Computers in Mablethorpe by Tiny Island Computers

Rate of change

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Tue, 03 May 2011 21:10:00 +0000

It's over a year since I regularly updated this blog (I got busy!) but looking at the last few posts I don't think you've missed much. HTML 5 still isn't really ready to be used and since IE9 isn't available for Windows XP most current PCs will never support it - although Windows XP is slowly moving over to Windows 7 in the home if not the office.

Flash is definitely on the way out though with most 'right thinking' web designers proffering open standards and semantic code though there are a few (ones who can't write code?) desperately hanging on. As yet it's still not supported on Apples iPod, iPhone or iPad. I notice my own (ancient) website still uses a bit of Flash - I'll get round to it one day......

Speaking of iPads I did get one and I'm using it right now. They really are an amazing bit of kit and perfect for the 'casual' user who just wants to surf the net and get email. Now that computers are a mainstream consumer product Windows is looking far too technical and temperamental for this new 'non geek' user base and this is where the iPad comes in. The problem is if everyone moves to devices that don't go wrong there will be a lot less work for IT professionals - at least in the home market.

Wordpress Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:06:00 +0000

I continue to use WordPress as a way of making a quick site that the user can update themselves. I firmly believe hand coding is the only path to website perfection but when the budget is limited and the site doesn't have to look amazing or have perfect SEO then you can't beat it for speed (and therefore cost).

Here's a few examples of my recent WordPress sites:

Mablethorpe Motorcycle Festival

Relate Lincs

East Lindsey CAB

Most relaxing day ever

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:55:00 +0000

I've had a more relaxing (and less productive) day than I have at weekends and all becuase I was working with a BT engineer. Nice guy but wow - these big companies have such crazy systems setup that they just can't get anything done! We spent over 2 hours just waiting for a courier to bring a part from Grimsby that until recently the engineer would have had on his van - this way is more efficient apparantely....

I think in all the guy was onsite about 4 hours and had completed a 3 and a half hour round trip to do about 45mins work. I want his job!!

Still after 5 years of BT saying it's not their problem I finally managed to be there with the engineer and stand over him until he admitted it was their problem and fixed it. A great day for me and my customer and I'm the most refreshed I've felt since the xmas holidays!

Spam mail experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:27:00 +0000

Like everyone else I get so many emails that I often miss ones that are important because I can’t see the wood for the trees. 7 days ago I decided to use the unsubscribe options on all the unwanted marketing emails I received in the next week. I kept a list and in 7 days I've opted out of 27 mailing lists! It's made quite a difference which just goes to show how regular some of these emails were being sent.

I'd recommend it to anyone but remember never respond to scam mails as you are just proving your email address is valid making it a bigger target for spam.

Do I buy an iPad?

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:37:00 +0000

I wouldn't buy an iPad because I think it is a cool toy or to be trendy becuase I’m not into gadgets or fashion.

What I like about the iPad is it's ergonomics. I do allot of research online and want something I can use whilst sat in a comfy chair or even in bed. I use my iPhone for quick eBay checks etc but the screens too small for much more. My netbook gets me away from the desk but I still have to be sat at a table which I don't find comfy.

If I could replace my netbook with an iPad I would but I need the netbook to take out on jobs to test networks etc.. If it was £150 I'd pre-order one right now but since I've already got internet access on my PC, netbook, iPhone and PS3, £300 is hard to justify.

Of course there will be copycat products, hopefully at lower price points but running what OS? Microsoft have dropped the ball on mobile operating systems... and when they tried to pick it up they accidentally kicked it even further away... and then a dog got it and ran off.

Well I'm no nearer to deciding whether I'll get one or not but I've fancied a tablet PC since they first appeared and Apples is the first that looks small enough to hold like a magazine. Hmm maybe I should just buy more magazines - £300 buys allot of magazines... Oh well - I'll let you know.

Just looking at that pic it's hard to believe that Star Trek Fans won’t buy it if no-one else!

IT Humour

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:19:00 +0000

Wow Microsoft just sent an email that wasn’t incredibly boring - look a cartoon!

Flash in the pan?

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:09:00 +0000

I've never been a big fan of Flash. I'm not impressed by shiny things and all too often Flash has been used for purely aesthetic reasons. It's also rubbish for SEO and a pain to update.

