Database Version Control – techPortal

Database Version Control – techPortal

Use One Keyboard & Mouse For Two Computers (PC Only)

Use One Keyboard & Mouse For Two Computers (PC Only)

A terrific tool, latest version out today would you beleive.

Got two PC's at home? Got a monitor on each? Want to work side by side? Use this...

Syncing your iPod/iPhone to a new iTunes library? Look here first.

Syncing your iPod/iPhone to a new iTunes library? Look here first.

Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware - How-To Geek

Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware - How-To Geek

Im blogging this because ive been there before !!! What a pain, but this super simple trick would be a great solution. I hope it works. Also, the supermalware remover looks good.

The problem with searching for a malware remover when you have malware is that most things just give you more malware and/or wont run. Bonus points here because this one comes with reccomendations.

Fires in Roleystone - Feb 6 2011

Yesterday morning, a fire started on Brookton Hwy which quickly spread through the bush and burned houses in all directions.  A friend whose house was much closer than mine and myself went investigating and found that we could help save some nearby houses.
These photos show our first check, then our subsequent efforts at putting out the flames, theres some video as well.
We did well, and thanks to all the people that hung around and helped do some good.

The photos below were taken on Contour Road, and we were fighting to save the houses on the Western end...

I was pleased to see fellow FMG(Fortescue Metals Group) employees dressed in PPE doing their best to help, whether supplying water or weilding a shovel, the end result was worth it, the people of Contour Road can breathe a sigh of relief.  As we left, the cavalry arrived, the various fire brigades, about 5 trucks and vehicles to help guard the area overnight.  Concerned residents we are, nuts we are not, climbing around the hilly bushlands with a fire on your butt at night is not clever.  The rocks, cliffs and gusts of wind fanning the fire would make it a risky proposition.

We’ll Try | xProgramming.com

We’ll Try | xProgramming.com

Interesting story, I like the concept, maybe I could try it.

The hardest thing with most projects is getting people to know what they want up front to write the cards and user stories.

As time goes by.... XP Desktop, where are you now?

Surely you are familiar with the picture below. Its the infamous standard widows XP Desktop wallpaper. Normally accompanied with a little bit of music, or a blue screen of death, whichever.

What you may not know, or needed to know, or want to know, but will know, if you read on... is that the picture was taken at Sonoma County, California, southeast of Sonoma Valley near the site of the old Clover Stornetta Inc in 1996.  An interview with the photogragher reveals the following;

"The most distributed image ever is being phased out. What remains is a hill in Sonoma Valley, California.

Charles O’Rear used to pass that hill almost daily between his home in Napa and his wife, Daphne, who lived in Marin County. He always carried his medium format camera.

It was hard even to slow down on highway 12/121. But one day, it must have been in January, he pulled over. After about a month of rain the sun comes up, and there is beautiful green grass. The weather during the winter can change dramatically. A break in the storm. Intense blue sky with cumulus clouds. Maybe later that day it rained.

Blue was an important brand color already in ’95. Clouds and sky being a common theme in many aspects of the product’s identity and collateral. Illustrating potential and opportunity.

Continuing the cloud theme, but with added grounding. The horizon gives a sense of scale to the image. Makes it possible to imagine being there.

Because of the danger of that road and where he was standing, he didn’t take a tripod. His camera, when handheld, needed to be shot at least at a five-hundredth of a second. Whatever that translates into on a sunny day. Probably 500 at 5.6.

With property prices in Sonoma reaching $75,000 per acre for bare land, most hills were being developed into vineyards or homes. On this hill grapevines had been planted. But in the early 90’s a Phylloxera bug infested the grapes and made them unusable. The entire vineyard had to be pulled out. For a few years the hill was covered with grass. Green at the time of the photograph.

Green was the second main color in the branding scheme and in the User Interface. Running late in the product development cycle. Looking for a nature shot. “The reality of real life”. The image matched the brand colors. It fell completely into place, in terms of sky, clouds, blue plus the green field.

By the time the image was purchased, grapes had been planted again on the hill in Sonoma Valley."

So, 14 years on, Windows XP has almost moved on, with great reluctance, Microsoft Vista tried to take its place, but failed, and now we have the mighty Windows 7 trying its hardest to be your OS of choice.  

By the way, this was written on Windows XP. 

But what of that famous hill, that landmark of hundreds of millions of XP desktops worldwide? Has it like XP been replaced, was it green, was it covered in houses, did it have a giant Windows logo carved into it?

I was curious, so, with the help of the omnipresent Google, which wasnt actually around when XP went live, i discovered this.....

If your like me, your probably thinking.... ugh!! I mean, grape vines are lovely, and tend to make nice wine, but i do feel sad in a nostalgic sort of way. Kind of like seeing an old friend after many years and noticing he now looks old, then thinking, hey..  maybe im old now too!

Since the original was taken, the valley was planted with grape vines, and probably doesnt have the same aesthetic appeal, but im sure that a whole new generation will be enjoying the output from that hill in the form of a nice bottle of Nappa Valley finest.  Maybe there's a lesson for me there, time to move on, and appreciate the new crop of Windows. 

Fancy an Apple anyone?

Backup iPhone Contacts - and add to Skype

I had a crap time today with Contacts, it seems nothing is getting any easier with all these mobile devices and different communications packages, such as Skype, GMail, iPhone (iTunes blahh!).

Firstly, how do you get your contacts out of iPhone.  Have a read, its all about syncing with various email systems, but nothing to just simply get them to a file.  So we have to follow suit.  This is the best way I found.  I use windows, so dont shoot me please Linux and mac users.

My Situation
Windows 7, iPhone 3GS with OS4.01, iTunes 10

Extract iPhone Contacts
Using iTunes, sync your iPhone contacts with Windows Address Book - these end up in WAB or contacts in Windows 7.
Oh, turn this off again when your done, and say NO to deleting from your iPhone. And a tip from the "been there done that" guy, if you do the above again and you have removed the contacts from your COntacts folder, it will remove them from your iPhone.





