We all know the importance of maintaining a positive cashflow from month to month if we want to avoid a liquidity crisis, and all the misery that entails.

However, there is a lot more to cashflow management than just avoiding a crisis. Actively striving to increase your cashflow can –

• Make it easier to plan and fund future growth and expansion
• Reduce the amount of fixed capital you need at any one time
• Give you the flexibility to move quickly and effectively in response to market changes

The key to successful cashflow management is to optimise the amount of cash available to you at any one time. This means increasing your cashflow as much as you can, without jeopardising other strategies. This means that you have to find a balance to suit you.

Credit

The first, and most important, step is to establish a system for tracking and controlling credit. The faster you receive a payment from your customers, the more cash you will have at your disposal; therefore, it is important to bill early, and chase up customers who have failed to pay.

However, it is also important that you don’t impose too strict a regime, otherwise you could drive away customers, and they won’t want to refer you! Therefore, you need to find the right balance to suit you and your situation.

Payments

You should always make the most of payment periods offered to you. These are in effect lines of interest-free credit. At the same time, you should also take advantage of any incentives your creditor offers you. For example, this could be a 2% discount if you pay early. If your cashflow will allow it, this is a useful option to have.

Prices

While it is important to keep your prices competitive, you also need to make sure you are increasing your prices to cover any increase in costs; or else your cashflow will suffer. Remember, most customers tend to expect an annual rise in prices, provided it is within an acceptable range.

Call the experts

This is an area in which we have a great wealth of experience. If you are struggling, or would just like a helping hand, please feel free to contact us to arrange a meeting, or visit our website, and discover how much we can help improve your cashflow.

It’s not what you know or who you know, but who knows you.

It’s much easier to do anything with people you already know than with people you have just met. The trick is to establish the relationship before you need it. This is the art of networking.

> The trade — A great networker wants to know what they can do for you, not what you can do for them. If you understand this, the rest is just logistics.

> Go out — Networking is a pre-digital era art. You can’t do it alone from your phone or through a computer. You may not frequently get into the mix but you still have to go out. And it’s unlikely that you’ll make it big just from Facebook or Twitter.

> Ask and listen — A good conversationalist does not mean you do most of the talking. You get the other person to talk. Start with, “What do you do?” “Where are you from?” “What brings you to this event?” and let them tell their story.

> Be passionate — Talking business is boring. Networking allows you to connect through your own passions. What you love makes you stand out since you’re the only person not talking about venue contracts and time-constrained liquor licenses. I personally love free running, adventurous traveling and cooking haute cuisine, if we ever meet.

> Learn about the basics — To access a wide variety of conversation topics. Even if you’re a pitiful, passionless person at least know a little about most things.

> Follow through — Thousands of people have my contact details. I thought I’d be overwhelmed if all those people called or emailed me. But it’s usually the same people who do. Frankly, why bother exchanging contact details if you don’t do anything about it? Follow through within twenty-four hours. A short email will do.

“Nice to meet you. I hope we can do something together. Hope business is doing well. I love your unique fashion sense, you’ve really got style. I have some new nights coming up this weekend if you’re interested.”

Include at least one detail to show the recipient isn’t getting a standard auto response.

> Make it easy to get in touch — With clear and concise business details. This is a given, which is consistently overlooked

> Return the favour – Return favours for people who have helped you. Club land pretty much runs on the stuff

> Ask for the return of favours — Isn’t it better to keep someone in your debt for when you need it? No, because it puts unnecessary pressure on your relationship. Feeling that you owe someone sucks. By asking for the return favour, you relieve the pressure and set it up for another round. After a few back and forths you’re practically friends by now

The following are a few questions sent into me by a new finisher  I am posting with his permission.

Hi Greg

I am new to this spraying game and wondered if you could let me know what flash off means, also I’m using Sayerlack Hydroplus: waterborne clear self-sealer and so far so good, the finish is great, though i am working in a cold barn with a home made spraying booth and even though I have extraction and filters I am finding particles on the finish. Also what is a good grit to sand in between lacquer coats?

