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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Newsletter
I publish a monthly free newsletter on the management of anger, aggression, violence and stress - if you would like to receive it then visit http://www.protectics.co.uk/ma
Six month gap...
Well no blog entries for six months - got a lot of catching up to do...
I've been very busy with a lot of things. One of the main ones being training and developing a training system to train independent trainers in our Anger Management system. This is now 'live' and is attracting a great deal of interest.
Also been getting enquiries for trainer training from various countries including the USA and Australia. I'm happy to work abroad and there is also interest from some potential clients for us to run courses in the UK for their overseas staff.
What else... Busy trying to get a book on Anger Management finished - but it's taking longer than it should...
Martial Arts training - the first seven months of the year were quiet with my training dropping to - in some weeks - less than two sessions a week - happily I'm now back up to five sessions a week.
Weight-loss I've lost about a stone in weight (14 lbs 6Kg) during the year - which is good both from a health and martial arts point of view - I want to loose about another half stone...
I've been very busy with a lot of things. One of the main ones being training and developing a training system to train independent trainers in our Anger Management system. This is now 'live' and is attracting a great deal of interest.
Also been getting enquiries for trainer training from various countries including the USA and Australia. I'm happy to work abroad and there is also interest from some potential clients for us to run courses in the UK for their overseas staff.
What else... Busy trying to get a book on Anger Management finished - but it's taking longer than it should...
Martial Arts training - the first seven months of the year were quiet with my training dropping to - in some weeks - less than two sessions a week - happily I'm now back up to five sessions a week.
Weight-loss I've lost about a stone in weight (14 lbs 6Kg) during the year - which is good both from a health and martial arts point of view - I want to loose about another half stone...
GOT BACK
Finally figured out how to get back into this blog - I thought that I'd lost the username - but I remembered it - YIPPEE...
So now I can continue blogging...
So now I can continue blogging...
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Had a nice weekend
Tuesday morning...
A nice Bank Holiday weekend spoiled only by the fact that I had to do a little work...
A small update to my Protectics Website at http:www.protectics.co.uk
The main task was setting up a webcam and working out how I'm going to be ble to add streaming video to my websites (and maybe to my monthly newsletter). It's not too difficult but will require some reorganisation of my office so that the lighting is balanced and the background is suitable.
I've also started preparing for a major training course that we are running for four days at the end of June, teaching people to be Anger Management Coaches. Details: http://www.protectics.co.uk/content/pages/angersignup.php
So all in all lots of fun...
A nice Bank Holiday weekend spoiled only by the fact that I had to do a little work...
A small update to my Protectics Website at http:www.protectics.co.uk
The main task was setting up a webcam and working out how I'm going to be ble to add streaming video to my websites (and maybe to my monthly newsletter). It's not too difficult but will require some reorganisation of my office so that the lighting is balanced and the background is suitable.
I've also started preparing for a major training course that we are running for four days at the end of June, teaching people to be Anger Management Coaches. Details: http://www.protectics.co.uk/content/pages/angersignup.php
So all in all lots of fun...
Sunday, May 08, 2005
QTVH.COM
Well I've had a busy few days turning an idea into reality...
I needed a short domain name. When people signed up for my monthly newsletter of hints and tips on the management of Anger, Aggression, Violence and Stress at www.protectics.co.uk they had to fight the confirmation email that they received. It's a double opt-in system that asked them to click on a very-long-url that often got cut in half by email programs and thus might not work...
I registered a short domain name so the confirmation email address could be short too - and it is - it's now just 30 characters long which is a lot better than the 74 characters that it used to be.
Anyway, I started thinking - what other things could I do with QTVH.COM - and one idea that I had was to allow people to use qtvh.com for their own email.
You can register your own name - so someone called 'Fred' can be 'fred@qtvh.com' - I am charging a simple one-off fee of US $20 to cover set-up and admin and it's working fine.
The fun part about the project was automating as much of the process as possible - I have to manually set up the actual email account but the availability checking and payment is automated for the service user and the welcome email (that has to hold custom information for each user) has been automated as well.
I used to do a lot of computer programming and one of my aims this year is to bring my programming skills back up to speed. I am involved in a number of projects and so far things are going well. It amazes me how powerful a website can become with just a little bit of back-end computer programming.
I needed a short domain name. When people signed up for my monthly newsletter of hints and tips on the management of Anger, Aggression, Violence and Stress at www.protectics.co.uk they had to fight the confirmation email that they received. It's a double opt-in system that asked them to click on a very-long-url that often got cut in half by email programs and thus might not work...
I registered a short domain name so the confirmation email address could be short too - and it is - it's now just 30 characters long which is a lot better than the 74 characters that it used to be.
Anyway, I started thinking - what other things could I do with QTVH.COM - and one idea that I had was to allow people to use qtvh.com for their own email.
