Technical Support

Ok, you’re sitting at your desk and you get a call. A user double-clicks on their shortcut and the Access 2003 application does not open. No error. No activity. Nothing.

The user can still open up Microsoft Access, and open the MDB file from there just fine. What’s going on?

This is actually a common problem.

Network technicians don’t always know that an MS Access shortcut actually requires you to reference ‘msaccess.exe’. They’ll generally copy the .mdb and ‘paste shortcut’ on their desktop. Oh the shortcut will work if no one else is in the database, but once someone gets in. For whatever reason the access shortcut needs the reference.

Anyways I hope this post helps someone out. If it does let me know in my comment section!

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“Jack, think about your situation for a moment. A million dollars is a lot of money. It’ll change your life forever. There are only two cases left. One contains a single dollar and the other a life changing amount.”

“Jack you’ve gone all the way, you have turned down every offer.” The host pauses dramatically, “Do you want to switch cases?”

Jack feels the sweat trickle down his brow. For a second he remembers his statistics class and that whole problem with Monty Hall. but did it apply to Deal or No Deal?

The Debate

After several discussions with other friends, I discovered that there was still much debate as to whether or not the Monty Hall Paradox applied to ‘Deal or No Deal’. Lot’s of it heated. As heated as Jon and Kate separation! So to settle it I just had to find out myself with empirical evidence.
Let’s Define Some Terms
MHP: Monty Hall Problem/Paradox. If you don’t know what it is check out this YouTube Video for a quick explanation. If you already know it, skip the video.

MH Camp: Those who believe MHP does not apply to DoND.

DoND: The game show Deal or No Deal.

DoND Camp: Those who believe MHP applies to DoND.

RE: Random Elimination, the process in which cases/doors are eliminated randomly as in DoND

FE: Forced Elimination, the process in which non-winning cases/doors are eliminated simply because they are a non winning door.

It Does Not Apply Camp

In the MH Camp, the main argument is since the host knows where the prize is and does not pick it gives the statistical advantage. In DoND the advantage does not exist becase choices are eliminated randomly.

It Does Apply Camp

The main argument from the DoND Camp is it doesn’t really matter whether the host knows where the prize is. Assuming that you’re in a scenario where you’ve successfully eliminated all other cases leaving the million in play. The result should be the same as MHP whether or not choices are eliminated through FE or RE you should swap.

Our Simulation
The real difference between Monty Hall and DoND is that MH has a Forced Elimination (FE) of a non-winning door. DoND there is a Random Elimination (RE) of a case/door. Basically we simulated playing out thousands of games using FE and RE and recording the results.
The goal of the simulation is to test whether or not it Monty Hall can apply to Deal or No Deal during times where the million is in play and the contestant is asked to switch cases. If it’s true that in situations where the prize is still in play when you get down to the final two cases the results would be similar to the MHP. It should be greater than 50-50 to switch.

Our First Test Run
We played 120,000 games. 26 cases, Deal or No Deal rules. We looked at all the games that had two cases left and the million remaining in play. We look at the probability to switch. The results were… 50-50 to switch.

Combing through the data and looking for any kind of error none. The results were right and accurate. It is 50/50 to switch.

So what accounted for the difference? After analyzing the data I felt the simplest and most effective way to display our results in an easily understood manner is to modify the simulation, slightly.

A Second and Third Simulation
I decided to run two simulations using only three doors. First, I ran 10,000 games using DoND Rules.

Deal or No Deal Rules All Combinations - the winning case (case #1, the numbers #2 and #3 are non-winning cases) is picked 33% of the time as expected when you have only 3 cases to pick from

Like MH the winning case was chosen 33.25% of the time. Now if we only count the games in which the winning case remained in play. This is the result.

Notice the change in the percentages when you only count games in which the winning case remained in play

Notice that the percentages change to about 50-50 (or 49.90% and 50.10%) to switch. Since we are only counting the winning positions the number of games drops to 6,663.

Then I played out 6,663 games (to match the DoND number of games where the prize is still in play). Here is the breakdown of all possible result combinations and the count each occurrence. The results are as follows.

Monty Hall Forced Elimination Results

As you can see certain combinations occur more often in the Monty Hall Rule Simulation versus the DoND Rule Simulation. Every combination in the DoND Simulation is spread evenly. Whereas, in the MH Simulation the majority of the occurrences appear in situations where you should switch your case. It appears the FE created more opportunities to win the grand price.

