A Virtualization, Photography, and Technology Blog by Chris Grossmeier
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VMWorld 2013 Call for Papers – Voting Now Open!

April 23rd, 2013 | Posted by cgrossmeier in General | Virtualization - (0 Comments)

As you know, each year VMWorld has a public call for papers for sessions at the upcoming VMWorld. All submitted sessions are put out for vote to determine which sessions will be available during the upcoming VMWorld US and EMEA (Barcelona).

This year, the local Twin Cities SE’s have several sessions in the list and would love your support to gain votes in hopes of sharing their great topics at VMWorld 2013. Each user can vote for any topics they would like to see and their is no limit on the number of sessions you can vote for, so please support your local VMware SE and help keep up the tradition of being the highest rated and most attended sessions at VMWorld.

Simply filter by keyword using the last name or first name of the SE

Chris Grossmeier’s Sessions
5481 The Hospital Desktop – Keeping doctors and nurses happy while keeping control on the desktop
5534 How to get Doctors and Hospital to embrace Virtual Desktops
5572 How To: Mac Mini vSphere Server Lab

Jeff Whitman’s Sessions + Fusion IO
5069 Flash Forward! Accelerate Tier 1 Apps

Kirk Marty with Keith Norbie
5515 SDDC: Like a Harmony Remote Control

Please vote for Sessions at http://www.vmworld.com/cfp.jspa
You will need a VMware VMWorld Account to vote!

Please share this note with partners, customers, and friends!

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Microsoft Security Essentials loses AV-Test Certification

December 3rd, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Software - (0 Comments)
Microsoft Security Essentials Screen Shot

Microsoft Security Essentials failed AV-Test Certification with only 64% Zero-Day detection. Lowest of ALL products tested.

In a blow to Microsoft security products, Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft: Forefront Endpoint Protection were the only product to not receive re-certification by AV-Test .   The Testing agency recently tested the September / October releases of Windows Security Essentials 4.0/4.1 and Windows Forefront on Windows 7.  Surprisingly, free products like Avast, AVG, and Panda Cloud all passed the Anti-Virus qualifications test.    Microsoft Security Essentials scored the lowest score with only 64% (Industry average is 89%) of Zero-Day attacks detected in October and a score of 1.5 out of 6 on protection.  Failing the AV-Testing Group’s minimum (3.5 points in at least 2 of 3 categories) to consider this a recommendable product.

Bitdefender Internet Security scored highest with 17 out of 18 points followed by  F-Secure Internet Security (15.5 points) and Kaspersky Internet Security (15.0 points).  In terms of free products, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall did nearly as well as the commercial products with 15.5 points.  In the similar test for business protection software, Microsoft Forefront Endpoint only gathered 9.5 points (1.5 out of 6 for Protection, 2.5 out of 6 for Repair, and 5.5 out of 6 for Usability)  The Microsoft security solutions failed where it counts most, Protection and Repair.  Usability was the only high mark.

If I was an enterprise customer and relying on Microsoft Anti-Virus, now is the time I would consider switching products to something more reliable.

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Boston : A bomb waiting to explode!

November 21st, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Travel - (0 Comments)

I found a very scary news article today.  Thousands of Natural Gas Leaks Found in Boston.  I can only imagine another situation like the gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA a few years ago.

If you live in Boston, you may want to look at the charts and determine if you are on one of these leaks.

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SOMFY 12v Battery Wand for Electric Blinds

November 21st, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Gadgets | General - (0 Comments)
Somfy 12V Battery Wand for Hunter Douglas Electric Blinds

This $101.00 Somfy 12V Battery Wand for Hunter Douglas Electric Blinds is really just $14.30 worth of Energizer AA Batteries. Don’t buy the battery, buy the reloadable wand.

If you own a set of Hunter Douglas blinds or any other brand taht that use an electric battery wand to allow for electric opening and closing, you may want to read this before you go out and buy a replacement battery wand. That $101.00 Retail 12V battery wand from Somfy is really only 8 Energizer Lithium Ultimate batteries. If you are like me and this is the first time you are replacing the battery wand, don’t be scared off by the $101.00 price tag of the battery. Fortunately, there is a re-loadable battery wand option.

