Paul Aldige Katz

Configure a help desk dashboard page using a Pistachio web part.

Adding workflow to the SharePoint help desk by building and attaching a workflow to the list using Pistachio.

In Part 1, we create a SharePoint list and then setup a Pistachio form to synchronize data with it.

Locking down network endpoints using Network Access Control Lists with Windows Azure PowerShell - michaelwasham.com

It's been a very long week talking with some of my conservative friends. Many are so invested in "racism is dead" that they are inventing funny rules for why Trayvon looked suspicious and wasn't simply racially profiled.

Some of my conservative friends are utterly convinced Trayvon must have been high that night, eagerly citing it as fact, even though his toxicology report only showed THC levels of 1.5 (he essentially hadn't used within 24 hours of his encounter with Zimmerman). They're reading far right blogs that cite that THC was in his system, but neglect to mention it was detected only as insignificant trace amounts.

But perhaps the saddest fake reason I hear for why Trayvon looked suspicious is that he was walking in the rain, and wow that's just strange. Seriously, some of my conservative friends say, New Rule!, if you're walking in the rain, then you simply look like you're up to no good....

They are so invested in "racism is dead" that they forget how easy it is to potentially go off on an errand when it isn't raining and get caught in the rain on the way back. Something that probably happens to them quite often doesn't even factor into their thinking.

So there was big news from the Microsoft front this weekend. I didn't want to write about it until it was confirmed. But it's true; Microsoft Surface RT has dropped in price by a whopping $150. The pricing now stands at $350 for the 32 GB version and $450 for the 64 GB version.

If you factor in purchasing the must-have TypeCover or TouchCover keyboards, this discount is less noteworthy. Microsoft was giving away those $120 - $130 accessories for free last month if you bought a Surface RT. So really, if you are planning on purchasing both a Surface RT and a matching keyboard cover, this month only marks the price going down by $20 - 30. That said, for those who already have Bluetooth keyboards they like and want to use, picking up a Surface RT for $350 as opposed to $500 might be very compelling.

Windows RT 8.1

A couple weeks before the price cut occurred, Microsoft also released the preview version of Windows RT 8.1. The final version is due most likely a couple months. We happened to have a Surface RT gathering dust at our office, so I thought I'd go ahead and install Windows RT 8.1 Preview on it. After the fairly painless install, I rebooted the Surface RT and found it offered a much better value proposition than it was offering moments before. What are my favorite additions/changes?

Microsoft Outlook 2003 RT is included!  Lack of serious communications software largely relegated our Surface RT at the office to well, non-use. With the inclusion of Outlook (the piece of software many business users live and breath by), the value this device offers to mobile users just went up! I might be dreaming, but it would be great to see the desktop Lync client make an appearance on Windows RT too!  

Much better Music and Video apps - The Music and Video apps that shipped with Surface RT at launch were junk, pure and simple. For me, they were slow, ill-designed, and crashed all the time. The Music app that ships with Windows 8.1 is way faster, and much more obvious with how it assembles my music collection.  

Small Tiles on the Start Screen - For "Shortcut" tiles that don't actually display Live Tile content, this is a real space saver  

Much easier Start Screen customization! Seriously, you had to jump through hoops to assemble a decent Start Screen in Windows 8. I did it, but it is now much faster and easier in Windows 8.1

Windows RT 8.1 devices will never be quite as capable as their Windows 8.1 cousins; personally I still gravitate to Google Chrome for some things, and lack of it on Windows RT remains an issue. But with release 8.1, Windows RT has suddenly gotten much more capable.

Microsoft Needs to Get Their Timing Right

Imagine if the Surface RT dropped $150 in price simultaneously with the release of Windows RT 8.1. All at once, potential customers see a much more capable machine at a significantly less price. It's called Impact, and by having this price drop occur months before Windows RT 8.1 is released, MIcrosoft is settling for two small stories instead of one large one.

At both BUILD and the World Partnership Conference, high level Microsoft executives (including Steve Ballmer) have been highlighting the Acer W3.

My concern with this; I've tried out the tablet at Staples, and it isn't that great. The real deal breaker is the screen. It's not an IPS, but rather a fairly dim LCD display with horrible viewing angles. Put it next to a Surface RT or iPad mini (or a modern Smartphone), and instantly you'll see how much worse the Acer W3's screen is. Buyers who purchase this puppy sight unseen are setting themselves up to be disappointed.

Microsoft has earned the ire of many IT professionals and technology enthusiasts with their discontinuation of TechNet Subscriptions. It’s not hard to see why; for a mere $250 a year, IT pros were licensed to utilize tons of Microsoft software past and present for the purposes of testing and evaluations. Essentially, they could construct large test environments where both new and old Microsoft software could be mixed and tested for compatibility and performance. With the end of TechNet Subscriptions, the ability to do this cheaply has gone away. What was a $250 expense via TechNet is now essentially a $6,119 per developer expense via MSDN (with $2,569 renewals)

I was at the Microsoft Store last weekend, and spoted an ASUS Windows tablet on display. 

Strangely, what really struck me was the kickstand holding up the tablet. It grips the tablet very well, and the angle the tablet is displayed at can be adjusted, using a firm but movable hinge.

Quite frankly for me, this is better than having a built-in kickstand (like the Surface), where the angle is fixed. This kickstand should be a celebrated standalone accessory right?

