I don't often get to see Viruses in the "wild" anymore - either that's because I'm snug and secure behind layers and layers of protection such as Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Firewalls and regular updates that prevent the nasties coming anywhere near my systems, or my constant whingeing reminders to friends, family and clients about the potential dangers of the Internet have sunk in and everyone I know is safe and sound. I think I know which one of those statements is actually true...

I was therefore surprised to come across my first experience of an Instant Messaging virus recently in Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger). A IM popped up from a friend asking me if I knew about these pictures - URL included for direct download. Suspicious, I googled on the exact phrase used in the IM and quickly realised that this was a Virus attempting to infect me by downloading a dodgy attachment.

I won't name the friend in question, but I've spoken to them directly only to hear "I'm having terrible problems with my computer" and realising that this must be the twentieth time I have told this individual that even with the best Anti-Virus in the world installed, spending your time downloading dodgy content from Peer to Peer sites will see you get infected again and again and again... Some people will just never learn I guess?

EDIT: Thanks to the always helpful Tim Long for mentioning an article on this exact sort of IM Virus.

A client today asked me if it was possible to have "predictive text" within Microsoft Word. What he was trying to do was start to begin typing a sentence he regularly types - say his address, "26 Thisisalong Street Name", but for Word to recognise he was typing this and fill the rest in automatically, saving his overworked fingers and reducing his risk of RSI! :-)

The solution I gave him was to use Word's AutoCorrect feature. If you're a Microsoft Word user, you'll have already seen Autocorrect. Try typing "tehm" (without the quotes) into Microsoft Word and you'll notice a squiggly red line appear under it. Right-click that line, and Word useful suggests that you may have actually meant to type "them" instead, correcting it for you automatically.

But as well as correcting mis-spelled words, AutoCorrect can be used to enter shortcuts for frequently used text:-

1. Open Microsoft Word and click the Microsoft Office icon found in the top left hand corner
2. Select "Word Options" from the bottom of the menu
3. Click "Proofing", then "AutoCorrect Options"
4. In the "Replace Text as you type" enter a shortcut - for example, I might enter #rt to automatically fill in the word "Richard Tubb"
5. Enter as many shortcuts as you like. When you are finished, click "Ok" to end

Voila! The next time you type your new Shortcut Code, Word automatically fills in the rest!

This can be handy for automatically entering long repeatedly used URL's, addresses, anything you don't like to type again and again!

I woke up suddenly around 0100 last night to the strangest sensation - the bedroom felt as though it was shaking. I sat up in bed to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but the wardrobe doors rattling loudly confirmed my suspicions... the end of the world was happening!

The GG slept soundly next to me, despite the room shaking around her. I called her name, gently at first, then loudly whilst trying to wake her - still she slept on. Then the room shaking stopped, the end of the world was seemingly postponed, and soon after I drifted back to sleep -  the GG undisturbed in the slightest by the whole event.

We woke this morning to find that the biggest Earthquake to hit the UK in almost 25 years shook homes across large parts of England last night, and the GG's response to not waking up during this seeming Ragnarok - "It's nothing compared to your usual snoring".

<Sigh>

Of course, all our client's IT systems are protected by UPS back-up's so not one server suffered any downtime during the power outages that occurred as a result of the Earthquake. So there you have it - Netlink IT Managed Services, protecting your critical systems from everything from user error to natural disasters. ;-)

Last week I helped a client who had recently upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007 from Microsoft Office 2003, but that noticed none of her old .MDI files were opening when she double clicked them.

If you've not heard of the format before - an MDI file is a Microsoft Office Document Imaging file - probably best thought of as something similar to Adobe Acrobat PDF files specifically for MS Office 2003 users who want to keep files in a static format.

The reason these .MDI files didn't appear to open under MS Office 2007 is that the MDI viewer for 2007 wasn't installed properly or load upon demand as it should do.

