November 19, 2008
OK, this is something that people have been freaking out about, and with good reason.
Essential Business Server 2008 Premium Edition includes an extra server. As in, an extra license of Windows Server 2008 Standard and a license for SQL Server 2008 Standard. Although this extra server can be used to hold a variety of roles, the general idea is that most people would use it as an application server.
“But what about applications that don’t yet support the 2008 version of Windows Server or SQL Server?” was the hue and cry. And MS hadn’t offered a definitive word on how to address that conundrum.
Today, the Essential Server Solutions team announced that downgrade rights will be included with the Premium Edition of Essential Business Server.
So if compatibility is a concern for you, you’ll definitely want to get aboard the EBS train sooner than later.
Through December 31, 2009, Essential Business Server Premium Edition will ship with Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard and SQL Server 2005 Standard media in-box as part of the product, in addition to the regular 2008 versions mentioned above.
After that, this downgrade offer will only be available via Microsoft’s Solutions Pathway, which right now looks to be only slightly less complicated to navigate than the Minotaur’s infamous crib, the Labyrinth at Knossos.
And yes, all this same stuff goes for Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition.
|| posted by chris under business, essential business server, media, migration, rx, thumbs up || comments (1) ||
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November 16, 2008
Like a CMT soap opera set in the Appalachians, Auburn’s season this year has gone from bad, to worse, to abominable.
And there’s really only one person who should be held accountable for that. Tommy Tuberville has proved, time and again this year, that he either doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, how to be the head coach of a Division I-A football program in the NCAA.
Forget streaks, forget the past, forget anything else. Auburn is a dismal 5–6 right now, and are 2–5 in SEC conference play. In fact, since their “lost championship” year in 2004, where they went a perfect 13–0 but were denied a shot at a National Championship, Auburn has been on a continual downward slide in conference play.
The ludicrous Tony Franklin Experiment on offense this year didn’t just show Tuberville’s ineptitude at implementing such a major change. It highlighted his utter lack of leadership as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers.
Tuberville’s skated for many years by sacrificing assistants and coordinators whenever the Tigers failed to perform. So his throwing Franklin under the bus is nothing new under the Auburn sun.
But what has truly cemented Tuberville’s fate is his stunning inability to recruit against the Crimson Tide. From the moment he stepped off the tarmac in Tuscaloosa, Nick Saban basically took Tommy Tuberville out behind the woodshed in what is without question the most important part of any successful program and the most important job of any successful head coach: recruiting.
Successful recruiting is nothing less than laying the foundation for the very future of your program. Successful recruiting is the difference between Tyrone Willingham getting three years at Notre Dame, and Charlie Weis getting four.
Last year, while Nick Saban was putting the finishing touches on wrapping up the #1 recruiting class in the nation…a recruiting class which translated into immediate results for the #1 ranked Crimson Tide this year, where do you think Tommy Tuberville was?
Duck hunting.
After 5 very mediocre years of conference play, Tuberville survived a coup in 2003, thanks to the sports media blowing the lid off the JetGate debacle.
He won’t get a second reprieve this time around.
|| posted by chris under clueless, game, kma, media, thumbs down || comments (0) ||
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September 25, 2008
Pimp My Infrastructure
Time to bring tha bling playa.
When y’all want the best for your custom server whip, ya gots to get with E to the B to the S
Awwwwwww yea-UH!
Only way this video could been any better? If they had included the hellaciously awesome vocal stylings of Greg “Hyper-G” Starks.
|| posted by chris under hardware, it pro, media || comments (1) ||
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September 11, 2008
My wife’s first novel is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon.com!
For those who don’t know it, my wife is a freelancer who’s written for Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Girls’ Life, Sweet Sixteen, Guideposts and others.
Brand New Emily is a story about a girl who’s bullied at school by a merciless clique, but fights back with the help of a high-powered PR rep.
Amazon says the novel’s for 9–12 year olds, but Ginger thinks it’s prolly more the speed of 11–14 year olds. Either way, if you have or know someone who has a tweenage daughter, keep Brand New Emily in mind.
Go Brand Em!
|| posted by chris under media, shoutout, thumbs up || comments (2) ||
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July 12, 2008
That’s right folks.
Black Warrior Technology has become an official member of the Microsoft Small Business Racing Team.
Which means The Arrowhead of Awesomeness can officially appear on the #00 Toyota Camry driven by Michael McDowell for Michael Waltrip Racing.
Why?
Because there is no type of sport that does more for its sponsors than racing/motorsports. And the motorsport that does more for its sponsors than anyone else?
NASCAR, without question.
Every NASCAR driver receives special media training, and is fully briefed on sponsors. Which totally rocks. Think about other professional sports. How many times have you heard any kind of ball/hockey/soccer/what-have-you player talk about a sponsor before, during, or after the event? Not at all. But NASCAR drivers, owners, and crew members constantly thank their primary sponsors by name whenever the cameras are running.
Why?
Because the teams know that without sponsorship, they have no rides. Without rides, they basically have no team. Which is why having your logo riding around right beside the numbers on a car during a NASCAR race totally rocks.
Not only that, but NASCAR fans are some of the most rabid fans anywhere. They are fiercely loyal to drivers, teams, manufacturers, and sponsors.
Why?
Because everything that goes into the creation of the grand carnival that is NASCAR matters to them. They’re no different in that regard than superfans of any sport anywhere. But the loyalty that fans of other sports have is pretty much limited to teams and players. OK…sure, there are bat, ball, glove and sportswear manufacturers who benefit in other sports. But only because they are directly associated with the activity of that given sport.
NASCAR is different in that they offer nearly any company from nearly any industry the ability to sponsor a team.
Why?
Because NASCAR also knows that sponsors also bring their own fans, typically greenfield type of fans, who have never been to or watched a race before in their life.
And, to be honest…
The attitude of NASCAR appeals to me. NASCAR races are preceded with a prayer, a singing of our national anthem and presentation of our flag, replete with a flyover of some kind of military aircraft normally timed to roughly coincide with the “la-and of the Freeeee!” crescendo.
Not only does the respect for God and country mean something to me, but the fact that NASCAR works hard to be a family-friendly sports matters VERY MUCH to me. It’s important to me that The Arrowhead of Awesomeness won’t be shown next to the Playboy, Penthouse or some other porn empire’s logo. Let alone plastered on the backside of some Vivid Video starlet.
Thanks to Microsoft and its amazingly awesome Small Business Specialist sponsorship program they entered into with MWR, the price point for all this is an astonishingly low price. $4K? That’s chickenfeed for the kind of exposure you are getting.
So the question you should be asking yourself shouldn’t be…
Why?
The question you should ask yourself should be…
Why Not?
And the only question I still have for myself is…
Why Didn’t I Do This Sooner?
|| posted by chris under business, hardware, media, more cowbell, motorsports, thumbs up || comments (10) ||
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