Installing Windows Storage Server 2008

The Administrator password when installing Windows Storage Server 2008 is wSS2008!.

No, I don't blab confidential Microsoft information. No, I don't give away keys. And no, I don't give away any real passwords. However, this is the default install password, and it's not a secret or confidential, it's just too hard to find. You have to download the Tools CD from MSDN and then read the release notes. So, I'm putting the WSS08 default admin password here in case it makes a little easier to find for people who search the Internet before they read all the docs. (And who's going to read the Tools docs before they install the basic software?)

So, with "wSS2008!" you can now log in to your fresh install of the fantastic new Windows Storage Server 2008. Ta-da!!

Now what's the first thing you're going to do after you log in...? CHANGE THE DEFAULT PASSWORD, if you're smart.

Prosperity for Posterity

Prosperity for US
Well, I read about Prosper.com a few months ago in Readers Digest magazine, but forgot about it until this past week. It's a pretty cool peer-to-peer loan system for U.S. residents founded by the guy who started ELoan.com, and I've opened an account (it's free) and started fiddling with it. (For details on how it works, visit their web site.)

This prompted me to look at our debts, and I was surprised to find that we have 3 credit card accounts with small balances that have exorbitant interest rates. So, I studied up how to apply for a loan on Prosper, joined a group, got my info verified, and posted an application for a $5k loan to pay off those 3 credit cards. I put in the maximum interest rate allowed by Virginia, 11%, and it got fully funded within minutes. However, I'm letting the listing stay open for the maximum time of 10 days, and since it was fully funded at 11%, additional lenders (individual investors) have been bidding to get a piece of my loan, thereby bidding down the interest rate, which is now below 10%. Way cool! Check it out:

You can borrow, you can earn money by lending, or you can earn money by managing a group.

Prosperity for the rest of the World
One guy borrowing money via Prosper is using the money to reinvest, partly in microloans at kiva.org. I never heard of kiva.org, so of course I had to check it out.

Kiva (from the Swahilli word for "agreement") allows anyone to make microloans to the working poor in some of the poorest areas of the world. The staff at Kiva vets each borrower, and though the amounts are generally small by U.S. standards, they can have profound impacts on the people who receive these loans.

Some of these folks may never have another opportunity like this to improve their and their families lives, and you can help. You can make a small loan to someone on the other side of the planet and improve their lives forever.

Simple vs. Complex

A friend recently suggested that complex people tend to have simple ring tones (ring, ring) on their cell phones, and simple people tend to have complex ring tones (musical ditties), just based on her personal observations.

So, is my ring tone simple or complex? Well, my phone's almost always on vibrate, so I don't know what that says about me. But for those rare occasions when I have the sound on, my ring tone is a recording of my own voice saying, "Telephone... telephone..." What do you think? Is that simple, complex, or just strange?

John's Mainframe Laptop

I want the power of a mainframe in a laptop computer.

Doesn't everyone?

I'm posting this description of my next dream-machine, because it's already technologically possible, I think there would be a great demand for it, and I want one or more of the cheap-laptop developers (E.g., Lite Appliances) to read this and BUILD ME ONE!

Now, I'm not talking about a laptop that has the instructions-per-second or amount of memory of a mainframe from 10 years ago... today's laptops are already way past that. And obviously I'm not talking about today's supercomputers shrunk to laptop-size... that will take too long.

Nope, I'm talking about building in automated connections between a very light-weight, inexpensive laptop and a high-performance laptop server, so that the laptop server can provide the best features of mainframe computing to an ultra-portable PC.

Here are the specifications:

The Laptop

Can run applications locally when off-line

Typical laptop Monitor-Keyboard clamshell form

One or more built-in pointer (touchpad/j-stick/thumbtrack/etc)

Operating System

RAM for the operating system and applications

Flash-RAM for storing current state, loaded applications, and the user's files

Automatically synch/backup files to Laptop Server

Both Wi-Fi and Cellular wireless links to both the Laptop Server and directly to the Internet

Applications can process locally, but when connection is available, they can also off-load large processing tasks to the Laptop Server

USB ports for local printing and accessories

Video output for single or dual desk monitors or projectors

NO built-in hard disk drive (HDD only by attaching via USB cable)

The Laptop Server (LS)

Support for multiple laptops

Web-based remote desktop

Provides roaming profiles (Just throw-away a busted laptop, connect a new one to the Laptop Server, and it will download the same configuration as the last one, including the user's files)

Multi-threaded processing

High fault-tolerance hardware for business

Highly fault-tolerance system for home use (internet based backups)

The System

Can swap applications on and off the Laptop from the Laptop Server to conserve Flash memory

Application swapping can be scheduled by the user

Backups of Laptop to Laptop Server occur automatically while connected

Applications can automatically shift heavy processing to Laptop Server while connected

All data transfers between Laptop and Laptop Server support intermittent rather all-at-once transfers

Okay, system developers, there it is in a nutshell. If you need more details, call me. If you need market research, call me. If you need someone to buy the first one, CALL ME!