This issue:
- New web site for Schumacher Racing
- Domain Name protection
- Special Web Space Offer
- Update on TUDOR Uniplex to Word document conversion
- New low pricing on Spreadsheet Convertor
- Uniplex News
- Year 2000 and Uniplex
You can register to receive regular copies of the Centreline 2000 News Letter.
They always contain a mixture of product news, technical information, trade gossip - some of which you will not
hear anywhere else!
Centreline 2000 - keeping you informed.
Centreline 2000 Helps Schumacher Race Onto the Web
First Past the Chequered Flag
Schumacher Racing Ltd goes on-line at
www.racing-cars.com with a web site dedicated to racing replica model cars.
Schumacher Racing Products Ltd. (no connection with the Formula 1 racing driver of the same name) is the world's leading designer and manufacturer of one-tenth scale replica model racing cars. Based in Northampton, the company exports over 50% of its cars and sells across the UK, Europe, US, Far East and Japan.
Would-be Hills and Schumachers of all ages race the hi-tech 18 inch long replicas at events world-wide, mirroring the various categories and competitions held in real motorsport.
A regular champion at British, European and World race events, Schumacher have been European 4-Wheel Drive Champions for the last 2 years.
"Schumacher's customers play to win", says Schumacher's Tim Walden. "Our cars are one-tenth scale replicas and they are raced throughout the world. One of the biggest problems for the drivers is getting the latest tips and tricks on performance from us at the factory. Details such as having the right oil at the right temperature in the shock absorbers on race day can be crucial! The Web is an ideal way of disseminating this type of information and building stronger links with our customers."
Tuned for optimum performance
The Schumacher Web is highly interactive, with a Magazine and Buyers section, plus a forum for racers to discuss ideas with Schumacher's engineers and fellow enthusiasts.
Stuart Hillston, of site designer Centreline 2000, is enthusiastic about the ability of the site to directly leverage sales, commenting, "racing Schumacher cars is an all-consuming hi-tech hobby and we think the Web will prove more than just a popular channel of communication. Now people can browse and pick-up information. In the US (where Schumacher sells direct) prospective customers can also buy on-line."
The typical profile of web users are younger males with money, exactly the typical scale model racer too. Centreline's Hillston continues, "Young blokes are interested in beer, women and fast cars. If you sell one or more of those over the web then you are in business."
Protect Your Name
Continuing problems with Internet name registration.
Is your name protected?
We reported last spring that company names were being registered for the Internet illegitimately by companies and individuals out to make a fast buck.
Two of our clients have recently fallen foul of this and now have major problems retrieving their own internet name.
We can't name the companies because there may be legal action to try and recover their rightful names. But clearly, even if they go to court and secure the return of the Internet names this will be a costly and time consuming process.
Your Internet domain name, such as c2000.com, is registered with an official UK or international body. These groups make almost no checks to ensure that the person registering has the right to use such a name.
Even if you are not on the Internet now, but you think you will be in the future you should register now to make sure your name is protected.
Other Scams
You may also have received letters from companies claiming to register your name as your_company.uk.com for a small fee. These registrations do not fit the international standard for Internet names and you should not hand over your money. The "uk.com" is non-standard, you should only register as your_co.com or your_co.co.uk. Accept no substitutes.
Web Space and Domain Name Bundle
Register your Internet name and have your own entry on the World Wide Web with this low cost bundle.
Centreline 2000 is now offering a combined Internet Domain Name registration and Web Page bundle.
For just £350 you can have:
- A properly registered and protected Internet domain name of your choice.
- A web page created by us at your internet address. Includes your text and company logo.
- 5MB of additional web space free for you to use.
- Mail from your web site forwarded to the account of your choice, include any other internet address or Compuserve account (for example, your home email account).
All we need to set this up for you today is:
- Your requested internet domain name, i.e. your_company.co.uk or your_company.com (international companies only).
- Your text for the web page (up to 2,000 words)
- A sample of your company logo - we can scan almost any format, including your letterhead.
- 3 plain sheets of company letterhead (these are needed to validate the request for your registration)
Need more information? - Call now on 07000 88 2000
Document Conversion
The immodestly named TUDOR (The Ultimate Document Convertor) has recently been installed at three new locations: Southampton City Council, Cambridge County Council and Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).
At Southampton and CIOT Tudor is being used as part of migration strategies to move from Uniplex to Microsoft office products, in particular MS-Word.
Tudor supports either single file conversion or batch conversion of whole folders or even the entire document store.
Tudor is not for everyone, it is a relatively expensive option, but does include two days on-site installation and configuration. This configuration ensures that the converted documents match as closely as possible your existing Uniplex setup.
Tudor is far more advanced than typical shrink-wrap convertors. For example, it can handle tables, line draw and multi-columns - converting them to formats which are easy to use and edit in MS-Word. Tudor also matches your Uniplex setup for printer atttributes (e.g. print effects) and print style settings (e.g. margins and fonts).
This special configuration ensures that you get as close to a WYSIWYG conversion as is possible.
Tudor is available as additional menu options on your Uniplex menu. Again the installation service includes tailoring these options to take account of your migration. For example, if you are moving to NT, then you could transfer all files to the NT server automatically.
Spreadsheet Conversion - Price Drop
If you need to move spreadsheets from Uniplex to MS-Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 formats then Office 2000 Spreadsheet Converter is your tool - and as of now its cheaper too!
An unlimited Unix license now costs only £995, a saving of over £600 for only 20 users. For larger sites the savings are even greater.
Developed by the original author of Uniplex spreadsheet, Dave Cockcroft, this convertor takes spreadsheet save files and converts them to .WK3 or .WK4 format files which can be used in Excel, 1-2-3 or for that matter almost any other PC package.
The conversion includes all data and formulae as well, unlike the Uniplex embedded export option which cannot handle your in-built calculations.
Need more information? Call now on 07000 88 2000
Uniplex News
We heard this week that Uniplex have made further redundancies in Europe, over 20 lost their jobs in the UK and the French office closes altogether.
This brings the total UK staff to under 30, a far cry from the over 250 a few years ago.
Where this leaves Uniplex Business Software development is unclear, the current UBS team have all been made redundant although Uniplex assures us development will still continue.
This will undoubtedly fuel migration plans at many organisations who have been looking to a Microsoft oriented future.
Year 2000 and Uniplex
Uniplex confirmed this month that Version 8.0 is Year 2000 compliant. That at least removes any pressure on that front.
However, you may still need to make changes to your system. In particular the use of dates throughout. Word Processing automatically includes dates configured to 2-digits - this is a single point configuration change.
More problematical are spreadsheet and database forms which use dates formatted to 2 digits. Spreadsheets are the worst culprits where dates may be found in hundred's of cells in a single sheet.
If you need special help rebuilding or reconfiguring your system now then please call us and we'll be happy to advise.
Web Site News
Why not register your pages at our Links site free of charge. http://www.c2000.com/links continues to grow and now records over 1,200 entries in different categories. If you want to register your own company web pages at our site then just drop us a line.
We have also started work on a new web project for Arun District Council, more news on this when the site is completed and publicly available. We will be announcing other new local government web developments shortly.
The utility to double the speed of modem connections from PC's has been a hot download. A simple tweak to your system yet very effective.
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