WorkOrder TS adds Maintenance Contract Support
Posted: 2008-05-10 02:37:49If you are a computer store owner or repair technician you need to checkout WorkOrder TS. WorkOrder TS is an Operating System independent workorder management system designed for computer stores and other service related companies. It only requires a multimedia capable web browser and offers you the ability to easily track your instore repair tickets or schedule your onsite service calls.
Version 0.5.0, which will be released in a few days adds the ability to track maintenance contracts/service contracts. You can create an inventory of all devices at the customer's location, then create sub-tickets each time you go out for service. The sub-tickets allow you to document your work step by step and keep track of your time spent on the job.
You can find the instruction manual for the maintenance contracts here (popup)
The times are over where you are trying to remember what you did 3 months or a year ago, just pullup the WorkOrder for the customer and you know exactly who did what and when.
Besides the new Maintenance Contract Support, WorkOrder TS has the following features:
- It is Multi Branch capable, need 1,2,3 ..... 1000 branches? No problem, you can run separate installations or interconnect them all to share a common database.
- Company Downloader, offer your technicians easy access to repair software but protect your software investment by preventing hotlinking and requiring a valid username and password to download shared files from your webserver.
- Control your technicians, once a ticket has been added it can be updated to fix mistakes for a specified amount of time. Afterwards tickets can only be changed by ticket admins. Trust is good, control is better....
- Connect your WorkOrder TS database to Open Office Writer or Microsoft Word and use the stored customer information to fill out addresses and names for your promotional letters or E-Mails.
- Allow customer's to check the status of their current ticket from the confort of their own home.
- Plus many many more features designed to make your life managing a computer store easier.....
Checkout WorkOrderTS.com take a look for yourself and bring order into the paper trail, ticket nightmare.....
It is the software you have been waiting for, there is nothing like it!
Cool new PunBB Anti SPAM bot modification
Posted: 2008-04-20 11:24:54I have written a new modification for PunBB to aid forum administrators in the fight against SPAM. The new mod makes it very tough to implement automatic signup processes so the spammer would have to manually create a user account before he/she can unleash their SPAM bot on your forum.
My new mod implements the following changes:
- register.php will no longer accept POST values directly, the input form where a new user enters his/her username and E-Mail address must be loaded first.
- register.php will ask a simple question which must be answered correctly. Unlike other solutions, my modifications will ask different questions which are randomly selected from a question/answer file.
- Firefox users don't have the problem with a disabled Submit button anymore when they go back to fix a mistake during the signup process.
Anti SPAM Bot modification for PunBB
Don't count on Yahoo to host your domain!
Posted: 2008-01-14 19:46:40I have been having some reliability problems with my current hosting company and decided to search for a bigger and better place with a more reliable service to host my main business domain. After some digging I found Yahoo's Small Business Webhosting, this solution looked very good for about 1 hour.....
I opened my account on a Sunday and had problems right away with Yahoo's version of phpAdmin not wanting to display anything in Firefox and Konqueror could not even log in. Why do they have to take this great tool and screw it up so badly? Anyway, I send an E-Mail to tech support right away but had to wait until Monday to get the responds that this is a know issue and that I should use "Internet Explorer" .... boy am I glad the technician read my entire support message since it stated that I was using Linux, they even have an OS selection box when submitting trouble tickets. If I can figure out how to give 7 days a week online support to my customers for my small company, how come Yahoo can't do this for their "Small Business Webhosting Clients". The first image shows the message I sent to tech support and the next image the reply I received from the tech "drone" on Monday (both Images where cut from the same message).
There is more, while I was waiting for the useless reply from Yahoo's Tech support, I found this BIG gotcha. Yahoo imposes a 200 outgoing E-Mail limit on the PHP mail() function. This means that if your website interacts with your customers via E-Mail, like so many websites do, you can only service 200 customers per day. The rest will either receive an error message or will be ignored ... who knows what will happen. Below is a screenshot of their "service description page", it does not mention the 200 E-Mail message limit or the fact that you need to use Internet Explorer to use their service anywhere! Something that significant should be in bold letters, who knows what other restrictions they impose .....
To top it all off, when I canceled my membership Yahoo immediately closed down my hosting account and domain name not refunding me any money (as stated in the TOS) .... but they completely ignored the fact that I paid for a month of service plus the account creation fee which they kept.
You have been warned, Yahoo's Webhosting service should be avoided at all cost.
Short run for Linux in the Indy 500 race
Posted: 2007-09-16 15:07:38After a short but proud display of the Linux advertisement, Indy car 77 hit the wall after about 30 laps.
