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Recent jobs – Backup device

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Recent jobs – Backup device

I client had read my client newsletter and emailed me to express an interest in the new backup devices I recommend.  A phoned him and logged in to his computer from my office to see how much data he needed to backup.  He has quite a few photos, and plans to add many more.  I gave him my recommendation for a one-touch backup USB memory stick, and suggested the capacity (amount of storage space) he should have.  He agreed and I offered to order one for him, and we arranged for a time for me to visit to set it all up for him.

A couple of days later I arrive to do the set-up.  The installation went well, but the initial backup got stuck on one file and wouldn’t continue, and wouldn’t even respond to the ‘stop’ command.  We restarted the computer to try again.  Yes, I am aware of the cliché about turning it off and on again, but it does often solve such problems.  In this case, it didn’t solve the problem and the backup got stuck again on the same file.  The client then informed me that the backup method he previously used had also got stuck on that file.  This meant that the problem wasn’t being caused by my backup method and device, and pointed towards the file itself being the problem.  Anyway, a few troubleshooting steps later and the file was fixed.  The next attempted backup went perfectly.

Teaching him how to do future backups was very easy; “Plug the device into your laptop and the program will automatically start.  When you see the backup program screen, just press the button on the backup device marked ‘Backup’.  Job done, get 0n with something more interesting!”

Fixing the problem with the file took quite a while.  For the techs amongst you, we had to do multiple reboots due to lockups, and he’s on Windows Vista with only 1gig of RAM so it took a while; I told him that if he finds his computer too slow we can get more RAM, but it’s his first computer and he finds it works well enough for his needs.

Due to the file problem, the fairly large amount of data, plus the initial work to establish the amount of data to backup, the whole process took about 90 minutes.  I only allocated 60 minutes against his Subscription account though.

If you want information about my recommended backup devices, or any other services, please leave a comment and I will get back to you.  Personal information will be extracted from any comments before they are published, so feel free to leave contact details in the comment.  Thanks.

IT News

Google: change for change’s sake

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Google: change for change’s sake

Google are at it again! They’re changing lots of things including the layout of Google Reader and Google Docs, and they’ve virtually hidden the ‘cached results’ from Google Searches.

I am sad to say that the New Look is here to stay on Google Documents (and Google Reader by the looks of it). I prefer the ‘classic view’ of gDocs but they’ve taken away that option. How very Apple of them.

It looks like there’s no way to get back the old interface of gReader either, although I haven’t thoroughly researched that point as I don’t use gReader at the moment.

Regarding cached results in Google searches, there used to be a link just under the search result for the cached copy, but now you have to hover over the double arrow to the right of the search result, wait for the page preview to load, then select ‘cached’ from the link at the top. Considering Google’s efforts to make search quicker, this change seems counter-productive.

It seems that Google has moved it’s focus from functionality to appearance.

In haste,

Colin.

All IT

Google Calendar and Android Calendar one-way sync problem solved

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Google Calendar and Android Calendar one-way sync problem solved

I was having a problem where events I add on my Android phone would sync to Google, but events added on Google Calendar would not sync to my phone.  I searched Google Help, and a wider internet search on Google, but there were pages and pages of people having the opposite problem; their phone would get new events input on the web, but new events on the phone weren’t syncing.  Synchronizing is a major part of the Google-Android system, but there seemed to be nothing from Google about these problems.

Anyway, I found the answer to my problem.  On the Android phone, go to the Home Screen, Menu, Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, Calendar Storage. Then select Clear Cache.

If you found this useful. Please leave a comment or link to this site from your site.  Thanks.

IT - Other

Syncing Android phones with multiple Google gMail accounts

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Syncing Android phones with multiple Google gMail accounts

A rare post from me.  I don’t plan to post much for at least four months, but this one might help others.

I own a HTC Wildfire, an Android phone.  I added my Google account to it and it all synchronised well.  Although there is an option to add another account, after the entering the details it would say “Signing in”, and:

“Your phone is communicating with Google servers and setting up your account. This may take up to five minutes.” 

