TechNet Magazine: Field Notes

All TechNet Magazine Columns

• Field Notes: Ensure Election Accuracy
  Josh Benaloh - July 2008
  Examine vulnerabilities in today's U.S. election system and see how cryptography can be used to create fully verifiable election results.

• Field Notes: Sharing a Split Screen
  Kentaro Toyama - June 2008
  Developed by Microsoft Research India, Split Screen allows two users to share a monitor while running separate instances of the OS on each side.

• Field Notes: Multiple Mice, One PC
  Kentaro Toyama - May 2008
  What do you do when students outnumber the computers available in a classroom setting? Microsoft Research India has developed a solution, termed MultiPoint, that allows multiple mice to be used simultaneously on one computer.

• Field Notes: A MARvellous Initiative
  Neil Fawcett - April 2008
  See how the new Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) program can help companies deal with confusing software licensing issues when refurbishing old PCs.

• Field Notes: Preparing for IT 2.0
  Romi Mahajan - March 2008
  Here's a look at the importance of learning from the past in order to address the challenges that the future holds for IT.

• Field Notes: Donate Your PC
  Jim Lynch - February 2008
  When you donate and reuse old hardware, you keep old hardware out of landfills-and that helps to preserve our environment. These tips can help you effectively delete personal data from your old computer equipment so it will be ready for reuse.

• Field Notes: Your Most Important Task of the Day
  Eric N. Bush - January 2008
  When you're working on a project, don't underestimate the importance of setting aside time to think, plan, and prioritize.

• Field Notes: The Fungible Future
  Romi Mahajan - December 2007
  IT has become "consumerized" as technology and perceptions in personal life have merged with technology and perceptions in professional life. And the effects on both business and personal life are profound.

• Field Notes: The Cod of Conduct
  Betsy Aoki - November 2007
  When community members start acting, perhaps you just need a big fish. See how social engineering helped to save Live QnA.

• Field Notes: Recycle Your PC
  Jim Lynch - October 2007
  With its relatively unknown Community Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program, Microsoft supports projects that improve education, create jobs, and enable sustainable economic opportunities for underserved communities.

• Field Notes: Free Food and Training Tips
  Michael Dragone - September 2007
  Good user education is critical to keeping issues to a minimum. So don’t forget the importance of providing casual training sessions and roaming the halls to see if anyone has questions they wouldn’t bring up otherwise.

• Field Notes: IM Interviews
  Nathan G. Jensen - August 2007
  You have one position to fill and a large stack of resumes from around the globe. How do you quickly narrow your search? The answer may be to do interviews over IM. Here's one developer's success story.

• Field Notes: Talk to Your Developers
  David Aiken - June 2007
  Getting developers to build more manageable applications is easier than you think. It all starts with communication. Developers see software differently than administrators. But by talking to developers, administrators can explain what is important to them and developers can do a better job designing code accordingly.

• Field Notes: Staying Sharp
  Joshua Hoffman - May 2007
  As your career advances and your responsibilities change, you may suddenly discover one day that you’re not actually administering a system or managing an infrastructure. Just don’t forget to spend hands-on time with the latest technologies, as this is the best way to keep at the top of your game.

• Field Notes: The Joy (and Pain) of Learning
  Mark D. Scott - April 2007
  When the joy of being an early adopter begins to fade remember that Knowledge makes technology easier to use and easier to support. As IT professionals, we need to stay out there experimenting with new products. You just might be surprised with what you find.

• Field Notes: The Doctor Is In
  Matt Hester - March 2007
  At a party, being an IT pro is sort of like being a doctor. Everybody has a question about a problem they've been having. But sometimes, even the experts overlook the simplest solutions.

• Field Notes: It Just Stops Working
  R'ykandar Korra'ti - February 2007

• Field Notes: Tech Support for In-Laws
  James Snell - January 2007

• Field Notes: Learn to Ask for Help
  Edward Dake - November 2006

• Field Notes: Where Did the Net Go?
  R'ykandar Korra'ti - October 2006

• Field Notes: The Job Candidate’s Job
  Glenn Wasserman - September 2006

• Field Notes: TLC for Your Server
  Jay Shaw - August 2006

• Field Notes: An Ounce of Prevention
  Jay Shaw - July 2006
  All good IT pros worry about their servers. If something goes wrong it’s your problem and it’s usually a big one. Most of you stick your servers in a closet and neglect them. Unless something blows up, you may not even look at them for months at a time.

• Field Notes: Building Sound Walls
  Mark Scott - May • June 2006
  As IT professionals, we need to build an ordered realm. We want the citizens within our network realm to work and live safely and securely, and we want to protect the assets of this realm. We know there are barbarians out there who might want to acquire our assets and use them for their own nefarious ends, so we build a wall around our corporate computing assets.

• Field Notes: The Infamous Jargon Barrier
  Ron Melanson - March • April 2006
  We’ve all done it at one point or another in our career. We find ourselves in the presence of an executive from our company and look to capitalize on the opportunity, making sure that they know about the great work we are doing.

• Field Notes: Don't Lose the Manual
  Mark Scott - January • February 2006
  I have been mucking with computers since I was in the 5th grade. I built microcomputers on breadboards, wrote assembler programs, manually linked network drivers, assembled computers from piles of boxes—all those really old school techie things.

• Field Notes: Real Pros Don't Run as Normal User
  Shelly Bird - November • December 2005
  Real techs think they have got to log in with the rights of a higher power on their system, even to check their e-mail or surf the Web. Ditto for developers, doctors, and everyone else who is convinced their job is important and requires full-blown Administrator privileges.

• Field Notes: IT and Life Experiences
  Joshua Hoffman - Spring 2005
  IT pros don't write code. IT pros don't develop applications, and we certainly don't want anything to do with mathematical algorithms and binary search trees. We leave that to the dev geeks with CompSci PhDs and cases of Mountain Dew under their desk.

• Field Notes: IT And Life Experiences
  Andrew Shuman - Winter 2005
  So here is the situation. You've been here before, a hundred times if not more. Your server worked perfectly, flawlessly serving up Web pages, photos from the company meeting, and departmental memos on cost-cutting measures.