I know some people don’t even believe that the Internet or World Wide Web exists. They think that it is an abstract concept and that if asked to show it to someone they would fail miserably. Well, whether or not it exists I think that the collective consciousness of humanity is evolving everyday because of the sharing of ideas on the strange boxes called computers and the electronic network that connects them.
Every time I go on the Internet these days I am surprised by some new function that it has for our lives. My most recent discovery has been on-line tutorials. Tutorials are websites that have been created to help novices and amateurs alike learn more in their areas of specific interest. Just about any aspect of life seems to have tutorial sites dedicated to it that will teach you want you want to know. Of course some knowledge can cost you money but you’d be pleasantly surprised to see how much information you can get for free.
For example, I am interested in learning about how to play the guitar. You should see how many sites are out there, just look up guitar+tutorials on your search engine (E.g.: Google). There’s all sorts of great help from how to change your strings, hold a plectrum properly, and tuning, to learning complex chord scale systems and finger tapping on your electric guitar.
There are often diagrams, photographs, and intensive explanations relating to everything you ever wanted to know. Some sites have video and audio to help drive the lessons home. Life really has changed. In the past you had to get lessons from a teacher, drive to and from their house or music school, pay high tuition fees, and buy books on chords and songs. Everything is downloadable these days, and a lot of it is free.
Web designers could also probably learn a few things from these guitar tutorial sites. The ways the guitar teachings are expressed are often quite extensive but done so in a very simplistic manner. It’s a real one, two, three approach starting with verbal explanations of exercises, followed by diagrams, and then finally with audio and visual representations. It is an extremely thorough way of teaching without ever having to meet anyone in person.
However, a strange phenomenon is the fact that if the site is good, the visitor does feel a connection to the personality of the creator. Making the site individual is a major factor in both achieving success and touching a personal chord (no pun intended) with people. Many of the sites have means in which you can get direct contact with the site owner thus creating an opportunity for real personal interaction and tuition. Check out some of these sites:
* www.alanhorvath.com/tutorials
* www.ezfolk.com/guitar/Tutorials/tutorials.html
* www.learnthat.com/courses/fun/guitar/
* www.8j.net/~lwind/guitar.html
* www.tutorgig.com/t/Guitar
Get connected to the teachers of the future. Find a tutorial that helps you to follow your dreams.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Translation Plez !
While we are here sending messages in English, there are at least one third of the worlds population who can't read them, for English is not even a second language for them.
I refer to China.
More people in China are logging on to the net every day, but most of what has been put up on the net is in English, this can be very frustrating for them.
Very few web sites I visit, and I visit very many in any given week, don't have any way of giving translations into other languages, and I feel, this is a thing that webmasters have got to address as soon as possible.
On my own website, www.ebook-sales.com I have inserted a script code at the top of every html page to offer Alta Vista's translationservice - 'Babel Fish'.
This offers translation into eight languages at present, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, as well as European languages. As more languages become available automatically the script will activate them.
Since I put "Babel Fish' on my site I have noticed in the stats on my server that more people are logging on from China!
This problem of translation for web-sites I recently wrote up about in a article filed with IdeaMarketers.com called "Reach Out And Touch Billions", no sooner it was filed within minutes it was being read by users of the service, usually editors.
Take a look at the article and let me have some comments, and if you know of other translation services, why not give me some details about them for others to benefit from?
I will write another article to follow up.
Question 1.
Should it be a mandatory requirement that a translation should be made available for web-sites - incuding blogs?
Question 2.
Now that there is the technology available, should search engine's like Google and Yahoo rank sites lower if they have no translation available?
(Therefore rank sites higher if they do provide translation?)
Question 3.
Should all email service providers be made to provide translation services for all emails?
(Do you know of any that do?)
I refer to China.
More people in China are logging on to the net every day, but most of what has been put up on the net is in English, this can be very frustrating for them.
Very few web sites I visit, and I visit very many in any given week, don't have any way of giving translations into other languages, and I feel, this is a thing that webmasters have got to address as soon as possible.
On my own website, www.ebook-sales.com I have inserted a script code at the top of every html page to offer Alta Vista's translationservice - 'Babel Fish'.
This offers translation into eight languages at present, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, as well as European languages. As more languages become available automatically the script will activate them.
Since I put "Babel Fish' on my site I have noticed in the stats on my server that more people are logging on from China!
This problem of translation for web-sites I recently wrote up about in a article filed with IdeaMarketers.com called "Reach Out And Touch Billions", no sooner it was filed within minutes it was being read by users of the service, usually editors.
Take a look at the article and let me have some comments, and if you know of other translation services, why not give me some details about them for others to benefit from?
I will write another article to follow up.
Question 1.
Should it be a mandatory requirement that a translation should be made available for web-sites - incuding blogs?
Question 2.
Now that there is the technology available, should search engine's like Google and Yahoo rank sites lower if they have no translation available?
(Therefore rank sites higher if they do provide translation?)
Question 3.
Should all email service providers be made to provide translation services for all emails?
(Do you know of any that do?)
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Open Sesame - Password Security
“Open Sesame!” is probably the most famous password in literature. It gave Ali Baba access to vast treasure. In the realm of technology, computer passwords also give access to valuable treasures: precious business and personal data.
Information about your personal life, buying habits, credit quality and life style is valuable to those who can profit from it. For the Corporation, information has even greater worth. It is not the “Bricks and Mortar” but the intangibles such as intellectual property, client lists, market strategies, pricing and compensation that account for over half the value of the modern enterprise.
All of this personal and business data most likely resides on a database somewhere and is available with a password. In fact, passwords are the most common means of entry in any system. They are also acknowledged as the most vulnerable points for security. “Weak” or compromised passwords are the easiest way for hackers to gain entry into a system.
Simple or short passwords can be easily discovered through “brute force” or “dictionary” attacks which concentrate intense computer power to crack a password. A two letter password, for example, has only 676 combinations. A password with eight letters offers more safety with 208,000,000 combinations.
Ideally, a password should consist of 8 or more characters. They should also contain a mixture of upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers. “A$d3B5i9X” would be an example. Microsoft security has encouraged the concept of the “Pass Phrase” as an alternative. A phrase such as,”TheLastGoodBookUBoughtCost$25!” has all of the needed elements and is also easy to remember.
The human factor or social engineering contributes to password compromises. It is estimated that employees share their password eight times a year. Passwords can also be cajoled from untrained or naïve workers. The standard rule is NEVER share a password.
Remember the cliché of the “Six Degrees of Separation.” You cannot know who will eventually end up with your password and own it.
To cope with these issues, many leading edge firms are adopting a defense in depth strategy utilizing three elements to better safeguard their information
The three layers of authentication consist of:
What you know…
A strong password or pass phrase
What you have…
A Crypto-key, smart card or token
Who you are…
A biometric aspect such as fingerprint, hand, or retinal recognition
Usage of these three defensive measures will increase dramatically in the future as people seek to thwart ever increasing threats to their private and personal information. Many companies will be mandating them as a significant part of their security best-practices to safeguard an extremely valuable asset: their treasured data.
Information about your personal life, buying habits, credit quality and life style is valuable to those who can profit from it. For the Corporation, information has even greater worth. It is not the “Bricks and Mortar” but the intangibles such as intellectual property, client lists, market strategies, pricing and compensation that account for over half the value of the modern enterprise.
All of this personal and business data most likely resides on a database somewhere and is available with a password. In fact, passwords are the most common means of entry in any system. They are also acknowledged as the most vulnerable points for security. “Weak” or compromised passwords are the easiest way for hackers to gain entry into a system.
Simple or short passwords can be easily discovered through “brute force” or “dictionary” attacks which concentrate intense computer power to crack a password. A two letter password, for example, has only 676 combinations. A password with eight letters offers more safety with 208,000,000 combinations.
Ideally, a password should consist of 8 or more characters. They should also contain a mixture of upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers. “A$d3B5i9X” would be an example. Microsoft security has encouraged the concept of the “Pass Phrase” as an alternative. A phrase such as,”TheLastGoodBookUBoughtCost$25!” has all of the needed elements and is also easy to remember.
The human factor or social engineering contributes to password compromises. It is estimated that employees share their password eight times a year. Passwords can also be cajoled from untrained or naïve workers. The standard rule is NEVER share a password.
Remember the cliché of the “Six Degrees of Separation.” You cannot know who will eventually end up with your password and own it.
To cope with these issues, many leading edge firms are adopting a defense in depth strategy utilizing three elements to better safeguard their information
The three layers of authentication consist of:
What you know…
A strong password or pass phrase
What you have…
A Crypto-key, smart card or token
Who you are…
A biometric aspect such as fingerprint, hand, or retinal recognition
Usage of these three defensive measures will increase dramatically in the future as people seek to thwart ever increasing threats to their private and personal information. Many companies will be mandating them as a significant part of their security best-practices to safeguard an extremely valuable asset: their treasured data.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Blogging Communities Turn Faceless Strangers into Close Friends
I’ve been searching the Internet for blogging sites for a fair while now and recently I came across a whole blogging community, which has grabbed my interest greatly. It’s called Joe User and it’s a site that many bloggers all around the globe are partaking in. It is very well organized into categories such as Best Articles, Newest blog entries, Top blogging sites, New sites and Most hit-on bloggers. The blogs range from very personal life introspection to serious analysis of current affairs in the media.
The aspect that has appealed to me the most is the very personal type of blogging community. Many people are talking about their feelings and issues about life with people that technically they have never met face to face. However, the type of camaraderie I’ve ‘witnessed’ as a bystander has truly amazed me. These people talk to each other as though they are extremely close friends, and the strange thing is I think this is the reality.
When one person has something important happen to them in their life, up to 100 or more comments will arrive under their blog entry with advice and information as well as emotional support from their blogging friends. Of course there are some differences in opinion, but the general perspective seems to be one of a positive approach to humanity. People are really spilling out their souls to each other, and then accepting criticism as well as discussing possible solutions to problems. I just find this to be truly inspirational, a human community or ‘tribe’ that has formed simply because of the Internet’s existence.
These people must spend a lot of time communicating with each other. Some are writing new entries everyday, as well as articles and conversations. The conversations usually happen in the ‘comments’ section where one can see that these people often stay up into the late hours of the morning, blogging to each other back and forth. The amount of love shared by these arbitrary acquaintances is astounding. One could perceive the whole experience as a form of therapy but I think it is much more than that. I believe this is a sign of a revolution. The coming of the New Human Tribe has begun.
If random bloggers can evolve into a community of people who trust, respect, and are intimate and united with each other this says a lot for the human condition. People are tired of the segregated, separatist reality of countries, cultures, races and religions. These group blogging sites, or collective on-line journals as I now like to think of them, are symbolic of the future connectedness of all of humanity. It may take a hundred years, or a thousand, or maybe only fifty, but it definitely looks like there’s hope yet for the warring, greedy humans. One day we all may be ‘one’ again in our minds as well as our physical forms.
