The most recent Features from Incisive Media

Get better sound with Vista

Niall Magennis — 2009-07-03T10:00:00.000Z

Niall Magennis, Personal Computer World, Friday 3 July 2009 at 10:00:00

Take a tour round the inner-workings of Windows Vista’s audio controls

When it first launched, many people complained that audio support under Windows Vista was worse than under XP; audio glitches were common, especially when switching between applications or moving open windows around the desktop, and Vista even struggled to play an MP3 file.

The source of the audio woes was the total redesign of the way Vista handled audio. Microsoft had been dismayed by the number of crashes caused on its previous operating systems due to problems with audio drivers.

It took the issue so seriously that by default it turned off the audio stack in Windows Server 2003.

Its plan for Vista was to avoid these issues by removing much of the audio functionality from the operating system’s kernel. The advantage of this is that if the audio system collapses it doesn’t drag the whole OS down with it.

The disadvantage was that existing drivers needed to be rejigged to work.

The new audio system is quite complex because it involves a new driver format called WaveRT (see the last page of this feature), three new APIs, plus the use of Vista’s Multimedia Class Scheduler Service (MMCSS).

The MMCSS allows applications to request high-priority processing from the CPU when working on time-sensitive processes such as playing audio – audio data needs to arrive in sequence and on time to the soundcard to avoid gaps and glitches in playback.

It didn’t help that the WaveRT driver specification underwent significant revisions just before the final version of Vista was released. This late change meant some early drivers were written to the older specification rather than the newer version; it’s this that caused some of the glitches.

SP1 tweaks

Microsoft made some tweaks to the audio system with the release of Service Pack 1 for Vista and this, combined with newer drivers from manufacturers, seems to have cured many of the audio problems.

If you’re still experiencing problems, our advice is to first make sure you’ve installed Service Pack 1 and all the other latest operating system updates, and second to make sure you’ve upgraded your soundcard’s or soundchip’s drivers to the latest version available.

You should be able to find the latest drivers for your card by visiting the support section of either your card or computer manufacturer’s website.

While these audio problems are annoying, they are to be expected when a new audio architecture is introduced.

Apple had similar, if less extreme problems, when it moved to its Core Audio system with the switch to OSX and many of us can remember similar driver issues with the move from Windows 98 to XP.

The new audio technologies added to Vista haven’t all been a disaster. As well as the update of the underlying audio system, Microsoft has made some useful tweaks to how the volume control panel works and added some neat audio tools and effects.

But while these updates have been far more successful, many people either don’t know they exist or don’t understand how to use them. So let’s take a look at them in more detail.

One of the most basic, but useful features is the mixer control panel. In previous versions of Windows the mixer panel only allowed you to control hardware volume – the level of your soundcard’s audio output or the level of the output from your soundcard’s onboard synthesiser.

In Vista, Microsoft has changed this to allow you to control individual audio streams from different applications.

For example, when you’re listening to music in Windows Media Player you can turn down or mute the volume of the email alert in Outlook so you don’t hear a ‘ping’ if an email turns up midway through a music track.

To access the application mixer click on the speaker icon in the taskbar and then click on the mixer link at the bottom of the Device volume slider.

This will open a new mixer panel with faders to control the individual volume levels of each open application.

The main volume control now includes an integrated volume meter that rises and falls in green along the length of the device mixer panel.

This can act as an aid in troubleshooting audio problems; if you can see the meter moving up and down then Windows is producing audio, the fault must lie with some other elements of your audio system.

Hidden gems

Some of the more interesting audio tweaks are a bit more elusive because they’re not supported by all sound chips and soundcards.

Whether you can access them or not will depend on the driver that your soundcard manufacturer provides.

Most built-in audio solutions support many of these tweaks, but as far as we can tell many drivers for dedicated cards, such as those from Creative, don’t.

To check whether you can use them click on the Start Menu, select Control Panel and then click Hardware and Sound.

Next click on the Sound link and in the window that appears select the Speakers icon under the Playback tab and then click on Properties.

If your soundcard supports the new features you’ll see a tab called Enhancements. The new features include Bass Boost, Virtual Surround, Loudness Equalization and Room Correction.

Bass Boost is designed to be used with speakers that lack a subwoofer. It boosts the lowest frequencies that can be played by your speakers and removes low frequencies below that level.

Settings to control the cut-off point and the boost level are included.

Loudness Equalization is a volume levelling control to equalise the overall volume of your computer’s audio output, so you don’t have to constantly turn the volume up and down to adjust for differences in the level between music tracks or for adverts when you’re watching TV on your computer.

Virtual Surround takes a stereo audio feed, say from a music track, and converts it to multichannel audio for output on a surround-sound system.

Room correction is by far the most interesting of all the new enhancements since it’s a feature that has only previously been available on really high-end surround-sound audio systems.

Essentially it can tweak the audio being sent to your surround-sound speakers to not only adjust for the position of the listener, but also to compensate for the acoustics of the room.

To use it, all you have to do is hook up a microphone to your PC and then place it where you usually sit when you listen to your surround-sound speakers.

You then run the Room Correction wizard, which will play some sound through your speakers while listening to the results via the microphone.

It individually tweaks the output of each speaker for volume, delay and frequency response to give you the best possible listening experience; you will, however, need a good-quality microphone to get good frequency response readings.

The value of this really shouldn’t be underestimated – some people have spent thousands of pounds on hi-fi systems that don’t have the same level of functionality as Vista’s Room Correction feature.

Vista still has its problems with audio, but at least Microsoft finally seems to be getting on top of these issues while at the same time coming up with some innovative new features for us to play with.

How WaveRT can help with time-critical tasks

Many people seem confused by the WaveRT driver format, especially as not all soundcards seem to support it or need to support it.

WaveRT is part of the audio system overhaul Microsoft has carried out on Vista and is a new port driver format that was designed to offer low latency performance (ie low delay) for time-sensitive audio tasks such as recording and playback in audio sequencers.

It works in conjunction with the three new audio APIs, as well as the new Multimedia Class Scheduler Service, which allows multimedia applications to ask for priority service from the system’s CPU when they’re running time-critical tasks.

WaveRT can be seen as the new ‘native’ audio driver format for Vista. However, to work under Vista an audio card doesn’t have to use a WaveRT driver. In fact, most currently don’t.

Instead they can use an MME or WMD driver. The difference is that under Vista, the APIs these drivers use are re-routed to use the three new audio APIs, so essentially the drivers are working in an emulated mode.

It’s also worth noting that WaveRT is designed solely for use with PCI and PCI Express audio cards and chips (onboard chips interface with the system via the PCI/PCI Express bus).

This means that all USB and Firewire sound devices that don’t come with WaveRT drivers at the moment look like they never will. That said, you never know what the final version of Windows 7 might bring.

CA Investigates: Phonepayplus and premium-rate phone lines

Dinah Greek — 2009-07-03T10:00:00.000Z

Dinah Greek, Computeractive, Friday 3 July 2009 at 10:00:00

How are premium-rate phone lines regulated?

Premium-rate phone lines generate enormous income for companies. They are used to sell goods and services and the cost is charged to phone bills and pre-pay phone accounts.

Services range from content and services for mobile phones, to telephone voting so viewers can interact with their favourite TV programmes.

According to analyst Frost and Sullivan, revenue in Europe was €2.68bn last year. In the UK alone nearly £1bn was spent on phone-paid-for content and services.

But as consumers have found out to their cost, this market is littered with companies whose practices are, to say the least, dubious.

Common complaints include the practice of surreptitiously signing people up to expensive subscription services for ringtones or games that drain mobile phone accounts.

More recently we have seen the fiascos surrounding competitions and voting call lines run by broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV.

So who should consumers complain to if they feel they have been ripped off?

Ofcom and Phonepayplus

Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom is the statutory communications regulator that has overall responsibility for the regulation of premium rate services (PRS).

However, Ofcom decided in December 2007 that an independent regulator, Phonepayplus, would act as the agency that carries out the day-to-day regulation of the PRS market on its behalf.

Phonepayplus was set up in 1986 as Icstis by the telecommunications industry to protect consumers from unfair trading practices.

It does not receive any Government funding and the money to run the agency comes from a levy on service providers (companies that sell services or content). This is collected by network operators such as BT and O2.

From time to time its income is supplemented by money from bank interest and fines or administrative charges collected from service providers who breach Phonepayplus' Code of Practice (CoP).

How does it work?

This code sets out rules that all providers of phone-paid services must comply with. This includes clear and accurate pricing, honest advertising and appropriate promotions.

As a general rule, Phonepayplus will only deal with complaints about services operating on 09, 118 and mobile short codes (five-digit text numbers).

It also does a lot to try to stamp out urban myths – such as scams suggesting that fraudsters are luring consumers into calling a premium-rate number that will cost them £50 a minute.

In reality no premium rate service can cost more than £1.50 a minute and for those there is a £30 maximum charge.

However, each operator has its own tariffs so the final charge could be slightly more – ie each minute would cost £1.50 from a BT landline but slightly more using another phone service.

Calls made from mobiles may be significantly more expensive. For calls costing less than 60p per minute there is no cut-off total.

If a consumer has a complaint about a service or the amount they have been charged, Phonepayplus has made it easy to complain. The consumer can visit the agency’s website and make a formal complaint in three ways.

There is an online complaint form, or a free helpline at 0800 500 212, which is open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively people can write to at Phonepayplus at Freepost WC5468, London SE1 2BR.

If you want to check a number on your bill, the number checking service on the website identifies the service operating on the number, the company providing it, if the service is under investigation for any reason and any action being taken.

Phonepayplus has also set up a website called Phonebrain aimed primarily at children, some of the biggest consumers of paid-for mobile content.

The site explains what phone-paid-for content is and how to avoid running up unnecessary bills. There is also a section for parents and teachers.

Getting your money back

Phonepayplus will look at the information the consumer supplies to assess if there has been a breach of its CoP. If it looks like a company has broken the rules, the agency will begin a formal investigation.

This can take up to 12 weeks. When these investigations are completed a report is presented to the Phonepayplus Board which will reach a decision on the case.

If it decides its CoP has been breached, the company running the service must immediately make necessary changes to the service or its promotional material.

It may also stop the firms from running certain types of services, impose a fine up to a maximum of £250,000, and order valid refunds to be paid to the complainants.

If it does not order refunds it is up to the consumer to get these on their own. Phonepayplus advises consumers to write to the firm supplying the content – not mobile phone operator – to ask for a refund.

Web seminar: SMEs and surviving the recession

Damian Wild — 2009-07-02T18:54:00.000Z

Damian Wild, Accountancy Age, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 18:54:00

Our experts discuss what steps small businesses need to take to make it through recession and find funding

Is a lack of access to funding the number one issue for SMEs today?

Stephen Alambritis, head of public affairs, Federation of Small Businesses

It has been very tough from October last year, right through to mid-April. Access to money is key for those small businesses; access to money to survive, to improve cash flow, to get over these very, very difficult times. You have the lethal cocktail of trade down and costs up, so it has been a huge issue.

Things are improving; banks are beginning to relent and relax. But it’s been slow. The average age of a bank manager is 44. They haven’t been through a recession before and were very concerned for their own position, let alone helping out small businesses.

We estimated 36,000 small businesses would close through out the whole of 2009, so it was not as bad as the early 90s. In 1992 I believe 52,000 small businesses closed, so I guess a number of small businesses are dipping in to their war chest. In October of last year they used up £900m rather than go to the bank because they were concerned about flagging a problem with their bank manager.

We want to get to the situation where viable small businesses get the money they need. Almost 90% of small businesses are locked into the four major high street banks. That’s why the relationship is important and that’s why it’s got to be at its optimum for the good of the economy. When that relationship breaks down, we all suffer, so hopefully we should be on a road to a good relationship now between banks and small businesses.

What are the tools SMEs need to survive the recession?

Steve Priddy, technical policy research director, ACCA

One wonders to what extent banks have failed to lend simply because their own internal commands that control their procedures are not set down. We’ve had to go through a lot of pain and business owners have to rebuild this confidence. Certainly our members are finding that they are a trusted confidant and they are the ones who are helping to put together business plans, helping with all the management accounting and helping to put together all the things you need to run a small business well.

We know that good business owners treat financial records and financial management accounting with the seriousness that it needs. It’s not there as a luxury but to help you steer your way through. The fact that you file a set of accounts is the end of quite a significant process which is a very valuable and important one.

What’s interesting is that we have lived through this nice decade, with no inflation and constant expansion, and perhaps all of us have become a bit flabby about the things that we should have been doing.

The audit profession is talking about the difficulty of going concern and evaluation. That’s always been around and it’s always been the responsibility of the board to ensure their business is going to be around for the foreseeable future. Similarly, it’s always been the case that credit insurers need a lot of information about the business.

It’s the same with the access to finance. You’ve got to have cash collection processes in place and you’ve got to follow them through. There is significant evidence that there is a fraction of the SME sector that is doing ok because they’ve had these processes in place and they’ve been following them through. They will be the ones that weather this storm.

How can banks and credit insurers move from using historical information alone?

Martin Williams, managing director, Graydon UK

The recession came on us so quickly and violently it caught banks and credit insurers on the hop. They’re using normal information channels that they both use to assess credit risk. But looking at the normal channels wasn’t good enough. How many risks were out there that they didn’t understand?

When you’ve got that fear in place you’re going to get jittery and probably start to pull cover in many more places than you should do.

When it comes to trade credit insurers there’s been a pulling of trade insurance cover, not just affecting SMEs but affecting big companies as well. I think we’ve seen the worst of the pulling of cover; the cover’s already been withdrawn in most cases, I don’t see too much more cover being pulled from the position that they’re in today.

The credit insurers have really got to re-examine the models that they’ve used for many, many years. We’re entering a new era of transparency. Transparency of financial performance, for example, has always been the case in exchange for limited liability. It’s always been part of corporate reality.

In this era, this fast moving economic situation we’ve had in the last year, people have begun to question the validity and usefulness of this so-called ‘historical’ information at Companies House.

That historical information is still extremely useful and I’m not advocating the closure of Companies House.

