AyaNova 6 has been released by Ground Zero Tech-Works.  Here I will summarize the release, it's purpose and variants, and upgrade considerations for existing customers.

First things first:  This is a free upgrade! Major version upgrades cost money (such as version 4 to 5), but this is an exception to that.

There are a lot of fixes, new features, and even a new variant called AyaNova Lite.  Let's start with that.

Why did they rev it to AyaNova 6?

It appears that the major version rev to 6 was mostly to synchronize with the release of AyaNova Lite.  Unlike previous major version releases (such as 3 to 4, and 4 to 5), this is a free upgrade for all AyaNova 5 users.

I just paid for an upgrade to version 5!

This is a free upgrade - unlike all other major version releases, this one is a free upgrade for version 5 users.  If your installation is hosted with HaveAByte, we always do the upgrade work for free.

AyaNova Lite

AyaNova Lite is a $49, single-user local installation.  More info here.  When using the trial, you can actually switch back and forth between the Lite and Full versions to fully explore both.

Can HaveAByte host an AyaNova 6 system, or upgrade ours?

Yes!  If you're already hosted with us, we can upgrade your installation to AyaNova 6 from any previous version.  Upgrade work on the HaveAByte servers for your installation is always done at no charge.

If you have a local installation and are considering our hosting service, and think the new version is a good opportunity to switch over, it is.  Contact Us to discuss your needs.

So what's New in AyaNova 6?

The full changelist of new features is here:  http://www.ayanova.com/AyaNova6webHelp/index.html?how_is_ayanova_6_different_fro.htm

Here's a summary of the changes:

• A handy link to a quick start guide on the expiration popup dialog when starting the trial version
• Performance improvements for large numbers of records, particularly for Microsoft SQL Server configurations (Note:  HaveAByte's hosted AyaNova service uses SQL Server) utilizing database specific optimizations for the first time
  • Notable performance improvements with:
    • The Clients Grid when Banked Service is used
    • Searching
    • Saving objects with lots of text
    • Opening service workorder items and their subsection grids
• Timezone relevance - users can override time zone if their location is different than the location of the database server.
  • Particularly useful for hosted HaveAByte installations with users in any time zone other than PST (GMT -0800).
  • Particularly useful for dispatchers scheduling service in time zones other than their own
• Contract name and expiry date field added to all levels of workorder service grids and in detailed service workorder report dataset
• Forbidden security group items will no longer appear at all on grids
• Various grid performance improvements especially in situations with thousands of records
• Delete button improvements on data entry grids
• Help > Check for Updates function
• Various inventory improvements specifically when creating POs
  • Automatic workorder updates when a purchase order receipt for part requests is saved, creating a workorder item part based on the part request and also select the serial number correctly if applicable.  No longer need to take the manual steps of deleting the 0 quantity, nor remove the part request except set the part record to used in service
  • Parts not received will be removed from PO when PO is closed, the parts On Order will be updated to that revised amount on order, and quantity of parts ordered will reflect those actually received.
• Reports improvements by removing unusable sub-datasets to make report design simpler and less confusing
• Unit's Text1, Text2, Text3 and Text4 fields are now available in a Preventive Maintenance detailed report template
• Can now print from Client Notes and also can select specific note(s) to print by clicking on the row indicator
• Performance improvement on workorder Part screen when many thousands of parts are in the system
• Grid column selector form now available for the workorder items grid in a service workorder entry screen so that now you can right-click on a column in the workorder items grid, and select/deselect which columns to show or not to show.
• SMTP encryption support - TLS, SSL or empty for no encryption
• Bolded dates indicating the presence of something on a date on the Schedule mini-calendar no longer appear to improve performance
• Better schedule screen support (navigation, width control) for more than 10 scheduleable users
• Better schedule screen view persistence/memory when logging out and logging in (does a better job of putting you back where you were)
• Graphical printing of the Schedule screen will now default to printing for the schedulable users showing.  It's no longer required to make a selection of resources just to filter out users not displayed.  The Graphical Printing will also show Schedule Makers with a frame around them and also display Priority Flags.

As the days and weeks go on, keep an eye on this blog for more information!

My friend Kevin Kelly from Chicago Title and I visited a Coldwell Banker office today and gave an overview of Social Media systems for realtors.

Like so many other problems to be solved on Windows and the iPhone, the axiom holds true for Facebook:  Whatever it is you’re trying to do, “there’s probably great app for that”.

There are two FaceBook applications for real estate listings.  One is called EListIt and another is called CribFinder.  Unlike the more general “Marketplace” app, these are tailored to do this job really well.  EListIt has over 2100 monthly users and CribFinder has more than 1300.

