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Becoming a Microsoft Partner!
It's been a while since I last wrote an article in
Call Sign and as usual it's quite difficult deciding what to write about -
although sometimes there comes along a great bargain that I just can't
ignore.
I'm sure there are quite a few of you who nowadays have more
than one PC, or who run a small business with multiple PCs. We all know how
expensive Microsoft's operating systems and software packages are, in fact
with multiple PCs, it costs thousands of pounds. Well now there is a much
cheaper solution: For £199 + Vat, you can become a Microsoft Partner! See HERE
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If like me, you have a limited company, then the subscription
process is a doddle. The registration process asked for an email address to
create a Microsoft Passport account that you could then use on any site that
uses the technology. I used my hotmail account, paid by credit card and
within two weeks I had a load of software delivered!
Included in the subscription is all of the software listed
below and shown with their normal prices which usually you would have to
multiply that by 10 client licences to use on ten different PCs. As a
Microsoft Partner, you can install the software on 10 different PCs for the
normal price of one! What with all the other server software, for nerds like
me this is really great!
What I didn't try was subscribing using a company that didn't
exist. Microsoft wants their partners to recommend their products to clients
and therefore provide access to them at extremely cheap rates. I'm guessing
that if you entered any old company name, you'd still get the software, so
if you haven't a company it's still worthwhile trying to subscribe. If you
do, please let me know how you get on.
Some of the software includes: Office XP Professional £264,
Windows XP Professional £252, Visio 2002 Professional £370, Microsoft
Project £269.07, Microsoft FrontPage 2002 £135.12 and loads of other
server operating systems and software packages.
I don't see it as cheating because in my mind, all taxi drivers
are businessmen picking up many different clients daily in our taxis and if we tell them how good Microsoft products are, then
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we're
partners and should benefit from this subscription!
Defeating the SoBig and Other Email Viruses
Regular readers will know I often write about viruses and I've recommended
software such as Zonelabs ZoneAlarm Firewall and McAfee AntiVirus software.
Both of these are excellent at protecting your PC, but with the advent of
the now infamous 32.Sobig.F@mm virus, there is another good tool that I have
evaluated - MailWasher: http://www.mailwasher.net/
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Mailwasher is a simple tool that connects to your email server, listing
emails ready for downloading. You simply tick the Spam or Virus emails and
it provides you with the ability to 'bounce' the email. This returns the
email to the sender telling them that your email address is not known,
therefore they assume you don't exist. Also at the same time, you can
blacklist the senders email address and delete it from your server, after
that you're safe to download emails to your PC as you've already deleted the
offending emails from your ISPs email server.
MailWasher is free for one email account and there is a paid
version for numerous other accounts. You'll need to know the email POP server details and your email account
details.
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For those of you who like to live dangerously, delete all
emails that are headed 'Details', 'Your details are attached,' 'That movie,'
or 'Thank you'. Also keep clear of 'Whitehat'.
LTI Website
LTI recently announced their newly enhanced web site located at http://www.lti.co.uk
so of course I had to visit and check it out...
LTI's site uses Flash technology extensively, so if you haven't
got flash installed, why not?
Everyone should have it nowadays. There has obviously been much design and
thought relating to the site's navigation, as everything is easily found.
Some section headings include Drivers, Passengers, Regulators, Dealers and
the usual section advertising the TXII. I especially liked the link
'Campaign' that links to the Taxiwise site http://www.taxiwise.com/
informing visitors about "...the shocking number of attacks on women by
unlicensed or bogus minicab drivers."
There's a lot to the site, far too much to mention in this
article and it is well worth a visit.
Be Lucky and Cya next month
Vince Chin
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London Taxi Network meets
DoT's Tony McNulty |
Wednesday September 20
saw the first meeting between the London Taxi Network
(formerly JRTA) and the Dept for Transport's Parliamentary
Under-Secretary, Tony McNulty MP. Represented by Dial-a-Cab
Chairman Brian Rice and XETA MD Geof Kaley, the subjects
discussed varied between PH exterior signage and unlimited bus
lane entry for taxis, to the protection of the Knowledge. It
was pointed out to the Minister that a modernised Knowledge
must not lose the stringency that it is famous for the world
over. A more detailed report on the meeting can be found in
this issue's Chairman's report.
Mr McNulty may be a new name to many, but he has
quickly taken a grasp of the London taxi situation and has
taken on many
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Tony McNulty
f the responsibilities of David Jamieson, who maintains his
Parliamentary under-secretary status within the department.
Brian Rice told Call Sign after the meeting: "This
was an excellent meeting, not only did we introduce ourselves,
but we spent a considerable amount of time making the Minister
aware of the position of the Licensed Taxi trade." |
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