An end of an era.

Today is the last day I worked at TriWest Healthcare Alliance.  www.triwest.com It seems like so long ago when I started.  11 1/2 years is over 1/4 of my life.  That figure has rolled around in my head for the last six months.  I will say I wasn't sure if TriWest would keep going after losing the contract to United Healthcare.  I wanted to write about how I was irritated about our company losing out, but then I recalled the words of our CEO Dave McIntyre who said that we will go quietly in the night with our heads held high.  That was a bold statement in my opinion and he was spot on right.

I will tell you it has not been easy since March 31st.  (When most people left.) Some jokingly said that we'd be sitting around watching movies and having 3 hour lunches.  I can tell you that simply did not happen.  Migrating a company that has been up for nearly two decades is not easy.  So much data and so many processes.  I suppose steering the Titanic was easy either.  (Not a very good comparison admittedly) On the data side, imagine having to take 20 lbs of sand and put it into a 5 lb sand bag.  You will have a hard time for sure!  Much data, not longer needed, had to be deleted.  I think this is a good thing though!  Some folks simply could not decide what data to keep and what data to get rid of.  I am glad however that TriWest was able to get through this transitional period and transfer IT control over to as hosting company.

http://www.triwest.com/en/about-triwest/triwest-news/corp-news-archive/2013/09/vapccc-contract/

For me...it was time to move on.  Perhaps I'll get a change to work at this great company in the future, but we'll have to see when the future comes.

RSAT - Administer servers remotely.

I simply forgot how to remotely administer servers.  I knew someone had shown me in the past so that I could get to it from my PC without having to remote into the server to see what was going on.  On this particular morning I needed to remote into a server that already had people attached to it, further preventing me from accessing.

I suppose I could have asked one of them to do my changes for me, but I knew that that they were busy and didn't need me distracting them.  I'm also aware of plenty of third party tools that I can download and use, but I needed something that was free and supported.  That's right, RSAT or Remote Server Administrator Tools from Microsoft.  With that said, I found the link and information that allows me to install and move forward.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7887

Installing Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1


You must be either a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to install the Administration Tools pack, or you must be logged on to the computer by using the built-in Administrator account.

Important: Remove all versions of Administration Tools Pack or Remote Server Administration Tools from the computer before installing Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1.

Important: Only one copy of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1 can be installed on a computer at one time. Before you install a new package, remove any existing copies of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1. This includes any copies that are in different languages. To remove existing copies of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1, see Removing the complete Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1 pack on this page.

1. On a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows 7 with SP1, download the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1 package from the Microsoft Download Center.

2. Open the folder into which the package downloaded, double-click the package to unpack it, and then start the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1 Setup Wizard.

Important: You must accept the License Terms and Limited Warranty to start to install the Administration Tools pack.

3. Complete all installation steps in the wizard, and then click Finish to exit the wizard when installation is finished.

4. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Programs.

5. In the Programs and Features area, click Turn Windows features on or off.

6. If you are prompted by User Account Control to enable the Windows Features dialog box to open, click Continue.

7. In the Windows Features dialog box, expand Remote Server Administration Tools.

8. Select the remote management tools that you want to install.

9. Click OK.

10. Configure the Start menu to display the Administration Tools shortcut, if it is not already there.

• Right-click Start, and then click Properties.

• On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.

• In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, scroll down to System Administrative Tools, and then select Display on the All Programs menu and the Start menu. Click OK. Shortcuts for snap-ins installed by Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1 are added to the Administrative Tools list on the Start menu.


Reinstalling or removing individual Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1

If a remote administration tool was removed from a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows 7 with SP1, you can install it again by performing the following steps.

To reinstall individual remote administration tools:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Programs.

2. In the Programs and Features area, click Turn Windows features on or off.

3. If you are prompted by User Account Control to allow the Windows Features dialog box to open, click Continue.

4. In the Windows Features dialog box, expand Remote Server Administration Tools.

5. Select the remote management tools that you want to install, or clear the check boxes for any tools that you want to remove. Click OK.


Removing the complete Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with SP1 pack

You must be either a member of the Administrators group on the computer from which you want to remove the Administration Tools pack, or you must be logged on to the computer by using the built-in Administrator account.

You can remove the complete Administration Tools pack from a computer by using theUninstall a program utility in Control Panel.

To remove the Administration Tools pack

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Uninstall a program in the Programs area.

2. Click View installed updates.

3. Select Update for Microsoft Windows (958830).

4. Click Uninstall.

VMWorld Day Four - Headed Home

It's been a long week and I'm tired of the conference.  I have a few sessions to head to, but I'm not really sure I want to do that either.  There was a new general session today called the Innovators and was exactly what I needed to get me through the day!

First up was Robin Matlock who would be introducing us to today's presenters.  

