November 2001
It's amazing,
isn't it? Disk storage costs next to nothing on PCs and we all use WINZIP all the time. Yet we put up with transferring uncompressed files one at a time between
our bigger machines. Not no more we don't - here comes PKZIP for the AS/400, Unix , Linux to name but a few. If you're not familiar with the idea of zipping
files, click on the PKZIP logo to find out more. We'll be telling you more in the months to come.
When they asked me to write this I handed Bev a bit of paper that said "More things than you can poke a stick at." When I got up, Steve suggested I might have a fiddle with Aperture version 7.0 and describe all the neat new bits I found in it. So here goes.
The main reason for the development of version 7.0 was to improve usability and deployability (yes, that was rejected by my spell checker).
The new Aperture 7 Client's improved data entry, make it easier for users to keep their Aperture information up to date. You can design intuitive data entry forms that reduce data entry errors by providing field choices from tables and field level validation.
Improved data integrity features will make your data more reliable by automatically attaching and deleting looked up data.
Enhanced product usability, fewer mouse clicks to perform common tasks and more standard interface features, will make Aperture easier to use and makes it easier to train new users.
For example, when you run a report and you see a value that needs to be changed, you can simply double click on the field in the report and Aperture will zoom to the object that has that data associated with it. You can then quickly correct the data value and you are done.
These are just some of the major improvements you will see in the Aperture 7 Client. There are a ton more that make Aperture even easier to use - I particularly like the separation of database and static text into two tools. If you want to change all of your database text to the same font, you can now do it with just a few mouse clicks.
On the administration side, the Aperture 7 Server will let you validate userids and passwords through your existing NT Domain validation. You can also configure what your users can do from the Aperture Server (through Project Administrator).
And we didn't stop there. SmartPictures 7 will deliver reports to web browsers and higher quality drawing printouts (via PDF) making it significantly easier to communicate Aperture information to anyone in your organization.
It has been very quiet on the PC front, so quiet it's unnerving. So I volunteered to change all that, faced with a web application that I just can't get to run fast enough: considering the extremely low price of RAM, I'm about to build a server and set it up to run a web server totally in RAM. Sad as it is to report, that is my idea of fun. [And I thought his idea of fun was telling me about it - Ed] While researching the entire process I discovered a soon to be released device which consists of up to 8Gb of RAM, mounted on a PCI card that slots into a PC and is used in place of a hard disk drive. Data transfer rates reach up to 132 MB per second (burst rate) and 80 MB to 100 MB per second (sustained rate), with its own power supply and battery backup - data is stored even when the PC is powered off, but who can wait? So a $35 piece of Ramdisk creating Software later (http://www.cenatek.com/product_ramdisk.cfm ), it's off to the local PC shop, cheque book in hand. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to tell you next issue,
I was going to whinge again about our offices being burgled again again this month. But I hate to be repetitive. Can't wait for the burglar hunting season to open.
This month, I am, as a public service, going to give you a chance to Get Rich Quick!!!
You have probably heard of the Get Rich Quick offers that come from Nigeria and wondered how you could get a slice of the action. These offers usually involve a letter, fax or email that says something along the lines of "I have embezzled a squillion bucks from the Nigerian Railways and now need a trustworthy partner to help me get the money out of the country." Sounds a good deal to me. In case you'd like to get in on the action, here's a small selection of opportunities (complete with original spelling). To read them, just click here
There - wasn't that interesting?
I believe that these, and all the others I get, are really sound investments, just as I believe in the tooth fairy, that the world is flat and that Windows 98 is more reliable than MVS. So don't let me stop you getting thrity million dollars from DR Egobia / Ali or Dr Akin Abiola or any of the other doctors in Nigeria. It seems from my email that Nigeria (and Sierra Loene, as Dr somebody else spells it) is populated entirely by doctors.
STOP PRESS - DR Egobia / Ali sent me another email to tell me they have decided they are called DR Ali.
You'll find us at info@mycroft.co.nz or in Auckland on 09 828
1900 (0800 MYCROFT) or in Melbourne on 03 9526 3657 (1800 649
754). We look forward to hearing from you!