Blogger Editor - Open Live Writer Update 1

In my recent post, I was glad that Open Live Writer is available, but it had a problem with Blogger authenticate. Today I found this in its issue tracker.

Following the instruction posted in the issue tracker, I opened Open Live Writer and closed, and then reopened. A new option “Google Blogger” is avaialble in the blog type. After entering the my Blooger URL and authrorizing the access, I am writing this post in Open Live Writer!!! The version is 0.5.1.2. Thank you for the great work!

The next feature I want is to support “Labels”, like many people requested. The good news is that they are working on it. I will keep an eye on this and post on the next update when it’s available.

VMware Released Software Update Before Year End

VMware released a few software update before the end of 2015. They are

Software	Release Date	Note
vRealize Automation 7.0.0	12/17/2015
vRealize Operations Manager 6.1 Patch	12/11/2015	installation guide
vROPs Management Pack for Storage Devices (VSAN) 6.0.3	12/15/2015
vCloud Director 5.6.5	12/10/2015
VMware Remote Console 8.0	12/08/2015

Calculate After-Tax Mortgage Rate

Knowing the after-tax mortgage rate can help to determine whether prepaying the mortgage makes sense. Here is the formula.

After-tax mortgage rate = mortgage rate * ( 1 - federal income tax bracket )

To find your federal tax bracket, see this or this.

For example, the mortgage rate is 4%, the federal income tax bracket is 28%
the after-tax mortgage rate = 4% * ( 1 - 28% ) = 2.88%

The rate probably is lower, because you can also deduct the mortgage interest on your state income tax return.

Install VMware Root Certificate Into Your Browser

If you use the default VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) came with vSphere 6 (see this about VMCA) , you will receive the untrusted certificate warning when connecting to vCenter via vSphere Web Client.

You can download and import the VMCA root certificate into your browser to fix the warning. Here is how.

1. Browser to your VCSA home page

2. Click “Download trusted root CA certificates” on the lower right

3. Rename the file “download” to “download.zip”

4. Unzip “download.zip”
   “filename.r0” is the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) in DER format
   “filename.0” is the root CA certificate in PEM format.

5. Import the .0 file to your browser’s “Trusted Root Certification Authorities” in IE or Advanced, View Certificates, Authorities in Firefox.

vSphere 6 Certificate Authority

VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) is a component in the Platform Services Controller (PSC) of vSphere 6 vCenter Virtual Server Appliance (VCSA).

What does VMCA do?

• issues certificates for
  • VMware solution users
  • machine certificates for machines on which services are running
  • ESXi host certificates when adding the ESXi host to vCenter Server
• you don’t have to use VMCA as the certificate authority and certificate signer

What does VMware Endpoint Certificate Store (VECS) do?

• a local (client-side) repository for certificates, private keys, and other certificate information
• you must use VECS to store all vCenter certificates and keys
• ESXi certificates are stored locally on each host and not in VECS

Certificate Management

• vSphere 6 ships with a new Certificate Manager tool for vCenter for Windows and VCSA

Windows 10 Privacy Tools

There are many concerns about Windows 10 privacy since it is released. Now some tools are developed to block Microsoft from gathering the information. Here are the tools:

• W10Privacy
• Ashampoo AntiSpy for Windows 10

Keep Your Microsoft OneDrive Free Storage Before It Is Gone

Early November 2015, Microsoft announced the OneDrive storage plan change. In addition to removing the unlimited cloud storage for Office 365 consumer subscribers, they will also decrease the 15GB free storage to 5GB for all existing users in early 2016.

My personal OneDrive has 45GB free storage

• 15GB when signing up OneDrive (the current offer is 5GB)
• 15GB when signing up camera roll bonus (this offer is discontinued)
• 10GB as loyalty bonus (this offer is no longer available)

Under the November announcement, my free storage will be reduced to 5GB.

Now (as December 11, 2015) here is the good news - Microsoft changed their plan. It will let us keep the free storage if signing up here before January 31, 2016.

I am glad that Microsoft listen to customer feedback. If you use Microsoft OneDrive, sign up this offer now before it is gone.