Bob Mixon – Bob Mixon's Musings

Viva Engage is here!

August 29, 2022August 29, 2022 Bob Mixon279

Starting today, the Yammer Communities app for Teams is now Viva Engage, the newest app for Microsoft Viva, designed to connect people, find and share knowledge, express yourself, and find belonging at work.

Performing a Conditional Access Assessment with PowerShell (Practical365.com – Sean McAvinue)

July 1, 2022July 1, 2022 Bob Mixon389

Decrypting Conditional Access Complexity Conditional Access is a powerful tool granting an easy way to bolster the security of an Office 365 tenant. The flexibility of Conditional Access means it can fit most organizational and security requirements easily. However, as with most things in technology, with flexibility there often comes complexity. I see many tenants that have […]

Azure AD Conditional Access: What is it? Do we need it? (blog.Quest.com)

July 1, 2022July 1, 2022 Bob Mixon253

What is Conditional Access? Conditional Access is a feature of Azure AD that helps organizations improve security and compliance. By creating Conditional Access policies, you can fine-tune your authentication process — without unduly burdening users. Consider how the authentication process has traditionally worked: Organizations require users to supply a user ID and password. Most of […]

Create, Manage and Share Custom named Short URLs from Microsoft 365!

May 3, 2022August 29, 2022 Bob Mixon478

Short URL App is a Microsoft 365 / Microsoft Teams App / SharePoint Add-in and Power Automate Connector that allows the creation and use of vanity and shortcut hyperlinks fully integrated within SharePoint and Microsoft Teams! Short URL can also be used as part of the Power Platform! The Short URL App provides you with a choice of sensible, secure Domain […]

Office 365 Reaches 345 Million Paid Seats

May 2, 2022May 2, 2022 Bob Mixon367

Microsoft’s FY22 Q3 results disclose a ton of success for the Microsoft Cloud, with revenues now approaching an annualized run rate of $100 billion. We got a new number for Office 365 users too and learned that Microsoft has 345 million paid seats for Office 365. Good progress too for Enterprise Mobility and Security and […]

Introducing a new way of browsing Arduino

September 4, 2020April 29, 2022 Bob Mixon561

Arduino continues to expand their ecosystem! On behalf of the Arduino Design and Web Teams, we’re proud to announce a new navigation for our online ecosystem to improve your Arduino experience. Arduino’s commitment is to put our users in the center of what we do and make complex technology easy. Not only as our mission, […]

DS1307 Real Time Clock and Arduino

March 10, 2020March 12, 2020 Bob Mixon999

There are many applications where a real time clock (RTC) is of use for display, data logging with date/time stamp, etc. When you find yourself needing a RTC for your project, this article will help guide you to completion. There are many, probably thousands, of articles on RTC’s and how to interface them with an […]

FPV Drone Flight Controllers Explained

February 12, 2020February 12, 2020 Bob Mixon892

The number of Flight Controllers (FC) for First Person View (FPV) drones can be overwhelming for beginners. This guide explains all the features and differences, and highlights important factors to consider when choosing a mini quad FC. What is a Quadcopter Flight Controller The flight controller (a.k.a FC) is the brain of the aircraft. It’s […]

Arduino Launches a New Modular Platform for IoT Development

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 Bob Mixon1046

Arduino, the open-source hardware platform, yesterday (1/7/2020) announced the launch of a new low-code platform and modular hardware system for IoT development. The idea here is to give small and medium businesses the tools to develop IoT solutions without having to invest in specialized engineering resources.

SharePoint Audience Targeting – It’s Back!

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 Bob Mixon882

SharePoint audience targeting has been revamped and renewed, and it’s back! First I’ll tell you how it works, then for those of you who have been using SharePoint for years and remember the old way, I’ll tell you how it’s different. First of all, as of right now, December 2019, there is no audience targeting […]

A Beginners Guide to Microcontrollers (by Jen Fox)

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 Bob Mixon1038

What do video game controllers, WiFi routers, and radios all have in common? Microcontrollers! Microcontrollers are what power many of our electronic devices and can be used to build all sorts of projects. They are also a fun way to learn and practice coding and building circuits! This beginner’s guide will walk you through popular […]

The Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry 2019 – Lithium-ion Batteries

October 14, 2019October 14, 2019 Bob Mixon979

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 was awarded jointly to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019. NobelPrize.org

Arduino and Raspberry Pi Project Ideas

September 23, 2019March 10, 2020 Bob Mixon2108

I’ve decided to keep a list of sites and articles that provide instructions for building Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects. Below you will find a list of the sites I visit when searching for ideas and answers. As I find new resources I will update this article. If you have a resource you’d like added […]

Microsoft Flow Online Conference, Tuesday, September 10, 2019

September 4, 2019August 29, 2022 Bob Mixon2525

Come and join some of the best teachers, trainers and Microsoft Flow MVP’s from around the world as they bring 9 hours of back-to-back Microsoft Flow training and tutorial sessions live and on-demand to you!