Well, all my efforts to find it in the store were thwarted, until I realized it is actually the keyboard cover that comes with the Microsoft Wedge Mobile  Keyboard, pictured in front of the tablet. Is this a good keyboard? Yes, many would say so. But what if I want the awesome kickstand but a different keyboard? Or no keyboard at all?

"Aaron Swartz was different with different people, and with the same people at different times, so his story is fractured. The people closest to him believe that he would not have killed himself without the prosecutors, but they feel that there is something missing from this account."

Sorry my first social post of the week is a heavy topic, but I'd encourage people to read this. It's the tragic true story of a genius technologist who contributed to technology many of us use on a daily basis (RSS, Reddit), who believed in open access to taxpayer-funded information, and who was unfairly and ruthlessly prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by overzealous federal prosecutors until he took his own life.

I missed this story by a couple weeks, but now that I know about it, am kind of ticked. AT&T has cancelled their early-upgrade policy for everyone with contracts that end after March 2014. Customers who had been counting on upgrading their phones at the 20 month mark are now forced to wait the full 24 months. For buyers of the Lumia 900, this amounts to some sour lemons.

Sour Lemons for Lumia 900 Buyers

I was one of the Lumia 900 launch day buyers, signing a new 2-year AT&T contract on April 4th 2012. Then, as all Lumia 900 buyers know, a mere seven months later, Windows Phone 8 was released, a brand new OS that the Lumia 900 could not upgrade to. Yes, Nokia and Microsoft have done a good job supporting the old hardware, but especially now, it is clear that any new app from popular app makers coming to Windows Phone will most likely be exclusive to Windows Phone 8. We Lumia 900 owners are more and more in the cold.

The only comfort we had was that after 20 months, we would be able to upgrade to a shiny new Windows Phone 8 device. At the time of our purchases, that was AT&T's policy and we were relying on it. And with November right around the corner, I was very much looking forward to my upgrade.

By cancelling the early-upgrade policy for all buyers of Lumia 900s, AT&T has chosen to kick their customers while they're down, and it is unfortunate. I would urge AT&T to provide some early upgrade accommodation for those buyers. If not for good will, then to prevent customer exodus.

Why Not Just Switch to Verizon and Get a Shiny New Windows  Phone 8 Device Early?

Let me help AT&T with some math. If I were to walk away from my AT&T contract at the 20 month mark, I would owe them a $125 cancellation fee. ($325 minus $10 for every month of completed service). Guess what AT&T, Verizon is willing to give me a spanking new Lumia 928 now for $29.99 if I sign a contract with them). Maybe that price will be more like $0.01 around Black Friday, which will coincidentally be around the 20 month mark for launch day Lumia 900 buyers.

Considering that AT&T would have charged us $36.00 for an early upgrade anyway, moving to Verizon will only cost us $89.00 more than what we had already planned to pay. Not bad for snagging a Lumia 928 that costs $499 off contract.

Would I pay $125 out of pocket to upgrade to a new device four months early? Quite possibly. AT&T's willingness to disrespect those who jumped on the Lumia 900 bandwagon definitely doesn't compel those customers to stick around...

Send this around!

Microsoft is providing Microsoft Office Home and Student for free with new Windows 8 tablets that have screens under 10 inches. The problem though; the first one of these puppies, the Acer Iconia W3, seems to be a letdown.

From the user reviews on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CM1BN5Q) to Paul Thorrott essentially calling the W3 junk (http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/acer-iconia-w3-first-impressions-and-photos), it's clear this isn't a great device, at least, not to many people. The developers who got one free at Microsoft's Build conference will probably find some use out of it as a test/debugging machine, but I find it hard to believe consumers who actually try these out in stores will buy them. The 64 GB model is currently $430 on Amazon. Yes, it comes with $140 worth of Microsoft Office software, but because it is the Home and Student version, you can't use it for anything commercial. If your family already has a Home Office 365 subscription, then the free copy also would be redundant.

In contrast, the Levono IdeaPad K3 Lynx seems to have far better hardware at a lower price, albeit it's a bit bigger. (http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Lynx-11-6-Inch-Tablet/dp/B009AEPJ8U). At $373, it's actually cheaper than the W3, although you do need to purchase a copy of Office (or subscribe to Office 365) if you want it on there.

My suggestion to Acer and Microsoft; don't use free copies of Office to peddle cheap hardware at high prices. If the Acer Iconia W3 were priced somewhere between $200 to $300, it would be a far more compelling purchase to make, and perhaps directly competitive with the iPad Mini.

Our Office 365 setup got upgraded to SharePoint 2013 a couple weeks ago, and just in time. We've built a complex on-premise SharePoint 2010 solution for a client, and needed a quick site to host the WSP files, installation scripts, exported site collection, and the installation documentation. They are in a highly regulated industry, and we are not allowed to actually install it ourselves. Hence the need to build a site to facilitate the transfer of knowledge (and large files).

Spinning up the new Site Collection in Office 365 took maybe 5 to 10 minutes. No need to worry about server resources. And the best part.... Now that Office 365 supports external users at no extra cost, it's very easy to send out a read-only invite to the IT staff at our client to let them access the site. No need to worry about purchasing a CAL; that alone saved me an hour or so of purchase request handling.

Bringing Your Existing Web Applications into SharePoint 2013: How to Easily Adopt SharePoint Themes into Your Apps