The truth is that loans are rarely overcharged and, in most cases, companies offering mortgage audits charge you to inform you that everything was done correctly. Don't fall for the scam and don't call the number. If you call 877-670-5577, you can be certain you will be harassed for months to come. Let your family members know to avoid this organization and to ignore any messages or phone calls from them.

Up to this point, I've only been telling you that a packet capture clearly shows the traffic generated by the IPv6 stack is significant when you consider dozens or hundreds of machines that may exist on a subnet. That's all about to change. I'm in the process of writing an article for Windows IT Pro magazine on the impact of IPv6 on a non-IPv6 network. In the process, I've built a lab of 24 virtual machines running Windows 7 with IPv6 out-of-the-box setup on an IPv4-only network infrastructure. I will be measuring the traffic generated by these machines.

Next, I will be enabling IPv6 on the infrastructure by doing the following:

-Enabling DHCPv6

-Enabling DNSv6

-Enable IPv6 on the Cisco routers(two will exist in the network)

Now, I will measure the network consumption when IPv4 is disabled on the network.

Finally, I'll measure the network consumption when IPv6 is enabled alongside IPv4 in both the Windows 7 clients and the infrastructure. When I'm done, I'll post the fast facts here and, of course, you'll be able to read all the details in Windows IT Pro magazine. I'll let you know the issue that will contain the article as soon as I find out.

Can you tell I'm excited about this lab fun I'm about to have?

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/R2-editions.aspx

Over the years, I've taught six different SQL Server training courses. The first two were designed to teach only SQL Server 2000. The next four were designed to teach SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000 combined. I loved teaching these courses as they were real-world courses; however, I've never been as excited about a SQL Server course as I am the about the one I'm currently preparing for ASPE. This SQL Server course will focus on the topics that students have begged for over my seven years of teaching SQL Server.

In all of the other SQL Server training courses I've delivered, some tie has existed to a Microsoft certification. Not with this one. We've decided to give the attendees the topics they've asked for over the years. These topics include:

• Installing SQL Server right the first time
• Designing and implementing well-performing databases
• Optimizing the performance of existing databases
• Improving security
• Understanding advanced features such as SSIS, SSRS and SSAS

Any many more topics as well. The training will be focused on SQL Server 2005 and 2008 with just a few referenced so SQL Server 2000. If you'd like to know when the training class is coming to your area, just contact me through the SysEdCo.com contact page.

Microsoft has, however, provided a lab demo configuration document here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=8d47ed5f-d217-4d84-b698-f39360d82fac

You can use this document as a starting point to explore DirectAccess configuration processes even if you don’t have a Server 2008 R2 machine at this time. Now, for some really good news. If you just want to play with WIndows Server 2008 R2, get the evaluation VHD that works in Hyper-V here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9040A4BE-C3CF-44A5-9052-A70314452305&displaylang=en

Hopefully this information will help you get started with configuring DirectAccess. Remember, you must configure DirectAccess on the Server 2008 R2 server as well as the Windows 7 clients.

• The CWNP program picks who the author/authors will be. This is a benefit in that the reader can be sure the CWNP program believes in the author.
• The book gets to be listed as the official book.

No special insights into the exam are provided to the authors of the official book beyond that available to anyone, so no real benefit exists for the reader from the perspective of the "official" label. Giving special insight would be unethical (since the author would always claim to have passed the exam and yet he or she would have been exposed to special information about that exam) and the CWNP program is anything but unethical. In other words, the authors of the official book have no more insight into the exam than the authors of any other book. Anyone who writes a book for the exams – official or not – has access to the same resources:

• Official classes
• Objectives
• CWNP.com

That’s really it. Now as far as picking the authors goes. The CWNP program picked me for Wireless#, the first book outsourced to be completely authored by a non-CWNP program employee. They picked myself and two co-authors for the CWSP study guide 2nd edition. They then picked me for the 4th Edition of the official CWNA study guide. They also hand-picked Joel Barrett to help guide the series at that time. Joel is an amazing engineer working with Cisco in wireless implementations on a very large scale. I am a consultant and trainer who implements an average of 4 to 5 wireless LANs each year. I teach from 5-6 week long custom CWNA/CWSP classes each year and I am continually researching the newest in wireless technologies. The point is that they would have picked me to write the official books again if I were available. In fact, I was offered the opportunity to write the official CWTS book for Sybex, but could not due to contractual obligations.

