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WiFi on the Move

Monday, 20 February 2012 18:47

Travel for Work? Travel to Work? Or is it Work to Travel? Speeding between Edinburgh on my way to London, I'm just not sure!

As towns like Newcastle-on-Tyne slide past my panoramic window, its relatively easy to forget that I'm travelling at 200kph across the ground on an East Coast train bound for London. I've just commissioned a couple of new email users for a client that uses our managed Office 365 solution and now have a chance to write a couple of lines here on the blog before I get to London. This train, like more and more transport services including airlines, buses and the like are offering WiFi to customers as part of an acknowledgement that people love to stay connected while on the move.

I guess it can be a double-edged sword. It means you can catch up on work at the same time as you relocate to your next 'have to be' location, but it can also mean you miss some of the joys of travel. I have to remind myself to look out the window and soak in the sights of this beautiful part of the United Kingdom. So with one 'have to' task taken care of, a bit of 'when I have time' blogging done, I can now enjoy part of the reason why I work in the first place. To look out of the window and watch the country-side slide by. If you travel for work, remember to take some time to 'work at travelling.'

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Smoked by a Windows Phone?

Monday, 23 January 2012 17:41

Get Smoked by a Windows Phone as Competition Heats Up! CES visitors were trying to earn $100 by beating the Windows Phone while tweeting, searching and more.

As I mentioned a while back, the Windows Phone is becoming widely known due to the massive amounts of advertising being done by Microsoft. With Nokia pumping out Windows Phones now like there is no tomorrow, you have to think that the market share must be climbing. As an early adopter, I can say I love the Windows Phone and how smoothly it fits into the corporate scene. It works great with Office 365 and Windows Live. With all the woes of RIM and it's BlackBerry phones, the Windows Phone may just BlackBerry out of it's misery! The Windows Phone makes a BlackBerry seem so clunky.

Here in Europe at present, every time I pull out my Windows Phone people want to play with it, partly because of the effective advertising campaign. Watch the video and see the iPhone get smoked... most of the time anyway.

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Samsung vs Apple

Monday, 17 October 2011 05:20

As corporate giants Samsung and Apple argue over who stole the ideas, who will pay the price? Protection of intellectual property has gone crazy. Will it stifle development?

The media is full of stories about suits and countersuits flying wild between Samsung and Apple. Not only the iPad but now the new iPhone is being debated along with the Galaxy tablet. I really don't think any good can come from this.

Many years back, when I had a fresh pilot's license in my pocket, I was keen to get into the air, but at the time, insurance companies were keen to kill off the likes of Cessna, Piper and other light aircraft manufacturers. At least that is how it seemed. Just because some poor pilot made a mistake, all eyes, especially those of the insurance companies, turned to find out how they could blame the manufacturer of the plane for the crash. I remember reading how a rising sports star had taken fancy to a new business jet, but sadly met his demise in the same. They blamed the maker of the jet saying that they should have ensured the guy had better training! A bit like telling Ford to only sell to drivers that meet a standard imposed by insurers! The end result of all of this means that these multi-million dollar businesses had to shut down production of many of their planes because they could not afford the liability anymore. Bad news for pilots!

The legal costs involved with all of these actions, including the Samsung, Apple thing will cost us. You. You will pay, both in the pocketbook and the long run, in the time it takes to get new technology to market. Wouldn't it be great if technology development was co-operative and not competitive? I think we would be light-years ahead by now. What about you?

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Solve a Crystal Reports Error

Sunday, 05 June 2011 05:11

It would seem more than one Crystal Reports XI user has encounted an occasional problem when trying to run a report that requires a date parameter. It's the dreaded 'An error has occurred in the script on this page' error. Well the information below may just solve your problem.

The error message may vary a little, but here is the most common form...

An error has occurred in the script on this page.

Line:       79
Char:      1
Error:      Object Expected
Code:      0
URL:       file://C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\prompting1.html

I'm not certain if other versions apart from XI are involved, but the fix that worked for me applies to that version. It would seem that some of the files, the HTML template files that are in the Crystal Reports installation directory get corrupted. In my case the directory was c:\program files\business objects\common\3.5\crystalreportsviewers115\prompting which contains several folders and they in turn have a few different folders in them.