These can then be exported to CSV or VCF - run WAB.exe or goto Contacts - Export. Choose a new folder and work from there.

Once you have a folder full of individual VCFs you need to combine them into one for Skype.

Run the following DOS command in the folder where you have exported your VCFs to.

for /F "delims=" %i in ('dir/b *.vcf') do @more "%i" >> final.vcf 

Im not going to hold your hand on the command. Work it out.

Now, to make skype recognize the right fields, we need to make some changes within the final.VCF

Open the file in notepad or some other text editor, not word.

Do a search and replace on "FN:" with "X-SKYPE-DISPLAYNAME:"

Do a search and replce on "TEL;CELL;VOICE:" with "X-SKYPE-PSTNNUMBER:"

Run Skype, go to Contacts | Advanced | Restore from file --> Browse to your final.vcf file.

They all should open up in your contacts, if not, check you have the right fields. Do an export from Skype and compare with your own version.

Good luck.  THis is more a reminder

Apple Retail Store - Perth City - iPhone 4 on sale?

Apple Retail Store - Perth City

Theres word on the grapevine and im not confirming this as fact, but theres word on the grapevine that the new Perth Appple store, to be located at 790 Hay Street and opening tomorrow, Saturday 26 June is going to have a limited number of new iPhone 4 phones for sale....

The iPhone 4 went on sale around the world today in the US, Britain, France, Germany and Japan, but Australians will possibly have to wait until late next month. Registrations of interest can be submitted at Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and 3 if you want to place a preorder.

The iPhone 4 while eagerly anticipated has a number of reported issues, such as bad reception in some cases and screen staining.

I dont think this is going to stop many from getting their hands on this latest piece of Applery.

Visit http://www.apple.com/au/retail/perthcity/ to keep notified.

Aviary's - roc

Aviary's - roc

Wow, what a nice little app, all flashed up and ready to rock!

TestiPhone.com - iPhone Application Web Based Simulator

TestiPhone.com - iPhone Application Web Based Simulator

What a nifty site, i guess theres been emulators around for years. i just never used one before...

Homemade Baileys Irish Cream - You'll Never Buy it Again ~ Cupcake Project

Homemade Baileys Irish Cream - You'll Never Buy it Again ~ Cupcake Project

Yuuuummmm.....!!!

FreeMyPDF Liberates Your PDF File From Printing And Other Restrictions | Lifehacker Australia

FreeMyPDF Liberates Your PDF File From Printing And Other Restrictions | Lifehacker Australia

I remember a year ago a guy asked me to print a pdf that had print restrictions, now i know what to do.

YouTube - infusion26's Channel

YouTube
- infusion26's Channel

One smooth Bass player!!!! and so prolific on youtube...

Chilling at tiger tiger

Tiger tiger, where once you would come for a hip coffee in the morning, down the alley and away from the coffee chains on the main street. A trendy bench seat in the courtyard or even a poufe! You never knew your luck. A place of art, style, youth, alternatives.

Since the introduction of the new small bar licenses tiger tiger has transformed itself again, proving itself worthy of a place in the progressive mainstream of Perth’s future.

Walk down Murray Street, pass the Belgium, look for the alley, and if its Friday you'll likely hear some soft jazz or a modern acoustic blues number being played live amongst the revelers.

I’m sitting here now, sipping an excellent pinos gris under a humid overcast late Friday afternoon sky. The Perth black business army have started to settle and change colors to a more leisurely laid back style.

There is some astoundingly beautiful people walking though and lounging about. Come on down, find your place, bring a friend, and welcome-in the Perth era of not so dullsville.

PHOSPHOR Watches - E Ink Ana-Digi Watch with Stainless Steel Band

PHOSPHOR Watches - E Ink Ana-Digi Watch with Stainless Steel Band

Christmas is coming... hint hint....

How To Build A WiFi Home Surveillance System With Your PC

How To Build A WiFi Home Surveillance System With Your PC

Just what I need to check out the babysitt.. er.. burglers!

WhoCanDo | Get it done right - Services & Tradesmen Marketplace – Get Painter Landscaper Relocation Renovation & More

WhoCanDo | Get it done right - Services & Tradesmen Marketplace – Get Painter Landscaper Relocation Renovation & More

A good concept, will check out and review it for you..

Disk2vhd

Disk2vhd

Just what I need next time my hard drive crashes, i can make this VHD before it corrupts!

The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone

The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone

What an awesome collection of songs, makes me want to go out and learn every one of them...

MIDI Jam And Backing Track Generator - 12bar Blues Guitar

MIDI Jam And Backing Track Generator - 12bar Blues Guitar

I love this, needs to repeat more though, maybe it can? Im just learnign some lead, and this is good playalong stuff.

Guitarlincs - Free Guitar Music - It's Electrifying...

Guitarlincs - Free Guitar Music - It's Electrifying...

This is pretty neat, nicely done, good reference.

JSNES: A Javascript NES emulator

JSNES: A Javascript NES emulator

Really cool little game applet, and it runs best in my favourite browser... YAY!!

A Harmonic Minor Guitar Scales

A Harmonic Minor Guitar Scales

Neat... i was looking up scales for some lead riffs and this appearred... the wonders of the internet...

Used Jaguars Perth, Jaguar Parts, Accessories, Servicing, & Jaguar Maintenance - Roadbend Motors: Perth Western Australia (WA)

Used Jaguars Perth, Jaguar Parts, Accessories, Servicing, & Jaguar Maintenance - Roadbend Motors: Perth Western Australia (WA)

My poor little car needs some work, a checkup and adjustment

Imagination Cubed

Imagination Cubed

Neat little online skething / sharing tool

Color Scheme Designer 3

Color Scheme Designer 3

This is awesome... a great way to select a color scheme for a website, or even your house i rekon...

Build Your Own HTPC | Popular Science

Build Your Own HTPC | Popular Science

Im about to build a media center for home, after using a dumb PC and prototyping the idea for years, here goes.!

