Amazing proof of God's handiwork.

Amazing proof of God's handiwork.   Rainbow Mountain" located in China There are some unbelievable natural formations located all around the globe.  Due to distances involved, many of us never have the chance to visit these sites.  The following photos display a mountain range called "Rainbow Mountain" located in China.  I thought you might enjoy seeing these photos.  The mountains are part of the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in China. Layers of different colored sandstone and minerals were pressed together over 24 million years and then buckled up by tectonic plates.  I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did. It reminds me of the little joke I recently saw about a little girl who saw such a beautiful thing as that and remarked that it's even more wonderful considering God did it all left handed. Somebody asked why she thought He did it all left handed? She answered, "Because the Bible says that Jesus sits on His right hand." ...

Bless her little heart. Find out the secret to her long life.

Bless her little heart.  Find out the secret to her long life.                     A  doctor on his morning walk, noticed the old lady pictured  above:,                    She  was sitting on her front step smoking a cigar, so he walked up to  her and said,     "I  couldn't help but notice how happy you look! What is your  secret?"                   "I  smoke ten cigars a day," she said. "Before I go to bed, I smoke a  nice big  joint.              Apart  from that, I drink a whole bottle of Jack Daniels every week, and  eat only junk  food.              On  weekends, I pop pills, have sex, and I don't exercise at  all.              "That  is absolutely amazing! How old are  you?"     "Forty,"  she  replied

Avast! 4.8 for the Windows Home Server

To scan or not to scan (the Windows Home Server)…that is the question.  On Show #28 on the The Home Server Show, a few of us discussed just that particular question.  It was even the topic of a post in a January 2008 review at We Got Served.

If you have looked for an antivirus solution for the Windows Home Server, you won’t find many.  Is that it’s not really needed?  Is it that the market for this type of software is still too soft or too much of a niche?  Could it still be too complex of a solution for most users?  Do most people feel that antivirus on the client is good enough?

Its been well over a year since that post and avast! has since released a new version.  I think it’s time again to ask the question, is it really necessary to run an anti-virus application on your Windows Home Server?  And if you did, would you run avast?

I have been running the avast! Windows Home Server Edition on my own WHS since the late spring (May 2008).  I purchased it as a part of the Professional Family Pack (see specs below) that included one server and 10 client licenses.

In the Media?

Before we get too far, I wanted to highlight where avast! fits into the rankings with the other products that are out there.  I will include some links so you can do some research for yourself.  Remember that most reviews cover the client side only.

TopTen Reviews – Ranked 14 out of 17. BitDefender, a product reviewed here at the Home Server Show was ranked #1.

Top 20 Antivirus Rankings – Ranked 12 out of 20.  Kaspersky. also reviewed by the Home Server show was ranked #1.

A note about the Windows Home Server

If are an experienced Home Server user, you can skip to the next section.  For those of you still reading, you must be either in the market for one or have questions of what to buy.  Very simply, there are two options.

1.  Purchase a pre-built home server like the HP MediaSmart Server.  There are plenty of examples out there and HP is not the only company making them.  This discussion is a bit outside the scope of this review, however, this site and many others have all kinds of info to help you if you are trying to make that decision.

2.  Build your own using new or reused PC stuff as well as the OEM software from Microsoft.  This option is more for the advanced user, but not impossible for the novice.

My Home Server

Every home environment is different, so let me explain mine.  I opted to build my own server using the OEM WHS and a re-purposed PC that I pulled from my parents place when I bought them a new one.   Here are a few of the system specs for reference.

Microsoft Windows Home Server 32 Bit 1 Pack (Power pack 1) – OEM – $99 at Newegg.com
Dell Dimension 2400
Intel Celeron 2.20GHz
1.25 GB RAM
80 GB ATA System Drive (Contains the OS) Partitioned into 20/60 GB space
2 x 500 GB External USB 2.0 ATA Hard Drives (Used for Data)
160 External USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Used for File Backup)

Here is what it looks like on the WHS:

avast! does offer several choices when it comes to protecting your home environment.  The most revenant ones for this discussion are listed here.

Options:

avast! Windows Home Server Edition – Covers just the WHS if purchased alone.  $39.95 for the first year.

avast! Professional Family Pack – Includes WHS Edition and 10 Pro Clients for $79.95 for the first year.  If you have more than 3 PCs at your location and you want to run the professional version (comparison of the pro and home versions here), this is the best value.

avast! Professional Edition – Pro Client Version.  Starts at $39.95 per client.  A 10 License purchase would run $249.50 for one year.

avast! Home Edition – Free for non-commercial and home use only.  You must register the software within 60 day to end trial.
WARNING – Can be used in conjunction with the WHS Edition with two major limiters.