What I think we have discovered in the recent months is that there has got to be a need for more up-to-date information in this economic environment. Credit insurers and banks have every right have always had the right to ask for management accounts information. They’ve done it for decades, it’s just within the last six months or so it’s been done on a grand scale, that’s the difference.

Up-to-date management information if you can believe in it and capture it in a structured way is the breakthrough I think people are looking for in the credit-granting world. And we’re working on that.

Chaired by Damian Wild

Equality: breaking through

Bernadette Pritchard — 2009-07-02T18:50:00.000Z

Bernadette Pritchard, Accountancy Age, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 18:50:00

Has the glass ceiling been broken and are partners now appointed purely on merit?

Rightly or wrongly, the accountancy profession is still hung up on the issue of women in partnership.

Although the number of female partners is increasing, Accountancy Age’s Top 50 survey revealed that the average percentage of female partners in the 50 top firms is still just 11.9% up from 10.9% last year. This may explain why many people, particularly those outside the profession, still believe there is a glass ceiling in place.

There have certainly been significant changes in accountancy since I entered the profession in 1995.

When deciding on a career in accountancy I was not aware of the glass ceiling issue and it did not occur to me for a second that being a woman would have a negative impact on my career. When deciding which firm to train with I was not swayed by diversity polices; I knew I wanted a mid-tier firm where I could gain varied experience and advance quickly if I performed well.

My intake was divided fairly evenly between men and women and, when I joined the firm, there was a good representation of females across all departments, although there were no female partners. The long-running debate over the lack of women in partnership may still deter some female graduates or lead them to place too much emphasis on diversity policies. I was qualified for two years before the firm had any female partners, but I never felt there was a barrier to women progressing.

After qualifying I became an audit manager in 2000 and subsequently decided that I would stay in private practice. I was aware that there was an opportunity to progress quickly at haysmacintyre and my expectation was that, if I proved I was right for the role, and there was a business case to be a partner, there would be no reason why I should not expect partnership in a short timeframe.

A first

When I became partner in 2006 there was only one other female partner and I was the first woman to be internally promoted to that level. The firm has a relatively high proportion of female partners (21%) although it is easy to place too much significance on this.

We have a comparatively high number of female partners simply because, in the last three years, the best candidates for partnership have been female. We have promoted the best people for the roles and it would be unfair to suggest it has been driven by corporate social responsibility or trying to manufacture a particular reputation for the firm.

While the number of female partners will always be monitored and probably continue to make headlines for a few years, diversity will never influence the decision to promote an individual to partner. It has to make sense for the firm as a business.

As long as the glass ceiling is still perceived to exist there will be interest in the number of female partners at the Top 50 firms.

It is difficult to know whether diversity or the number of female partners specifically is an issue for prospective clients. I work with corporate clients from a range of sectors, including manufacturing, property and financial services, all of which have traditionally been male-dominated.

Many of the clients I advise are male, but it has never been an issue either for them or for me. Although I have had positive comments from some who have noticed that we have a good representation of women in the partnership, I would be surprised if it was a factor for prospective clients. Above all, clients want high-quality, cost-efficient service, and for that they need the right people. Whether they are male or female is irrelevant.

The fact that the number of female partners is increasing must be reassuring for female graduates and other women considering a career in the profession. I’d like to think that the success of female former trainees at haysmacintyre in the last three years we have seen four admitted to the partnership acts as an incentive for the other female staff here.

Certainly the number of female partners we have reinforces the fact that, if you are good enough, you will progress regardless of gender. The firm’s willingness to fast-track strong individuals has been a factor in more women becoming partner in recent years it is possible to make the jump in as little as nine or ten years.

However, it is worth pointing out that reaching the top of their profession as soon as possible is not necessarily every person’s goal, male or female. In any career or profession, women in particular face a trade-off; family versus career. Of course it is not one at the expense of the other, but an extended time away from work, whether you are male or female, will have an impact on your progression in the short-term.

Ability alone

The ongoing debate about the glass ceiling can leave a bitter taste, as there is the inference that women who have reached the top have been assisted in some way. Partners need to be promoted on ability alone if we are to continue to service clients and grow our business.

With the number of female partners increasing across firms of all sizes, it is starting to look like the glass ceiling was a generational problem which will continue to be eroded over time. I would be surprised if women entering the profession now genuinely think their gender may be an issue for them in progressing in their chosen career. As is quite often the case with trends like this, change can be a long time coming but once it does come it can accelerate very quickly.

Bernadette Pritchard is a partner at haysmacintyre

Leadership: you'll never be top dog

Paul Bridle — 2009-07-02T18:44:00.000Z

Paul Bridle, Accountancy Age, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 18:44:00

So you think you’d be a great leader – think again

Sometimes I think that the world is divided between the people who make things happen and those that account for it. I know it is an over simplification but all the personality assessments, type indicators and their like break us into four types: the pragmatic, the analytical, the amiable and the extrovert.

Analytical personality types make great accountants. Conscious of the minute details and focused on ensuring that everything is accounted for. They check and re-check everything; analysing all possible outcomes; each possible permeation; things that can go wrong; things that can go right... And basically, because of this attitude they appear totally boring to the rest of us.

Unkind, unfair, unjustified I hear you cry! Maybe but only just. The analytical can’t be two things at once. They are unable to be an extrovert and an analytical, which means they don’t make good sales people.

In addition to this damning description, they typically aren’t good at getting people fired up or excited, which means they tend not to be good leaders. It is simply not part of who they are, their individual make-up, the DNA of their personality.

2+2 is always 4

Ultimately accountants are too focused on the details to be fun or dynamic. One and one is two, and that is that, the question is answered and that is all there is to it.

Of course, the exception proves the rule and the occasional accountant can make two plus two equal 22 if they position it right on the page, but that glimmer is as far as they go. Some people will argue that the best accountants get creative with tax issues but the truth is far from creativity, they are merely following or exploiting a set of specific rules.

At this stage you could be forgiven for thinking that I am against accountants or analytical people. Far from it in fact the world would be a terrible place if the analyticals, and accountants in particular, were not ther e filling a very important role. We need people that will focus on the detail and follow through to the end when the extrovert and amiable have got bored and moved on.

And most of all we need them because their absence would mean no grounding to ensure liquidity within organisations.

Mechanics don’t fly the planes

In the same way that I would not employ an extrovert to be an accountant, an accountant does not make a good salesman or leader for that matter. When I hear that the CEO has been fired and an accountant is put in charge of a company that is in trouble or on the verge of bankruptcy, I groan (and dump any stock I might have left) because I hear the last nail of the coffin being driven home.

I can hear you cry out in response: ‘The company is failing because the CEO has been negligent and not heeded the advice of the CFO!’ That is a strong argument and might be true in many cases but that does not mean the ideal replacement is the CFO. Imagine an aeroplane. The mechanic that maintains the engine is not necessarily going to be the best pilot. He can tell the pilot how to fly to get the best out of the engine but that does not mean he knows how to fly.

Know your place

Accountants hold a very valuable position and are key to ensuring that a business stays healthy, a fact that should never be underestimated and always valued. The accountant should bring the balance to the leader, much like the mechanic balances the pilot. The leader and pilot rarely see everything in logical figures, which is why they see the opportunities and the best way to make the most of the situation.

Typically an accountant is unable to see anything from a different perspective unless it involves facts based on logic. The leader on the other hand is required to see the intangibles that simply do not make sense at face value. The leader sees the human perspective and the need to think beyond the simple equations of people pitching up and doing what is expected.

When seeking to expand a business, the leader will see the opportunities and the accountant will bring the leader down to earth to face the realities. One without the other is like a pilot without a mechanic. The very best companies are those that have the perfect balance of a pragmatic CEO and an analytical accountant/CFO and both value the input of the other. When both see each other as a vehicle to understand things from a different perspective you have a force to be reckoned with.

May we always have the balance of good accountants and good leaders. May we never fall into the trap of thinking that one is more important than the other. They are both as valuable as the heart and lungs are to the human body.

Spot the difference

An accountant sees a cost and seeks to reduce it.

A leader may well see how to double the output from the same costs.

An accountant will see the need to reduce overheads and retrench people.

A leader will consider the impact that has on others and how to achieve the reduction in a way that does not de-motivate people.

Type cast

The Pragmatic is typically your CEO or Entrepreneur, someone who thinks strategically and is out there trying new things.

The Extrovert is the salesman, always excitedly trying to get people to buy his or her wares and services.

The Amiable is the person that gets things done in a slow and methodical way – but it is a way that is comfortable to everyone.

The Analytical is the person doing all the analysis and making sure all I’s and T’s are crossed before moving on.

Paul Bridle is a leadership methodologist and managing director of Bridle International

Sole practitioners: the revolution is underway

Ron Goldsmith — 2009-07-02T18:40:00.000Z

Ron Goldsmith, Accountancy Age, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 18:40:00

From outsourcing to deals with multi-partner firms, there is a revolution underway in the world of the sole practitioner

Many sole practitioners are from the baby boomer generation. On qualifying, they were authorised to undertake most activities requiring on behalf of their clients, whether it be an audit or a tax investigation. Even insolvency was covered by the original qualification.

Over successive years there has been increasing legislation from the government and ever tighter restrictions placed on the profession by the various institutes and more rules introduced. This has narrowed the work that can be undertaken by an accountancy practice let alone a sole practitioner.

The end result is that a multi-partner firm of a reasonable size has been able to cope with the changes, designating partners to undertake various roles. Not so the sole practitioner.

Sole practitioners are the biggest single group in the country and far outnumber the number of multi-partner firms. The vast majority operate from either a home environment or a high street or suburban offices. One of their great joys is the ability to make decisions without referral (whether good or bad) and to run their own business.

The downside to that is that whatever happens in that office is their responsibility. This can be everything from being the money laundering officer to fixing computers.

Traditionally, the sole practitioner has undertaken very similar work to the multi-partner firm and would pride themselves on the ability to undertake audits and to differentiate themselves in this manner from the non qualified firm around the corner. Up to now the vast majority have not appeared that different from partners in a multi-partner firm.

Times are changing, and a trend that started a few years ago is gathering pace. Older accountants want to dispose of their remaining audits, and we received requests to place them with another local multi partner firms. But they want to retain control of the client, and only pass on the audit work.

Some fees are sold outright, some are managed jointly. Also one or two of the older practitioners decided not to renew professional qualifications with their appropriate institute as it was deemed to have little or no advantage. The underlying truth behind this was that they did not want practice assurance visits.

The sole practitioner of the future will be different. The role of the new-age sole practitioner will be to assist a client’s business to grow and manage itself in a profitable and secure manner. The client will feel the comfort of knowing that he has many choices by going to the sole practitioner and that a search has been undertaken to ensure he has been directed to the most appropriate service.

Clearly, this does not suit everyone, but there are enough businesses out there that want the support of a sole practitioner and not the anonymity of a multi-partner or multi-director firm. The opportunity exists for a sole practitioner to create a very substantial personal business, but on a different basis. The demand is there from accountants who wish to be sole practitioners, and from clients.

Another big change is the increasing prevalence of outsourcing. Many practitioners have now taken advantage of cheaper accounts production abroad and this has given some the opportunity to reduce direct employment costs and commitment.

There has always been a demand from clients for a sole practitioner to look after them personally. Going to a multi-partner firm has meant that they may just be one of many, and does not have the same priority that he could potentially receive from the sole practitioner. Whether this is true or imagined is a different matter. Commercial businesses tend to enjoy a very close relationship with a sole practitioner.

Partners in larger practices fail to see the attraction of being a sole practitioner, but it is true the other way around. Sole practitioners do not see the point of having partners who can interfere in the way they run the business.

But the (near) future role of the sole practitioner will be to introduce the client to a multi-partner or multi-director firm who can undertake this work on their behalf on an economic basis and leave the sole practitioner free to give general advice to the client.

The advantage to the client is that the sole practitioner will know who is best at which type of work and can introduce the client to the most appropriate source for the audit. This is a major change for the profession, as sole practitioners have steered clear of multi-partner firms, fearing the competition. We believe this will move to co-operation.

The client hand-holding model will grow and develop between sole practitioners, their clients and multi-partner firms. Bookkeeping work may well still be undertaken by the practitioner but could even be outsourced to a cheaper alternative abroad.

Corporate finance is another area of interest. While the sole practitioner is, in theory, capable of dealing with the issues, there is normally no capacity in terms of staffing to deal with client requirements. Clients requiring specific areas of expertise will refer to the sole practitioner, who will then guide the client appropriately. This started with insolvency and financial services, and we can well see it growing. Most make referrals, and the sole practitioner is therefore ensuring a client is referred to someone that can be trusted.

Currently, the sole practitioner does not look that different from a multi-partner firm in most areas. The average sole practitioner turning over somewhere between £200,000 and £400,000 a year.

The majority of sole practitioners largely do everything for the client, and have a small staff to assist generally with the bookkeeping issues, payroll, tax returns etc. They are however just support services for the main act.

Taking a snap shot of the past shows us an accountant with £300,000 of turnover working from a suburban office. Several members of staff, some part time, and files everywhere. The accountant working up to a 12 hour day, staff considerably less. They are the anti-money laundering officer, the bookkeeper, the client carer, absolutely everything.

Move forward a few years and the accountant will be in front of his laptop. He will be referring clients on to appropriate sources and even attending meetings himself in order to give the client comfort. How this will all be charged for is an issue for another day.

The virtual sole practitioner can now operate from anywhere, with minimal overheads and maximum benefit from being able to spend most of their time looking after client needs not government and institute requirements.

These are exciting and challenging times, and while the traditional model has worked well with the baby boomer accountants, the next generation coming through are not expected to go down that route. They are essentially only interested in looking after quality clients and making sure the service they introduce them to are perfect for their requirements and charging properly for that service.

Again, up until recently there has been little contact between sole practitioners and multi partner firms. We believe that this will change and we are already seeing the seeds of change taking root.

Look to the future

Just to take a step forward in time, the sole practitioner may not even require an office. They may not even require staff.