The skinny:

eListIt:

“Show off your latest property listings on your Facebook profile!  By adding the application to your profile, you can show off your listings in a mini slideshow on your wall page.  Additionally, you can add a dedicated tab page to your profile with more detailed listings and a personal real estate profile.”  An account on eListIt is required, but the FaceBook app will help you create one on the fly so you don’t have to jump around between sites.  On your profile will appear a “My Listings” tab with all of your listings.  Cool!

CribFinder:

“Buy. Sell. Rent. Own. Real Estate on Facebook. List properties, track pageviews and generate leads. Post your profile in our REALTOR® database. Check out the Hottest Cribs on Facebook.”  This appears similar to eListIt, with the exception that there is a centralized database that everyone can search with every property.  It also integrates with your profile to post your Cribs to your Wall and News Feed.  It seems to be a little rougher around the edges than eListIt, but I’m sure both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Most apps on Facebook integrate well with your personal profile, enabling Wall updates and the ability to add a Tab or Box to display whatever you put into the app.  Getting these apps to work with your Business Page is somewhat more esoteric.

Definitely a great way to familiarize yourself with the Facebook “app” concept and start seeing some real value right away.  Contact me if you're looking for assistance getting set up with one of these systems!

I've recently noticed the problem, and customers have reported, that websites that use a Flash based file upload control don't work.  The example I have been analyzing today is Magento eCommerce, uploading images into the catalog.  The older HTML style input type=file control works fine of course.

The short story is that the latest vesions of Flash 10 player, embedded into your browsers, essentially broke this, and apparently it has been quite a debacle.  While some web application developers have updated their software to work around it, not everything has been updated, and sometimes upgrading a webapp on a production server takes significant time and can't be done quickly just to resolve one issue.

A workaround I have verified, for Magento at least, is to uninstall the Flash Player 10 from Add/Remove programs, and then install this one:

http://haveabyte.com/flash9.msi

Here is the IE version:

http://haveabyte.com/install_flash_player_active_x.exe

This is version 9.0.124.0 and it solves the problem for Magento (tested with version 1.1.6.). I apologize that I didn't keep the original URL I downloaded this from, but I'm pretty sure it was from a direct Adobe URL, posted by someone into a Magento forum thread, and it has been scanned with the latest versions of Avast and Spybot S&D (and I'm running it so that should tell you it's safe.)

I hope this is helpful.

This thread is an ongoing discussion happening in near real time.

Amy
Today at 11:49am

If you feel as compelled as I did when I found out about this to do something, please email your friends and family, or better yet, call them NOW! Time is of the essence! If you aren't online, the phone numbers for your senators are in the phone book.

Friends,

There is a bill called the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (the GIVE ACT) that is being debated on as we speak in the Senate. It would require our youth aged 17 to 25 to serve the government in any form of the government's choice for three years. They wouldn't be paid and so is considered involuntary service which is supposed to be protected by our 13th Amendment rights. To me it equates to slavery!

[Erik: Read more for my analysis of the bill and Amy's claims.]

This is an old article I wrote years ago, and I've continually been surprised at how much traffic it continues to receive via one of my old domains.  I've decided to migrate it here to my main blog.  I've done some very minor editing and link fixing but it pretty much looks the way it was years ago.  It is basically a highly irresponsible experiment in how lean you can make a Windows XP installation, while still retaining a fair amount of usability (take that word with a grain of salt), only for highly adventurous people.  Unfortunately due to recent server migrations I have no way of knowing how old this article is.  My sense is that it is more than 4 years old.

Building a Windows XP Chopper

(or, how to make Windows XP use less than 32 MB of RAM)

by Erik Knepfler

   The term Chopper originally came from the early days of motorcycling, when financially disadvantaged motorcycling war veterans (read, "broke bikers") would chop up and remove their unfixable bike parts instead of replacing them.  It made their bikes leaner and lighter for the races, hill climbs, and infamous duels in the Circle of Death ("C'mon!  I just swept the Circle of Death!").  Thus, the Chopper was born.  Later the whole Chopper thing mutated and became crazy, but I digress.

    At some point, Windows XP change from being a fairly quick, efficient, stable improvement over Windows 9x to being a virus and spyware infested beast with more services running than most people have teeth.  Memory use hit an all time high - some people just boot their machine and it's already using 200+ MB of RAM!

    A Windows XP Chopper is an OS chopped to be the leanest, meanest, most trimmed down version of itself possible.  The purpose of this is to create an XP operating system that is dedicated to executing ONE TASK AT A TIME, guaranteeing full attention to that application at hand, with as few background processes running as humanly possible.

    I warn you.  This is not like other guides.