1.  Script blocking in IE is not available.
2.  Scheduling of scans in not an option.

I recommend that for the first time user, download the Windows Home Server Edition from here and the Professional Edition from here and try it out for 60 days.  By the end of the trial period, you will have a good idea if it meets your needs.  If you are going to proceed, I have some notes below.

I did get the free Home Edition working with a trial version for the server.  I have a licensed server copy on my production WHS and well as Pro on all 6 of my clients.

avast! Windows Home Server Edition – Installation

The avast! WHSE installs much like any other software add-in for WHS.  The download for both the licensed and trial version can be found here as well as the instructions for installing.  The download is 75.1MB and the current version as of this writing is 4.8 (Released Jan 2009).

Download the .msi package and copy it to the Software\Add-ins folder on your Home Server.  It will appear as an option in your available add-ins on your WHS.

The set up is easy and can be done successfully by selecting all the default “next” options and “Demo” and “OK” under the License Manager.  I would recommend you demo the software first before you buy.

Another next and you are done.  It will require a reboot. Make sure you are ready for that.  Once installed, it has its own tab in the WHS console.

In this screen shot, the WHS name is HMSERVER.  From the console you can see the software version as well as VPS version (update).  You can also start the avast! main console from the icon on the application toolbar.

avast! Windows Home Server Edition – Features and Comments

From the console, you can right click on the Home Server to get five options.

1.  Properties – Schedule scans for the Home Server machine (or clients) as well as set various notification options.  In the licensed version, there is also a tab for the license key.

WATCH OUT! – For both the server and client versions, the default schedule to run is NOT set (see below).  If you don’t change it here, no scans will be run automatically by the server.  Select “Schedule scans on this machine.”

2.  View scan history – See a log of the scan history as well as any details of that scan.

WARNING – On my TESTSERVER, the scan took about 26 minutes for about 188 GB of data.  My production server contains more data.  I run the scan weekly and it can take 6 or 7 hours.  It has never found anything, however, I also run the client on every PC.

3.  Turn off Shields  – Gives you the ability to turn off the active “shields” or on access scanners that are running in the background on the server or client.  These scanners are very helpful on the client version, maybe not so helpful on the server.  They consist of a following scanners: Instant Messaging, Internet Mail, Network Shield, Outlook/Exchange, P2P, Standard and Web.  The screen shot below is from a client, but it looks the same if you remote to the server.  You might want to carefully consider what you turn off and what you leave on.

4.  Update VPS – This is just a remote way of updating the latest virus information.  In all versions this happens automatically, but if needed, you could do it here.  The one draw back here is that there is no display of an update status.  You are never really sure if something is happening until the VPS version changes and if it is current, nothing happens.

5.  Run a Scan – Starts a scan on any selected item.  Very useful if you are using the Home version and you want to kick off all your scans at once or even remotely.

The main console gives you access to the rest of the software options.  It’s not laid out very well and often times looks like a couple of tools jammed into one interface.  It has some redundant features that are found in the WHS console tab.  There are more options than can be covered without you going to sleep, so I will only cover the main ones.

1.  Overall GUI – You can see right away some of the inconsistencies.  The Folders toolbar (left) and the Folders structures tree and the same features, just displayed in a different order.  You can turn off the structures by selecting View – Program Folders.

2.  Settings – All the finer options are here.  Things like appearance, languages, sounds, logging, alerts and troubleshooting can be found here.  Lots and lots of options.  Everything you would expect from a server application.  I have never changed anything here.

3.  avast! News – Looks like there was good intentions here, but it hasn’t been updated with new news since 2005.  Didn’t seem to be fixed in 4.8 either.

avast! Windows Home Server Edition – Simple User Interface

From View on the toolbar, you can choose the Simple User Interface.  It looks nothing like main console.  If you close it, and select Start main console again, you go back to the main one.  Again, it is not laid out very well and can be difficult to find your way around.

By selecting the up option in the upper left corner, you can switch back to the main console or get the rest of the options.

Conclusion

Pros

1.  As far as anti-virus purposes, it has worked on par.  Several of my kids PC’s have caught colds (or Trojans) and it has found them and removed them quickly.  Although, when a virus is found, I have had to go to the client PC to completely remove the virus.  It doesn’t seem possible to do it from the WHS.

