Newsletter - September 2014

Editorial

Is it winter or is it summer?  Who can tell with temperatures bouncing around all over the place?  However, we have some indication that tenders are finally being awarded, so there is a better prospect for economic growth.  So much has been revised down, it would be good to see the growth forecasts revised upwards again.  At least we have not seen an increase in the interest rate and petrol looks set to come down again next month.

Stay well and enjoy the sunshine!

Autodesk Price Increase

Sadly the rapidly weakening Rand against the US Dollar has led to a price increase. At the moment there is global currency instability, which is affecting transport costs as well.  The local distributors held off on increasing until Tuesday 23 September.  Unfortunately all products invoiced but not paid for have also been hit by this.

We spent Thursday morning updating all our customers with the new pricing.

QuickBooks update

ACCTivate is now back in our fold - this offers multi-warehousing plus CRM.  It is an add-on to QuickBooks and enables your sales staff to do quotes without having to access your accounting information.  They can also invoice out from it.  The product synchronises with your QuickBooks package ensuring that everything is kept up to date correctly.

We are currently awaiting the release of QuickBooks 2015 range of products. This should take place in early October.

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe is the first major software supplier to go fully cloud-based with a wide range of products.  It's farewell to Creative Suite in the box and hello to software licence management and access from the Cloud.  For an annual licence fee, companies have full access to all the creative products they require to run their business!  Updates are rolled out remotely; users who leave can be signed off the access list and replaced by new employees.  Best of all, the collateral cannot be lost or stolen.

Please ask Judith or Willy for quotes.

Adobe Training Links

Use the Adobe webpage to access training like this one below:

Adobe training online is a useful tool to make your web pages and presentations really stand out!

PC Tip: See the "To" Field in Outlook

In the pane where Outlook lists your emails, particularly for a new folder, the column headings typically include "From" (sender), "Subject", "Received" (date), "Size", and "Category".  If you store replies in the same sub-folder as received emails, which  makes sense, then it also makes sense to have a "To" (addressee) column.  Here's how you add it:

1. Right-click on one of the column headings (Subject, Received, Size, etc.)
2. On the pop-up menu, choose "Field Chooser".
3. A small pop-up window, headed "Field Chooser", should open somewhere on screen.
4. In the "Field Chooser" window, drag the right-hand scroll bar down until you can see the button with "To" on it.
5. Grab the "To" button, drag it to the column headings area, and drop it between suitable columns: Between "From" and "Subject" is a good place (a red arrow indicates where the new column will go).
6. Close the "Field Chooser" window by clicking the "X" at top right, or just click on another folder.

Autodesk Specials for Q3 2015 ending 20th October 2014

There are two specials running in this period:

The first is a lovely surprise for owners of pre-2009 products - you can upgrade during this period with a 30% discount!  Please grab the opportunity now!

The second is for owners of product 2009 and later - the discount here is 10% - lower than last quarter's but still a good opportunity for getting current.

Please contact Judith or Willy for quotes.

Autodesk Subscription Changes

From 1 February 2015, upgrades of Autodesk products will no longer be available and all products will have to be bought new.

So keeping your subscriptions up to date now gives real value to your Autodesk product users.  They include the following:

• Your software investment is seamlessly updated every year, resulting in your drawing office's service being constantly improved.  This often enhances productivity as well.
• You have access to flexible licensing rights.  These include being authorised to load on a desktop and a laptop; being able to use the software when abroad on a project.
• Access to top technical support via e-mail
• Wide Cloud benefits, which include:
  • Autodesk 360,
  • Autodesk WS mobile apps
  • Building Information Manager (BIM) the cost saving application that delivers on time in the most cost efficient way possible
  • 100 or more Cloud credits (according to level of Design Suite purchased) to perform rendering, simulation, optimization and structural analysis tasks, when using one of the Design Suites,
  • The ability to store/view/search and collaborate in the Cloud,
  • And up to 25GB of storage.

For more information go to https://360.autodesk.com/landing and https://www.autodesk.com/subscription/overview. 

Why does keeping a subscription current pay out for you?

Well, in fact Autodesk is not the first to go this route.  The various CRM providers and also major ERP providers have done this for years.  In order to keep their software at a level which meets your changing needs, the renewing of subscriptions gives them the base for ongoing development.  Companies can address your wish lists and the requirements of changing standards (government and professional associations).  In addition, your keeping your subscriptions current means that you do not have to pay a huge amount of money to become current two years down the line.

Think of it as the fee you pay to your security company or the premium you pay to your insurance company.

• Go to Builders Warehouse, or any other store that sells plumbing supplies, and buy a ‘low-flow’ shower head. You can get them for between R200 and R400 and they do not mean that your showering experience will be any less enjoyable, instead this clever piece of plumbing adds air to your shower water, often improving the showing experience. And not only will this save you water, but it will also save electricity from using less hot water, and that is money you will notice!

• If, when you open any of the taps around your home, the water comes out transparent, then while you are at your favourite plumbing supplier, ask for a low flow “faucet aerator”. Or the little thing that you screw onto the part of your tap where the water comes out that performs a similar function as the low flow shower head. You will need a set of spanners, or a pair of pliers will do, to remove the existing faucet filter, and add the new super-hero water saving ones you just bought! Your water will now come out of the tap full of little bubbles and appear more white in colour – it will still be transparent once inside the required container.

• If any of your taps are dripping, also buy some ‘washers’ and replace these on your dripping taps – they are usually the cause of a dripping tap, and are much easier to replace than you think, but you have to turn your water off at the mains to do this job, or ask if any of your friends can help you with this. A dripping tap can waste as much as 20,000 litres in one year!

• Does your toilet use more water to flush than it really needs to? If yes there are two things you can do. 1) you can put a 1 or 2 litre coke bottle filled with water into the cistern (or more if you have a really large cistern). Not a brick because little bits might come off the brick and cause your toilet to leak – completely counterproductive. 2) bend the metal rod supporting the floating ball further down so that it stops filling with less water – to do this you will need to take the ball and arm out to bend it, and unscrew the ball from the arm, otherwise you might break the ball off or the flushing mechanism.

• The next steps to becoming a water saving house rest in changing the behaviour of the people using water:
  • Only run water that you need, for brushing your teeth, washing your hands, etc
  • Please note that no harm will come to anyone who uses your home toilet if it isn’t flushed after every pee and nose blowing.
  • If you are running water to wash the dishes, don’t wait for the water to get hot before putting in the plug, and then running cold water to get it to the right temperature. Be aware of how much cold water you add later and try and use this much when you first turn the hot tap on.
  • Don’t wash vegetables under running water – wash them in a bowl of water. Also, letting them soak in a bowl of water first will result in a better wash. 
  • I know it can be a pain, but wherever you need to run water for any reason, but a bowl or bucket under it so that you can use that water to water some of your plants, or for anything else you need water for.
  • Watering your garden between 8am and 4pm is only useful if you like to gift the water you have to pay for to the clouds.

• Lastly, be aware that water is used in everything, to grow food obviously, but also make every single product you buy, clothes, furniture, technology, paper. Everything. And the more you waste, the more water you are wasting. Where possible, try and find out about how much water is used to make the products, being a responsible consumer will go a long way to reducing your indirect impact on water. Raising meat uses thousands of litres more than raising vegetables, so maybe consider joining the Meatless Monday movement, or just be aware to waste less meat. The Water footprint website gives a lot more information on water usage and has a handy calculator so you can calculate how much water you really use.