The aspect that has appealed to me the most is the very personal type of blogging community. Many people are talking about their feelings and issues about life with people that technically they have never met face to face. However, the type of camaraderie I’ve ‘witnessed’ as a bystander has truly amazed me. These people talk to each other as though they are extremely close friends, and the strange thing is I think this is the reality.
When one person has something important happen to them in their life, up to 100 or more comments will arrive under their blog entry with advice and information as well as emotional support from their blogging friends. Of course there are some differences in opinion, but the general perspective seems to be one of a positive approach to humanity. People are really spilling out their souls to each other, and then accepting criticism as well as discussing possible solutions to problems. I just find this to be truly inspirational, a human community or ‘tribe’ that has formed simply because of the Internet’s existence.
These people must spend a lot of time communicating with each other. Some are writing new entries everyday, as well as articles and conversations. The conversations usually happen in the ‘comments’ section where one can see that these people often stay up into the late hours of the morning, blogging to each other back and forth. The amount of love shared by these arbitrary acquaintances is astounding. One could perceive the whole experience as a form of therapy but I think it is much more than that. I believe this is a sign of a revolution. The coming of the New Human Tribe has begun.
If random bloggers can evolve into a community of people who trust, respect, and are intimate and united with each other this says a lot for the human condition. People are tired of the segregated, separatist reality of countries, cultures, races and religions. These group blogging sites, or collective on-line journals as I now like to think of them, are symbolic of the future connectedness of all of humanity. It may take a hundred years, or a thousand, or maybe only fifty, but it definitely looks like there’s hope yet for the warring, greedy humans. One day we all may be ‘one’ again in our minds as well as our physical forms.
Internet Home Business Secrets That Payoff!
I can picture you exactly where I was just a few short years ago --
Sitting in another useless meeting organized by a group of senior managers that have a combined IQ less than your own child at 3-months old.
Around in circles you go, no progress again today and only those who play the game the best will collect the bigger paychecks - but even they can't outlast this game of roulette can they?
Listen - I get asked often, even by my own wife, "why are you so driven!"
It's true, these days I am passionate about just about everything I do - especially my internet home business.
Why?
Is it the thought of a new porsche sitting in my driveway that motivated me to succeed with my internet home business?
What about cruising up and down the Pacific Coast in my new yacht?
Maybe it's being able to take a dream vacation to Australia and New Zealand?
Nope! You guessed wrong.
In fact, what motivates me everyday is the thought of having my time, energy, health and family UNDER THE CONTROL of someone other than myself scares the heck out of me.
I mean all out spiders on my face, snakes in my bed and lizards in my pants scared!
When I hit 30 back several years ago - I was in a hotel, alone on business in downtown London, England.
Incredible city, but I realized that after spending 29 birthdays with my family - I was FORCED to spend this one alone thousands of miles from home.
Every day after, I became incensed each time someone at my old job controlled some aspect of my time, health, energy or family.
I don't mean a little upset - I mean DEEPLY ANGRY.
There's only two ways to deal with something like that in your life - curl over and die a slow death or take action until you change the circumstances
Trick was, to channel that anger in the right direction - postive instead of negative.
Then I discovered something incredibly powerful --
Anger and Pain Are Part of the Formula for Success!
Name me any highly successful person and chances are I can find a burning, gut-churning, unstoppable force within them that will not let them fail. That force usually comes from anger or pain.
LET ME SAVE YOU 5-YEARS OR MORE....
Even with this incredible passion I had to control my own destiny, success didn't come right away.
I tried opportunity after opportunity, scam after scam, UNTIL...
THE HOLY GRAIL - Internet Home Business
Ever since the beginning of business, the same principles hold true - you must have;
1. Compelling product to reachable market
2. Competitive Advantage or Unique Selling Proposition
3. Operation plan that is profitable
4. Constant Plan, Do and Review process to increase profits
Whether you want to market other people's products online or create your own products or services, you must follow these fundamental business principles.
What's great about an internet home business is:
1. You can find reachable markets and compelling product ideas sitting in your office in your underwear
2. You can easily discover and communicate your Unique Selling Proposition without having to spend thousands on competitive intelligence
3. You can develop very profitable operational plans taking advantage of instant download, or build to order systems
4. It's easier, and less risky than ever before to continually test and improve your internet home business.
So - snap out of it!
Stop settling for whatever it is that is eating away at you!
Take action - right now!
Find out all you can about starting and building your own internet home business - turn your anger or pain into health and happiness today.
Sitting in another useless meeting organized by a group of senior managers that have a combined IQ less than your own child at 3-months old.
Around in circles you go, no progress again today and only those who play the game the best will collect the bigger paychecks - but even they can't outlast this game of roulette can they?
Listen - I get asked often, even by my own wife, "why are you so driven!"
It's true, these days I am passionate about just about everything I do - especially my internet home business.
Why?
Is it the thought of a new porsche sitting in my driveway that motivated me to succeed with my internet home business?
What about cruising up and down the Pacific Coast in my new yacht?
Maybe it's being able to take a dream vacation to Australia and New Zealand?
Nope! You guessed wrong.
In fact, what motivates me everyday is the thought of having my time, energy, health and family UNDER THE CONTROL of someone other than myself scares the heck out of me.
I mean all out spiders on my face, snakes in my bed and lizards in my pants scared!
When I hit 30 back several years ago - I was in a hotel, alone on business in downtown London, England.
Incredible city, but I realized that after spending 29 birthdays with my family - I was FORCED to spend this one alone thousands of miles from home.
Every day after, I became incensed each time someone at my old job controlled some aspect of my time, health, energy or family.
I don't mean a little upset - I mean DEEPLY ANGRY.
There's only two ways to deal with something like that in your life - curl over and die a slow death or take action until you change the circumstances
Trick was, to channel that anger in the right direction - postive instead of negative.
Then I discovered something incredibly powerful --
Anger and Pain Are Part of the Formula for Success!
Name me any highly successful person and chances are I can find a burning, gut-churning, unstoppable force within them that will not let them fail. That force usually comes from anger or pain.
LET ME SAVE YOU 5-YEARS OR MORE....
Even with this incredible passion I had to control my own destiny, success didn't come right away.
I tried opportunity after opportunity, scam after scam, UNTIL...
THE HOLY GRAIL - Internet Home Business
Ever since the beginning of business, the same principles hold true - you must have;
1. Compelling product to reachable market
2. Competitive Advantage or Unique Selling Proposition
3. Operation plan that is profitable
4. Constant Plan, Do and Review process to increase profits
Whether you want to market other people's products online or create your own products or services, you must follow these fundamental business principles.
What's great about an internet home business is:
1. You can find reachable markets and compelling product ideas sitting in your office in your underwear
2. You can easily discover and communicate your Unique Selling Proposition without having to spend thousands on competitive intelligence
3. You can develop very profitable operational plans taking advantage of instant download, or build to order systems
4. It's easier, and less risky than ever before to continually test and improve your internet home business.
So - snap out of it!
Stop settling for whatever it is that is eating away at you!
Take action - right now!
Find out all you can about starting and building your own internet home business - turn your anger or pain into health and happiness today.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Reach Out To Billions
Have you heard of 'Babel Fish'?
It's a service provided by Alta Vista search engine people to translate every page you put 'Babel Fish' code, and up comes a a new language.
Your page may be written in English, but people across Spain and Latin America can translate your web page into Spanish. Likewise if your web page is written in Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, people can have an instant translation into English, or another language they are comfortable with.
I have put 'Babel Fish' code onto every page on my site at:- http://www.ebook-sales.com and I can see from the stats on the server that people are clicking on 'Babel Fish' to have a translation. This I feel, widens my audience out there in cyberspace. The 'hit counter' has substantially risen, I have people bookmarking my site, because I see they don't all come in the 'front door' to the site, they come in to certain pages that interests them.
Every new page I put on my site, and I update fairly often, I make sure the 'Babel Fish' code is at the top of the html on that page.
The technology is certainly improving, I remember science- fiction movies when I was young had computers to instantly translate into any language, but the technology has only just arrived in reality and can be used widely on the web.
In previous articles I wrote about the Chinese market about to be opened up, for there are more people in China logging on to the internet every day. There are businesspeople in the west who are eyeing this market at the moment. To those people I would ask them to seek out some of my previous articles on Ideamarketers.com and take into account what I say there.
It's also no good to the vast population of China, who do not speak any other language, to see sites always put up in English. Some attempt must be made to have parallel pages with Chinese throughout, or resort to the excellent technology that is 'Babel Fish', and as I know the corporate world moves grindingly slowly, the adept and astute entrepreneur could steal a march on their bigger, slower cousins.
Does your company pay a translation service to be able to send documents abroard?
Translation services are costly and slow. If you put your documents on a server in html and insert the code for 'Babel Fish' at the top of every page, you can send an email giving the address of the pages, you can also send a password to get into these pages, no one else will be able to view them, and this will avoid translation costs and slow turnaround of such a service.
Likewise technical manuals could be scanned into html pages, code for 'Babel Fish' inserted at the top of every page, upload the manual to a server, password protect, and your company, to people abroard, will look like something out of 'Startrek', and they will be confident in doing more business with you in the future.
There is only one thing that I have found personally, as I am an author and only write in English, I find if I compile an ebook to an .exe file, as most ebook-compilers do, the 'Babel Fish' code I already placed at the top of every html page before compilation, does not work. The pages are compiled into gibberish anyway, and I suppose the code for 'Babel Fish' the same.
It would be a great leap forward to me and other writers producing ebooks, to have a compiler that can have built-in translation facility into several languages.
If anyone can do this excellent programming idea, I would be the first to buy such a compiler. There lies the nub of a great business invention almost akin to the start of a great software company, like Microsoft.
Why not take this idea further, all movies could be made with built-in translation, all t.v. shows made with translation, to sell these shows abroard.
What else can you think of?
I remember an old saying:- "Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve!".
Think about it!
It's a service provided by Alta Vista search engine people to translate every page you put 'Babel Fish' code, and up comes a a new language.
Your page may be written in English, but people across Spain and Latin America can translate your web page into Spanish. Likewise if your web page is written in Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, people can have an instant translation into English, or another language they are comfortable with.
I have put 'Babel Fish' code onto every page on my site at:- http://www.ebook-sales.com and I can see from the stats on the server that people are clicking on 'Babel Fish' to have a translation. This I feel, widens my audience out there in cyberspace. The 'hit counter' has substantially risen, I have people bookmarking my site, because I see they don't all come in the 'front door' to the site, they come in to certain pages that interests them.
Every new page I put on my site, and I update fairly often, I make sure the 'Babel Fish' code is at the top of the html on that page.
The technology is certainly improving, I remember science- fiction movies when I was young had computers to instantly translate into any language, but the technology has only just arrived in reality and can be used widely on the web.
In previous articles I wrote about the Chinese market about to be opened up, for there are more people in China logging on to the internet every day. There are businesspeople in the west who are eyeing this market at the moment. To those people I would ask them to seek out some of my previous articles on Ideamarketers.com and take into account what I say there.