The driver is OK, the car is out of the race...
Linux sponsored car in the 2007 Indianapolis 500
Posted: 2007-09-16 15:07:03Marketing Linux® has always been a tricky proposition. As a community, we have relied on corporations who have a stake in the Linux operating system to market Linux to the world at large. Today, we have an opportunity to change that, and make Linux marketing as much a community effort as Linux development. That effort begins with the Tux 500 project.
Our goal is simple: we want to collect community donations to enter a Linux sponsored car in the 2007 Indianapolis 500. We need your help! If less than 1% of the Linux community donates $1, this will happen... will you do your part?
Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity
Posted: 2007-04-17 12:37:14For the past three years a satellite has circled the Earth, collecting data to determine whether two predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity are correct. Today, at the American Physical Society (APS) meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., Professor Francis Everitt, a Stanford University physicist and principal investigator of the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) Relativity Mission, a collaboration of Stanford, NASA and Lockheed Martin, will provide the first public peek at data that will reveal whether Einstein’s theory has been confirmed by the most sophisticated orbiting laboratory ever created.
http://einstein.stanford.edu/
Novell Linux Advertising
Posted: 2007-03-24 14:01:19I found the videos below a few minutes ago and could not resist sharing them. Mhhh.... sexy Linux....
Novell Linux Marketing Video 1
Novell Linux Marketing Video 2
Novell Linux Marketing Video 3
All original videos are located at http://www.novell.com/video/
WorkOrder TS Free License Key
Posted: 2007-03-23 05:36:44Free License Keys for WorkOrder TS are available here:
WorkOrder TS Main Page
the Month of PHP Bugs
Posted: 2007-03-05 14:51:21the Month of PHP Bugs is underway, Network-Technologies.org will monitor all bugs closely to ensure high quality code for all PHP software offered by Network-Technologies.org.
From php-security.org:
This initiative is an effort to improve the security of PHP. However we will not concentrate on problems in the PHP language that might result in insecure PHP applications, but on security vulnerabilities in the PHP core. During March 2007 old and new security vulnerabilities in the Zend Engine, the PHP core and the PHP extensions will be disclosed on a day by day basis.... the Month of PHP Bugs
Build Your Own Robots and Sensors
Posted: 2007-01-13 00:16:38Here is a sneak preview of the new robotic projects corner. Here you will learn how to build and wire your own robot and sensors. Which parts to use and where to get them. The robot shown in the picture below will be a tournament legal mini-sumo robot. It is currently to specification except the length. The wooden sensor mount makes the robot longer then the maximum dimensions allowed for mini-sumo robots, 10cmx10cm.
Current Features:
1x 18F2620 Micro controller
2x Front IR Emitter, 1x Front IR Detector
2x Rear IR Emitter, 1x Rear IR Detector
6x Front Line IR Emitter, 6 Front Line IR Detector
2x PWM Motor Control connected to 1A H-Bridge
1x Serial Communication via RS232 Shifter @ 115Kbs
New PHP Guide: CAPTCHA User Validation
Posted: 2007-01-01 06:57:32Running a website is just like owning your own store on the street, actually it's worse sometimes. A website will attract all kinds of human scum attempting to use your website for their own illegal purposes. Most times these evil crackers will deploy bots, autonomous programs, to send out spam or find weaknesses in your website's design. At lot of harm is done when bots get into forums or contact forms.
A way had to be found to keep robots out and let humans in .....
User Validation With Image Verification Code
ION Fire Mode Changer Set Back
Posted: 2006-12-31 00:18:51After some unexplained difficulties testing the boards, I discovered that one of the traces was not routed, not connected. It will be another two weeks before I will receive the next and hopefully final prototype batch of PCBs. Expected release date for the final product January/February 2007. Estimated price $20 - $30 shipped.
Ion Fire Mode Changer PCBs have arrived!
Posted: 2006-11-30 21:04:41I'm proud to announce that my first professionally made printed circuit boards have arrived, it is my first time designing the board layout and working with SMD components.
The two boards on the left are my first attempt which I though would end up too large but it did not. The two boards on the right show the current working design 14mm x 11.5mm, codename: SuperSmall. I ordered the boards from BatchPCB.com, they are cheap, produce quality boards and don't want you to use software which will only work with their own service.
ION Fire Mode Switch / Changer Project Page
An Inconvenient Truth - NOW ON DVD
Posted: 2006-11-21 21:22:22Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.
