Yaffa Posts

Since our Wedding Anniversary is approaching, Karen found and posted one of her pre-wedding KDD’s (Karen’s Daily Dose) starting with a summary that we wrote to explain its contents. Enjoy.

Like many Couples, there are many decisions to make when planning a Wedding.
It is very stressful no matter whether its a very large one, with hundreds
of Guests or one, like ours, which was a very small and intimate one. We
only had 35 people there, our closest family and friends. There are many
things to consider. The Venue, the Menu, Wedding Gown, Floral, Photography
and much more. Not only this, but one has to make a guest list, send
invitations, find a band or DJ, get a marriage Certificate and so on. As
you can see, there is a great deal to plan such an event.
Furthermore, to complicate things, we had to organize our Wedding which was
on the East Coast from here in Arizona. Fortunately, my Family lives in New
England so, they were able to assist us in this process, especially my
Sister and Brother-in-law whom live in Boston. If it was not for them, it
would not have been as much fun.While planning, we were stressed out and going crazy deciding on just a
location. We did not want to be Married in a Church. Neither Darrell nor
I are Religious, though, I am very spiritual. Needless-to-say, We did not
have the traditional Wedding.
Since, we live here on the West coast and not too far from San Diego, we
first decided to have both the Ceremony and Reception on the beach. Then,
decided against it. Both of us love the beach, but Darrell occasionally
threatens to completely forget about technology and the modern life and just
turn into a full-time beach bum. We did not want strangers to crash our
party. So, back to the drawing board we went. My sister whom lives in
Boston recommended the Odyssey, which is a boat that tours the Boston
Harbor. They help plan all kinds of Events from Graduations, Birthday's
and
Wedding's, whatever the Occasion. Their Staff are professionals whom have
the talent and expertise in
organizing Events and making them a success. They have Wedding Planners
who do everything and thus take some of the load
off in planning. Of course, The Bride and Groom need to be involved and
make the final decisions,since, after all, its their Wedding. The staff,just
provide suggestions and give their opinion as to what would work out best.Despite this fact, we were still stressed out. Prior to Our Wedding, I new
very little about planning one. I am not a typical woman. I am not into
shopping, clothing shopping, do not like flowers and since I am totally
blind, was not into the Photography anymore. I am not one to read Bride's
Magazine and do all the " in " things to do.Besides that, I do not feel the need to have a Huge Wedding party, a dozen
Bride's Maids, a flower Girl and so forth. Also, since I have two sisters ,
I did not want to choose who would be my Matron of Honor, could not do
that. If I chose one of them or a friend, somebody is likely to get hurt.
So, we did not have one or a Best Man. We did However, have a Ring
Bearer, which was little Dougie, my Golden Retriever Guide Dog. We tied the
pillow to his harness and attached the rings. He also wore a bowtie to
match Darrell's Tux. As you can see, there is so much to do when planning a Wedding. At one
point we almost decided to Elope, but did not. We had a beautiful Wedding.
Its hard to believe, it was almost a year ago. Our Anniversary will be June
3. If you want to listen to The Ceremony, you can. I will provide the link
for it as well as a link to Odyssey's web site so,if you or someone you
know would like to take a Cruise, they can consider using Odyssey for their
event.Unfortunately, I did not begin writing KDD's before March of 2006, after
most of the Wedding was planned so, I can not post anything. I was so
stressed that I did not even Journal for months, so have nothing to share.
I hope this is somewhat helpful when reading the below KDd. Take Care.Odyssey: http://odysseycruises.com
Wedding Ceremony Audio:http://www.blindaccessjournal.com/2006/06/wedding-ceremony-of-karen-and-darrell.html
Tara's Wedding Toast:http://www.blindaccessjournal.com/2006/06/taras-wedding-toast.html I am happy to say,that, I feel pretty good today.
My spirits are high,
That,is not a lie.
Last night we had a good night.
I actually slept all the way through,
to morning light,
well, not quite. (:
Twice, I did wake,
Yet, a voice in my head,
said, "stay in bed,"
don't get up & play
You, want to be rested for a new day". (:
so, in bed, I stayed,
& there, I laid,
& quickly, I think, I drifted off too sleep. (:
, ,It will actually be a good day.
, have no headaches, or aches of any kind,
& my nerves are calm & I have a clear mind.
Of the challenges ahead,
& all the things I need to do,
before Darrell & I Wed. (: Since, the Wedding,
is less then 2 months away,
I called our Wedding planner, today.
As you know, I usually listen to tunes,
on my commute,
on my portable tv/radio.
Yet, answers to questions, we had to know. (:
When, guests should board ,,
be at the dock,
at 6 o'clock.
What music to play,
the traditional Wedding March,
or something instead,
before we say or Vows,
& say, " I thee Wed"!(:
The Unity candle, we won't have,
It will be too windy, up on deck, you understand,
So as our symbol, we will use Sand. (:
Guess, there are various colors and textures, to choose,
Not sure, what kind,
For our Wedding Cruise. (:
This I am not familiar with at all,
its not something, they teach,
& you'd see on a beech (:
so, research I will do,
to figure, what, we would like it to be,
have it match with the sea ,
or favorite Colors of Darrel and me?
can't imagine, there would be much,
in color & in touch.
I am sure, whatever, we choose
Whatever, we do,
all, will enjoy the Wedding Cruise.(:The menu, we need to consider
what, entree, all want for dinner.
&, for the Wedding cake,
What kind to make.
These, are all things,
we can not pitch,
If, our Wedding, will go,off without a hitch.
Hopefully, everything, will be a smashing success,
& nothing will be a mess
Hopefully, all, will have fun on the cruise,
eat, dance, & not too much into the booze.
A great time will be had by all,
Yet, don't expect too many " dose's or any calls,
When, Darrell & I,
are in San Diego on our Honeymoon,
no worries, we, will all connect, after, very soon. (:
well, enough I did to say,
besides, should get on my way.
Hope you all have a good day.

