Adnan's Analysis

Last thing you want Stone Edge to do is take a 5 second break every time you decide to press a button. And, if your company gets 100 orders daily, at its best that is 500 seconds per click which is bit over 8 minutes. Imagine yourself having a smooth commute to work and suddenly a school bus stops in front of you and pops out a red stop sign flashing at your face. All you can do is stare right back at it and wish you could have taken another route. Annoying? Indeed! Lucky for you, there are few things you can do to make those “stop signs” appear less and less figuratively speaking.

Make use of OM Compiler Utility

This little application is very affective and really can help speed up Stone Edge. It recompiles the application as if you have freshly installed Stone Edge again. It is better to do this twice a month. It can be accessed from Start>All Programs>Stone Edge Technologies, Inc.>OM Compiler. After the application opens up, simply click “Compile” and your good to go.

Cut off the Ribbon

Many users have noted a speed boost by hiding the MS Access Ribbon (the toolbar on the top that no one really need to use, except probably me ). Simply click on the down arrow on top right next to the “Redo” arrow and check “Minimize the Ribbon.”

Compact the Data File

This is a major one and is preferably should be done every week or two. Stone Edge stores all of the information for a particle business in one data file. That same data file is usually being used by multiple users creating new rows, running new queries, etc. All this operation on one file can make the file bigger and slower. Compacting the data file help just do the opposite of that. Make sure close all the remaining Stone Edge copies or any other application using the same data file. Perform a back up by going to Maintenance Menu>Maintenance Tab>Backup Data File>Go. And now we can compact our data file by going to Maintenance Menu>Maintenance Tab>Compact Data File>Go. It will take about 5 minutes for the whole process to take place.

Stay Wired

Its like trying to swim in a pool of sand. It can be that painstakingly slow on WiFi. Due to the nature of Stone Edge being an Access query based application where the data is being constantly shooting to and from, its definitely better to stick to a wired network.

Use Raid 0

Upgrading a workstation to two hard drives and setting them up as in Mirror(Raid 0) mode would significantly boost the speed of Stone Edge as well as overall system performance. Make sure your workstation supports Raid 0, if not you can always spend little money to get a raid adapter.

“It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off.” – Woody Allen

If you have the right authority to access store setup wizard, this should be easy as following these steps:

1. Go to Maintenance Menu>List Maintenance>Sales People
2. Insert the information for the new sales person and click save
3. Click “Save”

or

1. Go to Maintenance Menu>Setup Functions>Store Setup Wizard>Users & Security
2. Click forward button on the bottom to move to page 2
3. Add Sales People
4. Insert the information for the new sales person and click save
5. Click “Save and Exit”

For those who want to make it mandatory to add sales person when creating a manual order, there is a way for Stone Edge to do that.

1. Go to Maintenance Menu>System Parameters
2. On “Search For:” type “ManualOrdersRequireSalesPerson”
3. Click on “True”
4. Click “Save”

For those who want to be able to edit sales person on any kind of orders, there is a way for Stone Edge to do that too.

1. Go to Maintenance Menu>System Parameters
2. On “Search For:” type any of these:
   • “AllowEditSalespersonForManualOrders”
   • “AllowEditSalespersonForPOSOrders”
   • “AllowEditSalespersonForWebOrders”
3. Click on “True”
4. Click “Save”

I love a good falafel, so I thought it would be fun to list the places worth eating from.

• Alfanoose
• Mamoun’s Falafel
• Maoz

On the side note, for those who want falafel on the fly and can’t afford to get messy, you must give Pret‘s falafel a try. It has it’s own distinct taste that would only make you appreciate its odd form.

There are steps that you can take that can reduce the risk of hard drive failure.

Preventative Maintenance Tips

• Avoid switching off your computer while an application is loading, closing, or when its running in behind the scenes.
• Windows people, please keep your hard drive defragmented. Run the disk defragment utility at least twice a month. 
• Avoid touching the hard drive, or any computer parts for that matter, without wearing the anti-static band.
• Buy a power surge to protect your computer from voltage spike.
• Avoid dropping your computer or placing it anywhere that is not stable. 
• Keep your computer running cool. Hard drive performs optimally when it runs cool.
• BACK UP!!! Hard drives have 3 to 5 years of warranty, not included are the possibility of surprise failures.

“maintenance out-shadowed safety by a large margin.” – Michael Coleman

One day you turn on your computer and find along with all its bells and whistles there is a new clicking sound that is more amusing than it should be. If you only knew its reason, you would be running to the nearest computer store or browsing the e-store for a new hard drive. It is a nightmare when it eventually leads to an unresponsive hard drive that either can’t seem to boot the operation system or the operating system keeps rebooting itself abnormally at some point of usage leaving you with a faulty hard drive along with your trapped data.

The later might be just a case of a broken head, there are other types failure that can occur such as spindle/motor failure or jarring of the magnetic platter. Luckily or unluckily, there are methods that you can take that can possibly help you retrieve your data once again.

