SharePoint Training - Hotel Info

The recommended hotel during the SharePoint Training is the Peoria AmericInn Lodge and Suites which is 2.4 miles from Northwoods.  When placing a reservation mention “SharePoint Training” and you will receive the discounted rate of $79.90 per night (2 Queens or 1 King non-smoking room)

AmericInn Lodge and Suites
9106 N. Lindberg Drive
Peoria, IL 61615
866-447-4897 or (309) 692-9200
E-mail:info@americinnpeoria.com

Other local hotel information can be found at the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Northwoods Community Church - Travel Info

Northwoods Community Church (Directions)
10700 N. Allen Road
Peoria, IL 61615

Updated 11/17/07: Please use this link for directions rather than plugging our address into Mapquest, GoogleMaps, etc.  Our Postal address displays as 1/2 mile south of our location on these mapping programs.  Please use 2210 W Wilhelm Rd, Dunlap, IL 61525 as the address when you look up your travel directions.

Local Airports:

• Greater Peoria Regional Airport -  Airport code: PIA - 15 min from NWCC
  • Direct flights from Chicago (AA and United),  Dallas (AA),  Minneapolis and Detroit (NWA), Atlanta (Delta)  Denver (United) Las Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa/St Pete (Allegiant Air).
• Central Illinois Regional Airport - Airport Code: BMI  - 45 minutes from Peoria in Bloomington/Normal
  • Direct flights from Chicago (AA and United),  Detroit (NWA), Atlanta (Delta and AirTran), Orlando and Las Vegas (AirTran).

SharePoint Training - Registration

As Jason Powell mentioned over on his blog a few weeks ago, Bill English Co-Owner of MindSharp will be presenting free SharePoint Administration training on January 7th - 11th.  I am excited to announce the registration for the SharePoint Training is now Open.

Event Info:

• January 7th - January 11th (Monday through Friday) 9 am- 5 pm.
• Location: Northwoods Community Church (10700 N. Allen Road Peoria, IL 61615)
• Attendees:
  • Slots available for up to 100 attendees
    • Small teams are encouraged (Director/Project Manager + IT/Web)
  • All participants must be directly employed by a church or ministry and he/she will not profit or further a for-profit business by this training.
  • If you are the IT Volunteer for your church and not a consultant please shoot me a email and we’ll discuss options.
  • Participants should be technically-oriented and are expected to understand and/or perform the following administrative activities: 
    • DNS – including creating alias records and A records in the Hosts File
    • IIS – creating new web sites, host headers and working with site security
    • Active Directory Users and Computers – create new user accounts, reset passwords and general user and group account activities
    • SQL Server – basic understanding of how to apply permissions to a database
    • Windows 2003 Server – basic understanding of Active Directory
    • Networking – basic understand and abilities in assigning IP addresses, host names and general connectivity issues. 
  • Each person must have his/her own laptop with 2GB Ram and 20GB free Disk space
    • 1.5GB of the RAM will be completely used by the image that will be provided to you.
    • UPDATE 11/14/07: Bill English has ask that we note it is extremely important that the system you bring to the training have the 2GB of Ram and 20GB of free space or you will be very disappointed with the performance of your workstation during the training.
    • Laptop Rental is OPTIONAL as part of the registration process: Weekly Rental Rate: $185.00 (includes 2 way shipping).
• Event Registration: Fee $125.00 
  • This includes snacks and lunch each day, and event costs.
• Training: Will be focused around the SharePoint Server 2007 product.  An understanding of SharePoint Server 2007 will allow users to also implement Windows SharePoint Services (the free version).

Register Now

New SonicWall SSL VPN Firmware

Well SonicWall continues to impress me… Since we have implemented multiple SonicWall appliances my approval rating of SonicWall has sky rocketed.  15 months ago, I don’t think you could have convinced me to trust SonicWall, why exactly I don’t know but I thought of them as an inferior vendor to the rest of their markets… (Firewalls, SSL-VPN, Email Security)

But have to admit my opinion was unwarranted primarily by my lack of knowledge of what SonicWall brought to the table.

Well you ask what has changed my mind… well more things than I can write about in one post so I’ll just share the latest love and joy SonicWall has tossed our way.