There is the first period after you have sprayed something; its wet, and the solvents are evaporating, i.e. its drying. After that point the coating continues to dry but at a much slower rate. That first stage is the time the solvents are “flashing off”. After that point it might be dry to the touch but still soft. In essence the top layer of the coating has dried but the deeper layers are still drying. Most all coatings dry from the top down unless they are epoxies and urethanes that dry internally with a chemical reaction caused by mixing a part A and B.

Water base materials generally dry slower than solvent based materials but will dry even slower in cold or humid conditions. To speed things up you do two things; heat your materials and or heat your spray area. As you are using water base materials you don’t need to worry about having explosion proof heating (which is something you do have to have when spraying solvent based lacquers.) heat and low humidity with air flow will dry your work faster. That it is drying so slowly makes it more susceptible to dust landing in the still wet finish.

You can also heat your lacquer. For one, don’t store it on the cold concrete floor over night. Minimally keep it off the ground. Warm it up before using it by sticking your gallon pail in a tub of hot water. Or wrap a heating blanket around the can. There are more expensive fluid heaters that heat the liquids as they are going through the hoses to the Gun, Those things are for the pro shop that you aren’t going to need for a while (you can look up fluid heaters or pail heaters on sites like Grangers, Northern tools, and Mc Masters-Carr)

 Just getting your water based materials above room temperature is gong to make a significant difference in the flow out and drying time of you work. Cranking it up to about 98 degrees and you’ll see a finish like glass. When you start heating up the materials that much however you need to have the ambient air temperature and the work piece temperature relatively high other wise your hot materials are going to start pulling moisture out of the air and that will cause you finish to have a slightly milky appearance, which in essence is moisture trapped inside the coating.

Ok the next question: what grit sand paper should you use in-between coats, good question. I use 220 silicone carbide paper 220 is the grit you need much higher than that and you are wasting your time. the silicone carbide is a great paper as the tiny little particles that make up the sand in the sand paper break down evenly so you get and even scratch. There are other fancier papers, Abernete and garnet some people thing there the best others don’t. The other thing you can use is a scotch bright pad there are several different brands 3M makes a few and Mirca (another abrasives company makes a few)

Hope that helps, send me some picture of your operation in exchange for the free advice I would love to hear how it all turn out.

I’m going to post these conversations for others to view, if that’s ok with you.

Best of luck,

Greg Saunders

ANNEX PAINT

818-439-9297

Firefox only: If you’ve already started using the Firefox 3.6 Beta release, you’re going to need more than the old checkCompatibility trick to get your extensions working again.

To stop everyone from simply ignoring the compatibility checks and using problematic add-ons that haven’t been updated in a while, Mozilla removed the ability to turn off extension compatibility checking entirely and now are forcing users to add a separate about:config entry for the specific version they are using.

So instead of adding a new entry called extensions.checkCompatibility, you’ll need to add the Firefox version to the preference name, followed by "a" or "b" if you are using alpha or beta versions, respectively. For the current Firefox 3.6 Beta release, you will need to add a boolean key with the following name, and a value of false:

extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6b

If you aren’t already an about:config expert or just want some hand-holding, hit the link for the full walk-through to make your extensions compatible. Readers will probably note that you can also use the Nightly Tester Tools extension, but for those of us that would rather not install another bulky extension, this tweak works perfectly.

How To Force Extension Compatibility with Firefox 3.6+ [How-To Geek]

 

Make Your Extensions Work with Firefox 3.6 [Firefox]
The How-To Geek
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Firefox only: If you’ve already started using the Firefox 3.6 Beta release, you’re going to need more than the old checkCompatibility trick to get your extensions working again.

To stop everyone from simply ignoring the compatibility checks and using problematic add-ons that haven’t been updated in a while, Mozilla removed the ability to turn off extension compatibility checking entirely and now are forcing users to add a separate about:config entry for the specific version they are using.

So instead of adding a new entry called extensions.checkCompatibility, you’ll need to add the Firefox version to the preference name, followed by "a" or "b" if you are using alpha or beta versions, respectively. For the current Firefox 3.6 Beta release, you will need to add a boolean key with the following name, and a value of false:

extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6b

If you aren’t already an about:config expert or just want some hand-holding, hit the link for the full walk-through to make your extensions compatible. Readers will probably note that you can also use the Nightly Tester Tools extension, but for those of us that would rather not install another bulky extension, this tweak works perfectly.

