Found this web page that has sample queries for TSM.

This page has a collection of useful SQL statements for IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM). Here you can find out a lot of selects that will help you to get information from TSM and to construct your own SQL statements.

SQL for Tivoli Storage Manager

 Now this is funny...  you can buy your own chain mail shirt....

Tips on Wearing Your New Chain Mail:
In case you weren't aware, chain mail does not stretch. You cannot put it on one arm at a time like a fabric shirt. Instead lay the chain mail flat on the ground, bend over and thrust both arms into the bottom of the shirt. Work your hands through to the end of the sleeves and then begin to stand-up. Get your head through the neck hole and let the chain mail slide down your body. If you have long hair, make sure to tie up your hair before you wear the chain mail. Otherwise it could get tangled in your hair. You might feel a bit claustrophobic when first wearing the chain mail... but don't worry you won't get stuck. PLEASE wear a shirt or some other garment underneath the chain mail. The edges of the rings where they are joined together are a bit rough and can scratch you.

ThinkGeek :: The ThinkGeek Chain Mail T-Shirt

 I thought this was an interesting perspective on Vista.  He doesn't try to gloss over shortcoming, but he does point out that not all the pains are Microsoft's fault.  I mean really...  Do venders really think if they ignore Microsoft it will just go away?

Does Vista suck?

Though not without its warts, Microsoft's much maligned OS gets the job done for enterprise users

By Oliver Rist

August 22, 2007

Does Vista suck? | InfoWorld | Test Center | August 22, 2007 | By Oliver Rist

 A guy in my office forwarded a link to this company's website.  Very cool system.  I was one of the first people in my office to use dual monitors for my desktop PC.  I find that it greatly enhances my productivity. 

This looks like it would be great for people who do a lot of trade shows, or traveling presentations:

The CinePort Multi-Monitor Laptop External Expansion System

The CinePort is a mobile graphics card that plugs directly into your laptop's PC card port (CardBus) and allows you to add up to four additional displays to your laptop. When combined with your laptop's built-in display and built-in external monitor port, you can run up to six displays from one laptop.

CinePort Multi Monitor Laptop PCMCIA Expansion Adapter

I am responsible for keeping a number of machines (around 900 or so) up to date with all the latest Windows Updates.  Recently I noticed that a number (around 15 or so that I am sure of) weren't installing particular updates.  I have seen this in the past, but the particular updates that wouldn't apply weren't of real concern to me, so I didn't really investigate.  The latest updates were of concern though so I started looking into it.  Here are the errors that I am getting:

Description:
Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070643: Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1.

Description:
The installation of C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\ZNWF10\VS80sp1-KB926601-X86-ENU.msp is not permitted due to an error in software restriction policy processing. The object cannot be trusted.

As you can see, this particular update is for Visual Studio Service Pack 1.  After a little digging, I found this:

http://support.installshield.com/kb/view.asp?articleid=Q111207

It basically says that there is a problem with the way the local security policy is configured.  When I looked, it appeared that the local security Software Restrictions Policy wasn't configured.  I "added" a policy and put the dot in the "All users except local administrators".  After that the install ran fine.

I  was deleting e-mails that I don't read, but would like to when I came across this e-week article.  Wonder if he has stock in storage vendors?

Will We Run Out of Storage?

By David Morgenstern
July 28, 2007
Opinion: Is a capacity shortage looming in the near future for enterprise assets? Maybe so, depending on how one reads the storage white papers and the tea leaves.

Will We Run Out of Storage?

So I was flipping through TechNet Magazine (because it is one of the many magazines that slide across my desk into the stack of "if I ever get time" stuff) and came to the last article in the issue:  "Windows Explorer Doesn't Do Text". 

The article explains the reason that you can't just select a bunch of files and past the list to a text file, and then it explains how to do it in Vista.  It is terribly complicated...  you hold the shift key and right click your selection.  Choose "Copy as Path".  Paste where appropriate.

How cool is that?

I was looking for a way to get a particular graphic, and came across this utility.  I thought it might be useful later.

Background

The general idea is to pull out icons that are embedded resources to DLL's or EXE's. The way it's done is with the old fashioned Win32 API's.

Icon Extractor in VB.NET - The Code Project - VB.NET