PAL 2.0 has recently released the beta of version 2.0.  If you are not familiar with PAL it stands for Performance Analysis Of Logs.  In a nutshell PAL allows you to quickly analyze Windows performance logs and gives you a nice report you can hand to your manager.  The new version of the tool is written in PowerShell 2.0 which makes it very powerful.  I have used the tool several time to troubleshoot complex production issues.  This tool will help make you look like genius by being able to pinpoint the problem and provide pretty pictures.  Please stop by the codeplex project site and check it out.  If you like the tool please drop Clint a quick email and let him know how you are using the tool.

PAL Codeplex Project Site
http://pal.codeplex.com/releases

PAL 2.0 Beta Download
http://pal.codeplex.com/releases/view/46846

Intro To PAL Slide Deck
http://pal.codeplex.com/releases/view/46846#DownloadId=126279

Clint Huffman Talks About PAL On PowerScripting Podcast
http://powerscripting.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/episode-97-clint-huffman-and-his-pal-project/

IT professionals have allot of resources to choose from to get there information.  One of the better sites that I like to check out is talkingaboutwindows.com.  The great part about the site is that it covers a wide range of topics that we deal with on a daily basis.  I also enjoy hearing from IT pros who are my peers to see how they are solving real world business problems.  I strongly encourage you to head on over to talkingaboutwindows.com.  I guarantee that you will learn something new.

Talking About Windows
http://talkingaboutwindows.com/

Microsoft has been doing a great job at releasing new best practice analyzers.  They have now released one for SQL Server 2008 R2.   The analyzer will look at things like event logs, permissions, and SQL metadata.  The BPA will provide recommendations for any warnings or problems.  You can download the BPA by following the link below.

BPA For SQL 2008 R2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=0fd439d7-4bff-4df7-a52f-9a1be8725591

Majestic SEO released their new index on June 1st that includes 19 trillion unique URLs.  Majestic SEO also started offering reporting of EDU and GOV link counts at the domain level in May.  The data for Majestic SEO comes from Majestic 12 which is a distributed computing project that anybody can join.  Stop by the sites to learn more about Majestic SEO and Majestic 12.

Majestic SEO Main Site
http://www.majesticseo.com/

Majestic 12 Main Site
http://www.majestic12.co.uk/

One of the best boot CD that exist was just recently updated to version 5.0.1.  This is one of the must have tools for system administrators that deal with server different operating systems.  Check out the information below which is from the sites main page.

You need the Ultimate Boot CD if you want to:

• Run floppy-based diagnostic tools from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.
• Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.
• Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD. Wouldn’t you like to avoid digging into the dusty box to look for the right floppy disk, but simply run them all from a single CD? Then the Ultimate Boot CD is for you!
• Run Ultimate Boot CD from your USB memory stick. A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version.

Download Ultimate Boot CD
http://www.serverninjas.com/ultimate-tool-list/boot-utilities/ultimate-boot-cd/ultimate-boot-cd-download

Ultimate Boot CD Site
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com

Microsoft announced today that SQL Server 2008 R2 was released to manufacturing today.  This release of SQL server concentrated on stability and performance along with some other key features.  This version of SQL can now scale up to 256 logical processors  and has shown impressive results on benchmark tests.  The new version will also have self service Business Intelligence that will allow users to create their own queries using PowerPivot.  Another great feature is the ability to centrally manage instances through PowerShell.  I am excited to see what can be done with the integration of Windows 7, Server 2008 R2, Office 2010, and SharePoint 2010.  There will be allot to learn but businesses should see productivity increase when you put all of these new products together.

Other SQL 2008 R2 Articles
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=72914&page=1

http://www.winsupersite.com/server/sql2008r2.asp

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/04/21/sql-server-2008-r2-hits-rtm-release-in-may.aspx

http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/windows/article.php/3873446/Windows%20Server%202008%20R2s%20Improved%20Management%20Console.htm

Scripting games 2010 is just around the corner.  You can sign up for scripting games 2010 today by following the link below.  The games will be running from April 26th – May 7th this year.  The scripting guys posted today that there will be a chance to win a pass to Tech Ed 2010 and there will also be several other prizes.  Please don’t let your experience level keep you from signing up as all skill levels can participate.

Scripting Games Registration
http://2010sg.poshcode.org/

Last Year Scripts
http://2009sg.poshcode.org/

Scripting Guy Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/heyscriptingguy/

Google today unveiled two new great features for Gmail.  The first new feature is drag and drop attachments onto your messages.  In the past if you wanted to add an attachment you had to go through the manual process.  That process is now in the past if you are using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox 3.6.  With either of those browsers you can now just drag and drop the files to attach them.  This seems like a small thing, but over time ends up being a huge time save for end users.

The second big feature that Google added to Gmail was the insert calendar invitation.  If your friends share their Google Calendar information you can now insert Calendar invitation.  This is easily done by clicking on insert invitation which is by the attach file option.  When you click on insert invitation you will be able to see when everybody is free.  You then pick the appropriate date and time and click on insert invitation again.  When you send the email the event gets added to all of your friends calendar.

Check out these two new great features and let me know what you think.  You can also follow the link below to the official Gmail blog to find out more information.

Google Gmail Official Blog
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/

GMAIL Attachment Feature
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/drag-and-drop-attachments-onto-messages.html

GMAIL Calendar Invite Feature
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/insert-calendar-invitation.html

The Poshboard project on Codeplex is a very interesting project.  I came across this project while doing a some research on creating dashboards from PowerShell.  The project was designed to create a modular IT web portal based on PowerShell and Silverlight.  In order to accomplish this the project has leveraged the use of several programs like silverlight cover flow, DevExpress AgDataGrid, blacklight, visifire silverlight charts.  The current version of this project is 2.5, but they also have a beta version out of their next release.  Check out the links below and let me know what you think.

Poshboard CodePlex Project
http://poshboard.codeplex.com/Wikipage

Poshbaord Site Page
http://www.poshboard.com/

Microsoft has released a great tool by the name of Microsoft Desktop Player.  This tool is currently in Beta and can be found by following the below link.  The tool streamlines access to information that Microsoft has made available to IT Pros and developers.  I have personally been using the tool now for a couple of days and have found it to be very addictive.  The desktop player makes finding presentations off of TechNet very easy.  So here is my official warning that following the link to this new tool could be very time consuming!  Please go check it out and stop back and let me know what you think.

Microsoft Desktop Player (Beta)

http://www.microsoft.com/click/desktopplayer/