Given modern technology, the accountant can work from virtually anywhere. The client comes to the accountant for advice on the audit, and the sole practitioner introduces him to the local firm, or outsourcing unit, specifically created to undertake audits.

The accountant will ensure that the bookkeeping work is undertaken properly. This may well be outsourced to India or wherever is appropriate at that time. The client needs some advice on tax or financial services. The accountant will take him along to the appropriate source for that.

This model would mean that the accountant can reduce considerably fixed and variable overheads, and there will be less of a limit on the amount of turnover that can be handled. The sole practitioners will be there to give solid and reliable business advice to the client, while drawing in the expertise from other areas to support that advice.

Multi-partner firms

Changes are afoot for multi partner firms. Over the next few years we will see a fall in the number of firms.

Those that will remain will be much larger and will be all things to all men with regard to the client requirements. The core of the practice will be accounts production and audits and will have their own separate businesses covering financial services, corporate finance, computer requirements etc.

Whatever the client wants, it should be available from that practice

Ron Goldsmith is managing director of the Goldmiths Group

Profile: Elizabeth Rumsey, Virgin Galactic's FD

David Jetuah — 2009-07-02T18:12:00.000Z

David Jetuah, Accountancy Age, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 18:12:00

While Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic team chase the dream of making space exploration affordable for all, FD Elizabeth Rumsey is keeping theIr financial feet firmly on the ground

Space is the ultimate unexplored territory, and just a lucky few will get to see the majesty the Earth laid out below them – from a height of 65 miles above sea level.

But with every major project, there has to be someone tasked with keeping its financial feet firmly anchored to the ground and Virgin Galactic’s FD Elizabeth Rumsey has the ultimate responsibility.

At 30, Rumsey is one of the youngest FDs ever to grace the pages of Accountancy Age, but her relative youth masks her undenied pedigree in the business world. Her ultimate boss, Richard Branson thought enough of her to pick her brains for advice on a takeover deal one Saturday night when she had her feet up in front of the TV.

‘It was quite surreal. The phone rings. Richard is on the other end and he says:’I’m terribly sorry to trouble you, but what do you think about this deal?’ recalls Rumsey.

With Virgin already investing more than $100m (£60m) in a period where cash is tight even for global powerhouses, Rumsey provides a snapshot of the steely determination she brings to the job: ‘Sometimes an FD has to be the bad guy. Developing a spaceship is very expensive. You just have to say this is what you have to work with.’

Fittingly, Virgin Galactic has its offices on Half Moon Street in Piccadilly and the place is festooned with scale models of Spaceship Two, the vehicle which will carry those who have paid the $200,000.

Spaceship One was a prize-winning design, which evolved into number ‘Two’.

Rumsey, an M&A specialist with previous posts at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Casenove, recalls taking charge as the capital markets almost imploded after the investment banking giant’s collapse.

‘I joined in September 2008 in the worst possible conditions. I was amazed when Lehmans went down.

The thing that was slightly surprising is that it wasn’t the type of bank that would hold things off-balance sheet.’

Despite the difficulties afflicting the financial services industry, Rumsey has her own challenges to address.

Not yet a qualified accountant, Rumsey is dealing with the intricacies of accountancy on the fly as she works towards a CIMA qualification.

‘Obviously it’s challenging. This is a project trying to do a very very complicated thing, but I am loving it. With hindsight I wish I had completed the CIMA qualification by the time I started.’

Virgin Galactic Limited is the UK parent company for the project, but there is also the US subsidiary, TSC LLC, to factor into any equation.

The Virgin Group’s auditors KPMG do the lion’s share of the tax and advisory work, but Rumsey has been put on a steep learning curve when it comes to the regulatory requirements on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is rocket science

For example, the costs associated with Galactic’s spaceship prototypes are complicated. ‘We have been advised by our auditors that we would be able to capitalise these development costs in the UK, but not in the US,’ says Rumsey. ‘As these are costs relating to our US subsidiary, TSC LLC, they do not appear in the financial statements filed in Companies House in the UK for Virgin Galactic Limited.’

The auditors have been a great help Rumsey says, but, at the same time, she notes the ‘frustration’ around audit as KPMG took the company to task for cost overruns. The Virgin Group sent someone over to help with the review in the end.

Rumsey is not the first in her family to turn to accountancy. Both her father’s parents were accountants, and Galactic’s FD jokes that the accountancy gene may have missed a generation.

‘My dad’s a failed accountant. He started out in the trade, but he was more interested in cars.’

She also confesses ‘really liking management accounts’ because she can ‘dig into the detail’ – a side-effect of a data-driven personality.

Mission control

Rumsey’s light-hearted approach is refreshing in someone that bears a heavy burden of responsibility, but this is how she likes to operate. Her preferred management style is to give her team the same opportunities to flourish as given to her by her old bosses in the Virgin Group. At the heart of it, it’s all about good cost control and her main interest is developing ‘good efficient space travel’.

The unique technology used in the spacecraft has been developed by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites and is now exclusively licensed to Virgin. Fortunately the spacecraft design overcomes many of the safety and cost issues that had previously made space travel the preserve of the privileged few.

Virgin’s experience in aviation, adventure, luxury travel and cutting-edge design, combined with the unique technology developed by Burt Rutan, will ensure an unforgettable experience unlike any other available.

With safety at the forefront, the spacecraft is being designed at Rutan’s base in Mojave, California, alongside a concerted research and development programme.

According to Richard Branson, the deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures is just the start of what he believes will be a new era in the history of mankind, one day making the affordable exploration of space a real possibility.

As would be expected with taking a commercial flight into space, there are some serious regulatory safety checks to run through before anyone gets near the launchpad and these are all part of Rumsey’s remit.

Safety is at the heart of the design and will be at the core of the Virgin Galactic operation. Agreed designs for Space Ship Two have multiple levels of redundancy on all key systems in order to achieve an extremely robust system in every phase of flight, the company says.

Commercial operations will only start once a full testing programme has been completed. With test flights slated for the end of the year, Rumsey has been flying between London and the Mojave desert in Nevada, where the spaceport is located.

That’s not to say tickets, which have been on sale since 2005, are cheap. But this is still about 100 times less expensive than that paid by your average space tourist to date. Virgin Galactic is hoping to reduce this price as fast and as far as possible, which would allow many thousands of people to experience space for themselves.

Rumsey sets out three tiers of Astronaut reservations. Founders will be the first 100 to fly. These affluent individuals deposit $200,000 (£121,000), which is the full price of a ticket.

Pioneer class passengers will fly in Virgin Galactic’s first year of operation and are expected to be among the first 1,000 people to go to space. They will deposit between $100,000 and $175,000.

Voyagers make reservations to travel immediately after pioneers, depositing $20,000, so it’s obvious to see how the money will stack up if everything goes to plan. ‘This will be a once in a lifetime experience for people from all over the world,’ says Rumsey.

Back on Planet Earth, controversy about the glass ceiling is something that still rages on, but Rumsey says she has never experienced it, not even in the male-dominated world of investment banking.

People may make assumptions, that you have to be a real battleaxe to make it all the way, says Rumsey, but Erin Callan (former CFO of Lehmans) was proof that that wasn’t the case. ‘She was a fantastic role model when you’re 20 years old and it’s nice to know you don’t have to be a Dragonlady to be a CFO.’

Rumsey concludes, ‘Because I’m young, it’s the type of business I can grow into as it develops from where it is now into a genuine business with revenues when it is up and running.’

The nuts and bolts

Virgin Galactic has already successfully completed the first phase of tests of the rocket motor that will propel space tourists, scientists and payloads into space.

In the desert of southern California, Virgin Galactic’s key supplier, Scaled Composites and its subcontractor SNC (Sierra Nevada Corporation), put the innovative rocket motor that will propel space tourists, scientists and payloads into space through its paces.

The hybrid nitrous oxide system being used is the largest of its kind in the world and it will send Virgin’s customers up into sub-orbital space at speeds over 2,500 mph (4,000km/h), to heights over 65 miles (110km) above the Earth’s surface, before the spaceship descends back down through the atmosphere using its pioneering feathered re-entry system.

The Virgin MotherShip (VMS) launch vehicle Eve is up an running, while SpaceShipTwo, which will air launch from Eve, is largely constructed and awaiting the start of its own test flight programme later this year.

The rocket motor burns for a very short period of time because the spaceship is launched from Eve in the upper atmosphere rather than from ground level. This means much less fuel is required and the fuel burn is more environmentally benign than the solid rockets used in most ground-based systems.

While the rocket motor is extremely powerful, it is also completely controllable. This system can – if necessary – be shut down at any time, allowing the spaceship to glide back down to land at a conventional runway. This is a significant feature in the overall safety of the Virgin system for human space flight.

Top 50 financial power list 2005

Accountancy Age — 2009-07-01T11:18:00.000Z

Accountancy Age, Accountancy Age, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 11:18:00

The ones to watch in 2005

There are challenging times ahead for accountancy in 2005 with regulation, international standards and auditor liability high on the agenda. Accountancy Age identifies the Top 50 movers and shakers to look out for as the issues unravel

1. Sir David Tweedie

Chairman of the IASB

Sir David Tweedie will not be resting on his laurels following his Accountancy Age Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession. He has yet to resolve the sticky issues surrounding IAS39 to make Europe’s listed companies’ accounts truly comparable. Aside from this, Sir David will have his hands full with a comprehensive overhaul of accounting in the insurance industry, and the small matter of convergence with the US. He remains the most influential figure in the profession.

2. Mary Keegan

Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers

Keegan, former chairman of the UK Accounting Standards Board and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, was always meant for bigger things. Now that the national accounting standards boards have been overshadowed by the IASB, her new position as head of the government accountancy service is the perfect next step for the the ambitious, intellectually hardy Keegan. She now has responsibility for accountability in public finance, and acts as the Treasury’s finance director.

3. Charlie McCreevy

European commissioner for internal market and services

Replacing Frits Bolkestein in the new commission late last year, the Irishman will be ultimately responsible for the introduction of IFRS in Europe. As well as hoping that the groundwork laid out by his predecessor doesn’t make life difficult, it will be down to him to broker an agreement between the commission and the IASB over IAS39, while keeping Europe’s banks happy. Perhaps a fresh face will give this debate new impetus.

4. David Varney

Chairman of HM Revenue and Customs

The £75m merger and successful integration of the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise to form HM Revenue and Customs will be the biggest challenge the public sector and new executive chairman David Varney have ever seen. Not only is Varney overseeing its finances, efficiency and transparency, he will have to keep a close watch on the £3bn Capgemini-led ‘Aspire’ outsourcing contract, and the new Small Business Unit that will align the management of corporation tax and VAT.

5. Peter Montagnon

Head of investment affairs at the Association of British Insurers

As one of the figureheads of the investment community, Montagnon will be heavily involved in the debate on changes to auditor liability and, more specifically, the additional responsibilities investors believe auditors should assume to deserve more protection. Following a meeting late last year, things seem to be progressing smoothly, but Montagnon must ensure the current agreements are not derailed by unnecessary argument.

6. Gordon Brown

Chancellor of the Exchequer

It could be a make-or-break year for Gordon Brown, depending on the outcome of the general election. But one thing is for sure - it is now clear the chancellor is the one pulling the strings on whether auditors get more protection in the form of proportionate liability. Last year, the prime minister-in-waiting put a block on a cap when everyone involved, including trade secretary Patricia Hewitt, thought it was a done deal. If auditors get anything at all this year, it will only be if Brown gives the green light.

7. Helen Weir

Financial director of LloydsTSB

Helen Weir is not simply a powerful figure in the financial services industry. Amid cries for more diversity - and particularly more women - on the boards of UK plc, the finance director of LloydsTSB forms part of a new cohort of female directors. She is also one of just 13 female FDs in the FTSE100. But her appointment is far from tokenism. Weir, 41, joined from Kingfisher earlier this year, has an MBA from Stanford University, California and was a consultant at McKinsey.

8. Suzanne Wood

Head of CFO practice at Heidrick & Struggles

Suzanne Wood could well be the busiest member of the Top 50 over the next 12 months. As head of the CFO practice at one of the biggest global executive headhunters in the world, Wood’s skills will be put to the test keeping an eye on the third of the FTSE100 FDs aged 50 or over. But with 20 years’ experience in executive recruitment already in the bag, her credentials are unquestioned. Anyone who gets a call from her could appear on next year’s list.

9. Chris Dickson

Executive counsel of the Joint Disciplinary Scheme

The JDS is being run down and its work will be taken over by a new body, but Dickson still has plenty to do, not least the examination of Ernst & Young’s conduct as auditor of Equitable Life. The JDS report detailing concerns with 11 consecutive audits at Equitable has undoubtedly undermined the firm’s case as its High Court battle over damages nears.

10. Michel Pébereau

President of the European Banking Federation

Throughout the past year, the EBF has been instrumental in bending the ear of the European Commission over its concerns on IAS39. This will continue into 2005, as both sides look set to negotiate an acceptable solution. As chairman of BNP Paribas and the French Banking Association, Pébereau is right in the eye of the storm, with French banks the most outraged over the standard.

11. Iain Richards

Head of governance and public policy at Morley Fund Management

Richards has been one of the key players in the continuing arguments over auditor liability. Representing a company that manages £118bn of shareholder funds, and a keen proponent of shareholder activism, he needs to ensure those funds are properly protected from corporate irresponsibility. Expect any move to undermine safeguards to be fiercely opposed.

12. Jacqui Smith

Minister for the department of trade

With the prospect of an auditor liability cap hanging in the balance, Jacqui Smith has left the audit profession guessing and the business community seething. Following months of wrangling, she is still wrestling with a deal that would see proportionate liability by contract for auditors in return for greater transparency and increased responsibility.

13. Jon Symonds

Chairman of the Hundred Group of FDs

In his dual role as chairman of the Hundred Group of FDs, for the second year running, and CFO of AstraZeneca, Symonds continues to be the most influential finance chief in the UK. Through his work with AstraZeneca, he is also one of the most powerful private sector voices on the implementation of IFRS. He remains a crucial figure in the standards rollout.

