Why is my email stuck?
Email has fast become an integral part of our daily lives. As such, no task remains more daunting than figuring out send/receive errors. Luckily, with very little technical knowledge you can equip yourself to overcome most common issues with a few easy steps.
This is what we call email trouble shooting – simplified.
Key Considerations for Choosing the Right Software
Our clients often ask us for guidelines to help them choose the right software for their business. There are so many products available today, each promising complete solutions to address every need in the office. Business practices will be streamlined and clients will come rushing in the door with XYZ software… right? Well, the answer is a firm maybe. There are some good mass-marketed programs that work for multiple business applications. But, will the one you choose meet your needs? The best way to answer that question is to create a "wish list."
To get the right product, you need to know what to look for – not in a brand or a version but in actual use. Before you begin software shopping, take a good look at current office practices. What is being done efficiently, and what procedures need a better system? Look at all the little things that are being done manually that could save man-hours by automating. This is the beginning of your wish list.
Key Considerations for Choosing the Right Software »
Customer Service: Go Daddy Style
When searching the market for any product, one can find a range from inexpensive to top-of-the-line. When considering the quality of that product, the old saying that you get what you pay for usually rings true. Here at ePolk, we are occasionally asked why our Web hosting fees are higher than those of big box sites such as Go Daddy.
At ePolk, the reason we enjoy strong customer loyalty is because we know firsthand that loyalty is a two-way street. We respect our clients’ needs for high quality technology service. We know that we have to meet high expectations every time and deliver outstanding customer service every time. When you call ePolk, you can reach the same person you spoke with before. We know you. You know us... and you know we are here for you every time. You get what you pay for.
Find Out What Ryan Had to Say »
Reading File Attributes in VB.NET without Third-Party Tools
Recently, while working on a program for a customer, I had to figure out how to read file-attributes of any specified file on a Windows-based computer. Of course, this was part of a brand new request and the task itself was something I’d never attempted before.
Originally, I thought, “Well, this can’t possibly be that hard” but as it turns out, I couldn’t find any examples online that didn’t involve using ActiveX or even Flash to do this. I found this rather ridiculous. So, the general public is telling me that I can’t call a native VB.NET function or built-in Windows service to simply read a file’s attributes? Honestly, I refused to believe that, so I started looking into things a bit more.
Reading File Attributes without Third-Party Tools »
It’s time to convert my Access query to a SQL view, what do I do now?
We have a client who runs a system ePolk created many years ago that uses an Access front end attached to a SQL backend. As with many of our systems, we link to SQL tables and then build local queries for reports and data processing. Over the years, as our client’s business grew, so did their data. And since their data has grown, so does the processing time. They contacted us to let us know that a form that originally opened instantly (or at least within a few seconds) was now taking a really long time. I timed it and it took almost two minutes! By stepping through the code, I found the culprit. The process was slowing down due to an append query which included three grouping sub queries.
Converting Access Querty to a SQL View »
Detecting Connection Speed in .NET Using jQuery
A recent web project called for the ability to detect a user’s connection speed to determine whether to serve low or high quality videos to the browser. After investigating some pricey third-party applications, we decided to come up with our own solution.
Our approach would involve displaying a large (over 1MB) image on a web page and recording the time between the browser initiating the call and the image being fully loaded.
In summary, here is how we accomplished this task using the jQuery framework:
- The user visits our Speed Test page.
- The Speed Test page is delivered to the browser from the server with a timestamp indicating when the page request was made.
- Once the large image contained on the Speed Test page is completely loaded, the page uses jQuery to make an asynchronous call to a remote page passing the original timestamp from step 2.
- The page that accepts the asynchronous takes the difference between the original timestamp and the server’s current time and calculates an approximate download speed.