It's also no good to the vast population of China, who do not speak any other language, to see sites always put up in English. Some attempt must be made to have parallel pages with Chinese throughout, or resort to the excellent technology that is 'Babel Fish', and as I know the corporate world moves grindingly slowly, the adept and astute entrepreneur could steal a march on their bigger, slower cousins.
Does your company pay a translation service to be able to send documents abroard?
Translation services are costly and slow. If you put your documents on a server in html and insert the code for 'Babel Fish' at the top of every page, you can send an email giving the address of the pages, you can also send a password to get into these pages, no one else will be able to view them, and this will avoid translation costs and slow turnaround of such a service.
Likewise technical manuals could be scanned into html pages, code for 'Babel Fish' inserted at the top of every page, upload the manual to a server, password protect, and your company, to people abroard, will look like something out of 'Startrek', and they will be confident in doing more business with you in the future.
There is only one thing that I have found personally, as I am an author and only write in English, I find if I compile an ebook to an .exe file, as most ebook-compilers do, the 'Babel Fish' code I already placed at the top of every html page before compilation, does not work. The pages are compiled into gibberish anyway, and I suppose the code for 'Babel Fish' the same.
It would be a great leap forward to me and other writers producing ebooks, to have a compiler that can have built-in translation facility into several languages.
If anyone can do this excellent programming idea, I would be the first to buy such a compiler. There lies the nub of a great business invention almost akin to the start of a great software company, like Microsoft.
Why not take this idea further, all movies could be made with built-in translation, all t.v. shows made with translation, to sell these shows abroard.
What else can you think of?
I remember an old saying:- "Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve!".
Think about it!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Introduction to Google Page Rank (PR)
For anyone looking to enhance their Google Page Rank (PR) to get a better place in the search results, we now have software that makes finding good links so much easier.
In case you didn't know, to get your PR rating up it is essential to have a significant number of good quality links to your site (the techy bit)... to make a link count, the page who is linking to you needs to have a PR of 4 or more (the higher the better). That's not all though... Every link that page has to another site gives some of the PR away, and every inbound link gives it more, so to know if having a link from another site is going to benefit you very much, you need to look at the PR and then find out how many inbound and outbound links is has! phew!
Not easy I would say, so that's why we now have special software - you give it a URL and the keywords you have optimised for, and it crawls its' way round the web looking for pages to link from and analysing them. You end up with a CSV or HTML file that saves you hours in searching and tells you which links are worth having.
Here's an example of the output for 1 potential link:
Keyword-to-Link search. Used keyword(s) "web site designer".
http://www.1234-find-web-designers.org/
Rank: 7 Estimated: 3 Outbound: 369 Backward: 2460
This tells you the PR of that site is 7, 369 links to other pages, 2460 links to that page, and it would give you a boost of 3 out of a potential 10 for getting a link.
We offer 2 services - 1 where you supply the keywords you want analysing, and we supply the file back to you with the hard work done, ready for you to approach the sites for links. As an introductory price for August / September this is only £99 + VAT.
We also do the complete link building and optimisation service.
In case you didn't know, to get your PR rating up it is essential to have a significant number of good quality links to your site (the techy bit)... to make a link count, the page who is linking to you needs to have a PR of 4 or more (the higher the better). That's not all though... Every link that page has to another site gives some of the PR away, and every inbound link gives it more, so to know if having a link from another site is going to benefit you very much, you need to look at the PR and then find out how many inbound and outbound links is has! phew!
Not easy I would say, so that's why we now have special software - you give it a URL and the keywords you have optimised for, and it crawls its' way round the web looking for pages to link from and analysing them. You end up with a CSV or HTML file that saves you hours in searching and tells you which links are worth having.
Here's an example of the output for 1 potential link:
Keyword-to-Link search. Used keyword(s) "web site designer".
http://www.1234-find-web-designers.org/
Rank: 7 Estimated: 3 Outbound: 369 Backward: 2460
This tells you the PR of that site is 7, 369 links to other pages, 2460 links to that page, and it would give you a boost of 3 out of a potential 10 for getting a link.
We offer 2 services - 1 where you supply the keywords you want analysing, and we supply the file back to you with the hard work done, ready for you to approach the sites for links. As an introductory price for August / September this is only £99 + VAT.
We also do the complete link building and optimisation service.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Lotus Domino/Notes - Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with Documents Workflow - overview for IT Specialist
Lotus Domino/Notes – Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with Documents Workflow – overview for IT Specialist
Microsoft Business Solutions has the whole spectrum of business applications, the good combination seems to be Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM. However we need to admit that Microsoft is relatively new in the CRM market and also for large corporation it could not be a good idea “to put all the eggs into one basket”. If you have investment into other platform from CRM side – such as Lotus Domino/Notes – we offer you integration with Microsoft Great Plains
Why does the company need document workflow system if it has an Accounting/ERP?
The benefits of having financial, sales, services, communication, negotiation and other information be tightly linked and exposed to simple reporting and data mining are obvious. Now we are observing the second and I would dare to say successful phase of CRM systems implementation, which is probably final successful marriage in the long history of datawarehousing, document workflow, contact management systems.
Some business situations where you see the benefits
Reports creation without special knowledge
Special skills are required in order to work with complex ERP system. Usually financial specialist has such skills, but top-level managers, who do really need the information, may not be prepared. Also, ERP based reports should be delivered on regular basis. If Lotus Domino/Notes is used as a corporate communication platform, then to resolve the issue, specially designed routines may be used to pull the information from financial systems (Great Plains, Solomon, Navision, Axapta, SAP, SCALA, Accpac, MAS90 to name a few) to Lotus databases on the schedule. In this case users, including top-level managers will work with this information via custom interface.
Documents routing
One of the competitive advantages of CRM is a workflow. Financial documents are usually subject for approval before posting. Typical accounting/ERP systems do not have (or have very limited) workflow design. Such the workflows could be created on Lotus Domino/Notes platform. Then, through the connection to Microsoft Great Plains or other ERP system you will have document approval workflow.
The typical simple workflow would be like this - send notifications to AR to take off the hold from the customer upon the payment receipt.
So the approach to integrate accounting system and documents oriented Lotus Domino/Notes seems very interesting for corporate information architecture.
Happy designing, customizing and programming! If you want as to do the job – call as 866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com
Rafael software developer in Alba Spectrum Technologies (http://www.albaspectrum.com/) - USA nationwide Lotus Domino/Notes, Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft RMS customization company, based in Chicago, Arizona, California, Texas, New York, Florida, Minnesota, Washington, Georgia, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally, our Lotus page - http://www.albaspectrum.com/Lotus/OffshoreLotus.htm, Rafael is Principal CLP IBM Lotus Domino 6 Application Developer, Certified Professional E-commerce Concepts Analyst
Microsoft Business Solutions has the whole spectrum of business applications, the good combination seems to be Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM. However we need to admit that Microsoft is relatively new in the CRM market and also for large corporation it could not be a good idea “to put all the eggs into one basket”. If you have investment into other platform from CRM side – such as Lotus Domino/Notes – we offer you integration with Microsoft Great Plains
Why does the company need document workflow system if it has an Accounting/ERP?
The benefits of having financial, sales, services, communication, negotiation and other information be tightly linked and exposed to simple reporting and data mining are obvious. Now we are observing the second and I would dare to say successful phase of CRM systems implementation, which is probably final successful marriage in the long history of datawarehousing, document workflow, contact management systems.
Some business situations where you see the benefits
Reports creation without special knowledge
Special skills are required in order to work with complex ERP system. Usually financial specialist has such skills, but top-level managers, who do really need the information, may not be prepared. Also, ERP based reports should be delivered on regular basis. If Lotus Domino/Notes is used as a corporate communication platform, then to resolve the issue, specially designed routines may be used to pull the information from financial systems (Great Plains, Solomon, Navision, Axapta, SAP, SCALA, Accpac, MAS90 to name a few) to Lotus databases on the schedule. In this case users, including top-level managers will work with this information via custom interface.
Documents routing
One of the competitive advantages of CRM is a workflow. Financial documents are usually subject for approval before posting. Typical accounting/ERP systems do not have (or have very limited) workflow design. Such the workflows could be created on Lotus Domino/Notes platform. Then, through the connection to Microsoft Great Plains or other ERP system you will have document approval workflow.
The typical simple workflow would be like this - send notifications to AR to take off the hold from the customer upon the payment receipt.
So the approach to integrate accounting system and documents oriented Lotus Domino/Notes seems very interesting for corporate information architecture.
Happy designing, customizing and programming! If you want as to do the job – call as 866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com
Rafael software developer in Alba Spectrum Technologies (http://www.albaspectrum.com/) - USA nationwide Lotus Domino/Notes, Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft RMS customization company, based in Chicago, Arizona, California, Texas, New York, Florida, Minnesota, Washington, Georgia, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally, our Lotus page - http://www.albaspectrum.com/Lotus/OffshoreLotus.htm, Rafael is Principal CLP IBM Lotus Domino 6 Application Developer, Certified Professional E-commerce Concepts Analyst
Saturday, August 16, 2008
FInding a Safe Dating Site
Seems like everywhere we surf on the Internet nowadays we run across this little advertisement: 'Free online personals'. They are everywhere, they are dating sites, and more are opening up shop every day.
Welcome to the newest internet gold rush. More and more people are signing up to these new and "free" dating sites. What they are really getting is a place on the web where they can post their profile and let strangers contact them. As more and more dating sites pile up on the web, more people are ending up with very distasteful experiences because of this. Why? 99% of today's (and tomorrow's) dating sites do not screen their members at all. This means there are sex offenders, predators, scam artists mixed in with genuine people who are looking to find a match. Dating services need to be very discretionary and much safer, until that time comes here are some important things to consider when thinking about joining a dating site.
1). Examine the site's physical properties. Is it poorly constructed with missing graphics or jagged fonts, mis-aligned sections? If so, this indicates a lack of attention to detail in the construction and layout of the site. It may have been pre purchased and the owner does not have the skill to alter it correctly. Why would you care? Well, a site in a state like this gives a clue that the back end program probably is also in a state of disarray or disregard. If the webmaster cannot construct the face of the site, then it is likely they cannot also construct important safety features behind the site. A hacker then could easily penetrate it and get your personal information including your photo. If you eventually pay this site, your credit information could be stolen as well! A nicely designed site means careful construction and a better chance of good quality code running the site in the background.
2). Look at some sample profiles on the site before you sign up by running a quick search. Do the profiles look a little bogus? A lot of them are. Many sites (especially new ones that have just started up) pad their membership database with photos of models or random (usually good-looking people) to attract new members. Do the profiles have a lot of jibberish characters or nonsensical phrases in the descriptions? That means the dating site you are at does NOT screen the people who sign up. This welcomes people with ill-intent. You should get out of there immediately and go to one that does.
3). Does the site have a privacy link? Look at the bottom of the site's main page. If they have a privacy link, click it and examine. Make sure they specifically state that they do NOT sell your information to anyone. This is an invitation to a spam and junk-mail nightmare. Also look for some sort of a web site rules page or a terms of use page. Check to see if they screen their profiles or somehow disallow racial, hate or overly sexual material. If they don't state this than, anything goes for this site, another reason to leave.
