I feel very strongly about how Facebook continually forces users to be less secure by default.

Let me show you what I mean.

• Facebook Social Plugin is used on over 100,000 websites
• Facebook already has the “Only Me” option, but unless you look for it very hard, you will not find it

All I want Facebook to do is to add the “Only Me” option as a one-click button to instantly secure your account.

Most users don’t realize how much Facebook shares by default.  As the service continues to envelop the globe, it’s becoming a de-facto database potentially containing every human on Earth.

I don’t think I am out of line when I suggest that some of them might want to keep their privacy and have the option to share data sporadically.

To that extent, I posted a comment on Techcrunch http://tcrn.ch/bhrw4T and got attacked for being ridiculous to apply a “secure by default” concept to social media.

However, I happen to own a startup that is acutely focused on security. One of the problems we solve is data disclosure. Thus, I am aware of what happens when wrong data becomes published.

Sooner or later, a high profile case will highlight this point.

A simple example could be this.

You apply for a job. You don’t want to show up on their radar screens, so you lock down your social media accounts. You are hired, and you unlock them.

Another example could be getting your parents on Facebook.

They don’t know how far-reaching it is. So setup a sandbox for them until they are ready to figure out how to adjust privacy settings.

Facebook should offer the option of “Only Me” as one of its default options. “Friends Only” is not enough. We make “friends” in social games who might not necessarily be very friendly.

I have about 400 friends on my Facebook account. Out of them, only 12 are in my “Real Friends” list. The rest are casual contacts. They shouldn’t see a lot of data my real friends are entitle to access.

In the spirit of Eric Ligman, who always comes up with crazy ways to get customers with fewer than 5 employees enrolled into Open Value volume license agreements (did you hear the one about using $8 licenses for Office Mobile to open an Open Business agreement http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2010/03/18/microsoft-open-license-basics-the-8-way-into-microsoft-volume-licensing.aspx), I decided to illustrate some of my creative ways to save customers lots of money when deploying servers.

I’ve been thinking how to save my customers the most amount of money when buying servers.

Traditionally, as a consultant I am expected to do this:

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Simply put, Microsoft Software Assurance really allows you to get the support you need when you need it.

It is expensive to support older software. Professionals like me have a huge knowledge base about the product, but after a while all that version-specific knowledge fades away. We forget the tricky workarounds to bugs, we assume that a feature from the newer version was present in the old software, and in general what takes 5 minutes to troubleshoot on a current version takes over an hour on older software.

Sure, I can support Microsoft Exchange 5.5 server. I can also support Novell NetWare 3.12. How many others do you think can do it anymore without doing extensive research? Do I really want to support Exchange 5.5 and all its limitations?

Another example is Microsoft Office. Many innovations happen on that platform. Yet as new platforms get rolled out, older software is no longer supported on them. Outlook 2002/XP can’t remember POP3 account passwords on Vista and Windows 7. The older version uses API that is simply not in Windows 7 anymore. The new API was introduced in 2001. 3rd party add-ins are rarely updated for older releases.

Software assurance + Open Value is actually a cheaper way to license Microsoft’s software. You typically get two or three versions of the product. Buying Windows Server releases without enrolling it into Software Assurance is again not a very smart thing to do. As soon as you introduce the next version of Windows Server 2008 into your network, your Server 2003 CALs are no longer valid. A software assurance customer gets replacement CALs automatically. A customer who is not enrolled in SA must purchase these CALs at full price again. This is not very painful on Windows Server, but SQL Server and Exchange CALs are very expensive and cost hundreds of dollars per user. There are no upgrade CALs available.

Open Value, which includes Software Assurance, comes with extra benefits. You get elearning training for your products. You get cold server standby license. One of the most valuable benefits, however, is ability to pay for your licenses in 3 annual payments. Think of it as interest-free financing.

I can open an Open Value Software Assurance volume license account for any customer for as little as $40. While it is true that you need to have at least 5 licenses to start, there are licensing tricks that most people don’t know about.

Next time you are buying a server, think about not paying Dell’s OEM fee, but instead to license it through Open Value license. However, even if you do buy an OEM server, enrolling it into SA gives you similar benefits to as it you bought it through Open Value in the first place.

As of this writing, one of my favorite products Microsoft Outlook 2010 with BCM is slated to only be available to volume customers in both Office 2010 Standard and Office 2010 Professional Plus SKUs. I will work with existing BCM customers to setup a volume customer account even if they have fewer than 5 employees.

In short, if you wish to save money using Microsoft software, you will benefit from opening a volume license agreement. Talk to me about how this really works. We also have financing and subsidies available.

As of this writing, you can buy Office 2007 today and get Office 2010 free.

I am a Microsoft licensing expert who knows a frightening number of ways how to save on software licensing. For example, I can setup a web server with Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server for less than $1000 for unlimited number of users. Talk to me today. 510-282-1008

A little birdie known as Microsoft Partner Program dropped this package at my door step

In it I have a lovely3x6′ banner proclaiming that I am a Microsoft Small Business Specialist. That’s not as obnoxious as my 4×8′ Vista launch tour banner though.

