An Act 2010 Problem

I have used Symantec Act since 1985 in its various forms. It is my principal piece of software and from it I process bookings, run my electronic diary and export to Outlook (using Companion Link) so I can then sync my contact data with my iPhone. All emails are also sent directly from the program so a complete record is specific to each contact.

I was quite happy running Act up to version 6 which was in a .dbf format and hadn't really thought about upgrading. Due to a requirement to upgrade my Microsoft Office program from 2003 to 2007 I was faced with a dilemma. Act 6 didn't work with Office 2007 so I had to upgrade to Act 9 to run the Office program which in a .sql format.

Act 9 was basically a disaster for me as the technical team at Act (Sage) couldn't import my 3,500 contacts so I had to recover my data by syncing my then Blackberry to Act which only gave me part of my contacts.

After the trials and tribulations of Act 9 I was offered the upgrade to Act 2010 (version 12) assuming a lot of the bugs in Act 9 had been resolved. That is simply not the case and maybe version 12 has more problems that Act 9 ever did.

As a lot of my bookings come from regular customers I use the "Duplicate" contact facility a lot as this retains the primary data leaving me to fill in the data against the new booking. When starting with Act 2010 the duplicate facility simply did not work.

I spent hours on the phone with technical support by remote link, ran report after report for them, sent copies of my database to them, created a new database from scratch after long discussions and when technical support replicated my database on their own computer they achieved the same result.

This took 4 to 5 weeks out of my life and the net result was they had to report the issue to the American tech support team which basically meant the issue was buried for ever. During this period I spoke to many engineers as well as sending lenghty emails about the problems with Act 2010. 1 of those emails still remains unanswered.

The issue are various: Company name is in standard rather than bold text irrelevant of how you set the field settings, the program is very unstable when trying to change the main view, the layou in the main view is not acceptable but certain of the functions cannot be changed and the list goes on.

It is typical of a piece of software developed by those who never use it and yet supposedly the prime database of its type in the world.

I rang UK tech support re another issue last week and spoke to maybe the 5th technician who answered my question on that day and whilst on the phone he realised the other duplication issue I had. I would also like to comment that I pay for their support which is not cheap.

The technician I spoke to said he would like to check a couple of things and my immediate answer was they have all been checked by other technicians as I was basically not prepared to spend further time resolving the unresolvable.

The first check was under the Tools menu from the main screen and he asked I check Tools /Manage Users and my name is there as Mr Peter Burton. He then asked me what does "My Record" show which was Peter Burton.

I simply put Mr in front of my name and the duplicate record function has worked perfectly ever since. I can only thank him for his input but it leaves a major question unanswered,

"WHY ON EARTH" did the previous technicians not know that. I asked the question and the reply was, they should have.

After many weeks of hassle, upset, questions, telephone calls, emails and a very disgruntled better half the cure for my problem was simply ensuring the database user name is the same as My Record.

Maybe training is the issue but as normal in these cases if it is not reported or listed as an FAQ then lesser technicians don't think about it. I have requested this be put in the FAQ's for future users. It would appear to me the manage users and my record data is a standard issue and therefore not listed in any of the FAQ's.

So, after using previous versions of Act since1985 with complete satisfaction I am now lumbered with a database that doesn't function correctly in many areas. No-one at Act / Sage has had the courtesy to apologise for their incompetence or in any way offer me compensation for the time I have spent solving my problem.

Portable Power Packs

So, firstly, apologies for the long delay in posts, life has been hectic to say the least and we have not had time to blog.........that is our excuse and we have to stick to it!

During this period of silence we have been busy though, we built and launched our new website selling portable power packs, which are for busy people like you and me!

We had a meeting with PowerTraveller in Alton, met all the staff and had a good chat about them and what we can offer, it was lovely to meet them all and pleased we had the chance to see them.

Since arrival back into Spain we had lots more work to do with the website so blood, sweat and tears commenced once more! We have now added our re-seller logo to the website along with more images and price updates.

