Keith Shirley

I’ve been using a piece of software called ABTutor recently and I’ve found it very useful. From a teachers perspective it allows me to monitor the work that the students are doing without breaking their concentration. Standing behind someone while they are trying to work can make people feel nervous.

The software has numerous useful features:

• You can broadcast your screen to all the students PC’s. This often works better than a projector for working in fine detail or with engineering drawings
• As mentioned you can monitor the students PCs – either one at a time or in a grid
• You can send a file to all the PC’s (e.g. A worksheet to be followed) or even launch a web page for them (removing problems with typos)
• You can temporarily block the Internet (is that cheers I hear from teachers?) or even block the whole PC if needed.

More details on the software are available from http://www.abtutor.com 

I’ve shown it to a number of teachers at this stage – and so far we have not had to open the user manual once. I always find that a very positive sign in software that can do so much.

An important point for schools – the price is also good. A new version is about to be released which costs 135 Euro if you buy 10 or more licenses. The magic is that you only need the license for the controlling PC (i.e The Teacher). The client licenses forthe students are free.

For the network administrator – If the PC supports it you can use the software to startup the PC, login, run updates and then shut it down afterwards. From my own tests it has quartered the time needed for standard updates that need to be done directly on PCs.

I don’t agree with the title of Techcentral’s recent article which gave the impression that you should not buy extended warranties. Here’s my advice and comments on extended warranties and service contracts:

• If it’s mission critical then you need to have it running. You can’t afford the downtime while you try to find someone to fix it. Review the downtime costs versus the warranty and repair costs.
• The manufacturer should be able to give you MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) values. MTBF gives you an idea of how long the system is likely to run before things start to break and need replacing. MTTR gives you an idea of how long it will be out of action.
• The MTBF and MTTR values are handy but ask candid questions about the kinds of things that can break and how long the individual jobs need to repair.
• A single component might be able to be replaced on site but there mat be a shipping time. Should you keep spares on site?
• The whole equipment may need to be sent back to the supplier. How long would that take?
• What happens during non business hours or the holidays?
• Does any regular maintenance work need to be done?
• Does the equipment need to be taken off line to do maintenance?
• Does the MTBF number assume all maintenance is done?
• Does a specialist need to do the maintenance?
• How long before someone is physically there to fix the equipment? Some contracts give a 1 hour response time but that only means an engineer has been assigned.

THE MTBF is based on best case conditions. I suggest having an informal chat with your supplier to ask how the real world scenario is and what you can do to ensure the equipment is working at its best.
Remember: If the equipment is old – no one might know how to maintain it – even if you have a contract. Check yearly with the supplier how the supply of spare parts is, the engineers technical knowledge. Trust me – They’ll tell you if it’s time to buy new equipment.

With all this doom and gloom going around I’d like to say – I’m very happy. It has been a very busy year for me and of lot of long term planning is finally starting to come together.

Sure I have less money than a few years ago – but at the moment I don’t really care. I’ve learned to appreciate what I have, the friends and family that I have and the opportunities that are offered to me. And no – I’m not dying or high on drugs.

So thanks to the Universe/God/Everyone Else and I’m looking forward to next year.

After my uncharacteristically negative comments about Webfusion – I wanted to highlight a shining example of good service that I’ve received.

A customer of mine has been using HelpDeskPilot for quite some time now. The are very happy with it and really missed it when their web server had problems. I was asked to help them restore the backup onto a new server.

The restore procedure and general setup of HelpDeskPilot is actually exceptionally easy. I had some issues with the hosting providers system and I can only say positive things about how helpful and patient the support at Helpdesk have been. They kept in regular contact and I knew they were working to fix it.

When I have problems – that’s what I want – to be able to trust that my supplier is really doing their best to get the problems solved and know that they will keep me updated.

Epson Inkjet printers sometimes just piss me off. It’s a pity – as the print quality is generally excellent.