Deep inside the cardboard wrapper of the Somfy battery wand is a series of 8 1.5V AA Lithium Batteries. These Batteries, Energizer AA Lithium Batteries (8-count) on Amazon sell for $14.30. 1/7th the cost of the Somfy 12V Battery wand. But there is a catch. Somfy has these batteries soldered together in series. This means you cannot simply replace the 8 batteries on your own without destroying the paper tube and at the risk of soldering on your own ends. Fortunately, Somfy does sell as Refillable 12V Battery Wand. This metal tube can hold 8 AA Lithium Batteries and has the power connectors already on the tube ends. They were kind enough to provide a video on how to install and use the refillable battery wand.

Be smart and search for the best deals. My local Lowe’s hardware store can replace the battery wand, but they only offered up the expensive battery option. Next, I checked Somfy and they sell the re-loadable battery wand for $69, and with the addition of the 8 Energizer Lithium Ultimate AA Batteries, you run the cost up to $85.  With a little searching, I was able to locate the Somyfy Reloadable 12V DC Battery Wand for $25.15 at the AVOutlet.com. With $14.50 in batteries shipped from Amazon, My total replacement cost was around $39.56 per wand. Substantial savings considering I needed eight of these wands. The good news, the next time I need batteries, it should cost me about $15/blind to replace.

Original estimated total: $808.00 (8 wands x $101.00 each)
1st time Replacement cost: $316.48 (8 reloadable wands + 64 batteries, a 61% Savings!)
Estimated 2nd Replacement cost: $114.88 (64 batteries, a 86% Savings!)

Lastly, it should be noted that these reloadable battery wands can be connected in series. I do have one blind hat requires two battery wands. The connectors are provided with the battery wand to allow for single or dual use.

My original battery lasted almost 3 years of daily open and close on those 8 AA batteries. I am sure the new AA’s will perform just as well. And the next time , I need a new batter, I will invest in a small $15 or less vs shelling out $101 for a new battery.

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My Hostess Twinkies and Fruit Pie Memories

November 17th, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Food - (0 Comments)

I heard the news that Twinkies manufacturer, Hostess, was shutting down. I am not terribly saddened by this news, but it does mean those horrible pastries will never need to be consumed again and those childhood flashbacks will not occur every time I visit a convenience store or fill up my tank of gas.

I have only two memories of Hostess Products.

First, I remember the school year when my mother purchased bags of hostess products that were about to expire for us to have a lunch treats. WE had Hoh-Ho’s, Twinkies, Cupcakes, and Fruit Pies. All of them had a shelf life of about 1 week left, so we kept them in the deep freeze freezer at my grandparents and a few at home for lunches.

My second memory was of the Twinkies, Ho-Ho’s and high school swim team. Twinkies and Ho-Ho’s were a quick sugar rush and a favorite for long road trips. I didn’t care for the taste then but it was always a cheap eat on the road.

I won’t be disappointed by their demise and the memories will still linger. I will instead hunt down the chocolate filled croissants form A Baker’s Wife at 4200 28th Ave S Minneapolis and the truly amazing French macaroons and pastries from Patisserie 46 at 4552 Grand Ave S, Minneapolis, MN. (Watch the video on their site and see why I no longer crave the Twinkie!)

As with all things, there comes an end. As for Twinkies, despite going out of business, we may still see them for sale on the shelves for a generation.

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vSphere 5.0 / 5.1 License Changes

November 17th, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Software | Virtualization - (0 Comments)

This seems to be a topic that a lot of people are getting wrong or where people still think we are leveraging the old vSphere 5 vRAM Model. SO, let’s set the record straight, and provide supporting evidence as to how vSphere is licensed and the editions you can choose.

First, let’s address vRAM. As of vSphere 5.1, also retroactive to vSphere 5.0, vRAM is no longer part of the license model. We are no solely looking at physical CPU Sockets, not cores, on the system board. Each CPU Socket with a processor will require a CPU Licenses. For those of you with vSphere 5.0 licenses with vRAM limitations, you can update your licenses at My.VMware.com with revised keys the remove the vRAM restriction.