Pipes: Rewire the web

Pipes: Rewire the web

Somethign new, i was looking for somethign ike this a little while ago. Will try it later.

Getting rich, famous and popular. NOT!

I have a dream, OK, so that's not so original, but hey who cares. To be unique or original is hard in a world of mass communication, it seems everything we say has been said before by someone, somewhere, sometime. But I digress, I do have a dream.

I want to do something different, invent something, write something, be rich, famous, anything really, as long as I achieve something worthwhile and new. Don't you have that dream?

Yes, I think we all do in our own way, that secret desire to be a little different, to be noticed, admired, respected or whatever. Books such as "Blind Faith" by Ben Elton allude to this human craving for uniquity(is that a real word?).

Well, I'm also a realist, pragmatist and any other 'ist you can name that means basically 'average Joe'. I've come to learn over the years that maybe I'm not that special or unique, not the brightest spark or not that adventurous. I work for a living, have a beautiful wife, a nice house in a leafy suburb, not a bad achievement, but I could easily disappear in the crowd of everyone else that are just like me.

Seriously, there really are many layers of society, from down and out poor to insanely rich, I'm in there somewhere, just like you. Look around, see anyone special or different? Didn't think so. Its time to look harder, this time, look inside.

Wait! Before you stop reading and put me into the "not another The Secret" category, let me explain a little. When I say look inside, I mean look at yourself, your life, your skills, experience, knowledge, look where you are, who you are.

These are the very attributes that are not unique in themselves, but mashed together and wrapped up in your personality they form something very special indeed. This is me, I am unique, I am special. Say it to yourself, or say it out loud, no one will believe you, because they haven't worked it out yet. You are one step ahead already.

So now you know a little more about yourself(its the small things that count), you might begin to feel a little more confident but still humble in knowing that your a special person amongst a world full of special people. But this is how I plan to follow my dream.

In my dreams I am a successful Internet entrepreneur, raking in the money from the next big thing on the net, selling a chunk for millions and earning huge profits by having a massive client base paying cash for a valuable service/product. I'd have a nice car, the boat, castle in Europe and spare time to enjoy it.

Dreams are great aren't they, so cheap and so much fun. Well this dream of mine is a big achievement, and we already know I'm average, so pretty unlikely to hit on this big idea, let alone start up a multimillion dollar company.

I was stuck at this point for years, wanting to achieve but not up to the task, feeling desperate, getting more and more depressed each time I read about some web company making it big and selling for heaps by some uni grad(i have no degree) with a new idea and a big pair of balls!

So, like you and everyone else, I continued to work, make money, take holidays, struggle with the mortgage, you know how it goes. Well, one day, whilst on a business flight to Melbourne, I was reading the in-flight magazine 'Voyeur' and there amongst the reviews and stories about health spas was an article that contained one paragraph that changed my life!

The article was about a guy and a book and his secret to success. The book Is called "The four minute work week" and is probably one of your everyday self help make the author rich types of publications that abound(i still haven't read it).

That aside, the concept for this guy is instead of working for someone or working in your own company, he sets up autonomous companies that are self running and only require minimal administration.

This was the key paragraph in the article "don't try to be the market leader, biggest, making millions, aim for an established business model, deliver, make a regular profit. ", and the essence of that got me thinking. Could I do that? Yes. I was excited, at last I had a concept business that fits my average ideology, be average and be good and efficient and take a small share of an established or new market.

You see, the Internet is a big place, and getting bigger all the time. But you don't have to think big, in fact my scheme is to think small, and purposefully. In business there's a few schools of thought, either compete or innovate. I choose to compete through innovation and niching.

An example,

eBay is a great site, selling items by auction to the entire world, great if your after a bargain or something unique. What about the average guy wanting a second hand fridge for the outdoor barbie area? Is he going to look on eBay? No, more likely he will turn to the traditional bricks and mortar retail approach, something local if possible. OK, so imagine our eBay lists only products in his area, is advertised locally, has local content and offers supporting services like courier booking or email alerts. Suddenly our guy has a well known local "store" he can look at, someone is more likely to put their "old" fridge up there for sale than on eBay. The website charges a small listing fee, something very small and can ask for a donation if it sells. The donation would cancel the old listing and also give a free listing next time. This keeps the ads current and promotes our seller to come back. The buyer has more to find and keeps coming back and will eventually have his old fridge to sell again! So the business builds.

I can hear you now, the murmurs of disbelief, the sound of pencils hastily doing sums, calculating turnover and income vs costs. This won't make me rich, it won't even let me retire, what kind of nonsense is this? Stay tuned, theres more.

OK, so you read my example, can see some prospect but not enough future to quit your day job. That's the idea, don't quit your day job, use that money to keep alive. Use your spare time instead. Eventually your new online business will start to make some money, maybe even enough to cover one or more days off a month/week. Wouldn't that be great?

Here's how I'm doing it, I'm an IT engineer with skills in infrastructure and web development but nothing in graphics or marketing. I know my strengths and my weaknesses. I need to pay for somethings to be done and some I can do or learn to do.

Firstly, think-tank with your buddies or wife, talk about all the websites you think are interesting and the normal businesses you like. Think about some websites you like the idea of but wouldn't use for some reason or another. This is the fertiliser for your idea, remember we aren't trying to create an amazon, google or Facebook here, just a little website that can trickle over a few bucks here and there.

Secondly, work out a very simple business plan, I normally have a paragraph per section and include the following headings; Title, business summary, features, target turn over, costs, marketing.

Try to be realistic with your turnover estimates, do a little research on your target market, get an idea of the current turnover in the market and aim for a few percent. With costs, go through the normal costs a business would have such as accounting, business name, plus web hosting, plus marketing, plus development.

How does it look? Does the annual income exceed annual expenses? If yes, you could have your first eBusiness idea about to become reality.