2.  It is a very simple and light antivirus on the client.

3.  There is a free version that does work with the WHS version.  It does have some limitations.

Cons

1.  The client software however, seems to run short on products compared to its competitors like Norton, McAfee  or BitDetender.  No firewall or system utility tools are included.  While that makes it light, it also makes it weak from a price point perspective.

2.  In my tests, the server scan can take several hours (like 6 to 10 hours!) to complete.  I moved it to weekly so it wouldn’t consume that processor time each day.

3.  The UI is not always the most intuitive.  It sometime looks like it’s been put together by several teams that never talked to each other.

Because I have purchased avast! I will continue to use it through the expiration period.  I will then again start to look and see what else is out there.

So, do you have to have antivirus on your Windows Home Server to be completely protected?  What helps you sleep at night?

Version Reviewed: 4.8

Removing a Drive from your Windows Home Server

There seems to be a lot of people who are still a little unsure about adding or removing drives on their Windows Home Servers, so I figured some simple walk-throughs would help here.

In this first walk-through, I will discuss removing a hard drive from the storage pool.

REMOVING A DRIVE FROM THE STORAGE POOL

A time may come when you want to remove a hard drive from your Windows Home Server,
either because you suspect that there might be a problem with it or because you want to
replace it with a larger and possibly faster hard drive.

You cannot remove the primary hard drive, which is the one with the Windows Home Server program files stored on it. If you want to replace the primary hard drive, you will need to reinstall Windows Home Server.

To remove a hard drive, just perform the following simple steps:

1. In the Windows Home Server Console, click the Server Storage tab.

2. Click the hard drive that you want to remove, and then click the Remove button above
the list, or right-click the hard drive and select Remove from the context menu.

This will launch the Remove a Hard Drive Wizard.

Beware, because the removal process moves the files that are stored on that hard drive to another
hard drive, you must ensure that you have sufficient space available in the storage pool before continuing. Otherwise, you may lose files or some shared folder duplication may stop.

3. Click Next. The wizard will check that there is enough storage available to move the
files to before continuing.

Depending on how many hard drives you have in your server storage pool and how much data is stored within the pool, the process of calculating the available space could take a few minutes. As usual, be patient!

4. Once the calculation has completed, you will be presented with a Hard Drive
Removal Consequences page. Review this information as it could be very important.
There are two major areas of possible consequence, plus a reminder if you’re removing
an external drive.

• Files and Folders is where you will be informed if files that are stored in duplicated
folders will continue to be duplicated.

• Computer Backups is where you will be informed if any computer backups will
be lost.

• Do Not Disconnect will appear if the drive being removed is an external hard drive.
The wizard is reminding you that this drive must be connected and powered on
until the wizard has completed.

It is also possible that you won’t have any consequences (wouldn’t that be nice), in which case you will will just be told you can remove the drive.

If you have only two hard drives in your Windows Home Server and decide to remove
one of them, the biggest consequence is that shared folder replication cannot continue, because a minimum of two hard drives are required for replication. You will be warned of this on the Hard Drive Removal Consequences screen.

5. Click Finish. The hard drive is removed from the server storage pool, and the data is
moved to other hard drives within the pool. You can monitor the progress while this is
taking place.

Depending on how much data needs to be moved from the hard drive, the removal process can
take a long time. The wizard even advises that this process could take several hours to complete. Do I need to say that you should be patient?

6. Once the removal process has completed, you will be presented with a Hard Drive
Successfully Removed screen. Click Done to complete the removal process.

If the hard drive is an external hard drive, you can now safely unplug it from the
Windows Home Server. If the hard drive is an internal hard drive, you will need to power
off your Windows Home Server and remove the hard drive before restarting the Windows
Home Server.

Replacing the system drive on HP MediaSmart Server EX 485

Replacing the system drive on HP MediaSmart Server EX 485

Replacing the internal system drive consists of four parts:

1. Removing the system drive
2. Re-installing the new system drive
3. Resetting the System. See Using Server Recovery and Factory Reset below.
4. Reinstall the software on each computer. See Installing the Software on Additional Home Computers via Installation disc, Window XP or Windows Vista below.

CAUTION:The system drive contains the Microsoft Windows Home Server operating system. The server cannot operate while the system drive is removed and must be re-installed via the Server Recovery Disc or factory reset. See Using Server Recovery and Factory Reset.

Removing the system drive

The following figure shows the location of the system hard drive.