Well, it would rarely get to five minutes before reporting:

“Can’t establish a reliable data connection to the server. This could be a temporary problem or your SIM card may not be provisioned for data services. If it continues, call Customer Care.”

I finally found a solution:

Go to the phone’s YouTube app

If you have an account, sign in.  If not, create an account using your Google username and password.

That’s it!  The phone now has the new account.  You will probably want to go to settings, Syncing and Accounts, and set it to sync automatically.  You’ll then get your second or subsequent gMail accounts in the gMail app.

If you found this useful, please let me know with a comment.  I might start posting tech-related stuff again in 2011, but want to know if anyone is interested before I spend time on it.  Thanks.

Financial

Would you insure a cash printing machine?

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Would you insure a cash printing machine?

Quick post while waiting for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to call me back.

I’ve just opened a letter from First Direct Bank.  “If you had a cash machine that was guaranteed to print money over the next 25 years would you insure it?”  This is a sales pitch I first heard heard over 15 years ago, but it’s still in use today.

Their point is that you are that cash machine!  Every month you go to work and make money to support your family.  The point is that you should insure that money-making machine to make sure that if you die or fall ill, your family can get the money from the insurance policy instead.

I’m not a big fan of ‘clever’ sales pitches like that, they seem a bit immature.  I’m usually dealing with an existing client or one who has been recommended by an existing client so I have their attention already.  But it does make a good point.

In addition to my computer business, I have been a Financial Adviser since 1990. The rules about advertising financial services are very strict and, frankly, too much hassle to get to grips with. That’s why I don’t promote my financial services business here. If you do require financial advice though, please contact me.

Financial

Not dead, just busy.

by Colin Bowen2 Comments on Not dead, just busy.

Don’t expect any new posts until the end of August.

I’m working hard on my two businesses for a few months; my Financial Services clients need even more help in the current climate and my IT (PC) services clients need the best service I can offer.

It reminds me of when I started business in 1990, there was a recession but I worked hard and built a business I am proud of.  Although I have two stable businesses now, I figure that if I work hard now, my clients and I will benefit more in the future.

So, I’ve decided to focus my time on my businesses for a few months.  As usual, I’m busy with my family (visits and holidays) too.  I miss posting here but it does take more time than I currently want spend on it.  Sometimes you have to focus on the most important things in life.

All this could change though…  I’m considering entering a national karting championship.  Although it will take up time, that sort of activity puts me in effeciency overdrive, so might be a good use of my time.  If I enter, I might be making short, quick posts here, and might start tweeting @BowenRacing.  In any case, I’ll continue tweeting @ColinBowen.

F1 2009

Where to find Malaysia’s grid line-up and fuel loads

by Colin Bowen1 Comment on Where to find Malaysia’s grid line-up and fuel loads

No time to try to create a table to include here, so I’ll just post a link to the excellent F1 Fanatic site, showing grid positions, fuel loads, and estimated first (or only) stop.

Very nice site too.  I wish I had the time to make my site that good. 

I’m working on a way to get the race results and championship standings posted to this site within about 10 minutes of the end of the race.  It might not be pretty, but it might be fast.  I won’t be able to do that for tomorrow, I have some technical stuff to work on first.

I hoping that my site will be ‘F1 for busy people’ (written by a busy person); a place to go for all the key information like TV schedules and Championship standings.  Of course, any racing I do myself will also go here if I get round to writing it up.

Enjoy the race!

F1 2009

Championship Standings

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Championship Standings

Drivers’ Championship Standings

Position / Points / Driver / Team
Pos 1 – 10 points – Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes
Pos 2 – 8 points – Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes
Pos 3 – 6 points – Jarno Trulli Toyota
Pos 4 – 5 points – Timo Glock  Toyota 5
Pos 5 – 4 points – Fernando Alonso Renault
Pos 6 – 3 points – Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
Pos 7 – 2 points – Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Pos 8 – 1 points – Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Pos 9 – 0 points – Felipe Massa Ferrari
Pos 10 – 0 points – Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes
Pos 11 – 0 points – Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
Pos 12 – 0 points – Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota
Pos 13 – 0 points – Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
Pos 14 – 0 points – Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
Pos 15 – 0 points – Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
Pos 16 – 0 points – Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
Pos 17-  0 points – Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Pos 18 – 0 points – Nelson Piquet Jr Renault
Pos 19 – 0 points – Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
Pos 20 – 0 points – Robert Kubica BMW Sauber