If that sounds like a recipe for serious gloom and doom -- think again. From director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change. In this eye-opening and poignant portrait of Gore and his "traveling global warming show," Gore also proves himself to be one of the most misunderstood characters in modern American public life. Here he is seen as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.... ClimateCrisis.net
Ion Paintball Gun Fire Mode Changer
Posted: 2006-11-05 18:32:29I have developed a fire mode changer for the Ion paintball gun. The fire mode changer will allow you to change the fire mode setting of your Ion paintball marker without opening the grips first. Imagine playing a scenario game the real way. As far as I know this is the only fire mode changer available for the Ion stock board.
The only information available at this time are two Videos.
The first video demonstrates the Ion fire mode changer shooting paintballs at a target.
Ion FireMode Changer Google Video 1
The second video demonstrates the fire mode changes with the Ion grip open.
Ion FireMode Changer Google Video 2
P.S. Work order Processing updates will be available shortly.
Workorder Processing Software is ready!
Posted: 2006-10-09 21:36:07I'm proud to announce the first downloadable edition of my work order processing system. This release is completely free but requires you to request a unique license key. No personal information is required to receive your license key.
Use Contact, above, to submit bugs or comments. Thank you.
Download, extract and run setup.php
Workorder_0.1.3-First_Release.zip
Workorder_0.1.3-First_Release.tar.gz
First Installation Manual is ready for download!
Posted: 2006-10-04 03:58:17The Windows, Apache2, MySQL5, PHP5 (WAMP) installation guide is ready for download. This installation guide assumes that your target system is Windows XP/2000/2003. The installation manual begins at the download process and ends at a working Apache2, MySQL5, PHP5 installation on the Windows operating system. Estimated installation time ~15 minutes.
This is my first installation guide, please report any problems you have by clicking on Contact above.
Work_Order_Processing_Win_Server_Install_Guide_-_Apache-MySQL-PHP.pdf
Work Order Processing Online Demo Is Back Online!
Posted: 2006-09-12 03:21:26Workorder Processing Online Demo BETA1 is now online!
You can try it here Work Order Processing.
Main Program Features:
- Multi branch capable with central server
- Customer address database
- Customer work history
- Searchable ticket database
- Business appointment scheduler
Work Order Processing - Multi Login Final Tests
Posted: 2006-07-20 03:54:12The Multi login feature is in final testing. I'm currently creating a new dummy database. Once Computers Plus of SW Florida has been updated to the new version I will start sending out the first demo releases.
Yes, it really is almost ready!!!
Work order Processing Software in final testing!
Posted: 2006-03-06 00:32:10I would like to let everybody know that the work order processing software is packed and is only waiting for it's final approval. It will be tested this week and if no bugs are found it will be available for download next Monday.
Workorder / Ticket Tracking System is ready
Posted: 2006-01-15 21:29:35Network-Technologies is proud to announce the new work order tracking system. The system is 100% Web-based which makes it possible to have one central work order processing center that is connect to all branches via a network such as the Internet.
At the moment the work order system is tested by Computers Plus of SW Florida. Since day one it has been able to provide both branches a reliable work order tacking system. At the time of writing the work order program is based on a repair/service center such as a computer shop. A computer(item) is checked in, a tech takes the ticket and marks it "On Bench". After working on the Computer for a while he or she needs to talk to the customer. The tech calls but is only able to leave a message, the work order is now marked as "Awaiting Call". The amount of steps your business requires is irrelevant since the entire web interface is very dynamic and can be configured to work for almost any business in easy steps.
Currently these functions are supported:
- Add Customers with Billing and/or Shipping Address
- Computers checked in are assigned to a Customer
- Program creates a special Workorder form to be printed which has customer signature fields.
- The printed work order form has tickets printed at the bottom which can be cut and taped to items.
- Computer history by Customer
- Full Customer Database Search
- Get the status of any ticket with one mouse click.
- Steps can be assigned to tickets, Checked, On Bench, Awaiting Call
- Coming Soon: The Work order form will allow you to customize any word or phrase.
- Coming Soon: The Work order form will allow you to search all repair tickets for phrases, use it as a solution database
- Coming Soon: The Work order form will be able to print the Workorder/Ticket stickers on a label printer.
Please Visit The Project Page For Details
Don't forget to check out the Online Workorder Processing Demo!
eMail accounts for selected customers are availibe
Posted: 2005-12-31 06:00:12Please use the contact form for a price quote.