You can find out how to install the viewer so that you can open (and convert) your MDI files in Microsoft KB article 926198 entitled "An .mdi file does not open in the Microsoft Office Document Imaging program that is included in the 2007 Office programs". A few clicks later, those MDI files were opened and converted to .PDF for ease of future use on any PC. :-)

Some Friday fun - go take a look at www.beedogs.com

I'll quote the site's own description - "Beedogs.com is the premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes."

Therefore it's a site about Dogs...

... dressed as Bees.

Bee Dogs...

... dot com.

A huge thank-you to the World Wide Web for this and many other sites - the Procrastinator's greatest friend. ;-)

In my last blog posts, I talked about the 3rd Party applications you can run on your Windows Mobile device that will 1 - help you be more productive - and 2 - help you work remotely and get from A to B efficiently.

As promised, in the final look at my favourite Windows Mobile Apps I'll mention the "best of the rest" that I have installed on my T-Mobile MDA Vario II Windows Mobile device.

The MDA Vario II has Wi-Fi built into it, but the software for finding Wi-Fi signals that comes with the device is best described as "basic" at best. Aspecto Software's excellent WiFiFoFum is a much more mature  alternative which I regularly use to help me set up Wireless Access Points at client sites and to find free Wi-Fi signals when out and about. It provides a wealth of information on nearby signals including an excellent "Radar" mode which shows you in which location the signals are coming from! WiFiFoFum is free for personal use, although a donation of £10 is suggested to help support development, and costs a mere £10 to register for Commercial use. Bargain!

Ok - you've got a Windows Mobile Phone, but don't want to pay your network provider the frankly outrageous prices it charges for those call minutes. You'll therefore be needing a decent Instant Messenger and VoIP client. For IM, you can't go far wrong with Windows Live Messenger - which is now in the later stages of it's Beta trial. Simply point your mobile browser at http://mobile.live.com and sign on with your Live ID as you would on any Desktop PC. Most Windows Mobile devices come with an older built-in version of Pocket MSN which will also enable you to chat to your colleagues, friends and clients. For VoIP, I'm afraid to say that the SIP based clients I've used aren't up-to scratch yet - so my recommendation has to go to Skype Mobile, which gets better and better with each version I've used. I'd recommend using a hands-free kit or 'phone to ear-cable when using Skype in this way, rather than holding the 'phone to your ear in the traditional manner. I recently used Skype extensively in this way to make free calls from my Windows Mobile device in Europe (via a free Wi-Fi hotspot I'd found using WiFiFoFum!) back to the UK - result!

Now when out and about sight-seeing or partying, I generally carry my ageing but still sexy Pentax Optio S4 Digital Camera to help populate my Flickr account with dodgy snaps. But there are times when you just want to take a quick snap and you don't have your Digital Camera to hand. The MDA Vario II and similar devices have a 1.3 megapixel camera built in - hardly cutting edge, but ok for basic pics - but the built-in camera software is nothing short of appalling. Clumsy, slow - you'd be quicker doodling a quick impression of your intended photograph, rather than faff around with your 'phone to take a picture. To the rescue comes Ateksoft's Cool Camera, which can be used to replace the in-built Mobile Camera client and provide you with some useful facilities for making photographic life easier. You won't become the next David Bailey using your 'phone in this way, but you won't dread trying to take a quick snap with it either.

Browsing all those photos and files you store on your Mobile device can be a chore if you use the bog-standard File Explorer in Windows Mobile. Upgrade that to Advanced Explorer and make your life easier with features such as different view methods, easier cut/copy/paste, network/FTP browsing, ZIP file support, Registry editing and Recycle Bin use. You'll wonder how you coped without it.

