MC+A

I have had some issue utilizing the Google Admin Toolkit’s python scripts.  Looks like there is some changes to the login and cookie exchange on the new version of the appliance.  There was an old version of a script called db_sync that is no longer posted on there. 

Here it is again and an example of the syntax.

c:\python26\python db_sync.py –hostname 10.10.10.29 –username backup –password Replacewithyourpassword –source db_product

where:

• 10.10.10.29 is the host name or the ip of the server
• backup is the name of the user that will be logging in.
• Replacewithyourpassword is the password (in this case, backup’s password)
• db_product is a db_connector

You can download the zip file here: db_sync

A couple weeks ago Google unveiled what they are calling a “Go Google Cloud calculator” It can be founded at www.gonegoogle.com. The site will help you make a strong business case for switching to Google Apps. While you there you can create a custom URL to share, a presentation PDF, and even a poster to help foster discussion around the business impact of switching to Google Apps. It is worth checking out.

Google has just released 6.4 on the enterprise support site and has updated code.google.com’s documentation.  We have yet to install and verify.  But some of the big changes so far:

JavaScript Crawling

The search appliance now can detect links and content generated dynamically.  I wonder if this will help the forms authentication wizard?

Serve Time Authentication

You will no longer need to enable or disable security manager and legacy auth.

Administrative Improvements

There are various administrative improvements and organization.

The documentation is here.

This past weekend MC+A participated in the 2010 MS Walk on the Chicago Lakefront. It was a great event for a great cause and our team was happy to be part of the movement. Our sponsored team, Cizmar Fundraisers, raised over $2,000.

The Finish Line

The course was around 3 miles. It turned out to be a great day despite some iffy clouds threating to rain on the event.

The Team

Our team. Cizmar Fundraisers raised over $2,000.

The money raised by the MS Walk 2010 supports programs, services and vital research into the cause(s) of and cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Find out what the Greater Illinois Chapter of the MS Society is doing to support the cause.

Special Thanks

Archaia Entertainment LLC
Kunoichi Incorporated LLC
Dave Gallerizzo, Figleaf Software
Chris Cleveland, Dieselpoint

See you next year!

Google introduced Asynchronous Tracking as an “alternate way to track” websites. To recap the benefits of using the new asynchronous ga.js snippet over the older ga.js are:

• Faster tracking code load times via improved code execution
• Improvements in data collection accuracy
• Elimination of tracking errors caused by the ga.js snippet not being fully loaded

A recent Google Analytics script test preformed by Position 2 reveal quantifiable speed increases when using the asynchronous.

Analytics Tracking Code Test Key Findings

Position 2 observed the following results from their test:

1. A 17% speed increase in page load using the asynchronous ga.js over the traditional ga.js code
2. Page placement has little effect on the asynchronous ga.js load time conpared to the traditional ga.js
3. Top of the page placement no longer slows the page load. This is important when tracking clicks is and possible while page is loading content.

Full Position 2 Report

People living with MS overcome challenges everyday to do things we all take for granted, walking, going to the store, and on. It is important to us at MC+A to support the mission of the National MS Society through fundraising and raising awareness, supporting research for a cure.

MC+A is proud to be sponsoring a Walk team “Cizmar Fundraisers” for the 2010 MS Walk on Chicago’s Lakefront on May 2nd. We will be posting updates about the team’s progress. If you are interested in supporting the team please donate online.

We have updated our RSS feed. Please update you Feed Reader Links:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/mcplusa/vJTb

Best

Previously I had authored a series of new features that came as part of the 6.0 software release that was not noted in the software release. For many of our customers, these feature releases are more significant than say GSA unification since they only have a single GSA.

Metadata Base64 Encoding

In software release 6.2, you can now base64 encode both metadata names and metadata values.

 <record url=<a href="http://www.mcplusa.com">http://www.mcplusa.com</a> action="add" mimetype="text/html">
<metadata>
<meta encoding="base64binary" name="acdJvamFXQWjdF9uWEXl" content="asdfLKZUoiuoiasdfmoaioeit">
</metadata>
</record>

Note: the correct encoding attribute is base64binary and not base64 as Google’s documentation states.

A month ago I reported a screenshot of Google’s new layout in a previous post.   During my last few searches I’ve been given this layout.  The icons have been updated and take up less of the screen.  As well, the filtering has been compacted.

Google announced  new details about improvements to Google Docs.  The main features of the release are:

• A new margin ruler
• Better numbering and bullets
• Better placement of images
• “Higher Fidelity” document import
• Faster JavaScript process
• Faster Collaboration

Check it out below