This has nothing to do with Crystal Reports directly but I think it is important for my customers and other consultants to be aware of. Before you give your next fixed price quote to a large organization, ask them what paperwork and fees (if any) are involved in becoming a new vendor. Normally a w-9 tax form is all I am asked for. Some customers require an insurance certificate and a few have a special form to fill out.

But some companies are starting to have all of their vendors managed through a new and rapidly growing company called Vendormate. Continue Reading »
“Free” vendor management from Vendormate

Samuel Santos of USA Today pointed me to a service that sends you an Email whenever an update is posted to your favorite BLOG. The service, provided by r-mail.org, is free and works with any BLOG that supports RSS. Although the terms of service do leave an opening for sending you messages for “new services, and special offers”, Samuel hasn’t seen any significant SPAM originating from the service.

So if you would like to be notified whenever I post a new entry you can sign up at R-Mail.org

I do quite a bit of Crystal Reports consulting by phone. I find that making a remote connection to my customer’s PC is rarely needed, but is sometimes helpful. So I did some research on current options for desktop sharing.

My current favorite is Crossloop. It is a free program that any two people can download and install. Within a few minutes either user can take control of the other’s PC.

No registration is required, it has no adware/spyware, no time limits, it is secure and free. All session traffic is encrypted end-to-end. The person whose PC is being shared has to initiate the connection by giving the user a random 12 digit key generated by the program. When the remote user attempts to connect, the host must also allow the connection at that point. Once allowed, the remote user has shared control of the desktop host desktop.

Or, if you like Webex you might also look at the new AOL/Webex collaboration called AIM Pro. It includes free 2-person Webex sessions and several other nice features.

I just found this link in the past week and I wish I had found it long ago.

I have been impressed several times, just in the past month, by free software. I know that there is plenty of bad ‘free’ software that contains advertising, spyware or even worse junk. It takes time to sort the good from the bad. So when I found a site dedicated to evaluating and comparing these products, I couldn’t resist. Continue Reading »
Best FREE utilities recommended by Ian “Gizmo” Richards

Craig’s list is an example of how the Internet can change the way business is done. It is a totally free classified’s service that is set up by geographical region, so it works well for listings where geography is an important factor - like selling furniture, jobs or used cars. I knew about Craig’s List but hadn’t given it much thought until my daughter was born last Fall. She didn’t sleep well as an infant and I wanted to find an overnight nanny who could help my wife during one of my short business trips. Continue Reading »
Craigs List (free regional classifieds)

This isn’t strictly a Crystal topic, but something many of you may find useful. I have recently tried 2 services that allow me to receive faxes via Email. This is a big help when I am on the road. Continue Reading »
Receiving and sending faxes without a fax machine