4). Does the site have a links page? If so click and examine. See who they are affiliated with. Usually, there will be graphical banners or icons next to the names of their associations. Are they sex-sites? Spam sites? Even a quick glance in this area could tell you what kind of a dating site you are at.
5). What is the copyright date at the bottom? This could indicate the age of the site. If it is very young, this could help you determine if the site has worked out all the kinks (program bugs) and how many members they have accumulated.
6). Be wary of statements like "You are the 4697th member to join today." and "Search through millions of profiles." these statements are usually false. Major sites, which have been running for YEARS usually can support these statements. look for a "whos online" link. If you are the only person (1 guest online means JUST you are there) then you know these claims are false. A site with millions or even thousands of members will always have a bunch of people currently online. If you detect this in a dating site, it is better to leave than to take a chance with a dishonest site.
Welcome to the newest internet gold rush. More and more people are signing up to these new and "free" dating sites. What they are really getting is a place on the web where they can post their profile and let strangers contact them. As more and more dating sites pile up on the web, more people are ending up with very distasteful experiences because of this. Why? 99% of today's (and tomorrow's) dating sites do not screen their members at all. This means there are sex offenders, predators, scam artists mixed in with genuine people who are looking to find a match. Dating services need to be very discretionary and much safer, until that time comes here are some important things to consider when thinking about joining a dating site.
1). Examine the site's physical properties. Is it poorly constructed with missing graphics or jagged fonts, mis-aligned sections? If so, this indicates a lack of attention to detail in the construction and layout of the site. It may have been pre purchased and the owner does not have the skill to alter it correctly. Why would you care? Well, a site in a state like this gives a clue that the back end program probably is also in a state of disarray or disregard. If the webmaster cannot construct the face of the site, then it is likely they cannot also construct important safety features behind the site. A hacker then could easily penetrate it and get your personal information including your photo. If you eventually pay this site, your credit information could be stolen as well! A nicely designed site means careful construction and a better chance of good quality code running the site in the background.
2). Look at some sample profiles on the site before you sign up by running a quick search. Do the profiles look a little bogus? A lot of them are. Many sites (especially new ones that have just started up) pad their membership database with photos of models or random (usually good-looking people) to attract new members. Do the profiles have a lot of jibberish characters or nonsensical phrases in the descriptions? That means the dating site you are at does NOT screen the people who sign up. This welcomes people with ill-intent. You should get out of there immediately and go to one that does.
3). Does the site have a privacy link? Look at the bottom of the site's main page. If they have a privacy link, click it and examine. Make sure they specifically state that they do NOT sell your information to anyone. This is an invitation to a spam and junk-mail nightmare. Also look for some sort of a web site rules page or a terms of use page. Check to see if they screen their profiles or somehow disallow racial, hate or overly sexual material. If they don't state this than, anything goes for this site, another reason to leave.
4). Does the site have a links page? If so click and examine. See who they are affiliated with. Usually, there will be graphical banners or icons next to the names of their associations. Are they sex-sites? Spam sites? Even a quick glance in this area could tell you what kind of a dating site you are at.
5). What is the copyright date at the bottom? This could indicate the age of the site. If it is very young, this could help you determine if the site has worked out all the kinks (program bugs) and how many members they have accumulated.
6). Be wary of statements like "You are the 4697th member to join today." and "Search through millions of profiles." these statements are usually false. Major sites, which have been running for YEARS usually can support these statements. look for a "whos online" link. If you are the only person (1 guest online means JUST you are there) then you know these claims are false. A site with millions or even thousands of members will always have a bunch of people currently online. If you detect this in a dating site, it is better to leave than to take a chance with a dishonest site.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sales Versus Customer Oriented Websites
Customer oriented websites designed and created with the customer in mind will always outperform sales oriented websites, which often considers the customer as a secondary motivator. Find out what differentiates these websites.
Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator?
A pure sales site has only one purpose... to generate as much revenue as possible at any cost. In other words, your experience--good or bad--is inconsequential to the ultimate goal of the site and may well sacrifice customer satisfaction to make a sale.
How many times have you gone back to buy from a website you've had a lousy experience with? My guess is not very often. I know I don’t. How many times have you gone back to buy from a website you've had a great experience with? What was the difference between the two experiences? Do you think the website you had the great experience with was a customer oriented site? And, might it be the other website you had the bad experience with was a sales oriented website?
A business can't survive very long if it's prime motivator is purely focused on sales and revenue. Sure, it may last for a while... but not long-term.
As webmasters and marketers, we must strive to create a long-term business relationship between ourselves and our customers so that they will continue to buy from us for as long as they have a need or desire for our products or services.
No One Does It Better Than Amazon.com
Arguably, Amazon.com is one of the largest customer oriented and successful website businesses on the planet. They're proof that "build a customer oriented website and they will come." They go out of their way to personalize the shopping experience for every single person.
When I visit Amazon.com, I see a very different selection of products than Linda, my wife, sees when she goes shopping. They know what I've purchased in the past and understand my buying habits. They also understand that my buying habits are different than Linda's and are different than yours. So, they tailor the individual experience for each of us. It makes us feel like the site has been designed around our own needs.
Amazon.com has gone to a tremendous amount of effort to individualize our experiences. Why? Customers are their prime motivator. Would it have been easier and cheaper to build a strictly sales oriented, sales motivated website? Sure. Would they be the most successful website on the planet if they had done that? Do I really need to answer that?
Customer Oriented, Customer Motivated Website
So, you get the drift of where I’m going with this. Although you may not be out to try to kick Amazon.com from the top of the ladder, it doesn’t matter if you’re selling one product or millions of products, the principles are going to be the same.
Based on what you now know, you've decided that your website is going to be customer oriented whereby your customers are going to be the prime motivator for your business. You already know from your past experiences that customers will go back to websites where their experiences have been positive. You also understand that the web's a finicky place and it’s a "one strike and you're out" business environment. Therefore, you’re going to develop your website using your own experiences as a customer as your guide. What did or didn't you like about the websites you've done business with in the past? What brings you back to the ones you’ve had good experiences with time after time?
Give Your Customers What They Want
Customer oriented sites will win out over sales oriented sites over the long haul every time. Develop your customer oriented website to ensure them a satisfying experience and they will tell their friends about you and so the word gets around. Pretty soon your site will be flooded with friends of friends of friends who will all become life-time customers. Lots of happy, satisfied and paying customers means a long-term, profitable and prosperous business. Enough said?
Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator?
A pure sales site has only one purpose... to generate as much revenue as possible at any cost. In other words, your experience--good or bad--is inconsequential to the ultimate goal of the site and may well sacrifice customer satisfaction to make a sale.
How many times have you gone back to buy from a website you've had a lousy experience with? My guess is not very often. I know I don’t. How many times have you gone back to buy from a website you've had a great experience with? What was the difference between the two experiences? Do you think the website you had the great experience with was a customer oriented site? And, might it be the other website you had the bad experience with was a sales oriented website?
A business can't survive very long if it's prime motivator is purely focused on sales and revenue. Sure, it may last for a while... but not long-term.
As webmasters and marketers, we must strive to create a long-term business relationship between ourselves and our customers so that they will continue to buy from us for as long as they have a need or desire for our products or services.
No One Does It Better Than Amazon.com
Arguably, Amazon.com is one of the largest customer oriented and successful website businesses on the planet. They're proof that "build a customer oriented website and they will come." They go out of their way to personalize the shopping experience for every single person.
When I visit Amazon.com, I see a very different selection of products than Linda, my wife, sees when she goes shopping. They know what I've purchased in the past and understand my buying habits. They also understand that my buying habits are different than Linda's and are different than yours. So, they tailor the individual experience for each of us. It makes us feel like the site has been designed around our own needs.
Amazon.com has gone to a tremendous amount of effort to individualize our experiences. Why? Customers are their prime motivator. Would it have been easier and cheaper to build a strictly sales oriented, sales motivated website? Sure. Would they be the most successful website on the planet if they had done that? Do I really need to answer that?
Customer Oriented, Customer Motivated Website
So, you get the drift of where I’m going with this. Although you may not be out to try to kick Amazon.com from the top of the ladder, it doesn’t matter if you’re selling one product or millions of products, the principles are going to be the same.
Based on what you now know, you've decided that your website is going to be customer oriented whereby your customers are going to be the prime motivator for your business. You already know from your past experiences that customers will go back to websites where their experiences have been positive. You also understand that the web's a finicky place and it’s a "one strike and you're out" business environment. Therefore, you’re going to develop your website using your own experiences as a customer as your guide. What did or didn't you like about the websites you've done business with in the past? What brings you back to the ones you’ve had good experiences with time after time?
Give Your Customers What They Want
Customer oriented sites will win out over sales oriented sites over the long haul every time. Develop your customer oriented website to ensure them a satisfying experience and they will tell their friends about you and so the word gets around. Pretty soon your site will be flooded with friends of friends of friends who will all become life-time customers. Lots of happy, satisfied and paying customers means a long-term, profitable and prosperous business. Enough said?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Great Plains Custom Development: Dexterity, VBA, SQL, Crystal, eConnect – overview for programmer
Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions accounting package for the US market. It has multiple customization/modification/reporting tools. Currently there is upgrade campaign to version 8.0 and due to the discontinuation of the technical support for Microsoft Great Plains Standard on Ctree and Pervasive SQL - we see substantial increase in migration needs: migration from ctree/Pervasive to MSDE/MS SQL Server. This in turn increases interest to customization and customization upgrade.
If you are developer who is asked: how do we customize Great Plains – read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
1. Great Plains Dexterity – this is proprietary programming language and technology, designed back to earlier 1990th with the goal to build platform independent graphical accounting package – Great Plains Dynamics. Dexterity itself is written in C (following popular those days hope – that C will provide platform independence). You can install Dexterity from Great Plains 7.5 CD #2. Obviously it requires a lot of learning / training, but it allows your custom piece be seamlessly integrated with Great Plains interface. Nowadays, however – and this is a good thing – most of Great Plains installations are moved to SQL Server – so you can use Dexterity for custom forms drawing only and make the buttons run SQL stored procedures.
2. Modifier with VBA. Unfortunately you have to purchase this tool and get new registration keys. If you are familiar with VBA customization for Access or Excel – you have all the skills needed – then you just attach your scripts to the buttons and fields on GP forms (you can modify these forms with Modifier – or just tough them with it).
3. Continuum for VB/Delphi – we don’t recommend this tool, because it is using Great Plains as OLE server – and you probably don’t want to be trapped by old technology.
4. Crystal Reports. Great Plains has its own ReportWriter, but its functionality is limited – you can’t do cross modules reports (you can’t link Sales and Purchasing tables in one report, for example). So – you use Crystal. The GP tables structure is in Tools->Resource Description->Tables … and you are in control. Feel free to create views and stored procs directly in the companies databases – it doesn’t hurt the Dexterity engine
5. Direct web publishing from Great Plains SQL databases, using Visual Studio.net and your language of choice (VB.Net, C#, J#, etc). Plus you probably want to have several SQL stored procs.
