A game of catch

Throwing and catching game.

Especially good for young people looking to improve close range throwing and catching.

Requires
Tennis ball
Teams of 2 - good idea to have some one mature enough to judge the rules.

Rules
Team A member throws the ball to team B, if the throw is judged poor the thrower misses a go and the thrower folds their arms.
A throw is poor if:
It is too high
Does not reach the person
It is too wide

If Team B member does not catch the ball, they miss 2 goes and fold their arms, the other member of team B takes over throwing the ball.

How to win
The win takes place when both team members, from one team have there arms folded.

Additional information

The ball can be thrown to any member of the opposite team.

If the ball is thrown between both members of the opposite team and it is not judged poor and the opposite team do not catch it, the throw is retaken.


How to make the game harder

As the team members get better at throwing and or catching you can increase the number of missed goes for poor throws and dropped catches.

You can increase throwing difficult by moving the teams further apart.

You can increase the catching difficulty by using one hand.

You can have more than 2 teams

Removing the argument at the end of the day

We have 2 wonderful and challenging children who both have tablets, and when we want them to put them down at the end of an evening - we either got an argument or it's nearly finished..

I wanted a way of restricting and switching off the internet at set times to specific devices, unfortunately my TalkTalk router did not offer me many solutions.

How to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft edge is the new Web browser installed with Microsoft Windows 10 (and seen by Microsoft as a replacement for Internet Explorer.)

I do like Edge but was having a problem changing the default search engine from Bing.


Microsoft has produced notes on how to change but I must learn to read the first item on the list..- Remember to access your search providers website in Edge before trying to change the default search provider.

1. Enter the search engine’s website and browse to it. (i.e. open www.google.com in Microsoft Edge) 
2. Select More actions (…) > Settings , then scroll down to select View advanced settings. In the list under Search in the address bar with, choose Change
3. From the Choose one list select Google Search (discovered) and then click Set as Default.

It's important to remember that adding a new search provider to Microsoft Edge doesn't change the search options within Internet Explorer, which has its own plugin-based method of choosing search engines. Nor does it change the behaviour of the search function within the taskbar – that's provided courtesy of Cortana, and as such will always be powered by Bing.

TalkTalk - how not to fix a problem

I am starting the blog post as a record of the fun and games I am having with TalkTalk who are my phone and broadband supplier.

Note - Phone is working fine... broadband less so.

TalkTalk - support phone number 08700 878777

Transfer Windows 8 License to another computer

I did these steps to transfer the license to my new desktop PC.

First on my old laptop which was connected to internet I deactivated the genuine copy by doing these steps :

• Open an elevated command prompt,
• In the elevated command prompt enter slmgr.vbs /upk

You will get a pop up windows saying " Uninstalled product key successfully"


I then go to my new PC and open an elevated command prompt,

enter Win + R -> slui 4.

Choose country,

Phone the number provided,

Answer Windows is installed only on 1 PC

Follow instructions and it worked!

Add a NAS folder to a Music Library - Windows 8

 

To add a network folder that isn't indexed to a library

Windows 8 includes the Xbox Music app that can utilise the Music library. If you use a separate NAS (Network Attached Storage device.) you can not link a Music share on the NAS to the Music library as the share can not be indexed.

 

The easiest way to do this is to make the folder available offline first. Then add the offline folder to a library by following the steps earlier in this topic. You're done. (This may require a great deal of local storage.) 

 

If you don't want to make the folder available offline because you don't want to keep the folder contents on your PC, follow these steps to add the folder to a library. Note that doing this will make searching, sorting, and filtering in the whole library slow. For best results, it is recommend creating a new library for the network folder alone.

1. Tap or click to open Computer.
2. Create a folder on your hard drive for your network folders, for example c:\share.
3. Create another folder within that folder, for example c:\share\music.
4. Select the subfolder you just created, tap or click the Home tab, tap or click Easy access, choose Include in library, and then select the library to which you want to add the folder.
5. Delete the folder.
6. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the top-right corner of the screen, then click Search.).
7. Enter cmd in the search box, and then tap or click Apps.
8. Press and hold or right-click Command Prompt in the search results, and then tap or click Run as administrator.
9. Enter mklink /d, and then enter the path of the folder you just deleted and the path of the network folder. For example, mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music. This creates what is called a symbolic link.
10. Start Media Player and ensure the Music Library contains the list of music files on the NAS.

