Spinners on a Server? Get Your Blade Pimped!

September 25, 2008 – 12:17 pm
A full portable blad server system with spinners, on-board X-Box, neon mood lighting, integrated Zune player and especially the espresso machine! Sign me up! Seriously, sometimes the most creative marketing ideas are a spin-off of somebody else’s idea and this one is no exception. The deal goes like this: Pimp My Infrastructure is a contest sponsored by the fine folks at HP and Microsoft. Two lucky businesses will receive a fantastic prize package – one valued approximately at US$16,000 and the other at approximately US$36,000. To top it off, your reseller could be a winner, too.  If we pick your entry, your reseller also gets a US$5,000 shopping spree from HP. Learn more and register here. HP used some very creative thinking over the past year with their ROK (Reseller Option Kit) campaign where they captivated us in private rooms during various channel events with Guitar Hero face-off competitions (see Microsoft’s Paige Boesen and the ...

Dude! Bears Bite Dell

September 24, 2008 – 5:12 pm
So as you can imagine, living in the shadow of B of A and Wachovia and with my entire 401K wrapped up in Wells Fargo, I tend to watch the stock market trends with some level of anxiety.  I haven't really paid attention to the tech stocks lately(at least not since I lost my shirt on the MP3.com IPO!) until fellow HTGer Chris Brown sent me an article talking about how investor confidence doesn't seem to be in Dell right now either.  Check out this report from the Morning Star "A 'Dell-emma' Wrapped In A Financial Crisis" where Ben Charny reports on how Dell has missed out on the investors redirection of funds from the financial stocks. Now if I can just get Hyper-V loaded on this darned 2900.  I'm going to give it a 4th try.  ;-)

Calyptix Invests Further in SMB Channel Strategy

September 24, 2008 – 11:21 am
Today Calyptix will be announcing that they have retained the veteran SMB channel sales experts of Kristen Wild, Steve Wild and Terry Van Winkle.  If this tenacious trio is half as successful at getting Calyptix the SMB partner signup's that they did for StorageCraft then we've got a new Security Sheriff in town by the name of AccessEnforcer.  Look out SonicWALL, Untangle and Fortinet!  Here is the full press release due out later today. Calyptix Security Expands Sales Efforts with SMB Channel Strategy Experts September 24, 2008 – CHARLOTTE, NC – Internet security firm, Calyptix Security, has announced expansion of its business development and channel sales team. This expansion will immediately increase exposure within small and medium businesses (SMBs) of the value that Calyptix’ innovative single unit device, AccessEnforcer™, contributes to Internet security strategies. Calyptix infuses the existing team with three experts, Kristen Wild, Steve Wild and Terry Van Winkle, who have proven successful in ...

YouTube Video of The Week

September 23, 2008 – 3:07 pm
OK, you know I still don't actually have a "Video of the Week" blog but if I did this little gem I received from my over-blogged friend Vlad, bless his heart (Southern Speak for "That Freaking Moron"), about made me fall out of my chair in the this busy afternoon.  Enjoy!  And in case you don't know about Shockey Monkey, go here and fill out a partner app to learn more.

StorageCraft IT Edition 72% Off Via MSPSN

September 23, 2008 – 8:36 am
Wow!  You read that correctly.  If you have read my blog for any length of time, or seen me do a disaster recovery presentation, then you know what a big fan of StorageCraft and MSPSN that I am.  This is the very same version of StorageCraft that I use to do ALL my virtualization conversions and disaster recoveries.  Seriously, they don't pay me a dime to say this stuff so I'm going to be very direct with you:  Signup for MSPSN and get all the thier amazing benefits, services and peer group support then justify it with the savings you get buy purchasing the THE BEST disaster recovery software ever made.  You won't regret it. Message from MSPSN: At the recent MSP Revolution conference, many of you asked StorageCraft to once again make the $995 technicians' license for ShadowProtect IT Edition available to the MSPSN group. We have taken that feedback to heart and ...

Eric Ligman Wins BIG in Vegas!

September 19, 2008 – 11:31 am
Heard the rumors yet?  Apparently Eric won big in Vegas and the IRS doesn't know.  Shhhhh, don't let on.  We all need to help him by sticking to a story that he was in the Grand Canyon last week rafting down the Colorado River (ya right!). 

Microsoft Response Point Adds 8×8 and Bandwidth.com

September 17, 2008 – 10:00 am
You can now provision your Response Point phone system to to trunk calls to 8x8 and Bandwidth.com Microsoft announced yesterday.  Many scoffed at the limited functionality included in the initial release of RP but you can be sure that when it comes to using VoIP to further establish sockets in SMB, Microsoft will ultimately spare no expense at delivering a viable, simple and low cost voice system.  When they finally shed the clunky x-box like hardware that contains the RP service (loaded on Windows XP embedded) and allow us to host it on virtual servers and then release and SDK for it, the sky will be the limit. Announcement from MS: 2 New Service Providers!! (8x8 and Bandwidth.com) Response Point Service Pack 1, released in July 2008, allows customers the option to use VoIP phone service with their Response Point phone system. In addition to VoIP providers, NGT, Cbeyond and Junction Networks, Response ...

Super Mario and Fred Beat Bill Gates & Jerry Sienfeld

September 15, 2008 – 11:44 am
I'm not sure how the ranking system works on YouTube but somehow Super Mario at 2.9 million views and Fred's Mom Returns at 1.4 million views (OK, I'll admit, Fred is always in the top 5 and rightly so) beat out Microsoft newest commercial featuring the soon to become more famous odd couple of Bill and Jerry.  Still, 1,046,947 views in 3 days isn't that shabby!

Part 2 of the New Microsoft Sienfield / Gates Ad

September 12, 2008 – 7:11 am
I was skeptical at first (as I told CRN in this interview) but am feeling better about Microsoft's choice on direction in their entry into the Mac vs. PC battle.  When I saw the first commercial my wife an I both looked at each other and said "disappointing".  I then watched a 15 year old watch the commercial during the Panther's game Sunday and he started laughing.  This wasn't his first time seeing the ad.  I guess if Microsoft is going to spend $300 million I should have some faith that they did their market research.  And that market research probably didn't include the demographics of a 40 year old while male business owner and Microsoft partner.  Of course I don't get the humor in "The Office" either.  Enjoy the second ad below or tune in to Ghost Whisperer tonight for the second ad aired live.

Charlotte Area SharePoint User Group Meeting

September 11, 2008 – 4:42 pm
SharePoint Users! Join us Wednesday, October 8th  from 2:30-5:30 pm at the National Gypsum office, 2101 Rexford Road, Charlotte NC 28211.  Immediately following the meeting a complimentary networking mixer will be held across the street from National Gypsum at Bricktop’s, 6401 Morrison Boulevard # 1B sponsored by Microsoft and Virtual IT.  The Charlotte Area SharePoint User Group is open to anyone who uses SharePoint or those interested in learning more about SharePoint.  Membership is FREE and bi-monthly meetings are held where members will hear from experts from Microsoft, Microsoft partners, and fellow users presenting their knowledge about SharePoint and relevant topics.  Network and learn from others in your community and have fun! Following is the agenda for our October 8th meeting: 2:00-2:30              Registration 2:30-2:45              Welcome & Introductions 2:45-3:40              Presentation- “Taming SharePoint: A Structured Approach to Deploying & Adopting SharePoint Technologies”-Sam Carlson, Virtual IT 3:40-3:50              Break 3:50-4:30              Presentation- “National Gypsum MOSS Infrastructure”-Mike Brannon, National Gypsum 4:30-5:25              Presentation- “Building Solutions: Case ...