Recovery Tips

• Use well-known services in the industry like Ontrack Data Recovery or CBL Data Recovery services.
• These companies provide remote help and mail in services.
• Make sure when you mail your hard drive, it is well packed and is in styrofoam peanuts so it doesn’t take any damage along the way.
• Prepare to shell out anything from $400-$2000 for data recovery depending upon how difficult it is to get it back.
• If you are a do-it-yourself junky, you can basically try to fix/replace the parts in a particle(dust, smoke, etc.) free environment. Detailed steps can be found on free-backup.info.

“Just think how happy you would be if you lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again.” – Frances Rodman

Where WiFi broadband fails, wireless broadband succeeds and thats where the concept of tethering spawned. Tethering is using a mobile device to gain access to internet for it to be used by another device, generally a laptop. One of the reasons that I like Blackberry is because of how good it performs as a modem. The speed gain you get from Blackberry is what makes it a great modem. The speed fluctuates ofcoures depending on the signal reception. However, when the signal is good, the speed that you achieve can be as close as the speed of low bandwidth DSL. On average, it doesn’t feel like your dragging your web pages. 

There are many commercial product out there for both PC and Mac, which let you use your phone as a modem, but why pay when you can do it yourself. You just need to configure your laptop to work with your Blackberry once. After that, you can connect your laptop to the internet through Blackberry just by turning Bluetooth on. Before I start going into setup, I should warn those who don’t have a unlimited data plan from their service provider. A few high quality websites can make you scream like a little girl when you look at your monthly phone bill. This article focuses on Blackberry Pearl, Curve, Bold, and Storm but is not limitted to others. For the full list of the phones that supports tethered modem you can check with the Blackberry’s website.

I will simply breakdown the process into steps so we wouldn’t fall behind or ahead of ourselves. Following information is required at some point so you can referred to it when notified to do so.

Internet Access Point Name(APN)

Here are the instructions:

For Mac OS X

1. Download the modem script for your specific Blackberry model.
   • Blackberry Curve (8300)
   • Blackberry Pearl (8100), 8700, and 8800
   • Blackberry Bold (9000) Blackberry Storm (maybe)
2. Add the file(s) to Macintosh HD > Library > Modem Scripts.
3. Turn on your Blackberry Bluetooth.
   • Option > Bluetooth > Enable Bluetooth
4. Turn on your Macbook’s Bluetooth and make sure that “Discoverable” is checked and complete the setup as follows:
   • Click on System Preferences > Bluetooth > Set Up New Device… > Continue > Mobile Phone > Blackberry XXXX > Continue > Continue.
   • A passkey will be displayed for you to input in your Blackberry, quickly punch in those numbers and press enter from your phone and then press yes.
   • Back to Macbook, click on Continue > Continue > Quit.
   • Make sure the Phone Vendor is either RIM, Blackberry, or Other, and Phone Model selected as your Blackberry model.
   • Start again from System Preference, click on Network and click “+“, a screen will open with drop down menu.
   • Choose Bluetooth and change the Service Name to “Blackberry” then click Create.
   • Choose your service provider from the APN list above and enter it.
   • On your Blackberry, Options > Advanced Options > TCP, insert again the same settings from previous step and then restart your phone.
   • On your Macbook, keep the “Show modem status on the menu bar” checked.
   • Look at the telephone icon along the right side of the menu bar on top and click on it.
   • Finally you will see Connect Blackberry, just click it away and you are all done!

For Windows XP/Vista

1. Download and Install the latest version of Blackberry Desktop Software.
2. Turn on your Blackberry’s Bluetooth.
3. Turn on your Windows’s Bluetooth.
4. Click on Control Panel > Bluetooth Devices > Add.
5. Check “My device is set up and ready to be found” and click Next.
6. Select “Let me choose my own passkey” then enter a passkey and then click Next.
7. On your Blackberry, enter the same passkey as you entered in Step 6.
8. On your Windows PC, click Finish.
9. On your Blackberry, when prompted, select “Don’t Ask Again” and click Yes.
10. If you are running Windows Vista, select Classic View.
11. Click on Control Panel > Phone and Modem Options > Modems tab.
12. Select “Standard Modem Over Bluetooth Link” and click Properties > Advanced.
13. In the “Extra initialization commands” field, type +CGDCONT=1,”IP”,”<your Internet APN Account Name>, click OK, and then click OK again.
14. Now we need to configure the Dial-Up Networking
15. Click Start > Settings > Network Connections.
16. Right-click Bluetooth DUN connection > Properties.
17. Select Networking tab, then select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)“.
18. Click Properties > Advanced.
19. Select “General” tab and uncheck “Use IP Header Compression” and click OK.
20. Go to Start > Settings > Network Connections.
21. Double-click “New Connection Wizard” and click Next.
22. Select “Connect to the Internet“, and click Next.
23. Select “Set up my connection manually“, click Next.
24. Select “Connect using a dial-up modem“, click Next.
25. Select “Modem – Standard Modem Over Bluetooth link“, and click Next.
26. If  the “Select a Device” screen appears, check the “Modem – Standard Modem” and click Next.
27. Clear the “ISP Name” field blank and click Next.
28. Choose your service provider for specific guidelines:
    • EDGE/GPRS(AT&T/T-Mobile)
      • Type “*99#” in the “Phone number” field and click Next.
    • CDMA/EVDO(Sprint/Verizon)
      • Type “#777” in the “Phone number” field and click Next.
29. Type the username and password from the Internet APN table above and click Next and then click Finish.
30. Click Start > Settings > Network Connections > <Name of the new connection>.
31. Type the username and password from the Internet APN table above and click Dial.
32. Oh by the way, don’t let the number of steps intimidate you, I could have just used the dot bullets to make it even worst, so don’t hate, appreciate!