Thankfully you virtually never see websites entirely built in Flash these days, it's also been banished from site navigation. The main, and best, use of Flash is as a way of showing video without requiring an imbedded player to be present.

Up and coming web standards promise to let us achive some of what we would have previously turned to Flash for. Mobile devices demand plain, fast to download content. Best of all the iPhone, iTouch and iPad don't support flash content.

So is Flash a technological dead end? Ultimately if Apple doesn't adopt it soon sites that need to perform (as opposed to just look good) will be stripping it out. For myself if HTML5 improvements can help me achieve the same effect then I know which I'd rather use.

My predication is that Flash will continue to slowly fade away save for embedded videos and misguided and obtrusive advertising.

(Then again I was once convinced that Javascript was dead since it was so badly supported and could often be replaced with rock solid server side scripting. Improved browser compatibility and AJAX has made Javascript an essential web technology.)

Network Job In Scunthorpe

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Wired networking in offices seems to be back as everyone decides that wireless isn't really up to the job. That’s what happened in this office in Scunthorpe anyway, sadly they didn’t know me when they wired the whole building but I have just added a further 21 points for a mixture of phone and computer use. The rack isn't quite up to my standards but save for the empty patch bay I put in (labelled C) I can honestly say 'it was like that when I got here' :o)

As Scunthorpe is an hour and half's drive away we tried to fit allot of work into one day to avoid a return trip - end result we got back to Mablethorpe just before midnight. Phew...

CPC - Good customer service

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:24:00 +0000

It's only fair to point out that CPC have sent a very apologetic email and corrected the issue with my account so I can have goods delivered straight to the customer. Since they sorted it I apologised for calling them 'idiots'...

CPC - Bad customer service

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:25:00 +0000

I've realised I only write two types of blog entry. There’s the "Here's an interesting thing I did" entry and there's the bitter rant. Tighten your seat belts...

I have a networking job on Saturday so as usual I ordered wire, trunking and faceplates from CPC about a week in advance but, uniquely, I told CPC to deliver them straight to the customer as I have no easy way of transporting 3m lengths of trunking down a motorway.

I checked the order status today expecting it to have been delivered and was amazed to see it had been marked 'cancelled'. To quote my letter to CPC 'what sort of idiot cancels a customer’s order without contacting the customer first to resolve the issue?'. Even worse they didn’t even contact me afterwards to say they had done it. Crazy.

I rang, gave my account number and was told the order was cancelled because I had specified a delivery address different to that on my Credit Card - which you can’t do without and account. I pointed out that I had just given them my account number. I'm informed that my account is just the temporary one that's used for the first order - which doesn’t qualify as an account. I pointed out that I had been making regular orders since February 2007.

The long and short of it is their systems gone wrong - they can’t fix it - they couldn't sort the order out for me and I was left to go back to the website and go through the whole process again only this time paying extra for the next day delivery that is now required - and having it delivered to my own address.

If it doesn’t arrive tomorrow I'll do a charge back on the credit card to cancel the order.... But I won't tell them.

Amazon80 - Amazon with an 80% discount!

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:06:00 +0000

That's two websites in one evening - not bad.

Amazon80 consists of a link to each of Amazons categories that only shows products with a discount of 80% or more. It sounds interesting doesn't it?! You can visit it now at www.amazon80.co.uk.

Amazon's Hottest Products

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Amazons Hottest Products is another free market research tool to go alongside my existing Google's Hottest Products website. These sites are just quirky learning exercises for me but the next one is the one you will all want to use - watch this space...

Surf Tuition Website

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:51:00 +0000

This website was almost really, really pretty. The customer had his own ideas though and, to my mind, the header clashes with the rest of the site. Still I was working for 2 times European Surf Champion Grishka Roberts so I wasn't going to argue with him.

Check out Pro Surf Tuition website and see what you think.

Mablethorpe Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:54:00 +0000

I've helped out the Marathon Committee with a temporary home page for the Mablethorpe Marathon while the full site is put being together by a volunteer. It's a new domain so the more links to it the better it's Google page rank and in that spirit:

Visit the Mablethorpe Marathon website.

Spot the phone point

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:47:00 +0000

Here's a fun game just like spot the ball!

