Category Archives: General

QR Codes

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QR Codes are becoming very popular, appearing in many places. A quick scan with your smartphone and you can collect (or give away) a variety of information, a web address, a phone number or plain text among other things.

They are useful and many people are putting them on their business cards – I have put mine on my iPhone. I created a backgound image, which when scanned will load either our company website or my blog. A useful way to pass on these details to people I meet.

The image appears on the lock screen and I have created an apps page, with just three icons on it so the codes can be scanned from there as well.

…and QR Codes don’t need to be black and white!

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BBC News – Firms ‘ill prepared for IT failure’

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BBC News – Firms ‘ill prepared for IT failure’.

At Octagon Technology we have a wide range of practical experience in helping client’s be prepared for technology failiures.

As part of our best practice we document how we and the clients will respomd to an issue with their systems, practice these proceedures with them and regularly check the software and hardware we all depend on for this to work.

Firms that work with us have plans for the day their equipment does not work.

Internet Problems in Lincoln

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For two days we have been supporting clients who have lost their internet in and around Lincoln. It looks like BT is working on the infrastructure (I have seen BT Openreach vans in Bardney, Heighington, Washingborough and Braston with manhole covers up and cable trailers) and I think this is the problem.

It is a problem for the clients with I house exchange servers as the impact on the business due to the loss of email is higher than they expect. However it has given me an opportunity to talk about a “fall back” Internet connection based on 3G and a fixed IP solution.

So there is truth in the saying about clouds and silver linings.

The National Hamfest

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Octagon Technology is one of the sponsors of the UK’s premier amateur radio event, The National Hamfest. One of the company directors, Clive, callsign G1BSN, is a member of the Lincoln Shortwave Club (LSWC), and he is the Event Co-ordinator, charged by the club to make the event happen.

National Hamfest

Throughout the year he works closely with the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), Chris Danby Advertising, the Newark Showground, exhibitors, suppliers, the LSWC committee and members to bring all of them together for a two day event.

Octagon Technology supports the Hamfest with

  • IT support
  • Website and Internet services
  • Providing staff and infrastructure for the online sales of tickets, camping pitches and Flea Market stalls
  • Providing accounting staff, during core working hours, to follow up with Danby Advertising and the exhibitors to make sure everyone pays!
  • Providing accounting staff post event to complete the accounting cycle
  • Providing its office and answering service as a 9 to 5 contact point for exhibitors, suppliers and radio amateurs
  • Octagon Technology staff talk about the show at local business events and uses their business contacts to help where needed
  • Clive has an extra week’s leave so he can be at the Showground continuously from 9am Monday to 2pm the following Sunday – he also gets extra leave to attend meetings as required
  • And this year Diana (another director) stood in at short notice to help on one of the gates with ticketing!

This year’s show was a great success, being held over a weekend of record breaking sunshine, (Clive says he saw a spectacular sunrise every morning he was onsite), with over 2500 visitors attending over the two days.

  • Maastrant said it was their favourite show they attend.
  • Martin Lynch emailed to us “If every show was as well run and organised as Clive’s, I wouldn’t moan (as much….). Top job as usual.”
  • The RAIBC had a good show raising over £2000 to help with their projects.

Using Octagon Technology’s experience in mobile technologies during the show, Clive posted a series of photographs, day by day, to his blog here. He used his iPhone and the WordPress App to post as he went through the day, so there are many behind the scenes shots. He also created a page on the National Hamfest website using the WordPress app, Photos 2011, and posted another set of photos to that from his phone. After the event closed on Saturday, Clive then edited the home page at http://www.nationalhamfest.org.uk to the 2012 version – all from his iPhone.

iPhone Problems

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Like the rest of the world I have had to listen to how perfect iPhones (insert Mac, iPod, iPad etc as required) are. We have watched Steve Jobs preach and perform hardware miracles on the stage at the launch of the next product. There are Apple Stores, bright, shiny, modern, complete with “Geniuses”. We all want one.

Even me. Let me declare I love my iPhone, I would count myself as a geek and a power user when it comes to my iPhone, I use it all the time for business and pleasure. Whenever asked I will promote iPhones to my clients to help them with their businesses.

BUT… Apple is not perfect.

They have big problems – magnified all the larger when you rely on the gadget to run your business.

Last week the screen went black. Pushing the two buttons, available, had no visible effect. Remember the iPhone has no “on” LED (a design omission!) or reset button. So I am looking at the most expensive brick I have ever owned – with no way to access that days appointments or phone the office to ask for help – and my clients could not call me. Add another “gotcha” to all of that, because the iPhone does not use a standard size sim card I cannot even transfer it to another phone.

This issue apparently fixed itself!

A couple of weeks back – no audio on the phone – read more here.

This issue apparently fixed itself!

Today, as I went to leave the office, I checked my mail on the iPhone and found this.

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There was mail there when I checked it over breakfast. There was mail in the mailbox online. As ever the iPhone provides you with little feedback to diagnose the problem. I deleted the account on the phone and put it back – no difference. I ran out of time to do more so I left for my meeting, when I got the phone out at the meeting the mail was back!

So this issue apparently fixed itself as well!

For both of the first two issues I searched Apple.com for answers but I could not find any useful help or explanations. I have tried the almost standard Apple support answer – reset and restore the phone. It hasn’t helped.

The Apple Support Communities and Forums are useful but sometimes offer conflicting or worst, complicated sequences of things to do, “which worked for them”.

Everyone knocks Microsoft – however ask any support engineer how useful Microsoft’s TechNet is when sorting out a problem with MS products. At Octagon Technology we use it all the time.

I did not have the same issues with my old Windows phone. Yes it crashed and I used the reset button to fix it. The green LED told me it was on. But there is no going back the HTC Pro was good in its day but technology moves on.

Android? Nothing wrong with them but it does not run Memory Map.

I would not change my iPhone – even with the issues – and I will just have to worry that it will fail me when I am away on holiday or during an important project. Should I buy a second as a spare?

It is time for Apple reality.

(Written on my iPhone 4 using the WordPress App – told you I use it all the time.)