Apple: Apple iOS 8 Bypasses Microsoft DHCP

When you’re out running errands with your phone in your pocket, Wi-Fi hotspots have the ability to track your movements and behavior by scanning your Wi-Fi MAC address. A MAC address is a string of characters that uniquely identifies your device on a network. With iOS 8, we’ve introduced an innovative feature designed to protect your privacy by randomizing your device’s MAC address when the device is passively scanning for Wi-Fi networks. Because your MAC address now changes when you’re not connected to a network, it can’t be used to persistently track you. This is in line with Apple’s industry-leading effort to do away with persistent identifiers, and is unique to iOS devices.


Reference:
We’ve built privacy into the things you use every day
http://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-built-in/

Microsoft: URL Rewrite VS HTTP Redirect

The main difference between rewriting the URL and redirecting is the following. Redirecting sends a HTTP 301 or 302 to the client, telling the client that it should try to access the page using another URL. This means that the client knows that there is another URL that should be used. The communication between the server and client is illustrated as follows:
Request 1 (from client):    Get file.htm
Response 1 (from server). The file is moved, please request the file newFileName.htm
Request 2 (from client):    Get newFileName.htm
Response 2 (from server): Here is the content of newFileName.htm

Rewriting happens on the server, and simply is a translation of one URL to another, that is used by your web application. The client does not know that internally there is another URL, it just sees the one it sent to the server.
Request 1 (from client):       Get file.htm
URL Rewriting (on server):   Translate the URL file.htm to file.asp
Web application (on server): Process the request (run any code in file.asp)
Response 1 (from server):    Here is the content of file.htm (note that the client does not know that this is the content of file.asp)


Reference:
How does "URL Rewrite" differ from "HTTP Redirect"
http://forums.iis.net/t/1174487.aspx?How+does+URL+Rewrite+differ+from+HTTP+Redirect+

Microsoft: OWA Redirection and SSL Offloading Fail After Installing an Exchange Server Service Pack

After you install a service pack on a server that is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 or Exchange Server 2007, you may experience one or more of the following issues:

• Outlook Web App or Outlook Web Access (OWA) redirection from the HTTP protocol to the HTTPS protocol fails.
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) offloading fails.
• An error message that resembles the following is displayed when a user tries to connect to OWA:

403 – Forbidden: Access is denied.You do not have Permission to View this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied.

• An entry that resembles the following is recorded in the IIS log:

2013-03-28 18:44:52 192.168.66.13 GET /owa/ - 80 - 192.168.66.25 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+8.0;+Windows+NT+6.1;+WOW64;+Trident/4.0;+SLCC2;+.NET+CLR+2.0.50727;+.NET+CLR+3.5.30729;+.NET+CLR+3.0.30729;+Media+Center+PC+6.0;+InfoPath.2) 403 4 5 343

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
1. Start IIS 7 Manager.
2. Select the default website, and then make sure that you are in Features View.
3. Double-click SSL Settings.
4. Click to clear the Require SSL check box.
5. Run the IISRESET command.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for all virtual websites under the default website.


Reference:
OWA redirection and SSL offloading fail after you install an Exchange Server service pack
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2839692

IT Tecnnology: Adblock Plus - Advertisement Blocker

Adblock Plus is a free advertisement blocker. It blocks all annoying ads, and supports websites by not blocking unobtrusive ads by default (configurable).

Enjoy surfing the web without obtrusive ads cluttering your screen!

Adblock Plus for Google Chrome blocks:
· Banners
· YouTube video ads
· Facebook advertisements
· Pop-ups
· All other obtrusive ads

Adblock Plus is the world’s most popular browser extension, and is used by millions of users worldwide. It is a community-driven open source project, and hundreds of volunteers are contributing to the success of Adblock Plus to make sure that all annoying ads are automatically blocked.


Reference:
Getting started with Adblock Plus
https://adblockplus.org/en/getting_started

IT Technology: Browsec - Proxy Avoidance

Encrypts traffic and unlocks sites.

Facebook closed by an overzealous sysadmin? Browsec to the rescue!

Browsec encrypts your traffic and routes it through our secure cloud network. No one will be able to identify, track you or sniff your traffic.

- Visit Facebook and twitter from work, read whatever you want.
- Privacy. Hide your real location from the sites you visit.
- Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud and so on — music and video services restricted to a few countries are now accessible to you too.

Browsec is a Chrome/Firefox extension. It is an advanced analog of ZenMate, Stealthy, Hola and friGate.


Reference:
Browsec
https://browsec.com/en/

Google: YouTube for Schools

The steps below show network administrators how to configure access to educational and school-appropriate content on YouTube.

1.  SIGN UP for a school account
Start by signing up for an official account for your school by visiting this page. The administrator of this account will then have the ability to include videos of his/her choosing for viewing within the school network. The administrator will also be able to approve access for teacher accounts


2.  CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING Options Depending On Your School's Network

A)  Add new HTTP header rule
Modify your hardware filter or proxy server settings so that all outgoing traffic to youtube.com contains the following custom HTTP header. The ID to use in the HTTP header configuration, written below, is an example of a unique ID for your school’s network only. If your school is blocked at the district level, this HTTP header is then unique to the district network.

Example:
X-YouTube-Edu-Filter:ABCD1234567890abcdef
Field Name: X-YouTube-Edu-Filter
Description: When YouTube sees this header and an accompanying valid school ID in the incoming traffic, YouTube will serve a limited EDU-only site to all computers behind the school hardware filter.
Field Value Format: alphanumeric [a-z][A-Z][0-9]
Field Value Length: up to 44 characters

B)  Create URL parameter rewrite rule
If your hardware filter does not support HTTP header modification, please rewrite all outgoing URLs to youtube.com by appending the parameter “edufilter” at the end. Exclude the &edufilter parameter from these file types: .css, .gif, .png, .js, .xml

Example:
http://youtube.com/?edufilter=ABCD1234567890abcdef
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gM95HHI4gLk&edufilter=ABCD1234567890afbcdef


3.  REMOVE YouTube Domains Blocked
Ensure the following top-level domains are not blocked:
youtube.com
ytimg.com


Reference:
How YouTube for Schools Works
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2695317?hl=en&guide=2592683&ref_topic=2592688

Apple: Microsoft Outlook Temp Folder for Mac OS X

You should be able to access the Outlook Temp folder by following the steps below:

1. At the menu bar, click on Go
2. Press the alt / option key and the Library should appear
3. Click on Library
4. Find and click on the Caches folder
5. Find and click on the TemporaryItems folder 

Now, you should see the Outlook Temp folder in the TemporaryItems folder.