Three Bears IT Consultancy

Archive for June, 2009

For more years than I care to remember, Macromedia (now Adobe) Dreamweaver has been the de-facto development environment for web sites and web applications – if you don’t include Notepad or PFE for those die hard hand coding fanatics out there!

Now, the best said about Microsoft Frontpage the better. We’ve all seen those horrendous intranets where people went on a three day course and came back using all manner of flashing clip art and beautiful backdrops. Thankfully, Microsoft’s free new cut down version of Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition delivers much better results and is much more along the lines of Dreamweaver for those enthusiastic amateurs and hardened professionals.

Available as a download from http://www.microsoft.com/express/vwd/ Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition allows you to design you web site from either code, design or both – letting you make detailed adjustments to your web site, whilst also allowing you to view your design changes in real time. It’s well worth a look.

Also worth a mention is Aptana Studio, available at http://www.aptana.com/studio.  Aptana provides support for Ajax, PHP, Ruby On Rails, Python and Java.  We’re in the process of evaluating the software for our own use so have a look at give us some feedback if you love or hate it!

Three Bears IT and Inclusive Publishing have been searching the web and racking our collective brains to bring you the best that open source can offer in terms of office automation and web development applications to save you money on your software licences.

The first post is looking at web development, with subsequent posts to follow in the coming days.

Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 is the ‘free’ version of the popular document management system as bundled with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and is Microsoft’s entry level product to get you used to the feel and functionality of Sharepoint.

This version of Sharepoint would primarily be used to provide a more interactive and extended company intranet by allowing the development of add-on web applications and to also provide a basic document management system with basic workflow to begin the task of organising your documents from a random collection of folders on a file server into a more manageable environment.

If not already familiar to your users, WSS will help them become accustomed to a web based environment for data entry, reporting, etc and will provide a cohesive interface if your plan is to then migrate legacy systems into integrated web parts/applications.

Integration with Microsoft Office 2007 is much better than with 2003 and by all accounts the 2010 version of MOSS and Office should be even more so.  If you’re not running Office 2007, integration is manageable, but not ideal.  Office 2007 allows users to publish directly into Sharepoint from within Word, Excel, etc which makes it a much easier learning curve for those 20-30% of users who will find fault with the system even though they’ve been guided through the process, helped to agree functionality, but now flatly refuse to join in with the Mardi Gras atmosphere.  Sound familiar?

We know of some business and universities who have successfully used this and previous versions of the WSS offering to provide collaboration tools between internal and external partners, but if this is the route you’re taking then you’re better off choosing the full Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007.  WSS is a good way to cut your teeth on learning how to set up Sharepoint and may be suitable for small businesses who have very defined needs, but most companies will need the grown up rather than adolescent flavour of the system.

To download WSS, go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb400747.aspx

If you’d like us to assist with a Sharepoint project that you’re planning or are currently in the midst of then please contact us at enquiries@threebears.biz

Sister site, Inclusive Education, is currently redesigning it’s web site and hopes to implement a virtual learning environment to provide free access to Microsoft’s digital literacy resources.

Registered users will be able to access a variety of free resources to achieve a certificate after completion of five main areas:

Computer Basics
The Internet and the World Wide Web
Productivity Programs
Computer Security and Privacy
Digital Lifestyles

Each of the five areas takes between 2 – 3 hours to work through, so you can easily fit it around existing commitments.

The goal of Digital Literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Whether you are entirely new to computing or have some experience, this curriculum will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. From using the Internet, to sending e-mail, to creating a résumé, the Digital Literacy Curriculum helps you develop the essential skills you need to begin computing with confidence.

There are two versions of Digital Literacy. While there are minor changes to the content coverage between versions, the course titles remain the same. The primary difference between the versions is that the examples and screen shots in the original curriculum feature Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Windows XP, while Version 2 of the Digital Literacy Curriculum offers examples and screen shots from Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Windows Vista.

Inclusive Education will be offering both versions of the Digital Literacy course to support users on previous versions of Microsoft Office as well as those of us who have made the transition.

If you would like to register an interest in being contacted when this is up and running, please contact us at elearning@threebears.biz

For interested parties, we’ve uploaded copies of the Microsoft licence documentation and which institutions qualify for receiving computers under the terms of the programme.

Eligible Recipient Licence Agreement

Microsoft® Windows® Operating System Licensing Guide for Refurbished Personal Computers (PC)

Three Bears IT are always looking for new techologies which we can bring to the attention of our current and potential customers.  One such phenomenum doing the rounds at present is the notion of cloud computing with business and schools alike storing documents and images on third party services to provide peace of mind in terms of backing up critical files whilst also facilitating greater file sharing amongst remote workers.

We have a variety of packages available depending upon your specific requirements from business based collaborative workspace for users starting at just under £100 per year.

Please direct any enquiries through to storage@threebears.biz and we’ll contact you to identify your specific requirements and to set up your account.