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My parents were nice enough to put out a wedding announcement for Kelly and I. It was in the Post Gazette in Pittsburgh, PA. You can see the announcement here.
This post is meant as a warning for anyone out there thinking about upgrading Microsoft Exchange Server and the new hoops you must jump through. Up to and including Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 an in place upgrade has been supported for Exchange, however this has changed since that time. Now just about anytime a new version of Exchange or Windows Server comes out you have to do a migration upgrade which requires at a minimum two servers (at least temporarily) which if you are a small shop with only one exchange server or even one server (hello SBS users) is a bit of a challenge. I wanted to outline the versions and supported upgrade paths so people can now what the possibilities are and ways to skip some migrations.
Exchange 2000 / Windows Server 2000 32-bit – Fall 2000
In Place Upgrade to
Exchange 2000 / Windows Server 2003 32-bit – Spring 2003
In Place Upgrade to
Exchange 2003 / Windows Server 2003 32-bit – Fall 2003
Migration Upgrade required due to Ex2003->2007 and 32-bit->64 bit
Exchange 2007 / Windows Server 2003 64-bit – Fall 2006
Migration Upgrade required due to IIS6->IIS7 and Powershell
Exchange 2007 / Windows Server 2008 64-bit – Spring 2008
Migration Upgrade required due to Ex2007->Ex2010
Exchange 2010 / Windows Server 2008 64-bit – Fall 2009
Possibly In Place Upgrade to
Exchange 2010 / Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit – Fall 2009
The last two will most likely be merged and I would recommend just waiting for both Exchange 2010 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to do the upgrade. They are both supposed to be released in the Fall of 2009 and doing them together since another server will be required will be easier than separately. Gone are the easy old days of Exchange upgrades now it seems you will always need extra servers.
In July of 2007 Kelly and I got a new range from Best Buy that was a Maytag stainless steel model. Then in February of 2008 we got a new dishwasher from Best Buy that was also a Maytag stainless steel model. Ever since we have been looking at new refrigerators from Maytag in stainless steel to match the rest of the kitchen. We kept looking at models and watching sales. Today we decided to jump on a Best Buy Memorial Day sale. I think we got a pretty good deal and I wanted to share in case anyone else was looking. Upfront I will admit this isn’t a cheap refrigerator but it was cheaper than it could have been.
Maytag MFI2569VEM list price is $2399.99
Best Buy standard price is $2299.99
Best Buy sales price is $1954.99
I then pricematched the Home Depot sale price of $1798.20
Then when I checked out I got $100 Best Buy gift card
There is also a $100 Maytag mail in rebate
BGE (local power company) apparently has a $50 rebate for new refrigerators as well
Lastly I will get ((1798.20x1.25)/250)x5 = $45 worth of Best Buy certificates for using reward zone card
Final cost about $1503.20 or almost $900 off list. Yay me!
I have only edited this to remove phone number and address info, otherwise it is 100% copy and paste. Enjoy.
12:33:23 PM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
12:33:23 PM System Connected with LIBs_JohnPaul_193667
12:33:28 PM LIBs_193667 Thank you for contacting Dell! My name is
John Paul, How may I help you today?
12:33:50 PM Brian Hoyt I have a GX620 that will only power on for
5-30 seconds and then reboot.
12:34:24 PM Brian Hoyt I have tried another power supply with no
difference. I also tried removing the RAM
and it begins the beep code and then
reboots over and over just like when the
RAM is in.
12:35:13 PM LIBs_193667 Oh I see! I'll do my best to assist you!
But please be patient as I am working with
multiple chat sessions.
12:35:22 PM Brian Hoyt Lucky you.
12:35:28 PM LIBs_193667 Oh I see! I'll do my best to assist you!
But please be patient as I am working with
multiple chat sessions.
12:35:58 PM LIBs_193667 May I have your name, phone and email
please?
12:36:21 PM Brian Hoyt Brian Hoyt
12:37:44 PM LIBs_193667 I have tried another power supply with no
difference. I also tried removing the RAM
and it begins the beep code and then
reboots over and over just like when the
RAM is in.
12:37:59 PM LIBs_193667 Sorry about that one, I'm checking the
issue
12:38:29 PM LIBs_193667 Anyway, what is the light on the power
button?
