Mike Boyle (Timer Software)

When your computer fails chaos takes over. Normal tasks like paying bills, checking weather, customer support and the daily running of a Micro ISV, are halted.
This happened recently to us as a graphics card, good old Radeon, failed. Having the computer in dock for a week, you start to realize how much you depend on your personal computer.

Banking withdrawals, account balances need to be checked. Bills need to be paid by the due day. Emails need to be checked if possible. Luckily I have my phone setup to receive and send emails. It’s not the best but I can also visit the local internet café.

We also have had freak weather or it may be back to the normal wet season, with a major flood in since 1999. Mackay just had 600mm of rain in 6 hours and another flood looms this weekend. Looks like the Happy Plant may have been correct by flowering for the first time since whoever knows.

How does a Micro ISV prevent this in the future?
Option 1:
Have a stand by computer that can access the internet. This computer needs to have a mirror of your hard drive and be able to connect with little fuss. This may seem expensive but ex lease or ex government computers can be purchased at a fair price.
Option 2:
Keep a spare graphics card, main board, CPU, power supply, ram to interchange when working system fails.
Should be adopted:
Have a good backup system in place. A mirrored hard drive, external hard drive, portable hard drive and backup software are some of the things that should be in place incase of hard drive failure.

This fella came with an electrical storm about 5 days ago and hasn’t left. Looks like this could be his new home. Have you lost your duck?

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 “Can you really use a computer to turn on and off solenoids? I am thinking about installing a sprinkler system in, and are looking for a controller”
Recently I was contacted with this question about the timer software.

I then emailed a reply stating the facts, that this is really possible and that all the testimonials are actually true.
My response seemed to be a waste of time with a reply back stating “that this doesn’t seem possible and I don’t believe it”. I reread my email and decided that I had sent an adequate answer to his question.
The product or software was not at fault and the price never came into it. Sometimes people won’t deviate from the line they have always been on and will never try new ideas or products.

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We just passed through one of our coldest winters on record with temperatures ranging from a low of 4 (record for the month) to a maximun of 10.9 for 25 days straight.
For 25 days, from  28 June to 22 July all people, animals and plants in north Queensland felt the full force of how overcast weather conditions can upset the normal way of life that we live.
One plant we have in our front yard, The Happy Plant, we have never seen it in flower.
This plant flowered not soon after the cold spell had left.

On the radio that day, one lady said that she has two plants, 20 years and 15 years old and they had never flowered in that time. The Happy Plant to me is not the best looking plant, but the flower has a strong vanilla fragrance and looks quite good. Is this a forcast to an abnormal wet season to come? We will just have to wait and see.

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Sometimes to make more people aware of the Timer Software within Australia I add the license up for auction on Ebay. This generates interest locally (country wise), but due to the short time offered of 10 days for the auction, the Timer Software is usually not sold. Most customers intending to purchase the software generally use the trial for the full 30 days and during this time they purchase or make there own hardware, then purchase the software.

Using Ebay as another portal for a Micro-isv has its benefits. By having the software reside in a specific category, targeted traffic can visit the Timer Software product page that I have set up and then question, contact or bid on the software.  Even if the software is not sold, the potential customer may purchase at a later date from the website. Sometimes this may be months down the track.

The categories that I use that are related to the Timer software, Gardening and irrigation, place me in direct line of people looking for a controller for there watering system. Then it is just a matter of converting the questioners into customers. Not as easy as it sounds sometimes. The drawbacks are not being able to have a link to our website or a download link as these are against Ebay’s rules. Adwords, Seo and advertising are not the only way to have your product be seen.

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Welcome
      With a few teething problems I eventually have this blog up and running. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some topics in the future, some that are related to the Timer software and this site Hot Time Software, and some that are just interesting to me.
 I am a software developer, an independent software vendor. (Microisv)
Things that I know and will probably post about, I know about software development and starting and running a software business, I have an electrical background hence the Timer software. I have been an electrician for 24 years and a programmer for at least 10 years. I also wear another 3 hats, for website development, sales and marketing. There are numerous other positions that I fill but these are the main ones.
 My partner and I also have a keen interest in gardening, so I’ll post some gardening tips, with her help.

      We live in a small country town a few kilometers from the coast of North Queensland, Australia and because of the internet we have customers from every corner of the globe. If you have any queries don’t hesitate to email us and we’ll try our best to answer you.

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