Battery:

Preserving the battery takes some tuning of the device.  Because we have “Push Email” meaning that as messages and appointments arrive they are pushed to the phone, the phone is then always listening for these updates.  The listening drains the battery.  Changing this behavior is done in ActiveSync, steps are below.

1. Go in to ActiveSync under Start -> Programs or Start -> Programs -> All Programs
2. Tap Menu
3. Select Schedule
4. Adjust Peak time and Off-peak time settings as desired. (The larger the interval, the less battery power consumed)

Advanced

1. Set your Off-peak times to Manually or Every 4 hours.
2. Tap Menu
3. Select Peak Times
4. Change the Peak start time and Peak end time to your normal office hours.

As always Power Management settings may be edited within “Settings” by going to Start -> Programs -> Settings or Start -> Programs -> All Programs -> Settings.  If there are any specific questions on these settings, leave a comment.

That new computer smell

Those who attended the Brown Bag Q&A heard me mention this a few times.  It’s not so much I have a fetish for sniffing new electronic parts, instead it’s a metaphor - granted a rather obscure one – let me explain.  When you buy a new car there are some given things that must be done to make that care useable.  You’re going to need to adjust the seat, the mirrors, climate control and most likely fill up the gas tank (or charge the battery for you Tesla owners).  You also need to review the manual on the cool features of the car like the how to turn on the wipers!  I digress…

Anyhow, what I’m getting at is that new car smell tends to make people a bit excited and forget some of the basics.  Same goes for new electronics.  Electronic devices are getting so easy to use and intuitive that many people forget there are details that really matter and in the excitement about the new device, some basics are often overlooked.

Steps to take with a new computer.

For this post I’m going to focus on the new computer and how to get it ready.  First of all I’m not knocking the service a certain electronics retailer offers to “prep” your new computer however; there really is no need to pay someone to do this for you.  It is true PC’s come with lots of “trialware” (a.k.a. bloatware) installed on them.  The Mac commercials make you think this is a bad thing.  While it is frustrating, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The trialware is actually helping your computer to be cheaper.  Companies pay to have their software installed on these new computers to offset the price.  If “trialware” didn’t exist even basic computers that cost around $300 would actually have to be sold for $900.  Assuming you haven’t caught on by now, this is why Mac’s tend to cost more than PC’s.  Mac’s do not come with trialware so without the subsidies, the price goes up.  And I’m off topic again.

Here’s the meat of what you need to do:

1. Unbox the computer and put it together as per the manufactures instructions.
2. DO NOT CONNECT THE COMPUTER TO THE INTERNET YET!!!
3. Turn on the computer and run through all the startup screens to personalize your experience.
4. Go in to Programs and Features (in Control Panel) to remove any trialware you do not want.  This would include demo games, possibly some demo games, and anything else you see the words “trial” or “demo” in the name. (except the anti-virus product)
5. Again, leave the anti-virus software installed for now.  Most likely this is trialware, too.  For now though it is providing security to your PC for the next steps.
6. Make sure the firewall is enabled.  In Windows Vista and Windows XP there is the Security Center in Control Panel.  Open Security Center and make sure the firewall is “on” or” enabled”.
7. Now plug in the Internet connection.
8. Update the computer!  Microsoft produces updates to known security issues every month.  These updates will be installed on your computer by going to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.  The updates are free of charge and even come with free support from Microsoft if they ever cause a problem for your PC.  1-888-PCSAFETY
9. After the updates, download and install a non trialware edition of anti-virus.  UW Green Bay employees and students have Home Use Rights to McAfee.  Visit http://www.uwgb.edu/compserv/software/downloads.htm to download.  More free anti-virus options will follow in another post.
10. Once the download has completed and you have the instructions printed, disconnect your computer from the Internet and uninstall your trialware anti-virus.
11. Install McAfee or some other anti-virus.  If you decided to not uninstall the anti-virus that came with your new computer that’s fine too, keep in mind it will need to be purchased to continue functioning.  Anti-virus also needs to be updated DAILY (yes, many new threats are discovered each day).  Out of date anti-virus software is only marginally better than no anti-virus software at all.
12. Plug your computer back in to the Internet connection and get the latest updates for your anti-virus software.

It used to be said the only true secure computer is one that is turned off, buried below ground 20 feet and encased in concrete.  While a bit humorous and truthful, obviously not a usable solution.  With the steps take above your computer is now safer for being connected to the Internet.

More to come…

So why not Blackberry?  So many reasons, where to start.  I’ll put aside personal opinion on Blackberry and focus on the facts of why NOT to get a Blackberry device.