I did this simple exercise above on dozens of ideas before hitting on a winner, normally an idea will sound like a winner from the start, these are usually the ones that are interesting, useful and timely. Sometimes though you may not see how it could make money, this happens, with experience and research I'm sure almost every idea could generate some income by having the right business model, at this point theres no need to waste time doing this. If you really like the idea, come back to it in the future or keep it in mind and keep your eyes and mind open to new charging tactics.

With your think-tank for ideas, think about industries, hobbies, serviceş or fields that you wouldn't normally deal in, chances are that most people wouldn't either and you may have a fresh new online market place. Remember we only want a small income, 100% of a small market is like 1% of a very big market. Force yourself small and set a target of some financing some small reward per week, how about that really nice wine or pamper massage. I'm not saying you won't get big, but remember my average Joe strategy of being average and taking small bites.

You will find it much less stressful, much more achievable and far more rewarding when you tell people that your an Internet entrepreneur. Also, at this point a lot of people will be telling you its stupid, you won't get rich, its chicken feed, don't waste your time blah blah, they are right, but you will be the one who has achieved something and making a few extra bucks at the end, while they stay average and uninspired.

How are your ideas coming along? Do you have a few good ones, something that you are excited about creating and something that has the potential to earn a few bucks? This is important, they say business decisions should not be based on emotion, but if your going to be spending a heap of time and effort on this project it has to be something that will keep you motivated. By learning something new and having a genuine interest in the concept will be a definite help when your doing the legwork setting it up.

If you have an idea, have written the mini business case and are keen to proceed then read on. If not, don't give up, either the ideas will come, or you are even more average than you think, in which case, based on my theory, you will succeed at being quite normal and live a normal life.

To proceed from here, in the Internet software world, you would now begin to write out all the features and services you want to offer. This will form the basis of your detailed requirements. The detailed requirements document will cover all interactions with your clients, the process flow and data storage. The more detailed the better, but, at this stage, try not to specify the design too much. This will come later, once the requirements are done, you can decide on a development technology or company that will be within your skills or budget and then make a design that suits.

This may go against some schools of thought where the design is made and a technology chosen that can provide the specified design features you are after. The reason I go this way is because the technology used does tend to affect the look and feel of a website, the way it works and navigates etc.

Having those requirements detailed out is a very good idea, if you can do the development yourself it will keep you focused and progressing toward the solution. If you will be outsourcing(paying someone else to do it) then it will be necessary to have this scope and detail in order for them to quote and deliver your website. Remember the goal is to achieve this all on very minimal outlay. So don't be tempted to waste time on graphics and marketing at this stage. There will be plenty of time for that later, because you don't have to sit at reception taking all your customers calls and doing the day to day running of your business(its a automated website remember) you can devote yourself to marketing and promotions.

Now, here's a tip, because I'm an IT guy with development experience I decided to do the main development myself, my starting point was to see if there was any source code available to kick start the process. Lo and behold, there is a whole world of samples, starter kits, open source, templates and turnkey solutions out there! You can potentially just download, rename the title and away you go. Check the small print and give credit where its due, but these ready-made pieces can save you thousands.

For example, just say you want to make our classifieds site we talked about before. You can download the whole thing, add your banner, change some settings and upload to a host, total cost $100 and 5 hours work. Next, get some people using your site, grab a Pay-Pal account, add the billing link code to your sign-up or ad posting pages, wait for the money to trickle in.

So the above example was a very simplified version of events, but that's about all you need to do, getting the details right and testing everything thoroughly will take you some time. A tip on testing, error pages and functionality that doesn't work properly will turn your users away faster than bad graphics or few features. Anything that a client doesn't understand or has trouble with is your websites problem, fix it.

Remember we want to make money from all this right? To do this you need three things, people(with money), something to charge for and something to charge them with. Lets work backwards because theres no use getting customers if you can't charge them.

Billing; this is a really important part of the process, it makes the dream come true, parting a customers money from their bank account and uniting it with your bank account. Once upon a time this would have been quite difficult and costly to set up. Now days there are quite a few providers in this area, services and pricing differ but worth shopping around.

I use and recommend Pay-Pal, they charge a small per transaction fee, no setup cost and offer simple instructions and code to put on your site to make it work. They pay direct to your bank or send a cheque. Using Pay-Pal allows you to charge very small amounts which makes your products or services look very attractive.

Product or Service

So now we can charge people, what are we charging for and how much? If you've already read through the previous pages you would by now have a business plan and a very good idea about what your product is. It could be that your reselling a product or producing a physical object, or you may be offering a service of some kind. I prefer the latter, I'm not talking about making your website into a booking system and you spending all your time working, no, I'm referring to the service that your website can offer. This is where simplicity and automation can really free your time and make you money.

Theres a lot of people in your area, probably more than you think, those people all have needs and these needs can probably be met by someone in the same area, they just don't know it. A web site and some suitable marketing can bring these two groups together, benefiting them both if each party has met their need. This mutual satisfaction will be your selling point and product. Charging for this service is the next challenge.

Price setting and billing strategy is very important to how you do business, market, and how much money you will make. Theres a few theories about pricing, go cheap and compete on price, match price and compete on quality of service, or charge high and focus on the niche.

Guess what our strategy will be? Go cheap and focus on the niche! If you've done your home work and you have a target market your focusing on then no doubt you already have a good idea what the sales might be, if it was a busy niche market then there will be enough turnover to support a low pricing structure.

A low price overcomes doubt about placing an order or paying for a subscription, the customer will not feel like they have a lot to lose if something goes wrong. Besides, do you remember our initial goal of just making a few bucks, not to earn a living, so let just earn a few bucks and see how it goes. Sometimes, the major market will get jealous of your price and service and will want to get on board as well, consider carefully before you open up to all this money. Remember the rule, less work not more, we are average and not trying to be amazon or eBay. A little extra is all we want. Its your choice, but do go over the pros and cons.

Whatever pricing model you choose, make sure you differentiate yourself from your competitors(if there are any, niche remember) with either price, services, service, location, specialising or product.