For those of you that have not been following us online, our website features products for those of us who use laptops, mobile phones, pdas, blackberry, hand held gaming devices, cameras - just to mention a few:

PowerMonkey - Portable phone charger
SolarMonkey - Portable solar charger
PowerGorilla - Portable laptop charger
SolarGorilla - Solar charger for mobile phones and laptops
PowerMonkey eXplorer - Charging device for a mobile
MotorMonkey - In car charger
UVMonkey - Solar energy tester

Look forward to chatting with you soon and feel free to send in any questions you might have about our portable power products.

Motormonkey from Scorpion

Your car journeys will never be the same again! The monkey business at Powertraveller is now filling the zoo with all types including the Powermonkey, the Powerchimp, the Powergorilla and now are you ready for it....

Motormonkey - The smallest, lightest in-car charger in the world can charge most popular mobile phones, iPods, PSPs and BlackBerry's whilst you're on the move!



Its Slimline design means that Motoromonkey is unobtrusive in your car and you can leave it plugged into your cigarette lighter when you're not using it, without worrying about draining your car's battery!

Motormonkey will fully support Apple iPod nano, iPod Classic, iPhone, iPod Touch and other iPod series via motormonkey USB socket.

Each Kit Includes:
1 x motormonkey unit
1 x Samsung M300 / G600 adaptor
1 x Nokia & 1 x Mini Nokia adaptor
1 x USB retractable cable
1 x Mini USB adaptor for Motorola Razr, BlackBerry and other USB powered devices
1 x Sony-Ericsson K750i wide adaptor
1 x DC 4.0 adaptor for Sony PSP and some digital cameras
1 x LG Chocolate adaptor

If your product is not listed above don't panic as of course we have a solution for that and this you are going to love....

Monkeynuts - are a range of adaptors or tips which enable you to connect your Motormonkey to a wide range of phones, iPods, MP3's, headsets. The list below is comprehensive and is continually updated so if yours isn't listed then please email me or contact us on 0800 4488059 for assistance with your Motormonkey needs.

Monkeynuts Adaptors
Acer N35
Archos 4.0 (Kit)
Blackberry All Mini USB (Kit)
Creative Zen DC 4.0
DC 2.3
DC 2.5
DC 3.0 for Motorla W220
DC 3.5 x 1.3
DC 5.5
Dell Axim C55
Dell Axim DC 4.0 (Kit)
Dell Axim X30HP
iPaqiPod Direct Black
iPod Direct White
iPod USBLG 8080
LG Chocolate
Mini USB
Motorola V998
Motorola V66 ROKR, Motorola V3 RAZR (Kit)
Nintendo DSNintendo DS-Lite
Nokia Mini DC 2.0 (Kit)
Nokia Std (End of Powermonkey)
O2 XDA Mini USB (Kit)
Palm / Tungsten E2
Palm / Tungsten i705
Palm One / Tungsten E
Panasonic D92
Panasonic D95
Samsung A288 & D600
Samsung A990
E900 & X820 (Kit)
Z500
Siemens A31 (EL71 / S68
C25 & A65 (Kit)
C55
Sony Clie PEG Full Series
DV1 Cynershot
DV2
DV3
DV4
Sony K750i wide connector (Kit)
Sony PSP DC 4.0 (Kit)
Sony T28 USB Retractable Cable
Vodaphone / Sagen VS1

Hands Free Mobile Phone Solutions by Scorpion

With increasing traffic volumes on the highways and byways you must never hold a telephone in your hand, in fact it is now illegal apart from being very dangerous. However, you wouldn't think so when watching drivers dangerously flouting the law.

There are many inexpensive ways of achieving hands-free solutions. Since the early days of Scorpion's operations it was vital I was as legal as possible in every way and my mobile phone was no exception.

Most mobiles now have Bluetooth technology which makes life a lot simpler and I have always had a Bluetooth Headset which are inexpensive and come in many forms. These are great as they move with you wherever you go albeit stuck in your ear. I have known to have gone to bed with mine still in place and didn't know!