3rd party application Win7 Library Tool that gets over the problem off remote location  thatcan’t be indexed.

Using PowerShell to manage Office 365 security groups

To display a list of groups available in Office 365 

In PowerShell type - Get-MSOLGroup 

This will display a list of groups and the group type i.e. Security or Distribution 

Add individual users to a security group 

$studentsGroup = Get-MsolGroup | where-object { $_.DisplayName -eq "students-security"} 

$user = Get-MsolUser | where-object { $_.DisplayName -eq "Jane Mcburney" } 

Add-MsolGroupMember -GroupObjectId $studentsGroup.ObjectId -GroupMemberObjectId $user.ObjectId -GroupMemberType "User" 

Add CSV user list to a security group 

1. Export a list of UPN names using PowerShell to csv. 

Get-MSOLUser | Select UserPrincipalName|Export-Csv c:\tools\user.csv 

2. Edit the user.csv so that it contains only accounts you want to add to the security group. 
3. Import the users.csv containing the UPN and export a new csv user2.csv with the users objectId. 

$sub = Import-Csv C:\tools\users.csv 

$sub | Foreach {Get-Msoluser -UserPrincipalName $_.Userprincipalname | select Objectid } | Export-csv C:\tools\Users2.csv 

4. Display  the security group objectid 

Get-MSOLGroup 

5. Copy the 32 digit objectid code of the security group you want to add users to. 
6. Modify the following script to add the copied security group objectid. The following script will import the users2.csv containing the users objectid and add to the security group. 

$sub2 = Import-Csv C:\tools\users2.csv 

$sub2 | Foreach {Add-MsolGroupMember -groupObjectid ‘xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx’ -GroupMemberObjectId $_.ObjectId -GroupMemberType User} 

List members of a security group 

1. Display  the security group objectid 

Get-MSOLGroup 

2. Copy the 32 digit objectid code of the security group you want to check members. 
3. Modify the following script to add the copied security group objectid. The following script will export members of a security group members to csv. 

Get-MsolGroupMember -groupObjectid 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx' | Select DisplayName,EmailAddress,GroupMemberType | Export-csv C:\tools\security-group-members.csv 

Windows 8 - reminders

This blog post will be a working document to remind me about the features and processes that come with Microsoft Windows 8.

Apps side by side

In order to snap Apps you will need a resolution of at least 1366x768.

It might be useful to have two apps on the display at once. Windows 8 handles this as part of the OS, and the way it works is revolutionary. With one app on the display, you simply swipe in from the side and "pull" the other app onto the screen from the left. You can drag it until the app display is as big as desired, and "drop" it alongside the original app. You are then free to reference material in one app while working in the other.

Example:
So you could have Internet Explorer open and Bing which was previously opened dragged in from the left side.The searches in Bing auotmatically get displayed in Internet Explorer.

Key Stokes
Cycling through open Windows back to the "Modern" UI can be achived by pressing the Windows Key.


Applications

Defender: Windows 8 includes a version of Security Essentials (Microsofts Antivirus and Anti-malware product) but now includes it under the application name of Defender.

Hyper-V: To run Hyper-V, a PC must not only run the 64-bit version of Windows 8, its CPU must also support a virtualization technology called Second Level Address Translation (aka SLAT) which, is present in the current generation of 64-bit processors by Intel and AMD, along with at least 4GB of RAM.

You can check the status of your CPUs by downloading the latest version of Mark Russinovich’s coreinfo.exe utility from the Microsoft Sysinternals Web pages, then launching the utility from a command line launched with administrative privileges.

run coreinfo -v

The key entries in this display are the EPT (Extended Page Tables) for Intel processors, and a value in the AMD processor output that may appear as NPT (Nested Page Tables) or RVI (Rapid Virtualization Indexing). Simply put, one of these values must be enabled for Windows 8 Hyper-V to work.

