24th October, 2007

Budgeting season is upon us.  You'd think there was a universal, off the shelf, one sze fits all budgeting tool wouldn't you? If anyone's actually created one I'd love to find it.  There are some brilliant ones out there and WinForecast - made for Sage products - used to do a great job. 

Part of the probllem, though, comes from the customers.  We have as our "customers" a number of people with limited time, and sometimes ability, to get to know a product so we have to furnish them with something familiar like an Excel spreadsheet.  Excel's a brilliant tool but creating a model that will last using VBA is a tall order.

Still the model is just about done now and seems to be a little more robust than its predecessor.  I have the headache to prove it of course and think that I am currently next in line for a lobotomy.  SQL has played its part in order to extract the historical data and malleable user-forms should make life fairly straightforward for when I move onto other pastures.

If anyone out there knows of a better way of doing it though I'm all ears as I'm all VBA'd out! Time to go and do something else like play with the website whilst keeping the merlot bottle close!!

16th October, 2007

Always one for a challenge I've been trying to get my head around Flash and Javascript recently.  Flash give awesome animations but I must admit to being more of a scriptwriter so JS has my attentions at the moment....and beside Antechnicus give you a month's free trial!

In the meantime I guess I'll have to go back to my old Coffee Cup html editor as it's easier to play with js and html than in Antenna.  Antenna makes life so much easier but, occassionaly, I want a little additional functinality that I find more difficult to do in Antenna.  I suspect, though, that this is more down to me than to the program!

In the meantime, on the weekend, I finished off a project I was working on for one of my local shopkeepers.  He was asking if there was anything that could invoice his customers at the touch of a button rather than spend a day invoicing his monthly paper deliveries.  Of course there is...Excel on a simple level or Access for more complex jobs.  Excel suited this one ok with a couple of discussions and a little VBA.  I'll trot it down to him on the weekend.

If I got paid for doing this stuff I'd be a rich man but, hey, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling so who cares!

11th October, 2007

I was walking home today, under the railway bridge on Caversham Road.  There were a couple of people walking towards me and we were about six feet apart when a cyclist, deciding that the he didn't want to slow down, threw caution, good manners and consideration to the wind and sped between me and the other people.  He missed us all by a few inches and that only because I had stopped.  He was peddling hard.

On I travelled, over a pedestrian crossing having waited for the little green man, only to have to stop for a cyclist who went over the crossing obviously oblivious to the fact that she was also supposed to stop along with the rest of the traffic.  I don't know if I imagined it in my surprise but I'm she she swore at me as she swerved past.

i don't think I'm one of a kind who just happens to be prone to attack from cycliists and I'm more than considerate when it comes to giving them room when the occasion arises.  I know it's not just cyclists...I've seen motorists as well speed over red-lights on the pedestrian crossings and was feet away from a lady who had to haul her son back from the path of a bus who had decided to do just that.

Someone's going to get hurt.  Or killed.

I was brought up, not so very long ago, by parents who drummed into me the need for good manners, respect and consideration.  Sure, things change, but this is downright hooliganism.

I'm arming myself with a camera and the directions to the local police station.  It's time that this was controlled before somebody gets hurt.  Time to get in touch with the council representatives.  Time to do something.

If anyone agrees (or not) then drop me a line thorugh the contact form.  I'm also thinking of setting up some forums to "name and shame".  Anyone interested?

9th October, 2007

Added a couple of recipes today.  One of them is from Nigella Lawson's TV show. Yum!...no, really, I'm talking about the food...honest!

I think we ran the last payment-run from the Reading office for my old friends at Remedi.  I shall miss working with them.  Ah well that's life I guess...things change.

4th October, 2007

It's been a strange old day.  No additional content on the site but the student-food is a little more sleek as it's now running in one i-frame rather than many (for all you html techies out there!).  Thanks to Stormdance at the ever-wonderful Antenna forums for this.

Why has it been a "strange old day"? Well a good month-end (normally an accountant's busiest period) was tinged with a little sadness on behalf of a friend.  So, if you ever read this, it won't help much but my thoughts are with you.

2nd October, 2007

I decided to put the blog page in so any visitors can see what the latest site news is.

I'm currently taking frequent peaks at SwishMax2, a wicked bit of kit that allows creation of flash animations.  We're hoping to use it as the basis for the Crystallis site at some point or perhaps to add a little more life and silliness to this little corner of the internet.

SwishMax2, unlike some other flash-creators, has some excellent online tutorials and help forums...besides Fox says he'll pay me to create his website if I learn flash.  I suspect that maybe after I've seen him through University though!!

Talking of Uni...on his Games Design course the students are encouraged to play as many games with as many console as they can lay their hands on.  The kid is, naturally, in his element.