Directly from the VMware vSphere Pricing and Licensing Guide…

The new vSphere licensing model for both vSphere 5.0 and 5.1, continues to be based on processor licenses. It eliminates the restrictive physical entitlements of CPU cores and physical RAM per server and has no limitation on the number of VMs or amount of virtual memory (vRAM) on each licensed processor.

CPU Cores, CPU Memory – There are no longer any physical restrictions on vSphere Standard, vSphere Enterprise, or vSphere Enterprise Plus.

VMware vSphere 5 licensing removes all restrictions on physical cores and physical RAM. This change eliminates barriers to deploying VMware vSphere on new multicore server configurations, improving customers’ ability to choose server hardware that best meets their requirements.

Those of you who own vSphere Advance will get vSphere Enterprise Keys. We have also dropped vSphere Advance because without the physical core / memory restrictions, it is basically a vSphere Enterprise license. Enjoy the upgrade.

If you are deploying Virtual Desktops, stick with the vSphere edition that comes with VMware View Premier or VMware View Enterprise, the vSphere Desktop editions is still restricted to the total number of desktop VM’s in the View license. This is also the edition you will want to buy if you are deploying virtual desktops with a product other than VMware View (Citirx XENDesktop, VDI-In-a-Box, Desktone, Dell/Quest vWorkspace, Oracle Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Unidesk). This is licensed by the total number of powered on / managed virtual machines.

Are there advantages to Enterprise Plus vs Enterprise vs Standard? Yes, and most notable is the size of your VM’s you are allowed to create and the features of the hypervisor. vSphere Standard can create VM’s up to 8-way vPCU’s, Enterprise can create VM’s up to 32-way vCPU’s, and Enterprise Plus can create VM’s up to 64-way vCPU’s! Compare the features of each edition online.

Lastly, for those of you with Support and Subscription (SNS) and entitled to upgrades, some things you may want to consider with vSphere 5.1. vSphere 5.1 now included vShield Zones and vShield Endpoint Protection for all editions of vSphere 5.1. vSphere 51. now also allows for vMotion, Storage vMotion, and Fault Tolerance in all 3 major editions. These alone are well worth keeping the support and upgrades current!

So, I hope that clears up some of the fundamental licensing and entitlement changes to the vSphere stack as of vSphere 5.1 and the retroactive features of vSphere 5.0.

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Secret to affordable quality wine

November 14th, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Wine - (0 Comments)

I have a secret as to how I manage to get great wines at prices that are ridiculously cheap. Wine Auctions.

If I am ever looking for a good Diamond Creek, Hewitt, Burly, or Opus, I’ll spend a few minutes looking at the wine auctions first to ensure I get the best prices available. But there is a trick to getting a good deal. You need to know what to over look and what is a diamond in the rough. Here are my tips for finding a great deal.

First, I start with a site like WineBid or Wine Commune.
I filter for a style and I want or a specific vintner. This will usually reduce my search results to a few hundred. For example, I always save a favorite filter for Diamond Creek to see what is currently at auction.

From there, I start to filter out content by the following criteria.
- I want 750ml bottles, so I filter by Standard Size
- Uncontested bottles are more likely to win at auction
- I want individual bottles, but case lots are great if they are available.


When looking at a lot, things to make note of include:

  • - Lightly worn capsule; lightly bubbled label; nicked label; lightly scuffed label; lightly soiled label, and torn labels are bad for fancy restaurants, good for me! I am interested in the wine, not the label. A torn label usually sells for significantly less.
  • - Base neck fill or better – More wine, less air in the bottle. In theory, this has some impact on flavor in that it will mature slower with less air in the bottle.
  • - Shoulder fill – Too much air in the bottle, an incomplete fill. Usually means the bottle gets more oxidization. While this could be an indication of age of the bottle, I avoid these.
  • - Removed from Temp and humidity control – This usually means it left the vineyard or the distributor and was part of a non-temp regulated private cellar. Expect the wine to age faster so don’t hold out for the old vintages. Look for bottles that were kept in Professional Storage Facilities or are direct from the Vintner
  • - Signs of past seepage – Never a good thing. Either the bottle content has expanded, cork is bad, or pressure changes have caused it to force some wine out of the bottle. I avoid these bottles.
  • - Depressed or protruding cork – Again, Pressure impacts the position of the cork. I avoid these.