Marketing;

this is the fun part, once you have something to offer and can bill people, everything you do now will either attract customers or drive them away, preferably the former. First thing to do they say is get with Google, that may be, but I would say first thing to do is understand the thought process behind a person with a need that your site can fulfill.

Why? Well without this knowledge you won't know how to reach your needy users, won't know what they do when they have a need, where they start to fill the need, do they know they have a need? Some markets are new and you have to sell the concept, some you have to compete, and some you just have to say I'm here' and you get customers.

So how do you find out about your target market and your future customers? Research, talking to people and more research. Theres been lots written, books, online, everywhere. But how do you find out what will work without spending ages researching, or thousands on misplaced marketing?

One thing that I find works is to market close to home, by this I mean your own demographic. People you know, can talk to, yourself, family, friends, colleagues. The reason this works in one way is because you first thought of the idea, possibly filling your own need, or you had a friend who had this need. If your own demographic is a good starting target then you will have a head-start in marketing.

One way this won't work for you is if your targeting a demographic that you know nothing about, such as a product or service that you never use, want or need. Of course, starting in your own demographic will build that initial momentum that can flow to other areas later.

So now you have an some ideas about the demographic, think about what your features and selling points are, where you customers currently go to fill their needs and then how you can get their attention.

Options include the local paper, try the free section, or place an ad under the for sale or services section for the niche you service. Write an article for your niches journal or monthly and make a mention of your site. Use your local notice boards, search for local club websites that have a bulletin board or forum.

These are all cheap or free options, you can take the plunge and spend on some big ads, radio, TV or billboards. Other promotion ideas include online ads with the likes of NineMSN, Google, Yahoo...

When you do start to get customers, use their details to follow up, regular newsletter and referral schemes can help.

Support & Maintenance

Any site is inevitably going to either have problems or give problems. You should plan for this by having well thought out Q&A's or a fast email response system. Every question you are asked should be added to the FAQ or the cause eliminated. You don't want to be constantly asked the same thing over and over.

Maintenance of your site is another point, there two types of this, one is busines related and one is system related. The business related maintenance consists of account, product, settings - adding, deleting, changing, refunds, returns, page updates etc. The system related maintenance will be tasks like domain administration, renewals, disk quota, corruptions and updating configuration.

These maintenance tasks are generally unavoidable, but do think of automation where possible. Auto-pay bills, set archive and auto activation options. Save your time wherever you can.

Final word

Writing this has been fun, I've written each part right after I actually did the work, so it was fresh in my mind and actually worked.

Its not for everyone, there may actually be some skill required that I didn't think up front, but I still think its do-able. Thinking small while you buildup a business does work, but likewise, don't limit your dream if you have the courage, means and enthusiasm.

Good luck.

'I have a dream, consider it, done.'

Wallpaper Roundup: GTD With Workflows And Quadrants | Lifehacker Australia

Wallpaper Roundup: GTD With Workflows And Quadrants | Lifehacker Australia

These are pretty neat.. I actually like and now use the

Anabubula - GTD Wallpaper v3

Gartner Hype Cycle 2009: Web 2.0 Trending Up, Twitter Down

Gartner Hype Cycle 2009: Web 2.0 Trending Up, Twitter Down'

Blogging about bloggs, that should be at the peak of inflated expectations.. well, here i am doing it anyway,.. just to spite you/me.

How To Improve Your Memory Video | Memory Improvement Videos | Howcast.com

How To Improve Your Memory Video | Memory Improvement Videos | Howcast.com

I started to write something about this but now I cant remember what it was?

PDF to Word Converter. Convert PDF to Word DOC or Excel XLS Online, Extract Images from PDF.

PDF to Word Converter. Convert PDF to Word DOC or Excel XLS Online, Extract Images from PDF.

This converter worked a treat. PDF to word no worries

List of Google Products

List of Google Products

Wow, i was looking for a Google Apps landing page and found this. Huge product list.

Free ITIL v3 course - collection of ITIL v3 movies - ITIL v3 foundation training for free | PMIT.PL Blog

Free ITIL v3 course - collection of ITIL v3 movies - ITIL v3 foundation training for free | PMIT.PL Blog

Im quite keen to sit this exam, theres certainly a lot of movies here, many hours worth. Id better get started.

Slow IT: Do less with less - InfoWorld

Slow IT: Do less with less - InfoWorld

Do less with less! A great concept, but how to get away with it, hmmm... read through, take some examples away with you... i am, and i have just the meeting tomorrow to raise some of these points.

Andrew’s Website - Google's BigTable

Andrew’s Website - Google's BigTable

Part Three in the answer to how Google stores and manages its data.

How Google Works - Google Guide

How Google Works - Google Guide

Part Two in the answer to how Google stores and manages its data.

Sorting the World: Google Invents New Way to Manage Data

Sorting the World: Google Invents New Way to Manage Data

Part One in the answer to how Google stores and manages its data.

10 UI Design Patterns You Should Be Paying Attention To | How-To | Smashing Magazine

10 UI Design Patterns You Should Be Paying Attention To | How-To | Smashing Magazine

Good tips, some ill be sure to implement on my next venture.

It seems an Apple a day desnt't keep the doctor away!

Steve Jobs gets liver transplant: report

Martina Shapiro, FCA On-Line Studio: contemporary figurative oil paintings

Martina Shapiro, FCA On-Line Studio: contemporary figurative oil paintings

I like this style of art, i do like the colors, though some might find them childish and garish... not me.. i like the outlines as well.. very my style...

Balsamiq Studios, makers of plugins for Web Office applications | Balsamiq

Balsamiq Studios, makers of plugins for Web Office applications | Balsamiq

I do like a good prototype or 'mockup' tool, this is a great example, i might even buy it.

Although i did use a tool recently that worked really well on a tablet, autolinked pages etc, very sketchy type of thing.

Six Ways to Transform your Presentation - Stepcase Lifehack

Six Ways to Transform your Presentation - Stepcase Lifehack

So the presentation is still coming.. more tips for later...