To enable audio in the Hyper-V guest - you will need to connect using RDP (Assuming the host RDP computer has an audio card.) - remember to enable Remote Desktop on the guest and ensure the firewall allows RDP traffic.

Sky fails to record from TV guide

My Sky +HD box recently updated to the new version, following this update though it would not record from the TV guide. When I pressed the remote's record button for a program it was just ignored.

If I started to watch a channel I could then record a program on that channel just not though the TV guide.

Searching the internet I found a solution that fixed my problem - rebuild the planner.


This process will stop all recordings in process and reboot the box. If there is a recording underway, consider waiting until it is completed. Rebuilding the planner will not delete any existing recordings. 

1. Press services on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with Options highlighted.
2. Highlight the Settings menu using the right arrow button and press select.
3. Press 0 (zero), 1 then select to access the Installer Setup menu (this menu is not listed on the Settings menu options).
4. Use the left/right arrows to highlight Rebuild (this will change to Sky+ Rebuild when reached) and press select.
5. The on-screen message "This will take a few minutes to complete. The rebuild will stop all recordings and reboot your Sky+" will appear. Press select to continue.
6. The on-screen message "Housekeeping please wait" will appear and take up to two minutes to clear. If your Sky+HD box continues to display this message for longer than two minutes please carry out a power reset (below) with the viewing card removed.
7. Once complete your Sky+HD box will switch itself off and then back on automatically displaying the red standby light.
8. Ensure the red standby light on the box has re-appeared, then wait for 3 minutes.
9. Press sky your remote control and the light on your Sky+HD box will turn green. 

http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/tv/sky-plus-hd/recording/guide-to-performing-a-planner-rebuild/index.html

Picasa public album redirects to Google+ Login

Following changes to Google, with integrating Picasa photo albums into Google+ all my web-page links to my public Picasa albums redirected people to the Google+ login box, instead of just showing the album.


As a temporary fix I have added  "?noredirect=1" to my Picasa Web gallery URL?

For example:
https://picasaweb.google.com/number/albumname?noredirect=1

This skips the redirect to Google+



If you are using an authkey in the URL, then you have to use "&noredirect=1" ( & instead of ?)

For example:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103124484697486858492authkey=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&noredirect=1

NOTE: If the URL ended in a # remove it. (I did also add / at the end though not sure this is necessary.)

Comtrend Power adapters - adding another adapter

I had an issue where I had two Comtrend power adapters working as a pair, but need to add another for an Xbox.


Here is the solution I followed:

1. Plug one of the new pair of adaptors into a socket close to the Access Point adaptor (This is the first of the original pair of Comtrend adapters the one with the Access Point in green) - ideally next to each other on a power strip.
2. Hold the "config" button of the Access Point for about 5 seconds until the AP led starts to flash, then release the button. 
3. Next hold the "config" button on the new adaptor for about 5 seconds until the AP led starts to flash (you have about 30 seconds to do this from the time you released the config button on the Access Point adaptor - hence having them close together). 
4. Release that button and in a couple more seconds the AP led on the new adaptor should flash quickly three times and go out. The Status led on the new adaptor should then show red and then turn green after a few seconds. 

Assuming this all goes to plan, they're configured!


Comtrends guides to my models:
http://www.comtrend.com/links/22$snd.htm

Using Hyper-V with a Wireless Network Adapter

Wireless network adapters will not natively work with Hyper-V, but I found the following solution on the internet, from "Virtual PC Guy's Blog" and it works very well for me:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/01/09/using-hyper-v-with-a-wireless-network-adapter.aspx

Enable Aero desktop on Server 2008 r2

To install Desktop Experience in Windows Server 2008 R2

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, click Turn Windows Features on or off.‌ If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. In the Features Summary section, click Add Features.
3. Select the Desktop Experience check box. If you are prompted to install additional features, click Add Required Features, and then click Next.
4. Click Install. You might be prompted to restart your computer.