First of all, the delay on this post must be because I’m too techsexy.
The first event Tuesday morning was the kick-off keynote by Bob Muglia, Senior Vice President, Server and Tools Business.  Actually, the keynote session first opened with Rodney Sherwood, claiming to be the Senior Vice President, Humor and Comedy Services. (A few alumni I spoke with later said he’s the regular crowd-warmer for Microsoft events.)  Bob’s keynote focused on the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) that is a ten-year plan started in 2003.  DSI ties in with the Infrastructure Optimization model: basic, standardized, rationalized and dynamic.  The goal is to move businesses through each stage towards a truly dynamic system.
Bob talked on three pillars: virtualized infrastructure, design for operations (using service modeling language [SML]) and knowledge-driven management.  Jeff Woolsey, Lead Program Manager, Virtualization, did a demo of a single server running Longhorn Server Core (a stripped-down, no-GUI version of Longhorn that works well as a base for virtualization), running Longhorn server host and then four guest OSes: 2003 32, 2003 64 w/ SQL 2005 64, Suse Linux, and 8-core Longhorn 64.  He then demo’d Virtual Machine Manager and Operations Manager, which integrated together with a built-in PowerShell script to hot-add a NIC to the SQL server.  It also has hot-add capabilities for memory and processors.
System Center Operations Manager use SML to store system and application models.  Microsoft is now partnering with EMC and Cisco for foundational model creation and plans to create industry standard models that can be used by any organization, or customized to better match their systems and applications.  SCOM should RTM in early April.  Barry Shilmover, Program Manager, Management Practices, demo’d SCOM.  He showed that it is based upon models so can provide service-level management not just hardware monitoring.  The next release of SCOM will have network-aware service management through a partnership with EMC.  A bi-directional connector between SCOM and EMC Smarts provides some of this now; it will be be built-in (and appropriately licensed) in future SCOM releases.
 