Fantastic Free Google Earth Game: Ships | Google Earth Blog

Fantastic Free Google Earth Game: Ships | Google Earth Blog

Wow, i luurrve ship simulators, this is great...

Great robot idea

Image Display

My Childs Prayer

"Dear God, this year please send clothes for all those poor ladies in
Daddy's computer.... .. Amen" !!!

Landscaping...slowly

Ive been working on a landscape project for a little while now... well, maybe 12 months, but im progressing...ive been digging away over that period.

Last week my neighbour had a mini excavator and I asked if he wouldnt mind doing some digging for me.

An hour later, having dug 10 times more than I had over 12 months, he was finished.

TED: Ideas worth spreading

TED: Ideas worth spreading

Did I mention that im doing a public speakign engagement and im pretty nervous?  Im getting desperate now..  im going to copy someone..   no!! Im kidding, might be some good tips on doing a good presentation though, from the looks, having both hands waved in front of you is a good start,.

4 Effective Presentation Techniques - Stepcase Lifehack

4 Effective Presentation Techniques - Stepcase Lifehack

Did I mention that im doing a public speakign engagement and im pretty nervous?  More info on overcoming the nerves.

7 Little Tricks To Speak In Public With No Fear - Stepcase Lifehack

7 Little Tricks To Speak In Public With No Fear - Stepcase Lifehack

Did I mention that im doing a public speakign engagement and im pretty nervous?  More info on overcoming the nerves.

ps: note to self, start work on that presentation!

From Mind Map to Presentation - Stepcase Lifehack

From Mind Map to Presentation - Stepcase Lifehack

I have a presentation coming up soon..   im not a big fan of public speaking, well lets face it, who is?  In fact im terrified....

This article looks like a good aproach to getting the information down and sorted which I feel always helps in public speaking situation.

I already use a Freemind, which is a good tool, so next step is to flesh the ideas out, hit export, and then practice, practise, practise.

Salma Hayek's MobileMe Account Hacked, No Nudie Pics Found (Sorry!) - Gizmodo Australia

Salma Hayek's MobileMe Account Hacked, No Nudie Pics Found (Sorry!) - Gizmodo Australia

OK, nothing to do with much at all, but who cares, check out the PHOTO! wowzers, what an interesting story.

A Heart-to-Heart Talk about Process and Change Management - 1-Oct-05: Change Management article: contact Dutch Holland

A Heart-to-Heart Talk about Process and Change Management - 1-Oct-05: Change Management article: contact Dutch Holland

This and a whole bunch of the other articles here are very well written and thought out.

Plenty of reading material here for me.

DoInk.com | Draw, Animate, and Collaborate

DoInk.com | Draw, Animate, and Collaborate

An in the vein of cartoons, this a great little animator package..  ill get my artistic type wife to do me some characters,,,

Stripgenerator v1.0.3

Stripgenerator v1.0.3

This is pretty cool, such a simple way to cartoon..  i wish they had a bunch of dilbert characters....  maybe you can make your own set and upload them for reuse... 

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

After having just done a PC rebuild, i was looking for a tool to backup the new install as an image so i could revert at anytime I messed up. This looks like a great little option.  One thing they never mention very much is when you have a 1TB HDD , where do you back that up to?  Even with compression you are still going to need a few hundred Gigs...

Well, you buy another HDD, thats what, one for one, make it your backups, do it regularly, and you will be fine.

Highslide JS - JavaScript thumbnail viewer

Highslide JS - JavaScript thumbnail viewer

This is a really neat piece of JS, an online image viewer for sites, offeres great versatility with the display aspects, such as full screen, slideshow, forward reverse, close etc.  Looks great.

Help Desk, IT Help Desk Software, Web based Helpdesk Application Tool, Help Desk Solution with IT Asset Management - ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Help Desk, IT Help Desk Software, Web based Helpdesk Application Tool, Help Desk Solution with IT Asset Management - ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Ok, now how do I sell this to my company?

I think it sells itself, we are currently using a variety of tools, logging different aspects of the ITIL process, nothing linked.

The price looks good.

15 Essential Checks Before Launching Your Website | How-To | Smashing Magazine

15 Essential Checks Before Launching Your Website | How-To | Smashing Magazine

This is some very useful and wise information.  Launching is always a troubling time, pressures, deadlines, feature creep, nerves...  run through this list and relax.

Dashboards � Crystal Xcelsius Dashboarding

Dashboards � Crystal Xcelsius Dashboarding

Dashboard development, read this Colin.

Google uncloaks once-secret server | Business Tech - CNET News

Google uncloaks once-secret server | Business Tech - CNET News

My goodness, this is awesome stuff, thats the kind of innovation IT vendors have been scarign us away from for years, we must have big UPS, we must have huge datacenter, we must have tier one IBM/HP etc hardware.

I think there will be a lot to learn from studying this model, and possibly this financial climate is the best time to acheive it.

Lovers and Lobbers

Lovers and Lobbers

Oh yeah, finally Perth people can get the full benefit of paparazzi, secret snaps and Private embarrassments galore! fill up and stay home i say.

SharePointPedia

SharePointPedia

This looks pretty cool, possibly a sharepoint site. Lots of articles and how to's.

Application Templates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Application Templates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

I do a bit more SharePoint now days, if you need an out of the box free solution, try this. Comes with Windows Server 2003 and a whole bunch of template applications can be downloaded.

Main Page - OneCMDB

Main Page - OneCMDB

The one CMDB to rule them all!

Artician - Your Creative Network for Art, Graphic Design, & Photography

Artician - Your Creative Network for Art, Graphic Design, & Photography

Looks very interesting, must check it out.

Stair Calculator - Layout Stair Stringer Headroom Rise Run Baluster

Stair Calculator - Layout Stair Stringer Headroom Rise Run Baluster

Home project, make stairs, ot looked easy, posts, steps, done...  hmmm..  have a look at this link, it shows the calculations neccessary, and give you the oeptions.  Other sites just gave me the calcs, mind numbing.. 

So, my stairs are done.. photo to follow soon..

