Software help desk

In an early morning blog post Friday, Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner announced that final field testing of the company’s Web browser ballot screen for European Windows customers (XP, Vista, and Windows 7) is under way now. The goal is to have a fully operational ballot screen by March 1 a week from Monday.”External testing of the choice screen will begin next week in three countries: the United Kingdom, Belgium and France,” Heiner reported. “Anyone in those countries who wishes to test it can download the browser choice screen software update from Windows Update.

We plan to begin a phased roll-out of the update across Europe the week of March 1.”Heiner’s post offered two very small renditions of what the browser ballot should look like. A careful study of these photos by Betanews indicates that these screenshots might not have been taken consecutively, assuming Heiner’s description is accurate. As the rollout is currently being planned, Windows-based PC whose update features are set to automatic, will download the program that gives users the browser choice.

At next bootup, if any version of Internet Explorer is pinned to the Windows 7 taskbar, it will be automatically unpinned.

The screenshots show Windows 7. We do not know whether Vista-based systems with IE attached to their Quick Launch bars (a feature replaced in Win7 by the new taskbar) will unattach these icons as well, although since the process by which a program pins and unpins icons to these two devices is similar, it’s safe to forecast that Vista users will notice IE icons missing as well.

This will not mean IE is uninstalled. After the user reads the introductory screen (which explains why IE was unpinned, and gives the user an option to pin it back), the ballot screen appears.

Here, just as Microsoft’s previous public rendition of the browser ballot indicated, the world’s top five Windows Web browser titles will appear in equally-sized vertical slots along the top row, with a second group of randomly organized titles made visible by scrolling to the right. What’s different about this latest rendition (we apologize for the screenshot not being any larger or clearer) is that the obvious Internet Explorer controls, including the menu bar and search bar, are removed from this ballot.

I'm doing a Ms. Swan from MADtv video project in which she goes to a math class. Here is the script. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Any ideas, jokes, and critisisms welcome. Math Skit Mrs. Swan in Algebra 2 Characters: Mrs. Swan/Eve Teacher/James Student 1/ Nick Student 2/ Josh Scene: classroom, Teacher is teaching a lesson to the class, both students at their desks. Teacher: “…and so you see class, you can use the quadratic formula to find the solution to a quadratic equation.” [Swan comes in though door] Teacher: Excuse me, can I help you? Swan: Yeah, no. Teacher: Can you tell me what your problem is? Swan: Yeah, yeah. Ms. Swan tell you everyting. Teacher: Swan—oh right! You must be the new student. [turns to class] Attention class, this is Bunny Swan from Kuvaria. Swan: [corrects him] Kuvária. Teacher: Well, since you were late for class, I'm going to need to see a tardy slip. Swan: Hey, you call Ms. Swan a tard? Teacher: No. You know—a tardy slip explaining why you were late. Swan: Oh, okay, tardy slip. You no say that before. Teacher: [growing frustrated] Okay, well I'm saying it now. [Swan rummages through her bag, pulls out a dollar bill, and hands it to the teacher, winks] Teacher: W-What? Are you trying to bribe me? Swan: No, that’s my tardy slip. And there’s plenty more where that come from big boy. Teacher: [Pockets dollar] Okay, fine. Just take a seat please. [Swan sits down between the two students] Teacher: Okay class, clear off your desks, it’s time to take our quiz. [Teacher hands out quizzes, close-up on problem] Swan: [looking confused] W-What is this? Teacher: I’m sorry? Swan: It’s all letters; I tell you, Math is 1-2-3 not A-B-C. Teacher: Well, I'm telling you, in algebra, letters represent numbers. You need to use the quadratic formula to find the vertex. Swan: Yeah, okay. Teacher: Alright? [Teacher goes back to desk] [Swan looks over shoulder of student #1, who notices, and Swan looks back] Student #1: [whispers] Stop looking at my paper. Swan: What? Student #1: You were looking at my quiz. Swan: No, no. [shakes head] [Swan looks at student #1 quiz again. Student #1 raises hand and teacher comes over] Teacher: What is it? Student 1: This lady’s trying to cheat off me. [Teacher faces Swan] Teacher: Ms. Swan, were you cheating off him? Swan: No, he cheat off me. Student #1: What? But she- Swan: Whoa, slow down, Speedy Gonzales. You need to take a chill pill. [Swan & Student #1 argue] Teacher: [at Student #1] Get back to work. Give me your quiz. [Teacher tries to pick up Swan’s quiz, but Swan holds on to it. They play tug-of-war until Teacher yells, “Let go!”] Teacher: [reads aloud] “Ms. Swan is very pretty.” These aren’t even real answers. Swan: Hey, that my answer. You try to cheat me off? Teacher: Are you sure you’re supposed to be in this class? What math class did you take last year? Algebra II or Geometry? Swan: Okay, I tell you. Mmmmmm… Algeometra II. Teacher: What are you talking about? That’s not even a class. [Swan raises hand] Teacher: What? Swan: What? Teacher: You raised your hand. Swan: No I didn’t. [Swan raises hand again] Teacher: What? Swan: When does class end? [Bell rings, scene end] I don't need sarcastic remarks. If it is bad, just tell me

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Have a friend who retired from Navy last year. He served as IT Project Manager, Help Desk Manager and System Administrator. He is having a problem getting work in the IT field because his BA is in Liberal Arts and he just completed MS in Management from university of Phoenix online. Are there certifications in IT field that woud increase his marketability in the IT field? Any other suggestions?

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