How To Force Extension Compatibility with Firefox 3.6+ [How-To Geek]

 

Make Your Extensions Work with Firefox 3.6 [Firefox]
The How-To Geek
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

A few months ago Apple updated their movie trailers site. This update restricts the viewing of Apple Trailers on non-approved systems. Unfortunately, as Linux users, we fall into the category. Thankfully with the use of a FireFox plug-in known as "User Agent Switcher" and a little know how we can still enjoy these trailers and decide what movies we would like to see at the theater.

read more

 

Tech Tip: View Apple Movie Trailers with Firefox on Linux
Kristofer Occhipinti
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:46:40 GMT

A few months ago Apple updated their movie trailers site. This update restricts the viewing of Apple Trailers on non-approved systems. Unfortunately, as Linux users, we fall into the category. Thankfully with the use of a FireFox plug-in known as "User Agent Switcher" and a little know how we can still enjoy these trailers and decide what movies we would like to see at the theater.

read more

 

Tech Tip: View Apple Movie Trailers with Firefox on Linux
Kristofer Occhipinti
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:46:40 GMT

Warnings:

• This upgrade path is for the Main and Universal Edition only, from a Mint 7 Gloria system to a Mint 8 Helena system.
• There is no guarantee that it will work for you. In fact this is quite a risky process. If you’re experienced and if you know how to troubleshoot and solve common Linux problems (in particular X11, kernel modules and APT problems) then you’re probably OK. If you’re a novice user we recommend you perform a fresh installation of Linux Mint 8 instead.
• You should make backups of all your data before upgrading.

Upgrading vs a fresh install:

The recommended way to install Linux Mint 8 is to download and burn the liveCD. Another alternative is to upgrade your existing system as detailed in this blog post. Note that we do not recommend you to do this and we insist on the fact that you know the pros and cons associated with it and the risks involved in doing so.

Pros:

• With an upgrade, you keep the software you previously installed, you don’t need to reinstall it again as you would after a fresh installation of Linux Mint.
• With an upgrade, you keep your settings and your documents, you don’t need to restore them from a backup. Note that you can also do this with a fresh installation by using a dedicated home partition and that no matter which way you’re upgrading or performing a fresh installation, you should ALWAYS make a backup of your personal data.

Cons:

• Upgrading is slow, because you need to download the new versions of all the packages. In comparison, the liveCD contains about 2.5GB of compressed data in a single download of less than 700MB and the fresh installation takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Consequently, it’s much faster to perform a fresh installation of Linux Mint than upgrading your existing one.
• Depending on what’s installed in your system, package upgrades can trigger complicated conflicts. If you’re experienced with APT you’ll probably know how to solve the problem. If you’re not, you could end up half-way between Mint 7 and Mint 8, and if you’re unlucky even with an unusable system.
• There’s a code-freeze before Ubuntu gets released, and then testing goes on. The same happens with the Linux Mint release, and so what you end up running when you perform a fresh installation is a system that is known to us for its statibility and which has been thouroughly tested. An upgrade applies all available package updates no matter how unsafe they are, from level 1 to level 5, so if there are regressions in these updates you’ll get your system impacted by them.
• With every new kernel, there are differences related to hardware support. To know if your hardware is fully recognized by the new Linux Mint release you should try out the liveCD and check that things work before making the decision to install or to update your system. There are have been numerous people saying that their wireless cards, their sound device or some other part of their system was recognized with the prior version of Linux Mint or Ubuntu and didn’t work as expected anymore. For some people, the latest release isn’t necessarily the right one. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so if you’re going to download the liveCD to check your hardware support anyway, you may as well go for a fresh install and avoid downloading things twice.

