Computer Solutions in the greater brisbane area.
November, 2010
Archive for November, 2010
A good surge board will save you money
I read an article at PCMag recently that really made me wonder; The writers summary suggested that surge protection was a waste of time and that you should buy a good UPS instead.
This is utterly wrong.
First off, the only people who need a UPS are those who’s machines are often doing critical work and where a cut in power would trash valuable data. If that’s not you, you probably do not need one.
The problem the writer experienced is one that many people do. It’s called a cheap surge protector. By cheap, I don’t really mean the price either, because I have seen plenty of $200 surge boards that are no better than $30 ones. Let me explain what makes a good one.
The first thing to concern yourself with is the ability of the board to absorb surges. This is usually measured in joules, which is a measure of energy. The way a surge protector works is by absorbing the extra power, a bit like a sponge absorbs water. Just like a sponge, there is a limit to how much it can absorb. Take a look at most, and you will find many of them only take around 500 joules, whereas a good one will absorb over 4000 joules.
The next thing to check is what happens when the board reaches this limit. In the case of nearly every board on the market, the surge protection simply stops working, and the board turns into a regular power strip. You have no idea it’s past its use by date, unless you happen to look at it and see a warning indicator, which some have. You have to ask yourself, how often do you crawl under the desk to check it?
A good surge protector will actually stop working entirely when it reaches this limit. No power to your equipment means no chance of a surge sneaking through once the board has done its job, and it also means that should you get hit with a massive surge or series of surges, your equipment will still be protected.
So go out and buy yourself a new surge board, and ask how many joules it will absorb, and what happens when it reaches that limit.
When to create a second MYOB file
While we are not MYOB consultants, because many of our clients know that Mathew has a great deal of experience with MYOB, we do get a few calls about it from all over Brisbane. One question we were faced with recently was to do with creating a second MYOB company file.
The client in question had just won a large contract, and this would represent a significant portion of their business going forward. They wanted to track this contract specifically, and ensure that it was producing profit.
When we talked to the client, we found that the business was still a single business entity; The new contract would be performed by the existing business, and no special arrangements were being made, beyond the need to track this segment of the business separately.
The client had proposed to create a whole new MYOB company file for this purpose. In this example, we suggested this was a bad idea; Because the new contract would be fulfilled within the scope of the existing business, creating another file would mean costly data integration later, in order to perform company wide reporting functions, such as completing the BAS. This would also pollute one set of data with the other, and in general, lead to a lot of headache!
In situations like this, there are plenty of ways to break things down within MYOB, so that you can see the separate business unit. This can be as simple as having different income and expense codes for each business segment, and in some versions of MYOB, you can also use Job Costing to product profit and loss reports for individual segments or jobs.
Where you are creating an entirely separate business to operate what is in reality a segment of your overall business, then a separate file is called for. Total separate in this case means that the new business entity will have it’s own ABN, bank account and be operated independently.
To learn more about getting the most out of MYOB, we don’t reccomend you do a MYOB Course, but rather look for a quality MYOB consultant who can advise you on the use of MYOB accounting software in your business.
Virus Removal
These days, we see a lot of machines infected with all kinds of nasties. Spyware, adware, malware and viruses are everywhere, and millions of computers are infected every month. Many users are becoming more aware of the problem and able to identify when they have a problem with infection, but the challenge they then face is what to do about virus removal?
We saw a case just this week where a computer owner quickly realised her machine was compromised. Knowing a little about computers, she proceeded to try and reload the computer herself, and after spending a few hours working on it, realised she couldn’t get the machine back up and running, and then brought it into our office.
She is one of the lucky ones; The problem with trying to remove virus infections yourself is that you don’t really know if you have cleaned the computer 100%. There are virus removal tools you can download and run, but they do not guarantee a 100% clean machine, because it’s simply not possible to be sure. Once your machine is infected, the malware agents can mask themselves, and even intercept your attempts to clean them.
The answer is always to completely wipe your computer clean and start from scratch. I’m sure the client I mentioned above thought the same thing, but again, it’s not always that simple. Putting the disk that came with your computer into the machine and following the instructions might work, but it might also leave the data on the hard drive, and you could waste hours only to be right back where you started.
If you know what you’re doing, reformatting your drive and reinstalling Windows, your programs and data files is the way to go. Just make sure you backup your computer first, so you don’t lose any files, photos or music you have on the computer.
If you aren’t sure of how to go about that, the best solution is to have a professional take care of it for you. Shift Computer Solutions, for example, can format, reload and configure your computer quickly, and effectively. Plus, we know all the tricks for configuring your computer so that when you get it back, it’s hardened against reinfection.
The Final Word: Do what you can to avoid infection in the first place. Don’t visit dodgy websites, make sure you are using OpenDNS on your home network, have a good quality anti virus solution (we suggest ESET), and keep your computer up to date.
Clearly Glass Website
When we were approached by Clearly Glass, we were excited to have the chance to build a website for a company that creates such visually stunning products as frameless shower screens, and glass pool fences.
We produced a site built around their three key product offerings, shower screens, pool fences and balustrades. As they offer quite a range of shower screens, we have a sub product level for the site enabling them to add / remove products in a given category.
As all our sites do, the Clearly Glass site incorporates full content management, allowing them to update the content as required, a full news platform so they can post regular articles and updates for their clients, and a great call to action, so that visitors who are ready to buy are left in no doubt what to do next.
Having seen their business up close and personal, we can say if you are in the market for some glass work at your place, give Clearly Glass a call!
