD. Which one of these commands should you blindly execute from memory."

Even worse though are the recent certs for Azure & Office 365. The products change on almost a weekly basis, so how are you supposed to prepare for an exam? I recently did an O365 exam and answers to some questions would not have been correct 3 months ago, but are correct now. Do I give the currently correct answer or was the exam drawn up 6 months ago?

The training course I took for this exam had a module on DirSync. This tool has now been replaced with Azure AD Connect. Learning an obsolete tool I will never use in anger just on the off chance the exam still has questions on it is hardly the best use of my time.

On the plus side, I passed.

Microsoft has open-sourced PowerShell for Linux, Macs. Repeat, Microsoft has open-sourced PowerShell

Re: MS spreading more poison

Microsoft, like every other BigCorp is not anti anything they are simply pro money. They make money from Linux VMs running in their cloud so they want to support it.

Under Ballmer they saw Linux as a threat to Windows sales so made life hard. Things are different now.

The desktop (and to some extent, the server) OS wars have come and gone. MS are looking at a different future where you pay them to run your VMs on their tin and they don't give a shit what OS is running on them.

Same with SQL server. Whether you run it on Windows or Linux you still give them money for the licenses.

You appear to be under the mistaken belief that MS do things for ideological reasons. They don't, they just want your money.

Ireland's tech sector fears fallout of Brexit 'Yes' vote

No they haven't. Expats can vote as long as they have been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years:

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register-to-vote/british-citizens-living-abroad

I am in Oz and have registered to vote with no issues.

Volkswagen Australia says 77,000 local diesels need software fix

Take it back

I still think that anybody affected by this should just return the vehicle to the dealer and ask for a full refund under section 260 of schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer act 2010. This specifically states that a major failure has occurred if a reasonable consumer would not have bought the goods if they had known about the issue beforehand. The exact quote from the law is below as well as a link to the schedule.

When a major failure occurs, the consumer is entitled to a repair, refund or replacement. Crucially this is the consumers choice. If VW started getting thousands of vehicles returned for a full refund they might think twice before indulging in such dodgy practices again. Too many retailers & manufacturers rely on consumers not knowing and exercising their statutory rights.

260 When a failure to comply with a guarantee is a major failure

A failure to comply with a guarantee referred to in section 259(1)(b) that applies to a supply of goods is a major failure if:

(a) the goods would not have been acquired by a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/caca2010265/sch2.html

ACCC guide to motor dealers also makes for interesting reading:

https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/motor-vehicle-sales-repairs-an-industry-guide-to-the-australian-consumer-law

Snakes in the aircon, killer crocs in the river, virtualisation for apps

Re: Indian in Oz

I have found 3 takeaways in the Darwin Area. Saffron in Parap (as mentioned by another commenter) Memories of India on Sabine Road and a place in Palmerston whose name escapes me. Memories of India is the best by a long way, but they are all absurdly expensive and don't taste as good (to me) as the food in the UK.

It is probably due to competition. Having lived in the Leeds/Bradford area where there are a lot of great Indian restaurants, the crap ones just wouldn't survive. Here, they can get away with it, due to the lack of competition.

I did find a couple of great restaurants in Brisbane.

Re: Barramundi

I am not saying that I don't like Barramundi, it is great grilled. It just doesn't work for me in fish and chips.

Microsoft, the VW family sedan of IT, wants to be tech's new Rolls-Royce

@Ivan 4

3000 x 2000

Surface Book: Microsoft to turn unsuccessful tab into unsuccessful laptop

Re: Enough of this trivia...

Haven't seen the launch, but you can't beat Thunderstruck. Great tune.

The local Aussie Rules football team play Thunderstruck when they walk on the pitch (they are called NT Thunder).

However, for extra epic points when using the tune it needs to be this this version?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk

Progress source replenishes international space station

Re: Mixed units

Surely the physicist in you would prefer his weight in Newtons and his mass in grams.

Australian government sun to set on NBN funding

Re: All households?

Past experience of the horrid latency on satellite would mean it would be totally unusable for me as I need to regularly RDP to servers.

Maybe I just need to go chop down all of my neighbours trees.

All households?