Comparison with Ubuntu:

• Upgrading Ubuntu is not safer than upgrading Linux Mint. It’s equally risky.
• Ubuntu doesn’t mention the risks involved in package and release upgrades. Their policy is to fix whatever gets broken and to assume that the regressions caused on your system will get solved by future upgrades.
• Linux Mint insists on these risks and recommends a prudent approach to upgrades. Our policy is to avoid possible regressions by being selective on the updates we recommend to you.
• Upgrading Ubuntu is easy, and easier than upgrading Linux Mint. It shouldn’t be though, and if there’s any risk involved in you braking your system, then the least we can do is to write a long boring post about it, to make you think twice about doing it, and to throw warning signs at you before you click on the shiny button

Upgrading graphically (easier):

• Open a terminal and type the following commands: “apt update” and “apt install mint-upgrade-tool-main”
• Open mintMenu and run “Menu->Administration->Upgrade to Linux Mint 8″
• Follow the instructions.
• If asked, always choose “Replace”.
• If asked, always choose “I”.
• Ignore errors related to broken packages (in particular with mint-artwork packages)
• When finished, reboot the computer.
• Change your wallpaper to “Fresh” and your theme to “Shiki-Wise”
• Run the upgrade tool from the menu again, ignore errors related to broken packages and let the upgrade tool finish all the way to the end.

Upgrading from the command line (faster):

Open a terminal and type the following commands:

• gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list (Change all occurrences of “gloria” to “helena”, and all occurences of “jaunty” to “karmic”, remove the lines for the Community section of the Linux Mint repository, then save the file and close the editor)
• apt update
• apt install mint-info-main (choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)
• apt install mint-meta-main(choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)

In the terminal, repeat the following commands until both upgrade commands show no upgrades available:

• apt upgrade
• apt dist-upgrade
• apt install mint-meta-main

Give us your feedback:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Troubleshooting:

Firefox:

If after the upgrade your Firefox installation stills shows up as “Shiretoko” or if the search engines aren’t working, try the following commands:

• apt remove firefox-3.0 firefox-3.0-branding
• apt remove firefox-3.5
• apt clean
• apt install moonlight-plugin-mozilla
• apt install mint-meta-main

mintMenu:

If the menu is empty and you can’t see any applications, right click on the menu button in the panel and select “Reload plugins”.

How to upgrade Linux Mint 7 Gloria to Linux Mint 8 Helena (main and universal editions only)
Clem
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:07:04 GMT

Warnings:

• This upgrade path is for the Main and Universal Edition only, from a Mint 7 Gloria system to a Mint 8 Helena system.
• There is no guarantee that it will work for you. In fact this is quite a risky process. If you’re experienced and if you know how to troubleshoot and solve common Linux problems (in particular X11, kernel modules and APT problems) then you’re probably OK. If you’re a novice user we recommend you perform a fresh installation of Linux Mint 8 instead.
• You should make backups of all your data before upgrading.

Upgrading vs a fresh install:

The recommended way to install Linux Mint 8 is to download and burn the liveCD. Another alternative is to upgrade your existing system as detailed in this blog post. Note that we do not recommend you to do this and we insist on the fact that you know the pros and cons associated with it and the risks involved in doing so.

Pros:

• With an upgrade, you keep the software you previously installed, you don’t need to reinstall it again as you would after a fresh installation of Linux Mint.
• With an upgrade, you keep your settings and your documents, you don’t need to restore them from a backup. Note that you can also do this with a fresh installation by using a dedicated home partition and that no matter which way you’re upgrading or performing a fresh installation, you should ALWAYS make a backup of your personal data.

Cons:

• Upgrading is slow, because you need to download the new versions of all the packages. In comparison, the liveCD contains about 2.5GB of compressed data in a single download of less than 700MB and the fresh installation takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Consequently, it’s much faster to perform a fresh installation of Linux Mint than upgrading your existing one.
• Depending on what’s installed in your system, package upgrades can trigger complicated conflicts. If you’re experienced with APT you’ll probably know how to solve the problem. If you’re not, you could end up half-way between Mint 7 and Mint 8, and if you’re unlucky even with an unusable system.
• There’s a code-freeze before Ubuntu gets released, and then testing goes on. The same happens with the Linux Mint release, and so what you end up running when you perform a fresh installation is a system that is known to us for its statibility and which has been thouroughly tested. An upgrade applies all available package updates no matter how unsafe they are, from level 1 to level 5, so if there are regressions in these updates you’ll get your system impacted by them.
• With every new kernel, there are differences related to hardware support. To know if your hardware is fully recognized by the new Linux Mint release you should try out the liveCD and check that things work before making the decision to install or to update your system. There are have been numerous people saying that their wireless cards, their sound device or some other part of their system was recognized with the prior version of Linux Mint or Ubuntu and didn’t work as expected anymore. For some people, the latest release isn’t necessarily the right one. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so if you’re going to download the liveCD to check your hardware support anyway, you may as well go for a fresh install and avoid downloading things twice.