6. eConnect – this tool is type of SDK with VB.net samples. It allows you to feed data into Great Plains and was primarily created for eCommerce developers.
7. Integration Manager – it is end-user tool for importing to GP, however if end-user meets some challenges in the integration – you as a developer can help with VBA scripts. IM validates 100% of business logic and uses hidden GP forms – so it maybe slow for big on-going integrations, when you have thousands records per day – in this case you rescue to eConnect or directly to SQL store procedures.
8. SQL queries - as a developer you have unlimited potential in using SQL queries, because the database in MS SQL Server. Be careful, it is kind of surgery - you can easily delete all your customers, by executing: DELETE RM00101
Happy customizing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
If you are developer who is asked: how do we customize Great Plains – read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
1. Great Plains Dexterity – this is proprietary programming language and technology, designed back to earlier 1990th with the goal to build platform independent graphical accounting package – Great Plains Dynamics. Dexterity itself is written in C (following popular those days hope – that C will provide platform independence). You can install Dexterity from Great Plains 7.5 CD #2. Obviously it requires a lot of learning / training, but it allows your custom piece be seamlessly integrated with Great Plains interface. Nowadays, however – and this is a good thing – most of Great Plains installations are moved to SQL Server – so you can use Dexterity for custom forms drawing only and make the buttons run SQL stored procedures.
2. Modifier with VBA. Unfortunately you have to purchase this tool and get new registration keys. If you are familiar with VBA customization for Access or Excel – you have all the skills needed – then you just attach your scripts to the buttons and fields on GP forms (you can modify these forms with Modifier – or just tough them with it).
3. Continuum for VB/Delphi – we don’t recommend this tool, because it is using Great Plains as OLE server – and you probably don’t want to be trapped by old technology.
4. Crystal Reports. Great Plains has its own ReportWriter, but its functionality is limited – you can’t do cross modules reports (you can’t link Sales and Purchasing tables in one report, for example). So – you use Crystal. The GP tables structure is in Tools->Resource Description->Tables … and you are in control. Feel free to create views and stored procs directly in the companies databases – it doesn’t hurt the Dexterity engine
5. Direct web publishing from Great Plains SQL databases, using Visual Studio.net and your language of choice (VB.Net, C#, J#, etc). Plus you probably want to have several SQL stored procs.
6. eConnect – this tool is type of SDK with VB.net samples. It allows you to feed data into Great Plains and was primarily created for eCommerce developers.
7. Integration Manager – it is end-user tool for importing to GP, however if end-user meets some challenges in the integration – you as a developer can help with VBA scripts. IM validates 100% of business logic and uses hidden GP forms – so it maybe slow for big on-going integrations, when you have thousands records per day – in this case you rescue to eConnect or directly to SQL store procedures.
8. SQL queries - as a developer you have unlimited potential in using SQL queries, because the database in MS SQL Server. Be careful, it is kind of surgery - you can easily delete all your customers, by executing: DELETE RM00101
Happy customizing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Great Plains Dexterity Programming – overview for developer
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology – Great Plains Dexterity dictionary and runtime), Great Plains Standard on MSDE is for small to midsize clients, and then Great Plains serves the rest of the market up to big corporations.
If you are developer who is asked: how do we customize Great Plains with its native programming language – Great Plains Dexterity – read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
The history of the Dexterity. Great Plains Dexterity – is proprietary programming language and technology, designed back to earlier 1990th with the goal to build platform independent graphical accounting package – Great Plains Dynamics. Dexterity itself is written in C (following popular those days hope – that C will provide platform independence). You can install Dexterity from Great Plains 7.5 CD #2. Obviously it requires a lot of learning / training, but it allows your custom piece be seamlessly integrated with Great Plains interface.
Native Dexterity Cursors. Dexterity was designed as platform independent programming language and so if you want your code to be operable on all currently supported databases – you use Dexterity ranges and loops to manipulate the records
Great Plains Dexterity with SQL Stored Procs Nowadays, most of Great Plains installations are moved to SQL Server – so you can use Dexterity for custom forms drawing only and make the buttons run SQL stored procedures.
COM Objects calls. Beginning with version 7.0 Dexterity supports COM objects – you register them as libraries in Dexterity. Refer the manual. This technique allows you to call such nice things as web services across the internet.
Dexterity Forms – if you like VBA and are comfortable to do all the business logic in VBA – you can use Dexterity as new forms creator/editor. This is OK – but you have to purchase VBA/Modifier and Customization Site Enabler from MBS.
Some restrictions. Great Plains is actually integration of multiple dictionaries: DYNAMICS.DIC, ADVSECUR.DIC, EXP1493.DIC, etc. In your Dexterity customization you can deal with one dictionary – DYNAMICS.DIC. If you need cross dictionaries customization – consider using SQL Stored Procs for crossing dictionary borders and pulling data/making changes in the other dictionary..
If you are developer who is asked: how do we customize Great Plains with its native programming language – Great Plains Dexterity – read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
The history of the Dexterity. Great Plains Dexterity – is proprietary programming language and technology, designed back to earlier 1990th with the goal to build platform independent graphical accounting package – Great Plains Dynamics. Dexterity itself is written in C (following popular those days hope – that C will provide platform independence). You can install Dexterity from Great Plains 7.5 CD #2. Obviously it requires a lot of learning / training, but it allows your custom piece be seamlessly integrated with Great Plains interface.
Native Dexterity Cursors. Dexterity was designed as platform independent programming language and so if you want your code to be operable on all currently supported databases – you use Dexterity ranges and loops to manipulate the records
Great Plains Dexterity with SQL Stored Procs Nowadays, most of Great Plains installations are moved to SQL Server – so you can use Dexterity for custom forms drawing only and make the buttons run SQL stored procedures.
COM Objects calls. Beginning with version 7.0 Dexterity supports COM objects – you register them as libraries in Dexterity. Refer the manual. This technique allows you to call such nice things as web services across the internet.
Dexterity Forms – if you like VBA and are comfortable to do all the business logic in VBA – you can use Dexterity as new forms creator/editor. This is OK – but you have to purchase VBA/Modifier and Customization Site Enabler from MBS.
Some restrictions. Great Plains is actually integration of multiple dictionaries: DYNAMICS.DIC, ADVSECUR.DIC, EXP1493.DIC, etc. In your Dexterity customization you can deal with one dictionary – DYNAMICS.DIC. If you need cross dictionaries customization – consider using SQL Stored Procs for crossing dictionary borders and pulling data/making changes in the other dictionary..
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Evolution of Technology - The History of Computers
While computers are now an important part of the lives of human beings, there was a time where computers did not exist. Knowing the history of computers and how much progression has been made can help you understand just how complicated and innovative the creation of computers really is.
Unlike most devices, the computer is one of the few inventions that does not have one specific inventor. Throughout the development of the computer, many people have added their creations to the list required to make a computer work. Some of the inventions have been different types of computers, and some of them were parts required to allow computers to be developed further.
The Beginning
Perhaps the most significant date in the history of computers is the year 1936. It was in this year that the first "computer" was developed. It was created by Konrad Zuse and dubbed the Z1 Computer. This computer stands as the first as it was the first system to be fully programmable. There were devices prior to this, but none had the computing power that sets it apart from other electronics.
It wasn't until 1942 that any business saw profit and opportunity in computers. This first company was called ABC computers, owned and operated by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. Two years later, the Harvard Mark I computer was developed, furthering the science of computing.
Over the course of the next few years, inventors all over the world began to search more into the study of computers, and how to improve upon them. Those next ten years say the introduction of the transistor, which would become a vital part of the inner workings of the computer, the ENIAC 1 computer, as well as many other types of systems. The ENIAC 1 is perhaps one of the most interesting, as it required 20,000 vacuum tubes to operate. It was a massive machine, and started the revolution to build smaller and faster computers.
The age of computers was forever altered by the introduction of International Business Machines, or IBM, into the computing industry in 1953. This company, over the course of computer history, has been a major player in the development of new systems and servers for public and private use. This introduction brought about the first real signs of competition within computing history, which helped to spur faster and better development of computers. Their first contribution was the IBM 701 EDPM Computer.
A Programming Language Evolves
A year later, the first successful high level programming language was created. This was a programming language not written in 'assembly' or binary, which are considered very low level languages. FORTRAN was written so that more people could begin to program computers easily.
The year 1955, the Bank of America, coupled with Stanford Research Institute and General Electric, saw the creation of the first computers for use in banks. The MICR, or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, coupled with the actual computer, the ERMA, was a breakthrough for the banking industry. It wasn't until 1959 that the pair of systems were put into use in actual banks.
During 1958, one of the most important breakthroughs in computer history occurred, the creation of the integrated circuit. This device, also known as the chip, is one of the base requirements for modern computer systems. On every motherboard and card within a computer system, are many chips that contain information on what the boards and cards do. Without these chips, the systems as we know them today cannot function.
Gaming, Mice, & the Internet
For many computer users now, games are a vital part of the computing experience. 1962 saw the creation of the first computer game, which was created by Steve Russel and MIT, which was dubbed Spacewar.
The mouse, one of the most basic components of modern computers, was created in 1964 by Douglass Engelbart. It obtained its name from the "tail" leading out of the device.
One of the most important aspects of computers today was invented in 1969. ARPA net was the original Internet, which provided the foundation for the Internet that we know today. This development would result in the evolution of knowledge and business across the entire planet.
It wasn't until 1970 that Intel entered the scene with the first dynamic RAM chip, which resulted in an explosion of computer science innovation.
On the heels of the RAM chip was the first microprocessor, which was also designed by Intel. These two components, in addition to the chip developed in 1958, would number among the core components of modern computers.
A year later, the floppy disk was created, gaining its name from the flexibility of the storage unit. This was the first step in allowing most people to transfer bits of data between unconnected computers.
The first networking card was created in 1973, allowing data transfer between connected computers. This is similar to the Internet, but allows for the computers to connect without use of the Internet.
Household PC's Emerge
The next three years were very important for computers. This is when companies began to develop systems for the average consumer. The Scelbi, Mark-8 Altair, IBM 5100, Apple I and II, TRS-80, and the Commodore Pet computers were the forerunners in this area. While expensive, these machines started the trend for computers within common households.
One of the most major breathroughs in computer software occurred in 1978 with the release of the VisiCalc Spreadsheet program. All development costs were paid for within a two week period of time, which makes this one of the most successful programs in computer history.
1979 was perhaps one of the most important years for the home computer user. This is the year that WordStar, the first word processing program, was released to the public for sale. This drastically altered the usefulness of computers for the everyday user.
The IBM Home computer quickly helped revolutionize the consumer market in 1981, as it was affordable for home owners and standard consumers. 1981 also saw the the mega-giant Microsoft enter the scene with the MS-DOS operating system. This operating system utterly changed computing forever, as it was easy enough for everyone to learn.
The Competition Begins : Apple vs. Microsoft
Computers saw yet another vital change during the year of 1983. The Apple Lisa computer was the first with a graphical user interface, or a GUI. Most modern programs contain a GUI, which allows them to be easy to use and pleasing for the eyes. This marked the beginning of the out dating of most text based only programs.