After the keynote I attended System Center Configuration Manager 2007: State of the Union presented by Bill Anderson, Lead Program Manager, SCCM, and Brian Kauer, Group Program Manager, SCCM.  It was a VERY popular session; standing room only.  They first introduced one of the marketing plans for SCCM 2007: TechSexy.  They used a series of images to really explain the concept: fanny pack (not techsexy) versus new hi-tech clothing (internal gadget pockets); Neo from the Matrix is techsexy; Tron is techsexy.  There was some debate as to whether this is techsexy.  They announced that HP is releasing a Client Catalog for SMS which will do custom updates for HP client systems (most everything buy BIOS) making it the largest custom update package.  They did a quick show of Asset Intelligence (AssetMetrix) in SMS SP3 which adds more than thirty reports with data like software serial numbers, product IDs, and purchase channel (e.g., OEM, volume, etc.).
On SCCM 2007 they said that operating system deployment was the biggest investment.  A company (I missed the name) just announced desired configuration management packs for industry compliance (SOX, HIPAA, etc.).  A new server role, Fallback Status Point (FSP) logs problems with clients that can’t communicate with the management point.  In the console, boundaries are now a node under site settings (instead of buried in the site properties), collection columns are properly sortable and customizeable (add things like Last Update Time), Search Folders are available in many nodes, and actions like multi-select and drag-and-drop are now available.  Another marketing campaign is Designed for BIG.
 
The next session I attended was SMS 2003 SP3: Asset Intelligence presented by Quincy Milton, Group Manager, SCCM, and Michael Nappi, Product Unit Manager, Asset & License Management.  AI with SP3 is an optional install as it extends both the database and MOF.  There are 30+ new reports in three major categories: hardware, licenses, and software.  A few examples: Computer age (estimated by CPU age), Primary user (user logon count), hardware not upgrade ready, and software families.  Many reports utilize Vista’s Software Licensing services, a basic version exists in XP.  SP3 RTM target is May 2007.
SCCM 2007 will have all of the AI features from SMS 2003 SP3 plus change management summary, asset tagging via OSD and CAL utilization reports.  System Center Online Services is a hosted service of a live knowledge base (AssetMetrix IP) to keep the software catalog of 350,000 titles up-to-date.  It will eventually have feeds from ISVs, OEMs, partners, customers, etc.  SCCM will have a bi-directional connector with Online Services for synchronization.  This same model will be applied elsewhere in the System Center family.
 
After lunch I went to System Center Configuration Manager 2007: What’s new in Software Distribution led by Dave Randall, Program Manager, Software Distribution.  He first went over some general new features of the console.  Organization folders, which existed in SMS 2003, now fully replicate to child sites.  Search folders are technically the same as organization folders.  Most nodes have a home page that displays useful data, but it’s not live, just recent.  The top-level home page will load the TechNet - SCCM page (if available) allowing users to see the latest news.  Home pages have resources and Internet links, e.g., checklists.  Administration Pack Tools are now integrated.  The RC version will replicate the organization folders under Packages and Advertisements to the similar folders under the Status node.  Node filtering is available: at the top of the list you can enter a value to “look for” in “all columns” etc.  Each node also now shows the count of items. 
Each maintenance window has a maximum of 24 hours, but multiples can be applied to a single collection to form a larger maintenance window.  When upgrading to SCCM 2007 the prerequisite check will flag all “unknown” program runtimes.  Gotcha: last five minutes of the maintenance window is a restart buffer (e.g., something assigned in those last five minutes won’t occur until the start of the next maintenance window).  Maintenance windows can be added to a collection but disabled if not in use.  There are a few reports available (but use the phrasing “Service Windows”), e.g., Service windows available to a particular client.
A Branch Distribution Point (BDP) can replace a secondary site at low bandwidth sites as it uses BITS to transfer from the standard DP.  BITS throttling is now centrally configurable.  Other site systems can be protected, not just DPs.  If the target system is not an installed client or not assigned to the site it cannot be enabled as a BDP.  The Copy Package Wizard will display any organization or search folders and can copy from a specific source for DP cloning.  Wake-On-LAN (WOL) packets are sent serially from the site server, three packets per target client.  Advertisement program re-run options: never, always or if previous failure/success.  Custom policy polling interval can be set on collections; conflicts with multiple collections are resolved by shortest time.  Branding support in the new Computer Client Agent; can display custom text to the client (including URLs).
 