To enable the Themes service in Windows Server 2008 R2

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. Double-click Themes.
3. In the Startup type list, select Automatic, and then click Apply.
4. Under Service status, click Start, and then click OK.

To select an Aero theme

1. Right-click an open area of the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Click Themes.
3. Under Aero Themes, click an Aero theme.

gfxUI.exe is stopped working

Issue when running Windows Server 2008 r2 (x64) on Intel Motherboard, with both .net 4 as well as 3.5 installed.

Description:
Stopped working
Problem Signature:
Problem Even Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: GfxUI.exe
....

The following worked for me it seems that the Intel driver requires .net 3.5 to be enabled on the server.

In Server Manager > Features > Add Features

In the list of features to install on this server, select .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features

I would then recommend a reboot once it has installed.

Method to fix my continually rebooting Joggler

This post is an amalgamation of a number of posts by various people.
Including:
Code by xoom450 http://www.joggler.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2554
Ubuntu by http://joggler.exotica.org.uk/ubuntu/
Joggler mod by http://www.gforums.de/juggler/download.html

Please be careful, I do not take any responsibility for you totally bricking your Joggler.

Disabling right click - (or the context menu) via Group Policy

To disable the right click you enable a setting in Group Policy called  "Remove access to context menu".

This option is available for Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Start Menu and Taskbar.

If you allow access to the right mouse button the students will be able to access other systems that might compromise the network at the school.

When changing settings to the Group Policy ensure you make changes to the relevent Group Policy object - such as "Student Security settings".

The settings in Group Policy for "Remove access to context menu" are in:

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Start Menu and Taskbar

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Internet Explorer | Browser Menus

Telnet Joggler

The following information can be used to configure the Joggler to allow Telnet connections:
http://jogglerwiki.info/index.php?title=Installing_Telnet

If using Windows Vista or Windows 7 you will need to install Telnet from the "Turn Windows features on or off" option in Control Panel - Programs.

Connect to the Joggler:
Start Telnet.

In the command prompt type Open 192.168.1.x  (Where 192.168.1.x is the IP address of your Joggler - obtained from the Settings - Network)
Password -- letmein

Change directory:
cd /media/appshop or cd tv

Make directory:
mkdir tv

Copy file from internet to folder.
wget http://www.location.com/Program.tar   (Ensure you use appropriate capitals)

Expand compressed archive
tar xvf Program.tar

Delete compressed archive
rm Program.tar

List files in the folder
ls

Copying file
cp applications.xml applications.backup


Edit file
vi applications.xml

Insert/edit the file
i

esc to exit insert mode
:x to write and exit
:w to write changes
:q to exit
:q! to exit and discard changes

Reboot the Joggler
reboot

Microsoft Office 2010 KMS Licensing

Taken from Microsoft Site:


Brief Description
Volume licensing editions of Microsoft Office 2010 suites and applications, Microsoft Project 2010 and Microsoft Visio 2010 require activation. Key Management Service (KMS) is a local volume activation method. To activate your Office 2010 client installations with KMS, you will need to set up a KMS host. KMS Licensing is recommended if you have 50 or more workstations.


Overview
An Office 2010 KMS host is required if you want to use KMS activation for your volume license editions of Office 2010 suites or applications, Microsoft Project 2010 or Microsoft Visio 2010. When Office 2010 volume edition client products are installed, they will automatically search for a KMS host on your organization’s DNS server for activation. All volume editions of Office 2010 client products are pre-installed with a KMS client key, so you will not need to install a product key.

The download contains an executable file that will extract and install KMS host license files. Run the file on either 32-bit or 64-bit supported Windows operating systems (Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2008 R2). These license files are required for the KMS host service to recognize Office 2010 KMS host keys. It will also prompt you to enter your Office 2010 KMS host key and activate that key. After this is done, you may need to use the slmgr.vbs script to further configure your KMS host.

Microsoft Office KMS clients are only activated when five or more than five computers with MS Office installed attempt to get activated using the KMS host. In case of operating systems (e.g. Windows Vista and Windows 7), activation starts after 25 or more than 25 computers with Windows client request for activation.