I'm helping a business in Louth move office and last week installed the data cabinet and wiring for the network and phone points. Below the cabinet you can see I have left a big sign asking BT to install the fax line in the place we need it to be.

So the game is to print off the pic and put some crosses where you think BT will actually install the point!

I'll post the results when there in.....

Acer v's HP/Compaq

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:33:00 +0000

Here's a pic of the 8 PC's I setup in Skegness on Monday and it reminded me of a small but significant difference between Acer and HP/Compaq PC's - or at least the ones I've been setting up lately.

You see all these PC's all have a Windows 7 license and XP Pro 'downgrades'. You'll note the 5 HP desktops have booted straight into the later part of the XP setup but the 3 Acer laptops are going through the 'Put disk 1 in - now put disk 2 in - reboot - now put disk 1 back in....' XP restore process as they actually came with Windows 7 pre-installed.

Microsoft must be going crazy that HP are actually pre-installing XP but when you have 8 PC's to setup onsite it’s a time saving worth having. The bottom line is next time I'll hopefully remember and keep sure we get HP machines instead of Acer.

Google's Hottest Products

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:55:00 +0000

Keen to buy or setup a webshop I have spent allot of time on the web researching the market and looking for niches. It's surprising what information is available but it takes a bit of finding.

For non boffins I decided to stick the most important info into one place and, just to prove to myself that these things don't work, I've sprinkled it in adverts like a proper internet Del-Boy.

The site shows the most searched for phrases on Google Products in the last 7, 30 and 90 days - valuable info for retailers and anyone wanting to study business trends. Check it out at www.googleshottestproducts.com

What PC should I buy?

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:20:00 +0000

I get asked this so many times I have decided to make a blog entry to refer people to. The below assumes you are after an everyday PC for surfing, emails word processing etc..

Brand: HP/Compaq, Acer, Toshiba(laptops), Dell

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (i7 is better but expensive)

RAM (memory): Not less than 2GB - more if you into photo / video editing

Hard Disk Drive (storage): Not less than 120GB - more if you are into photo's and as much as possible if you into video editing.

Operating system: Windows XP Pro 32bit for business, Windows 7 64bit for home (check you existing software and peripherals are compatible)

AntiVirus: Home - AVG Free & MalwareBytes Free. Business - depends on setup.

Other Software: Do you need Microsoft Office? Home and Student 2007 gives Word, Excel and Power Point licensed for 3 PC's at around £80. 2007 Pro is for business at about £320 - discounted licensing options are available for multiple copies.

Where to buy: ebuyer.com - dabs.com - pcwb.co.uk - if you prefer to buy in a shop go to PC World but don't let them sell you extras! Sorry, I don't want to sell you one as there's no margin in it anymore and I don't want to pass the VAT threshold!

Second Hand: In my opinion second hand is never worth it as new is now so cheap and certain PC components do wear out.

Independent Shops: Support them if you can but make sure you have a genuine Windows license sticker on the case with a product key on - without this you do not have a legal copy of Windows and I see this allot! Also be aware that with a home built PC you cannot just go to hp.com etc.. to download drivers/software in the future - this is also true of many of the more 'Mickey mouse' brands.

The only other considerations are some PC's will have firewire (aka iLink aka IEEE1394) which you may want to connect your video camera to your PC with. Do you need a wireless network connection? Laptops will have them, desktops generally won’t but if you can use the wired connection it's much better.

You may find a media card reader handy for digital camera memory cards and most PC's have them now. With laptops 15" screen is the norm and is a good compromise between ease of use and portability - 17" makes for a big machine but well suited if it's going to stay on your desk. If you'd like to make video calls then a laptop with a built in webcam is a neat solution. Don't forget to buy a decent case with your laptop if you'll be carrying it around.

When you've bought it don't forget to give me a call to set it up for you!

iPod in Ford Focus gives no sound

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:33:00 +0000

I'm on a roll but this is the last entry - probably for months!

Earlier this week I went to see a retired chap in Alford who had a brand new Ford Focus and an iPod that wouldn't get along. The Focus has a USB port into which the standard iPod wire connects giving the head unit control of the iPod. So far so good but no sound.