14. Andrew Higginson

FD of Tesco

Higginson received one of the biggest bonuses among the FTSE100 FDs at a staggering £1m. That’s a cool £1m behind Peter Clarke of Man Group, but Higginson has the opportunity to make a much bigger difference to consumers’ weekly shop. Expect the battle of the supermarkets to continue into 2005 and Higginson to be in the vanguard.

15. Zarin Patel

Group FD of the BBC

As the BBC’s finance director, Patel has her hands full. The Beeb has just announced a job cull that will affect the finance function, and a recent Ernst & Young report on the BBC’s financial controls was concluded last month - thankfully E&Y didn’t come down to hard on the broadcaster, and even welcomed Patel’s appointment.

16. Sir Christopher Bland

Chairman of the BT Group

He’s not a finance man, but Sir Christopher Bland may have launched the most significant salvo yet against the US’s Securities and Exchange Commission. Sir Christopher said that, if it could, BT would de-list because of the monumental rise in cost. The implication that the US markets are no longer the sought-after place to list may well have accelerated the SEC’s rethink of its approach.

17. Nick Land

Chairman of Ernst & Young UK

The doomsday scenario of 2005 as the year the Big Four becomes the Big Three may give Ernst & Young’s Nick Land sleepless nights. A trial date to hear Equitable’s £2.6bn negligence claim is set for April, and Land has admitted that his firm, currently the UK’s fourth largest, risks collapse. It may not come to that - an out-of-court settlement could offer a way out.

18. Ken Hydon

FD of Vodafone

Despite announcing his intention to retire from the position of FD at Vodafone in July, Ken Hydon remains one of the most prolific holders of non-executive roles in the country. This is no accident. As the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley increase, so too does the premium on financial numeracy and the demand for FDs to serve in an advisory capacity. Hydon also holds non-exec positions at Tesco and Reckitt Benckiser.

19. Douglas Flint

FD of HSBC and chairman of the Turnbull Review The Turnbull guidance on improving internal control will be one of the defining documents for the profession in 2005. Douglas Flint will be key to how effectively it is delivered to the business community. As well as being the FD for banking giant HSBC, Flint will be hearing evidence of how well the guidance has worked, how it might be enhanced and how the UK’s overall business performance can be bettered.

20. Neil Wood

FD of the London 2012 Olympic Bid

With Paris emerging as the bookies favoured Olympics venue, Neil Wood may have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to prove London is the most financially viable option. Decision day is on 6 July in Singapore, so Wood and co will be working flat out until this then. If London manages to pull off the unlikely, then Wood, currently seconded from Deloitte, could himself be favourite as FD for the games.

21. John Connolly

Deloitte chief executive and UK senior partner

The outspoken John Connolly raised a few eyebrows in 2004 by claiming he ‘didn’t really care’ whether his firm leapfrogged PricewaterhouseCoopers to become the UK’s number one firm. With a £2.9m wage packet, Connolly is the country’s highest-paid accountant and - despite his words - would be delighted for his firm to join him in pole position.

22. Dr John Buchanan

Chairman of AstraZeneca’s audit committee

Dr John Buchanan is already an important man. Take into account his extensive background in senior financial positions with BP, plus his directorship at BHP Billiton and position as ‘financial expert’ on Vodafone’s audit committee, and you have someone with enormous influence.

23. Tim Bush

Associate director at Hermes Focus Asset Management

Hermes is another important investor heavily involved in the auditor liability debate. While Bush represents a company managing funds worth £47bn, he is also a chartered accountant, has a seat on the ICAEW council and is a former employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers. As a result, he can see both sides of the argument. He has sympathy for the auditors but knows shareholders must be protected. He could be crucial in finding a compromise.

24. William Donaldson

Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission

As chairman of the US watchdog, Donaldson has one of the most powerful roles on the international finance scene. In his second year in charge, he will have to work even harder, particularly if non-US listed companies continue to threaten to de-list due to the costs and burdens of regulation. If he can restore investor and industry confidence, he could have a very good 2005.

25. William McDonough

Chairman of the PCAOB

William McDonough has made few friends in the world of accountancy since assuming his post as chairman of the influential PCAOB. If US or UK companies find any discrepancies with work on the infamous section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, McDonough will be the man to face.

26. Steve Lamey

Chief information officer of HM Revenue and Customs

Accountants everywhere will be bracing themselves for disaster when the Revenue and Customs integrate their IT systems. It could mean the difference between stress-free tax returns and stomach ulcers. Steve Lamey has a proven track record as CIO at BG Group, and his appointment has been widely praised by those in the IT industry.

27. Sir Bryan Nicholson

Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council

As chairman of the FRC for the last three years, as well as having overall responsibility for five bodies including the APB, ASB, FRRP, IDB and the POB, Sir Bryan has a powerful and influential regulatory kingdom. The full rollout of IFRS in the UK and the EU is less than a week old, and Sir Bryan will have a crucial 12 months promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance.

28. Kevin Hart

FD of Cairn Energy

He’s young, ambitious and has just become one of the youngest finance directors in the FTSE100. Kevin Hart became a man to watch when stratospheric rises in Cairn’s share price put it among the UK’s elite businesses. But Hart doesn’t have an accountancy qualification, a rarity in such a high-profile position – the 36-year-old learned on the job during his 10 years in investment banking.

29. Lawrence Ricciardi

Chairman of Shell Oil’s audit committee

Perhaps an unfamiliar name, Ricciardi’s former roles as president of Nabisco and CFO of IBM in the US, will be vital in his job at Royal Dutch/Shell. All eyes will be firmly on the conduct of Shell’s board after 2004, which saw it restate oil reserve prices and damage its reputation following grave lapses in corporate governance procedures. Ricciardi must ensure the oil giant is whiter than white.

30. Cameron Scott

Executive counsel of the Investigation and Discipline Board

Previously a solicitor, it was a case of poacher-turned-gamekeeper when Cameron Scott took over as head of the UK’s all-new disciplinary body for accountants in 2004. In July, the AIDB started its first investigation into bus-maker Mayflower and its subsidiaries. How Scott handles his increasing case load will be carefully watched, given his pledge to put a stop to ‘delays and obfuscation’.

31. Jason Donovan

Film and TV star

OK, this is a tad mischevious, but it is entirely possible that Jason Donovan could have some influence. He plays a forensic accountant in a drama, Loot, penned by the ACCA’s chief executive Allen Blewitt. It’s been aired in Australia and is waiting for UK release. What Ally McBeal did for lawyers, Donovan may well do for accountants.

32. Mike Rake

Chairman of KPMG International

Mike Rake will look to build on last year’s successes by displaying KPMG’s green credentials when he takes over as chairman of Business in the Community. His firm has already taken the honour of Big Four Firm of the Year at 2004’s Accountancy Age Awards for its success in combining a strong CSR agenda with profitable business.

33. Kieran Poynter

Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers

Kieran Poynter is one of the UK’s best-paid accountants, and will be expected to earn his keep in this issue-packed year. PwC will be looking to recruit staff qualified to keep clients up to speed with a welter of rules and regulations. And if that’s not enough, Deloitte will want to capture the number one spot.

34. The ICAEW, CIMA and CIPFA chief executives

Only one man may be left standing by the end of the year, if a merger of the institutes headed up by Charles Tilley, Steve Freer and Eric Anstee takes place. All three chief executives will have achieved much if they manage to push the merger through in the face of stiff opposition. But only one person can take the helm of the 200,000-strong ‘super institute’.

35. Desmond Hudson

Chief executive of ICAS

This year, Desmond Hudson faces a major challenge to reposition the Scottish institute in a landscape that - he assumes - will be changed by the merger of the ICAEW, CIMA and CIPFA. Hudson must make the case that bigger isn’t necessarily better.

36. Microsoft’s accounting module

Microsoft is looking to redefine the business software marketplace, albeit at a relatively pedestrian pace. Having bought Navision and Great Plains a couple of years back, it has now introduced an entry-level accounting software module into Microsoft Office.

37. Bill Hughes

Director general of SOCA

When accountants make their suspicious transaction reports in the future, they’ll be handled by the UK’s new FBI-style Serious Organised Crime Agency. SOCA will tackle organised crime such as money laundering and take over from NCIS in April 2006.

38. Group Litigation Order

Group litigation orders - or legal actions - from hundreds of the world’s best-known companies are turning into the Inland Revenue’s greatest nightmare. The series of group legal actions by big names including Coca-Cola and IBM could cost the Treasury as much as £20bn in tax refunds.

39. Paul Boyle

CEO of the Financial Reporting Council

Paul Boyle has a critical year ahead of him - to get across the FRC’s message of promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. The FRC’s reach is unusual in that it extends from auditing and reporting to disciplinaries and investigation. If it’s successful, this unique regulatory model could put Boyle’s name firmly on the map.

40. Jacques Chirac

President of France

Last year, Jacques Chirac made his mark on the accountancy world by arguing over the ‘failings’ of the IFRS on financial instruments. He is the only leader in the EU, and indeed the world, to take such a close interest. Chirac’s efforts were successful for French banks - the EU agreed to a ‘carved-out’ IAS39.

41. Allen Blewitt

Chief executive of the ACCA

It may be a unfair to place Jason Donovan way above his screenwriting colleague Allen Blewitt, but the relatively new ACCA chief has still to prove himself. The association’s centenary year is now behind him, leaving Blewitt to focus on running the organisation. Competition will be fierce should the ICAEW, CIMA and CIPFA pull off their merger.

42. Jurgen Tiedje

EC head of accounting and auditing

New to this position, German lawyer Jurgen Tiedje must find the diplomacy to defuse the explosive situation surrounding IAS39. He has started well, offering some conciliatory gestures to the IASB, but is still maintaining a hard line when it comes to protecting the rights of the influential banks.

43. Jonathan Pierce

Credit Suisse First Boston

Jonathan Pierce is the man behind a CSFB report for investors spelling out the investment bank’s expectation that Northern Rock would see a 10% dip in profits as a result of IAS39. Cue a public spat with the bank about just what would happen with its results. The whole episode served as a warning of how divisive international standards could be if analysts and corporates fail to understand each other.

44. Edward Leigh

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee

As chairman of the most influential select committee, Edward Leigh is one to watch. His statements, along with studies from the National Audit Office, could prove devastating as the general election in 2005 draws closer. In 2004, Leigh, a barrister by profession, made headlines when he called for full access rights for the NAO when the BBC’s charter is reviewed.

45. Leslie Ferrar

Treasurer to Prince Charles

Just as Accountancy Age went to press we were told that that Ferrar had taken the job of treasurer to Prince Charles. In the grand scheme of things, this may not be a big job, but given the public scrutiny of Royal accounts, Ferrar’s work will have to be scrupulously handled. A tough job, but you get to hobnob with royalty.

46. Larry Ellison

CEO of Oracle

Oracle boss Larry Ellison is a very happy man, after his company’s successful acquisition of bitter rival PeopleSoft. Ellison has promised to finish development of the latest version of PeopleSoft’s ERP application, and then to build a successor that combines the best of PeopleSoft and Oracle’s flagship software.

47. Bob Herz

Head of the US Financial Accounting Standards Board

A former board member of the IASB, Herz has crossed the Atlantic to become chairman of the US FASB. His rating recently rose in auditing circles when he formed part of an influential US panel calling for liability protection for US auditors, mirroring UK efforts, under a new model of financial reporting.

48. Sir John Bourn

Comptroller and auditor general

Sir John Bourn must have taken immense pleasure again this year when he acknowledged that the National Audit Office is meeting its goals and exceeding its performance targets by saving the taxpayers £482m. He now runs an audit inspection team that monitors audits of listed companies.

49. Steve Bundred

Chief executive at the Audit Commission

Steve Bundred, chief executive at the Audit Commission, is bent on a drive for greater efficiency at the commission. Having been on the receiving end of its demands, the former chief executive of the London Borough of Camden is relishing the opportunity to make some necessary changes.

50. Oliver Letwin

Conservative shadow chancellor

With a general election just around the corner, Oliver Letwin, a former merchant banker, has been touring the City and garnered sympathy for his views on the burdens of red tape and taxation, and his assertion that Brown’s policy is increasingly fragile. Expect him to step up a gear during the next couple of months.

Calculate a customer's change in cash

Stephen Wells — 2009-07-01T11:06:00.000Z

Stephen Wells, Personal Computer World, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 11:06:00

Use Excel to ensure your customers aren’t short-changed

Reader Dan Cutforth wrote in to say: “I would like a spreadsheet that calculates the most efficient combination of notes and coins to make up an entered cash amount. Ideally the amount would be selected with a spinner, though I’m using Excel 2007 and the old controls on a Forms toolbar don’t appear to be available.”

The latest version of Excel doesn’t offer such design facilities by default. But they are easy to add. Click the Office icon and then the Excel Options button. Choose Popular and under Top Options you’ll find a box you can check next to, Show Developer tab in the Ribbon.

Open a new workbook. Click the now visible Developer tab. Click the Insert icon in the Control section. From the now-displayed Form Controls box pick the spinner.

In versions prior to Excel 2007 you just display the Forms toolbar and click on the spinner icon. In all versions, a small cross appears. Draw a rectangle over the cell where you want the spinner to be. Right-click on the spinner and choose Format Control.

In the Format Object dialogue box, under the Control tab, you can enter the starting value, the minimum amount that can be chosen and the maximum amount.

The incremental change amount you want is 1, which is the default. Enter the address of any cell that’s out of the way to be the link cell.

Under the Properties tab of this dialogue box you can choose whether the spinner is to be sized and moved with the cell or not, and if the spinner is to be shown on printouts or not.

Enter the address of the link cell in a cell above or beside the spinner. Divide by 100 so the coins can be calculated in pennies; in other words, if the link cell is B15 enter: =B15/100 in this cell.

The formula in the link cell may be displayed, but you could format it using a white font on white background to hide it.

To follow our example enter the note and coin denominations in column C starting with cell C3. All you have to do now is enter three variations of a short formula that will calculate how many of each note and coin is needed to make up the selected amount.

