opus:interactive | If These Servers Could Talk

by Jeremy Sherwood

Walking into Interop in Las Vegas reminded me very much of a big kids’ Disneyland. The lights, the overly large gimmicks that scream “Look at me! Look at me!” It really was sensory overload. Looking back on the event I can still remember the booths that really made an impression. There was a lot of good swag, and of course the cheap booths that attempt to persuade you with a simple little 25-cent plastic clapper (although my 1-year-old digs the plastic clapper).

Booths that made a lasting impression despite the products or services they were selling were the booths that didn’t make you feel like you were dealing with trashy used car salesmen.

I think the booths that made a lasting impression despite the products or services they were selling were the booths that didn’t make you feel like you were dealing with trashy used car salesmen. A good example is Qwest. Although they are a big player they really invited you over to their booth to play multiplayer Half-Life2, which Eric and I played for multiple rounds, fragging each other as well as 12 strangers. (The opus boys were in the top five every game we played.) The booth was very inviting, with no real sales hook to buy or sign up for anything. It was just “come and experience what Qwest broadband can do for you and your business.” The speaker was optional, and most of it was about Qwest providing bandwidth to the whole conference. I thought it was really well done.

A different aspect of Interop that was really nice was the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the vendors we work with. After spending almost two whole days with David from GTA on the phone/RDP completing our Firewall certifications, it was nice to put a face with a name and experience. The other great thing about meeting with GTA was speaking with their president. He was very personable, but more than that he was very interested in the things we wanted changed for the better. He truly expressed the desire to receive negative as well as positive feedback. That really reassured me that they are a great partner to have.

All in all, Interop itself really brought home that we are doing the right things and heading in the right direction. There wasn’t anything that jumped out and said, “Oh man, you better do this or change this. You are behind the curve.” In reality, most everything said, “ You guys are ahead of the curve.” Which is great to hear.

Last but not least: Las Vegas. What an interesting place. Where the people are proud to say, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I never thought that would be something to be proud of. We saw Old Town Vegas, spray paint artists, and the million-LED walkway (cool technology, poor use of it). We almost got Nuss to take his picture with two guys from Chippendales to send home— now that would have been funny. We rode one too many monorails, walked more than any human should have to, ate way to much heavy food, never slept enough, inhaled well beyond some legal limit of second-hand smoke, and, most importantly, enjoyed every minute of it.

This script will change the ownership of user objects in the target database to the specified user.

This situation often occurs when importing a database from another SQL server where a user account existed that does not, and will not exist on the new SQL server.

Run this script to update user object ownership before clearing the old/incorrect user from the database.

This script could be turned into a stored procedure as well and accept the new username as a passed parameter.

There are multiple ways to do this some of which are probably more glamorous – but hey, it works.

——————————————————————————

/*
This script will change the ownership of user objects in the target database to the specified user.
This situation often occurs when importing a database from another SQL server where a user account existed that does not, and will not exist on the new SQL server.
Run this script to update user object ownership before clearing the old/incorrect user from the database.
*/

SET NOCOUNT ON

/* Set the new owner name here in place of the ‘dbo’ user */
DECLARE @New_Owner_Name Sysname
SET @New_Owner_Name = ‘dbo’

DECLARE @Object_ID Int, @Object_Name Sysname, @Owner_ID Int, @Owner_Name Sysname, @Owner_Object_Name Sysname
DECLARE CUR_ReplaceObjectOwner CURSOR FOR

/* Run this select query by itself to see the set of user objects you are working with */
SELECT so.id AS “Object ID”, so.name AS “Object Name”, so.uid AS “Owner ID”, su.name AS “Owner Name”, ‘[' + su.name + '].’ + ‘[' + so.name + ']‘ AS “Owner + Object Name”
FROM sysobjects so, sysusers su
WHERE so.uid = su.uid
AND so.xtype IN (’U',’P',’FN’,'V’)
AND so.name NOT LIKE ‘%dt_%’
AND so.name NOT IN (’syssegments’, ’sysconstraints’)
ORDER BY xtype

/* Get the results from the query and load the first row into the cursor */
OPEN CUR_ReplaceObjectOwner
FETCH NEXT FROM CUR_ReplaceObjectOwner
INTO @Object_ID, @Object_Name, @Owner_ID, @Owner_Name, @Owner_Object_Name

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
IF @New_Owner_Name != @Owner_Name
/* Make the object owner change here */
EXEC sp_changeobjectowner @Owner_Object_Name, @New_Owner_Name

/* Load the next row into the cursor */
FETCH NEXT FROM CUR_ReplaceObjectOwner
INTO @Object_ID, @Object_Name, @Owner_ID, @Owner_Name, @Owner_Object_Name
END

/* Clean up */
CLOSE CUR_ReplaceObjectOwner
DEALLOCATE CUR_ReplaceObjectOwner
SET NOCOUNT OFF

GO

——————————————————————————

We first heard about it this morning around 9AM on the news that runs in our Network Operations Center (NOC). We were impressed by the feature set and capabilities that the new iPhone provides. Wow! Widescreen video, music, phone, Bluetooth, wireless and more… Stunning UI work by Apple on this beauty. I can’t believe the resolution on the screen. 160ppi on a 3.5 touch screen is very slick. I can say definitively that I will be replacing my Sprint PPC-6700 with this sweet gem come June of 2007 for $599… Incredible.
More details can be seen here: http://www.apple.com/iphone

P.S. check out the demos…

We all know that providing personal information over the internet is unwise. We take precautions when shopping online, covet our privacy when visiting chat rooms and enlist services to avoid hacking. But internet scammers have a new method to lure unsuspecting victims when “casting about” for private financial information—they go “phishing.”

Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive personal information. Internet “phishermen” enlist this information via emails that may already arrive regularly in your mailbox.
The emails are specially formatted to deceive you into thinking that a legitimate company—possibly one that you conduct business with—is requesting necessary personal information. In truth, these emails are designed to help you unwittingly send information to identity thieves.

Don’t Take the Bait:
There are several ways to recognize a phishing email.
First, be aware of common phishing scams. Many come from scammers imitating Ebay, PayPal and government agencies.  One example is Regulations.gov, a legitimate agency operated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The FTC and other federal agencies use the regulations.gov portal to receive comments from the public regarding proposed rules and regulations. Scammers often use emails resembling regulations.gov because the public generally views governmental agencies as large and legitimate.

Second, know what to look for. There are a few specific elements that should draw a red flag, such as a link within the email that doesn’t lead to its original site.  Once you click on a link, always check the address bar of your browser to be sure you are on the company’s original web site. Another indicator might be when a “return” email address doesn’t match the displayed email address when you are preparing to send your information, This means your return email is being rerouted to an unscrupulous mailbox.  You might also receive several copies of the same email, common practice for phishing scammers who don’t often check their target lists for repeat email addresses. Emails that seem unusually insistent or threatening should also be a warning. Scammers know that Intimidation can be a successful method for soliciting information.

But the simplest way to alleviate phishing scams is to avoid sending personal and financial information altogether. Any request for information via email should be questioned. If you get an unexpected email from a company or government agency asking for your personal information, contact the company or agency cited in the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine. You might also cross-check the company of origin by starting a new Internet session and typing in the Web address to be sure it leads to a legitimate company.

Hook, Line and Sinker:
If you have already given your credit card or banking information in response to a suspicious email, notify your Credit Card Company or bank immediately so they can monitor your accounts. If you provided your Social Security number, contact one of the three national consumer reporting agencies to request fraud alert. Finally, visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site (www.consumer.gov/idtheft) to file a complaint and learn more about how to minimize your risk identity theft.