A little history:We provide remote access to our network with SonicWall’s SSL-VPN 2000, which is proving to be a solid appliance and provides two interfaces for our users to gain network access… the first, the NetExtender which is a locally installed application that gives VPN access to our network via the SSL VPN 2000 appliance.  (We have elected to only use the NetExtender for laptops that the church owns).  For everyone else we are in the process of deploying the SSL VPN web portal.  This gives access to OWA, two terminal servers and our TimeClock web application.

Ok.. So that is what you expect from a SSL VPN product right… So what is new? 

• Until Oct 27th there wasn’t any Linux or Mac NetExtender support… well now there is a NetExtender client for both operating systems in addition to the pre-existing Windows application.  Not to mention this little beni is free with your support contract.
• A subscription service called SonicWall Virtual Assist: Virtual Assist as I understand it will give you similar remote support tools to the likes of WebEx, Gotomeeting.com or other remote support applications.  The supporting technician(connected behind the SSLVPN appliance or NetExtender) can send email invitations to those needing support or connect to a client requesting support in the queue.  And the cool part is list price is below $1000.00, I already have an email into our trusted SonicWall vendor to find out the discounted Non-Profit pricing.
  SonicWall’s description: SSL VPN 2.5 allows a technician to remotely diagnose and fix issues an off-site computer may be experiencing. The technician can remotely take control of the machine through secure control of mouse and keyboard to repair the problem while the customer is watching. This feature allows IT to support users off-site as if they were physically there. Requirements: Virtual Assist can only take remote control of Windows based operating systems. The technician needs to be behind the SonicWall SSL VPN appliance or running NetExtender in order to utilize the Virtual Assist feature.

So I say, if you haven’t given SonicWall a good lately, you should… If you have a SonicWall SSL VPN download the new firmware and check it out.

Goog411

I have recently been using Goog411 (800-GOOG-411) from my mobile phone rather than traditional 411 service…  Why? Its free (not counting the use of airtime).  You can either have the information sent via SMS to your handset or they will connect you to the merchant at no cost. 

I have had great success with the voice recognition, and have only gotten one dead number when I used the service… A lot better than 800-Free-411 where the voice recognition often can’t figure out the name I am trying to look-up.

But the question is, how are they making it free?  800-Free-411 has you listen to several silly advertisements, but not Goog411…

I decided to look at the privacy policy to see exactly what  info they might be selling to make money… I think the list is acceptable for free 411 service, what say you? 

Sad Day

Well its a sad day… Not because I have decided not to blog anymore…

No, it’s a sad day because it marks the end of boating season.  The boat is all covered up, been to the marina to be winterized and now back in the garage…. Another season has come to a close.  Dreams of tubing and slalom skiing will have to hibernate for another six months…

Hey by the way… Anyone have any inexpensive storage for a boat in central Illinois?

No Cash from You…

It seems that Apple, Inc. is always inventing new products that will separate their customers from their money but their new strategy is interesting… They are telling their customers, that good old hard cash isn’t good enough for the iPhone.  Who would have thought that Apple was too good for your green backs….

Foxnews.com reports:   “Apple, Inc. no longer accepts cash for iPhone purchases, and now limits sales of the cell phone to two per person in a move to stop people from reselling them.”

This latest info is only on the heels that our fruit friendly company is making $18 per month per iPhone sold from their partner AT&T.

It seems like seeking to control the industry isn’t enough for Apple… now they have to control their customers buying power and the ability of their customers to resell their products… Where is the capitalistic ideal in that??  The IPhone is good enough for Apple to sell to their customers, but not good enough to sell again on Ebay.

Free Over Priced Ice Cream

So is something still over priced when you get it free?  Cold Stone Creamery has a birthday club where you get a normally over priced $5.00 ice cream for free when you print out your birthday coupon… so hmm.. Is it still over priced?

Office 2007 Training

We launched Office2007 to all our users in July of 2007.  We offered a 1 hour group training session for each staff person.

This PDF, Office 2007 Training, was the training guide for the orientation session.

Linda Cleveland, our Systems Coordinator and Trainer, wrote the guide and lead the training.  You can email her at linda dot cleveland at nwoods dot org