Free Disk Analyzer

Free Disk Analyzer

Looks good, worth using when next I run out of space and cant work out where the hell its gone!

Free Fonts Generator - Make Your Own Handwriting Font With Your Fonts

Free Fonts Generator - Make Your Own Handwriting Font With Your Fonts

This is way cool, if they wernt so busy i was going to do this straight away, what more could i ask for, now i dont ened to write letters to my mum, i can type it, print it, and post it.

Online Coloring

Online Coloring

My kid is gonna be old enough to read one day, and before then, he might want to color!  This is a great coloring in book site, hell i might even do some myself...  the panda looks cute!

Enjoy TJ (when your old enough to read this)

Bush to Beach - Off Road Adventures - Perth WA

Bush to Beach - Off Road Adventures - Perth WA

I'm gonna make an outright plug for an old mate of mine here. Grazza as he is known to us, has decided to live the dream, be his own boss, explore the wilderness and do the things he loves most, photograph, drive 4WD's, meet and talk with people, and most of all, be out in the bush. 

Whether its climbing, photographing, sea kayaking, exploring, fishing, eating or just chilling out, Graham has a passion for life and nature. He has a spiritual and philosophical view of the world that makes him a great friend, excellent guide and a thoughtful host.

The off road adventures Graham is offering will truly be just that, an adventure, each one unique I'm sure, in that the experience will be well remembered by all who choose to go along.

Ive looked at some of the locations on offer, some Ive never even heard of, and Ive lived near these places! The itinerary is a great way to see some of Australia without the crowds, without the impersonality of the big tour, but with the flexibility and comradeship of a small group, all interested in seeing and learning as much as they can about our natural history, which is why I think this venture will be a big success!

Click the link, if your thinking of travelling to Australia you must take one of these tours, if your a local and have never ventured out of your own backyard, now is the perfect time to re-acquaint yourself with your culture and your country.

If you want to know more, follow the link, call or email Graham, you will not be disappointed. 

	enquiries@bushtobeach.com.au
	0403 438 573 0434 561 252

Award-Winning Steak Chili Recipe to Feed a Crowd for Under $25 : Generation X Finance

Award-Winning Steak Chili Recipe to Feed a Crowd for Under $25 : Generation X Finance

Something different, im hungry, and this just came through my feedbox.  Yum..  

Microsoft Web Platform

Microsoft Web Platform

I think I have reviewed this before, but its a great idea, i did all the components individually ages ago and spent ages trouibles shooting sql express, user instances, service packs and publishing sites to IIS...

Very bothersome, so looking forward to running up a new dev PC with this.

Checklist CAB Agenda - IT Process Wiki

Checklist CAB Agenda - IT Process Wiki

This is interesting stuff, helps to peice it all together.

ITIL V3 Intro and Overview

This is a nice little overview of ITIL V3, worth checking out for the background and terminology.

System Lifecycle Framework Templates

System Lifecycle Framework Templates

A great set of templates, looks well thought out.

Research, Statistics, Data & Systems

Research, Statistics, Data & Systems

I dont know if this is meant for general consumption, but its a great resource for documentation and templates. 

Microsoft Research Songsmith

Microsoft Research Songsmith

Now im dying to get home and try this out, wow, what a gizmo, could be a barrely of laughs...  ill report back and let you know how it goes.

Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft - Windows Live

Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft - Windows Live

This is a pretty good list, if you ever wanted some free software, ive yet to get down to the games, not that i get time to play anyway...

Dynamic Templates v2.01: The Next Generation | D*I*Y Planner

Dynamic Templates v2.01: The Next Generation | D*I*Y Planner

Ive been a bit lazy lately not making any new posts, well, i havent really, but still.

I found this today, its a cool little daily template you can print out, i put one in my notebook each day, i take notes of meetings etc on the pad, and anything that becomes a task, i write on the sheet and act on, then it it carries over, i write it on the next days sheet.  Lets hope i dont run out of line for all the unfinished work i have!! 

The Power User's Guide to Google Chrome - Lifehacker Australia

The Power User's Guide to Google Chrome - Lifehacker Australia

This is a great little powerusers guide, i learned some things myself, and you know I only use Chrome, so theres been some helpful things for me.

Play flashCHESS3 online - The Online Flash Chess Player

Play flashCHESS3 online - The Online Flash Chess Player

Hands up if you play chess... ok, hands up if you play PC chess.. no answer?  Oh, you cant click and put your hand up...  well, this little Flash chess game is pretty neat, i would have liked it to let you drag the pieces around, but hey, its still pretty good.  

It lets you play online, or download...  it even let me win a game on novice mode... winnign is when you lose all your pieces right?  That way you can attack from the rear?

Epic Home Made Guitar Hero 3 Drums - CollegeHumor video

Epic Home Made Guitar Hero 3 Drums - CollegeHumor video

OK, now heres something i dont normally look at, but this guys is animal from the muppets, and then some, wow..  maybe i should get this game...  but i would probably suk at it.

Gizmine

Gizmine

If anyone is reading out there, anyone at all with money or who really enjoys reading my junky blog, please oh please visit this website, and buy me something.

Now. before christmas...

Google Chrome - Download a new browser

Google Chrome - Download a new browser

Hey all, Im a self confessed unashamed Chrome user! I can feel the heat from the flamers now, but its worth acknowledging the good side of a new browser from my favourite company.

I used to be an IE devout user, never had time for anything else, then I got onto Avant, which still used IE, but had its own shell, had tabs before IE did, plus a bunch of other features.  All of which i found to be in Firefox, and after long deliberation(its not easy making the work choice to switch), i moved to Firefox, thus enjoying all the benefits of every kind of imaginable plugin, theme, add-in, script, ubiquity etc that was going.

Well, then i saw the leak about Chrome, i downloaded the cartoon like everyone else, was so impressed i even printed it, in color! And stapled it, and showed it to friends, who didn't understand a word.  So when the launch finally happened, i think i was about the fourth person to download and install at some ungodly early hour from some unidentified source that had managed to grab a version.  Awesome, first cut and I loved it. 