Does that include me? I am currently living in an area serviced by fixed wireless, but can't actually get it as the NBN installer couldn't get a decent signal from the mast.

So if ALL households will be getting NBN access, how do they propose to service my house?

NBN Co to trial faster fixed wireless services

Can't even get current wireless

Here in the bush wilderness of just outside Darwin, I can't even get the current wireless service. Pre election my area was shown as being an early fibre to the premises location. Post election, this was changed to fixed wireless.

I applied for this, but despite not being too far from the mast in Humpty Doo (yes really!) town centre I was told by the tech that he couldn't get a consistent signal. Seems that there are some trees in the way. Unless I go on a midnight rampage with a chainsaw to my neighbours blocks it seems there will be no NBN for me anytime soon.

When I contacted NBNCo to find out how I would be able to join the national broadband revolution the response was I would have to wait and see what happened in the future or possibly use satellite. Don't think I want to try using RDP over satellite so I am forced to stick with ADSL for now.

Australian desert deluge demonstrates why we're doing it

Re: Yep Central Australia .....

Had somebody die last week in remote WA because he didn't stay with his car:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-08/man-dies-after-car-breaks-down-in-remote-wa/6006916

If going on some serious bush bashing, take a PLB and a lot of water.

Henley on Todd

Henley on Todd. The only regatta in the world that gets cancelled because there is water in the river.

http://www.henleyontodd.com.au/

I'll be back (and forward): Hollywood's time travel tribulations

We need a movie of Harry Harrison's Technicolo(u)r Time Machine.

Annus HORRIBILIS for TLS! ALL the bigguns now officially pwned in 2014

Re: Supposed to be internal testing.

It looks like the BBC have confused 2 bugs into one. From what I have read so far, there is an issue which has existed in the client OS since Windows 95 that was discovered by IBM. This is different to the SChannel server issue which appears to have been discovered interally. BBC are reporting them as one and the same.

Happy 2nd birthday, Windows 8 and Surface: Anatomy of a disaster

Re: That's a shame

It would be very nice to be able to roll out my old pre Win 8 GPOs to manage Windows 10, instead of spending days trying to work out how to manage the new version as I have had to with 8/8.1.

As a great example, which total dribbling moron decided that it would be a good idea to put the configuration for the 8.1 start button right click menu in a folder called WinX in the LOCAL part of the users' profile? The upshot of this is that with roaming profiles that clear the cached copy at logoff, the second time a user logs on the menu disappears as the folder no longer exists! I had to put a GPO in to recopy it back out to users at every logon.

It is idiocy like this that makes me want to shake Sinofsky warmly by the throat.

Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

@ Neil Barnes.

Sorry, but your statement that the UI is too deeply embedded in the OS is wrong.

You have always been able to change the UI in NT based versions of Windows. Just change this registry value for your shell of choice:

Key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Name: Shell

Type: REG_SZ

Value: Explorer.exe

This changes it for everyone on the machine. Replace HKLM with HKCU if you want different shells for different users.

There are alternative shells out there. Not many people use them though as (up to Windows 7 at least) users were generally happy with Explorer.

I have used this to deliver Windows based thin clients using a cut down shell to launch server based sessions.

You can also use this to get yourself out of trouble if you have completely mangled your Windows install. Do a recovery boot, edit the registry and get Windows to start something else such as the command prompt or a tools suite.

Munich considers dumping Linux for ... GULP ... Windows!

Re: Lack of integrated email/contacts/calendar?

As noted in my original comments Outlook wasn't my choice, it was the users. We tried them with the web client but they didn't like it. They also didn't like the native Zimbra client either. Even if they did though, this also pulls the mail down and caches it locally so would heve been no better in our RDS environment.

Regarding the other posters comment about storing PST files on a network drive, yes they will break as well. It isn't supported and nobody with any sense should try. Since a ZDB file IS a PST file with a different extension it beggars belief that this was Zimbra's suggested fix for the lack of an online mode.

We asked them if there was client on their development roadmap which could work online without having to cache the mailbox. If there was, we may have stuck with it. There wasn't so we went to Exchange.

You may not like it, but the fact is that Outlook is a popular mail client. If you want to make a successful groupware product you need to provide decent support for it.