1. No support: We do not have expertise on this campus for Blackberry devices.  They are proprietary in nature and we have no training on them or a device available to learn from.
2. Server compatibility: Our email system natively supports Windows Mobile and ActiveSync enabled devices at NO ADDITIONAL COST!  Blackberry Enterprise Server and Blackberry Professional Server have a great deal of expense in hardware (server) and software.  There is also a cost with having anothe product to plan, install, troubleshoot, and maintain (patches).
3. Device limitations: A Windows Mobile device is capable of creating, viewing and editing Word, Excel & PowerPoint files.  Blackberry is only capable of viewing such devices at this point.
4. Email limitations:  Windows Mobile and ActiveSync enabled devices are capable of accessing the campus address list for sending email.  Blackberry has no such access.
5. Calendar/Contact limitations:  Changes made to the calendar or contacts are synced immediately with Windows Mobile and ActiveSync enabled devices.  Blackberry is good at one thing, email.  Period.  They can handle calendar and contacts however changes can take minutes to hours to sync.
6. Task support:  Windows Mobile and ActiveSync enabled devices support synchronization of tasks.  Blackberry’s do not have no such support.
7. Touch screen:  Many Windows Mobile and ActiveSync enabled devices (not Smart phones) have a touch screen to them making navigation quick and easy with a Windows-like feel (or Mac like for iPhone or iPod Touch), something very familiar to users.  Other than the new Blackberry Storm, there is no touch screen.  The Blackberry interface is again proprietary and there is a learning curve.

In Computer Services and at the Help Desk we do NOT support Blackberry devices.  Purchasing discourages users from getting Blackberry’s as well.  For more information, leave a comment or send a suggestion/question via the about screen.

kretchep AT uwgb DOT edu

Now I don’t claim to know everything about ImageNow, WebNow or Apache Tomcat however I did figured out something that isn’t documented by PSI.  Back up all files before making any changes, a list of files that are changed is immediately following this paragraph for convenience.  Everything below in red should be changed appropriately.

D:\inserver6\etc\inserver.ini
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6\conf\server.xml
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\webnow\WEB-INF\tomcat.web.xml
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\webnow\WEB-INF\web.xml
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\webnow\WEB-INF\weblogic.web.xml
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\webnow\WEB-INF\weblogic.xml
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\webnow\WEB-INF\websphere.web.xml

Configuring WebNow to use SSL:

First the easy part

1.       Open the Inserver.ini located in the D:\inserver6\etc folder using Notepad

2.       Change webnow.url from http://host/webnow to https://host/webnow

3.       Save and exit Notepad

Now for slightly more complex part

1.       1. All steps are completed from a command prompt at C:\Program Files\JAVA\JRE1.6_07\bin

a.       Create new keystore

                                                               i.      keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore c:\Keystore\server.keystore -keystorepass changeit

b.      Create CSR

                                                               i.      keytool -certreq -keyalg RSA -alias tomcat -file c:\keystore\certreq.csr -keystore c:\keystore\server.keystore -keystorepass changeit

1.       Be prepared to enter the info below

a.       Name = server.domain.edu

b.      OU = ISD

c.       O = University of Somewhere

d.      L = City

e.      S = State

f.        C = US

c.       Send CSR to Cert Provider

d.      Import chain certificate (example below assumes Verisign)

                                                               i.      keytool -import -alias root -keystore c:\keystore\server.keystore -keystorepass changeit-trustcacerts -file C:\keystore\verisign.cer

e.      Import the new certificate

                                                               i.      keytool -import tomcat-keystore c:\keystore\server.keystore -keystorepass changeit-trustcacerts -file c:\keystore\certnew.cer

2.     2. The following should be completed in a text editor such as notepad

a.       Make changes to the server.xml located at C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6\conf\server.xml

                                                               i.      Drop the code below in the .xml file under above the line that reads <!– Define an AJP 1.3 Connector on port 8009 –>

<– Define a blocking Java SSL Coyote HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443 –>
<Connector protocol=”org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol”
           port=”443″ minSpareThreads=”5″ maxSpareThreads=”75″
           enableLookups=”true” disableUploadTimeout=”true”
           acceptCount=”100″ maxThreads=”200″
           scheme=”https” secure=”true” SSLEnabled=”true”
           keystoreFile=”c:\keystore\server.keystore” keystorePass=”changeit”
           clientAuth=”false” sslProtocol=”TLS”/>

b.      (optional) Make changes to tomcat.web.xml, web.xml, weblogic.web.xml, weblogic.xml, and websphere.web.xml located in C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 6.0\webapps\webnow\WEB-INF to prevent users being prompted with a security dialogue in Internet Explorer.

                                                               i.      Using notepad edit all lines for http://java.sun.com/update/… to https://java.sun.com/update/…

3.      3. Restart all ImageNow and Apache services.

If anything is a bit too cryptic please leave a comment and I will address it.  Click here for an easy to read version of this post.

Getting an email address when sending a new message:

1. Open Email on the device
2. Start a new email message
3. Tap Menu and choose “Add Recipient”
4. This brings up the contacts stored in Outlook
5. Tap Menu again and choose “Company Directory” or “Find Online…”
6. Start typing in the last name of the person
7. Tap “Search” or “Find”
8. Select the desired recipient from the list
9. Tap “Select”, you will be returned to your message

Looking up a contact via Contacts:

1. Open Contacts
2. Tap Menu” and choose “Company Directory” or “Find Online…”
3. Type the name of the person your looking for
4. Tap “Search” or “Find”
5. Tap the name of the person your looking for
6. The person’s contact information is displayed, from here send an email or call them