If the selected amount appears in cell B1, in cell D3 enter: =TRUNC($B$1/C3,0)

In cell D4 enter: =TRUNC(($B$1-SUM($E$3:E3))/C4,0)

Point to the Fill Handle in the lower-right of cell D4 and drag down to cell D13. The second argument of the TRUNC function is a number specifying the precision of the truncation. For calculating the single pennies this argument needs to be increased so in cell D14 enter:

=TRUNC(($B$1-SUM($E$3:E13))/C14,1)

To show the total amounts of each denomination enter: =C3*D3 in cell E3 and drag down to cell E14. In cell E15 enter: =SUM(E3:E14)

This total is a check that the amount entered with the spinner agrees with the total of notes and coins selected.

In this worksheet, formatting is unusually important. Cells B1, E3 and E15 are formatted as Currency with two decimal places. Cell B15 is the default General format. Cells E4:E14 are formatted as Number with two decimals, while the ranges C3:C8 and D3:D14 are formatted Number with no decimals. Cells C9:C14 are Custom formatted .00.

Of course there are other formulas that can be used to solve this problem. You could use MROUND and IF statements, but the TRUNC function is the simplest.

Whatever Dan’s need for this, there are numerous other uses of the application. For a school shop you could enter the value of a note tendered and the cost of an item, then twiddle the spinner to find the notes and/or coins to be given in change.

Sorting the sheets

Every now and then a reader asks how to sort the worksheets alphabetically in an Excel workbook. You can do this with a simple macro. Just press Alt & F11 to open the VBA for Excel Editor. Choose Insert, Module and type the following into the right-hand panel:

Sub SortSheets()

Dim a As Integer, b As Integer, x As Integer

x = Sheets.Count

On Error GoTo Trap:

For a = 1 to x - 1

For b = a + 1 To x

If Sheets(b).Name < Sheets(a). Name Then

Sheets(b).Move Before:=Sheets(a)

End If

Next

Next

Sheets(1).Select

Trap:

End Sub

If you’re using Excel 2007 you may be asked to save the file with a different extension that allows macros to run. You can use .xlsm instead of .xlsx or plain .xls.

Press Alt & F11 again to return to Excel. Press Alt & F8, click Options in the Macro dialogue box and create a keyboard shortcut, such as Ctrl & Shift & S. Press this shortcut so worksheets and their tab names will be sorted.

For many years, other spreadsheets such as Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro Pro have enabled their users to colour the tabs that show worksheet names.

Finally, with Excel 2002 Microsoft relented and allowed users to do it too. You just right-click on a tab, choose Tab Color and pick a colour from the offered palette.

Since this availability, readers have asked if it’s possible to group worksheets by tab colour; in other words, put all the red-tabbed worksheets adjacent to each other, all the blues, and so on.

This is indeed possible with the following macro:

Sub GroupColours()

Dim CT1 As Long

Dim CT2 As Long

For CT1 = 1 To Worksheets.Count - 1

For CT2 = CT1 To Worksheets.Count

If Worksheets(CT2).Tab.ColorIndex = Worksheets(CT1).Tab.ColorIndex Then

Worksheets(CT2).Move after:=Worksheets(CT1)

End If

Next CT2

Next CT1

End Sub

Taking stock

In these times of financial uncertainty, wise shareholders will always obtain a copy of a company’s annual report each year and take advantage of a spreadsheet’s facility for analysis.

Interest cover is an important measure of the financial health of a company. It measures the company’s ability to cover the interest payments owed, and margin of cover if profits should fall in a recession.

It is calculated by dividing the operating income by net interest. The interest cover should always be more than two times, or the company can be in trouble.

Net interest is the interest payable on loans less any interest received. But watch out for any capitalised interest; this may be a perfectly legal procedure but the interest still has to be paid.

Another important ratio is debt to equity. This is calculated by dividing the total liabilities of the company by the stockholders’ equity. The higher the ratio, the more the company may be extending its debt beyond its ability to repay.

Even if interest rates stay level, if this ratio increases from year to year then the annual charges will add to the company’s overhead.

In future I’ll look at other financial ratios of interest to the careful investor. In spreadsheets veritas.

Helpful shortcuts

After you make an entry in Excel, the cursor moves to the next cell. If you want it to stay in the same cell in Excel 2007 you could click the Office icon, Excel Options, Advanced, Editing options, and remove the check from the ‘After pressing Enter, move selection’ option.

Alternatively, you could simply use the shortcut Ctrl & Enter.

Traditionally, you could always get an overview of your computer system, the processor speed, amount of Ram and so on, via an option on the Excel Help menu.

There is no similar Help menu in Excel 2007, but you can instantly show the System Properties dialogue box with its comprehensive analysis of your computer using the Windows key & Pause/Break combination.

Get started with Linux - part 1

Tim Smith — 2009-07-01T10:19:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeractive, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 10:19:00

In the first of a three-part series, find out how to get started with Linux

If you see this message, start tapping the key it suggests until a setup screen appears. If you can’t see such a message try pressing the F2, F10 and Delete keys just after the computer restarts. Once you’re in the setup menu, you need to find the options that control the computer’s boot sequence.

This is sometimes called boot device priority or boot options. Change this so that the first boot device is the CD or DVD drive, with the hard disk second, then press the key to save and exit (normally F10). When the computer restarts you should be able to run Linux from the CD.

Once the language select menu appears, choose English, and from the next menu choose ‘Try Ubuntu without making any changes to your computer’. Wait a while and the Ubuntu desktop will appear. Bear in mind that running from the CD this way is slow, so if you choose to install Linux it will be quicker.

Replacing Windows

If you like what you see when you first try Linux then the next step is to install it properly. There are two ways to do this; you can replace Windows, which is a good idea on an old computer, or run the two alongside one another.

First we will explain how to replace Windows, so if you want to use both then skip to the next section.

Before going any further, note that replacing Windows will wipe every single file from your hard disk, so you will need to copy any documents that you want to keep to a CD, DVD or other external disk.

Start the computer with the Ubuntu CD in the drive, choose English, then select ‘Try Ubuntu without making any changes to your computer’. If the display looks garbled, restart the PC and press F4 in the Ubuntu menu. Select Safe graphics mode and press Enter.

Once the Ubuntu desktop appears, double-click on the Install icon on the desktop to launch the install wizard. Leave English as the language and click on Forward. Select London as the location (move the mouse over northern Europe and the map will zoom in). Click on Forward.

The correct keyboard layout should be selected, but otherwise pick English (UK). Select the top option in the prepare disk space window, Guided – Use entire disk, click on Forward and then Continue.

Enter your name and the name you want to log on with, as well as a password. The computer name can be left as it is. Review the options and then click on Install. When it has finished, restart the computer as requested, remembering to remove the CD. Your computer will start up straight into Linux, so move on to the section headed ‘Using Linux’.

As the years go by, many computers start to slow down. One way to breathe new life into an old computer is to re-install Windows but, unless you have all the required discs, this can be tricky. One easier way to bring an old computer back up to speed is to install a copy of Linux.

Here, we will explain how to get started with Linux. No experience is necessary, as we will guide you through all the basics. To start we will explain how to install the software, either by replacing Windows or running alongside it.

Getting Linux

We will use a version of Linux called Ubuntu, one of the most popular versions of Linux as it is very easy to use. You will need to download a copy of Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition from the Computeractive website.

The download is an ISO image file that contains everything found on the Ubuntu CD. The download is quite large at around 700MB, so it is suitable for broadband users only.

If you don’t have broadband you can get an Ubuntu CD at little cost. Our very own Ultimate Guide to Linux comes with a CD on the cover, so you can order a copy by going to the link above.

If you don’t mind waiting a little longer, the company that produces Ubuntu will send out a CD for free. Create an account here and a CD will be sent to you.

Broadband users will have to burn the ISO file to a CD after downloading it. This process is different to simply copying the file to a CD. Instead, use software such as Active ISO Burner to convert the ISO file into a finished CD.

Trying Linux

Once you’ve got an Ubuntu CD, the next step is to give it a try. This won’t change your computer in any way, so if you don’t like it you can go back to Windows at any point. Insert your Ubuntu CD and restart the computer.

You may see a message asking you to ‘press any key to boot from CD’ – if you do, press a key and the first Ubuntu menu will appear, asking you to choose a language. Alternatively, your computer may go straight to the language menu, ready to start Linux. Either way, skip the next paragraph.

If your computer doesn’t start Linux and runs Windows instead, you may need to make a small change to the Bios – the basic settings used by the computer. Restart the computer again and, just after it starts, look for a message that says something like ‘Press F2 to enter setup’.

Installing alongside Windows

If you’d rather keep Windows on your computer, there are two methods to choose from. You can split the hard disk into two partitions, one for each system, or use a tool called Wubi that simply takes some space away from Windows and gives it to Linux.

If possible, defragment your hard disk to get it into the best possible shape before going any further.

Insert the CD into the computer when Windows has loaded and the Ubuntu CD Menu should appear automatically. Click on the option ‘Install inside Windows’ to use Wubi.

You need to give Wubi some information about how Ubuntu should be installed. First choose a hard disk. In most cases this will be C, unless you have extra disks installed.

Allow Ubuntu at least 5GB of space. Wubi will show how much space is available. Make sure you leave at least 3GB of empty space for Windows to avoid performance problems.

Wubi will automatically enter your current username, but you can change it if you want. It is also a very good idea to enter a password to keep your documents and settings safe. Check that you are happy with the settings and click on Install.

When the computer restarts, you’ll see a new menu. Windows is selected by default, so choose Ubuntu. If you miss the menu, restart the computer again. When started for the first time Ubuntu will format the virtual disk that Wubi created in Windows previously.

If the install process fails at any point and the computer does not respond to the keyboard or mouse, try restarting the computer by holding down the power button.

Once this has finished the computer will restart one final time. Select Ubuntu in the first menu and ignore the next message. You will only need to press Escape if you meant to start Windows but chose Ubuntu by mistake.

When the Ubuntu login screen appears type in your username and password – you’re now ready to move on to the ‘Using Linux' section.

Uninstalling Wubi

One of the best reasons for installing Linux using Wubi is that it’s very easy to remove. If you decide that you no longer want Ubuntu, left-click on the Start Menu in Windows and then on Control Panel.

Left-click on Add or Remove Programs. Scroll down to the entry Ubuntu and left-click on it once. Click on the Change/Remove button that appears, then choose Uninstall.

Using Linux

Whichever way you install a copy of Ubuntu, you will end up at the desktop. This is often referred to as Gnome, as there are alternative versions. Gnome shares many principles with Windows, such as menus and windows but there are a few differences.

Like Windows, there is a Taskbar at the bottom of the screen that has a button for every program that’s running. A button at the far left minimises all the active windows and one at the very right opens the Recycle Bin to recover deleted files.

The top bar is where more exciting stuff happens. The Applications menu has links to all the programs, rather like the Start menu in Windows, but they are arranged by category rather than company. The Places menu is a quick way to access your documents and photos.

The System menu has all the options for customising Ubuntu, just like the Control Panel in Windows. The Preferences section has options that are down to taste, whereas the Administration options are a little more technical and are best left alone for now.

The central part of the top bar is just like the Quick Launch tool bar in Windows but you can view information there too, such as battery life. The right-hand section of the top bar is like the Notification Area in Windows, and shows the time and any alerts.

At the very right of the top bar is the button to access the Log off and Shut down options. If you get lost, go to Computeractive's video guide to the Ubuntu desktop.

Get connected

The simplest way to connect Ubuntu to a network and the internet is to use a network cable, also known as an Ethernet cable. Ubuntu will almost always recognise this kind of connection automatically.

Once connected an icon with two monitors should appear next to the time and volume controls in the Notification Area.

Not all wireless network adapters work so seamlessly If yours is recognised an icon will appear just to the left of the clock: click it and select a network. You may be asked to enter a password. Many wireless adapters are recognised but if yours is not then, sadly, this is rarely easy to fix.

Updates

The first thing to do with a new installation of Ubuntu is to install the latest security updates, just as you would with Windows. An alert should appear saying updates are available. Left-click on the orange star icon.

The update manager will appear and scan for available updates. Click on the Install Updates button. When you press this button the screen will dim and a message will appear asking for your password. This is just like the User Access Control feature in Windows Vista.

It is best to leave the computer to install the updates without running any other programs. Once it’s done, your Linux PC is up to date and ready to use.

Hopefully you’ve found that whichever method you use installing Linux can be straightforward. In part 2 of our series on Linux, we’ll take a look at using Linux to access the web, send emails and create office documents.

Lots of Linux options

There are dozens of versions of Linux available, and in particular four different versions of Ubuntu. As well as the standard one we’ve used here there’s Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Mythbuntu.

The differences are the look of the desktop and the software used to display it.

Kubuntu uses a system called KDE, which looks a little more like Windows than standard Ubuntu. It’s a matter of personal preference which one you like better.

Xubuntu uses a desktop manager called Xfce, and is ideal for older computers as it requires less power.

Mythbuntu is a Linux equivalent to Windows Media Center Edition.

Go to part 2 and part 3 of our series on getting started with Linux.

Keep up to date with the news by using RSS feeds

Scott Colvey — 2009-07-01T09:58:00.000Z

Scott Colvey, Computeractive, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 09:58:00

Discover how to keep on top of the latest news and blog posts

With millions of websites and blogs constantly posting stories and updates, it can be hard to keep abreast of the latest developments. Whether you are interested in news, sport, entertainment or blogs, the chances are you visit a large number of websites multiple times throughout the day.

News junkies are probably familiar with RSS feeds, which provide a means of having the latest headlines delivered to you without the need to join an emailing list or share any personal information with a third party.

Indeed, RSS feeds have become so popular that even web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox can display their contents.

For a simple guide, see our recent article Read RSS news feeds in your web browser. But there’s more to RSS than meets the eye. In this Masterclass we’ll show how you can take RSS to the next level.

RSS basics

There are two formats in which news feeds can be provided – RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Atom. There are differences between the two, but these won’t affect most users. Atom feeds can show the type of data they contain (such as HTML, audio and video), can have their time stamp updated if a particular story is changed, and include more advanced language options to allow for country-specific feeds.