One more point, if you look at the games that aren’t counted in the DoRD example…

This is the first table of all combinations in DoND. If you take the 4th and 6th rows and change the remaining door to #1 (the winning door). Because if we were playing by Monty Hall Rules that would be the final door you get 66.75% for this simulation.

…and apply Monty Hall rules to it by changing each non-winning door into a winning door. You get 60% to switch as shown above. Using the FE , the prize would always be in play.

Conclusion
It appears there is a major difference between a Forced Elimination vs a Random Elimination.

Don’t believe our results? You can test them out yourselves. We’ve developed a Monty Hall Test Program. You can test our results yourselves using “Monty Hall” rules or “Deal or No Deal” rules. We believe this should be sufficient enough to convince even the most die hard ‘MHDA’ Camper.

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For whatever reason I’ve never been sold on the new Vista Windows Office look with the Ribbons.  If you ask me it just seems more complicated then necessary and the navigation seems to take up more room.

Does Microsoft understand that customers get reluctant to upgrade because they keep moving all the options and items around?  Don’t they understand that customers don’t want to relearn a product that is already doing the job on it’s own?

Well anyways, on to the point of this topic.  Compact and Repair in Access 2007.  Where is it?  Is it under ‘Tools/Database Utilities’ like it is for Access 2003?  No!?!?  Those options don’t exist in 2007.  The most intuitive option or the closest option in 2007 is ‘Database Tools’.  But is it there?!  Of course not!

Select the Office Button

 

Ok I’ll save all of you the suspense.  It’s in the ‘Office Button’ (The funny circle in the upper left side of the screen),

Select 'Manage'

Then select ‘Manage’

Select Compact and Repair

Then select ‘Compact and Repair’.  And that’s it.

So, there you go.  That’s where Microsoft put the all important tool!  I can see that it “fits” there.  But Microsoft at least provide us with some kind of cheat sheet as to where you moved everything.

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Six-Mix strategy for a successfully designed webpage

The basic elements and principles involved in web designing are actually true for all other types of designing as well. If you want your website to be easy-to-navigate and aesthetically attractive, you must make sure you keep these the following elements and principles in mind:

1- Balance consistency

Web design balance can be defined as the uniform, equal distribution of the heavy and light elements on each web page. There should be a visual balance throughout the page, not only in the initial view.

On the basis of balance, a website can be of three types:

Symmetrical website: In this type, all the elements are placed in an even fashion - a heavy element on the left is matched with another on the right.

Asymmetrical website: In this type, all the elements are placed in an odd fashion by varying the texture, color, positioning and size of the text, images, buttons, bars etc.

Discordant website: These web sites are off-balance and suggest action or motion, so you can create a discordant design on purpose. This type of designs make viewers uncomfortable or uneasy, so they are best used for sites that are intended to make people think.

2-Develop contrast or matching

Web design contrast or matching is all about colors, shapes, sizes and even textures. You can take full advantage of contrast by changing font size, weight and family to provide textual contrast and varying sizes of images and elements. However, be careful not to blast your readers or scare them off with contrasting colors which are way too loud. The links on your content should be contrasted well to draw most attention. Similarly, if contrast is not your flavor, you can also match the colors, images and shapes with each other to produce a beautiful matching impact.

3-Create color themes

Having a good and suitable color theme on your web design will give users a pleasing experience while surfing through the web site you designed. Remember, te, having a white and blue color theme gives you a clean and corporate web design. Orange and yellow are warm and friendly colors, Grey is cool, combining a Orange-Grey theme will give you a friendly and fun mood. Dark colors are also popular among many, because they easily matched other bright colors.

4-Maintain unity (Site’s proximity)

Web design unity consist of all the similar elements in the site alike and those diverse further apart, and pulls everything together into one integrated whole. Unity is achieved through the proper placement in your layout. You can implement this in many ways. You can, for example, adjust the layout of your elements to put them close or far away from each other. In the body of your page, you can change the spacing around the text in your page contents. You can further achieve unity by playing around the box properties and change the margins and padding.

Remember, your web site has only about 4 seconds to make an impression on the visitor. This means that if your web design does not grab their attention immediately, they won’t stick around. And if your web site does not offer something of benefit, they won’t bookmark it and they won’t come back (more on that later).

