GFI Security & Messaging Software: Archive Search error

I am a having a hell of a time with a web application that is giving me a cryptic error message. I am trying to find out some information about the error ([0x80004005] General exception in initialize method.) and getting no where. The hexidecimal code I get, but it does not tell me anything about what is going on to cause the error. The page loads no problem, but as soon as you enter the criteria for the search, it goes to access the SQL database and apparently dies out, yet on the front end (vb coded), it works perfectly well. GFI Security & Messaging Software: Archive Search error is the forum post that you can follow the trail of what is going on with it, but I am not holding my breath that I will get a response too fast.
I am thinking that the software developers should be able to give me a little more of an error message than this. I mean what is the error actually??
Ok, gotta run, game at Jacobs High School tonight -- wish me luck, so far this year I have had 4 games and the slaughter rule has come into effect on 2 of the 4!! Makes for an early night, but awfully bad basketball!

SpamCop.net - checkblock

Someone said I am a spammer -- how dare they! I did a little research and it turns out it was their ISP that was the spammer. Can you imagine, your ISP bouncing your email because they are listed on SpamCop database?

Anyway, this company that we have been doing business with for years started using SpamCop as their spamfilter list of choice and low and behold some of our email starts getting bounced back and it says that we are spammers, SpamCop.net - checkblock did me a great service though, now I know that they are in fact the spammers and it pointed out to them that changing to that ISP may not have been the best choice they could have made.
That's all for now, hope you had a good Turkey Day! Christmas is just 4 short weeks away!! Get ready for the madness!

Happy Tree Friends

If you have never seen Happy Tree Friends, you have got to check it out. It is a cartoon that is not at all for the little ones. As a matter of fact, if you even have kids, close the browser NOW!!
This truly is some funny (but also very gory) cartoons. I have been watching them since a friend of mine turned me on to them about 6 months ago. My favorite is still "Eye Candy" episode. It just goes to show you why candy can be very bad for your eyesight.
My second favorite episode is Eyes Cold Lemonade. Go to the sight and check it out. If you are utterly disgusted, don't bug me, contact the creators!!

Done with classes... for this quarter

Well last night was my final in my IS 425 class. Last night we had a debate in class and my team's position was why outsourcing is good and how it will encourage IT development. Well I will tell you one thing, I felt like I was a CEO of General Motors telling the labor unions we were moving operations overseas!! No one in my class wanted to hear our "story" -- and I cannot say I blame them, although they missed the point. What we were trying to do was open their eyes that nothing they do is going to change it, it is inevitable. What we were trying to do was show them that a person who is educated to at least the bachelor's degree level is not the primary target for outsourcing. It is mostly Call Centers and lowest level help desk that is being outsourced.
Anyway, I am running short on time today, we have doggie beginner's graduation for the group that I assist with.
More to come later!! Visit the Obedience dog club!!

IT Security Road Show

Today I went to an IT Security Road Show put on by Windows IT Pro Magazine. There were some very good sessions about security and although I felt like I already knew about all the guy from Microsoft was saying, I still managed to learn a thing or two from him anyway. Two things in particular that I did not know about (that are free tools provided by Microsoft) are:

The policy template files provided with the Microsoft® Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit enable you to set policies globally for users of Office on a network. By using policies, an administrator can quickly enforce a user configuration on users' computers when users, groups, or computers log on to the network.

Microsoft Port Reporter Port Reporter logs TCP and UDP port activity on a local Windows system. Port Reporter is a small application that runs as a service on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 this service is able to log which ports are used, which process is using the port, if the process is a service, which modules the process has loaded and which user account is running the process.

One of the other speakers worked for RSA Security (you know the guys with the little tokens).

They now have a very cool program that integrates directly into Windows and presents you with a different logon screen (sorry for the black and white, it is a screen capture from a PDF)

Gotta run now, I have dog school tonight and Casey has an obedience show this weekend!!

Been away from blogging for a while

Well it almost seems as though I have fallen off the blogging map. I can assure you however that this is not the case. I have been extremely busy with school and work (not to mention celebrating the Bush victory in the White House).
Today I also discovered a slight problem with our spam filter from GFI. It comes with this great new anti-spam technology called SPF (Sender Policy Framework) which blocks email that looks like it is from me (mycompany.com) yet really from someone else (someoneelse.com).
Here is the problem, if you have ever sent an email to a person at a company, let's say you@yourcompany.com, they are automatically put on the white list (so far so good). Now is where the problem starts. Someone@someoneelse.com sends a virus or spam email (or it could be a different person spoofing someone@someoneelse.com) and they pretend to be from mycompany.com, SPF does not catch it because it is already on the Whitelist.
Quite a bummer but there is not much you can do about it. I have called GFI about it and they are going to look into it, but it is not a bug, just a flaw in the way the system is processing the emails. What are you gonna do?
Gotta run, time for a meeting then lunch, till next time, keep your Windows CD nearby (just in case).

Time to Rock the Vote

Well today is November 2 and that means that in the USA it is election day. Ahhh, the day where we decide which person (who spent $600 million combined on ADS ALONE!)will be the leader of our country for the next 4 years (making $400,000 per year). Of course this money does not consider their perks that come along with the job, such as the house (you know, the big white one),

the airplane (remember, air force one)

and of course being able to attack your enemies at your whim...

OK, well it is time for me to go vote... you better go do the same!