You can register your own name - so someone called 'Fred' can be 'fred@qtvh.com' - I am charging a simple one-off fee of US $20 to cover set-up and admin and it's working fine.
The fun part about the project was automating as much of the process as possible - I have to manually set up the actual email account but the availability checking and payment is automated for the service user and the welcome email (that has to hold custom information for each user) has been automated as well.
I used to do a lot of computer programming and one of my aims this year is to bring my programming skills back up to speed. I am involved in a number of projects and so far things are going well. It amazes me how powerful a website can become with just a little bit of back-end computer programming.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
P-K-J update
Managed to spend a little bit of time updating my martial arts website at www.p-k-j.org there is still a lot more work to do on the site but I'll leave that for another day...
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
A good friend
A good friend, David, at The Nettle told me about Feedburner and so I signed up for it - it adds 'stuff' to your Blog...
One of the things it provides is a button leading to your Blog that you can put on a webpage - so I put it on the 'About Protectics' page - it's cute!!!!
One of the things it provides is a button leading to your Blog that you can put on a webpage - so I put it on the 'About Protectics' page - it's cute!!!!
Monday, April 25, 2005
The quest for efficiency
Well the weekend is over and it's back to work...
First on my to-do list is a massive restructuring of the way we store information on our computer network to make it more centralised and efficient.
Then I've got to look at redesigning the site index that I have on the Protectics website, I've decided that it is one of the most ugly webpages I've ever produced. To see what I mean, have a look at http://www.protectics.co.uk/sitemap.html - The only problem is that I know that whilst this is important it's not critical - so if more urgent matters crop up there is a chance that it will slip down my to-do list.
However there are plans afoot to tidy up the to-do list. I'm upgrading from ACT! v6 to v7 and I should get delivery within a day or two. I'm gradually implementing a plan I decided upon a week or so ago to put EVERYTHING into ACT! - so the theory is - no more papers on my desk awaiting further information or action - they will be indexed and filed and then totally managed by ACT!
In case you wonder why I'd want to do all this, it's because I think that it will make me a % point or two more efficient - that translates to about three to five days a year FREE from admin and available for work or play...
First on my to-do list is a massive restructuring of the way we store information on our computer network to make it more centralised and efficient.
Then I've got to look at redesigning the site index that I have on the Protectics website, I've decided that it is one of the most ugly webpages I've ever produced. To see what I mean, have a look at http://www.protectics.co.uk/sitemap.html - The only problem is that I know that whilst this is important it's not critical - so if more urgent matters crop up there is a chance that it will slip down my to-do list.
However there are plans afoot to tidy up the to-do list. I'm upgrading from ACT! v6 to v7 and I should get delivery within a day or two. I'm gradually implementing a plan I decided upon a week or so ago to put EVERYTHING into ACT! - so the theory is - no more papers on my desk awaiting further information or action - they will be indexed and filed and then totally managed by ACT!
In case you wonder why I'd want to do all this, it's because I think that it will make me a % point or two more efficient - that translates to about three to five days a year FREE from admin and available for work or play...
Saturday, April 16, 2005
My monthly newsletter
Since May of 2001, I spend a couple of days every month writing a newsletter with hints and tips on the management of Anger, Aggression, Violence and Stress. It goes out via email and is published on my website.
It's hard work but very rewarding. However I am thinking of changing the format to make it a smaller newsletter which is published more often...
I find it really interesting that in running a sucessful business there is a constant striving to improve what you do. It's no good being excellent, that's yesterday's blog entry :) you have to be better...
Oh, by the way if you are interested here's where you signup if you want the newsletter.
It's hard work but very rewarding. However I am thinking of changing the format to make it a smaller newsletter which is published more often...
I find it really interesting that in running a sucessful business there is a constant striving to improve what you do. It's no good being excellent, that's yesterday's blog entry :) you have to be better...
Oh, by the way if you are interested here's where you signup if you want the newsletter.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Tidying my desk
So the weekend is fast approaching and I have decided that during the weekend I will tidy my desk.
It's a strange thing...
I have this resolve to deal with things as they arise so as to keep my desk neat and tidy. However many of the letters and brochures that clutter my desk at the moment fall into the category of interesting but complicated...
I hope that you know what I mean, things that you want to deal with but they require research or deliberation - so they get put on the desk, then it becomes a pile of things on the desk and then it becomes a nightmare... I get to the stage where I figure that if I leave it alone it will pass it's 'sell by' date and then I can just throw everything away...
Of course the downside is that you miss good opportunities.
So, I'm going to try something new...
I am a great devotee of a software PIM called ACT! which I've used for many many years (indeed before Windows back in the days of DOS) and from now on every piece of pending mail is going to get filed into an ACT! record called 'To Action' so that I can put in a dated reminder (to myself) to look at the particular item and action it...
