X’mas Gadgets!!!

Hey guys, it’s been a while since my last post. I’m really sorry for not updating the blog that much now. I’m wondering why is that…   Anyway lets start this week’s post.   

B&W 800 Diamond, for serious listeners.

Zumba Fitness 2, newest addition to Wii that’s really do exercise you.

textpanda.com, one cool site for all the lazy guys out there which turns LOL or BRB to the full sentence automatically.

Hoverwing, coolest vehicle ever.

Sony VPL HW39es 3D projector, this do 3D for real.

LG mj3281BCS light-wave oven, with AI for cooking.

iBallz Black, to those who drops things.

So that’s it for this week. C ya soon…

Gadgets–November 2011

Samsung UE55D800 super slim 3D ready LED TV.
Russell Hobbs Classic toaster for the perfect crisp.

F8 UAV octocopter. Great stability and fun.

Wacom Cintiq 21ux drawing pad. Detects movement and pressure of the pen giving you greater flexibility.

Pentax Optio WG-1. Rugged and great quality.

Petsafe 5 meal automatic pet feeder.

Dyson Groom tool.

Polaroid GL10 portable instant printer.

Sennheiser MM550. Great quality sound plus noise cancellation.

Bowers & Wilkins Panorama, better than Yamaha YPS.

Remote controlled rat, wicked.

Server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010

A little update. As you’ll notice dynamic views are no more at my blog. Why? Simply because it didn’t rendered the pages correctly and had some issue in even loading the pages on some out-dated browsers. So for the moment back to classic themes for web as well as mobile version.

Recently I’ve been to a new features introduction session at Microsoft Sri Lanka on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010. Below are the new key features of each.

Server 2008 R2

AD Recycle Bin, gives you the ability to recover a deleted item (user, computer, etc.) upto 180 days without the need to restore a backup.

DCpromo advanced options, adding root/forest structure has been easier than anytime before.

CORE-only installation, 2008 R2 can install without GUI for added protection.

Rights management Services (RMS), increased protection for documents and emails.

Delete protection for AD objects, once define at the time of creation, those item wont get deleted by mistake. (If you want to delete the same, you have to go to options and remove the delete-lock option.)

Attribute Edit, a GUI tool for ADSIEdit.

Read-Only Domain Controllers, new and improved secondary-DC which eases management of off-site servers pretty much safer and easier.

Restartable Directory Services, if you restart the DC services, DHCP services still serve the clients.

Administrative Center, central dashboard to perform all the action and monitor the services and all. Provide easy access to more common actions like reset passwords/unlock accounts, etc.

AD Snapshots, can restore a snapshot of another DC to live system without even stopping the services.

Exchange 2010

Automatic replicate of mailboxes (databases) to other servers provide increased failover.

Very lower IOPS, able to use low cost high capacity disks.

Data Availability Group (DAG), provide increased failover.

Ability to move mailboxes while users work on them, helps perform maintenance during working hours.

User self-service option, can assign tasks like update company address book to HR division, etc.

Text preview of voice-mail messages.

Personal mail archiving feature.

Search for a particular mail on all users, very use for compliance department tasks, etc.

Office 365, Microsoft manages the backend while company can rest.

So final conclusion. Should you make the move? It’s highly dependent. If you’re on Server 2003 and if you want all the nice new features, you should definitely move to Server 2008. But for Exchange, if you’re on 2007 there’s really no major reason why you should move to 2010. But then again it’s your decision. What about me? I’ll go for both.

If you want to try out these features without even installing them visit TechNet Exchange 2010 virtual labs.

Big thank goes out to Chandima and Jude for the nice introductory and feature comparison session. So that’s it for now. See you guys soon. Bye.

Dynamic Views and more

Yes, as you already knows Aroshan’s Tech Buzz (previously known as skaf’s World) is now fully powered by Dynamic Views. Needless to say to get the full features you must have a HTML5 capable modern browser.
Ok lets start with some auto news. Top Gear USA extended it’s 2nd season due to popular demand.

Next-gen Ford Fusion.

Amazon Silk? Don’t worry yet cause it’s the newest web browser on the block, which will come with Amazon tablet-PC.

And don’t forget super-slim Kindle too.

Some creative ways you can use FB Timeline design.


Google Maps launches helicopter-view of your route.

Hardcore Harry Potter.

Fusion F2QR, best in portable RAID system now comes with two 2.5-inch 1TB hard drives, eSATA, Firewire 400, Firewire 800 and USB 2.0, built-in RAID controller, aluminum case and fanless design.

It’s rumored that the new OS Nokia is being developing for low-end models (codenamed "Meltemi") will replace Symbian OS soon.
PSP Vita will have a maximum data transfer of 20mbps over 3G connections.
Samsung releases 1.5GHz Exynos processor.

Thrustmaster's Ferrari F1 Wheel.

Around 3,000 Google Chrome users couldn't access or even find their browsers last Friday, thanks to a bug in Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) antivirus that tagged Google Chrome as a piece of malware.
A security flaw discovered in AT&T's Galaxy S II lock screen where you can bypass either pattern or number lock by simply waiting till screen go blank. Both AT&T and Samsung have acknowledge the issue and they’re working for a fix.
Samsung Nexus Prime will be the first Android 4.0 ICS powered smartphone.
As you guys already knows Yahoo is a part of Alibaba.

Gadgets, September 2011

Some RC vehicles first.

Traxxas E-Revo. Capable of reaching a speed of 65mph!!!

Neon Blaze v3. Good speeds and precious maneuver.

Traxxas Spartan. It’s all about speed.

Dyson DC34 “Animal”. This is an all-rounder portable vacuum.

Sony HDR TD10E. 3D camcorder.

Berghaus Freeflow 25+5. Ok this is a backpack, but with many features you never expect to find.

Xcel Infiniti Dry Lock (full suit). No introduction need here.

Acco Rexel Pro Style shredder. Don’t insert you finger, that’s all.

Kaspersky 2012

One year back when I was doing the review for the KIS 2011 version, there were something to talk about on new features like safe run for applications, advanced parent control and very low resource usage. How about the new kid on the block. Lets find out.

Nothing new about the installation, quick and easy and finishes within a minute. Then comes the wow factor, interface has been revamped!!!

Boy I’m gonna love the new simplified home screen. Its eye candy. This is a major overhaul after many version. Seems everybody loves mobile-style scrolling toolbars.

Once you maximize the toolbar you can see all the tools in icons which are very easy to navigate.

Access and usability of Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) has been improvised. Kaspersky community plays a huge role in identifying new malwares and share them to labs for quicker remedies. Also URL advisor takes advantage of KSN on rating sites you visits and warn you on suspicious websites. (This feature needs to enable as a option.)

Ok, I agree that nobody will care about virus scan test results published by skaf Labs. But here it’s. KIS 2012 performed well in file antivirus as well in web guard. Frankly I didn't feel much different in this area over previous release. Scan was quick and valid.

Desktop gadget is also the same with a little costume change which provide basic functionality and quick overview of system and AV status.

Social network monitoring didn’t work as it intended to be. And as per major AV test resources Kaspersky didn’t performed much in threat detection and removal till yet. Last year too 2011 version first releases had some bugs, which were resolved in later releases. Hope that will be the case for this too.

Good firewall and fairly good detection rate will be the reason that I’ll be using KIS for this year. Does this means I will be running some other AV by 2013, hmmm lets wait and see.