Why do I get annoyed? If you don’t use the printer regularly then the jets get blocked. You then have to spend a half eternity running the cleaning routine to try and get it working again. If you are lucky it will work the next time you need it.

This happens across multiple models and on multiple sites – it’s nothing to do with general handling or environmental conditions. With ink costs potentially being higher than the initial cost of the printer I want to cry when I realise how much money is being wasted.

So what should you look for when buying a new printer?

Firstly you need to decide if you need an inkjet or laser printer.

The biggest advantage that inkjets have is that they are cheap to buy. They also print very good quality graphics (especially photos). They are, however, expensive to run if you are printing a lot (i.e. using lots of ink). Another disadvantage is that the ink can run if it gets wet – not ideal for address labels or engineering documents that will be needed outdoors.

Laser printers work with special powders (called toner) to put the colour on the page. They create excellent quality black and white documents as well as coloured text and logos. They are not suitable if high quality photos are required and the initial purchase cost can be high. Laser printers are faster than inkjets but the running cost for laser printers is less than inkjets if you do a lot of printing. The initial purchase price is dropping – colour laser printers are now available for under €300 but A3 colour lasers still cost well over €1000.

Top tips for choosing a printer

• Review how many black and white or colour printouts you are likely to be making. If you don’t need colour then go for a laser printer. If you do need colour – review if a colour laser is within the budget.
  
• Check out the cost of replacement ink/cartridges before buying the printer. If the cartridge fits multiple printer models then it should be available for longer and get cheaper.

• Check if cheap refills are available. They will void your warranty but the price difference can be large enough that you don’t care. Be aware however that these can fade much faster than the brand name inks. If you get a printer with the printhead attached you can buy original parts regularly to keep them in good shape (e.g. Buy an original then refill it a few times then buy another original).

• If quality photos are important – you will need to buy original photo paper and ink – It does make a difference.

• Get a printer with the colours in separate cartridges – that way if you print a lot of one colour you don’t need to dump the rest.

• If you need colour A3 size printing – buy an inkjet. The colour A3 laser printers are a crazy price.

• If you are buying a laser – check how long it takes before you can print the first page. You don’t want to wait ages for the printer to warm up first.

• Consider buying a multifunction device – these have fax, printer, copier and scanner all in one device.

• Try out Fineprint – It’s a great tool for saving ink and paper

• Check if your supplier can also service the printer. Some will provide a temporary replacement while your printer is being fixed.

You can now register to attend the Irish Blog Awards. The event takes place in Feb 2009 and will be a great way of meeting other blog users and writers. Don’t worry – you don’t need to be a geek to attend – there will be plenty of normal people there as well.

I’ll be there – I’m just not sure when I’ll travel yet.

P.S. Sorry if this post appears twice. I had already posted it but it seems to have disappeared. I hope it’s not too late for you to register if you are interested.

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Some time back: A dedicated server I maintain at Webfusion had problems rebooting. No big issue I thought – Webfusion have 24 hour support. What I didn’t realise is that it’s a very limited support.

When I called I was informed that while I could request a reboot – there was nothing else that could be done with the machine until the next work day. I guess they have a trained monkey that presses the reset button and that’s all. The annoying thing was – this had happened once before during the day. It was back so quickly that I’m sure only a key needed to be pressed.

3 Dec 2008: I receive notification that the servers are being moved to a new data centre. I have just one week to make sure my customer can live without their website as they are switching off the server for up to 9 hours. The mail does say that it will only be off for some of the time – maybe it won’t be so bad. Christ! What would have happened if I had been on holidays?

Tuesday 9 Dec 2008: I remembered the problems that I previously had and made a point of calling them to say there might be an issue when the system is restarted and they just need to do whatever they did the last 2 times. I was told – don’t worry, as soon as the technicians see that it does not respond to pings they will fix it. Looking back now I should have forced them to create a ticket or called again shortly before they turn it off.

Wednesday 10 Dec 2008: The server goes down as expected. I stay at my desk to wait for it to come back online so that the Asian users of the site will have access as soon as possible.