Figure 1: Location of internal system drive

To remove the system drive

1. Hold in the Power button for at least 4 seconds to force the server to shutdown.
2. Open the door on the front of the server.
   Figure 2: Opening the door

   
3. Using a coin, turn the security knob clockwise to unlock the drive.
   Figure 3: Unlocking the system drive

   
4. On the bottom drive, press down the lever to unlock the handle.
   Figure 4: Releasing the handle

   
5. Lift the handle all the way up.
   Figure 5: Lifting the handle

   
6. Gently pull the hard-drive tray from the hard drive bay.
   Figure 6: Removing the hard-drive tray

   
7. Flex the back of the right side-rail, and then withdraw the back pin from the hard drive by gently pulling the side-rail down and away.
   Figure 7: Removing the right side-rail

   
8. Flex the front of the right side-rail and withdraw the front pin from the hard drive by gently pulling the side-rail down and away.
9. Remove the drive from the hard-drive tray.
   Figure 8: Removing the drive
   

Back to top

Re-installing the new system drive

This topic provides information about how to install the system drive.

To re-install the new system drive

1. Insert the new system drive into the left side of the hard-drive tray, making sure that the pins go into the hard drive’s mounting holes.
   Figure 9: Putting the new drive in the hard-drive tray—left side

   
2. Flex the front of the right side-rail and insert the pin into the hard drive’s mounting hole, and then flex the back of the right side-rail and insert the pin into the other mounting hole.
   Figure 10: Putting the new drive in the hard-drive tray—right side

   
3. With the handle up, slide the hard-drive tray and drive into the system bay.
   

   NOTE:Don’t push on the handle; the tray won’t slide in.
   Figure 11: Inserting the drive tray into the expansion bay

   
4. Press down on the handle on the hard-drive tray until it locks.
   Figure 12: Closing the handle

   
5. Using a coin, turn the security knob counterclockwise to lock system drive in its bay.
   Figure 13: Locking the security knob

   
6. Close the door on the front of the server.
   Figure 14: Closing the door

   
7. Power on the server.
   The Health indicator light is initially purple and then blinks blue and red.
8. Perform a Factory Reset to initiate the drive. See Using Server Recovery and Factory Reset below.

Recovering or resetting the server

CAUTION:Steps for performing a Server Recovery or Factory Reset. To recover or reset the server Use the Server Recovery Disc from a computer using a wired connection to the router (or switch). A wireless connection is not recommended. Additionally, if the server is some distance from the computer you are using for Server Recovery or Factory Reset, it may be more convenient to move the server near the computer.

1. If the HP MediaSmart Server Control Center is open on your computer, close it before proceeding.
2. Insert the Server Recovery Disc into a DVD drive in a computer connected to the network by an Ethernet cable.
   The Server Recovery program automatically starts.
   Figure 15: Starting Server Recovery

   
3. Click Next .
4. Uninstall HP MediaSmart Server and Windows Home Server Connector:
   Click Start , Control Panel and select Add or Remove Programs .
   Click on HP MediaSmart Server , click Remove .
   Click on Windows Home Server Connector , click Remove .
   Figure 16: Server Recovery dialog box

   
5. Prepare the server for recovery or reset:
   1. On the back of the server, hold in the Power button for at least 4 seconds to force the server to shutdown.
   2. After the server is completely off, locate the recessed Status/Recovery button on the front of the server and prepare to press this button with a paper clip.
      Figure 17: Location of the Status/Recovery button

      
   3. On the back of the server, press the Power button to restart.
   4. While the Health indicator is blinking blue  and red  , use a paper clip to press the recessed Status/Recovery button until it clicks.
      Recovery mode is initiated.
   5. If recovery mode is successfully initiated, the Health indicator light blinks purple and red repeating.
6. On the Rebooting your server into recovery mode dialog box, click Next , and then follow the instructions on each dialog box.
   During the recovery process, the following may happen:
   If the recovery program cannot find the server, see No server found on page 7-12.
   If the Server Recovery cannot recover the partition data, the progress bar will go to 100% and then back to zero and start over.
   If the recovery fails, see Recovery fails on page 7-12.
7. After the Server Recovery or Factory Reset completes, the server automatically restarts. Before taking the next step wait until the Health indicator light is solid blue  .
8. You must reinstall the software on each of your computers, including the computer that you used to perform the recovery - otherwise, you won’t be able to use the server.
9. Click Finish on the Server recovery complete dialog box.
   The HP MediaSmart Server software will automatically be installed on the computer where you performed the Server Recovery or Factory Reset.
   

   CAUTION:If you did not close the HP MediaSmart Server Control Center, as indicated in step 1, you may see a message asking you to reboot your computer. If you see this message, choose to reboot later. Otherwise, rebooting may leave the server in a state where it cannot be configured, and you will have to repeat the recovery or reset process.
   