Comparison with Ubuntu:

• Upgrading Ubuntu is not safer than upgrading Linux Mint. It’s equally risky.
• Ubuntu doesn’t mention the risks involved in package and release upgrades. Their policy is to fix whatever gets broken and to assume that the regressions caused on your system will get solved by future upgrades.
• Linux Mint insists on these risks and recommends a prudent approach to upgrades. Our policy is to avoid possible regressions by being selective on the updates we recommend to you.
• Upgrading Ubuntu is easy, and easier than upgrading Linux Mint. It shouldn’t be though, and if there’s any risk involved in you braking your system, then the least we can do is to write a long boring post about it, to make you think twice about doing it, and to throw warning signs at you before you click on the shiny button

Upgrading graphically (easier):

• Open a terminal and type the following commands: “apt update” and “apt install mint-upgrade-tool-main”
• Open mintMenu and run “Menu->Administration->Upgrade to Linux Mint 8″
• Follow the instructions.
• If asked, always choose “Replace”.
• If asked, always choose “I”.
• Ignore errors related to broken packages (in particular with mint-artwork packages)
• When finished, reboot the computer.
• Change your wallpaper to “Fresh” and your theme to “Shiki-Wise”
• Run the upgrade tool from the menu again, ignore errors related to broken packages and let the upgrade tool finish all the way to the end.

Upgrading from the command line (faster):

Open a terminal and type the following commands:

• gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list (Change all occurrences of “gloria” to “helena”, and all occurences of “jaunty” to “karmic”, remove the lines for the Community section of the Linux Mint repository, then save the file and close the editor)
• apt update
• apt install mint-info-main (choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)
• apt install mint-meta-main(choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)

In the terminal, repeat the following commands until both upgrade commands show no upgrades available:

• apt upgrade
• apt dist-upgrade
• apt install mint-meta-main

Give us your feedback:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Troubleshooting:

Firefox:

If after the upgrade your Firefox installation stills shows up as “Shiretoko” or if the search engines aren’t working, try the following commands:

• apt remove firefox-3.0 firefox-3.0-branding
• apt remove firefox-3.5
• apt clean
• apt install moonlight-plugin-mozilla
• apt install mint-meta-main

mintMenu:

If the menu is empty and you can’t see any applications, right click on the menu button in the panel and select “Reload plugins”.

How to upgrade Linux Mint 7 Gloria to Linux Mint 8 Helena (main and universal editions only)
Clem
Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:07:04 GMT

Web browser aficionados welcomed last week’s release of Camino 2.0, a Mac-only browser based on the Firefox codebase. While missing the extensibility of Firefox, Camino is a much more Mac-like browser that some people prefer to Apple’s own Safari. Over the past few years, Camino had fallen far behind Safari and Firefox in terms of features; indeed, I switched back to Safari a couple years ago. However, version 2.0, which adds a new Tab Overview feature, along with more phishing and malware protection, improved tabbed browsing, Growl support, better ad blocking, and an updated rendering engine, has some Mac users giving Camino another shot.

App syncs cookies between Safari, Camino
(Dan Frakes)
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:39:00 GMT

Web browser aficionados welcomed last week’s release of Camino 2.0, a Mac-only browser based on the Firefox codebase. While missing the extensibility of Firefox, Camino is a much more Mac-like browser that some people prefer to Apple’s own Safari. Over the past few years, Camino had fallen far behind Safari and Firefox in terms of features; indeed, I switched back to Safari a couple years ago. However, version 2.0, which adds a new Tab Overview feature, along with more phishing and malware protection, improved tabbed browsing, Growl support, better ad blocking, and an updated rendering engine, has some Mac users giving Camino another shot.

