iPhone and Exchange via VPN - My Steps to Make it Work

Well, after a few tries I got the VPN and the Exchange connection to work on a new iPhone 3G.

Steps for the VPN (Some of them are specific to my network config):

• In my case it is a PPTP connection over to an ISA Server 2006.
• Go to Settings/General/Network/VPN/Add VPN Configuration
• Choose the PPTP tab and enter all your vpn information
• Account. Enter your username, keep in mind that you might need to use the domain name as well (i.e.: domain\username)
• RSA SecurId OFF
• Enter your password
• Set Encryption Level to Auto
• Send all traffic: OFF (I only want VPN specific traffic going over the VPN, all other goes out via 3G or WiFi).
• Click Save
• Now turn on the Switch for VPN. It will show the connection status just below.

To test the connection you can try to go to an internal web site using the private ip address or some other service you know exists in your network. In my case I used the private IP address in Safari to reach OWA.

Once the VPN is established you may configure your Exchange connection.

My config? Exchange 2003 over Windows 2000 Server.

Steps for the Exchange connection:

• Go to Settings/Mail, Contacts, Calendars/Add Account
• Pick Microsoft Exchange
• Enter basic Exchange account info and click on Next.
• If your server is not found using your email address then you must enter the server's address. I used the private ip address of the Exchange server.
• The initial tries may fail if your connection doesn't use SSL, if you are sure the parameters you entered are correct just be patient and go through two or three failures before it allows you to save the account with a warning that it may not work.
• After the connection is saved go back into its configuration and disable SSL. You should be able to retrieve your Exchange e-mail right after that.

Note - Warning: If you choose to sync your contacts with Exchange all of the contacts in the phone will be erased and replaced with the ones in the server so be sure of what you want to do with your contacts.

This configuration does not include Push email since the server does not hace ActiveSync enabled but I'm working on that.

I hope these steps help you out. Drop me a line if they do or even tell me why they did not.

U2 y 7 Estrellas en 3D

Una tarde de Domingo es generalmente tranquila, a veces hasta aburrida, y frecuentemente ya empieza a subir el nivel de stress con tareas de colegio no terminadas o la creacion de un menu balanceado para la semana de las niñas.

Este Domingo fue diferente. Temprano en la tarde estaba pensando en las niñas pero con un detalle diferente, pensaba en qué les podia regalar de la tienda del Museum of Discovery and Science (www.mods.org) en downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Intentaba escoger de los cientos de juguetes o regalos educativos que definitivamente no aparecen en otros establecimientos.

Poco tiempo despues ya estabamos (Mi esposa, mi pana y yo) parados en el modesto lobby, de primeros en la fila, para entrar al nada modesto teatro IMAX para presenciar el U2:3D.

No habiendo asistido nunca a una presentacion IMAX realmente no sabia que esperar pero sin profundizar mucho digo que es una experiencia sensorial. Segun las indicaciones de la grabacion al inicio son 42 cornetas y una pantalla de cinco pisos de altura. Definitivamente no un cine cualquiera.

El espectaculo es genial en musica y fotografia y reune las mejores canciones de multiple conciertos que incluyen al menos Buenos Aires, Rio, una ciudad italiana y al menos una estadounidense.

Para mi tuvo un significado especial cuando durante la cancion "One", una de las banderas que desfilan verticalmente en la pantalla Jumbo detras del escenario, fue la bandera venezolana. Lo realmente especial de esa bandera fue que es la version añorada de 7 estrellas.

A trip back in time to 98

Windows 98, that is...

This past week a good customer of mine called me to fix a computer. My surprise came to see that it booted up to Windows 98. After the usual "What?" I learned that they keep it because there is a program running that still provided their business with some information and they had a few old files they still use.

The computer used to be online on the local LAN but since they moved to a new office they didn't connect it and last week they needed to e-mail one of the files so they tried to install an otherwise inoffensive USB modem, only the drivers were not compatible with W98. Long story short, the registry and hardware database got corrupted and the computer could barely start before freezing up on the desktop.

A few boots in safe mode later and a frustrated yours truly, I came across info on a Microsoft tool called Scanreg. More information here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/183887.

This tool presented previous backups of the computer's registry and upon restoring the most recent one before the crash everything was restored to normal.

One more happy customer.

Afterwards I proceeded with my crusade about computer backup, local or online or any way but backup... Hopefully my crusades will keep making a diference with my customers when disaster strikes.

Bad Request error with PHP and IIS

I recently came across this error on a server. Every time a request was made to IIS for a PHP script the response would be a plain "Bad Request".

After isolating the problem to PHP we checked IIS, ISAPI filters, and many other things.

The problem turned out to be with NTFS permissions on the php.ini file in the Windows directory. We don't know how they changed, perhaps because of a Windows update that ocurred just before the problem surfaced, who knows.....

Currently the SYSTEM user has Full Control permission over the file. Other permissions apply only to specific users and are not relevant.

This problem was troubleshooted with the help of Eduardo from www.bluetechsol.com and Plesk tech support (for a mere $75).

Sharing Folders with Windows FTP User Isolation

This is just to post a link to a clever solution that does work and saved me a lot of time.

http://blog.crowe.co.nz/archive/2005/09/02/246.aspx

Kudos to Chris Crowe.

New LogMeIn Gadget

If you need to access a PC remotely for any reason then you need to checkout Logmein. If you already know it then you will benefit a lot from their newest gadget, LogMeIn Ignition. You ca install it to your PC or to a portable USB drive so you can use it in any PC without installing it.

Think of it as a list of shortcuts to all your registered computers in an instant messaging like interface.

Definitely a time saver if you do this frequently.

I will soon be trying out their Network Console for remote deployment in large networks. I'll let you know what I find out then.

Housing Woes Hit Close to Home

So close it's costing me my job. The housing slump in Florida and most of the US has caused many mortgage companies to go belly up but the company I work for is one of the lucky ones that were strong enough when the slump began so it has been able to withstand it.

While business is slow the only way to survive is to downsize and so they did, and they did, and finally it was my turn. I was actually scheduled to leave by 2/28 but was extended for another two weeks to help with the move to another facility, all in hopes of keeping the operation affordable until the market rebounds again.

I have to say that working there has allowed me to stabilize financially and I've been treated excellent, and no, they don't know this blog exists so I'm not sucking up to them :-)

As for future plans I'm comtemplating the development of my own business that I've been running on the side since June '06. Wish me luck!