Thursday 11 Dec 2008:

3am: I start to get worried that something is wrong and decide to get some sleep in case I need to be alert the next day.

5am: Wake up and check the status. Still down. The firewall (a separate Cisco device) is online so I know they have done the move.

6am: Wake up and check the status. Still down

7am: The server is officially due back online but there is no sign of life.  I call them and am informed that they will work on it. I ask – what do you mean “will”. I had been told that this would happen automatically. No – a ticket has to be created. I’m still calm. I’m a saint.

8am: No news. I call. I ask explicitly – is there a bigger issue or a backlog that will cause a delay. No – They’re working on it and it will be back soon. I inform my customer that the server will be back soon – they inform their customers.

8:30am -> All day: Repeated calls by me. Repeated answers of “we are working on it”. I’m promised on 3 separate calls that they will email me an update – they are never sent. I’m completely blocked in my attempts to get any sort of info. I’m told there is no way to get the issue prioritised. I remind them that based on previous issues it should be something small. I ask again – is someone really working on it. I feel like an idiot having to keep asking.

Luckily I had the online backup (Note: I own Shercom) with all the config and files. After discussion with the customer we decided to setup an emergency site so their customers are not blocked. The basic site is up and running quickly but there are 8 gigabytes of additional files (about 3 million of them) to be restored. This takes a while.

Evening Time: Finally – after over 10 hours of asking I get a call from the Webfusion Sales Team (not support). They can’t get the system started and they will have to give me a replacement system and attach the old disk so the “files can be transferred”. Being a salesman he words it like I should consider myself lucky since the new system is faster and has more memory etc. He does apologise – for which I’m grateful. He also says I’m going to get the months fees credited. I’m also grateful for that. He then says they had 20 systems that would not restart. Now I’m pissed. I stay polite but give him a bit of a bollocking – they should have told me at the beginning that there were bigger issues. I was explicitly told at the beginning of the day that the move went well.

Like an idiot I believe him when he confirms that they will copy the files to a backup folder. At least that way I can configure the new server in the morning. I was wrong again.

Friday 12 Dec 2008: I get a call in the morning to tell me that they need my credit card details before they can start to setup the machine. Grrr. On top of that it will now be my job to copy the files across.I’m told I will receive an automated mail but I’m not to use it until the sales guy contacts me. I make a point of saying that it’s not to be a new contract but rather an extension of the old one.

Saturday 13 Dec 2008: Still no news on the availability of the new server. The killer is – I really wonder did they try and fix the old server? I could easily imagine that when it didn’t start it was just written off.

An email arrives later in the day. My initial hope is wasted: It’s an invoice for money that I was promised I would not have been charged AND it says the contract is for 12 months. I feel my saint status slipping away.

At least there is some light at the end of the tunnel – the emergency server is working well.

Monday 15 Dec 2008: I got a call at the end of the day to say that the caddy for the old hard disk is in use with another customer. On the bright side – at least I got the call. I was also told the invoice will be credited back – the one I received is part of the automated system. That I can understand.

Tuesday 16 Dec 2008: At 11:55 I received an email to say the server was connected. Now, after over 5 days of downtime, I can start to copy files and configure the server. At this stage it’s probably too late – I and my customer have lost confidence in the service and the emergency server will most likely become permanent.

Conclusions

• The value of good customer service can’t be overestimated. I’m not asking for a dedicated engineer here – but I should be kept up to date as to the status.
• System’s crash – you must have backups of the files AND the configuration settings
• If you rely on your website – you need to have a disaster plan in place.
• If you really really rely on your servers then you may need co-location services. This is what Shercom does for the Online Backups. If any of our systems goes down we can get our hands on it and swap out hardware. We’re not waiting for others.

Sometime in the near future I’ll put together a post reviewing the hosting companies I know personally and preparing tips on how to select the right one for you.

Geansai Gorm – The Background

In connection with the Geansai Gorm competition I ran a Google Adwords campaign. It fit very nicely with a Google Adwords training I was providing and I thought it would be fun.

