It's time to get noticed.   Time to put that extra bit of power in your hands.

Windows Home Server.

Finally got a copy installed (Finally got a copy to install with!) and it KICKS ASS!

No, not a wussy little file server.

It's web based remote access.

Full system backup,

It's got SBS 2003 as it's core so you can run DNS / DHCP and IIS!

You can just drop USB drives in and add them to the system, no brain power.

It's coexists with Domain laptops without any configuration!

It does it all!  It works with Xbox360!

What can't it do?  Well World Peace is the only limitation it seems to have.  It's limited to 10 users maximum.    But it also makes a nice mini DPM server for your network.  Cool eh?

So go buy it.  Buy it now.  Get that much power in your house and don't look back!

And so the calm before the storm.   The early hours of May 24th.    A mighty army arrives before the gates of the Metro Toronto Congress Centre.

It is Team Microsoft.  Armed with their many influencers, speakers, and presenters; They step out of the trucks.

Ready to start the day.

Only; a glitch.

"What the @#$%@#" spouts out Rick Claus.  It's been a long night and he has no time for nonsense.  None.  Not a single itty bit.

A mob of multicolored, speckled, crinkly, doghouse wearing, gray bearded, blue skirted, sword carrying nastys is blocking their way.

"ANIME'S" Shrieks Rodney Buike. "Christ they're everywhere!"

A panic sets amongst the crowd.  How.  Just HOW! Were they going to get in!  Every square INCH of the area was coated in ANIME'S.

And they were moving and milling about.

Energize IT 2008.  It had to start.  No force in this world should be there to stop it.  But there were MILLIOINS of them.   And only a handful of Microsoft Nerds.

The Friday Funny Guy sat there quivering in the back corner giving last rights to everybody. "We'll never make it!" He shouted to the unhelpful gods of spite.

Shuddering throughout the crowd.  A solution.  A drastically needed solution had to thrown forth.

All eyes were looking to John Oxley and Mark Relph.   But there were fresh out of ideas.   They'd been pushing forth so hard to get Energize IT 2008 ready, sleep had not been an option.

And suddenly a voice, a voice of freedom.  the one Man who had been near Energize IT and actually had some sleep.

In a single shout of power "COOOOOOOOODDE NINJAAAAAAA!!!!!!" shrieked Jean-Luc David as he lept into the frey.  

Eyes looked up as he lept into the air with fury and power by some McDonalds treats from India.

Whipping out a pair of Commodore 64's he had scooped on eBay recently; he dived in to tear them down.

Seeing Jean-Luc's bravery the entire team, influencers, speakers, even little guys carrying eggs for the President's breakfast decided the time was now!

"Give me gigabits or give me death!" Shouted out Damir Bersinic to the air whipping out a stack of NFR Media.  Spinning them off like Ninja stars to knock the many down.

Peter Piluk and Mitch Garvis grabbed the Friday Funny Guy to use him as a battering ram to clear the way.  Knocking many ANIME's to and fro.

Christian Beauclair fired off some remaining bowling pins from a previous night to take down the crowds.

Yelling and screaming of terror from a small gaggle of 'Sailor Moons' as Paul LaBerge wielded a pair of RockBand drumsticks like NunChucks.   This worked great until a big fifteen foot tall 'Tuxedo Mask' showed and had him off running and screaming.

A large barrage of PikaChus was holding ground quite well until Cameron McKay let forth a mighty sneeze scrambling them off like a large bag of marbles.

A small pocket of Gokus of Bus were tearing into the defenses held up by WWITPRO and ITPRO Toronto as the batteries from the SBS 2008 powered death-rays were beginning to wear down.  It was looking quite bleak at that point until Graham Jones snagged an extension cord booting about the back of the building and ran power.  "It's Good!  Have at her boys!"  Soon the new Cougar powered beam cut into eyes making them scream "Mommy!" one Goku shouted out.

And so the battle wore on, soon the members of Microsoft and their team arrived at the doorway.  Victorious.  Many hurt and bruised Akira were laying on the ground moaning in pain.

The doors opened for the team.  Proud and victorious they march in.  Gleaming with victory.

And then the sign

"Welcome all to Anime North 2008"

A sudden pause from the Friday Funny Guy.  "Sorry didn't I mention we were supposed to enter at the front door?"

Just in case anybody was sleeping in the back, the complete and un-edited Thundergized (opening music from Energize IT 2008)

Were you there and how did it Energize you?

Special thanks for the creation of this Video goes out to Microsoft Canada, especially Rodney Buike and Damir Bersinic for dealing with those massive emails (Sorry about the data plan) and Mitch Garvis who was that quiet voice in the background prodding.   Thank you Oh Great and Powerful Garvis! ... :)

Original tune - 'Duck and Run' - '3 doors down'  - Vista's Time Is Here!

Rewritten lyrics by ye110wbeard

Take that Apple commercials!

Lookout people, a solution, Integration seeping in and out
Solid and steady, locked and ready, let me tell you what it's all about
More control

A higher level of GPO
NAP integrated to keep that network flow

It will maintain it's very fibre, to stop that run and go
Deployment can simply happen, watch how quickly it goes on in
It drops right in

The power is now unleashed, go ahead and see the light
Let it pour into you now, feel the strength within its might
When the time is come and gone, you'll see there was no need for fear
You'll find yourself productive, and Vista's time is here.