5-Apply KISS rule

Remember the golden rule; “keep it simple and short”. Don’t bombard your website just for the sake of adding the “glamour”. Instead, keep the content and the graphics simple and yet attractive. Many visitors often get lost somewhere in a “congested” webpage and never come back. The first glance at your website should tell your target audience that it does have all the “benefits” that he or she is looking for. Also, if you’re running a e-commerce website, make sure you adopt the “you” focused approach and put whole emphases on “benefits” your customers will get instead of the “features” your products has.

6-Entice your audience To keep your website ready and running, you have to give your visitors reasons to stay and browse your site, to bookmark your site so they can refer to it again and to tell others about your site so you can build new visitors. Three simple ways of doing this are:

i) Offer something valuable and interesting: e.g.

1. Newsletter / blogs / articles

2. Free tips / advise

3. Monthly coupons / discounts etc.,

ii) Good, quality Content

1. Put action into the words of your web site.

2. Remember, the Internet is made up of web pages and for the most part, pages are meant to be read.

iii) Easy to use web site navigation.

If visitors can’t get around easily on your web site, they won’t stay very long.

Adopting these simple but time-tested rules will not only give your website a true, professional look but would also draw more and more of your desired traffic to your pages.

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You might be thinking, CSS is just too complicated to use right now. But, I would suggest that the advantages to be gained from using CSS, not just for Google, are well worth the time invested in learning it.

why is it an advantage to use CSS for Google?

* CSS allows for smaller file sizes
* CSS allows you greater control of page structure
* CSS allows you to hide certain content from browsers while it still gets picked up by Google

CSS allows for smaller file sizes

By taking styles out of the HTML page and putting it into a standalone (imported) style sheet (.css file), you can reduce the overall amount of code in your web pages. Pages with less code have smaller file sizes and Google prefers pages with smaller file sizes (many other search engines do too). And smaller files mean faster load times, something that is also makes for a good user experience.

Though Google doesn’t offer specific advice on this matter, the search engine optimisation community is generally agreed that 100KB is a good upper limit for page sizes.

CSS allows you greater control of page structure

CSS allows you to structure your document according to HTML standards without comprimising the look-and-feel of the page.

Well structured pages are rewarded by Google, alas, many designers choose to ignore standards and guidelines as much as possible, because they (incorrectly) believe standards lead to bland pages. Using CSS, designers can create attractive pages with much flair, while adhering to the standards that make your pages easier to find.

CSS allows you to hide content from browsers while it still gets picked up by Google

Using CSS you can hide content from certain browsers in certain situations. For example you may have some content that you only want to appear in print, or you may want certain content to only be shown on screen and not in print (such as page navigation). The advantage is that Google will still index all of the content and you will still get the benefit that content brings.

Side Note About Browser Compatibility

Be aware that different browsers interpret CSS in different ways. Some old browsers can read them at all. So make sure your CSS is cross-browser compatable and that your HTML pages look adequate even without CSS.

If you’re interested in our company doing your Web Design for you. Visit our Web Design Services link.

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Link your data together.

Imagine Joe Furniture…

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Robot arm automates task.

Test Article

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SEO Search Engine Blocks

What most business people don’t realize is the importance of Search Engine Optimization.  They think all they need is a website and that’s it.  “If you build it they will come”.  Reality doesn’t always reflect “Field of Dreams”.

What Am I Missing?
SEO focuses on making the structure and content of your web pages more relevant, more attractive, and more easily read by search engines and their crawling and indexing software, as well as establishing an internet presence and making sure your target audience can find your business.

This is important because the content of your site and well as what other people are saying about it affects search engines results.  Where you rank on search results determine whether people will even find you.

What good is having a website if potential customers can’t find it?  Wouldn’t it be important for your customers to find your product, services, phone number or address?

All Flash
Just because you have a beautiful site, with a lot of style and Flash doesn’t mean people are going to find it.  A smart website also has substance and is structured so that it can easily be found.

“Wait a minute!” you say. “We have a beautiful web site, and we include the web site address in all advertising campaigns. Why would people be unable to find our site?”

Of course, your current customers would be likely to find your web site without difficulty.  But what about the people who have never heard of you?  Don’t you want them to find you based on what you do versus your company name?

Ask yourself this question.  How do search engines find your site? They find it based on the content of your site and what other people say about you.

Today more and more people are turning into the Internet for information.  The way your business markets itself on the Internet is vastly essential.

SEO helps your target customers find you.

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