FREE PARTY for TEN lucky Australian Reg readers

Re: Limericks

Don't forget the awesome name of my current place of residence - Humpty Doo.

When is the party in the top end?

Sysadmin Day 2014: Quick, there's still time to get the beers in

Public Holiday

Here in Darwin, sysadmin day is celebrated with a public holiday.

The cute things they say

Re: Cute people work for tech support too

About 10ish years ogo My girlfriend had an AOL account at her house (she got it before I met her). When she switched from dial up to a broadband conenction they sent through a CD with the software for the router. On installation it just reached an OS check then hung forever. I had a look on the CD and found an XML file with OS checks. The PC had Windows 2000 with SP4 installed. The XML file had checks for Windows 2000 gold, SP1, 2 & 3 but nothing for 4. I had a bash at modifying the XML file but couldn't get it to work so took a deep breath and called their support.

I tried to explain the issue but the support rep insisted on running through their standard support script. After wasting 30 minutes plus on this I tried to explain that all I needed was for them to send me an updated install CD that supported SP4. She went quiet then put me on hold while she went to discuss this with someone else.

After another eternity spent on hold, she eventually came back and said "don't worry, our software doesn't need service pack 4". At this point I gave up in despair and hung up. My solution (apart from telling the gf to change to another ISP as soon as possible) was to flatten the PC and install Windows again. I installed the AOL software then re-applied sp4. I figured this would be quicker than attempting to resolve it through their tech support.

Still watching DVDs? You're a planet-killing carbon hog!

Re: ok... I'll go sit in a dark cave

This reminds me of an interview a few years ago on BBC breakfast with Adam Hart-Davis. He was telling everybody how they needed to stop flying as it was killing the environment. This was shortly before he then started waxing lyrical about his various shows in different parts of the world. No doubt flown there in business class at license payer expense.

A classic moment of do as I say, not as I do.

Re: end of its CO2 footprint regardless of how many

I knew when I posted that comment that the player & screen would still use power, but if I was streaming I would be using the same 2 devices (network connected Blu-Ray player), so the result would be more or less the same.

Possibly streaming would use more power as the blu-ray player would need to be using its wireless, plus there is the router to take into account. Possibly streaming would be less as the motor for the disc player wouldn't be turning. Probably not much in it either way.

The big difference is that the energy for making and transporting the disc are now sunk costs, whereas the datacentre and infrastructure required for streaming are still required for every subsequent play.

Re: This adds in my driving to the shop to buy the disc?

She is still a bit young for for the teen-angst-vamipire-drama dross at the moment.

It is more films like Frozen or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. If given the opportunity she would probably put one of these on everyday as soon as she got home from school, then sit through it 3 times.

This adds in my driving to the shop to buy the disc?

This smells like bullshit to me. This factors in my trip to the shop to buy the disc? I wouldn't make a special trip just to buy a DVD. The DVDs I own were either bought mail order, or bought while I was doing other shopping.

Also, once I own it that is the end of its CO2 footprint regardless of how many more times it gets watched. Some of my daughter's films have been watched tens or even hundreds of times.

Microsoft’s 'FIRST NOKIA' arrives at £89

Australia tax strikes again

This looks interesting, but yet again it seems residents of the land down under are being stung with silly pricing. Somehow 89 pounds translates into 249 Aussie dollars. At the current exchange rate it should be somewhere in the region of 160-165.

'25,000 Windows Server 2003 boxes' must be upgraded A DAY to meet OS support death date

@c:\boot.ini

Not entirely sure what point this post is trying to make. It mentions using linux to get a decade of support in an article discussing a Microsoft operating system that has had more than a decade of support.

Any discussion of OS choice on el reg always seems to ignore the main point. What software do you need to run? If the software I need to run is only available on Windows, I will use that. If linux, I will use that. If I am running up a terminal server to provide Windows based applications to end users, I don't have much choice in the matter.

OS choice is a practical consideration for me, not a philosophical one.

Regarding the hardware, since almost all servers I work with are virtual, the hardware is irrelevant. Once the hardware becomes out of date, I can just get a new host and move the existing VMs. The software refresh cycle becomes completely independent of the hardware cycle.