Microsoft Teams is Your Hub for Teamwork

August 8, 2019September 5, 2019 Bob Mixon1336

Skype for Business Online is retiring
As Microsoft Teams has become the core communications client for Office 365, we are announcing that Skype for Business Online will retire on July 31, 2021. After that time, the Skype for Business Online service will no longer be accessible or supported. For additional details and resources for planning your upgrade to Teams, read our blog post.

July 30, 2019 is National Cheesecake Day!

July 30, 2019July 30, 2019 Bob Mixon737

In case all you #Foodies out there are unaware, today is National Cheesecake Day. For me, this is obviously something that needs to be taken advantage of so I thought I’d share the recipe I use when making a cheesecake. If you’re making or having cheesecake today, don’t hide it … show us in the […]

Knowledge Management (KM) Requires Records Management: The Role of Retention Schedules in Businesses with KM Programs

July 25, 2019March 3, 2020 Bob Mixon1211

Daniel Anderson’s masters paper, for his degree at University of North Carolina, about the role of retention schedules in business with Knowledge Management (KM). Abstract “Knowledge management (KM) is revolutionizing the ways business and public institutions preserve institutional memory and knowledge sharing. Companies found KM important for competitive advantage in the marketplace, because it provides […]

RMR2 Hunter Robot

June 10, 2019March 3, 2020 Bob Mixon1358

I’ve built quite a few small robots over the years. Track driven with differential steering to small two wheel self-balancing. I wanted to build a robot/vehicle that could be a platform for different types of tests in the future. My initial thoughts are to include the following requirements. Requirements A modular build approach that allows […]

Visual Studio Code – May 2019 (v1.35) Released

June 6, 2019June 6, 2019 Bob Mixon914

The Visual Studio Code team has released the May 2019 (v1.35) updates. Find the details here: https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_35

SharePoint + Flow (+ Azure Functions): Launching a Microsoft Flow from Client-Side Code

May 9, 2019August 29, 2022 Bob Mixon1080

Microsoft MVP, Julie Turner, wrote (2017) a great article on how to launch a Microsoft Flow from client-side code. “The requirement seemed deceptively simple… and it was, somewhat… simple. I’ll start with showing you how very simple it is to launch a Microsoft Flow (“flow”) from your client-side code hosted, well… wherever. I will give […]

Updated Features for Office 365 Admin Center – #48639

March 19, 2019March 3, 2020 Bob Mixon1257

Updated feature: Microsoft 365 Admin Center Major update: General Availability rollout started Applied to: All customers The Microsoft 365 admin center, available at admin.microsoft.com, is the common entry point for managing all your Microsoft 365 services. We’ll begin rolling out the new Microsoft 365 admin center with enhanced features and functionality in April. This enhancement […]

Change Raspberry Pi Password

March 16, 2019March 3, 2020 Bob Mixon1002

I’m setting up a new Raspberry Pi this morning and one of the first things I do with any new Pi is change the pi user password. Doing so is a very simple task. Sources of Information Much of this information comes from the following articles. Official Raspberry Site – Linux Users (add, edit and […]

5v and 3.3v Breadboard Power Supply

March 14, 2019March 3, 2020 Bob Mixon1474

One thing I do quite a bit of is testing and development on both the Arduino micro-controller and Raspberry Pi micro-computer. I have a few different test environments and they all use some sort of breadboard. When I’m using multiple controllers/computers, sensors and input devices, I need the breadboards to be powered. This can, and […]

3.14 – National Pi Day

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019 Bob Mixon983

Today is National Pi Day! Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14 in the month/day format) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of π. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi […]

DHT22/AM2302 Temperature and Humidity Sensor Accuracy

March 7, 2019March 5, 2020 Bob Mixon1587

Earlier this week I wrote an article about how to use the DHT22/AM2302 temperature and humidity sensor with interrupts on an Arduino.; you can see that article here. After spending more time with the DHT22/AM2302 sensor, I’ve learned the humidity part of the sensor is not accurate at all. The temperature part of the sensor […]