Now - you've used your Sat-Nav to find your way to the pub, you've been in that pub all afternoon slaving away over your Windows Mobile device using the Remote tools we've mentioned to serve your colleagues and clients. You've taken a very tasteful photograph of yourself with the lovely pub barmaid and sent this picture to your friends via e-mail and Instant Messenger, using the free Wi-Fi you tracked down earlier. All that hard work surely deserves a break - so sit back and fire up Pocket Music to listen to a few MP3's. Sure, you could use the in-built Windows Media Player, but you want to play those bizarrely encoded Swedish folk-music tracks your friend just sent you, and WMP frustratingly doesn't want to do that for you. Pocket Music supports a whole swathe of formats that WMP doesn't, and has a much nicer interface to boot. There's also a free version! What are you waiting for?

Tired of listening to music? An IT Professional surely doesn't play games on his Windows Mobile Device, but if he did - he might want to take a look at 3D Mad Cars, Bejewelled 2 or Snails. They certainly beat the in-built Solitaire for wasting your time away.

Finally, cramming your Windows Mobile device with all these 3rd Party applications means that you'll be running out of storage space a lot quicker, and if you need to reset your 'phone to Factory Defaults during troubleshooting - you're in for a loooooong rebuild period reloading all those apps! You'd therefore be wise to invest in Dinarsoft's MemMaid, which run regularly on your Windows Mobile device will free up a simply amazing amount of storage space that would otherwise be wasted. Then, regular back your device up to both external storage (carrying a spare SDCard or other storage media with your latest backup on means you can recover your device to a working condition from just about anywhere in the world when disaster strikes) and/or your PC using the excellent Sprite Mobile Backup. The next time you need to recover your Mobile device from a critical failure, this software will have paid for itself by making the process a quick and trouble-free experience - taking you from a factory default device to all your data and applications in mere minutes.

So there we have it. We've covered a lot of Windows Mobile applications, and the good news is, there are thousands more out there for you to try! Go take a look at a site like Handango for more ideas. I hope this little look into the 3rd Party Applications that take up the storage space on my own Windows Mobile 5 device has been useful - if you have any recommendations to make about the software you use, please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail - I'd love to hear from you!

In my last blog post, I talked about some of the 3rd Party Windows Mobile Applications that could enable you to run your business from the pub to be more productive.

As promised, in this post I'll talk about some of the applications I use to work remotely and to get myself from A to B.

Top of that list of applications is... CoPilot Live. When I first moved from a PDA to a Windows Mobile Phone, I was dismayed to find that my favourite Satellite Navigation software, TomTom, did not work on my T-Mobile MDA Vario II. I had tried other Sat-Nav software in the past and never found anything to match TomTom in terms of ease of use and features.

Then I tried CoPilot Live and changed my allegiances instantly! With Postcode Searching, a Walk/Cycle/Drive navigation feature (handy for when you are strolling/riding around a City Centre), good POI's (Points of Interest) and all the other features you've come to expect from a decent Sat-Nav system, CoPilot gets a big thumbs up. In my mind though, the best feature is it's excellent "divert" facility. Let me give you a scenario. You're driving down the M6 Motorway and notice a traffic jam - do you take the exit to try and avoid the traffic, or take your chances and sit it out? When I used TomTom and hit the "Divert" button, it took me off the Motorway via the next exit, then down a country road, then down another country road and... I never saw the Motorway again! With CoPilot, you hit the "Divert" button and it smartly realises you want to miss out the next few minutes of your journey (i.e. the traffic jam) but get back onto the quickest route home again a.s.a.p. So CoPilot would take you via the exit off the Motorway, guide you through some country lanes, then put you back on the Motorway after the Traffic Jam for the quickest route home. Personally, this feature has saved me many a frustrating crawl through Traffic - so kudos CoPilot!

Many modern Windows Mobile devices (such as the T-Mobile MDA Vario III, which Andy Parkes owns) now come with GPS built-in, so no need for an external GPS receiver at all.