The customer had taken it to the Ford dealer (NOT THE ONE IN MABLETHORPE I HASTEN TO ADD!) who didn't seem to know much about it but tried the iPod in a couple of new cars with the same results and declared the iPod was probably at fault.

With this knowledge I arrived armed with my iPhone and my cable but it behaved just as the customers had suggesting it was either the car or we were missing something simple. The something simple turned out to be Fords special cable pictured above - available from your dealer (if they have heard of it) or from eBay at around £20 (just type in ford ipod cable).

I hope this post helps somebody as well as illustrating the wide array of challanges my customers like to set me!

DO give up the day job

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:53:00 +0000

Firstly I'll stress that this job came to me while out of the county so no locals are implicated!

For whatever reason a computer shop decided the customers laptop needed a new motherboard and duly did the swap. However the customer found he now had no wi-fi. Not to happy with the shops work he took it to his regular IT guy who had a look and said Windows needed to be removed and re-installed.

Not wanting to boast but after 2 mins in Windows it was clear to me that the PC simply wasn’t seeing the Wifi card and half a dozen screws later I was looking at the answer as shown in the pic. The Wifi cards gold contacts on the top edge should be IN that socket - not lying on top of it. And connecting the black and white aerial wires would also be a pretty good idea.

Where to begin?

The computer shop who fitted the new motherboard - how could they do the rest of the job correctly and mess up something as simple as this? How come they didn't spot it in testing? A real cynic (guilty) would almost wonder if it was done on purpose to be fixed at a later date and at additional cost?

And the IT guy who was going to carry out an expensive format that would have achived absolutely nothing - well we all miss things from time to time but knowing that the motherboard had just been changed it wasn’t rocket science to check the WiFi card was present and correctly seated.

What concerns me is that businesses and individuals rely on PC's massively. Internet connectivity is almost now considered a human right (no really!). And yet ANYONE can call themselves an IT expert and come into people’s homes and businesses to charge good money to potentially do more harm than good.

I won’t bang on again about my qualifications and certificates.. diplomas... training courses and years of experience.... and I’m insured... AND I give receipts and pay tax.... Sorry... But it upsets me to see people being ripped off and my industry being so full of cowboys – surely something akin to CORGI registration is required.

Don't you just love Telecoms Engineers?

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:39:00 +0000

I have previously posted the 'before' picture of this rack installed over Easter 09 in Grimsby but I never got around to posting the other pic which shows what the telecoms guys did to it. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry but they sure made the standard of my work look good.

Always check the basics

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:28:00 +0000

Shortly after the lightening strike job (previous entry) a business in Mablethorpe asked me to come and see why their network was down - another quick diagnosis as there router's powers supply had expired and actually melted a hole in the casing.

Not a common failure but you have to wonder how close it was to catching fire?

Lightening Strike

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:20:00 +0000

A while ago I helped a chap in Sutton on Sea after his house got struck by lightening taking out his computer and, in fact, almost every electrical item he owned.

After installing the new PC and router the ADSL failed to connect to the exchange. It didn’t take long to realise that although BT had been there 'for hours' they hadn’t actually tested, or even inspected, half of the telephone system. What I found was melted cables and two blown faceplates (the 'best' one is pictured above).

Thanks to Robert Watson's Home Hardware we were soon up and running once more and the customer kept the faceplate as a souvenir.

Computer networking in Skegness

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:11:00 +0000

I never get around to blogging anymore so here's something I could have posted last summer when I actually did the job. A customer in Skegness was having some alterations to the building and decided it was a good time to do a proper job with the network.

What makes this job stand out was that it was the first time a customer agreed to go completely Gigabit which has made browsing on the file server almost as fast as browsing on local machines.

6 months on I'm pleased to say there hasn’t being a single fault.

Closing for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Tiny Island Computers) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:56:00 +0000

After a very busy period I’m pleased to be closing the offices a little earlier than usual this year and will re-open on January 4th

A quick note to anyone disappointed not to have received a Tiny Island Computers Christmas card this year – I didn’t get time to organise the printing so please don’t take it personally!

2009 has been a very strong year but, as many of my customers know, I have now reached the point were I am often booked a full week ahead which is causing problems when customers have urgent issues. I’m not sure where the answer lies but will be considering the situation at length during the holidays.