App syncs cookies between Safari, Camino
(Dan Frakes)
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:39:00 GMT

Well with Turkey Day tomorrow, we all know the Christmas season is that much closer.  After you shop till you drop on Friday you will need to wrap all those presents.  Instead of going out and buying wrapping paper, think of things in  your household you can use.  1.  Cereal boxes 2. Newspaper 3. cloth/un-used fabric and I’m sure the list can go on and on.  Be creative this year and save.  If you are looking for more gift ideas go to www.oxygenics.com .  Use oxytricia and receive 15% off your purchase.

Volviendo a los sitios de MOSS, me ha tocado ver que a veces queremos personalizar nuestras vistas (de listas o librerías) pero no queremos construir una página muy fancy, ni agregar código para lograrlo. Por eso este tip, de agregar imágenes a las carpetas (folders) que nos ayudan a organizar el contenido en una librería resulta muy útil para que una simple vista de AllItems.aspx se vea como esto:

Lo primero es crear un tipo de carpeta especial, para poder agregarle una imágen o ícono, y descripción, ligas, etc. Para hacerlo necesitas:

1. Agregar un content type (para hacerlo ve a SiteActions, Site settings, Modify all site settings) de tipo Folder, que contenga un campo extra (o los que quieras agregarle)

2. En este caso, yo agregué dos columnas: Icon (hyperlink or picture) y Folder description (multiple lines of text)

Una vez que el content type está creado, puedes ir a tu librería, y editar la configuración, entrando a: Document Library Settings, Advanced Settings, y seleccionar “Yes” en la opción ‘Allow management of content types’. Aparecerá la sección de “Content Types“, y aqui puedes agregar el recién creado “Extended Folder“.

3. Ahora, al dar click en el botón “New” de la librería, aparecerá la opción de crear una carpeta extendida (Extended folder). Crea tus librerías, y asegúrate de llenar la información de ”Icon” (link a una imagen) y “Folder description” (descripción de la carpeta).

4. Una vez que tengas todas las carpetas, lo siguiente es hacer la “vista” que te permitirá acomodar la imágen y descripción de la carpeta. Para eso vamos a usar el “content query web part” (CQWP). Se puede crear una página diferente para tener esta vista, o puedes usar la misma (AllItems.aspx), solo hay que dar clic en Site Actions, Edit Page… y agregar el CQWP al placeholder principal.

5. Ve a tu librería de estilos de XSL para agregar una plantilla, la cual aplicaremos en el siguiente paso al CQWP que acabamos de agregar.

Nota: la edición de estilos con XSL es un tema completo, que dejaré para más adelante, pero por lo pronto les dejo una página muy buena para que se den una idea de como hacerlo, sólo que está en inglés.
6. Ahora puedes aplicar el estilo que creaste en tu CQWP, sólo usa el filtro para ver los elementos de tu lista (la que contiene los “Extended Folders”) y aplica tu estilo XSL, así:

Y listo, tu vista de carpetas tiene un estilo muy personalizado ahora

Espero que les haya servido… saludos!!!

Στην οθόνη Ενταλματοποίηση Τιμολογίων το κουμπί με το Τ πραγματοποιεί έλεγχο και διόρθωση των συνόλων των Μη Ενταλματοποιημένων Τιμολογίων. Τα σύνολα αυτά δεν μπορεί λογικά να είναι αρνητικά, εκτός αν κάποιες εγγραφές δεν έχουν ολοκληρωθεί σωστά.

Το ίδιο ισχύει για τα σύνολα των μη αριθμημένων ενταλμάτων. Στην οθόνη Εντάλματα δεξιά τα κουμπιά ΤΠ?, ΔΕ?, ΕΠ?  κάνουν έλεγχο και διόρθωση των συνόλων των μη αριθμημένων ενταλμάτων.
Έγινε βελτίωση στην διαγραφή σειρών από τα ΣΔ.

Having several of the same coupon can help you stock up on items at their lowest price.  We’ll come back to stockpiling in the future, but have you have wondered how to get multiple of the same coupons?  Here are my tips…

- Buy multiple newspapers each week. I always buy 2 copies of the paper to make great on the Publix BOGO deals.  In general, I find that 2 papers for 2 people is plenty.  Rule of thumb, one paper for each person you are buying for.

- Print 2 IPs… from each computer. Most printable coupons have a print limit of 2.  Once you print one (and the printer stops), hit the back button (and refresh if in IE).  It should print again.  Between Wade and I, we have two computers with the coupon printer loaded.  That means I can print four coupons total.

