Articles, technical notes, and essays from Jason Vallery.https://vallery.net/en-ushttps://vallery.net/writing/2013/07/10/email-marketshare/https://vallery.net/writing/2013/07/10/email-marketshare/I used aggregate domain counts from MineMyMail to estimate webmail account share in 2013. The result measured addresses seen by the tool, not active users.Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/11/01/why-do-we-use-pulse-at-neudesic-the-four-pillars-of-enterprise-social-networking/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/11/01/why-do-we-use-pulse-at-neudesic-the-four-pillars-of-enterprise-social-networking/I reduced the enterprise-social use cases I had seen to four practical groups: culture, knowledge discovery, innovation, and identity and recognition.Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/08/22/windows-8-activation-oddity/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/08/22/windows-8-activation-oddity/Windows 8 Enterprise installed without asking for a key, then failed activation with error 0x8007232B. I used slmgr to replace the default key and documented the three-step fix.Wed, 22 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/08/16/client-integration-in-sharepoint-2010-issue/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/08/16/client-integration-in-sharepoint-2010-issue/Office documents opened read-only in one SharePoint environment but not another. Fiddler exposed a blocked WebDAV OPTIONS request, and removing the verb restriction fixed it.Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/07/31/quick-powershell-one-liner-for-finding-lowest-latency-domain-controller/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/07/31/quick-powershell-one-liner-for-finding-lowest-latency-domain-controller/I needed the domain controller with the lowest latency for LDAP requests. These PowerShell one-liners tested response time and verified that port 389 was reachable.Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/06/26/quickly-convert-tif-files-to-jpg-in-bulk-using-powershell/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/06/26/quickly-convert-tif-files-to-jpg-in-bulk-using-powershell/I had a CD full of TIF files that needed to go on a website. A few lines of PowerShell converted every file to JPG in place.Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/05/16/comparing-office-365-and-google-apps/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/05/16/comparing-office-365-and-google-apps/After moving my own domain from Google Apps to Office 365, I compared the two by migration effort, DNS control, features, cost, and the customer each product actually served.Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/05/09/terrible-customer-service-from-microsoft/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/05/09/terrible-customer-service-from-microsoft/A defective Windows Phone sent us between Microsoft, AT&T, and HTC without a workable replacement. I documented what happened and added the resolution when the store manager called.Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/04/27/organizing-your-music-with-powershell/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/04/27/organizing-your-music-with-powershell/Our music was spread across computers, backups, and old iTunes libraries. I used PowerShell and TagLib# to deduplicate it and rebuild a consistent artist, album, and title hierarchy.Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/02/03/building-a-near-silent-pc/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/02/03/building-a-near-silent-pc/I spent most weekdays in my office and was tired of listening to a loud workstation. I selected and tested the components for a powerful PC that was nearly silent.Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/02/03/organizing-lots-of-pictures/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/02/03/organizing-lots-of-pictures/Years of digital photos had become a mess of folders and duplicates. I used EXIF dates, MD5 hashes, and PowerShell to rename, deduplicate, and sort the files.Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/01/26/and-were-back-on-wordpress/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/01/26/and-were-back-on-wordpress/My SharePoint blogging experiment exposed problems with spam control, URLs, and anonymous comments. I moved the site back to WordPress and explained why.Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2012/01/26/blog-migration-to-sharepoint/https://vallery.net/writing/2012/01/26/blog-migration-to-sharepoint/I moved my WordPress blog to hosted SharePoint because I wanted to use the product I worked with every day. This is the migration, branding, sandbox, and hosting work behind the experiment.Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2011/01/13/disable-email-notifications-in-sharepoint-2010/https://vallery.net/writing/2011/01/13/disable-email-notifications-in-sharepoint-2010/SharePoint 2010 enabled profile email notifications by default. I used PowerShell to turn them off in an environment where that default created too much noise.Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/11/30/enumerating-user-profile-property-fields-in-sharepoint-2010-with-powershell/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/11/30/enumerating-user-profile-property-fields-in-sharepoint-2010-with-powershell/I wrote a PowerShell script that connects to the SharePoint 2010 User Profile Service and enumerates every profile property field and its settings.Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/09/using-powershell-and-the-directorysearched-class/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/09/using-powershell-and-the-directorysearched-class/I needed the LDAP distinguished name for a user in a trusted remote domain. This PowerShell example uses DirectorySearcher to find it.Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/08/why-i-dont-recycle-paper/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/08/why-i-dont-recycle-paper/A disagreement at work led me to examine the environmental case for recycling paper, plastic, glass, and metal. This is the conclusion I reached in 2010.Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/06/my-impression-of-the-ipad-after-72-hours/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/06/my-impression-of-the-ipad-after-72-hours/After using the first iPad in my normal routine for 72 hours, I revisited my initial concerns and described where it was already replacing a laptop.Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/05/my-first-impression-of-the-ipad/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/05/my-first-impression-of-the-ipad/After 24 hours with the first iPad, I wrote down what worked, what did not, and what surprised me about the hardware, charging, apps, media, and storage.Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/01/activating-features-in-bulk-on-the-mysite-with-powershell/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/01/activating-features-in-bulk-on-the-mysite-with-powershell/A client needed to activate SharePoint MySite features in controlled batches. I wrote a PowerShell script that skipped completed sites and picked up where the prior run stopped.Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/01/using-powershell-to-set-ssp-profile-properties/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/04/01/using-powershell-to-set-ssp-profile-properties/I needed to reset one SharePoint SSP profile property for every user. This PowerShell script enumerated the profiles and applied the change.Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2010/03/22/my-response-to-the-new-healthcare-legislation/https://vallery.net/writing/2010/03/22/my-response-to-the-new-healthcare-legislation/I argued my 2010 libertarian view of the new healthcare law, individual responsibility, and the proper role of government.Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2008/10/28/my-solution-for-reading-rss-across-several-computers-and-an-iphone/https://vallery.net/writing/2008/10/28/my-solution-for-reading-rss-across-several-computers-and-an-iphone/I wanted read state and subscriptions to follow me across several computers and an iPhone. This is the NewsGator, FeedDemon, and NetNewsWire setup I used.Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2008/09/10/compare-apple-tv-shows-in-standard-and-high-definition/https://vallery.net/writing/2008/09/10/compare-apple-tv-shows-in-standard-and-high-definition/I compared the same Apple TV episode in standard and high definition to see what the extra money and storage actually bought.Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2008/02/05/the-future-of-american-politics-what-do-ron-paul-supporters-do-after-he-loses/https://vallery.net/writing/2008/02/05/the-future-of-american-politics-what-do-ron-paul-supporters-do-after-he-loses/I asked what Ron Paul supporters should do after the 2008 campaign and argued for building a durable political movement outside one candidate.Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2008/02/01/using-amazon-s3-to-automatically-backup-your-mac/https://vallery.net/writing/2008/02/01/using-amazon-s3-to-automatically-backup-your-mac/Time Machine protected me from a failed disk, but not a failed house. I combined local backups with Amazon S3 to create an automated off-site copy.Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2008/01/20/extracting-emails-from-gmail-and-google-apps-for-domains/https://vallery.net/writing/2008/01/20/extracting-emails-from-gmail-and-google-apps-for-domains/I wanted the useful contact history buried in my Gmail mailbox, so I built a tool to extract, rank, deduplicate, and export email addresses. That utility later became MineMyMail.Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/11/27/the-death-of-the-local-newspaper/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/11/27/the-death-of-the-local-newspaper/When my local newspaper had no useful RSS feed, I built one. The project led me to ask what a local paper needed to become if readers were already assembling their own news.Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/05/17/debug-your-outbound-post-and-get-requests/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/05/17/debug-your-outbound-post-and-get-requests/I needed to see the exact POST and GET data an application was sending to a remote service. This small PHP request-echo tool made the hidden request visible.Thu, 17 May 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/05/04/libertarian-point-of-view-on-digital-rights-management/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/05/04/libertarian-point-of-view-on-digital-rights-management/I worked through a conflict between property rights and consumer rights in digital media. The useful part is that I did not pretend to have a clean answer.Fri, 04 May 2007 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/26/review-of-penn-and-teller-bullshit-immigration/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/26/review-of-penn-and-teller-bullshit-immigration/I reviewed Penn and Teller’s immigration episode and argued my 2007 view of borders, labor, citizenship, and individual freedom.Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/24/gun-control-in-america/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/24/gun-control-in-america/I made the libertarian case I held in 2007 about gun ownership, individual rights, and government power. The essay remains a historical position, not a current platform.Tue, 24 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/10/10-steps-to-organize-your-digital-life-on-os-x-and-windows/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/10/10-steps-to-organize-your-digital-life-on-os-x-and-windows/I laid out the system I used to organize files, email, passwords, photos, music, bookmarks, and backups across OS X and Windows. It will not help anyone find their car keys.Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/05/outsourcing-to-india-the-other-perspective/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/05/outsourcing-to-india-the-other-perspective/After a two-week business trip to Delhi, I tried to reconcile the human reality I saw with the way American companies discussed outsourcing. This is the argument I made in 2007.Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/05/penn-and-teller-bullshit-wal-mart/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/04/05/penn-and-teller-bullshit-wal-mart/I used a Penn and Teller episode as a starting point for a 2007 argument about Wal-Mart, consumer choice, and the effect of large retailers on small communities.Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMTopinionhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/27/what-is-web-30-a-review-of-the-icwsm/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/27/what-is-web-30-a-review-of-the-icwsm/I used the 2007 International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media to ask what people meant by Web 3.0. My answer focused on social data, identity, and machines learning from human behavior.Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/26/optimizing-wordpress-and-lamp-to-survive-the-digg-effect/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/26/optimizing-wordpress-and-lamp-to-survive-the-digg-effect/A front-page Digg link could overwhelm a small WordPress server. I walked through the Apache, PHP, MySQL, caching, and template changes I used to keep the site alive.Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/26/scalable-story-promotion/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/26/scalable-story-promotion/I worked through a promotion model for Pligg that adjusted to traffic instead of using one fixed vote threshold. The post explains the variables and tradeoffs behind the idea.Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnicalhttps://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/23/setting-up-an-automated-workflow-to-convert-files-for-apple-tv-on-os-x/https://vallery.net/writing/2007/03/23/setting-up-an-automated-workflow-to-convert-files-for-apple-tv-on-os-x/I needed a repeatable way to convert video files and move them into iTunes for a new Apple TV. This is the folder-action workflow I built with QuickTime Pro and Automator.Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMTtechnical