Unto the pure, all things are pure

I don't know how well-known it is that the Windows Update client, even when run from IE, does not run using your logged-in credentials.  This is according to KB 900935 . So, if your computer requires a proxy server to connect to the Internet and you have configured the proxy server through your IE settings, the Windows Update client will still try to connect directly.  This is because the IE settings are specific for each user. I have a newly installed Windows Server 2003 that is on a LAN that requires a proxy.  The first update went through ok.  But subsequent updates keep failing to download. By running proxycfg -u to copy my IE proxy settings for everyone, Windows Update breezed through. The puzzling thing is that I have two other Windows Server 2003 sitting next to this one on the same network.  They were installed 1.5 years ago, with the proxy server configured in IE.  I checked and proxycfg on these two says "Direct access"....

I installed 64-bit Windows Server 2003 (R2 with SP2) for the first time this week. Surprisingly, there is no option to enable ASP.NET on IIS even though I have all the .NET frameworks installed and updated. The Add/Remove Windows Component Wizard does not have ASP.NET as an option under Application Server. Neither does the Managing Your Server application.  In 32-bit Windows Server, it says Application Server (IIS, ASP.Net) but in 64-bit it is as follows: As it cannot be done through the GUI, I checked up the Help documentation. The documentation says my next task is to enable ASP.NET but I couldn't find any clues on how to do that. Finally I found the instructions hidden in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894435 , an article which really does not apply to my situation as I want a pure 64-bit server. The steps are: a.  Install and enable IIS first.  Do this through Manage Your Server or Add/Remove Windows Components. b.  Run: cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%\inetp...

I guess you already know that ZhongGuanCun (中关村) in Peking (北京) is the largest collection of shoppping centers selling computers and electronics stuff. If you need something for your computer, I think you will find at least 1,000 shops/counters selling what you want. The hard part is getting what you want at the price you don't regret later. The trick is to buy only things you have researched thoroughly. Use a place like eBay to find out the lowest market price. Buying something on impulse will always end up with regrets, unless you are a trained negotiator. ZhongGuanCun is not one mall. It is a whole city of malls. I don't know how many there are. I went to only a couple of buildings. Basically they are all the same. I guess in lieu of marketing to differentiate, each just bank on fleecing one unsuspecting customer a day. I went to look for a notebook battery. Surprisingly this was one item that was not really that popular. If you need a battery and want to ...

It's very easy to plan a do-it-yourself tour of the Great Wall of China at BaDaLing (八达岭). And it costs only RMB12x2 (total USD4) for the journey there and back. The Internet is full of postings on how people signed up to tours only to be held at ransom to cough up more money after the bus has moved off. Do not be another victim. By the way, most of the victims are Chinese nationals from out of town or people who speak some Chinese. The swindlers, or enterprising businessmen depending on how you view them, tend to leave the non-Chinese speakers alone as sign language is harder, I guess. Follow these steps carefully for a low-cost and enjoyable tour. We just did it last week. 1. Make your way to DeShengMen (德胜门) . This is once a city gate of which only the archer's tower is now left standing. The archer's tower is a huge structure that cannot be missed once you are in the vicinity. There are a few bus terminals there. The one you must go to is north of the tower. Fro...

Remember CT2 or the initial incarnation of PCN?  They have gone the way of the dodo.  The technology is now used in DECT phones. Efforts to expand wifi to provide wide area coverage will meet the same fate. CT2 was marketed as a poor man's alternative to cell phones.  It is a neat engineering idea.  You get to use a wireless phone when you are in range of a base station.  But it is just that, a neat engineering idea. Using wi-fi as a poor man's wide area data network is in a similar situation.  The reason is not un-obvious. If only, say, 20% of the time that you need to use the Internet you find yourself outside wi-fi coverage, you would need to pay for a data subscription from your cell-phone company.  And, if you already have paid for wide-area data why would you still pay or need wi-fi? Wi-fi has its uses, just like DECT phones.  You use it at home or in the office, when you are pretty stationary and there is no point expending power...

One of the fundamental principles of communications is that the amount of planning is inversely proportional to the efficiency of communications available.  The better communications you have the less planning you have to do.  The more planning you do, you are less dependent on the need to communicate. To illustrate: a family hits the shopping mall.  In the old days, a detailed plan would have to be worked out, something like: "Everybody, it's free and easy for the next 30 minutes.  Then we meet at this water fountain.  If by 35 minutes, Johnny doesn't show up, this is what we will do,......"  Lots and lots of if's then else's to cover all conceivable contingencies.  Today, when a family reaches the mall, everyone takes out his or her cell phone, does a battery check, and everyone do whatever he or she likes.  When someone feels it's time to go, the phones start ringing. This similar scenario occurs everywhere.  When an army wants to conduc...

Everyone must have received lots of such messages where at the end they say "Please do not reply to this email". This is idiotic on many accounts. I won't even bother to explain them. I do the exact opposite. In all emails that are generated by applications, I always include a line which says something like " Please reply to this email if you meet any problems. " And of course I use a sender email address that is always monitored.