Beyond this point in computer history, many changes and alterations have occurred, from the Apple-Microsoft wars, to the developing of microcomputers and a variety of computer breakthroughs that have become an accepted part of our daily lives. Without the initial first steps of computer history, none of this would have been possible.
Unlike most devices, the computer is one of the few inventions that does not have one specific inventor. Throughout the development of the computer, many people have added their creations to the list required to make a computer work. Some of the inventions have been different types of computers, and some of them were parts required to allow computers to be developed further.
The Beginning
Perhaps the most significant date in the history of computers is the year 1936. It was in this year that the first "computer" was developed. It was created by Konrad Zuse and dubbed the Z1 Computer. This computer stands as the first as it was the first system to be fully programmable. There were devices prior to this, but none had the computing power that sets it apart from other electronics.
It wasn't until 1942 that any business saw profit and opportunity in computers. This first company was called ABC computers, owned and operated by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. Two years later, the Harvard Mark I computer was developed, furthering the science of computing.
Over the course of the next few years, inventors all over the world began to search more into the study of computers, and how to improve upon them. Those next ten years say the introduction of the transistor, which would become a vital part of the inner workings of the computer, the ENIAC 1 computer, as well as many other types of systems. The ENIAC 1 is perhaps one of the most interesting, as it required 20,000 vacuum tubes to operate. It was a massive machine, and started the revolution to build smaller and faster computers.
The age of computers was forever altered by the introduction of International Business Machines, or IBM, into the computing industry in 1953. This company, over the course of computer history, has been a major player in the development of new systems and servers for public and private use. This introduction brought about the first real signs of competition within computing history, which helped to spur faster and better development of computers. Their first contribution was the IBM 701 EDPM Computer.
A Programming Language Evolves
A year later, the first successful high level programming language was created. This was a programming language not written in 'assembly' or binary, which are considered very low level languages. FORTRAN was written so that more people could begin to program computers easily.
The year 1955, the Bank of America, coupled with Stanford Research Institute and General Electric, saw the creation of the first computers for use in banks. The MICR, or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, coupled with the actual computer, the ERMA, was a breakthrough for the banking industry. It wasn't until 1959 that the pair of systems were put into use in actual banks.
During 1958, one of the most important breakthroughs in computer history occurred, the creation of the integrated circuit. This device, also known as the chip, is one of the base requirements for modern computer systems. On every motherboard and card within a computer system, are many chips that contain information on what the boards and cards do. Without these chips, the systems as we know them today cannot function.
Gaming, Mice, & the Internet
For many computer users now, games are a vital part of the computing experience. 1962 saw the creation of the first computer game, which was created by Steve Russel and MIT, which was dubbed Spacewar.
The mouse, one of the most basic components of modern computers, was created in 1964 by Douglass Engelbart. It obtained its name from the "tail" leading out of the device.
One of the most important aspects of computers today was invented in 1969. ARPA net was the original Internet, which provided the foundation for the Internet that we know today. This development would result in the evolution of knowledge and business across the entire planet.
It wasn't until 1970 that Intel entered the scene with the first dynamic RAM chip, which resulted in an explosion of computer science innovation.
On the heels of the RAM chip was the first microprocessor, which was also designed by Intel. These two components, in addition to the chip developed in 1958, would number among the core components of modern computers.
A year later, the floppy disk was created, gaining its name from the flexibility of the storage unit. This was the first step in allowing most people to transfer bits of data between unconnected computers.
The first networking card was created in 1973, allowing data transfer between connected computers. This is similar to the Internet, but allows for the computers to connect without use of the Internet.
Household PC's Emerge
The next three years were very important for computers. This is when companies began to develop systems for the average consumer. The Scelbi, Mark-8 Altair, IBM 5100, Apple I and II, TRS-80, and the Commodore Pet computers were the forerunners in this area. While expensive, these machines started the trend for computers within common households.
One of the most major breathroughs in computer software occurred in 1978 with the release of the VisiCalc Spreadsheet program. All development costs were paid for within a two week period of time, which makes this one of the most successful programs in computer history.
1979 was perhaps one of the most important years for the home computer user. This is the year that WordStar, the first word processing program, was released to the public for sale. This drastically altered the usefulness of computers for the everyday user.
The IBM Home computer quickly helped revolutionize the consumer market in 1981, as it was affordable for home owners and standard consumers. 1981 also saw the the mega-giant Microsoft enter the scene with the MS-DOS operating system. This operating system utterly changed computing forever, as it was easy enough for everyone to learn.
The Competition Begins : Apple vs. Microsoft
Computers saw yet another vital change during the year of 1983. The Apple Lisa computer was the first with a graphical user interface, or a GUI. Most modern programs contain a GUI, which allows them to be easy to use and pleasing for the eyes. This marked the beginning of the out dating of most text based only programs.
Beyond this point in computer history, many changes and alterations have occurred, from the Apple-Microsoft wars, to the developing of microcomputers and a variety of computer breakthroughs that have become an accepted part of our daily lives. Without the initial first steps of computer history, none of this would have been possible.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification: Learning To Navigate Cisco's Online Documentation
When studying for your Cisco CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE exam, you’ve got a powerful online weapon at your disposal. It’s Cisco Connection Documentation, found at www.cisco.com/univercd. This site contains product, code, and protocol documentation for all Cisco products.
Many exam candidates really don’t start using this powerful tool until they’re studying for their more advanced exams. However, it’s important for CCNAs, CCNPs, and candidates for these certifications to learn their way around this site. It comes in handy for finding default values that Cisco really enjoys asking about on exams, and the protocol documentation found there can help you study as well.
The site can be a little overwhelming for newcomers, but it’s actually easy to navigate. On the site’s homepage, you’re presented with a list of products and several drop-down menus. To get started, I suggest you choose “Cisco IOS Software” in the top-right drop-down menu, and select a code version. 12.2 is a good one to start with. From there, select the IOS Release 12.2 Configuration Guide and Command References.
You’re then presented with a list of technologies, and each has a Configuration Guide and a Command Reference. If you’re studying Interior Gateway Protocols at this point (such as OSPF, RIP, and EIGRP), select “IP Configuration Guide” and then “IP Routing Protocols”.
You then have the official Cisco documentation on how to configure RIP, IGRP, OSPF, EIGRP, ISIS, and BGP. Reading this documentation is invaluable. Many study guides skip the details to give you an overview of the protocol. This documentation doesn’t skip anything. The documentation shows how and when to use any command for that protocol. There are also real-world examples and notes on when to use each command. I’ve always learned something new when reading the online Cisco documentation.
You can then back out and go through the same steps for the Command Reference. For those studying for Cisco exams, this section will quickly answer any question you have about a command’s syntax or default values. Instead of trying to remember which book you saw a value in, just zoom out to this site and you’ll have your answer in seconds. Real-world examples of command usage are prevalent as well.
As with anything, the more you use the online Cisco documentation, the better you get at it. The Configuration Guide for the various Cisco switches give you a great picture of how switches work. I highly recommend reading at least one of their switches’ config guides.
Beyond any exam value the online Cisco documentation gives you, it serves another valuable purpose. The more you use it now, and the more comfortable you get with it, the better you’ll be with it when the day comes that you need it on the job. And trust me – that day will come!
Many exam candidates really don’t start using this powerful tool until they’re studying for their more advanced exams. However, it’s important for CCNAs, CCNPs, and candidates for these certifications to learn their way around this site. It comes in handy for finding default values that Cisco really enjoys asking about on exams, and the protocol documentation found there can help you study as well.
The site can be a little overwhelming for newcomers, but it’s actually easy to navigate. On the site’s homepage, you’re presented with a list of products and several drop-down menus. To get started, I suggest you choose “Cisco IOS Software” in the top-right drop-down menu, and select a code version. 12.2 is a good one to start with. From there, select the IOS Release 12.2 Configuration Guide and Command References.
You’re then presented with a list of technologies, and each has a Configuration Guide and a Command Reference. If you’re studying Interior Gateway Protocols at this point (such as OSPF, RIP, and EIGRP), select “IP Configuration Guide” and then “IP Routing Protocols”.
You then have the official Cisco documentation on how to configure RIP, IGRP, OSPF, EIGRP, ISIS, and BGP. Reading this documentation is invaluable. Many study guides skip the details to give you an overview of the protocol. This documentation doesn’t skip anything. The documentation shows how and when to use any command for that protocol. There are also real-world examples and notes on when to use each command. I’ve always learned something new when reading the online Cisco documentation.
You can then back out and go through the same steps for the Command Reference. For those studying for Cisco exams, this section will quickly answer any question you have about a command’s syntax or default values. Instead of trying to remember which book you saw a value in, just zoom out to this site and you’ll have your answer in seconds. Real-world examples of command usage are prevalent as well.
As with anything, the more you use the online Cisco documentation, the better you get at it. The Configuration Guide for the various Cisco switches give you a great picture of how switches work. I highly recommend reading at least one of their switches’ config guides.
Beyond any exam value the online Cisco documentation gives you, it serves another valuable purpose. The more you use it now, and the more comfortable you get with it, the better you’ll be with it when the day comes that you need it on the job. And trust me – that day will come!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Microsoft Great Plains Integration with Microsoft Access – overview for developer
Microsoft Business Solutions stakes on Microsoft Great Plains as main Accounting/ERP application for US market. At the same time it seems to be staking on Navision in Europe and has Axapta as high end large corporation market competitor to Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, IBM. This article is brief review of Microsoft Great Plains integration with Microsoft Access. This is also applicable to Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology – Great Plains Dexterity dictionary - DYNAMICS.DIC and runtime DYNAMICS.EXE) and Great Plains Standard on MSDE or MS SQL Server.
If you are developer who is asked: how do we implement Great Plains integration/interface with your MS Access-based system – read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
1. Great Plains Integration Manager - this is rather end-user tool - it is very intuitive, it validates 100% of business logic, brings in/updates master records (accounts, employees, customers, vendors. etc.) brings in transactions into work tables. The limitation of Integration Manager - it does use GP windows behind the scenes without showing them - so it is relatively slow - you can bring 100 records - but when you are talking about thousands - it is not a good option. By the way you can program Integration Manager with VBA. Microsoft Access is ODBC compliant and so you can do direct Integration Manager query to MS Access
2. eConnect – it is type of Software Development Kit with samples in VB.Net. Obviously the development environment should be Visual Studio.Net. eConnect will allow you to integrate master records - such as new customers, vendors, employees, etc., plus you can bring transactions into so called Great Plains work tables (eConnect doesn't allow you to bring open or historical records - you need to post work records in Great Plains, the same limitation applies to Integration Manager above) eConnect is rather for ongoing integration. It was initially created for eCommerce application integration to Great Plains.
3. SQL Stored Procedures. Obviously you have unlimited control and possibilities with SQL queries. You need to know Great Plains tables structure and data flow. Launch Great Plains and go to Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Find the table in the proper series. If you are looking for the customers – it should be RM00101 – customer master file. If you need historical Sales Order Processing documents – they are in SOP30200 – Sales History Header file, etc. Do not change existing tables - do not create new fields, etc. Also you need to realize that each GP table has DEX_ROW_ID - identity column. Sometimes it is good idea to use inbound/outbound XML in the parameters - then you can deploy web service as a middle party between two systems.