12:38:51 PM LIBs_193667 And also the diagnostics leds, which would
be the 1-2-3-4
12:38:59 PM Brian Hoyt It turns green for 5-30 seconds, turns
off, turns on 5-30 second, turns off and
will keep doing that forever
12:40:10 PM Brian Hoyt Light 1 comes on for a few seconds while
the machine is on, then goes off. No other
lights come on in the 5-30 seconds while
it is on.
12:40:39 PM LIBs_193667 I see
12:40:49 PM LIBs_193667 Let me go deeper on the issue.
12:43:09 PM LIBs_193667 Do you see any lights on the 1-2-3-4?
12:43:14 PM LIBs_193667 t's on the tower
12:44:03 PM Brian Hoyt As I mentioned before light 1 comes on for
a few seconds while the machine is on but
then the machine turns itself off rapidly
and the light goes off, no other lights
come on.
12:45:09 PM LIBs_193667 Okay, just to make sure, Is the monitor
power button lit up?
12:45:41 PM Brian Hoyt Yes, sometimes the boot screen shows up
for a few seconds before the machine
automatically reboots.
12:47:55 PM LIBs_193667 Upon reviewing the issue, I see that we
need to replace the motherboard.
12:48:29 PM Brian Hoyt Thanks
12:49:10 PM LIBs_193667 May I have an updated phone number and
alternate number please?
12:49:30 PM Brian Hoyt
12:49:40 PM LIBs_193667 Sorry, just the alternate number
12:49:40 PM LIBs_193667 okay thanks
12:50:10 PM LIBs_193667 We will also send the part with an onsite
tech
12:50:17 PM Brian Hoyt thanks
12:51:05 PM LIBs_193667 Let me ask approval first
12:55:10 PM LIBs_193667 Well, it seems that we need to do another
troubleshooting here, just to make sure
that the parts are correct.
12:55:55 PM LIBs_193667 I see that you have 2 memory module.
12:56:20 PM LIBs_193667 We need to boot with only one memory
module.
12:56:50 PM LIBs_193667 Please test the two memory module, one by
one.
12:57:05 PM LIBs_193667 On the system
12:58:29 PM Brian Hoyt With either memory module it does the same
thing, turns on for about 10 seconds and
then shuts down and reboots and repeats
12:59:11 PM LIBs_193667 okay thanks
1:00:51 PM LIBs_193667 Upon double checking the issue
1:01:51 PM LIBs_193667 We are determined that the motherboard,
memory modules, heatsink and fan
replacements will resolve the issue
1:02:00 PM Brian Hoyt ok
1:02:36 PM LIBs_193667 We will send an onsite tech for the
replacements of the parts
1:02:40 PM Brian Hoyt ok
1:03:26 PM LIBs_193667 Please give me 5-7 minutes in order to
process the dispatch
1:07:06 PM LIBs_193667 Dispatch number is 114751335
1:07:46 PM LIBs_193667 We will send the part to the onsite tech,
once they receive the part, they will call
you and setup an appointment.
1:08:52 PM LIBs_193667 I will also email the transcript of the
session to your email address with the
case number and dispatch reference, If
it's okay with you?
1:09:02 PM Brian Hoyt Yes thanks.
1:09:22 PM LIBs_193667 Alright
1:09:37 PM LIBs_193667 Is there anything else that I can help you
with?
1:09:46 PM Brian Hoyt Nope, thanks.
1:10:22 PM LIBs_193667 Okay.. And are you satisfied with the
service you had with me?
1:10:25 PM Brian Hoyt Yes
1:10:47 PM LIBs_193667 Thank you! I also appreciate your patience
and cooperation.
I am starting with Monday since Sunday was traveling. Our flight was delayed in Miami so we didn't land until almost midnight. Then they lost one of Kelly's bags. We put in a tracking request then went to get our rental. Luckily we got out the bus and in line first. Then we had the adventure of finding the hotel in Old San Juan. We finally got in room after 1 AM.
We slept until 10:30 and got up and had some breakfast. Now we are getting ready to go out and see the town. More later maybe?
Honda introduced a new Insight Hybrid in Detroit. Only problem is it bares an amazing resemblance to a certain Toyota hybrid. Below are two pictures of the cars. See if you can pick which is which.