I have always preferred the Motorola models as they don't go inside your ear and they have a good battery life. None of us can manage without mobiles these days but DO NOT drive with it in your hand, it is dangerous. We have all heard of accidents on motorways caused by those talking on the phone and the Police quite rightly take a dim view as do all responsible drivers. Don't blame the Police for issuing penalties for the illegal use of a mobile phone in a motor vehicle.

OK, so now we can connect the phone hands free but what about the phone itself, where does that sit? In 2004 I created an association with a company called Nemesis who supply a fantastic range of mobile mounting solutions manufactured by Brodit. I now supply their products to chauffeurs, private hire operators, taxi drivers and the word is spreading.

Distributors of a wide range of mounting solutions for multi media products


Brodit ProClip Mounting Platform


Without doubt these products offer the ultimate solution for mounting such items as mobile phone's, iPod's, Sat/Nav's, PDA's and many items of multi-media. I have used these products in many forms in my initial Peugeot 807's and latterly in the VW Touareg's with great success.

The items come in 2 sections. A Proclip is a bespoke vent clip tailored to suit your vehicle. They are available for a phenominal range of vehicles for either the centre or right vent, LHD or RHD and in some vehicles there are also console mounts which fit either to the left or right of the centre console.

This pic shows a ProClip attached to the right hand vent in my VW Touareg and attached to it is the holder for my Trafficmaster unit which monitors traffic problems on the main motorways and trunk roads.

No drilling is a feature of the product and once clicked in place is very, very solid.

This shows the Traffic master screen securely in place on the Proclip in the perfect position for the driver.

Once you have the ProClip you can then purchase a holder, once again bespoke to your particular item of technology i.e. mobile phone, iPod, Sat/Nav etc.



The left pic shows a LHD ProClip fitted to the centre vent on my VW Touareg for the passenger phone and attached to that is a padded phone holder for a Blackberry 8310 with a Tilt Swivel. The Tilt Swivel is a great addition as the angle of the phone can be adjusted to suit the driver.



The pic on the left shows my Touareg with 2 ProClips and phone holders with tilt swivels to suit the Blackberry 8310's. Both were simply fitted in minutes and are very securely attached. The angle of the different ProClip's is due to them being 1 each of left and right hand drive versions. There are more pics of the Brodit Mounting platforms on the photo album on the scorpion website.


There are basically 2 additional phone holders. Those mentioned above are Passive i.e. no power supply. There are versions of all phone holders with either connection to the cigar lighter plug or hard wired to the vehicle.

In line with the job I do as a Chauffeur I have gone the whole way now and fitted a Bluetooth phone kit in my Touareg. Through my connection with Nemesis I am now marketing the Bluetooth Parrot kit along with the entire Brodit range which in my opinion are a revelation. Watch my blog as new models are coming soon.

The pic on the left shows the Parrot 3100 neatly fitted beneath the right hand vent control lever. This is obviously hard wired to the vehicles electrics but also with the proper cabling plugs into the rear of the Touareg's media centre. This allows the volume to be changed from the media centre when a call comes in. As the Touareg also has an active steering wheel the volume can also be changed from there.

Once installed all one has to do is pair it in the normal manner with instructions from the mobile manual, set the Parrot to pair and off you go. Once connected the Parrot then synchronises the phones contacts into the unit along with names and all numbers. Set the unit to Auto Answer, pre-set volume level and you are done.

I have mine connected through the ignition so immediately I start the car the pairing is automatic and you never have to do that again. You can pair up to 5 mobiles but please note the first one paired will be the master i.e. if there are 2 of the paired mobiles in the car the second one has to be selected in place of the master from the Parrot control centre.

So now you can see how quick it is to be road legal and maybe not as expensive as you think. All these products or for advice about any of them please contact Peter by email or phone at 0800 4488059. It is always nice to talk.

Mobile Solutions Web Site