In order to stay up to date with feeds, a feed reader or aggregator is needed. This can be a standalone program such as Feedreader, an online aggregator such as Google Reader or a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.

A dedicated aggregator may include advanced options such as feed filtering, searching and a greater level of customisation, but the built-in feed support of modern web browsers is fine for day-to-day use.

Finding and managing RSS feeds

The presence of a feed on a website is normally indicated by an orange RSS icon both on the page itself and in the toolbar or address bar of a web browser.

Click a feed icon in Internet Explorer and a summary of the feed will be shown along with the option to subscribe to it. Click this link and the feed will be added to the Feeds folder in the Favorites Center sidebar.

In Firefox things are different. Again, there is the option to subscribe to the feed in the browser – making use of Firefox’s Live Bookmarks feature – but other available aggregators will also be detected and these can be used to subscribe instead.

With a dedicated aggregator, such as Feedreader, the process of subscribing to feeds is far less automated than when using a web browser’s built-in tool.

Internet Explorer will not detect the presence of aggregators that have been installed, so it is first necessary to copy the address of the feed you are interested in before pasting it into Feedreader.

The same method can be used with Firefox, although this does give the option to select which program to use after clicking the page’s RSS icon.

Online RSS

One of the problems with relying on a dedicated aggregator or web browser to subscribe to feeds is that the feeds are then only available on one computer.

If you would like to be able to subscribe to feeds and then access them from any internet-connected computer, an online reader is required. There are a few to choose from including Google Reader and Bloglines. Here, we’ll look at Google Reader.

All that’s needed to take advantage of Google Reader is a Google account. Once you’ve visited the site and signed in, click ‘Add a subscription’ and paste in the address of a known feed.

To view a feed, click one of the links displayed in the Subscriptions section to the left-hand side of the page.

By default, the contents of a feed is shown in Expanded view so the title and summary are displayed. To fit more headlines or posts onto a single page, opt to use List view by clicking the appropriate link to the upper right of the page.

When working in List view, clicking a headline once will display an expanded version of the story, while clicking it again will open the story on the original website in a new window.

Sharing RSS feeds

Google Reader makes it possible to share feed stories with others. When working in Expanded mode, click the Share link beneath a story and it will then be listed in the ‘Shared items’ subfolder in the ‘Your stuff’ section to the left.

By default, shared items are shared with any Google contacts who are also friends, but this can be customised and changed.

Click the ‘Sharing settings’ link to the left of the page and an options page will be displayed. By clicking the Change link to the right it is possible to opt to share feed stories with all your contacts rather than just those who are friends.

Contacts who are already part of a share are listed in the centre of the window, and you can stop sharing with someone by clicking the Remove link next to their name.

It is also possible to share stories with people who are not contacts: just enter an email address in the text box to the lower right-hand side of the page and click the Send Invites button.

As with Google Mail, stories within feeds you have subscribed to can be starred to allow for easier access in the future, and tags can be added to aid searches.

Move to the ‘Browse for stuff’ section, and a series of suggested feeds will be displayed. From here it’s also possible to import subscriptions from another feed reader. But before this can be done, a file is needed.

OPML files

Outline Processor Markup Language (OPML) is the format by which most RSS tools exchange lists of RSS feeds. For example, Internet Explorer can create an OPML file containing details of your feed subscriptions.

To do this, press the Alt key to display the menu bar and then click File followed by Import and Export. Click Next, select Export Feeds and click Next again. Choose a suitable name and location for the file and click Next followed by Finish.

The resulting OPML file can be used in a few ways – to back up feeds that have been subscribed to, to send feeds to friends, or to import them into another program or service such as Google Reader.

Most dedicated aggregators include the option to export and import OPML files, but the precise method of working with them varies from one program to another.

Firefox does not support OPML files by default, but this feature can be added by installing the OPML Support extension from here.

After restarting Firefox, OPML Support can be accessed by clicking Bookmarks followed by Organise Bookmarks, where two new options are to be found under the Import and Backup dropdown menu.

Another option is to use an online OPML-creation tool such as OPML Builder. In the large text box, enter a series of feed URLs, each on a separate line and click the Create OPML button.

Your browser will then display a file that can be saved via the File menu. Although the file has a .xml extension, it works in the same way as an OPML file and can be treated similarly.

Combining feeds

Yahoo Pipes can be used to create a single feed from multiple sources. Details on how to create a basic pipe can be found in the walkthrough below, but much more is possible.

The free service can also filter stories from a variety of feeds. There is a directory of user-created pipes which not only gives you an idea of what can be achieved but also serves as a learning tool.

We explained Yahoo Pipes in the Computeractive workshop Get the news you want with Yahoo Pipes. Another way to filter feeds is to make use of Feedrinse.

Visit the site and either enter the address of some feeds or upload an OPML file before clicking Import.

Click the ‘Set up rules’ button and use the dropdown menu to indicate whether stories that match particular criteria (such as certain words in the title or body) should be allowed or blocked.

Add as many rules as required and click ‘Save changes’ followed by the ‘your channels’ link. Select the option to add a channel, name and save it. Having created feed channels, the resulting filtered feeds can be downloaded as an OPML file ready for importing.

Information delivery is the main purpose of RSS but there are now many ways to manage the information RSS42 feeds deliver.

Ask your friends for their OPML files and use them to discover new feeds. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, use a tool like Yahoo Pipes to tailor feeds, either to serve your own needs or perhaps fill a gap that you think might exist in other people’s RSS rosters.

Create an RSS newspaper with Tabbloid

Reading feed items in a browser or dedicated reader program is all well and good, but if you have subscribed to a number of feeds that are updated frequently you are likely to spend a great deal of time checking the latest headlines throughout the day.

One way to avoid this is to automatically create a PDF of selected feeds, which can then be delivered via email at predetermined intervals, using a free tool such as Tabbloid.

Click the Get Started button, enter the address of a feed and click Add followed by Yes. Repeat the process if additional feeds are required and then enter the email address that should be used to deliver the PDF.

Use the dropdown menus to choose how often a PDF should be generated, ensuring the correct time zone is selected, before clicking ‘Save delivery options’.

A confirmation email will be sent out, and the link this contains must be clicked to activate the subscription.

It is possible to check how the PDF is going to appear by clicking the ‘Generate sample issue now’ button. Subscriptions can be changed by clicking the Remove links to the right of the page as well as opting to add different feed sources.

Get started with Linux - part 3

Tim Smith — 2009-07-01T09:00:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeractive, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 09:00:00

Wireless won’t always work first time in Linux - we explain how to fix it

One of the most common sources of frustration with Linux is that it can be very tricky to get wireless network adapters to work. Although some will work first time, many others don’t have any suitable Linux drivers.

Help is at hand thanks to a project called the NDISwrapper. This software can take the Windows drivers for hardware and let Ubuntu use them instead. This article concludes our recent series of features on Ubuntu and we’ll show you how to use it.

See part 1 and part 2 of our getting started with Linux series.

What are drivers?

Any piece of hardware that you connect to a PC, such as a printer or scanner, requires something called a driver. This is essentially a bit of software that tells the computer how to work with the hardware device.

Drivers are created by the hardware manufacturers and they decide which operating systems are supported - and many of us know the frustration caused when a new version of Windows is released and a company decides not to update their drivers to work with it.

The problem with Linux is that with fewer people using it, there is less incentive for companies to spend the time and effort designing drivers.

Admittedly, the situation is better than a few years ago and often the necessary drivers will be supplied on the Ubuntu disc.

But this is no comfort if your particular hardware is not supported. Unsupported wireless network adapters are a problem because they are one of the most vital devices for most people.

However, all is not lost if your hardware does not work immediately after installing Ubuntu, as there are plenty of ways to get it working and it can be very simple. The work of adding drivers to Ubuntu is ongoing, so the required code may have been added since Ubuntu was released.

If you can plug into a broadband router using a wired network connection and run the update program the hardware may suddenly start working. The Update Manager should start automatically after it realises that the internet is available, otherwise click on the System menu and then on Administration and Update Manager.

If this doesn’t work, the software NDISwrapper should help. It can use the Windows drivers for a device, so it doesn’t matter if no specific Linux driver exists. This process is a little complicated, but in this article we’ll explain how to use it.

Non-open source drivers

Before proceeding with NDISwrapper there is another method to try.

Ubuntu can use a variety of software and drivers, but does not because they are not properly open source. In part 2 of this series of features on Ubuntu, for instance, we installed the restricted software in order to play MP3 and Flash files.

However, it’s not just multimedia software that gets excluded, as more capable graphics card drivers and some wireless drivers also fit into this category.

Ubuntu should alert you that better drivers are available but it is possible to check manually. Click on the System menu, Administration and then Hardware Drivers.

In our setup there is an entry for our wireless card called ‘Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless Lan cards’. If you see this, left-click it once and then on the Activate button. You may need to enter your password before Ubuntu will download and install the drivers.

Know your hardware

The first step is to be absolutely sure about the hardware for which you are trying to find the drivers. We’ll assume that your wireless network adapter is working in Windows.

If not, setting it up with Windows first will make life much, much easier. First, Windows will be able to tell you the exact name of the device, and second, it will already have the files you need.

Left-click on the Start button and then right-click on My Computer or Computer. Click on the Device Manager option in the left-hand column to see a list of all the hardware installed in the computer. Click on the small plus sign labelled ‘Network adapters’ to see the names of all the network adapters. Note the wireless adapter name and model number.

Getting drivers

Next, download the appropriate Windows drivers from the manufacturer’s website. This ensures you get the latest version and that all the files are in one place. Ubuntu is capable of extracting the files if they are supplied as a Zip file.

If they are provided as an EXE file you may need to install 7-zip in order to open them. To do this, go to Applications then Add/Remove and type 7-zip in the search box. Click in the small tick box and then on the Apply button. Click on Apply again to install 7-zip.

Alternatively, launch the EXE file in Windows to extract the files.

If you are unable to get hold of the original files (or have no internet access), you can copy them from Windows.

Left-click on the Start button and right-click on My Computer/Computer. Left-click on Manage from the menu that appears. Left-click on Device Manager to see a list of all the hardware connected to the computer. Left-click on the small plus next to Network adapters and this time right-click on the entry for the wireless network adapter. Left-click on Properties, click on the Driver tab and then on the Driver Details button.

A window will appear with the names and locations of the associated driver files: copy the files onto a USB memory key to use with Linux.

There should be at least two, one ending in .inf and the other ending in .sys.

Now restart in Linux. We recommend creating a folder specifically for these drivers. Click on the Places menu and then on Home Folder. Click on the File menu and then Create folder. Name the folder ‘Drivers’ and create another folder inside for each individual hardware device. This will limit confusion if you change hardware. Copy the driver files into this folder.

If possible you should try to connect to the internet by another means as this will make the following steps much easier. This normally means using a network cable but don’t worry if you can’t, it’s not essential.

First, check whether Ubuntu has the utility for using Windows drivers. Click on the System menu and Administration. At the bottom of the list there should be an entry called Windows Wireless Drivers. Don’t worry if there isn’t as this is quick to solve.

If you have internet access on the computer, click on the Applications button and then on Add/Remove. Make sure ‘All available applications’ is selected in the Show menu and type ndis into the search box.

An entry should appear for Windows Wireless Drivers. Left-click in the box so a tick appears and then click on Apply Changes. Review the summary and click on Apply. The utility will be downloaded and installed.

If you don’t have internet access on the computer, you will need to download three files from the internet onto a USB key and install from that.

On the computer with internet access, go to http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/misc/ndiswrapper-common. Click on the i386 link at the bottom of the screen (unless you know that Ubuntu is installed for 64-bit AMD-based computers) and select one of the servers to download the files from. It is best to choose one from UK if possible.

Save the .deb file to the USB key. Repeat this procedure for the .deb files at http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/misc/ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 and http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/net/ndisgtk.

These download files will only work with Ubuntu 9.04. If you are using a different version of Ubuntu, you will need to change the link to use the correct version name. 9.04 is called jaunty, 8.04 is called hardy. So the link for Ubuntu 8.04 codenamed hardy would become http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/net/ndisgtk.

Alternatively, it is possible to search for the package name (everything to the right of the last slash on the Ubuntu Packages homepage at http://packages.ubuntu.com)

To install the files, insert the USB key and double-click on the .deb files to install. It is very important that they are installed in the correct order: ndiswrapper-common, ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 and then ndisgtk.

With the Windows Wireless Drivers utility installed, install the Windows drivers as follows:

Click on the System Menu, Administration and then Windows Wireless Drivers. Enter your password when requested. It is required because this is an important system change.

Click on the Install New Driver button and then on the folder icon in the box that appears to find the drivers you copied onto the PC. They should be in a folder called Drivers in your Home folder. Click on Install.

The wireless device should now be ready to use. Left-click on the network icon at the top, right next to the clock, and then add your wireless network details as normal.

Look before you leap

NDISweeper will work for most wireless adapters, but it could be that there are simply no suitable drivers available for yours. In this case, the only option may be to buy a new wireless adapter, which are pretty cheap these days.

However, prevention is better than cure so it is best to choose hardware that is supported in Linux. You can find plenty of help on the Ubuntu website.

If there is no reference to your hardware, there's another list at Ubuntu HCL's website. In fact we recommend going to this website even if your hardware works. Linux is a community effort and it will help if you publish your experiences.

Click on the Sign up link on the left of the page. Enter a username, password and your email address, and select the version of Linux you use. If you’ve been following our example, it will be Ubuntu Linux.

Finally you can add a signature that will appear at the bottom of all your posts. Click on Submit and your account will be created. The website signs you in automatically but an email is also sent to confirm the setup of your account.

Click on the Write a review link. Check in the first menu to see if anyone else has already written a review for your product. It is still worth writing a review even if they have, especially if you have to install new drivers to make it work.

If the product is not in the top list, click on the Create a new product option. Select a category and manufacturer, and then enter the product name. The Title box is for a very quick one line summary of the product such as ‘works perfectly’, ‘worked with NDISwrapper’ or ‘didn’t work at all’.