Start your search by filtering by price and working your way down the uncontested bottles. I usually find a few I want this way and place my order right away.

Lastly, know what your auction fees and shipping costs are per bottle and per case. Inexpensive wines may end up costing you more with the addition of these fees. Expect to pay around $15 for a single bottle. Order larger lots to reduce this cost. Case prices run around $40 and average around $3.33/bottle to ship. Auction fees can range from 5% to 20% for a buyers premium. This is where the auction house makes their money.

So, instead of buying that Diamond Creek Gravely Meadow at a wine shop for $175 – $200, I’ll hold out for an auction. If I am lucky, I can usually score a good bottle for $60 or less.

I am still hoping I will find a mismarked 100 point 1997 Screaming Eagle for $50 some day. I can always dream.

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Galleries of photos

November 14th, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Photography - (0 Comments)

Since the old server failed, I have not put much effort into getting the old photos back online. So, tonight I moved the content back online and wanted to ensure you ahd some links to find the old content.

Here are some of the old galleries form the past:

I have many more, but I want to clean up the galleries with a new ZenPhoto Photo Gallery application first. Expect updates soon.

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Microsoft Office 2011 Update Fail and Fix for Mac

November 14th, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in Software - (0 Comments)

Recently, when Microsoft Office 2011 attempted to update on my Macbook Pro, I received a notification that two Microsoft DAEMON services, Microsoft Database Daemon.app and SyncServiceAgent.app, could not be shut down to allow the Office update to proceed. No amount of trying to kill the task or killing apps allowed me to proceed. With a little digging, I find a simple method to allow the update to proceed.

1. Right click on the Microsoft Office update icon on the Menu bar. Select Options > Keep In Dock. This ensure the update app is available later.
2. Cancel the update and log out of OS X
3. Start the log in process, but hold down the SHIFT key while your desktop logs in. This will prevent start-up items from launching.
4. Click on the Windows Update icon we docked to the Menu Bar. It should be a green circle with a clock face.
5. Restart the update manually.

You will still see the alert that it needs to stop some services, but since the applications that kept the services locked never started, the OS will be able to stop these services during the upgrade process.

Not the most elegant solution, but it works. Now, all I need to do is complain to Microsoft that their update application is broken. If you encounter this same error, please voice your displeasure with the quality of the Microsoft Office 2011 Update utility here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product-feedback

The alternative method suggested by Microsoft is to boot your mac in SAFE MODE. Microsoft’s own support KB does not solve the problem. If you attempt to stop the SyncServiceAgent.app or some of the other Daemons’ they simply restart. Why have an Automatic update application in the OS if there is no means to automatically update the application? Classic Microsoft Fail.

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Analysts gets Medieval on Microsoft Windows 8

November 13th, 2012 | Posted by cgrossmeier in General - (0 Comments)

Today, Rick Aristotle Munarriz of the Motley Fool had a scathing review of the new Micorsoft Windows 8 desktop operating system. In his assessment, titled The World Now Realizes That Windows 8 Has a Problem, he discusses Microsoft’s decision to fire Windows head Steven Sinofsky and set the tone that maybe Windows 8 was not the flagship they intended. The release raises as lot of questions for a new OS that is still struggling to prove itself as both a desktop and a tablet OS.

“Redmond may have been coasting on the hype of Windows 8, but Microsoft’s move last night raises questions and doubts that it would prefer not to address this early in the new operating system’s life cycle.”

Back on October 15th, Legit Reviews posted a item titled, “Analyst: Windows 8 Heading For Massive Fail!”, and sets his criteria to fix the pending doom of Windows 8.

“Come on Microsoft, just give us our Start button back, return Aero and make Metro/Modern UI optional, then watch as all the negative sentiment melts away and people start to appreciate the many under-the-hood improvements that you’ve made to the operating system and sales take off. Ignore this and Windows 8 is dead in the water.”

In both cases, it is a harbinger of how analysts see the new OS. While it may seem intuitive on a tablet, the Metro UI is a monumental learning curve for many non-technical desktop users. Business will be investing heavily in training and because of the major learning curve, potentially delay adoption. Releasing your Windows Visionary shortly after your product release sounds far too much like the Microsoft Kin disaster happening all over again.

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