The solution involves replacing the folder contents with the same files from a working installation, or recreating the files from scratch which is a bit tedious. If you are really stuck and don't have access to another working installation, you could download the zip of recreated files here.

Crystal Reports has become the industry standard reporting tool and has a strong following. If you could use a hand with some custom crystal reports for your organisation, especially Sage Accpac reports feel free to contact us.

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Windows 8 - OS For All

Tuesday, 10 January 2012 06:21

Windows 8 - Can it be All Things to All People?

Around the end of the Australian winter, we may well see the release of the next Windows operating system. Windows 8 is more than an operating system though. It's a plan to unify devices like tablets, phones, PC's and notebooks using a platform that has mass appeal. At present, business runs on Windows. According to one source, over 1.3 billion computers run on Windows. So to have that same easy to use platform on all devices will be major winner for many. But can Microsoft pull it off? If you want to take a look at the new Windows 8, start here.

Already the Windows Phone is a serious business contender. I'm already on my second Windows Phone, a Nokia Lumina 800. It's a great phone and super easy to use. I'm writing this in Europe an everywhere you turn, Nokia has a billboard advertising this phone. There is a big push to empower Microsoft in this sector. Exciting times ahead!

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Our Heads Are in The Cloud

Wednesday, 12 October 2011 10:06

Have you figured out how Cloud Computing can help your business yet? Well we have and we're here to tell you it works. We know, we use it!

Have you ever purchased something only to wonder later... has the person that designed this thing actually ever tried to use it? We'll before we went off promoting Microsoft's Office 365 cloud computing solution, we actually decided to use it to the full. So now we can be confident to promote it because we use it. We know how it works and are happy with the result.

Office 365 is a collection of really neat tools for small business as well as large enterprises. Perhaps the best part is Exchange Online. For just a low (Under $9 when I wrote this) price per seat, you get a robust email solution in the cloud. You can also wrap Office Professional Plus into the solution. So you can always have the latest version of Office on your computer for just a small price per month, fully tax deductable.

We're very impressed with the capability of Office 365 and encourage you to check it out. If you need advice we can set the whole deal up for you. We're an accredited supplier of Office 365 in Australia in conjunction with Telstra. So drop us an email today to see how small business can benefit.

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Global Roaming - License to Print Money?

Monday, 11 April 2011 11:51

If you travel internationally for work, you probably hate the term 'global roaming'. If you work for a mega-buck corporation, it may be small fry, but for the small businessman, it can be a significant bill. But you can lessen the damage.

Today's smartphones like the iPhone can be real data hogs, therefore roaming data charges can soon add up, even without your knowledge. So first step, learn how to switch off your global roaming data use.

Another step is to buy a local SIM card in the country you will visit, then use your own mobile number to redirect your calls. Better still, train your clients to use your virtual telephone number (like Skype) to do even cheaper redirection. There are so many options, you need to do a bit of study to determine which is best for you.

Just a few weeks ago, I was visiting Italy and was able to purchase a Wind (local teleco) SIM from a dealer, even though in Itally, you are supposed to have a local tax number - some dealers will do it with your passport. The whole deal gave me the ability to use my trust HTC for calls and data, including tethering for my notebook. All that for €20. Very useful.

But why do we have such a steep charge when roaming? Well I'm sitting here in Vienna at present, watching a news program about this very subject. The interviewer asks, the question I stated above. The answer from the telco's CEO, "that's where we make money!"

Again I'm wondering, why can we integrate all of this? I would really like to see telco's provide seamless integration with any other carrier, no steep roaming charge, no plan changes when you cross a network border. Global connectivity.

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Roman Holiday

Thursday, 03 November 2011 17:35

Rome wasn't built in a day, but a project that took two and a half thousand years!

As I write this I'm surrounded by history. I'm in Rome this weekend to lecture at a conference. I've been here a number of times before and each time the history of the place amazes me. The city itself is record of civilisation, with layer upon layer of history and city on and below the streets. It seems that each successive generation or civilisation built over the top of the last. Repeating some mistakes, making slow improvements. Sipping the second espresso at this coffee bar is now a gentle experience, yet a couple of thousand years ago this was a dangerous place to sit if you disagreed with the ruling power. I glance across the piazza, watching the crowd milling around the tourist sites. Crowd watching is a favourite past time with me. I ponder how things have changed. Imagine explaining an iPad to a Roman Centurion!