Simple, no clutter, fast(noticeably so), and after setting the option to show links on the toolbar, i was in almost engaged to it.  I promptly set it as my default browser, told FireFox and IE to stop hassling me to about being the default browser and lived happily ever after.

Almost....

Then the cracks started to appear, first people started finding privacy issues with the terms and conditions, then there was an old Safari security bug that wasn't patched in Chrome, then people started moaning about no plugins, no this, and no that...

But i persevered, i had a few problems with sites that didn't render properly, graphs and stuff, also popups, Chrome blocking things which was good, but some sites used those and you couldn't continue with what you were doing.

I did miss the google toolbar, and I'm still amazed it wasn't in the first cut, why the rush and miss that out?  Then i found some ways to get around that, javascript shortcuts/links, i managed to get the Send to Blogger, and a few others working, as well as Instapaper etc.  I'm happy as.

Now, my latest problem, as you can see from a previous post, is the browserist elitism of some companies that block my poor little browser.  I used to laugh at the people that complained about sites that said 'Best viewed with IE' etc, but that was because they used Netscape and FireFox etc, now they don't complain when its Chrome that's being blocked.

But being fair to online companies, it is hard to support multiple browsers, and it has to be weighed up with the costs vs the benefits.  For instance a car manufacturer has to make their car compliant with many countries manufacturers rules, but there is big money there. How far do you go.  To the credit of the company mentioned as blocking Chrome, they will be supporting it shortly, and I guess they are in beta and still testing, easier to get the basics working then expand the supported browsers.

So i will continue on my quest to keep using the one simple uncluttered, fast, stable browser. When your on a good thing, stick to it, until something better comes along.

Feel free to comment on your thoughts about the browser as a tool, not whats best and whats not, but more of a holy point of view, "does it get my job done", and "what makes you switch"?

End of thought, browser off!

StickySorter

StickySorter

This is an interesting project by a pair of not very busy MS programmers who in their spare time whipped up this little app.

Im interested firstly in the stickynote aspect, and secondly im new to affinity diagramming, whcih also tickles my fancy.

Ill download this later and give it a test drive.

� The Process Approach to Writing a Procedure – Creating a Draft

� The Process Approach to Writing a Procedure – Creating a Draft

Ive just been tasked with creating the Change Management policy and procedures, so some background research and planning is in order, this site came up, charge as it does, there is still a lot of good information freely available here.

Note to self: Come back often

Axence Software - Network Monitoring, Network Mapping & Application Monitoring- Free NetTools

Axence Software - Network Monitoring, Network Mapping & Application Monitoring- Free NetTools

Im always interested in these network apps, and because they always do the same things, theres not much to differentiate, and so it comes back to GUI, this one looks pretty simple and impressive.

Now, where did my network go?

Spring Partners - Wont let me in!

Spring Partners

I was liking the look of this site, the concept was interesting, it looked neat, i had an idea how i might use it for a trial, then i clicked sign up, and bang! 

Its all over, crucified for using Chrome, unsupported browser...

Now I realise its a beta, and Chrome has a small user base, and they dont want to support everything, but hey, Chrome uses the Safari rendering engine, so its gonna be close, and if not, then its user beware, go change browser, and away you go.

To just say you dont have access is as bad as the old days when sites said that you had to be using IE, well this is the same.

End of thought, bugger off..

15 Useful Project Management Tools | Developer's Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

15 Useful Project Management Tools | Developer's Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

Interesting list, its always good to see a summary of apps like this.  It just happens to be timely, as i start to manage a few projects currently, i think, what should i run this in, and of course free is a good option.

Waseda Talker Robot Tries to Speak Like Humans, Sounds Like A Cow - Gizmodo Australia

Waseda Talker Robot Tries to Speak Like Humans, Sounds Like A Cow - Gizmodo Australia

Oh dear, they want to build this thing into a mobile phone?  I can just imagine having this pair of lips on my ear... !! talk about tickle..

Write Or Die : Dr Wicked's Writing Lab

Write Or Die : Dr Wicked's Writing Lab

Write or Die, thats the precept, its true...  especially the electric shock mode...

What if The Matrix Ran on Windows? - Gizmodo Australia

What if The Matrix Ran on Windows? - Gizmodo Australia

Take the red pill Neo, its running on Windows!!!

No good can come of this....

The 20 Best iPod Utilities - Lifehacker Australia

The 20 Best iPod Utilities - Lifehacker Australia

While im on the iPod, heres some more cool iPodUtilities.

SharePod - Download

SharePod - Download

AWESOME!!!!!   SharePod is awesome...  finally a lightweight iPod manager.

Finally, iTunes should be dissasembled, put into a box and thrown out on the tip, its an example of extremely bad software GUI design and should have beenm scrapped years ago, shame on you Apple.

Now, for people who like a simple clean interface and functional at a glance, rather than searching and using trial and error.

Go the SharePod

Hacking Open Elmo Live - Lifehacker Australia

Hacking Open Elmo Live - Lifehacker Australia

Yep, this is funny, and cool, but strangely disturbing, and not only to the kinders, the guys doing the strip search are enjoying it all too much!

GROCERYchoice - Home

GROCERYchoice - Home

This really has come a long way, i remember seeing the early versions, where you really didnt get much info, maybe a confirmation that Coles was good etc.. But I guess times change and you need to keep checking as they keep changing their prices... 

Maybe you could get a weekly alert so you know where to shop each week.  Printing a shopping list with the cheapest brands etc.  Maybe you could order online all your packaged, canned and bottled goods?  Leaving you to only collect your fresh vegies, fruit and meat. 

Virtual Webcam Girlfriend Is Entrancing, If a Little Perverted - Gizmodo Australia

Virtual Webcam Girlfriend Is Entrancing, If a Little Perverted - Gizmodo Australia

Worth a look, interesting that you need the little cube, makes hacking harder unless you printed a cube and stuck it together.