Availible domains:
@network-technologies.org
@yourcompany.network-technologies.org
Robot Receptionist Dishes Directions and Attitude
Posted: 2005-12-29 02:37:05techno-vampire writes "Carnegie Mellon University is experimenting with a robot receptionist with a personality. The article on NPR tells about the receptionist, named Tank. Tank lives in a computer, with a Frankenstein-like face showing on the monitor. He responds to typed-in questions, including personal ones, with a rather curious personality courtesy of the Drama Department. Among other things, he doesn't seem to like his boss, Dr. Reid Simmons, very much. If asked, Tank will tell you he's also worked at NASA, and failed as a satellite robot. A job at the CIA was also a bust. Dr. Simmons explains that they're trying to make it easier for people to interact with robots, and upgrades are planned."
http://www.npr.org
Workorder First Test
Posted: 2005-12-20 04:28:32The first live test for the Workorder system went without major problems.
There was an include problem when displaying the Customer's Print page but that was fixed in minutes.
Other then that, it worked!
New Workorder/Ticket system is in testing
Posted: 2005-12-19 13:58:49It has finally happened, the new workorder processing system is being tested at a Computer repair shop. The shop as two branches, each branch will connect to the same database.
Let's see how it goes.
Ticket tracking system coming along well
Posted: 2005-12-18 21:58:54The Ticket/Workorder tracking system is coming along well. The first test where delayed but should start next week. I believe that the first public release will be available within two or three months. More updates, including specs will be available under projects, soon.
New Motherboard, CPU and RAM inside the Server
Posted: 2005-12-18 20:15:43I have switched the motherboard, cpu and ram from my own computer with the hardware inside the server. Currently the server is running stable. The swap took about 20 minutes, try that on a Windows 2003 server and have the database, web, ftp, samba and terminal server up and running by only reconfiguring the network adapter. I love Linux.
Server Problems
Posted: 2005-12-18 03:10:55It appears as if the new server is not running as it should. It has completely locked up on more then five times. When the server crashes, I can only restart it by a reset - I don't even have a reset switch on my server. So far my 3x 250GB SATA Raid 5 array running reiserfs has dealt fine with the resets, but many more power offs can it take?
The server is currently running in runlevel 3 and stable. Once the ebay auctions I have listed are closed, I will swap the motherboard and see if that helps. More soon.
Workorder module almost ready for trial runs
Posted: 2005-12-11 05:08:54The Workorder module is almost ready for trial runs. I will create screen shots soon. I'm also planing to give the program away for free in full functional trial mode.
I will test the program by running it on an Apache Web server with MySQL database connected via DSL with static IP.
The trial setup will provide full Service Ticket tracking for two separate service locations. The locations are only joined via the Internet.
The server will be running SuSE 10 and most clients will run Windows. The browsers will vary from AOL, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox to Netscape ... sometimes even Safari.
In short, I believe it will be the perfect test environment.
More updates to come soon.
Network Technologies has been updated.
Posted: 2005-11-25 02:34:38Welcome Traveler,
Network Technologies.org has received a major code update. It's still work in progress, so some features might not work all the time. Should you notice an error or experience other problems with this website, please contact me so that I may fix the problem.
A few months ago, I started to wonder how hard it would be to build an autonomous robot.
As usual, I turned to the Internet and the knowledge spread out over a lot of websites. Little did I know how many hardware and software components are needed to make even a small robot work.
But in the end I succeeded. I build a few robots with Assembler and C software, using micro rc plane servos to drive my robots. Now that I have build 3 bots and have found a design that seems to work well, I would like to build and improve on it.
And to do that I'm currently rewriting an old school project called Virtual Brain Online to keep record of my progress.
Originally, Virtual Brain Personal was written in Visual Basic and was limited to a single Microsoft Access database.
But I always had the plans to someday make an online version of Virtual Brain Personal.
The development of Virtual Brain Online is going well, some computer related articles have been posted already and more will follow.
And as promised to my customers, I will soon post some general computer guides. These guides will cover basic Windows XP operation and data backup using our Computers Plus Of SW Florida Computer Systems.
Want to know when this website is ready, get my newsletter.
Virtual Brain Online v0.1 is now available
Posted: 2005-11-14 04:33:35Check out the new Virtual Brain Online v0.1.
Soon this Search engine will contain a large collection of data.
Until Virtual Brain Online is open to the public, please use the forum to communicate with the developer.
A preview is available under Projects.
Welcome seeker of knowledge
Posted: 2005-11-13 20:28:03Welcome to Network Technologies. You have found a place on the Internet which is devoted to the collection and distribution of knowledge.
Currently, this website is under development. Once completed you will have full access to Virtual Brain Online.
In the mean time, please check out the forum to post your own knowledge or access information posted by others.
Questions? Comments? Need a programmer?
Contact me.
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