Will it work? We will see...
It's a strange thing...
I have this resolve to deal with things as they arise so as to keep my desk neat and tidy. However many of the letters and brochures that clutter my desk at the moment fall into the category of interesting but complicated...
I hope that you know what I mean, things that you want to deal with but they require research or deliberation - so they get put on the desk, then it becomes a pile of things on the desk and then it becomes a nightmare... I get to the stage where I figure that if I leave it alone it will pass it's 'sell by' date and then I can just throw everything away...
Of course the downside is that you miss good opportunities.
So, I'm going to try something new...
I am a great devotee of a software PIM called ACT! which I've used for many many years (indeed before Windows back in the days of DOS) and from now on every piece of pending mail is going to get filed into an ACT! record called 'To Action' so that I can put in a dated reminder (to myself) to look at the particular item and action it...
Will it work? We will see...
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Lots of work
Been busy with lots of things the last day or so...
Updates to the way I market and promote my websites and a rewrite of my website at www.linkcloaker-express.com
I've also been looking at some software that lets me turn PowerPoint presentations into interactive flash animations - but it's not quite what I'm looking for
Anyway I'm looking forward to a hard physical workout tonight - I teach Karate Jutsu on a Thursday night and it's a wonderful reliever for business pressures.
Updates to the way I market and promote my websites and a rewrite of my website at www.linkcloaker-express.com
I've also been looking at some software that lets me turn PowerPoint presentations into interactive flash animations - but it's not quite what I'm looking for
Anyway I'm looking forward to a hard physical workout tonight - I teach Karate Jutsu on a Thursday night and it's a wonderful reliever for business pressures.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
GONG and FOOD
My wife and I spent the evening at a meeting of Gary Outrageous's GONG and heard a great presentation by Guy Levine on how to make money on the Internet via the niche products and Google Adwords route... Guy is very clever and talks a lot of sense.
On the way back we had an EXCELLENT Indian meal in Northampton at Indian Paradise - check it out if you get the chance.
We had
Poodina Gosht - Minted lamb cooked with honey, lemon juice and selected spices .
and
Samber - An old favourite from Southern India, Chicken cooked with a lentil base. Using an arrangement of spices that are blended together with crushed pineapple and lemon, to give a sharp and distinctive flavour of Madras strength.
YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!!
On the way back we had an EXCELLENT Indian meal in Northampton at Indian Paradise - check it out if you get the chance.
We had
Poodina Gosht - Minted lamb cooked with honey, lemon juice and selected spices .
and
Samber - An old favourite from Southern India, Chicken cooked with a lentil base. Using an arrangement of spices that are blended together with crushed pineapple and lemon, to give a sharp and distinctive flavour of Madras strength.
YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Recent projects...
I'm quite proud of a recent project - a software program called Linkcloaker-Express which I wrote in the .php language. It allows people who use links (especially affiliate links) to cloak links to stop people stealing from them or more simply to allow them to use shorter links. It also features some nice reporting options so that the user can see which links are getting clicked on.
I originally wrote it for my own use but then realised that it was useful enough to sell. So I set up a website at www.linkcloaker-express.com and it's started to gain a following...
One thing that I have done - which I wish more software authors would do - is to guarantee lifetime updates for free. If after you buy and register the program I make any changes (which I am doing) then registered users get the update for free.
I get really irked when you have to pay for a program over and over and over again...
I originally wrote it for my own use but then realised that it was useful enough to sell. So I set up a website at www.linkcloaker-express.com and it's started to gain a following...
One thing that I have done - which I wish more software authors would do - is to guarantee lifetime updates for free. If after you buy and register the program I make any changes (which I am doing) then registered users get the update for free.
I get really irked when you have to pay for a program over and over and over again...
Business as usual
After spending the last few days trying to fix a problem that had stopped Word and Publisher working on various PCs on my network I finally fixed things by deleting ALL my printer drivers and then reinstalling them. YIPPEE Word and Publisher back to normal and not a minute too soon as I needed to print out some leaflets promoting my business Protectics Limited for a meeting tonight.
The error looked like a virus or worm as it spread to multiple computers - it must be a function of Windows XP networking that each machine on the network checks all resources and if a printer driver is corrupt - then you have TROUBLE!!!!
The error looked like a virus or worm as it spread to multiple computers - it must be a function of Windows XP networking that each machine on the network checks all resources and if a printer driver is corrupt - then you have TROUBLE!!!!
1st post
Well here I am...
Small problem - don't know quite how I got here or what my user name or password are - but no doubt I'll find a way to retrieve them...
Small problem - don't know quite how I got here or what my user name or password are - but no doubt I'll find a way to retrieve them...
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