Daily Cup of Tech

In the past, there have been times when I wished that I could create or recreate a document in PDF format. Sometimes I wanted to send a document in a format that Mac and Linux users could read and sometimes I wanted to simply protect the data so that it could not be changed or altered. In the past, PDF creation tools were either expensive or hard to find (or both).

This is no longer the case. CutePDF allows you to create a PDF document from any application capable of printing. CutePDF installs as a printer just like your deskjet or laser printer. When you’re ready to convert your document or information into PDF format, print your selection, select the CutePDF printer and select a save location. The file will automagically appear in your chosen location. It can be downloaded from http://www.cutepdf.com. The pro version costs money ($49.95) and includes additional functionality but the basic version is free and provides the basic conversion capability.

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I recently have begun to pursue my own business, as a consultant and repair technician, on a more consistent basis and have found some truths that may apply to others in a similar situation.

1. It is very difficult to build your client base on word of mouth referrals.

One may hand out business cards by the handful to anyone they think may have a computer. They may pass out ad fliers by the bucket, and still will likely need to pay for some form of advertising, to find enough clients to start a full-time venture. I have found that local free newspapers are a very economical way to start, their coverage is hit and miss, but the return is strong on a per dollar spent basis. Direct mailing may be another alternative in your area.

2. People won’t know what you do from a business card.

Business cards are a very nice way for people to find you once they know what you do. However, unless you have a very small, specific business model and a matching company name, it is not enough for people to know what you do.

On my first business card I made the mistake of including a picture of a laptop and the words, “Mobile Computer Maintenance & Service”, I lost many potential customers to the thought… “He probably only works on laptops.” Oops, the mobile was supposed to mean I would make house calls, not that I only worked on “Mobile Computers” Argh!!

I have since changed it to a generic “Computer Services” and I have printed fliers with a more complete description of the services I offer. I will be putting them on doors of homes and passing them out to businesses in the more affluent local areas.

3. People don’t really know what they want or need.

They may know that they want their computer to run “like it used to” or that they want a new hard drive, but, don’t expect them to know more. You will have the blessing of a few who know more than that, just don’t count on it. If they knew enough to know what their computer needed, they would fix it themselves. For this reason you must be prepaired to tell them what they need, or help them decide what they want.

4. People don’t know their computers… at all.

This is going to be true of 90% of the people who need your help. [Odds are pretty good you don’t hire someone to come fix your computer.] Be prepared to find a completely different system than they described on the phone. “It has a 40GB C: drive, a 60GB D: drive & 1GB of memory”, may turn out to be a 20GB C: drive, a 40GB D: drive and 512MB of RAM.

It is important to show the customer what they have, especially if you need to take the system with you. Show them, put it in writing and have them sign it. Someone who believes they had bigger drives and more memory before you took it, will soon forget how much better it was, when they stumble across these actual figures. There is also a good chance that they won’t want to pay you for the additional memory you installed, if the total memory i what they thought they started with.

5. People want to treat their computer like a piece of furniture.

They expect a chair to be there, do the job they bought it for & get a little dirty, yet more comfortable. They don’t generally think there should be anything more to it. Computer maintenance is a mystery to them and they can get quite upset when it is needed.

“I turned it on and it wasn’t right anymore.” This maybe as simple as a missing quick launch tool bar, or a shortcut dragged into a folder. It maybe a system bogged down with junk software and viruses or with failing hardware. It doesn’t really matter to them what the problem is, just as long as you can make it better.

And remember every icon, tool bar & shortcut is sacred to them, NEVER move them or change them. It will matter little to the client that you caught the failing CPU fan before damage occurred, if they can find the shortcut to the folder with aunt Martha’s email attachments. You would not move their bedroom furniture, trust me… Many find this sin as bad.

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I’m not quite sure when it really happened, but for me, (Voice over IP) actually started working six weeks ago. That was the point that I finally realized I could rely on my internet connection for local and long-distance phone calls, paying a fraction of the price that I have been paying for my land-line long-distance, and getting a sophisticated multi-extension, multi-line phone system as part of the deal. I’m now running three IP desk phone extensions in my home office These are connected to an old Dell Optiplex server which hosts Asterisk/Trixbox, a PBX software package which runs under Linux. A brief recipe for getting into VoIP follows. Of course, if you already have been using Skype, or some other IP phone system, you can skip steps 1 and 2.

1. VoIP runs over broadband internet connections. You can test your network connection at TestyourVoIP.Com This service will place test calls between your location and several cities including Sydney, Vienna, Boston, and Montreal.
2. You can get your feet wet with internet calling by getting an account with Skype or (my favorite) Gizmo. Both of these services emphasize calling other members of the same service (i.e. for Skype, other Skype users) but for a few bucks you can also sign up to make calls to land-line phone numbers. This starts to get really interesting, especially when you are making calls from your laptop to landlines via wireless connections at the airport. By doing this, you can start to get a feel of both the possibilities and the limitations of IP calling.
3. Check out Trixbox. Trixbox is a pre-configured installation of Cent-OS Linux (the Red Hat community clone), the Asterisk PBX software from Digium, and a set of management applications. You can download Trixbox as an .iso file, and burn it to CD, then install on an old faithful workstation. [Note: The installation will overwrite the hard disk. Don’t try this on a machine you use for daily work!]
4. Although you can use Asterisk with a software phone (including the later versions of Gizmo), it starts to act like a real phone system when you have real phones. These cost around $60-$80 each. I’ve had good luck with Grandstream Budgetone phones. Buy a couple and set them up as extensions on the Asterisk box. Each phone will take a Ethernet port on your network switch.
5. At this point you should be able to call the extensions on your system from another extension. To call out you need to have a VoIP service provider which will take your IP calls and transfer them to the regular landline phone system. This will cost a few bucks a month as well, but if you choose carefully you can save a bundle in long-distance phone charges. I’ve had good luck with VoicePulse. They have a plan specifically for Asterisk, extensive documentation, and they’ll help you get connected if you run into problems.

Other ideas:
Asterisk is a Linux application. If you have ever wanted to learn Linux, Asterisk is a great excuse for doing so. Asterisk has been installed on various distributions including Fedora, Cent-Os, Debian, and Ubuntu. If you want to get around the Linux piece, The enthusiast Nerd Vittles site has downloadable Trixbox images that run in a virtual machine on a Windows box.

If you want to integrate your Asterisk box with your existing land-line phone lines, you can purchase a board from Digium or another vendor to do this. Many installations, especially in an office setting use VoIP for the PBX functions and internal calls (to branch offices for example) but run all external client calls through conventional phone lines.

Links:

• More on Asterisk/TrixBox
• The Voice Over IP Resource Guide

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Whilst exploring the wonders of an open source app called “The GIMP”, I noticed a handy little feature that allows it to save any image as an Windows compatible .ico file. For Windows XP, most icons are 32×32 or 48×48 in size, so as long as you have an image you want to convert around those sizes (or you could just create one yourself) you’ll be sorted.

How to do it:

1. Open the gimp
2. Go to “File -> Open” and locate the image you want to convert (can be most formats, i know as a fact that PNGs work best to make transparent .ico’s)
3. Make sure the size of the image is 48×48 or 32×32 (depending on your preference)
4. Then in the images individual window, go to “File -> Save As” and change the file extension to .ico (e.g. example.PNG -> example.ico) making sure you save the image in the folder you want
5. A window will pop-up with the title “GIMP Windows Icon Plugin”, just click “OK”
6. There you go, your done!

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