4. Data Transformation Services (DTS) – Good tool for importing your third party data into staging tables in GP - then you can pull them in using either stored procs of Integration Manager. You can also deploy this tool for EDI export/import. You can have DTS working with Linked Server - SQL Server Construction for linking to Microsoft Access
5. Great Plains Dexterity Custom Screens. Sometimes users prefer to have seamlessly integrated into GP interface custom screens - for parameters settings and initiating integration. Dexterity is a good option, however remember - it is always better to create new custom screen versus customizing existing one - due to the future upgrade issues. Also - Dexterity is in phasing our by Microsoft Business Solutions.
6. Modifier/VBA custom buttons on the existing screens - alternative to Dexterity is you are comfortable with VBA and ADO.
7. SQL Linked Servers – you can do direct SQL queries to other ODBC compliant platform via SQL Linked Server (including Microsoft Access) - you may need to familiarize yourself with OPENROWSET command in Transact SQL. This is also good option if you need cross-platform Crystal Report - pulling data from SQL Server and third party databases on the same report.
8. Warning - do not place existing GP tables into Replication! - you will have upgrade issues.
Happy integrating! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
If you are developer who is asked: how do we implement Great Plains integration/interface with your MS Access-based system – read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
1. Great Plains Integration Manager - this is rather end-user tool - it is very intuitive, it validates 100% of business logic, brings in/updates master records (accounts, employees, customers, vendors. etc.) brings in transactions into work tables. The limitation of Integration Manager - it does use GP windows behind the scenes without showing them - so it is relatively slow - you can bring 100 records - but when you are talking about thousands - it is not a good option. By the way you can program Integration Manager with VBA. Microsoft Access is ODBC compliant and so you can do direct Integration Manager query to MS Access
2. eConnect – it is type of Software Development Kit with samples in VB.Net. Obviously the development environment should be Visual Studio.Net. eConnect will allow you to integrate master records - such as new customers, vendors, employees, etc., plus you can bring transactions into so called Great Plains work tables (eConnect doesn't allow you to bring open or historical records - you need to post work records in Great Plains, the same limitation applies to Integration Manager above) eConnect is rather for ongoing integration. It was initially created for eCommerce application integration to Great Plains.
3. SQL Stored Procedures. Obviously you have unlimited control and possibilities with SQL queries. You need to know Great Plains tables structure and data flow. Launch Great Plains and go to Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Find the table in the proper series. If you are looking for the customers – it should be RM00101 – customer master file. If you need historical Sales Order Processing documents – they are in SOP30200 – Sales History Header file, etc. Do not change existing tables - do not create new fields, etc. Also you need to realize that each GP table has DEX_ROW_ID - identity column. Sometimes it is good idea to use inbound/outbound XML in the parameters - then you can deploy web service as a middle party between two systems.
4. Data Transformation Services (DTS) – Good tool for importing your third party data into staging tables in GP - then you can pull them in using either stored procs of Integration Manager. You can also deploy this tool for EDI export/import. You can have DTS working with Linked Server - SQL Server Construction for linking to Microsoft Access
5. Great Plains Dexterity Custom Screens. Sometimes users prefer to have seamlessly integrated into GP interface custom screens - for parameters settings and initiating integration. Dexterity is a good option, however remember - it is always better to create new custom screen versus customizing existing one - due to the future upgrade issues. Also - Dexterity is in phasing our by Microsoft Business Solutions.
6. Modifier/VBA custom buttons on the existing screens - alternative to Dexterity is you are comfortable with VBA and ADO.
7. SQL Linked Servers – you can do direct SQL queries to other ODBC compliant platform via SQL Linked Server (including Microsoft Access) - you may need to familiarize yourself with OPENROWSET command in Transact SQL. This is also good option if you need cross-platform Crystal Report - pulling data from SQL Server and third party databases on the same report.
8. Warning - do not place existing GP tables into Replication! - you will have upgrade issues.
Happy integrating! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Microsoft Great Plains Implementation – overview for IT Director/Controller
Microsoft Business Solutions is on the way to popularize it's ERP systems implementation. Right now such products as Microsoft CRM and Small Business Manager (cheap version of Microsoft Great Plains, based on the same Great Plains Dexterity runtime and DYNAMICS.DIC dictionary) are targeted to self-implementation by in-house IT group. This is short article, written in question/answer/FAQ style to give IT Director/Controller balanced top level information on Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains implementation. If you have decided on Microsoft Great Plains as main accounting and ERP system you need to know some technical details on Great Plains installation and implementation and what is going on behind the scenes. As of right now the current version is Microsoft Great Plains 8.0
What is installation in the language of technology? Installation has server and client sides.
* Server side - Installation creates security environment (logins) on MS SQL Server or MSDE, creates system database - DYNAMICS and then company databases. All these tasks are performed by Microsoft Great Plains Utilities
* Workstation side - workstation installation copies the client side application, installs current version of MDAC (we need SQL ODBC driver - please check documentation on ODBC DSN setup), registers the application. If you plan to run Great Plains Utilities from the workstation to create server side (see above) - you need to check Install Client and Server Components
What is following implementation? Implementation requires combination of technological and accounting skills
* System Setup - you should refer to GP documentation. In general setup consists of Company information, General GL/AR/AP/Payroll setup, User classes, Customer/Vendor/Employee classes to name a few
* Master Records - you should either use integration tools, such as Integration Manager, SQL queries or have users to type in all your GL Accounts, Customers, Vendors, Employees .
* Beginning Balances - this is recommended approach - you place aside the old accounting application for querying the historical data and enter beginning balances in Great Plains GL, AR, AP, SOP, POP, Payroll. When you have balances in the system you are ready to use it in production
* Historical Data conversion - this is optional, in order to do historical data conversion you need to know basic Great Plains tables structure (Setup->Tools->Resource Description->Tables Structure). This is similar to surgery - so you probably need outside consultant to help you. If the volume of historical data is small - you can deploy Great Plains Integration Manager and then post the records in the modules.
* User Training - we are just listing this item - it is up to you to decide on the way to train your users
* Using Two Systems in Parallel - this is recommended. You should print the reports from both systems during this test period and compare the results
* Customization - typical areas of customizations: Invoice form, Crystal Reports, pulling info from multiple databases, including Great Plains database, Great Plains forms modification with Modifier/VBA, Great Plains Dexterity forms and logic customization, integration with CRM, RMS and other business systems, web publishing from Great Plains tables, EDI with your suppliers, SQL Data Transformation packages
Do I need consultant? We strongly recommend you to use consultant in the following cases
* You have identified the need for Great Plains Dexterity customization
* You are doing migration from Pervasive/Ctree to Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE, especially when you have third-parties without migration tools
* You are doing migration from Great Plains Accounting to Microsoft Great Plains
* You have to create a lot or ReportWriter Modified Great Plains Reports
* You have old version of Great Plains: Dynamics or eEnterprise 6.0 or prior - in this case you can not appeal to Microsoft Technical Support - it is discontinued
* Your Great Plains has more than 20 users in this case the mistake may lead to serious business problems
* You don't have support for your old Great Plains - then you have to select your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner and pay for the annual support/enhancement plan - you will get new registration key and will be ready for the upgrade
Good luck with installation, implementation, upgrade and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
What is installation in the language of technology? Installation has server and client sides.
* Server side - Installation creates security environment (logins) on MS SQL Server or MSDE, creates system database - DYNAMICS and then company databases. All these tasks are performed by Microsoft Great Plains Utilities
* Workstation side - workstation installation copies the client side application, installs current version of MDAC (we need SQL ODBC driver - please check documentation on ODBC DSN setup), registers the application. If you plan to run Great Plains Utilities from the workstation to create server side (see above) - you need to check Install Client and Server Components
What is following implementation? Implementation requires combination of technological and accounting skills
* System Setup - you should refer to GP documentation. In general setup consists of Company information, General GL/AR/AP/Payroll setup, User classes, Customer/Vendor/Employee classes to name a few
* Master Records - you should either use integration tools, such as Integration Manager, SQL queries or have users to type in all your GL Accounts, Customers, Vendors, Employees .
* Beginning Balances - this is recommended approach - you place aside the old accounting application for querying the historical data and enter beginning balances in Great Plains GL, AR, AP, SOP, POP, Payroll. When you have balances in the system you are ready to use it in production
* Historical Data conversion - this is optional, in order to do historical data conversion you need to know basic Great Plains tables structure (Setup->Tools->Resource Description->Tables Structure). This is similar to surgery - so you probably need outside consultant to help you. If the volume of historical data is small - you can deploy Great Plains Integration Manager and then post the records in the modules.
* User Training - we are just listing this item - it is up to you to decide on the way to train your users
* Using Two Systems in Parallel - this is recommended. You should print the reports from both systems during this test period and compare the results
* Customization - typical areas of customizations: Invoice form, Crystal Reports, pulling info from multiple databases, including Great Plains database, Great Plains forms modification with Modifier/VBA, Great Plains Dexterity forms and logic customization, integration with CRM, RMS and other business systems, web publishing from Great Plains tables, EDI with your suppliers, SQL Data Transformation packages
Do I need consultant? We strongly recommend you to use consultant in the following cases
* You have identified the need for Great Plains Dexterity customization
* You are doing migration from Pervasive/Ctree to Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE, especially when you have third-parties without migration tools
* You are doing migration from Great Plains Accounting to Microsoft Great Plains
* You have to create a lot or ReportWriter Modified Great Plains Reports
* You have old version of Great Plains: Dynamics or eEnterprise 6.0 or prior - in this case you can not appeal to Microsoft Technical Support - it is discontinued
* Your Great Plains has more than 20 users in this case the mistake may lead to serious business problems
* You don't have support for your old Great Plains - then you have to select your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner and pay for the annual support/enhancement plan - you will get new registration key and will be ready for the upgrade
Good luck with installation, implementation, upgrade and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
Saturday, July 26, 2008
What is Gmail?
Like most other prime search engines, the ability to freely giveaway an email account is a positive tool that signals to the user community that this search engine is here to stay! Google is no different in this approach. Recently, Google has been beta testing Gmail. Google’s very own email services repository. Best of all, it’s free! Well, it’s going to be free, its currently available only in Beta mode, if you are lucky enough to have received an invitation to sign up for a complimentary account you currently enjoy the benefits of ubiquitous Gmail.
Found at gmail.google.com, users were at a frenzied pace to secure the names and aliases that may be snatched up once the floodgates were open. People are exclusively invited to partake in the beta testing were selling their names and invitations for quite a handsome sum on eBay. Most users will have to wait until Gmail goes live before actually trying it out. However with all the functionality at a price like this, how could anyone refuse?
Unlike MSN and Yahoo! Google’s approach to space was a little more liberal. Google provides 1000 MB of storage space so you would never have to worry about limited space requirements. All messages are displayed intact as well as the replies. Messages can be searched upon as well. Google’s approach was to give as much flexibility to the user so the user in turn would use only Google.