The first presenter was Jay Silver - Founder of Joylabz.com and is a Maker Research Scientist at Intel Labs

What is this white stuff?  Used a peeko sensors with LEGO pieces to collect the wind and temperature from a laptop.  People can see the invisible.  This guy took a piano wire and attached it to a circuit board and is able to create sound by attaching this circuit to different objects to create some amazing sounds.  The circuit is called the makeymakey circuit. He hooked up two bananas to the circuit to control the screen. Then hooking up this up to other people or anything conductive.  Makeymakey.com

This guy was very animated and you could see how much fun he was having and has had in making this product.  Watch a great video of him on TED.com below.  Quite informative.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jay_silver_hack_a_banana_make_a_keyboard.html

Keller Rinaudo - Robotics 

www.Romotive.com

Robotics is the intersection between humans and computer science.

Great kickstarter success.

'Romo is an amazing robot companion that learns while you play! (iPhone only)

A great way to teach kids (and adults) to learn coding - robot coding.

This guy was really good on stage too just not as animated or a showman as Jay was.  Still, through his vision of robots, you can see that more can be done furthering our mere human world.  Below is the link for his kick starter project.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peterseid/romo-the-smartphone-robot?ref=live

3D Printer

Bre Pettis CEO Makerbot - 3D scanning and 3D printing

Creator of http://www.thingiverse.com/ They have a 55,000 square foot warehouse in Brooklyn where they make things. ( This got some great applause) NASA:JPL approached him.

Robohand - two individuals needed fingers on a hand.  Instead of a $10000 prosthetic, they were able to create this hand for less than $5 of material for printing.

Very passionate about kids

Kacey - is a set creator and now uses this printing for prettysmallthings.com who makes doll house sets.  Quite cool.

Bre was an art major and teacher - so he's been creating things for quite some time.

"The Cult of Done Manifesto"

http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-manifesto.html

"The Makerbot Way"

This guy is the real deal.  Want to know more about him?  Just click http://www.brepettis.com/ or head over to http://www.makerbot.com/

Hard to get to him because many people wanted to talk to him.  Just a great mind to listen to. 

Well it's time to head home early today but not before I share these final pictures of a live mural going on.  I wish I had seen this guy earlier so I could have set up a photo opportunity as he progressed.  Oh well, maybe next year.

I was ready to hit the road, so there was no way I was staying to finish watching this guy.

VMWorld Day Three - The Big Party

This year was not going to be typical with a big name headliner another and then a less known named band playing the party.  Tonight we had the distinct pleasure of both Imagine Dragons and TRAIN.  First we had to head to the San Francisco AT&T Park.  http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ballpark/index.jsp

Plenty of food on the inside to go around!  Quite awesome and paid for.  How do you beat that?

With video games to boot!  Nerds and Geeks UNITED!

This is my ill attempt at a panoramic shot.

But then once inside, we were in for some cool sights.

 Not sure how long she was on these stilts.

Out on the field was a different story, there were tons of stuff to do!  Lots of games and such, too bad I'm not very good at these types of games.

Then to the stage for some much needed great music!

 First up...Imagine Dragons!

Man, these guys put on a great show!  Excellent musicianship!
Want to see their finale live?  Imagine Dragons - Radioactive


After these guys came train.  I know some of their songs, but was never a huge fan.  Apparently there were a few ladies (and their non dancing escorts) that wanted to squeeze between me and the stage which actually made me ready to leave completely.

On my way out I figured I'd grab a beer.  I was wrong.

So I hopped on the bus headed back to the row of hotels and enjoyed so lively conversation with a father of six (two sets of twins) from Idaho.  Great guy, great conversation.  Great night, glad it was over.

VMWorld Day Three

Today is all about connecting with others.  Sure, I've been talking with people between sessions and when we've been eating, I'd chat with a few folks.  But today I really wanted to strive to meet as many vendors as possible and reach out to folks that I hadn't talked to for a time.

Since there was no general session today, I met up and had an extended breakfast with a former boss and colleague of mine.  We spent nearly 90 minuets catching up on his new team, the ins and outs of working for a different company and of course where I see myself in a few months.  While I certainly won't go into the details here, it was awesome to relive some of our funnier moments over the years since he joined my current employer close to 9 years or so.  Afterward I headed into the hands on labs (HOL) to see the new setup this year since I know one of the principal architects of this completely revamped lab area.  Not only could you take a traditional lab with a two monitor provided PC, but you could also bring your own device or BYOD.  This is actually pretty huge in the tech industry.  Less upkeep for a company means more money in the bank.

 After my lab ended I made my way back to the vendor exchange to really dive into products and people.

Simpana/Commvault juggling act

 As  you can see, tons of pictures, tons of people and tons of products.  They all pack up at the end of day 3, which was 5 pm.