The Test Exchange Connectivity tool was giving me the following error:
Failed to Obtain autodiscover XML response.
Additional Details
None of the Expected XML Elements were found in the XML Response
The problem was no external Active-sync URL was defined. Add the URL and restart IIS services.
set-ExternalURL https://domain.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
I'm not going to go into an in-depth howto with this, but instead give an overview and point you to the resources needed to complete the project. Given how this works, you're going to need a computer or server that is always on. I use an Ubunutu server to serve media and websites, but this can be accomplished on Windows, FreeBSD, or any other Debian Linux system like Ubuntu.
First, we need to download/install Privoxy. There is a change that needs to be made to the default config. Jump into the config file and edit "listen-address localhost:8118" to reflect your server's IP. For example: listen-address 10.0.1.100:8118. Restart the service to have the changes take affect.
Grab your iPad or other machine you want to block ads on and go to the network settings. Somewhere around there, you will find the configuration for a proxy. Select HTTP proxy. If you can't find it, just Google "set up proxy on {device name/browser name}."
Enter your proxy IP and port (8118 by default) and save. All done! Now you can browse on your iPad, ad-free!
Tip: Privoxy by default replaces image ads with a checkered image. I think it's unsightly, but they've done it for a good reason. To remove (on Ubunutu), edit the user.action file and toward the bottom, right under "{ +set-image-blocker{blank} }," remove the # in front of the /. That uncomments that line and uses the blank image for all ads. Restart service for changes to take affect.
ProTip: AdBlock has some very good block lists for ads, and it's what you're probably already using for your browser. Andrwe has written a great script to parse those block lists and add them to Privoxy. Great stuff. Just download the script from his site, sudo chmod +x ./privoxy-blocklist, and execute. Easy as that.
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill
I've recently noticed that pages seem to get hung while loading the 1,000,000 social media buttons for every single post on each site. It became very frustrating to me, so I set out to find a way to block the buttons. The solution was easy enough... a block list in AdBlock. If you're not using AdBlock, you should.
Add this block list in AdBlock's preferences: https://monzta.maltekraus.de/adblock_social.txt
All done. Now to share links, I do it the old-fashioned way, copy and paste or bookmarklets. Happy faster surfing!
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America ’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America ’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
- Senator Barack H. Obama , March 2006
An old song, but a truly timeless message.
Android Central says it's nabbed an official document laying out the brand new Verizon data plans scheduled to take effect next month, and there's good news for those of you currently using an iPhone on Verizon with an unlimited plan: It looks like you'll be grandfathered in.
We weren't quite sure if that would happen yesterday, but if this document is real, Verizon will be going the way of AT&T and allowing those with unlimited data plans to keep them (presumably as long as they're not changed or added on to any other deals).
Elsewhere on the deals, the smartphone plan will start at 2GB for $30 a month, up to 10GB bandwidth for $80 a month. Mobile hotspot access costs $20 a month extra for 2GB on the hotspot.
Unlimited plans will still be available up to July 7, and those unlimited plans will continue even when you upgrade your phone in the future. So if you want to get in on an unlimited plan before the caps get put in, now's the time to do it. We'll keep ears open for official confirmation on this one, and you can read all the details over here.
[via Engadget]
Get on the train while you can!
White iPhone 4
A new Tennessee law makes it a crime to "transmit or display an image" online that is likely to "frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress" to someone who sees it. Violations can get you almost a year in jail time or up to $2500 in fines.
The Tennessee legislature has been busy updating its laws for the Internet age, and not always for the better. Last week we reported on a bill that updated Tennessee's theft-of-service laws to include "subscription entertainment services" like Netflix.
The ban on distressing images, which was signed by Gov. Bill Haslam last week, is also an update to existing law. Tennessee law already made it a crime to make phone calls, send emails, or otherwise communicate directly with someone in a manner the sender "reasonably should know" would "cause emotional distress" to the recipient. If the communciation lacked a "legitimate purpose," the sender faced jail time.
The new legislation adds images to the list of communications that can trigger criminal liability. But for image postings, the "emotionally distressed" individual need not be the intended recipient. Anyone who sees the image is a potential victim. If a court decides you "should have known" that an image you posted would be upsetting to someone who sees it, you could face months in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
If you think that sounds unconstitutional, you're not alone. In a blog post, constitutional scholar Eugene Volokh points out just how broad the legislation is. The law doesn't require that the picture be of the "victim," nor would the government need to prove that you intended the image to be distressing. Volokh points out that a wide variety of images, "pictures of Mohammed, or blasphemous jokes about Jesus Christ, or harsh cartoon insults of some political group," could “cause emotional distress to a similarly situated person of reasonable sensibilities,” triggering liability. He calls the bill "pretty clearly unconstitutional."
Another provision of the legislation governs law enforcement access to the contents of communications on social networking sites. The government can get access to "images or communications" posted to a social networking site by offering "specific and articulable facts," suggesting that the information sought is "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."
This section, too, faces constitutional problems. Julian Sanchez, a privacy scholar at the Cato Institute, tells Ars that "this is a lower standard than the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act requires" for unread communications. More importantly, because Tennessee is in the Sixth Circuit, it is bound by that court's Warshak decision, which held that the Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a full search warrant in order to access e-mail communications. "That case dealt with e-mail," Sanchez said, "but there's no good reason to think a private message on a social network site is any different."
Rep. Charles Curtiss, the lead sponsor of the legislation, did not respond to our request for comment.
Further reading
Not much to look at, but I was given the opportunity to go to my first VMware conference in Atlanta today. I learned a good bit and met some really bright people.