But as well as getting from A to B easily, the modern geek needs to be able to stay connected with both his clients and important web-sites (such as Facebook) - and to do this he or she will need a good web-browser on their Mobile device. Frankly, the version of Internet Explorer built in to Windows Mobile is basic. By basic I mean, it's rubbish... No Tabbed-Browsing, Poor Toolbar and all the features you'll find on your Desktop browser are missing. This is where Pocket IE Plus from ReenSoft comes in. PIEPlus isn't a replacement for IE on Windows Mobile, it's more of an enhancement to gives you access to many of the features, such as Tabbed Browsing, that you've come to expect from a modern web-browser. It also optimises content for your Mobile screen and feels much snappier in use. PIEPlus has a free 14-day trial so you can try before you buy.

Although I've not used it myself yet, I understand the latest version of Opera Mobile might be a very strong contender for best Mobile Browser too - so it's worth checking that out.

As for web-sites you may want to use when out of the office - the excellent remote control software LogMeIn works under Windows Mobile and has allowed me to remotely troubleshoot a clients server many a time. You wouldn't want to spend all day administering machines with it by any means, but it can be a life saver in a pinch. When enabled on your Exchange Server, Outlook Mobile Access (https://yourserver/oma) is also very useful if push-email isn't available to you. Finally, BBC News, Better Management and Facebook all have Mobile enabled versions of their sites that are essential for pretending to look busy with in quiet moments...

Quick tip - if you're finding your web-browsing on your Mobile device a little sluggish to get started when you open your browser, it may well be your ISP's poor overworked DNS servers at fault. Try changing your Windows Mobile Device (Start > Settings > Connections) to use the excellent OpenDNS servers and instantly see the difference it makes!

Finally, it's worth mentioning that many of the Microsoft Windows Live! services, such as Hotmail, Live Messenger and Live Spaces are available to access directly from your Mobile Device. Setting these services up is easy - simply get yourself over to http://www.gowindowslive.com/Mobile/Landing/Home/Default.aspx? and click the "Try it now" link in the top right hand corner to ask for the Live settings to be sent to your Mobile Device via SMS text message. Click the resulting link that arrives on your Windows Mobile Device and you're on your way!

Of course, when you're out of the office you don't have access to that highly secure filing system you use to store all the usernames, passwords and URL's you need to gain access to the various systems you administer. Time to chuck out those badly organised Post-It notes and scraps of paper, my friend, and move to KeePass!

KeePass (Keep Passwords Safe) allows you to store all those important details securely on your Desktop PC, but the beauty of this bit of software is that a Windows Mobile version of KeePass is also available. Make sure your KeePass Secure Password storage file is part of your Activesync Synchronised Files so that it is transferred to your Windows Mobile device regularly - install KeePass on your Windows Mobile device - and suddenly you have an upto date copy of all your important information to hand wherever you are!

In my next blog post, I'll take a final look at my favourite Windows Mobile apps and discuss the software I use to help me find Wireless Hotspots, chat for free, take photographs with my Windows Mobile Device, blog anywhere, and most important of all - have fun! :-)

In my last posting, I talked about the Windows Mobile platform. I've been using Windows Mobile devices for a few years now - starting with the old Dell Axim X5 and Dell Axim x50v PDA's, and now currently using the T-Mobile MDA Vario II for 12 months or more - the Vario II being a modern combined PDA and Mobile 'Phone unit.

The Vario II is a great device in day-to-day use. Using Windows Mobile 5, QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, built-in Wi-Fi, 3G Data - plus combine it with a T-Mobile "Web'n'Walk" Tariff and set it up to work with your Microsoft Exchange Server for Push E-Mail and you can happily wander down the pub without your laptop - confident you can be "productive" on your Mobile device whilst enjoying a pint of lager or two.

But start conducting your business from the taverns of the UK in this way, and you'll soon find the Windows Mobile platforms has shortcomings. Things work... but of a fashion. You get stuff done... but you can't help but feel there's a better way of doing things.

There is - and it involves beefing up your Device with a few 3rd Party Applications. Today I'll list my "Must Have" picks for improving your day-to-day productivity, and in my next couple of posts I'll list the best of the rest.