- Check for rogue coupons! Sometimes the print limits on coupons are set at higher than 2, either by manufacturer’s choice or a mistake.  These pop up every once in awhile and can be a great way to be lots of multiples.  Also, check multiple browsers.  Sometimes there are 2 coupons allowed per browser.

- Take one or two booklets each time you go. If I see a new Publix booklet or a tearpad, I’ll take one or two each time I go into the store and it’s still there.  (Anymore than one or two can be considered rude to other customers.  I personally hate cleared shelves and would hate to leave them for anyone else.)

Have other ideas?  Leave a comment with your tips or other things you’d like to know!

Simply Better Foods: SoyCheese - Garden Herbs

As promised, as I try different cheeses out I am posting my thoughts and this one particularly disturbed me. I recently purchased Simply Better Foods SoyCheese – Garden Herb. And as I mentioned previously I thought it contained Casein. Turns out I was right. I should be in better habit of reading ingredients when I purchase products, but I was in a bit of a rush as all of us tend to be sometimes and I picked it up thinking “Great! A flavoured soy cheese let’s try it!” Bad move.

For those of you who don’t know, Casein is a protein predominantly found in cows milk, and hence is also found in cheese (the non-vegan kind). As it exists in milk, it is a salt of calcium. Casein is not coagulated by heat., but is precipitated by acids and by rennet enzymes, a proteolytic enzyme typically obtained from the stomachs of calves.

Casein is therefore not vegan, as it is derived from milk, but is vegetarian. But forgive my stupidity, why create a soy cheese if it’s not vegan? Entirely pointless.

I did end up trying this out anyway though, seeing as I bought it, a taster.

The Verdict: UGHHHHHHHH. It was NOT what I expected and will NOT be on the shopping list EVER again. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll eat the rest of it. What a waste.

So the lesson learnt here – ALWAYS read the ingredients, never shop in a rush unless you know EXACTLY what you’re buying.

We hear these names all the time on the internet and in our email but what are they? What do they do? Let’s see if we can define these names and tell you a little more about each one.

Let’s start with malware. Malware is a general term referring to all of the nasties that can infect your computer, from viruses to spyware! The term malware is actually short for "malicious software" that’s not surprising, considering what it can do to your computer!

Next up is one of the most well-known types of malware: computer viruses! In case you didn’t know, the first computer virus was Bob Thomas’s “Creeper”, created way back in 1971 on the US Department of Defense’s ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet. Out of that was born the first piece of anti-virus software, the “Reaper”. So, what is a computer virus? Strictly speaking, a computer virus is just a self-replicating computer program. It doesn’t have to be destructive, although many are. In fact, early viruses were often harmless and simply displayed a funny message or poem. Usually, computer viruses find their way into your computer by piggybacking on a legitimate program, for example, one that you might download from the Internet. Anti-virus programs such as Norton or McAfee will pick up most viruses, but you should always be careful when downloading files from the Internet. Some might spell doom for your computer system!

Unlike viruses, spyware usually doesn’t self-replicate, but it can be equally or even more harmful to you and your computer. Although spyware might not disrupt your use of your computer, it might collect information about your usage which might be considered an invasion of privacy. One example of software which could be considered spyware is a key logging program. Key loggers record what you type and allow the installer of the program to effectively monitor your computer usage. Spyware can also have some financial implications: for example, if you access online banking with a spyware-infected computer you could have your details stolen!

Adware is a type of software that might not be considered to be malware, depending on your point of view. The difference between adware and other malware is that in many cases the user actually consents to having the adware installed on their computer. In most cases, adware is installed in conjunction with free software or as a seemingly useful browser add-on (like a toolbar). Once it’s found its way into your computer system, it hits you with a barrage of advertisements; from pop-ups to banner ads! Because adware is often installed with the user’s consent, it is often not classified as malware by antivirus programs and often a separate adware removal program will be needed.

Grayware is a very broad term for all of those computer nasties that are annoying but not necessarily totally destructive, including adware, joke programs and dialers. Unfortunately, your antivirus program might not remove grayware (in fact, one antivirus program maker was sued by a grayware creator for blocking the installation of their program!) so you’ll need to install other programs to get rid of it. You should make sure that you check reviews of your chosen product as some ‘grayware removers’ are viruses in themselves!

