http://www.dailyfix.co.uk en-us N/A info@dailyfix.co.uk Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:53:51 UTC 20 http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/46/Problems-sending-emails---Anyone-else.html
Two were using Outlook on Windows based PCs and one was using Entourage on a Mac.

To further complicate things, one client was in Spain.

So it was difficult to immediately identify any commonalities. This made sorting out the problems a little more tricky.

To cut a long (2 hour) story short, it would appear that the standard port used to communicate with an SMTP server (usually port 25) seems to be having an off day!

iMail on the Apple Mac has a list of three Ports is uses. I guess this means that if one port isn't listening then it tries the next in the list??
But the poor clients using Outlook on Windows computers don't appear to have the luxury of trying multiple ports. So when port 25 seemed to have given up the ghost when these clients were trying to send emails, the sending process just failed.

The clients were trying to send out emails, but Outlook was reporting that the SMTP server was not responding (this wasn't exactly true as I managed to PING the servers and get a response).

To resolve the problem I have manually overridden the default port 25 and used port 587 instead.

Why on earth I've had to do this I don't know.

Anyone else have any bright ideas?
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/46/Problems-sending-emails---Anyone-else.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/45/Three-Online-Billing-and-iPad-Printing.html
Yes it's only version 1 and yes version 2 will surely attend to a few of the shorcomings, but as that's not likely to happen until 2011 the 2010 iPad is fine for now.

However, connecting the iPad to the Three mobile network (in the UK) was a painful affair taking almost three days of calls to Three's call centre somewhere in India. But that's another story!

The reason for this blog entry is to talk about one of the short-comings of the iPad... printing.

As an iPad user, access to monthly bills is through the My3 service. Using this you can view bills online. Great for saving paper but not so great when you have an accountants on your back wanting paper bills for your accounts.

The bills displayed through My3 are PDF, but as it's not possible to print these from the iPad (or email them to a computer and print them from there) I tried registering for the My3 service on an Apple laptop.

To register for My3 you enter the mobile number associated with the iPad's SIM card and the last 6 digits of the SIM card number. This is straightforward, but then a message appears to say that a password will be sent to the mobile phone. This isn't a mobile phone, it's an iPad! So no password is received closing another possible avenue to printing bills.

To cut an already long story short, I have spent 45 minutes talking to various departments at the aforementioned Three call centre in India. They confirmed that I cannot register to access the My3 service on my laptop (well, that's not entirely true, but the work around involves buying an adapter to put the iPad micro-SIM into an iPhone and registering from there - not exactly acceptable!)

So Three have now agreed to send out paper copies of monthly bills at no cost (I believe they usually charge for paper bills).

Surely I cannot be the only iPad owner who needs printed copies of bills for accounting purposes. If Apple and Three are going after the corporate market with the iPad hardware and mobile broadband service respectively, then Apple need to address the issue of printing from the iPad and Three need to allow users to register for access to My3 from a laptop connected to a printer.

Another frustrating experience made just a small amount less frustrating when I remond myself what a great product the iPad is and what a generous mobile broadband package Three offers compared with the competition (10Gb per month for £15)
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/45/Three-Online-Billing-and-iPad-Printing.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/44/Share-Tips.html
If so, are you one of the people who picks shares by putting a pin in the share pages of the Financial Times, or do you like to improve your chances of making money investing in shares by researching companies before making your investment?

ShareTips365 is a share tips website which brings together share tips from newspapers (including Questor share tips in the Telegraph), financial magazines (Investors Chronicle and Shares Magazine) and Broker share tips.

If you are looking for daily share tips then the likes of The Telegraph and The Independent newspapers have regular share tips in their business pages.

Weekly share tips are published in Shares magazine (published on Thursday) and Investors Chronicle (published on Friday).

Brokers also release share tips daily and these can be found on various share tips websites and financial news sites.

But obtaining share tips from the daily newspapers, weekly financial magazines and the Brokers can be a time consuming task. So instead of trawling all the different sources of share tips, try ShareTips365, the one place to find all the share tips.