First off, you'll need more storage space than your device currently has. I'd recommend slotting a 1GB or 2GB SDCard (or equivalent storage media) into your device, and getting into the habit of installing your applications there. There's a lot to be said for installing apps directly to your device's main storage area - but in my experience, troubleshooting Windows Mobile crashing because it's run out of main storage space is not a fun experience...

Secondly, get your Credit Card ready. Whilst some of these apps are free, the majority aren't. Hey - you want regular updates, good technical support and new features? Splash the cash - the writers of these pieces of code need to make a living, just like you and I. The good news is most of this software comes from the good old US of A, and with the ridiculously poor state of the yankee Dollar, you can grab some really good deals buying directly in Colonial Currency. You'll generally find that Windows Mobile apps bought this way are just a few pounds each - barginous!

First on my list of "Must Have's" is... Pocket Informant. If you have a lot of contacts, have lots of appointments to attend, a To-Do list as long as your arm... or simply have the memory span of a goldfish (like me) - then Pocket Informant will save your skin many times over. PI is a replacement for Windows Mobile's own Contact, Task-List and Calendar - but it's much more than that. It makes finding in formation simple, so much so that I've found myself becoming a roaming Directory Enquiries for my Friends and Colleagues who I regularly get calls from asking "Do you have so and so's number on you?" or "Can you text me this address?". I need to start charging these people...

Next up is... Pocket Breeze. If you've got a Today screen that displays your name and the date... then you need this app to make the most of your Today real-estate. Pocket Breeze integrates with Pocket Informant (and many other apps) to show you at-a-glance your upcoming appointments, important tasks and a plethora of other information of your choice. It's highly customisable, and saves me minutes of digging through calendars and tasks lists every day.

Getting worried about the additional apps you're installing and how big your Start Menu is going to become? Then you'll next need... iLauncher.

iLauncher gives you a set of customisable tabs ("Productivity", "Games", "Internet", etc) where you can store shortcuts to all your apps and reach them in a just a couple of jabs of your digit. It can also display other information such as your Battery and Storage status. iLauncher also gives you a great way of managing your open apps - enabling you to minimise, close or re-open them easily. Finally, a great feature of iLauncher is the ability to make some shortcut icons larger than others - handy when you're driving in the car and want to open an app to view some data whilst your Mobile Device rests in the Car Holder on your Dashboard *and* keep an eye on the road. Not that I have ever used this dangerous act...

So that's your Diary, To-Do List, Contact List and Application Management covered - plus you've now got a Today Screen that screams "I'm important and busy!" (provided you don't let anyone see your 1615 appointment - "Watch Eastenders on TV with Bar of Chocolate") - in my next blog post I'll look at the applications I use on my Windows Mobile device to work remotely and get myself from A to B effectively.

The AMITPRO meeting at The Arden Hotel, Solihull on Tuesday night was a busy affair, with our largest turnout to date and a number of different speakers giving presentations.

EDIT: Andy Parkes has a write-up of all the presentations at his blog.

One of those speakers was Emily Lambert from Microsoft. Emily is UK Marketing Manager for Windows Mobile and not only gave a good presentation on the values of the Windows Mobile platform, but was quite open and honest about the challenges facing Windows Mobile as a brand.

The groups feedback to Emily included the fact that as IT supplier to small businesses, it was difficult to engage the Mobile Providers directly about their products - or indeed to find anybody at Mobile Providers who knew what they were talking about! Mention "Small Business Server 2003" or "Push email" to a typical O2 or Orange sales rep and they'll say with a puzzled look... "You mean a Blackberry?"

The subject of Blackberry came up more than once, with the general consensus being that the average businessman associates mobile working with Blackberry rather than Windows Mobile - and that a greater marketing push from Microsoft was needed for this to change. Emily explained the challenges facing her team in this specific area.