On the Sunday January 4th episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition the work my parents did was shown. Below you can see a picture of the bed that they worked on. After the pictures are links to videos from the show, they aren’t very long only 10 seconds or so.
If you click on the picture you will get a larger version.
Since it seems that the DirecTV HDPC-20 tuner for Windows Media Center might actually appear in Windows 7 I want to compare a whole house solution between it and the potential of a DirecTV DVR based Multi-Room Viewing alternative. Neither of these solutions exist today so this is partially a guess, however in some ways an educated guess based on currently available info. To make the comparison equal I will try to outfit the systems as similar as possible. Each setup will have the ability to power 4 different TV’s at once as well as record 4 different channels at once and I will guess it is not a new customer however that won’t always be the case. I am also going to assume the house doesn’t have in place Ethernet wiring and will require 802.11n install to support multiple HD streams simultaneously. For A/V cabling it should be the same in both cases so I won’t talk about that. The pricing is also highly variable base upon what pieces someone might already have.
Win7 w/MC + HDPC-20:
Computer/Server with Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate, one HDPC-20 + Dual OTA or Two HDPC-20, 1 TB HD, 2 GB RAM, Video and Audio on board - $1000
3 Media Center Extenders – Either Xbox 360 Arcade or Linksys/D-Link/HP Extender - $100-200 a piece or $300-600
Wireless – 802.11n router at least and potentially wireless adapters for 360’s - $100-400
Total - $1400-2000 initial cost
DirecTV DVR MRV:
2 x HR2X – Includes 500 GB HD per and two tuners - $170 each or $340
2 x H2X – Can view content from the HR2X boxes - $100 each or $200
Wireless – 802.11n router and wireless adapters for 3-4 boxes - $200-300
Total - $740-840
Win7 w/MC + HDPC-20 Pros:
Single recording list and prioritizer
Ability to schedule from any TV
Extender can potentially be multi-function (DVD / Xbox)
Can get TV with Extender built in as option
Arguably better interface
Lower monthly cost due to no mirroring/leasing fees
Essentially infinite storage capacity upgrade possibilities
Potential to move content to other (portable) devices
Win7 w/MC + HDPC-20 Cons:
Double initial cost
Potentially higher complexity initial setup
Performance (non-360) or reliability (360) of extenders
More complex devices
DirecTV DVR MRV Pros:
Much lower initial cost
Independently functioning rooms if necessary
Potentially ability to watch more live programs simultaneously
Less complexity of devices
DirecTV DVR MRV Cons:
Higher monthly cost due to mirroring/leasing fees
May not be able to schedule new recordings from H2X (unknown functionality)
Two separate recording lists and prioritizers
Potential for double recordings (wasted space)
Single function devices
I am sure I have missed some things in my list, any thoughts?
While playing Dead Space in the last week of October my 360 started freezing several times. Each time I was able to power off and back on and it would work for another hour or so. Then on Oct 29th it finally had the Three Red Rings, also know as Red Rings of Death. I didn’t do anything about it right away but I went online to http://support.xbox.com/ to at least see my options. I also registered my 360 since I hadn’t previously done that. It said my 360 was outside of the standard 1 year warranty. I tried to start the repair process online but due to an upgrade to the site it appeared that service was offline. I didn’t want to call since I knew it would be a painful waste of time. I kept checking the site to see when it was available again. Finally, on November 4th the online repair service was back online. I went through and entered the repair request, the site was still a bit quirky but it only took about 10 minutes for the entire process, much less I am sure than it would have taken on the phone to even begin the process.
Here is the timeline of the repair process, I will keep updating as it progresses:
Oct 29 – Three Red Lights
Nov 4 6 PM– Entered request for repair on http://support.xbox.com/
Nov 5 12 AM – Got tracking number for return box
Nov 7 3 PM – Return box arrived at house
Nov 10 10 AM – Box picked up by UPS
Nov 13 11 AM – Box delivered to Microsoft repair facility in Mesquite, TX
Nov 14 6 AM – Microsoft acknowledges receipt of my 360
Nov 15 11 AM – Microsoft says 360 is repaired
Nov 17 4 PM – Box leaves Microsoft to return to me
Nov 20 7 PM – I picked up package from UPS
Almost exactly 16 days for the turnaround, which isn’t great but isn't too bad either. Most of the time was waiting for shipping back and forth.