 

What’s the difference between spyware, viruses, malware, adware and grayware?
noreply@blogger.com (Michael McCarty)
Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:31:52 GMT

We hear these names all the time on the internet and in our email but what are they? What do they do? Let’s see if we can define these names and tell you a little more about each one.

Let’s start with malware. Malware is a general term referring to all of the nasties that can infect your computer, from viruses to spyware! The term malware is actually short for "malicious software" that’s not surprising, considering what it can do to your computer!

Next up is one of the most well-known types of malware: computer viruses! In case you didn’t know, the first computer virus was Bob Thomas’s “Creeper”, created way back in 1971 on the US Department of Defense’s ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet. Out of that was born the first piece of anti-virus software, the “Reaper”. So, what is a computer virus? Strictly speaking, a computer virus is just a self-replicating computer program. It doesn’t have to be destructive, although many are. In fact, early viruses were often harmless and simply displayed a funny message or poem. Usually, computer viruses find their way into your computer by piggybacking on a legitimate program, for example, one that you might download from the Internet. Anti-virus programs such as Norton or McAfee will pick up most viruses, but you should always be careful when downloading files from the Internet. Some might spell doom for your computer system!

Unlike viruses, spyware usually doesn’t self-replicate, but it can be equally or even more harmful to you and your computer. Although spyware might not disrupt your use of your computer, it might collect information about your usage which might be considered an invasion of privacy. One example of software which could be considered spyware is a key logging program. Key loggers record what you type and allow the installer of the program to effectively monitor your computer usage. Spyware can also have some financial implications: for example, if you access online banking with a spyware-infected computer you could have your details stolen!

Adware is a type of software that might not be considered to be malware, depending on your point of view. The difference between adware and other malware is that in many cases the user actually consents to having the adware installed on their computer. In most cases, adware is installed in conjunction with free software or as a seemingly useful browser add-on (like a toolbar). Once it’s found its way into your computer system, it hits you with a barrage of advertisements; from pop-ups to banner ads! Because adware is often installed with the user’s consent, it is often not classified as malware by antivirus programs and often a separate adware removal program will be needed.

Grayware is a very broad term for all of those computer nasties that are annoying but not necessarily totally destructive, including adware, joke programs and dialers. Unfortunately, your antivirus program might not remove grayware (in fact, one antivirus program maker was sued by a grayware creator for blocking the installation of their program!) so you’ll need to install other programs to get rid of it. You should make sure that you check reviews of your chosen product as some ‘grayware removers’ are viruses in themselves!

 

What’s the difference between spyware, viruses, malware, adware and grayware?
noreply@blogger.com (Michael McCarty)
Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:31:52 GMT

In SeroTalk Podcast 28, Mike Calvo joins Michael Lauf and Ricky Enger to discuss mobility choices, portable MP3 players and hands-free computing. Plus Ricky enger shows us how to remote control computers regardless of what screen reading technology they are using.

Listen to SeroTalk Podcast 28 – Accessing Computers Remotely, GPS and MP3 Choices, and hands-free Computing.

SeroTalk Podcast 28 – Accessing Computers Remotely and Mobility Choices
mlauf
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:57:01 GMT

In SeroTalk Podcast 28, Mike Calvo joins Michael Lauf and Ricky Enger to discuss mobility choices, portable MP3 players and hands-free computing. Plus Ricky enger shows us how to remote control computers regardless of what screen reading technology they are using.

Listen to SeroTalk Podcast 28 – Accessing Computers Remotely, GPS and MP3 Choices, and hands-free Computing.

SeroTalk Podcast 28 – Accessing Computers Remotely and Mobility Choices
mlauf
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:57:01 GMT

Over the past year I have seen and fixed a number of systems. I’ve also seen some pretty messy indsides of computers. Dust particles gather very easily inside the tower of your computer, and this dust when it accumulates enough, can be the death of your power supply and / or motherboard. Simply put, you will be looking for either parts or a new system.

Below I’ve taken a before and after shot of what less than half an hour of work can avoid:

If you are not comfortable doing this work yourself, call me and I will gldaly do it for you.