Building a simple and secure DNS updater for Azure DNS with PowerShell

(or: making life better by fixing one small issue at a time) I love designing and building solutions for my customers. Lately they’ve been more on the Microsoft Azure side, especially with serverless and security. The problems I encounter are interesting, require me to dive deep into certain aspects of the customer’s business domain and they enforce me to become a better professional. I truly think being able to work with cloud-based architectures is the best job on the planet right now. Then there are the times when I have a small but itching problem at home, that I really …
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Managing your costs in Microsoft Azure with Sharegate’s Overcast

I started using Microsoft Azure in the very early days in 2008, when the whole idea with cloud computing was something very different than it is today. During recent years I’ve found myself working mostly with Azure-related architectures, deployments and governance projects as the platform has matured to fit any type of customer need. One recurring challenge I find many organizations facing is the shift from capital expenditures (CAPEX) to operational expenditures (OPEX). Traditional IT has always relied on a 12-36-month investment cycle, and one the decision for investment has been made, it’s mostly a sunken cost. Afterwards the cost …
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Thoughts on Microsoft ❤ GitHub announcement

By now, it is old news that Microsoft officially announced they will acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion. Rumors started swirling on Sunday, and as is often the case, they are more or less to the point. I’ve been following with interest the different takes on this deal. First, Slashdot. I regularly check the news on Slashdot, mostly for the commentary. Unfortunately many people still post as Anonymous Cowards, so you have to filter out a lot to get to the thought-provoking comments. There’s a petition to stop Microsoft in finalizing the deal (which presumably takes until the end of the …
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Thoughts on Always Connected PCs from the Microsoft and Qualcomm partnership

I’m attending Microsoft Build 2018 in Seattle this week, and it’s been an eye-opening 4 days to ingest, digest and hopefully apply everything I’ve learned here. It’s more about inspiration and mental notes on what I need to look into when I get back home, but this time I also took the opportunity to visit the expo area to learn beyond the regular breakout sessions. In one of the booths they had on display Windows 10 ARM PCs, for which the marketing name is Always Connected PCs. Initially I frowned with the name, because I come from a country that …
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I feel bad for not paying for quality software – so I made a small donation

I’ve been using computers since I was 5. I’ve worked in IT more or less full time since I was 13. For all this time, I’ve used an endless amount of software written by people I’ve never met and whom I’ve never thanked properly. Windows, Office and the typical productivity software of course gets a yearly thank you note from me and my company in the form of different sorts of payments through the Microsoft Partner Network, but everything else I use does not. I was paying some bills last weekend and I figured I had some extra money left …
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Using Logitech BRIO 4K webcam with Windows Hello

I’ve recently started working more from home. Family is keeping me quite busy, so I try to optimize the little time I can by not traveling to the office each morning. This isn’t something new for me, as I’ve had a workstation at home for about 30 years, butI’ve spent more time and energy on having a pleasant setup at home for working. The setup is something that works quite well for me: a dedicated, always-on server-grade workstation with 3 displays. I’ve tried everything from a single, very wide display all the way to 6 displays, and I’ve found that …
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My favorite features with Windows 10 April 2018 update

Today, Monday, April 30, Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 April 2018 Update. This was formerly known as Redstone 4, or Windows 10 Spring Creators Update. For me, it’s just “that update to 1803 or 1804 or whatever it will be after 1709.” I’ve been running the update as part of the Windows 10 Insider program on a few of my PCs – two laptops and one workstation. As I don’t want to keep updating my environment every second week, I simply set the Insider settings to Release Preview, to receive just fixes, apps and drivers. I received the near-final bits …
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Up, up and awayyyyy

I am speaking at SharePoint Saturday Netherlands in June!

I just received the exciting news that I am chosen as a speaker for SharePoint Saturday Netherlands, in, well, the Netherlands. The event is June 10, which coincidentally is also a Saturday, so that’s a good thing as travel will mostly occur during the weekend for me. Get your tickets now! It’s also free, so no excuse not to attend. Speaker lineup is unbelievably unbelievable this year. Not talking necessarily about myself, but of these great speakers presenting during the event. I will definitely try to attend as many sessions as humanly possible during the day. My own session will …
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Microsoft Regional Director

I’ve been working in IT since 1990. I also just turned 40, so there’s a little bit of a crisis right there. Majority of those years I’ve spent on Microsoft technologies – I do have a dark past dabbling in Linux and different Un*x variants. Plenty of these years have included SharePoint, Office 365 and Microsoft Azure. Good times, challenging projects and inspiring technical problems to crack. One of the guiding principles for me has always been to share my knowledge and experiences with the community, both local and international. In 2014 I was delighted to receive my first nomination …
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Embracing the future: Integrating SharePoint Portal Server 2001 with Microsoft Azure Functions

During Christmas break in late 2016 I started planning for my upcoming presentations and demos for the first half of 2017. I’ve held talks on a wide range of topics, including all things SharePoint, Microsoft Azure Security, PowerApps and Flow, and Azure App Service to mention a few. I like the challenge of learning about new technologies, platforms, frameworks and approaches for productivity and modern work. So once again in December it was time to think about something new. My first presentation was yesterday in Paris, for the Microsoft Cloud Summit. I knew I wanted to touch a bit on …
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