I also got a DVD named “Windows Foundation Server 2008R2″. I decided to investigate what it is.

After all, I just got some seriously nice hardware (two quad xeon 3.66Ghz IBM x366 servers with a 6-drive SAS array and 8GB RAM) and can finally play with 64-bit applications.

I ran into one interesting road block when I tried to find pricing for this product. It’s not really available in any form except as when purchased from an OEM such as Dell or HP.

I knew it would be cheap, but Dell is selling this for $279.

Let me give you an idea what a tremendous value this product is. It is a full-featured and mostly unrestricted Windows 2008 Server product that can host any Windows Server application.

Most Microsoft products require what are known as CALs (client access licenses). This product, priced at an incredible $279, comes with 15 built-in CALs.

Here is what it costs to get a Windows Server 2008 for 15 users through other means.

Windows Server 2008 Standard (5 CAL) - $726
Windows Server 2008 CALs (10 users) – $300

Grand total for Windows Server 2008 – $1026

Small Business Server 2008 Standard (5 CALs) – $952
Small Business Server 2008 (10 CALs) – $674

Grand total for SBS 2008 Standard – $1626

As you can see, Windows Foundation Server 2008R2 is a tremendous value. It’s about $1026 worth of technology available for less than $300 when you buy a new low-end server.

It has some minor limitations (supports single socket CPU although it will support all cores if you have a quad-core chip, it can’t have more than 15 users, there is the limit of 30 SMB concurrent connections, can’t have children or be a child, and a few other restrictions), but businesses with fewer than 15 users are ideally positioned to use this product.

Personally, I love the SBS product. I have been selling  and supporting it for over a decade now. Microsoft hit the jackpot with the SBS 2003 release. It is a not a very cheap product and many things can go wrong if an unqualified person attempts to make some changes.

Now, however, my advice to microbusinesses is to reduce complexity. Get the Foundation Server so all your workstations start to talk to each other in the domain, and add Exchange and Sharepoint services hosted by Microsoft Online Services. This way the business owner can keep relatively manageable services on-site, but things that require substantial expertise such as Sharepoint and Exchange can be handled by experts.

Microsoft calls it the Business Productivity Online Suite.

While a complete description of what BPOS is deserves its own article, in a nutshell you pay $10/mo/user and Microsoft hosts your Exchange and Outlook services.

Want to try Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite? It’s free for 30 days and no credit card is required.

I loved auditioning for Season 5 in Seattle

My episode featuring Los Angeles and Seattle auditions originally aired on 5/28/09 at 8pm local time.

During the course of filming, I have met some amazing people and witnessed how a major TV show gets produced. I keep secrets well. To the best of my knowledge, no one leaked anything about tonight’s battle.

I would like to thank you for watching the episode featuring me vs. Sex in a dramatic dance-off battle.

I hope you found it as hilarious as I did when the producer suggested it would be fun to shoot.

At the time I initially declined the offer, that was a genuine non-staged answer. It took a little bit of convincing (more…)

Your humble cell phone now has the power to connect you with every one of your business contacts without awkwardness or annoying them, regardless of how long ago you last communicated.

What happens to the business cards we get at networking events?

Admit it, most of us barely stay in touch after we meet at such events. Now that Twitter is fast becoming a mainstream communications tool, it is likely that the person whom you just met already has an account. It may not be an active account and she may be wondering (more…)

On my 1280×1024 screen, Twhirl fits 13 messages at a time. TweetDeck and other tools like it show even fewer messages.

TweetDeck fits only 9 messages per screen, for example

The mobile device clients can handle maybe 7 messages or maybe even fewer. PockeTwit is 4 messages, Twikini is 5 messages.  If you continually fill that space with filler content or (more…)

If you have been following my Twitter stream for a while, you may have noticed I that exclusively use bit.ly for my links

If you were especially paying attention, you also noticed that I sometimes replace the Tinyurl and is.gd links with bit.ly links when I re-tweet someone’s interesting thoughts and links. I also use #hashtags extensively when I either produce or re-tweet content.

In fact, every single link in this article is a bit.ly link.

Click to Re-Tweet about this article to your friends

Why would I go through all this trouble?

Because most URL shortening services do not (more…)

Twitter Hashtags bring you new followers highly interested in your subject

What are hashtags

Hashtags are words on Twitter prefixed with the # character. Just as @ has a special meaning, so does #. I can write “I like to listen to music”. That will show up a Twitter search if I look for music. I can also write “I like to listen to #music”. This will show up only for a search for #music.

We use #hashtags to tag specific bits of information on Twitter to make it easier to find. For example, I like to post pre-sale password information about upcoming concerts. Others like to talk about #fashion #business and everyone’s favorite (more…)