Link: Share Tips
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/44/Share-Tips.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/43/Le-Soula.html
Le Soula is a joint enterprise between the famed Languedoc-Roussillon winemaker Gérard Gauby and Richards Walford Wine Importers.

The focus at all times is on using natural methods and minimal intervention so as to allow the grapes fully to express the extraordinary terroir. Only natural yeasts are used. No chaptalisation, acidification, use of enzymes or fining are undertaken.

While wine has only been made at Le Soula since 2001, tasting of these very first vintages indicates that the wines have a long ageing potential.

Link: Le Soula

Retail stockists for Le Soula wines include:

• Majestic Wine, www.majestic.co.uk
• Berry Bros & Rudd, London, www.bbr.com
• Justerini & Brooks, London, www.justerinis.com
• The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com
• A&B Vintners, Kent, www.abvintners.co.uk
• Raeburn Fine Wines, Edinburgh, www.raeburnfinewines.com
• Adnams, www. adnams.co.uk
• Bon Coeur Fine Wines, Yorkshire, www. bcfw.co.uk
• Bowland Forest Vintners, Lancashire, 01200 448222
• Domaine Direct, London, www.domainedirect.co.uk
• John Gordons, Cheltenham, www.wineandwhisky.netdirector.co.uk
• Highbury Vintners, London, www.highburyvintners.co.uk
• Oeno, Stroud and Cirencester, www.oeno.co.uk
• Red & White, Devon, www.red-white.co.uk
• Robersons, London, www.robersonwinemerchant.co.uk
• Robert Rolls & Co, London, 0203 215 0011
• Uncorked, London, www.uncorked.co.uk
• Upton-Upon-Severn Wines Ltd, Worcester, www.uptonwines.co.uk

]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/43/Le-Soula.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/42/VAT-to-rise-to-20.html Chancellor George Osborne has announced today that the rate of VAT (Value Added Tax) that we pay in the UK will rise to 20% (from 17.5%) on 4th January 2011. This is just one of the measures outlined in the "emergency budget", Osborne's first as Chancellor. It was widely predicted that the VAT rise would be announced as one of the ways the new coalition Government would attempt to reduce the huge budget deficit inherited from the outgoing Labour Government. So from 4th January 2011 most things we purchase as consumers will be more expensive (assuming retailers pass on the VAT increase and don't absorb it themselves). So those of you planning any significant purchases such as a new car, expensive LCD or large building project may want to bring forward this purchase so that you are paying VAT at 17.5% rather than 20% And don't forget, the increased rate of VAT will also apply to services supplied by VAT registered companies such as website designers and accountants.]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/42/VAT-to-rise-to-20.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/41/iPhone-v-HTC-HD2---Is-the-HD2-an-iPhone-killer.html
There's no doubt that the iPhone has changed the mobile phone market forever.

People are no longer satisfied at having a phone in their pocket, the phone has to have a large touchscreen, fast internet access, plenty of storage for all your photos and videos, and probably most important of all - expandable through the installion of 3rd party software or "apps".

In over 2 years of iPhone use (from the original 2G iPhone through to the iPhone 3GS) I have heard the question "is it an iPhone killer" aimed at all sorts of new phone releases, but every time the answer has been a resounding NO!

But can the HTC HD2 finally topple the Apple iPhone from its firm grip on the title of the best mobile phone in the world?

As an Apple user for years (Macbook laptops, iPods and of course the iPhone) I have grown to love the way all of the devices work together without any fuss, lengthy configuration or endless internet searches for help with solutions to problems. You may have guessed by now that this blog is going to be very Apple oriented - sorry Windows users (or users of Linux, Android etc.)

Plug the iPhone into the Apple laptop and iTunes launches and synchronises all of my contacts, calendar entries, photos, videos, podcasts etc, etc. The first time I did this it was such a relief.

Why a relief?

