At LAST!!!!
I’ve finally got the new website working

After what felt like a lifetime, I have finally got the new website up and running.
It’s at the www.simtech.co.uk domain – feel free to check it out…
And if you’ve just come from there – I hope you like it!

It’s a Joomla based CMS system – Content Management System – That means I can change the contents at the drop of a hat, and produce some of the more technical stuff easily (such things as client logons, exclusive content etc…)

Not being a web developer, it took me for ever to figure out the complexities of the system, the styling,  the terminology and the coding required. I left the office on many a night (yup NIGHT) feeling like my head would pop… :razz:

I like to think I did not too bad a job :)

The training thing is proving VERY popular – our list of live applicants is growing rapidly – maybe I should open R & A Training as a separate enterprise!

#Personal#
All of the baby fishes have now ‘gone horizontal’ – they start off sticking to the edge of the tank (after they hatch) vertically, after a while they begin to swim in a horizontal plane. They now look like little fishes :)
Soon they will get scales and go opaque instead of their current translucent state.

I’m also having some time off
A well deserved long weekend in Derbyshire – lots of scenery and good food/beer to be had…
I’m sure I’ll come back super chilled and raring to go… (well, as raring as a fat bloke can get :evil: )

Filed under : Heaven  |  2 Comments »
2 views

=============== ===============

What fun we’ve had today…
I have a client opening a retail shop next month. He’s tasked me with finding an ePos system (basically a PC based cash register).
This MUST have the ‘Chip ‘n’ Pin’ type card stuff included, because if there is a problem with the transaction and you DON’T have Chip ‘n’ Pin, YOU are responsible – It’s the bank’s problem if you HAVE them.

“Man the phones..!”
“Unleash the dogs of eMail…”
Time for some serious contacting action…

I sent emails the length and breadth of the country in search of the perfect ePos system. Only to get confused as hell!
It appears there are several solutions to this issue.

• You can buy the ePos software and hardware separately – cheaper but may have compatibility issues
• You can buy an ‘integrated’ solution – about the middle of the road price wise, but with limited upgrade options
• You can buy a ‘complete’ solution – the best price for which was around the £15,000 mark

Prices ranging from £2,000 to £20,000 depending on what exactly you want out of the system.
No small potatoes here then – this is a serious capital purchase.

After speaking to MILLIONS (well almost ) of people I’m a little brain fried!
More to come tomorrow…

Joy

I did speak to one very helpful guy – Thanks LOTS Iain…

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
2 views

=============== ===============

We had your first funding event today.
We assisted 6 of our clients to get their hands on approx. £6500 funding between them

Not too bad for a 15 minute meeting each!
It MUST be one of the best investments of time for our clients this week (ok, so it’s still only Monday but still… :) )
There are still another 12 people booked for a later date, and we are going strong – it’s an offer which appears too good to be true – BUT IT IS TRUE!!

The way it works is, the first £500 is unmatched – i.e. the Government pays for it (on a pay and claim back basis).
The next chunk, up to the £1500 is 50% funded, so you could have £500 training for nothing!!! Or £1,500 for £500!!!

Amazing but true!!

CALL US TO DISCUSS!!!
08456 340 599

On a more personal note – Our fishes have egged again!!
The randy little b**gers ALWAYS get ‘some’ after we clean out the tank, this time we removed the eggs into the nursery tank and let them develop (instead of ending up a tasty Caviar meal) .
Now we have ‘some’ little fry zooming about like nutters in the nursery.
I say ‘some’ cos they are hidden in the plant on which they were spawned – making counting impossible!

Filed under : Heaven  |  Be the first to comment! »
1 views

=============== ===============

Oh what fun I’ve had today.

I spent the majority of it trying to get a particular bit of our new website centralised.

It’s looking not too bad now – but it was a REAL pain trying to fight with the complexities of the Cascading Style Sheets.

The problem comes when browsers don’t show the same things – i.e. If I say a website element is in one position for Internet Explorer, then FireFox might show it in a different position. :neutral:
This is where the coding standards come in.
The idea is that if ALL the browsers out there conform to the standards, then a website WILL look the same in ANY browser.

This is why people say FireFox is better – it is mostly standards compliant.
Microsoft is “getting there” with Internet Explorer 8.
Google Chrome is not too bad for the standards either.

This all make a BIG headache for the website designers though.
Couple this with a client’s (sometimes unreasonable) demands, and complexities with getting content, resolutions, colour schemes…
Now you know why Web Development can get costly.

The really sad thing is though – I LIKE IT!!

Masochist Moi?

We also seem to be registered with ‘Train to Gain’ and can now offer training grants!

This is a Government backed scheme and we can provide you with almost any training you need.

Filed under : General &Heaven  |  1 Comment »
5 views

=============== ===============

I had a call today to zoom off to Manchester – at 15:00!
This means MUNDO traffic chaos (It’s the north of England’s traffic hell hole) AND a late night
Still, I like working with the client in question AND I LOVE MY JOB :) (could I make that any more obvious?)
Off I zooooooomed…

Got there just after 16:00 – a minor miracle in it’s self – and started the diagnosis.
The issue was simply that their router had ‘died’. Not usually a panic job, but in this case the router provides a permanent connection to the Leeds office – i.e. the Manchester office couldn’t do anything!
As ALL small business owners know TIME = MONEY. The longer Manchester were down the more £££s it was costing.

Diagnosed the error – bypassed the routers power switch – re-connected the offices – made happy client
Total downtime = about 1 ½ hours. Not too bad for a total router failure

If I hadn’t managed the fix, there would have been 10 unhappy individuals commuting to Leeds early tomorrow.
For a brief moment I was their hero

We techies are usually:

• The scum of the universe
• Butt of all jokes
• socially unacceptable
• In a happy world of our own

(Delete as applicable)
We have to take what little praise we can

#EDIT#
I have added a few WordPress plugins
- There is now a button bar to share this blog, mouse over to see the options
- There is a newer Tag Cloud, it’s now got colour fading with tag popularity and other cool features :)
- There is a new, more accessible paging system (It’s at the extreme bottom of the blog)

Filed under : Heaven  |  Be the first to comment! »
4 views

=============== ===============