   NOTE:It takes a few minutes for the server to go through the finishing process. Please be patient.
10. To install the software on other client computers, see Installing the Software on Additional Home Computers on page 2-21.

To install from the server using Windows XP

1. At the computer, click Start , and then click My Computer .
2. Do one of the following:
   Click My Network Places .
   Under Other Places , click My Network Places .
3. In the Add Network Place Wizard, use the following (UNC) network address:
   \\<name of the server>\software
   For example, \\HPSERVER\software
   When the wizard completes, you should see software on server in the My Network Places window.
4. Double-click the network place , and then open the Home Server Connector Software folder.
5. Double-click Install.exe and follow the instructions on the installation wizards.

Back to top

To install from the server using Windows Vista

1. At the computer, click Start , and then click Network .
2. Under Network Tasks , click Add a network place .
3. In the Network Place Wizard, use the following UNC network address:
   \\<name of the server>\software
   For example, \\HPSERVER\software
   When the wizard completes, you should see the name you chose for the network place in the window.
4. Double-click the network place , and then open the Home Server Connector Software folder.
5. Double-clickInstall.exe and follow the instructions on the installation wizards.

NOTE:Network discovery must be turned on to access the server.

A Motorcycle that Can Change the Industry !

http://www.youtube.com/v/mU-NGPOOMVM?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=evALz9_wn-ZO4VDTmGe9hQ&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&autohide=1

17 лоши решения в живота на човека

Понякога дори най-малките решения в живота ни могат да го променят завинаги. Дори тези избори, които вземаме, без да му мислим много. Когато се обърнем назад, съединяваме точките и виждаме, че в много случаи те са предопределили пътя ни дори повече от големите, обмислени стъпки.

В тази връзка блогърът Марк определя 17 лоши решения в живота на човека, които трябва да избягваме по пътя си. Нарича ги „ужасни”, дори „най-смъртоносни”. Ето кои са те.

1. Да не обичаш това, което е. Обичай това, с което се занимаваш, докато успееш да се ангажираш с друго, което обичаш, казва той. Обичай мястото, където си, докато не намериш друго, което обичаш повече.

2. Да чакаш и да чакаш и да чакаш. Хубавите неща всъщност не идват при тези, които изчакват, а при тези, които действат и преследват мечтите си.

3. Да променяш себе си, защото другите са се променили.Хората се променят. Свикни с това. Приеми го. Пожелай им всичко добро. И бъди щастлив по своя начин.

4. Да позволиш на душевната мъка да те определи. Не позволявай на временните си рани да те сломят. Силен е не този, който не плаче, а този, който за момент бурно показва сълзите си. Въпросът е колко бързо ще се изправиш.

5. Да бягаш от проблемите си. В това надбягване никога няма да си медалист.

6. Да бъдеш неблагодарен. Дори в райските места неблагодарното сърце съзира недостатъци. Избери да видиш света с благодарни очи. Той няма да изглежда така повече.

7. Да позволиш за дълго гневът да обхване сърцето ти.Най-доброто лекарство е силна доза любов, смях и забрава.

8. Да вярваш, че красотата изглежда по определен начин.Истината е, че оригиналността и излъчването са красота.

9. Да позволиш на очакването ти да се изроди в яд.

10. Да не уважаваш останалите. Третирай хората така, както искаш да се отнасят към теб. Каквото и да стане в живота ти, ако си добър с хората около теб, ще оставиш добра диря, независимо какви идеали си решил да преследваш.

11. Да не уважаваш себе си. Бъди добър със себе си в мислите си, в думите и в действията.

12. Да си налагаш място в живота на неверни приятели и любими. Хората, които искат да останат в живота ти винаги ще си намерят начин да го направят. Истинските приятели и любови остават верни. Не се бори отчаяно за място в нечии живот. Никога не принуждавай други хора да обособяват насила пространство в техния за теб.

13. Да се втурваш прибързано в любов. Не е трудно да се намери някой, който бързо ти казва, че те обича. Трудно е да се намери друг, който истински го има предвид.

14. Да неглежираш най-важните си връзки.

15. Да опитваш да контролираш всеки отделен детайл. Във всичко.

16. Да не поемаш рискове. Да те е страх какво би станало при провал. 

17. Да се откажеш от самия себе си. Животът често не ни дава това, което ни се иска, но така се случва не защото не го заслужаваме, а защото заслужаваме нещо по-добро. Важното е да продължиш да вярваш в това, което само ти си способен да направиш с ума и ръцете си. Него никой не може да ти отнеме.