Remote Desktop Command: Ctrl + Alt + Del

For those of us who administer a number of systems remotely, here's a quick shortcut when needing to send the infamous ctrl + alt + del command while running Remote Desktop:

CTRL + ALT + END

Source: Steve Harman Blog

Sangria Goodness

While reading the latest edition of Men's Fitness, I came across a few sangria recipes that I wanted to save for future use. I really hate having to keep magazines and then having to search through them to find specific info so the best thing for me is to have them in digital format and this way I also get to share them with the rest of the world.

Vodka Sangria

2 Oranges, sliced
2 Green apples, cored and thinly sliced
2 Lemons, sliced
1 3/4 Cups fruit-flavored vodka (e.g., Ciroc Red Berry)
1 3/4 Cups rosé wine
1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 Cups berry-flavored iced tea

Directions

Combine oranges, apples, and lemons in a pitcher. Top with remaining ingredients, stir and chill.

Beer Sangria

3 Cups strawberries, halved
1 Cup raspberries
1 Lemon, sliced
1 Orange, sliced
1/2 Cup vodka
12oz Lemon-lime soda or ginger ale
36oz Beer

Directions

Stir the fruit and vodka together in a pitcher and chill. Before serving, add the soda and beer to the pitcher and stir.

Tequila Sangria

2 Lemons, sliced
2 Limes, sliced
1 Naval orange, sliced
12 Large fresh mint leaves
1/2 Cup silver tequila
1/4 Cup fresh lime juice
1 Bottle white wine
1 1/2 Cups lemon-lime club soda

Directions

Dump the fruit and mint in a pitcher and use a muddler to lightly mash. Stire in the tequila, lime juice, and wine; chill. Top each serving with up to 1/4 cup of club soda before drinking. 

Sake Sangria

1 Large cucumber
1 Cups water
2 Packets artificial sweetener
1 Tbsp peeled, finely grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
720ml Dry sake

Directions

Cut cucumbers crosswise into three equal sections. Peel and chop two (2) sections; put into blender. Cut remaining piece into thin slices. Add water, sweetener, ginger and lemon juice to blender and purée. Pour into a pitcher, then stir in sake and cucumber slices.

* All credit for these recipes goes to Men's Health magazine.

iTunes Store Temporarily Unavailable - How I Fixed It

I recently had to rebuild my laptop by reloading the O/S and ran into an issue where iTunes would not allow me to log into my account.  The error in my Windows 8 install kept saying that the iTunes Store was Temporarily Unavailable.  At first I dismissed the issue as a maintenance deal on Apple's side, but after a couple of weeks, I decided to look more into the problem.  I did everything from checking my local firewall to flushing my DNS cache and nothing seemed to work.  I also updated my payment information to no avail.  I ended up finding a solution that worked for me.  It's listed as working for Windows 7, but I can confirm that it works for Windows 8 as well.  Without further ado, here is the fix:

1. Quit iTunes (and Safari if installed)
2. Enable "hidden files, folders and drives"
3. Navigate to C:\Users\YourProfile\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\Cookies *
4. Delete all contents in the "Cookies" folder
5. Launch iTunes
6. Log on to your iTunes account

These were the steps that finally allowed me to log on to iTunes.

 * Substitute "YourProfile" for whatever username applies to you.

Starbucks Secret Menu

For those of you that are caffeine addicts such as myself, you might want to visit the Starbucks secret menu website. This site contains a user created menu that might give you some ideas for your next order.  Without further ado - http://starbuckssecretmenu.net/.

.NET Framework 3.5 Install on Windows 8

If you're like me and you're trying to run some applications that rely on .NET Framework 2.0 - 3.5 on Windows 8, you might be surprised to find out that it's a separate install. Instead of spending time trying to download that feature off the web, the easiest way to go about it is to insert the DVD or mount the ISO on your Windows 8 client. You can run the following command and it will take care of installing the legacy versions of .NET for you.  This command needs to be run from an elevated command prompt.

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:X:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess

Substitute your appropriate drive letter in place of X: for it to work. The install will take around 10 minutes, depending on the specs of your computer.

All credit goes to a member of Anandtech forums. The original thread can be found here.

HP Media Center m7060n Desktop, I hate you! // TV Tuner Drivers

Oh the joy of finding drivers is something I don't miss from my days of being a tech. For those of you looking the TV Tuner/Capture card drivers, look no further than this link. HP TV Tuner Drivers.

The linked drivers will work for any variant of XP (ie: Windows XP Pro, Home, Media Center). If you have Windows 7 installed, sorry to say that you'll have to go with a different card or O/S, as it's not supported by the manufacturer or Microsoft. Windows Update will install the drivers, but they'll be disabled for stability reasons. I do believe the built in drivers will work with Windows Vista, but I did not test to make sure.

The drivers are for the HP P/N: 5187-4378, which is an ASUS manufactured card with a Conexant chip. You can find the part number on the card.

Adding BES Admin Permissions to Microsoft Exchange 2007

Using Exchange Power Shell, run the following commands:

Get-MailboxServer "[mail_server_name]" | Add-ExchangeAdministrator "[bes_admin_acct]" -role ViewOnlyAdmin

Get-MailboxServer "[mail_server_name]" | Add-AdPermission -user "[bes_admin_acct]" -AccessRights ExtendedRight -ExtendedRights Send-As, Receive-As, ms-Exch-Store-Admin