Anyone who has hooked up a Windows Mobile based phone to a Windows PC (XP, Vista or Windows 7) using ActiveSync in XP or the replacement software shipped with Vista and Windows 7) and then held their breath whilst crossing their fingers in the hope that phone and computer talk to each other will know what I mean.

One particular client has had countless Windows based laptops and Windows mobile phones. Some link together and work trouble free, others just refuse to recognise each other causing hours of Google searching for other poor souls who have encountered the same soul destroying problem.

If his company wasn't completely reliant on Windows computers and software the I would have switched him to the delights of OSX and iPhones by now. But if I had done that I wouldn't have been able to feel the sense of achievement after spending hours linking and syncing a Windows laptop and a Windows Mobile phone (cue the new sarcasm character or SarcMark launched and trademarked recently by a US firm).

Anyway, back to the iPhone versus the HTC HD2.

One of the first things you notice about the HD2 is the beautiful screen. Bigger that the iPhone screen, it actually makes Apple's iPhone screen look quite small without making the HD2 feel too big in the hand.

The second obvious difference is the row of 4 buttons along the bottom of the HD2. One of the many things I loke about the iPhone is the way that you can operate the single button without even thinking about it. Operation of the 4 buttons on the HD2 (with one actually having 2 functions, the "Windows" button and the "back" function) would probably become second nature with a little use though.

On the back of the HD2 you will find the lens for a 5 megapixel camera protruding out from the case and just asking to be knocked, scratched and generally abused. Next to the lens are two, very bright, lights used to illuminate low light situations.

I didn't get the same feeling of awe when I first picked up the HD2 that I did when first planting the iPhone in my sweaty palm, but then the HD2 isn't the leap away from current technology that the iPhone was when it was released.

More soon.....
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/41/iPhone-v-HTC-HD2---Is-the-HD2-an-iPhone-killer.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/40/Salt-anyone.html
And just as most of us were getting back to normal (whatever "normal" is) the snow monster from above dumps another load of the white stuff on us again overnight and during today.

At least this time, if the weather forecasts can be believed, this chapter of the snow story won't be followed by days (and nights) of freezing temperatures causing the snow on the ground to hang around whilst, slowly but surely, being compacted down by traffic and footfall causing treacherous conditions for motorists and pedestrians.

Rain and warmer weather is forecast for the end of the week which should relieve the pressure om local councils, salt distributors and salt mining companies.

The question of salt supplies was raised in PMQs (Prime Minister's Questions) which made me wonder if any MPs had claimed for clearing of driveways or bags of rock salt now that claims for cleaning moats and "adult" films are no longer the done thing!

But it's not all doom and gloom. A recent article listed those who were benefitting from the cold snap. They included "corner" shops who are reporting bumper sales.

And car broker Deal Drivers (based in Cirencester) are reporting increased enquiries about 4x4s through their Twitter feed (@dealdrivers).

Car insurance companies are probably also busy at the moment with increased claims from drivers for whom the snow has meant a big dent in their car, as well as their No Claims Discount.
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/40/Salt-anyone.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/39/Winter-weather-good-for-birdseed-sales.html
The piece (in the News Review section) also quotes a Tesco food buyer who says that bird feed sales always go up about 30% in winter.

Note to self, must buy some shares of companies who sell bird feed.
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/39/Winter-weather-good-for-birdseed-sales.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/38/2010-Share-Tips.html
ShareTips365, the share tips website, has just started its Share Tips 2010 section which tells you which shares the financial press (including Shares Magazine) are tipping for 2010.

Link: 2010 Share Tips
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/38/2010-Share-Tips.html http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/37/Share-Tips.html ShareTips365, the share tips website.

ShareTips365 aggregates share broker share tips, newspaper share tips (including Questor share tips) and tips from the financial press (Shares magazine, Investors Chronicle etc.)

The Share Tips website is updated regularly, so that you can always be on top of the latest share tips.

Link: Share Tips
]]> no@spam.com (Chief Editor) Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:00:00 UTC http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/blogs/37/Share-Tips.html