Instructions
Follow these steps to set up a KMS host:

1. If you are running Windows Server 2003, you will need to perform this extra step. You will need to download and run the files below:
   Windows Server 2003 32-bit 
   Windows Server 2003 64-bit
2. Download and run the KeyManagementServiceHost.exe file on this page on a supported operating system.
3. Enter your Office 2010 KMS host key when prompted. 
4. Click OK to continue with activation. 
5. Open port 1688 and allow the KMS host service through the firewall.
   Windows 7 volume editions or Windows Server 2008 R2.
   Open Control Panel and click on the Windows Firewall icon.
   Click on the “Allow a program through Windows Firewall” link.
   Click on the Change Settings button.
   Check the box for Key Management Service. 
6. Read the documentation to learn more about configuring your KMS host (including activation by telephone) with slmgr.vbs at TechNet.

Associated link: Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool 

Anatomy of an Attack - How Hackers Threaten your Security

Late last year I attended a seminar titled “Anatomy of an Attack – How Hackers Threaten your Security” by Sophos – stay with me it is important.
Malware (Viruses, spam etc.) used to be distributed by running programs or accessing Word documents they were designed to specifically attack your systems and cause problems with your network. Sophos have now seen a change where theft of data is now the focus and most malware attacks come from infected web pages.
“There is now more new malware per day, than there were for the whole of 2006”
“83% of malware infected web pages are on legitimate websites”
Sophos’ experience has shown that:

• Networks that use forums or blogs are getting inundated with links to fake antivirus and other malware sites.
• Very professional looking fake antivirus sites falsely identify viruses on your local machine then recommend you install their fake antivirus to clear them, thus installing the malware.
• MAC malware is now a reality, and malware sites differentiate between operating systems and attack them with appropriate malware.
• Targeting of applications, especially the growing Web 2.0 applications, including Adobe, PDF and Flash, Quicktime and Java.
• Malware distributers are aware that users now install updates and multimedia plug-ins regularly so build websites that require these, getting the site user to install the malware.
• Hackers are targeting un-patched unsecure websites, especially the ones that are database driven.

There are a number of ways to limit the possibility of malware attack.

• Ensure not just the Windows operating systems and applications are kept up to date, but also the applications that are used regularly, Internet browsers, Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Quicktime and Java etc. Hackers know which applications are used, which versions have vulnerabilities and then target their attacks.
• Set the workstations to operate at user level, do not get the users to logon with workstation administrator access rights.
• If hosting websites ensure the server is secure and patched to block all know vulnerabilities.
• Ensure passwords are appropriate; the administrator passwords should be at least 8 characters long, with a mix of alphanumerical characters and a mix of upper and lowercase characters. (The Conficker virus spread from one computer to another over local area networks using a database of standard passwords.)
• Ensure the Anti-Virus client is up to date with the latest update.
  For Sophos:
  
  • On Standalone versions of Sophos:
    To update, double click the Sophos shield in the bottom right of the task bar.
    To check the update, right click on the Sophos shield and click Open Sophos Anti-Virus. The Sophos Status section is displayed on the left.
  • On network installations of Sophos, check Sophos Enterprise console. (Ensure your network team is monitoring this.)

New malware term:
Server-side polymorphism.
New hacking techniques are emerging making malware increasing difficult to detect and clear one of these is server-side polymorphism. Polymorphism based malware included a polymorphic engine that allowed the malware to replicate and change making it more difficult to identify and block. Server-side polymorphism is where the engine of the malware is not left on the system so the engine can now also be altered, and allowing the malware to change rapidly and harder to detect, making content analysis not enough to clear the malware.

Using Twitter

I have recently been exploring Twitter and looking at using it to publish some of the things I am interested in.

I have found some blogs very useful:

• Adding long Website addresses (URL's) to Twitter - URL shortening services on Twitter
• Automatically push you latest Blog posts to Twitter.
• Add pictures to Twitter using twitpic - http://twitpic.com

Link:

http://twitterfeed.com