Emily also spoke about how Microsoft were taking steps to disseminate more information and "real world" practical advice on how to implement Windows Mobile in various scenarios through White Papers and on-line guides. Interestingly, Emily mentioned that one of the technical questions that she repeatedly hears asked is "How do I use a 3rd Party Certificate". Naturally, I couldn't help but take that opportunity to place a comedic and (admittedly very) clumsy plug with my comedy partner Paul Dadge for this very blog, pointing out I wrote about Using 3rd Party Cerificates in depth a few months ago on Tubblog. You can read that posting here.

Thanks to Emily (and to her colleague Emma Cockburn of Microsoft) for taking the time to visit us at AMITPRO - it was an interesting presentation and made for a good topic to discuss amongst the group.

Naturally, in the bar after the meeting, members of AMITPRO were all acting uber-geeky and comparing Windows Mobile devices. My old T-Mobile MDA Vario II device may be aging a little now, but some of the software I run on this Windows Mobile 5 device peeked interest from my fellow SBSC'ers. That in mind, I'll put together a few pointers on my favourite Windows Mobile applications in my next blog posting.

The next AMITPRO meeting is Tuesday 11th March, 2008. If you're interested in attending, do feel to get in touch for more details!

There's a fascinating show on Television at the moment, shown at 2pm each week-day on BBC Two.

The show is called "The People Watchers" and follows a series of secretly filmed "tests" where members of the crew test and sometimes manipulate the general publics reactions in different scenarios, followed by reaction and comment from an expert studio panel. This isn't done for comedy effect (although some of the reactions of the Guinea Pigs can be very funny!) but is done more to see how the majority of people will deal with awkward situations in a real-world environment.

My favourite example thus far was the long queue for a bank cash-point/ATM. The show was testing how people would react to others pushing into the lengthy queue. The first member of the TV crew that walked up to the front of the queue and pushed in without any excuse was - as you'd expect - promptly shouted at and told to sling his hook! But the next man who walked to the middle of the queue and asked the person if he could jump in as he was in a rush and had a "taxi waiting" was allowed to queue jump without argument! This strategy was taken to the next level when the next crew member walked up, jumped the queue and simply muttered to the man behind him "Excuse me, Badgers can't be trusted". He got away with his queue jump, as did subsequent attempts using a variety of bizarre mumbled excuses - proving that people will generally allow all sorts of behaviour provided it is covered by even the thinnest of excuses!

Another test involved seeing how long people would put up with waiting for a receptionist to pay attention to them when she obviously wasn't busy. Amazingly, some people waited 10 minutes plus and even watched as the receptionist walked out of the building after putting up a "Gone to lunch" sign!

If you've not seen the show, then I'd recommend setting your PVR for it - or you can watch some old episodes over at the BBC's iPlayer - simply pop "People Watchers" into the "Find Programmes" box.

There's a lot that can be learnt from observing people's reactions in this way, and making sure you are aware of general human psychology and common reactions can prove valuable in business. During a recent Conference Call (well worth listening to again via Karl's site) I heard SMB Guru Karl Palachuk and his guest mention the importance of assessing a potential employee's personality traits by using the DISC profile method. Where, for example, is the value in employing somebody to be a Helpdesk Technician that spends all day on the telephone chatting to end users, if that person has the sort of personality that generally loathes interaction with others - especially by telephone! That person may, however, make a great Network Operations Analyst or some other role that involves dealing with lots of technical detail and less talking to other people. A DISC profile is just one method of helping you effectively deal with this scenario.

I learnt a lot about myself when I took a DISC profile late last year and then had a coach talk over the results with me. As a result I have made some changes to my own day-to-day work patterns that have seen many benefits for me both personally and professionally. What's more, I now find myself trying to guess other people's profiles based on their behaviour - which can be genuinely useful when working out how to deal with a potential new client!

If you haven't taken a DISC profile but are interested in doing so, feel free to get in touch and I'll point you in the right direction.

I'm not going to tell you what type of personality type I am, but do feel free to guess - and please... do be kind... my profile says I'm not good with harsh criticism... ;-)