I am currently trying to get my head around Microsoft Sharepoint 2007 and Windows Server 2008 (both of which I have never used before). I should hopefully be getting a part-time job which involves me helping to set up a new Sharepoint system from scratch, so I have started learning how it all works. I have never dealt with Windows Servers before, I have only ever dealt with Linux servers (and saying that, not a great deal there either).

My summer holidays at college have begun, so that means I will be able to spend the next three weeks with my amazing girlfriend and just chill out. We will be going on holiday to Wales in a few weeks too.

I bought a NSD 250mhz Amber Powerball a few days ago and I have been using it since. I have been suffering from pain in my left wrist for the past week or so, and I decided to get one to see if it would help. If you don’t know what they are, it is basically a gyroscope inside of a plastic shell which you rotate around your wrist and it helps to build up muscles and rehabilitate pains. They have been known to help get rid of RSI and other joint pains, and it has been helping so far; after you use it, it really does make you arms and wrists feel rejuvenated. I sometimes suffer from RSI due to the fact I spend so much time on my computer, and is often noticeable after I have been gaming - so I am hoping this should eliminate the problem in the future. And I know you can buy Powerballs with counters too, but with this being my first one, I just want to use it to strengthen my arms/wrists - I can always add a counter in the future if I like.

I got mine for £9.99 from Play.com, which is a good price compared to some places (free postage too). If you do think about getting one, make sure that you get a NSD Powerball, and not the cheaper copies that are around (as they wont work as well and may even cause more pain than good).

I have been trying out a HP Mini-Note 2133 ultra-portable notebook, and I can safely say that I like it. It had been criticized due to its under-powered processor - but do you really need an ‘all singing and all dancing’ processor in such a small notebook (such as an Intel Atom)? Yeah, it would be nice, but isn’t particular necessary. When I have a desktop PC than handle everything I throw at it, I can just save heavy work and such until I get home. When I was trying it, it was able to cope with Vista fine (suprisingly), and it is plently powerful enough to run basic office based programs, for surfing the Internet and to even watch a film on it.

It has a great sized keyboard (92% sized apparently) which feels great to type on, and also includes a special coating to stop spillages doing any damage. The touch pad is different than normal ones, as the ‘click’ keys are situated on either side apposed to underneath, to eliminate extra space taken up - it is also slightly smaller than normal. It does take some getting used to, but it is fine to use - you may want to end up using a mouse after a while though (and with its built in Bluetooth, all you need is a Bluetooth mouse). It comes with either a 3-cell or a 6-cell battery (I tried the 6-cell version, which worked out at about 4.5 hours battery time). The 6-cell battery however does add extra height to the back of the laptop, but this does raise the keyboard up to make it easier to type on. The laptop does get slightly hot when it is on for a while, but it isn’t too bad. The screen is a decent size and has a nice resolution, but you will have to make sure you set it up so that the text DPI/size is easier readable, but it depends on your eye-sight.
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Hey everyone,

I have just been informed that the KB951748 Security Update for XP interferes with ZoneAlarm, causing the Internet to stop working. To fix it, you can either remove the update (which will probably get installed again next time Windows update runs) or to follow these steps below:

Solution:
Reset the ZA database and the ZA will be “fresh” as when it was first installed:

• Save ZA settings in XML file like usual.
• Boot your computer into the Safe Mode
• Navigate to the c:\windows\internet logs folder
• Delete the backup.rdb, iamdb.rdb, *.ldb and the tvDebug files in the folder
• Clean the Recycle Bin
• Reboot into the normal mode
• ZA will be just like new with no previous settings or data
• Now restore your settings from XML file to recover Zones/Ports/etc settings OR restore your settings manually (add subnets to Zones, etc)
  I.E.: Make sure your DNS and DHCP server IP’s are in your Firewall’s Trusted zone.
  The Generic Host Process (svchost.exe) as seen in the Zone Alarm’s Program’s list must have server rights for the Trusted Zone.
  Plus it must have both Trusted and Internet Access. It must have NO server rights in Internet Zone!

The issue and solution applies to all versions of ZA and ZA: Security Suite

Update: ZoneAlarm has issued an upgrade, HERE.

This is a pain in the arse really, it even happened to me - lets just hope there is an update to ZoneAlarm that works fine with this update.

(Thanks to EscondeR and spikejones for the info and solutions)

Update: It seems like it has spread all over the Internet, even the BBC have wrote a report about it HERE.

I haven’t posted in a while, I have been busy with loads of things lately. The thing that is stealing most of my time at the moment is setting up Westfest (an annual music festival at college). This year I am doing the lighting for it, so I have spent the last week rigging the hall with Nick - which still needs finishing at the end of this week. I should hopefully have some photos after the weekend of it as I have been roped in as the official photographer also, as well as a lighting operator all day.