Due to their contractual issues with the CWNP program and nothing at all related to the content or writing style, McGraw-Hill lost the official label to Sybex. Sybex is also a great publisher (I write for them as well on non-overlapping topics) and the authors of the official study guides know their stuff well. Their new official CWNA book is exceptional and I expect their CWSP book will be as well.

I am in the process of writing a CWNA/CWSP All-in-One Guide book for McGraw-Hill that will be amazing because of the books format and intent. It will be a study guide, yes, but it will also be a very practical implementation resource. You will be receiving step-by-step instructions for implementing real hardware. I’m very excited about it. In addition, my CWTS book for McGraw-Hill is done and should hit the shelves in the next four weeks.

I hope this clears up any confusion and let me end by saying this: I work with both McGraw-Hill and Sybex and they are both great companies. I know David Coleman, one of the official authors now, and he is an awesome trainer with excellent knowledge. Finally, I absolutely love the CWNP program and the vendor neutral certifications they offer. Any rumors out there which cast a negative light on any of these three companies (McGraw-Hill, Sybex or Planet3/CWNP) will hopefully cease. Sometimes things don’t work out between companies, but I’m thankful that multiple products exist and the user community gets an excellent set of resources.

Happy modulation!

The reason for the title change is simple. We are covering the objectives for 70-432 and 70-450 in the book and we want this to be clear; however, we also realize people want more than a certification prep book. In fact, this book includes several entire chapters that have nothing to do with the certification, but everything to do with effective SQL Server 2008 administration. Hopefully, the new title will help to clearly communicate the purpose of the book.

First, today I received a U.S. Postal mail-based scam: the Union Workers Credit Services scam. They send you a postal letter indicating that you’ll get a credit limit of X amount and all you have to do is pay the $37 annual membership fee. How could you spot this as a scam?

The language can often reveal the true scamish nature of the beast. Read the following and see if you can spot something a bit out of kilter:

"It’s nice to inform you that you have been identified and PRE-APPROVED for a PLATINUM CARD Membership from Union Workers Credit Services…"

What’s wrong with this sentence fragment? "It’s nice to inform you…" Have you ever received a mailing from a real credit source that used a phrase like this? Not likely. Here’s the last part of the same sentence:

"…with a GUARANTEED $10,000.00 credit limit valid exclusively toward all credit purchases from credit provider!"

That’s a weird phrase. You mean you can use this great credit to buy anything you want from Union Workers Credit Services. That makes sense. I’d like to buy some more debt please. So, what you’re really getting into is a buyers club of sorts. I haven’t seen their catalog, but I’d bet it’s full of crap.

The bad thing for you is that if you send the $37 you’ll never get a refund. Why? They’ve worded it all perfectly to make sure you cannot get a refund and even your bank will reject a stop payment because they NEVER say it is a credit card.

If you have friends and family, please talk with them about this and other scams. They are becoming more and more common and I hate to see people hurt financially by these vultures. If I could do something legal to cost them so much money that they would lose everything (the scammers), I’d do it in a heartbeat.

If you can think of any ideas, let me know. I’ll be glad to participate. Maybe we can find their number and all call them every day with our cell phone surplus minutes… of course, liars like this probably don’t have a business line that costs them for incoming calls anyway.

Am I the only one mad at these idiots!

Here’s the best way to avoid scams: Always assume any unsolicited contact is a scam. It’s really getting that bad. Go online and search for the company name or a unique phrase and the word scam. For example, a quick search for Union Workers Credit Services scam would reveal many people talking about this evil, wicked company. Hopefully, this blog post will help.