Adding a website to a RSS feed

I've found it really helpful to use RSS feeds on the favorites bars in IE and Firefox.  RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, are web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works, such as blog entries or news headlines, in a standard format that is updated in real time.

The steps to add a site in each browser is a little different.

First browse to the page that you want to do a RSS feed to, in whichever browser you want to use.  If the page has a RSS feed, you'll see the icon.  Follow the instructions for the appropriate browser at this point.

IE 8 toolbar (the RSS feed is highlighted in the image) -- If there is no feed for that page, it'll be grayed out

IE:  Click on the RSS feed on the toolbar (highlighted in the image above).  This will open a new page.  Click on the link "Subscribe to this feed" that is located towards the top of the page.  Check the box "Add to Favorites Bar" in the window that pops up and click on Subscribe.  This places the live feed in the Favorites bar of IE.

Firefox 3.5 address bar (the RSS feed is located at the end of the address bar) -- If there is no feed for that page, the icon will not show up

Firefox:  Click on the RSS feed in the address bar.  This will bring up a subscription window.  Select "Bookmarks Toolbar" from the drop down box and click on Subscribe.  This places the live feed in the Bookmarks toolbar of Firefox.

IT Application (Teacher desktop, SPEEDe 2, etc...) won't load

This is concerning current generation IT applications such as Teacher Desktop or SPEEDe 2 (one wrote in .Net) that won't load.

Try deleting the folder 2.0 which is located under C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Apps\

After you delete the folder, start the program back up and it should work correctly now.

Computer not pulling down software policies

If you ever have a situation where you are not getting software to pull down, there are a couple things you can try.

First, check and make sure that the SpecOps CSE is installed and is the correct version.  As of today, March 3rd 2010, the version is 4.2.1217.1

Second, check the log which is located at 'c:\Windows\debug\usermode\SpecopsDeployDeployments.log'

There is also an issue with the software where, if the target criteria within the software package settings has an issue (pointing towards an invalid OU is where I have seen the issue), that can also prevent software from pulling down.

That's all for my first entry of Tech Tips