Windows 10 and Citrix Netscaler VPN does not work

A quick post:
We have found that our users that have updated themselves to Windows 10 have effectively locked themselves out of the network, from remote locations.  It seems Windows 10 is not supported by our Citrix Netscaler VPNs.  Of course we put a note out to our worldwide users, but some "had" to update.  Hopefully there will be a patch or fix soon.

At the moment, we don't support Windows 10 in the infrastructure.  That doesn't stop some of our users from updating anyway.

Feedly is the feedreader at the moment

I wanted to upgrade a post from a while ago.  When Google Reader went dark, many went scurrying to find a new reader to replace the feed curation that Google Reader provided.  For a while, I started using CommaFeed, which seemed to be pretty good replacement for Google Reader.  The only real issue I had was that it did not seem to update as fast as other readers.  I was continuously hearing about posts that I should read, only to find them in CommaFeed a day or two later.  Otherwise, I really liked it, as it was SO similar to Google Reader.

However, I gave Feedly a try, and I have to say, I'm impressed.  Sure, it's just a tad different from Google Reader, but it was easy enough to get the hang of it.  I've been using it a couple of months now, and I really do not see myself changing.  The only nag I have is that I cannot search my feeds for a particular topic/post.  I do see that now with Feedly Pro, you can pay to get a couple of extra benefits.  But, since I don't search the feeds "that" often, I'll wait until there is a pressing need.

Testing out CommaFeed to replace Google Reader

In order to replace Google Reader, I've been looking at different platforms and companies.  I had been set on migrating to Feedly until I saw this come across my desk.  CommaFeed is an open source web application that comes pretty close to replicating Google Reader.  Actually, it has a couple of features I did not see in Google Reader (like showing feeds that are non-existent in another color.)  I'm not very social with my news, I use the reader to aggregate it for me.

So far, I'm impressed with CommaFeed; I like it a lot.  The proof will come in the next couple of weeks as I put it through it's paces.  This appeared to be a light weekend, without an influx of many posts; so it is tough to gauge.  But we'll see.  Should I move on to another reader, I'll update this post.

I wish Google Reader wasn't going away

I'm an avid Google Reader user, I like how the interface is easy to navigate and get right to new posts.  I'm not too social with my posts, I'm not "liking" them, sharing them, or starring them.  Losing that functionality in the past did not bother me.  So, I was not pleased to hear the other day that Google Reader is going away.  I'm looking into alternatives.

Feedly, right now, is my top choice for a replacement.  I especially like that there is an Android application and they are trying to stay close to the Google Reader format.

NewsBlur looks promising too.  However, I was not really looking to pay for usage.  However, $1 a month is not going to break the bank.

The Old Reader is another company that looks promising.  Also, it is another company in the Google Reader vein.

NetVibes looks interesting, but as of yet, I do not see a mobile application yet.

I've tried Pulse, but I think I saw that you can only have 20 feeds in the feedreader portion of the application.  It was visually stunning, but I have way more than 20 feeds that I follow.

There are some other readers listed in a great Gizmodo post.  As I look at other applications, I'll update this post.

I saw a change.org petition that had over 100,000 signatures.  I'm not sure what kind of good that will do.  My wish is that Google would leave the code as is, and just make the nominal, important security patches.

FWIW, my requirements are for a simple reader, I do not need the flashy magazine look.  I would prefer an Android app, so I can peruse articles in my spare time and not be tied to the computer.  I do not need the ability to share/broadcast/like etc., stories.  And, any application where I can port over my feeds would be a plus.  Yes, I know Google has the Google Takeout service, but not every application makes perfect use of it.

Edit 3/19/2013:  Two other readers I have discovered but have not researched:

Bloglines
Fever

Recovering from a Blue Screen after upgrading XP to Service Pack 3 from Service Pack 2

I received a laptop that had XP Service Pack 2 on it. During the reboot after installing Service Pack 3, the laptop blue screened. I could not get in at all. A little elbow grease and some googling, and I was able to get back to where I was before the original upgrade. Here are the steps I took.
1. As I could not get past the blue screen, I had to use recovery console. Put an XP cd in the drive and boot the machine. (Of course, on my machine, I had change the boot order in BIOS.)
2. Press any key to boot from the CD.
3. When the "Welcome to Setup" message appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
4. Select the Windows XP installation (I had only 1.)
5. Enter the admin password (a miracle that I had this.)
6. When you get the command prompt, type: cd $ntservicepackuninstall$\spunist and hit enter.
7. When you get a prompt back, type: batch spuninst.txt and hit enter.
(You will see error messages and files being copied, this is normal.)
8. Remove your cd.
9. When you get your prompt back, type: exit and hit enter
10. Restart the computer in safe mode.
11. Log in as administrator.
12. Either open Control Panel, or Start -> Run and type: appwiz.cpl
13. Click the check box to Show Updates.
14. Scroll and find Windows XP Service Pack 3...and click remove.
15. Click Finish to restart the computer after the removal process is finished.

Now, I have to re-apply Service Pack 3 to get this computer up to date. But, at least I'm beyond the blue screen.

Upgrade to Hardy....lost Kismet

Well, I've found a casualty since upgrading the laptop to Hardy (8.04.) I can't get Kismet to work. I'm getting a fatal error, and Kismet dies; so I know what I'm doing while the turkey cooks tomorrow. When I figure it out, I'll post up what I find out.

Helix v2 - and the new Bruce tune..."Working On A Dream"

I'm sure it is WAY old news, but I just discovered that there is a new version of Helix out there. First, on Friday, my office-mate asked me about computer forensics. Now, I'm not a forensics guru by any stretch of the imagination. However, I mentioned that I had used Helix in both IR and a CF situations. Later, we were trying to find rpm based live CD distributions. I found a list here. However, I did not see Helix listed. So, I quickly surfed over to Heilix's site and discovered that there is a new version out. Woo-hoo...so I have something to play with. And to answer my question, Helix is based on Ubuntu.

I heard the new studio version of "Working On A Dream" while watching Sunday Night Football. While I like the new tune, I was disappointed that they only played about 15 seconds worth of the song. NBC made it sound like we were getting the whole song prior to half time. And yes, I've heard the acoustic version as performed at he Obama rally.

Oops - better upgrade Ubuntu

Last night I was using my laptop when it dawned on my that I hadn't received any security updates in a while. I think I was running 7.04, but I really can't remember; I know I had a 7.04 cd on the computer desk. Anyway, I decided to upgrade to the next release up (not the newest.) This site gave me all the info I needed. (And, according to the article, it looks like 7.04 reached end of life on October 19th. Which would explain why I had not seen any updates.)

And it went smoothly. It took a little longer than I thought, but otherwise, the upgrade went well. The only issue I found was that Thunderbird would not open after the install; I was getting a path error. I ran "whereis mozilla-thunderbird" and was going to use that path in my applet launcher. However, I mistakenly removed Thunderbird from the panel. I re-added the application, and presto, it worked like a charm. So, note to self, any app that does not work after the install: remove and add the icon to the panel first (before further troubleshooting.)

My plan is to upgrade to 8.04 next so that I'm on the latest stable version. I'll move to 8.10, but I want to wait for the bugs and kinks to be worked out.

Firefox 3 installed

I waited to read about Firefox 3 before installing it; and I never read of any problems. So, today I installed the new version. Firefox appears to run much faster than the 2.x versions I ran in the past. Accordingly, the task manager does not show Firefox using as much memory either.

So far, so good.