Arduino: Read DHT22/AM2302 Temperature and Humidity Sensor Using Interrupts

March 6, 2019September 5, 2019 Bob Mixon20251 Comment

[toc] There are many sites where you can find Arduino schematics and code to read a temperature and humidity sensor then display that data on the Serial Monitor. I have not worked with the (more accurate) DHT22/AM2302 sensors and wanted to test them. In addition, I will be demonstrating how to use interrupts (instead of […]

RMRoboTest: Let the Journey Begin

March 4, 2019September 5, 2019 Bob Mixon1116

Over the last year or so I’ve been toying around with the idea of building a robot test platform. Because everything I build has to have a name, I have coined this “RMRoboTest”!

DRDUINO Arduino UNO Starter Kit

March 3, 2019September 5, 2019 Bob Mixon1026

Recently I purchased a DRDUINO Arduino UNO Starter Kit. I saw it on Facebook and thought it might be a great tool for testing new circuits and Arduino Sketches (programs).

SPWebApplication Class

January 22, 2019July 25, 2019 Bob Mixon1115

[toc] Namespace Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration Assembly Microsoft.SharePoint.dll A SharePoint Server web application is composed of an Internet Information Services (IIS) web site that acts as a logical unit for the site collections that you create. Before you can create a site collection, you must first create a Web application. Each web application is represented by a different […]

Export-SPAllSitesForMigration

November 4, 2018July 25, 2019 Bob Mixon1257

[toc] Function Name Export-SPAllSitesForMigration Download Source Code Export-SPAllSitesForMigration.zip Description The code in this module will gather all site collections in your farm and write the details to a CSV file. The CSV file will be formatted to support a migration effort. Parameters Parameter Name $CsvFilename Data Type [System.String] Required Yes Description Use this parameter to specify […]

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe by Ree Drummond

November 3, 2018December 23, 2019 Bob Mixon1943

Yesterday we tried Ree Drummond’s Chicken and Dumplings recipe. I made a few small modifications, described below, but other than that it’s one of the best Chicken and Dumplings recipe I’ve ever tried. And it’s so simple to make. I watch Ree Drummond on Food Network TV quite often and really enjoy the show. I’ve […]

SharePoint 2016 Site Templates and ID’s

November 1, 2018July 25, 2019 Bob Mixon1786

I’m constantly needing a list of all the site templates available in SharePoint 2016. I decided to start maintaining this list on my blog so I don’t have to search for it anymore. Note – I did not come up with this list in a vacuum. I’m making updates here but the original list came […]

SharePoint Sites versus Webs

October 25, 2018July 25, 2019 Bob Mixon1176

SharePoint Sites versus Webs This is a post I wrote long ago for my previous blog. I’ve been asked what the difference is between Site and Web; here I’m going to tackle that question head on! First and foremost, Microsoft didn’t make the differentiation of these two easy to follow as they use the terms […]

PowerShell and SharePoint Modules

June 27, 2018July 25, 2019 Bob Mixon1846

[toc] There are a lot of posts about creating modules, for SharePoint, in PowerShell. I decided to write this post so everything I’ve learned is in one place. I’m hoping you learn something from this (as I did). I have tested the code in this article in SharePoint On-premise 2010, 2013 and 2016. Modules do […]

Document Libraries and Folders

April 25, 2018September 4, 2019 Bob Mixon14923 Comments

I am asked on a regular basis how I feel about the use of Document Library folders. To be honest, I always tell people “avoid them” unless you thoroughly understand the consequences of using folders or have a controlled means of promoting consistent use. This response always stirs up controversy so I thought I’d write […]

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

January 13, 2018March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon940

This is one of my favorite meals; so flavorful, moist and tender! Served with potatoes, rice or grits makes for a relaxing dinner. Ingredients 5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 medium onions, chopped 3 medium carrots, peeled, chopped […]

Legacy Aviation 72″ Muscle Coupe – Build Day 1

November 3, 2017March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon16326 Comments

Last week I saw that Extreme Flight/Legacy Aviation released a new 72″ Muscle Coupe and it looked really cool, so I had to have one. The red and white scheme really caught my eye so its the one I selected. I opened the box when it arrived earlier this week and immediately noticed the build […]