My last session of the day was SCCM Deployment, Part 1, presented by Dave Randall and Prabhu Padhi, Program Manager, SCCM.  During SCCM installation detailed setup progress notification is provided so you know exactly what’s happening while waiting.  One new role is the State Migration Point, which is like a reverse DP (client pushes up USMT data).  Two recommended site systems are the Fallback Status Point (FSP) for client troubleshooting and the Branch DP for remote sites.  The Management Point (MP) and Software Update Point (SUP) site system roles should be separated, at least during initial testing, for easier troubleshooting.  If using 64bit hardware the Reporting Point (RP) must be separate (or virtualized) because IIS must be in 32bit mode.
CCMSetup is now a single client binary.  There are multiple Client Deployment reports available if the FSP is used (specified in the client install command line or registry).  During installation the client downloads a manifest and then only downloads the required components (instead of downloading all of the components and then evaluating the installation requirements).  Client installation options can be written into AD so the client installation command is just ccmsetup.  CCMSetup.msi can be used as a Software Installation package so if it is removed from AD the client is not uninstalled just the CCMSetup wrapper.  Another preferred (and techsexy) option is to publish the CCM Agent to WSUS as a required infrastructure update (similar to the WU Agent).
A tip for deployment is to gradually phase in the clients, e.g., 5-10 at first.  Then do a “policy loop” check sending small advertisements to check all settings and functionality.  Tweak the site settings (i.e., faster cycles) initially during ramp-up to accelerate data flowing into the site, and then scale back after deployment.
Clients send new state messages to the MP along with the regular status messages.  State messages provide more progress indication rather than just start/end status.  Software update reporting no longer uses hardware inventory but uses state messages.
The client requirement for .NET Framework is really only for Desired Configuration Management (DCM) so it’s not a hard requirement.
OSD and Device Management packages are transferred in an upgrade and can be used as legacy packages, but need to be retooled for full functionality.  Top-down upgrades are required possibly even installing a new SCCM central site above the existing parent.  Standard security won’t upgrade, legacy clients won’t upgrade and there is no SMS 2.0 interoperability or upgrade available.  SCCM mixed mode allows for backward compatibility with SMS 2003.
SCCM backup uses Volume ShadowCopy Service (VSS) so the site comes back up faster while the shadow data is archived in the background.
Site systems can be configured to either push or pull with other site systems.  Aside from basic status messages, site servers send additional heartbeat status for availability monitoring.

Mike Marsingill, a peer and colleague in the North Georgia conference, has died of a heart attack. I met Mike 25 years ago at Emory University while I was taking the mandatory “How to be a Methodist” courses. We often ate breakfast together in the pre-dawn hours after the drive in from the Georgia countryside. At the time, we were both pastors in small student pastorates. I mostly remember a lot of laughter around that table, but Mike was also a serious, caring and insightful person. In ten years of parish ministry, we bumped into each other often and our families came to be friends. My father-in-law Ben Sorrow was also a North Georgia pastor before Ben’s death, and Mike was a good friend to him as well during Ben’s declining health. Since I left Georgia for the military chaplaincy, Mike’s face was always one I searched out when I returned to Annual Conference.Mike’s church was Walker UMC in Greensboro, Georgia. His last newsletter article on the church’s web site seems prescient and speaks for itself. I quote it in full: Years ago there was a popular television program entitled “Run For Your Life.

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