Vista's time is here, no more time to waste away
Vista's time is here, load it up and fly today
It's here callin' you

Vista's callin' out
Vista's callin' out
Vista's callin' out
And ready for you now

The power is now unleashed, go ahead and see the light
Let it pour into you now, feel the strength within its might
When the time is come and gone, you'll see there was no need for fear
You'll find yourself productive, and Vista's time is here.
(repeat until fade)

For anybody out there who ever gets a chance to read either this blog on www.landofsilly.com or on www.jollyrogersoftware.ca; This is an exciting week for me personally.

Why?

Just another week right?

Nope.   This is a week of festivities of sorts.    Tonight, I get to go to (barring the usual being busy nonsense stopping me!) a meeting at IT Pro Toronto.  They meet the 3rd Tuesday of every month (Except for summer.  DARN those summer holidays!).   Check them out at www.itprotoronto.ca.  Register and check it all out.

For a second year I have been invited to a very exclusive event by Microsoft called Influencers.   I can't quite describe just how much this means to an ordinary guy like me.   I'm not an MVP or some fellow out there that has re-defined the atom (Or figured out to get Mac, PC and Linux guys to sit in the same room without arguing).  Just somebody who posted a silly story called "Confessions of a Computer Geek" that seemed to make some people smile.   It ballooned just a bit.

That's Thursday and Friday.

And then on SATURDAY!  Oh the Greatest Event On Earth!

Energize IT 2008!

A Free event held out at the Metro Toronto Congress Centre this year.  This is it's 3rd year running.  My second year going and my first year getting to actually BE part of the event.

I don't think I can put into words just what this means to me.

But I'll try.

In the past year since they lit that little spark when they brought me in to the past influencers I have typed, made fun of, been of fool, tried making videos, broken out of my shell more and more.   I've become a mysterious entity called "Mr. Trouble." and the "Friday Funny Guy".   I've written silly songs like "Highway to Powershell" that went onto Youtube.com as a Video and went as far as Microsoft China where it was redone as a Silverlight link.   I've sent more resumes to Redmond Washington (*Microsoft's Head Office*)  in one year than I could ever imagine myself doing.  So many that my present hotmail.com address is starting to bounce on regular non spam emails with friends I know at Microsoft.  I've Even caught myself participating on Jobs Blogs.

I even did the one thing I never dreamed I would do.  Turned down a position at Microsoft.  I still can't believe I said so (Even although I had to and it bites to my gut to this very day!).

In my professional life with the resources provided by Microsoft from free sessions held by Technet at Microsoft Canada, I've grown skills to convert our office to a single Pizza box 1 U server at a Colocation and deal with new technology like Clustering, Migrating Netware to Windows 2003 and installing Exchange 2007.

What will the rest of the year bring?  I don't know.  I can only hope and pray it continues in this grand direction.

Maybe someday (cross fingers, pray, jump up and down) Microsoft will hire me.  And I can give my family the life they deserve.

Until then I will happily contribute in whatever way I can.  Thanks to everybody who has been involved in my growth thus far.  It is rare to find people who encourage like you do.   I only hope one day to help you contribute on the same level.

Sean Kearney
ye110wbeard, Mr. Trouble
The Friday Funny Guy - Keep on Reading and look on the Brighter Side of Life whenever possible.  We all need a Brighter Side.  I know more than most.

Hey folks go out and vote now!  The top 25 videos are now posted and should be viewed and voted on!

I didn't make the top 25 but the ones that DID are excellent examples of pure passion at work with just Windows Movie Maker! 

http://www.microsoft.com/canada/home/contests/ShareYourPassion/

Pick the best of the bunch, make your choice, only one vote allowed.

You yourself could get a chance to win aMicrosoft Lifecam VX-7000 and Windows Vista Ultimate JUST for VOTING!

So go there now.  Share their passion and help somebody win $25,000 to fuel it further!

Voting ends on June 1st so vote NOW!

Nope You were expecting this to be a funny.

Nope.

Just me sitting in my sitting down in my little dungeon like my pants are on fire.

No wait. They were. Take note not to keep a bunch of batteries in your pocket with your spare change. Hmmm...

I'm just sitting here up early on a Saturday because I can't get to sleep.

It's only TWO WEEKS AWAY! Two weeks! ENERGIZE IT 2008!

HA HA! HOO HOO! The King of Kings of Days for Computer People!

I'm just itching to see what's happening this year! It was a giant Cornucopia of technology and vendors last year.

Free training sessions on technology were there too! (And Popcorn, there was Popcorn too!)

Yes it was a giant Computer Fair in every sense of the word. There's no reason to think this year will be any less.

And this year is no different.  Ok I lied it is.  It's so incredibly over the TOP better!   Just as much if not more to do, and SO MUCH INPUT for the brain.

I won't go into the details of what Energize IT did to me last year other let's just say I'm on the Frontbridge list of potential UCE's... :)

The online videos you have seen folks are just my very amateurish way of saying "I am Inspired". I am not a video photographer (as you can tell), nor am I able mix on any level (DUH!). But ENERGIZE IT has me so over the top excited I just want to YELL and SCREAM to the world "GO THERE! CHECK IT OUT!"

If a single event could do that to an ordinary guy like me, what could it do to you?

If you see a fat computer guy wearing a Tilley Belt, possibly with a pirate bandana on his head with his face stuffed full of popcorn looking like his eyes are about to pop out wandering about with a camera and gear. That'll be me. Flag me down and say Hi.

After all Energize IT is at it's base level, a great place to run into somebody new and say "Hey ya Hi Ya Ho Ya Howaya"

Energize IT 2008.
May 24th 2008
Metro Toronto Congress Centre

Sean
Friday Funny Guy

I just thought this was cool to watch. The people behind the scenes of Microsoft Exchange

Some more of my {HEROES} ... :)

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Exchange-Server-meet-the-team/