Grandma’s Perfect Caramels

June 24, 2017March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon1075

Soft, chewy, and melt in your mouth caramel is the perfect candy to set out for guests or gift giving. With only a few staple ingredients and a little bit of time, homemade candy has never been easier. Ingredients 1 cup granulated sugar ¾ cup corn syrup ½ cup unsalted butter 1 cup heavy cream […]

Support Your Local Organic Farmer

June 24, 2017March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon1142

Looking for fresh, organic herbs from a farm near you? The following directory is a list of recommended certified organic local herb growers with fewer than 40 acres in cultivation, sorted by region. I’ve always encouraged folks to buy fresh and to buy local, support your local economy. Take a look at the directory here […]

PowerShell: Retrieve All Sites With or Without Personal Sites (MySites)

May 23, 2017September 5, 2019 Bob Mixon16532 Comments

[toc] I love using the pipeline in PowerShell. Recently I was in a situation where, if a PS script what a one-liner I didn’t have to submit it through the review/approval/change management process. Its amazing what you can do in PowerShell in a single line of code! Retrieve all site collections, for all web applications […]

Mom’s Shortbread Cookies

February 18, 2017March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon1022

I was very lucky to have a mom who was not only a great mom, but a great cook too! I always enjoyed the holiday season because mom and the other wonderful cooks in our family tree broke out their mixers, cookie sheets and delicious recipes. One of my all-time favorites was (and still is) […]

Country Style Pork Ribs

February 17, 2016March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon901

Found a great buy on Country Style Pork Ribs and its hard for to pass that up. A great Country Style Pork Ribs is about 1 pount per rib with fat marbled throughout. Its that fat that makes them taste so good. I’ve always said, fat makes everything taste delicious. So, if you were hoping […]

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

October 29, 2015March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon906

The other night I had a craving for Jamaican Jerk Chicken. I’ve made this recipe before and it’s so good, I just had to make it again. However, this time I decided to share it with you. Jerk Marinade This marinade will make enough for 10 to 12 chicken thighs. I always cook extra because […]

Kale, Sausage and Potato Soup

October 19, 2015March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon1078

Rainy days and soup. IMHO, that’s comfort food at its best. Kale? I always thought Kale was inedible and even rarely used as a garnish. However, I remember my first experience eating Zuppa Toscana Soup at Olive Garden. All of my previous thoughts about Kale went away. That soup was amazing. And served with their […]

Chicken Piccata, Jasmati Rice and Peas

October 15, 2015March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon1021

Tonight I made Chicken Piccata, Jasmati Rice with Garlic and Shallot and Peas for dinner. It turned out very good, so I thought I would share it with you. Chicken Piccata Ingredients 3 Skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper All-purpose flour, for dredging […]

Debugging SharePoint Issues and ULS Log Files

October 15, 2015December 9, 2019 Bob Mixon14781 Comment

I often see administrators and developers new to SharePoint find debugging difficult and complex. When working with SharePoint, log files are your friend. In large on-premise farms, locating issues within large log files can be time consuming and sometimes difficult. When I am presented with an error that contains a correlation ID, I first resort […]

Perfect Breakfast Potatoes

July 26, 2015March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon10592 Comments

I was eating brunch at a restaurant, in Fresno, this last week and breakfast potatoes that were hard and seemed undone. If you have ever had this problem with your potatoes, here is a guide for making the perfect potatoes. This technique doesn’t have to be just for breakfast potatoes, I use it for scalloped […]

AutoSPInstaller: SharePoint 2013 March 10, 2015 CU (KB2956166)

April 25, 2015September 5, 2019 Bob Mixon12452 Comments

[toc] The AutoSPInstaller tool is not something I’ve written about in the past. I’m not sure why because its a fantastic tool and I use it on a regular basis. In general, it is a PowerShell based SharePoint installation tool. If you are unfamiliar with it, I do recommend you take a look at it […]

Split Pea Soup

April 23, 2015March 4, 2019 Bob Mixon828

[toc]There have been a few times in my life when I ask “where have you been all my life?”. Okay, okay its happened more than once. But my point is, why do I wait so long before I make this soup? Sure, I live in Arizona now, and its hot; but who cares? Peas and […]

Evolution of SharePoint

February 9, 2015September 4, 2019 Bob Mixon976

Interesting article, from Julia White, general manager for the Office Product Management team, about the Evolution of SharePoint. Exciting times ahead! Excerpt from Intro: “In the conversations I have with customers and partners, I’m often asked how SharePoint will evolve in Office 365, and what the future holds for SharePoint on-premises. As we move into […]