~FIN~

“This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.” – Winston Churchill

People who are seriously into multimedia, messaging, or emailing always end up between two choices when it comes to smart phones; its either Apple’s iPhone or RIM’s Blackberry.

 

Blackberry Storm

 

I am not going to go over the Blackberry Storm in deep, cause honestly its not that great as it sounds. It has very frustrating way of using the touch screen with its SurePress technology which allows you to press the screen in hopes of giving you some kind of force-feed back. Not only does it slows your typing down, it increases your chances of drilling your thumbs into the screen making it a great stress reliever too. Another reason is its operating system doesn’t run as smooth as it should for a touch screen. The BbOS 4.7 that they use is basically a mere upgrade of its QWERTY version with some bells and whistles which occasionally would give you sluggish performance. The screen is not as vibrant as Bold and no where matches iPhone’s. Overall, a big price to pay for a few improvement.

Blackberry Curve 8900

All in all I am happy with my current Blackberry Curve 8320. As for the iPhone, it has done many things right. It has its own heavily modified OS even though its based on Mac OS X that runs smoothly with the touch screen and it hardly slows down. Multimedia, web browsing, messaging, and emailing are seamlessly integrated. Not to mention that it is part portable gaming device which takes advantage of accelerometer creating a way for fun to play games. Plus, iPhone has wider range of third party support for both paid and free applications that can be easily downloaded through iTunes, which is a bonus itself. iPhone is probably the sturdiest and sleekest looking phone i have seen. There are no flimsy, squeaky, or movable parts. Everything is so tightly sealed, making it a very responsive phone.

iPhone 3G

However, when it comes to typing, nothing beats the old school QWERTY keyboard. That is where the Blackberry shines and has made its reputation for having the most tactile friendly mobile keyboard in the world. I find the speed of typing on the Blackberry Curve somewhat resembling close to that of a exponential formula. When you start typing you are slow, but as you type more and more words, your speed starts increasing exponentially, given that you can only type so fast with those tiny keyboard. But my point being, it is very fun and hassle free way of communicating. This is where I prefer my Blackberry Curve over the iPhone. As for the popularity contest, according to the NDP Group, Blackberry Curve 8300 is the number one selling smartphone so far, followed by iPhone 3G, Blackberry Storm, Blackberry Pearl, and T-Mobile G1.

“The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” – Joesph Priestley

Just as bacon is the life of American breakfast (or lunch, or dinner), back in Southwest Asia there is something as popular as bacon, it is called “paratha”. It is the morning glory for many people and the evening glow of many more. Neither is it limited to any time nor has it any bounds for variation, since anyone can easily find fifty various tasting “parathas”, all being as good as biting your fingers off.

Some people would refer to it as simply as bread. Blasphemy! The time and effort it takes to make one paratha doesn’t compare to a baked bread. It is something more. The amount of ingredient that goes in it can just make a novice person faint. On top of that, there is a need for carefully coordinated hand movements that gives the paratha round shape that it deserves for being so tasty. The star of the ingredients is its filling in between the two layers that form one paratha, ranging from but not limited to potato, tomato, squash, cabbage, pumpkin, lentils, meat, and my favorite white radish. From the ancient times, people have created various fillings, each giving a unique and satisfying experience to remember until the next time.

Fortunately, I have reached perfect harmony for past 2 days. I have been eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s probably one of the few things that I can have as much as I want and still come back for more. However, it is very fatty. I am burning about 500+ calories every morning, creating about enough room for me to happily enjoy such aromatic food. 

Finding paratha to eat isn’t hard these days, assuming your not from either of the poles. Almost all Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi restaurants sell it with pride. If you don’t see any sign of pride in them, it means that they suck at making it, and so you should look somewhere else. Don’t risk a badly made paratha, because the consequences can be bloatingly painful, if you know what I mean. So its better to ask your closest “desi” fellow for recommendations. Good luck and happy grubbing!

“I eat merely to put food out of my mind.” -N. F. Simpson