The competition finishes on Monday 1 Dec at 15:00 so I thought I’d prepare some details of the results I achieved and add my personal conclusions.

Keep in mind that I have not actually maintained the ads so please don’t take anything here as a “best practice” example. Maybe a “wasted opportunity” example. I guess that’s the first lesson:

Lesson #1: Make sure before starting a Search Engine Optimisation and/or Adwords campaign that you are going to have the time to maintain it.

The Geansai Gorm Ads

I created the initial ad as a joke and then decided it might actually produce some interesting results. It was along the lines of:

I nearly got sidetracked into creating ads to see how much bad language I could sneak into Adwords but that’s a project for another day.

Lesson #2: Even if Google policies say no – you should experiment. You might get away with it.

What surprised me was how quickly people started clicking on the ads. I guess there was a general curiosity to really see what gobshite was spending money on ads that linked to Geansai Gorm and had no incoming revenue associated with them.

Lesson #3: Keep your ads interesting and catch people’s attention.

I must admit I was a little concerned with getting lambasted by Damien Mulley for messing around with his competition and was relieved when he left a comment on the blog. I might still get a telling off when he sees that I used his name as one of the keyword phrases. It’s a big no no to use someone else’s name/trademark in that way. I’ll buy him a pint the next time we meet and beg for forgiveness – hopefully you’re open to bribes Damien.

Lesson #4: Don’t break trademark rules – you’ll seldom get away with buying a beer and saying sorry.

After the bad language ads I had something a little different:

This actually did pretty OK for something I put about 10 seconds work into – I was getting a click through rate of 1.56% (i.e that percentage of people actually clicked on the ads). At that stage I added some extra variations and decided to stop messing with the ad and see how it ran over time:

That’s when the campaign started to fall apart. The number of impressions (how often the ad was displayed) was increasing quite rapidly but the click through rate was dropping. If I was doing this for a real product then I’d need to start tweaking my ads.

Lesson #5: Keep tweaking your ads and try out different variations.

So why were the ads “failing”? Maybe people misunderstood my sense of humour and thought they would be linked to an inappropriate site. I suspect that the number of people searching for Geansai Gorm was actually quite low and the ad had been seen by most who were interested. The large number of impressions was most likely people refreshing the pages to see if their position on Google had changed. It’s quite possible I’d reached some form of saturation and without doing something to reanimate the “target market” my ads would continue to fail.

Lesson #6: Never loose focus of who the ads are trying to attract.

I didn’t change the ads afterwards which means my totals were not as good as they would have been for a properly maintained campaign. If nothing else this experiment made it clear to me how important it is to maintain the ads and make sure they stay focused.

The Geansai Gorm Ad Results

The ads were started on 6 Nov (a little over a week after the competition started) – what are the results?

Upto Saturday:

- 9895 Impressions on the search network
- 112 Clicks

- 54341 Impressions on the content network
- 20 clicks

At the end of the competition today (Monday):

- 11,233 Impressions on the search network
- 126 Clicks

- 63,209 Impressions on the content network
- 24 clicks

I used just 4 keyword phrases – picked because they were the first things to spring to mind

- Geansai Gorm (118 clicks – up 14 since Saturday)
- Ireland SEO (3 clicks)
- mulley.net (3 clicks)
- Damien Mulley (2 clicks)

Conclusion

Not exactly what I would call a stellar success rate. A total of 150 clicks with a CTR of 0.20 percent. I’m glad I was not actually selling anything. Of course – how do you measure success? If I just wanted to get my name displayed then I can say it was a success if someone remembers the ads when I meet them at some business event. In that case the total cost of €28.36 €33.52 is a bargain.

I just hope they don’t remember my name and the word gobshite at the same time.

As for the competition – as far as I know the rules exclude me using this blog so I can’t enter. Having said that – this blog did appear at slot 77 at the closing bell. You can’t be lazy when it comes to SEO – it won’t get you anywhere.