More detail can be added in the Body section. This is where you should include detail of which drivers worked and what you needed to do. Give the product a rating below this box and tick all the versions of Linux that it worked with. Click on Submit to post the review.

Wonderful wireless

Wireless networking is still an area where Linux can need more work than Windows. Thankfully there are plenty of tools that can either find the correct drivers or use the drivers that work with Windows. You are never left alone with a Linux problem and there are always plenty of people online who will offer help.

Get started with Linux - part 2

Tim Smith — 2009-07-01T09:00:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeractive, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 09:00:00

In the first part of our series on using getting to grips with Linux, we showed how to install Ubuntu. Now you have it installed, we explain how to use it

If you have read part 1 of our series on using Linux, you will have learnt how to install a copy of Ubuntu Linux. Now it's time to learn how to use it.

Fortunately, Ubuntu is just as capable as Windows and comes with more software ready to use from the outset. It is also simpler to install software as we will demonstrate in a little bit.

In this article we’ll show how to read emails, surf the web and personalise the computer with a new wallpaper and screensaver.

The Ubuntu desktop

Before we change anything, let’s quickly recap how the Ubuntu desktop works. Have a look at our video guide to the Ubuntu desktop www.computeractive.co.uk/2233238.

There are bars running along the top and bottom of the screen. The bottom bar is similar to the Taskbar in Windows. The small button at the far left minimises all the windows and the one on the right opens the Recycle Bin. The space in between is used to show buttons that represent all the programs running on the computer.

The top bar starts with three menus on the left. Programs can be started from the Applications menu at the top left, folders opened from the Places menu and settings changed in the System menu.

There are a few shortcut icons next to the System menu; by default these open the web browser, email program and help. The right-hand section of the top bar is similar to the Notification Area in Windows. It contains icons for running programs that need attention and the clock.

In the very top right of the screen you’ll find a button that opens the shutdown menu.

Tweaking the desktop

When first installed Ubuntu covers the screen in some drab and rather unattractive brown wallpaper, but changing this is simple.

Click on the System menu, then Preferences, then on Appearance Preferences. Click on the Background tab to see the available wallpapers. Left-click on one of the backgrounds and it will be applied immediately. Click on the Add button to add new images stored on your hard disk to the list.

The top left picture is just a plain colour. This colour can be changed by clicking on the coloured icon next to the menu option solid colour.

If you have a good graphics card, there are some fancy desktop effects that can enabled. Click on the Visual Effects tab and select either the middle or bottom option. The effects of the bottom option can get distracting, but they are a great way of showing off as they are much fancier than the Aero effects used by Windows Vista.

If you can’t enable the effects then you may need to install an extra graphics driver we’ll explain how to do this later.

There are also lots of screensavers to choose from instead of the boring black screen that Ubuntu uses by default.

Click on the System menu, Preferences and then Screensaver. The screensavers are listed down the left-hand side and the main part of the window shows a preview of the one that’s selected. Click on the Preview button for a proper taste of how a screen saver will look.

Unlike in Windows, this preview won’t disappear if you move the mouse. Instead there are arrows at the top to cycle through the different screensavers on offer.

Bear in mind that many of the 3D screensavers are quite demanding and leaving your PC with the screensaver running won’t necessarily be giving it or your electricity bill a break.

With this in mind, once you have chosen a screensaver, click on the Power Management button. You can set when the computer should go into a low power sleep mode when it is not being used.

If there are several user accounts set up on the computer, you may want to change the login screen so that people don’t have to remember their user names.

Click on the System menu then Administration and then Login Window. Enter your password when prompted. Ignore the first tab and click on the Local tab. The default option is Human. Scroll down the list and click on the bottom option, Human List.

A list of all the user accounts on the computer will now be shown on the login screen - simply click on your name and type in your password to start using the computer. Click on Close when you are happy with the options.

Setting up email

Ubuntu includes an email program called Evolution. It is more like Outlook than Outlook Express or Windows Mail as it can organise your calendar, to do list items and contacts information as well as email messages.

To start it, click on the Applications menu then Internet and Evolution Mail. When you run it for the first time the Setup Assistant wizard will start automatically.

Click on the Forward button, and again if it offers to restore from a backup. Enter your name and email address, and click on Forward again. Select the correct server type from the top menu. For most email accounts this will be Pop although some services use Imap instead - check with your internet service provider (ISP) if you are unsure.

Enter your username, which will normally be either your email address (yourname@someisp.com) or just the first part (yourname).

It makes life easier to tick the Remember Password option. Click on Forward. Choose how often you want Evolution to check for new messages. If this option is left unticked Evolution will only check when it is told.

If you are accessing emails from more than one computer it is very important to select the option Leave messages on server. Click on Forward. Now fill in the details for the SMTP server - this is the server that sends emails. Ask your ISP if you do not know it. Click Forward, give the account a name and click Forward again.

The final step asks you to select your time zone: the easiest way is to click on the dot marking London on the map then click Forward. Click on Apply to finish the wizard and start Evolution. Click the Send/Receive button to download any messages that are waiting for you, or click the New button to start creating a new message.

Using the web

Ubuntu comes with a copy of Firefox that’s ready to use, so anyone who’s used the same browser in Windows should feel immediately at home.

To start Firefox simply click Applications, then Internet, then Firefox. There’s also a handy shortcut icon on the top taskbar, just to the right of the menus.

The only notable difference between Firefox on Windows and Firefox in Ubuntu is the location of the Preferences option. If you want to change any options in Firefox when running Ubuntu, look in the Edit menu rather than Tools.

Other software

Instead of the limited Wordpad tool supplied with Windows, Ubuntu comes with a complete office suite called Openoffice.

Click on the Applications menu and then Office to see the different programs. The word processor is called Writer and the spreadsheet Calc. Although Open Office will default to using its own file format, it can read and write documents in the formats used by Microsoft Office 2003 and earlier.

Ubuntu is also ready to play music and video. The music software is called Rhythmbox and looks like most other music software.

Rhythmbox has some exciting online options too. It can play music directly from websites such as www.magnatune.com. Another good media player is called VLC, but this isn’t installed as standard so you’ll have to add it.

Installing software

The best way to install software is to use the built-in Add/Remove utility. To start this, click the Applications menu and then Add/Remove. If you know the name of the software you are looking for, start typing the name into the search box.

You may need to adjust the Show setting if it does not appear as some software may not be included in the default list. Click on the menu and select All Available Applications.

The list of available software can also be filtered by clicking on the categories on the left-hand side. One of the advantages of installing software in this way is that you will automatically be advised if any updates are available.

It is also possible to download programs from the internet and install them by hand.

One example is the Opera web browser. Go to the Linux download page, select the latest version number and select the correct version of Linux, in this case Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex.

Click the Download Opera button and save the download to the computer. Double-click on the file and the Package Installer window will appear. Check the description of the file and then click on the Install Package button. Enter your password when prompted and the software will be installed.

Installing restricted extras

One of the limitations of Ubuntu when it’s first installed is that it cannot play various media files such as MP3 music, Flash videos or DVDs. This is because the licences for the software needed to play them are not open source.

If you decide that this isn’t a problem and would like to avoid converting a large music collection, all this software can be downloaded in one go using the Add/Remove utility.

Click on Applications and then Add/Remove. Type restricted into the search box and press Enter. Click in the small box for the entry 'Ubuntu restricted extras' and then on Apply Changes. Click on Apply. Enter your password and click on OK.

Ubuntu will download and install the software. If you want to play DVDs, you’ll need to type in a few extra settings.

Watching DVD movies

In order to watch DVD movies you’ll need to install the restricted extras software. You’ll also need to make one other change.

Make sure you are connected to the internet then click on Applications, Accessories and Terminal. Type the following text:

sudo apt-get install libdvdread3 gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly

Press Enter and type in your password when prompted. You can ignore the text that appears.

When it has finished type in the following:

sudo /usr/share/doc/ libdvdread3/ install-css.sh

and press Enter. Once again some text will appear on the screen.

After the normal cursor appears type exit and press Enter to quit the Terminal.

You can now watch DVDs using a media player such as VLC, which you can install easily using the Add/Remove tool.

Adding icons to the top taskbar

It won’t be long before you want extra shortcut icons in the top taskbar, and you can also use it to show information such as the weather.

Right-click on an empty part of the top taskbar then click on Add to Panel. Browse through the icons to find one that you want.

To add a program that is in the Applications menu, click on Application Launcher and then on forward. Click on the arrows to expand the menus to find the program, left-click on it once and then on Add. It is possible to select a menu or sub menu to add it to the bar.

Click on the Close button when you are happy with the changes. To remove an icon, right-click on it and then click on Remove from Panel.

Ubuntu is proof that Linux does not always deserve its reputation of being too complicated to use. In fact, in some ways it is simpler than Windows. We’ve explained the basics, but there's more information online and you’ll find expert readers in the Linux section of our forum.

As we mentioned in part one of our get started with Linux series, a common problem with Linux is getting wireless networks to work. If you find yourself without wireless after installing Linux go to part 3 of our series on getting started with Linux.

Recover deleted data from your hard disk

Jason D'Alison — 2009-06-30T11:48:00.000Z

Jason D'Alison, Computeractive, Tuesday 30 June 2009 at 11:48:00

Has some of your personal data gone missing, been deleted or become damaged? We explain how you could rescue it from your hard disk, USB memory key and more

Few things are more alarming than losing valuable data. We’ve all been there. Sometimes the loss is accidental. Maybe you deleted a bunch of holiday snaps in the mistaken belief that you had already backed them up.

Sometimes the loss is sheer bad luck. Perhaps a system crash has rendered Windows unbootable. And, sadly, sometimes the loss is malicious - certain viruses can be merciless in their destruction.

In this article, we show you how to get this missing data back from hard disks, USB memory keys, even CDs and DVDs. There is a good chance you can salvage stuff from all of them.

We can’t promise that you will be successful but when treasured files go missing, any chance is worth pursuing. Where necessary we touch on commercial products, but the main focus is on tips and tools that won’t cost you a penny.

Chiefly, this feature is aimed at users of Windows XP and Windows Vista (unless stated otherwise, everything we discuss is suitable for both), but don’t worry if you’re running something else – much of our advice is relevant no matter what your choice of operating system.

What a load of rubbish

It might seem obvious but the first thing to do when files go missing is to look in the Windows recycle bin on your desktop.

A file remains in this bin until you right-click it and select Empty Recycle Bin, providing there is enough space and you haven’t run a tool such as Disk Cleanup, which gives the option to dispose of files in the bin.

By default, the recycle bin in Windows XP uses 10 per cent of the disk space for deleted files, or the same percentage of each partition, if you have split your hard disk, up to a per-partition maximum of 3.99GB.

The bin in Vista uses 10 per cent of each partition’s initial 40GB, plus five per cent of any space thereafter. If your computer has, for example, a 120GB hard disk, it’s possible you could have about 8GB of deleted data in the bin.

To access the recycle bin, double-click its icon on the desktop. To restore a file or folder, right-click the file, hold down the left mouse button and drag the item on to your desktop.

Files only drop out of the recycle bin oldest files first when there’s no more room.

It’s not a great way to use disk space so we recommend that you open the recycle bin regularly to properly dispose of files you definitely don’t need. However, it is possible to increase the amount of space Windows sets aside for ‘deleted’ files; right-click the Recycle Bin and select Properties.

In Windows XP, use the percentage sliders to increase the space either globally or per partition (no partition can donate more than 3.99GB). In Vista, use each partition’s ‘Maximum size (MB)’ box to enter a new value (there are no limits).

Owners of Windows Vista can use another method to retrieve old or deleted versions of files and folders. Shadow Copy maintains periodic ‘snapshots’ of all files and folders on your hard disk. Sadly, this feature is available only on the Ultimate and Business editions.

However, there is a way for Home Premium and Home Basic users to access it using a tool called Shadow Explorer. We covered this handy download in a the Computeractive workshop Restore previous file versions with Windows Vista. Note that if you disable System Restore, this feature won’t work.

Beyond the bin

Unfortunately, the only files that can be rescued from the recycle bin are those deleted from hard disks. If you delete a file from a memory card or USB memory key, Windows does not keep a copy of it in the bin.

Neither will the bin help you if you’ve lost files through a virus infection or a failure of the Windows file system. Emptying the recycle bin also inhibits its usefulness as a means of recovering accidentally deleted files.

Thankfully, it’s not game over - far from it. There are numerous programs available to assist in raising data from the dead, and many of them are free. Take Recuva, for example. Except for CDs and floppy disks, this will try to restore deleted files from almost anything – even portable media players.

Like all recovery tools, Recuva works on the principle that deleted files usually aren’t erased. Windows merely marks the files’ locations as free for use the data will only be wiped when those locations are overwritten with new information.

As soon as you realise you’re in trouble, immediately stop using the disk or device the files are stored on. Avoid installing any recovery tools there, too, as you might overwrite the data you’re hoping to restore.

If the files are on your main hard disk, you may need to remove it from the computer and connect it temporarily to another PC running the recovery software. A USB hard disk caddy costing around £10 is a handy device for this purpose your local high-street computing shop will be able to help with this.

The easiest way to use Recuva is by working through the wizard. With this, you can specify what to scan for (such as picture, documents, or anything) as well as where to look (such as on a USB key, in a given folder or on all devices connected to the PC).

If the scan fails to unearth what you're after, try again but with a Deep Scan (which could take a significant amount of time). If you need more options perhaps the ability to scan for files with specific extensions (.mp3, for example) skip the wizard and use the program’s full interface.

When the scan is complete, Recuva displays a list of files, each with one of three traffic lights: green means the file should be fully recoverable; amber means the file might be partially recoverable; and red means the file is most probably lost.

Orange and red files will have been partly or totally overwritten. To proceed, just tick the files you want, click Recover, and choose a save destination make sure this is not on the disk or device the files are being recovered from.

No free lunch?