Re: Why doesn't MS stop selling the OS half-way through and also stop releasing software for it too?

This pretty much describes the actual process Microsoft uses.

All MS products have a declared lifecycle you can check here:

https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/

This details the dates for the end of mainstream and extended support.

1. There have been 4 successor operating systems (2008, 2008R2, 2012, 2012R2)

2. Licenses for 2003 have not been available for a very long time.

3. None of the current server products (SQL, Exchange, etc) will work on server 2003.

Having known about the end of support for some time (I keep an eye on the lifecycle doc), most of the 2003 servers I am responsible for have already been decomissioned. All the rest will be gone well before the end of extended support date.

Windows Phone: Just as well Microsoft bought an Android maker, RIGHT?

Re: I actually like Windows phone

Why so many downvotes for somebody simply for saying that they like a product? Bizarre.

Satisfy my scroll: El Reg gets claws on Windows 8.1 spring update

Re: See - that's fine. That's a constructive, supportable criticism

One other issue with the search functionality that drives me up the wall.

Example, I hit the windows key and type notepad. After a while, I want to open another notepad, so I hit search and type notepad again. It takes focus back to the original notepad instead of launching another instance. Very annoying. Even more so when dealing with control panel applets or MMC snapins and constantly ending up on the wrong one.

Every time I fall for this, I swear then remember to hit Windows-R to bring up the run box instead.

Re: See - that's fine. That's a constructive, supportable criticism

You just don't get it do you? I and several others have presented multiple concrete legitimate reasons as to why the GUI causes problems. It may work on a client. If I had a touch device I might like it. However, I am a server guy with a speciality in terminal server/remote desktop solutions. Microsoft decided to saddle the server OS with the same GUI as the client and it just doesn't work.

I need to be able to install multiple applications on a server and present subsets of these applications to diferent users. Since Windows 2003SP1 this has been a breeze. Redirect the desktop and start menu and use ABE to limit what shortcuts users see. Job done. Doesn't work anymore. There is no way I have yet found to achieve the same objective on the 2012/R2 start screen.

I need to limit screen updates so that users on slow links get acceptable performance. On previous versions of Windows when finding a new application, the user could go to the start menu. Only a small portion of the screen changed. Now, they hit the Windows key and Bang! They have to wait for the whole screen to update and then sometimes get animated tiles to make matters even worse.

These are just 2 real world examples of how this causes problems.

I can accept your point of view that the GUI works for you. You should accept mine that putting this GUI on the server was a stupid decision.

Just think, if Microsoft had simply offered the choice of interface we would both be happy, nobody would be having this endless conversation and Microsoft would probably have shifted a lot more Windows licenses.

Re: As if this will make people happy!

Yes. I use core installs, remote management and powershell. RDP is one of the tools I use, which unfortunately the new GUI makes far more difficult to use. Powershell is great for scripting things or making bulk changes, but sometimes when you just need to make a quick change under time pressure a GUI tool makes more sense instead of trying to remember the exact syntax you need for the shell.

Some applications such as Exchange REQUIRE the GUI. You also generally need a GUI on Remote Desktop servers. It is a bit hard to tell end users that they should use powershell for everything on their RD sessions.

Remote management is fine when handling fleets of well managed servers, but I also need to support single standalone servers at small customer sites via RDP. Their local IT person is generally not conversant with powershell and wants to use the GUI.

The other thing with the new GUI, especially on remote desktop servers is that none of the GPOs and management practises I have developed over the years to lock down desktops work anymore. The start screen is essentially unmanagable. I cannot present selected applications to groups of users.

I am sure some people are very happy with the new GUI. Unfortunately it makes my life more difficult. Why can't I just have the choice of how I and my users work? This is all most people are asking for.

Re: As if this will make people happy!

It isn't always passed through, especially when you are having to access a nested session (when you have to RDP to one server to be able to bounce across to another). It can also sometimes fail due to policy settings. I work with this stuff every day. It happens, don't call me a liar.

I have worked with Windows Server OSs since NT4 and have adapted to the various changes with few issues. 2012 is the first time I have found design decisions in the interface actively hinder they way I work. It is a fantastic operating system saddled with an idiotic interface. None of the servers I use have a touch screen, so why do they get a touch UI?