Much like the anti-pop up ad theory of The Google Toolbar, there will be an anti-Spam product built into Gmail that will help thwart out unsolicited email.
Currently, new users can ask for a preview address from Google, although there is no guarantee they will get one. Interested parties should go to http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about.html and fill in their email addresses at the bottom of the page.
Found at gmail.google.com, users were at a frenzied pace to secure the names and aliases that may be snatched up once the floodgates were open. People are exclusively invited to partake in the beta testing were selling their names and invitations for quite a handsome sum on eBay. Most users will have to wait until Gmail goes live before actually trying it out. However with all the functionality at a price like this, how could anyone refuse?
Unlike MSN and Yahoo! Google’s approach to space was a little more liberal. Google provides 1000 MB of storage space so you would never have to worry about limited space requirements. All messages are displayed intact as well as the replies. Messages can be searched upon as well. Google’s approach was to give as much flexibility to the user so the user in turn would use only Google.
Much like the anti-pop up ad theory of The Google Toolbar, there will be an anti-Spam product built into Gmail that will help thwart out unsolicited email.
Currently, new users can ask for a preview address from Google, although there is no guarantee they will get one. Interested parties should go to http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about.html and fill in their email addresses at the bottom of the page.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What is The Google Toolbar?
No matter what browser you may want to use, you should consider using Google’s toolbar. Google.com, the innovative, stripped-down, add-free search engine that has taken the web by storm has provided an innovative interface through most web browsers; mainly Internet Explorer. This toolbar has many great features for searching around the Internet as well as blocking those annoying Pop-up ads that scream “BUY ME!” every twenty seconds.
Anyone can go to toolbar.google.com and download this great plug-in for your browser. There are various features that come with using it that you may or may not wish to employ. Taking a few minutes before you install it will definitely save you time later on.
Google Search Web
In this interface you can type in keywords, terms, phrases as well as URL’s (Universal Resource Locators) and away you go. By harnessing the Google engine you magically fly through their portal to your destination. You will render a Google search or a direct shot to your URL.
PageRank
With any good toolbar, Google let’s you know how important it thinks the site you are looking is. This rank is rated from 1 – 10, 1 being a very light, low-traveled website and ten which is a site like Google where millions of people visit each day. Your page rank is determined by several factors, keywords, keyword in URL, and reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking alone buys the user a popular rank as Google looks favorably at websites that share good karma. The larger the number of websites pointing to your site will ultimately help you rise up through the ranking status.
Pop-Up Blocker
You get them, we all get them, those nasty pop-up ads that ask you to lose weight or tell you how to increase your libido. These advertising snippets have become annoying to the point that some websites you cannot even get on because you can be barraged by a plethora of pop-up ads. The Pop-Up Blocker plug-in allows you to receive little if no pop-ups. Google designed this plug-in as an approach to invasion free web surfing. Every time a pop-up rears its ugly head, POW! Add another pop-up to the counter. It actually tells you how many pop-ups the toolbar has thwarted.
BlogThis!
An interesting technology that was designed in the late 1990’s and recently purchased by Google. Blog This! Allows the user to create a private or public diary or workspace to share ideas, search for people, create discussions and just jot down information. These blog’s have become infamous over the past few years and Google has purchased the leading company in the boom.
Autofill capabilities
You may have been looking up a specific keyword or term and found a result that you liked. The Autofill capabilities cache your searching information for present as well as future use should you need to call up previous search requests.
As you can the Google toolbar displays many great features and technologies that you can harness in a few short clicks. The technology involved has far surpassed any other search engine on the planet.
Anyone can go to toolbar.google.com and download this great plug-in for your browser. There are various features that come with using it that you may or may not wish to employ. Taking a few minutes before you install it will definitely save you time later on.
Google Search Web
In this interface you can type in keywords, terms, phrases as well as URL’s (Universal Resource Locators) and away you go. By harnessing the Google engine you magically fly through their portal to your destination. You will render a Google search or a direct shot to your URL.
PageRank
With any good toolbar, Google let’s you know how important it thinks the site you are looking is. This rank is rated from 1 – 10, 1 being a very light, low-traveled website and ten which is a site like Google where millions of people visit each day. Your page rank is determined by several factors, keywords, keyword in URL, and reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking alone buys the user a popular rank as Google looks favorably at websites that share good karma. The larger the number of websites pointing to your site will ultimately help you rise up through the ranking status.
Pop-Up Blocker
You get them, we all get them, those nasty pop-up ads that ask you to lose weight or tell you how to increase your libido. These advertising snippets have become annoying to the point that some websites you cannot even get on because you can be barraged by a plethora of pop-up ads. The Pop-Up Blocker plug-in allows you to receive little if no pop-ups. Google designed this plug-in as an approach to invasion free web surfing. Every time a pop-up rears its ugly head, POW! Add another pop-up to the counter. It actually tells you how many pop-ups the toolbar has thwarted.
BlogThis!
An interesting technology that was designed in the late 1990’s and recently purchased by Google. Blog This! Allows the user to create a private or public diary or workspace to share ideas, search for people, create discussions and just jot down information. These blog’s have become infamous over the past few years and Google has purchased the leading company in the boom.
Autofill capabilities
You may have been looking up a specific keyword or term and found a result that you liked. The Autofill capabilities cache your searching information for present as well as future use should you need to call up previous search requests.
As you can the Google toolbar displays many great features and technologies that you can harness in a few short clicks. The technology involved has far surpassed any other search engine on the planet.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
What is Froogle?
Keeping in touch with other sites like Amazon.com, Buy.com and Yahoo.com, Google created a new shopping search tool called “Froogle”. It has been called one of the most innovative price conscious tools on the Internet. Using the same technologies of Google.com, Froogle employs direct data received from merchants and through web crawls alone. Depending on the successes of the beta testing phase will provide adequate information as to whether Google continues with Froogle.
Housing over 15 different products and categories ranging anywhere from electronics, computers, food and gourmet, health care products, books, music and video, sports & outdoor equipment as well as toys and games, the list will only continue to grow in the coming months. Its searching capabilities mirror its mother page; it can be found at froogle.google.com and items can be found either in their product categories or by a dynamic keyword search. The results published are limited to one item per store. Every item appears with a thumbnail attached as well as a detailed product description, which includes price. Google doesn’t bias any website and often you will find products that exist on Amazon and Yahoo. This approach mirrors the Google philosophy of less details, more products.
The remaining products are crawled throughout the Internet as most other keywords are sought. Currently merchants can setup their accounts and sell on Froogle right away! There is no cost or cost per click through associated with adding your products to Froogle. Merchants can sign up for free and monitor how Froogle displays their product. This technology is open to the public at no initial cost or commissions.
Depending on how many items your company may want to sell on Froogle; you have to create a data feed file, which can be done with any spreadsheet software or by a text file. The opportunity to get involved with Froogle is incredible; chances are if you are selling a product and are optimized on the Internet for Google, your product may already exist.
Housing over 15 different products and categories ranging anywhere from electronics, computers, food and gourmet, health care products, books, music and video, sports & outdoor equipment as well as toys and games, the list will only continue to grow in the coming months. Its searching capabilities mirror its mother page; it can be found at froogle.google.com and items can be found either in their product categories or by a dynamic keyword search. The results published are limited to one item per store. Every item appears with a thumbnail attached as well as a detailed product description, which includes price. Google doesn’t bias any website and often you will find products that exist on Amazon and Yahoo. This approach mirrors the Google philosophy of less details, more products.
The remaining products are crawled throughout the Internet as most other keywords are sought. Currently merchants can setup their accounts and sell on Froogle right away! There is no cost or cost per click through associated with adding your products to Froogle. Merchants can sign up for free and monitor how Froogle displays their product. This technology is open to the public at no initial cost or commissions.
Depending on how many items your company may want to sell on Froogle; you have to create a data feed file, which can be done with any spreadsheet software or by a text file. The opportunity to get involved with Froogle is incredible; chances are if you are selling a product and are optimized on the Internet for Google, your product may already exist.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Crystal Reports - Geterogeneus databases: SQL Server, Oracle, Unidata, Btrieve – tips for developer
Crystal Reports is the most flexible tool on the market and it has market recognition. Multiple software vendors offer Crystal Reports as the main reporting tool: Microsoft, Best Software, Oracle to name a few.
Sometimes developers try to use Crystal directly to pull data from multiple database platforms - we understand the need to give you additional tips to increase Crystal report flexibility. Also common case when Crystal report should pull data from multiple database platforms. Assuming that you are creating Crystal Reports on Windows platform - we recommend you to use Microsoft SQL Server as a database access tool.
1. Use Crystal when you have your query tuned – regardless how good Crystal Reports is - it is reporting tool - not querying environment. Tune your query first and be sure that you are pulling the right data.
2. Use SQL Server Linked Servers. Use professional tool, such as Microsoft SQL Server, where you can create linked servers to Oracle, Ctree, Btrieve, MS Access, Unidata, DB2 and other platforms.
3. Use Distributed Queries – in the case of SQL Server - research the possibilities with OPENQUERY, OPENROWSET clauses to connect to non-SQL Server linked servers.
4. Create Stored Procedures - when you need parameters to be transferred to the SQL statement - you need stored procedure. You need stored proc if temp tables are required to do intermediate job in your SQL query.
5. Report Flexibility – when you have report based on the SQL view or stored proc - if you need to modify the data query - you don't have to change the report - you change your SQL view/ stored procedure.
6. Create SQL Query to probe the data – again - we always recommend tuning your query and see that you are getting adequate results – in any case – Crystal Report is just a nice tool to show the results of your query.
Happy customizing, querying and designing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
Sometimes developers try to use Crystal directly to pull data from multiple database platforms - we understand the need to give you additional tips to increase Crystal report flexibility. Also common case when Crystal report should pull data from multiple database platforms. Assuming that you are creating Crystal Reports on Windows platform - we recommend you to use Microsoft SQL Server as a database access tool.
1. Use Crystal when you have your query tuned – regardless how good Crystal Reports is - it is reporting tool - not querying environment. Tune your query first and be sure that you are pulling the right data.
2. Use SQL Server Linked Servers. Use professional tool, such as Microsoft SQL Server, where you can create linked servers to Oracle, Ctree, Btrieve, MS Access, Unidata, DB2 and other platforms.
3. Use Distributed Queries – in the case of SQL Server - research the possibilities with OPENQUERY, OPENROWSET clauses to connect to non-SQL Server linked servers.
4. Create Stored Procedures - when you need parameters to be transferred to the SQL statement - you need stored procedure. You need stored proc if temp tables are required to do intermediate job in your SQL query.
5. Report Flexibility – when you have report based on the SQL view or stored proc - if you need to modify the data query - you don't have to change the report - you change your SQL view/ stored procedure.
6. Create SQL Query to probe the data – again - we always recommend tuning your query and see that you are getting adequate results – in any case – Crystal Report is just a nice tool to show the results of your query.
Happy customizing, querying and designing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
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