If Recuva doesn’t work for you, give one of the following a whirl: Soft Perfect File Recovery, Glary Undelete and PC Inspector File Recovery. More free recovery software is available from Computeractive's downloads page.

Sometimes, of course, you get what you pay for. We decided, therefore, to pit Recuva against Active Undelete 7, a popular commercial tool. Does shelling out for a paid-for product increase your chances of success?

Running both programs in their respective deep-scan modes, we searched a much-used 4GB memory stick for deleted images with file extensions .bmp, .gif, .png, .tif and .jpg.

Recuva found 330 items (excluding those measuring zero bytes): using its traffic light scheme to indicate the chances of recovery, 276 were flagged as green, 16 amber and 38 red.

We managed to open 261 of the green files and, surprisingly, six of the amber files. Even more surprisingly, 15 of the red files were fully readable, too.

Active Undelete found 539 items (again, excluding those measuring zero bytes): 428 were described as Recoverable and 111 were labelled with a variety of brief damage reports.

Disappointingly, we could open only 235 of the green files a colossal 193 were duff. Eight of the damaged files opened, though.

Other commercial tools might give better mileage, of course, but on balance Active Undelete left us a bit underwhelmed. Its recovery score was 243, while Recuva’s was 282. That’s quite a difference.

For non-basic stuff, though, Active Undelete has a neat trick: besides scanning for complete files it also scans for patterns of information it recognises as potential files but can’t identify.

So if your file system is trashed, the program can unearth files that no longer even have records no names, no sizes and so on. The Professional version ($55, £37) can also restore deleted partitions.

In a spin

Sadly, most file-recovery utilities can’t deal with optical media CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. That’s largely because optical discs use different file systems than hard disks and other removable storage.

There are plenty of specialist tools available, however. Have a crack at CD Recovery Toolbox Free and Iso Buster.

We took a CD-R containing 250MB of data and used a screwdriver to give it some impressive scratches.

Windows wouldn’t read the disc at all, but Iso Buster successfully inspected the file system and then displayed a list of files and folders. We put a tick against the lot, right-clicked, and selected Extract Objects.

After 12 hours, though, the process was less than 25 per cent complete, so we clicked Cancel and chose instead to rescue only the CD’s 13 photos. This scan took about 90 minutes: three of the photos safely saved to disk were readable (one was corrupted).

We tried the same test with Active Undelete 7 (one of the few utilities to offer both disk-based and optical-based recovery). This found the CD’s main title but nothing else, and CD Recovery Toolbox Free fared no better.

If you’re having no joy at all, start again after trying to fix some of the major damage on the disc. For advice on doing that, see our Workshop on how to repair scratched CDs and DVDs.

Ultimate edition

Have you ever switched on your PC and found that Windows no longer starts up? Most likely, you’ll be able to rescue the files on the disk by removing it from inside the case, placing it in a disk caddy and connecting it as an external disk to another PC.

However, if this doesn’t appeal, the answer is Ultimate Boot CD. This contains its own cut-down installation of Windows XP. It’s called a boot disc and it runs directly from the CD, bypassing your hard disk, so it’s no matter if your usual Windows installation is broken. Using one of the included file managers, you’ll be able to copy your files to an external device or DVD.

To get started, download Ultimate Boot CD. The downloadable tool creates the CD just follow the instructions.

You will need a Windows XP setup CD, though. If all you’ve got is a manufacturer’s recovery CD, borrow a full disc from a friend (providing you have the right XP licence, this is perfectly legal). Also, if your PC is out of commission, you will need to run the builder on another PC.

Once you’ve created the boot disc remember to configure the Bios so your PC boots up from the CD. Most PCs will attempt to do this as long as a disc is in the drive when the power is switched on. If it isn’t you need to set this in the Bios.

Press the F2 or Delete key (a notice should tell you which to press to enter setup) repeatedly in the time between the power being switched on and the Windows logo appearing; when the Bios screen appears (they’re all slightly different) look for an option labelled something like boot sequence, and use the arrow keys to move the CD option to the top of the list.

When you boot from the disc you have created, you’ll see the familiar XP desktop as Windows launches. Click the Start menu followed by All Programs and you will discover more than 150 programs, all free for non-commercial use.

Crucially, there is a software suite for recovering deleted files. There are also tools to fix Windows start-up problems (Mbrfix, for example).

One snag with Ultimate Boot CD is that it is only intended for users of Windows XP. You can use it with Vista if you avoid using the boot-repair tools but to stay legal you need an XP licence.

If you don’t have one, try Vista-based Vista PE or Microsoft’s Windows PE. There’s also a Linux-based version of Ultimate Boot CD.

Prevent data losses

The best way to protect files against accidental deletion is to ensure they are backed up correctly. One option is to create a snapshot, or image, of your entire hard disk.

If the disk subsequently fails or you’re the victim of a catastrophic virus attack, you can have your Windows installation, applications and settings all up and running again in minutes exactly as they were when you made the snapshot.

If you are running Windows Vista Ultimate, a solid snapshot tool is part of the Backup and Restore Center.

However, If you’re running something else the best-in-class commercial product is generally held to be Acronis True Image the home version costs around £30.

The best free alternative is probably Selfimage.

On a day-to-day basis, you will want software that backs up incrementally software that backs up all your files on its first run but then only backs up files that have been added or changed. Again, Vista can do this.

In XP there is Windows Backup, although if you use Windows XP Home you will need to install it manually from your setup CD Open the folder Valueadd, then Msft and Ntbackup then run Ntbackup.msi. Comodo Backup is a good free option.

Now you can back up online, too. The advantage is that your backups are safe from damage, corruption and theft everything is stored on robust, remote servers.

One of the leading providers is Carbonite, offering unlimited storage for $49.95 (£34) per year. Also consider iDrive and Mozy Home, both of which offer 2GB of storage free.

You’ve got Missing mail

Emails are not stored as individual files but as entries in a huge database. When an email gets deleted, its entry in that database usually remains intact - it’s merely tagged with a deletion flag, ensuring the email is no longer displayed.

Flagged emails are only blitzed for good when the database is compacted (to reclaim disk space or improve the email program’s performance). This is a manual process that most users never undertake.

There are plenty of utilities available that will reset deletion flags, but we’re not aware of any that are free. Take a look at Zmeil, priced at $19.95 (£13), which works with databases from Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird.

Also consider Disk Internals Mail Recovery. At $99.95 (£66), this is significantly more expensive, but it can also handle emails deleted from Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail. Thankfully, there is a free trial.

Emergency services

Subjecting your hard disk to recovery software is only sensible if it’s in good health. If it’s rattling like a train or exhibiting some other hardware fault, further use could cause additional damage.

This is when you need a specialist; a company that will operate on the disk in a clean room. One such specialist there are several others is Data Recovery Direct. DRD gives quotes of between £294 (for a 40GB disk) and £742 (for a disk over 500GB) steep but typical.

Rapid Data Recovery is also worth investigating, though, as, with prices starting from £112, it claims to offer the cheapest salvage service in the UK. It also tackles unreadable memory cards and USB memory keys. For recovery of damaged optical media, try US company Acodisc.

Even with the best of intentions, mistakes can occur and you can lose data, but we hope the advice given here will help you or prepare should a treasured photo or important file seemingly disappear.

Set your sites higher

Linda More — 2009-06-30T10:57:00.000Z

Linda More, Computing, Tuesday 30 June 2009 at 10:57:00

IT leaders at the cutting edge of e-commerce talk about the strategies and technologies they are using to beat the recession by forging stronger bonds with customers and opening up new business opportunities

While many of its supporters insist e-commerce has come of age as cost-conscious consumers turn to the web for bargains, customer behaviour gives the lie to those boasts. A recent study by Redshift Research shows 82 per cent of online shoppers still abandon their electronic shopping baskets during the sales process.

The Redshift research, carried out in conjunction with online content optimisation experts Maxymiser, also highlighted that marketers and consumers alike were unable to identify well-performing web content and differentiate between what makes a good e-commerce web site and what makes a bad one. Businesses need to wake up to the missed opportunities.

With e-commerce and a corporate web presence now firmly at the forefront of enterprise strategy, organisations are looking to capture the power of the internet to grow their company profile, create new products and services, and expand into new markets.

Matt Carter, director of online gaming company Betfair’s advanced technology lab, believes that the proliferation of high-speed broadband and the expansion of mobile connectivity is broadening and increasing the potential customer base.

“Over the past 10 years the online market has matured as a commercial channel,” he says. “Back in 1999 e-commerce was a bit of a toy for most companies; now, if you’re a serious business, it’s unlikely that you don’t have an online presence. There is a lot more internet e-commerce technology around today – technology that is built specifically for the internet, rather than existing technologies that are trying to adapt to internet use.”

E-commerce has developed rapidly from the “brochureware” of the early days. No longer just a place to park the corporate profile and contact details, today’s e-commerce site has the potential to open additional dialogues and interactions with customers. New technologies, such as Web 2.0, social networking and complex event processing offer the chance to raise e-commerce to a core enterprise activity.

Richard Rankin, e-commerce manager at tyre retailer Blackcircles.com, believes that Web 2.0 technologies provide an unparalleled chance for organisations to interact directly with customers.

“With Web 2.0, consumers have access to feedback and opinion not only about the product itself, but also the company they will be dealing with. It has allowed the development of new online marketing channels, such as online affiliations and affinity partnerships, search engine marketing and search engine optimisation, allowing us to develop cost-effective marketing strategies promoting Blackcircles.com to a wide base of customers online,” he says. “Previously we would have to rely on more expensive forms of advertising such as newspaper and magazine ads.”

The impact of online customer interactions has transformed certain industries already. “In the gambling market, online casinos have become as important as their bricks-and-mortar cousins. E-commerce can extend sales geography and lower overheads, while providing a useful route to managing customer relations and expectations. It has the ability to allow companies to be more responsive to sudden changes in the market,” says Jonathan Strock, head of gaming and compliance at virtual casino LeCroupier.com.

In harsh economic times, some companies are looking to drive sales through discounted offers on their web sites. However, the real power of e-commerce lies in opening up new dialogues and channels of communication that augment the relationships that organisations already enjoy with their customers and suppliers. It is from this enhanced dialogue and increased customer satisfaction that new products, services and markets will grow, rather than from poorly designed and targeted sales offers, says Strock.

Continually asking for and receiving feedback from customers and suppliers allows and encourages companies to improve their business and practices. And it is astonishing exactly how much information customers are prepared to give companies to help them improve their service and products – this can be turned into a real benefit for businesses that are prepared to listen.

“While online offerings must face the cost of technical investment, customer support, employee training and marketing overall, in business terms, they are far more cost-effective than traditional methods of trading,” says Strock.

One of the key advantages of e-commerce is that it can be used to quickly introduce new services to a global audience – although the flipside is that it also exposes businesses to massively increased competition.

And e-commerce can be a double-edged sword in other ways: providing an environment where customers can quickly compare prices, reviews and customer feedback at the click of a button, increases the pressure on organisations to react to changes in the competitive environment.

“Businesses in every sphere are struggling to differentiate themselves online by taking advantage of the latest technological developments,” says Strock. “For example, many businesses are still coming to terms with how to make the best use of social networks and to create true customer interaction with a brand.”

According to analyst Datamonitor, companies of all sizes have also begun to engage customers and prospects using social networking services. Much of the activity to date has been pure marketing, but some leading-edge companies have started to offer customer service and support through social networking applications.

The next step may be to connect that key customer service resource – the contact centre – directly into social networks. Datamonitor senior analyst Ian Jacobs says that individuals are constructing elaborate social networks that are significantly broader than their real-world equivalents and companies want to tap into these networks.

“Given the popularity of social networks, companies of all stripes have started to look for ways to market their brands to potential customers through these services,” he says. “Whether it’s through online contests, coupon and discount offers or just an extended presence to shine positive light on brands, social networking has become a darling of the marketing world.”

When done properly, social network-based customer interactions foster increased intimacy between company and customer.

“Customers feel that the company listens to, understands and cares about their preferences,” says Jacobs.

One of the biggest challenges for companies striving for a successful e-commerce strategy will be to keep pace with developments in this area. Jacobs predicts that ignoring the impact of these new technologies on e-commerce strategy could have dire consequences.

“Social networks will not be a flash-in-the-pan craze and will not simply disappear or burn themselves out,” he says. “Companies that choose to ignore this trend will relegate themselves to the outdated, fuddy-duddy camp, or more worryingly, into obsolescence.”

In the second part of our definitive guide, we look at e-commerce in action

Best practice: Five steps to achieving your e-commerce goals

Secure cross-departmental support for your e-commerce plan

Given that e-commerce crosses over so many functional lines in an organisation – product, brand, marketing, service, operations, finance, to name a few – there is a lot of room for problems to arise. Strong cross-channel and cross-functional communication is the key to success, along with clear decision-making. Forrester recommends creating a governance board made up of key leaders from IT, marketing, channels, and operations to facilitate this communication and alignment. Integrate the teams – business, creative, and technical – if at all possible.

Clarify what constitutes project success

What are the key performance indicators that matter? Is the reporting and analytics plan going to deliver them? How will the project itself be measured and is everyone given the right incentives to deliver? Will the site be tagged in a consistent and logical way that scales and is repeatable?

Think about the customer

Any e-commerce initiative must be guided by a strong and clear vision for the desired customer experience from the outset. This extends into business rules, policies, and how the site interacts with other customer-facing processes. Be pragmatic and ensure your vision can evolve and develop into the future.

Manage scope and expectations

Manage the project scope carefully by limiting the business requirements and customer experience bells and whistles in phase one. Focus the implementation phase on core basic business and customer experience requirements, and pay close attention to integration and performance issues. Partner with business analysts and project managers to manage this scope and to understand the impact of requirements. Insist on reality, expect a can-do attitude.

Avoid the “big bang” and take a long-term view

Take a programme rather than project approach to developing the site and business tools. Don’t try to fulfil every wish that the business comes up with. Focus on a continuous programme, funded and staffed to meet the ongoing needs of the business and to incrementally add capabilities and features over time. Pitch your project in this light to gain long-term support for your technology initiatives.

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