I can think of a thousand ways to help a client improve his business IT. Some of it will be just building on top of an existing idea, other stuff will change the course of the business. If only we could sit at the end of a line of projects and look back at what made the big changes. From where I sit right now, the best changes were those that incremental and not radical. I think I will take that onboard and install a new espresso machine in my office!

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Abducted By iAliens

Sunday, 21 August 2011 21:05

Forgive my absence from these pages. My only excuse is that I was abducted by iAliens and taken to planet Apple where I have been brainwashed and now returned to earth to spread the news. What news? That the iPad is good. In fact, it is excellent!

For those that know me, to make the above statement about an Apple product, would have taken an alien abduction! But while that may be a slight hyperbole, (can you actually have a 'slight' hyperbole?) I have now been a user if the Apple iPad 2 for over three months. I am convinced the iPad has a place in my remote working toolkit.

Running a small business is a time demanding task as anyone who does it will know. Part of our operation is the 'on-call' nature of our ERP support work and server management. Combine that with the fact that my schedule in the past 6 months has included more than 120 nights in hotels in 13 different countries, I do know something about 'Remote Working'! The need for a easy to carry, easy to use tool that can get me connected to a server on the other side of the planet in seconds is real and the iPad helps me to do that. Don't get me wrong, I am not about to trade in my trusty Windows 7 Toshiba notebook and just use an iPad. For the majority of my work, the notebook is just easier. However, when you are out and about, the iPad comes to the rescue in a light and easy to transport form factor.

What do I use? Well there are several apps that I find indispensable. Top app for me is LogMeIn Ignition. Remote access, behind firewalls and easy to use. Next is a tool I use for Remote Desktop connectivity. iTap RDP is a supurb tool for direct RDP connections. It's fast and gives a great on-screen keyboard with lots of functionality. Maybe Skype is my next most used item making phone calls to Skype users and landlines a breeze. Of course, email works fine but I do miss Flash support in Safari. My iPad is the 3G, 64GB model and runs very slick.

Apart from the work side, iPad makes a great platform for digital publications. I've heard that it is great for music too, but my iPad earns it's keep by working, not playing. A friend was recently disappointed to learn I only had two songs on it!

So what about my life-long dedication to the Microsoft house? Well that is not about to change, but the iPad has allowed me to take one small step out of my MS comfort zone. Windows 7 just is not a tablet OS in my mind, but maybe Windows 8 will change that. We will see. And don't think I have left planet MS for planet Apple. I still don't own an iPhone because I am really happy with my Windows 7 phone. I think this platform will grow. It's a big challenge, but remember, Lotus 123 was once king of spreadsheets.

Sorry, have to go. I have an incoming notification from planet Apple. The mothership is calling.

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Social Networking

WiFi on the Move

Travel for Work? Travel to Work? Or is it Work to Travel? Speeding between Edinburgh on my way to London, I'm just not sure!

Smoked by a Windows Phone?

Get Smoked by a Windows Phone as Competition Heats Up! CES visitors were trying to earn $100 by beating the Windows Phone while tweeting, searching and more.

Samsung vs Apple

As corporate giants Samsung and Apple argue over who stole the ideas, who will pay the price? Protection of intellectual property has gone crazy. Will it stifle development?

Solve a Crystal Reports Error

It would seem more than one Crystal Reports XI user has encounted an occasional problem when trying to run a report that requires a date parameter. It's the dreaded 'An error has occurred in the script on this page' error. Well the information below may just solve your problem.

Windows 8 - OS For All

Windows 8 - Can it be All Things to All People?

Our Heads Are in The Cloud

Have you figured out how Cloud Computing can help your business yet? Well we have and we're here to tell you it works. We know, we use it!

Global Roaming - License to Print Money?

If you travel internationally for work, you probably hate the term 'global roaming'. If you work for a mega-buck corporation, it may be small fry, but for the small businessman, it can be a significant bill. But you can lessen the damage.

Roman Holiday

Rome wasn't built in a day, but a project that took two and a half thousand years!

Abducted By iAliens

Forgive my absence from these pages. My only excuse is that I was abducted by iAliens and taken to planet Apple where I have been brainwashed and now returned to earth to spread the news. What news? That the iPad is good. In fact, it is excellent!

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