Re: As if this will make people happy!

@h4rm0ny

Do you do any work on Windows servers? It is all very well to say just hit the windows key and search, but when you are trying to work in a nested RDP 2012 session where the Windows key doesn't get passed through, this is a pain. Also, the full screen context switch can be slow. When using remote sessions over crap links you want the fewest number of pixels to change as possible.

One other thing. On my home PC I still use an ancient IBM model M keyboard as no newer keyboard has anything like the robustness or feel. It doesn't have a Windows key. This has never been an issue until now.

It's true, the START MENU is coming BACK to Windows 8, hiss sources

Re: I had to Google how to find the Control Panel...

No, the "proper" way to get to the control panel is of course to press the Windows key, then type NCPA.CPL to bring up network settings (other CPLs are available, I just happen to use this one the most). You then go to the address bar and go back up a few levels to the control panel. You then drag this to your desktop as a shortcut for future reference.

Of course, if you are in a nested RDP session then the Windows key probably won't pass through. At this point, you can instead create a desktop shortcut to your favourite CPL instead, then do the address bar thing.

So much simpler than the old way of doing things (Start Menu -> Control Panel). Get with the times!

Ryanair boss Mike O'Leary hits Twitter: 'Nice pic. Phwoaaarr!'

Re: Appreciate what you have

I hadn't heard that, but a quick search found this article which states the Spanish investigators found that the airline had not breached any rules or regulations on the carriage of fuel reserves:

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/spotlight-shines-on-ryanair-operations-389366/

Appreciate what you have

You should appreciate what you have. Since moving to Oz and having to pay $500+ to get virtually anywhere from Darwin, I really miss being able to fly from Doncaster to Pisa or Barcelona for 20 quid. I flew with Ryanair several times and never had any problems. All the charges were clear on the website. I travelled with carry on bags only and checked in online. When an airline is as large as Ryanair has become, they are bound to have some issues with customers. As noted above though, I never experienced any.

In my opinion, O'Leary is a marketing genius. When I was still in the UK, it was hilarious when he came up with his ridiculous ideas (charge for toilets, one pilot with cabin crew backup, standing passengers, etc) and seeing the news companies taking him seriously. This then got him on TV where he could spend the entire interview bagging BA and pointing out how cheap Ryanair flights are. No doubt his Twitter feed is a follow on to this.

As for the comments regarding safety, considering the number of aircraft movements they have I would say they have an enviable safety record. The only incident I can find for the airline was caused by a bird strike and only led to minor injuries.

Like I said at the start, appreciate what you have. I really wish Ryanair would start operaing here and give Jetstar the kick in the arse they richly deserve.

Windows 8.1: A bit square, sure, but WAIT! It has a Start button

Re: Ashamed to say

Windows key -> SHUTDOWN -S -T 0

Dutch oven overcooked in World Solar Challenge

Re: How bizarre!

The Stuart Highway is a public road, so they have to obey the road rules. It used to have no limit in the NT, but a 130km/h limit was introduced a few years back. Once they cross the border into South Australia, the limit is 110km/h.

Patch Tuesday: And EVERY version of IE needs fixing AGAIN

Re: There he is!

His mum wouldn't let him use the computer until he had finished tidying his room.

Microsoft: Our clouds don't bleed you to death

Aussie datacentre

Is the Aussie datacentre really in the middle of the South Australian desert?

Windows 8.1 Start button SPOTTED in the wild

The start screen can't be managed

The main issue I have with the start screen is that it can't be managed. I would like to deploy Windows 2012 RDS servers since some of the improvements in RDP/RemoteFX are great. However the UI makes this a non starter. I need to be able to give different users different sets of apps. With the Startmenu it was easy to redirect it and use permissions to control what apps users see. This doesn't work with the start screen.The only solution I have seen so far is to mess around with the all users appsfolder.itemdata-ms file, but this still only allows you to customise the initial set of apps everyone gets, not a different set of apps for different users. If we were just given the choice of classic/modern interfaces businesses would start deploying it. As it is, all the management practises and group policy settings we have honed over the last decade have gone out the window.