Constructors’ Championship Standings

Pos 1 – 18 points – Brawn-Mercedes
Pos 2 – 11 points – Toyota
Pos 3 – 4 points – 3 Renault
Pos 4 – 3 points – 4 Williams-Toyota
Pos 5 – 3 points – 5 Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Pos 6 – 0 points – 6 Red Bull-Renault
Pos 7 – 0 points – 7 Ferrari
Pos 8 – 0 points – 8 BMW Sauber
Pos 9 – 0 points – 9 McLaren-Mercedes
Pos 10 – 0 points – 10 Force India-Mercedes

F1 2009

F1 Malaysia TV Schedule

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on F1 Malaysia TV Schedule

Sat 4th April

Practice 0655-0805 Red Button

Quali 0900-1130 BBC1

 

Sun 5th April

Race 0900-1200 BBC1

Interactive Forum 1200-1300 Red Button

Highlights 1900-2000 BBC3

F1 2009

Hamilton Disqualified. Should Trulli retain penalty? Rules need sorting out.

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Hamilton Disqualified. Should Trulli retain penalty? Rules need sorting out.

Okay, it took me so long to write that last post that the things had moved on before I posted it.  Read more at F1 Fanatic.  I agree with their comments about the Stewards/FIA procedures.

Maybe Trulli should still be penalised; he did pass a car under yellow flags.  I didn’t see the incident in TV, but if he could have stayed behind Hamilton without stopping, then he should have done so.

As I said, I’m an Hamilton fan, and more so a McLaren fan, but I don’t think a DQ is sufficient.  Misleading the Officials is a serious offense.  The penalty should be so harsh that teams don’t even consider it. 

Here starts my rant, move on if your not interested or too busy.

The FIA should have a scale for punishments, such as ‘Misleading Officials by Deceit: DQ for three races where the car finishes the race, commencing with the race where deceit occured.’  This would prevent the teams from starting a race knowing that they would be DQ’d, but not finishing it in order to save their engines.

Further, the rule would have to stipulate whether the penalty applies to both drivers.  In the case where only one driver is involved (Hamilton in this case), only that drive should be DQ’ed, and of course the team suffers from potential loss of points.  However, where a fuel irregularity is involved for example, the penalty must apply to both drivers individually.

These must be carefully thought out. In the above example, if the deceit occurs at the end of the season, a decision has to be made (when the rule is written) as to whether the punishment is retrospectively applied to the last three races of the season, or is carried over to the early races of the following season, with regard to potential team and driver changes.

Another punishment might be ‘Misleading Officials by Error: DQ from the affected race(s)’.  This would be used to put right breaches that took place in the past, but could not be identified at the time.  It’s hard to think of an example right now, but the purpose of this rule is to put right mistakes that had been made, but where a team could not have known at the time of the original decision by the Stewards.

There also needs to be a procedural change in regulations.  Take the diffuser row for example.  The cars were deemed legal to race, but under appeal they may be deemed illegal.  Either they’re legal under the current regulations, or not.  The Officials should have the facilities (and wit) to make a decision at the time.  If they can’t decide whether the cars meet the regulations, then the regulations aren’t specific enough, and the teams must not be punished for that.

There should be no ‘spirit of the rules’ rubbish.  The rules are the rules.  If the cars don’t actually breach the regulations as they’re written, then they’re legal.  If it is then decided that the regulations need to be tightened up, then do so after the fact, but allow the teams reasonable time to make adjustments.  There must be no retrospective penalties when the regulations that aren’t clearly defined.

The FIA must take the stance that the rules are a work in progress.  F1 is a complicated sport, and innovation should be encouraged within the regulations.  If it’s not specifically illegal according to the regulations, then it’s legal until the regulations specifically make it illegal.