Open Source not just limited with software and the computer market!

Posted by rich on Jul 23, 2008 in Open Source | 0 comments It seems that although “Open Source” isn’t exactly a new term or idea, the area in which it is used is beginning to spread. Not only do we have abundances of newly created open source software, but it seems even musical bands are beginning to take open source to a newer level; or at least pushing the idea further. The latest band to take advantage of open source is Radiohead,...
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RFID label technology hack to be published

Posted by Adrian on Jul 21, 2008 in business, Labels | 0 comments I posted a blog thread a few days ago about our reservations about RFID as a practical techology at this point in time, and today it appears as if there is another serious flaw in the use of RFID in labelling. The BBC are reporting that the encryption used in one of the biggest RFID rollouts in the UK has been hacked, that of the London Tube Oyster card scheme. One of the exciting possibilities...
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Finally, I’ve found a decent webpage design software for linux (like dreamweaver)

Posted by Adrian on Jul 20, 2008 in coding, Open Source | 0 comments Apart from a couple of small SEO applications that only run on windos, the biggest problem I have come across when using linux in the past year for day to day business use is the lack of a WYSIWYG webapge editor.  At the moment I’m still remote desktop’ing onto our old windows server where we have dreamweaver installed.  I can code in html, but to be honest a split screen...
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ouch. credit card PIN numbers hacked in the USA from microsoft windows servers.

Posted by Adrian on Jul 20, 2008 in business, Open Source | 0 comments I keep up to date by using the BBC website for news, but very occasionally they miss somethig that I think is pretty interesting, like this story from The Times and others. Apparantly the “encrypted” link between banks and cash machines, that is based on Microsoft windows platforms has been hacked, PIN numbers stolen, cloned cards made and money then withdrawn from ATMs. Scary.  So...
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Could open source help the UK government cut its carbon emmisions?

Posted by Adrian on Jul 17, 2008 in Open Source | 0 comments The BBC are reporting that Computer systems generate up to 20% of all carbon produced by government, and that the UK government is going to have a carbon neutral IT system within 4 years. I wonder if they have considered cutting their electricity usage by using open source? I noted sometime ago from Alan Lord (when writing our corporate social responsibility statement) that Linux is alleged to...
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Barcode Labels v RFID

Posted by Adrian on Jul 17, 2008 in Labels | 0 comments We believe that it was in 1952 when the first ever barcode label was produced, however it was not until the 1980s that barcode labels became popular to the public. When they were first produced they were only really used for one reason and that was for identifying railroad cars. This was a while ago though and since then barcode labels have become increasingly popular and technology has become so...
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Print your labels at home, or use a professional label printer?

Posted by Adrian on Jul 17, 2008 in Articles, Labels | 0 comments If you are a really small volume user of labels, you may be wondering if it is best to have your own A4 sheet label printer at home to print labels, or pay for a professional to print their labels for them. At Mercian Labels , we have want what is best for you. If you are happy with a very limited range of paper labels, and do ultra small runs lengths, then its probably cheaper for you to print...
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Types of adhesive used in label printing

Posted by Adrian on Jul 17, 2008 in Labels | 3 comments Many of our customers enquire about what adhesives could or should their labels use. There is never a straight forward answer to this question, as there is a wide selection of adhesives, and it all depends on what use the label is going to be put to. This is because all adhesives are formulated for different reasons and they all have individual jobs to do. If a customer needed labels for items of...
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Opportunities to create your own labels

Posted by Adrian on Jul 17, 2008 in Labels | 0 comments At Mercian Labels our customers constantly design their own custom personalised labels, which allows them to create their own designs before we print them. You may want to design your own labels for many different reasons, whether it is a one off design to mark a specific event, or for company use in marketing a wider product range. When customers design these labels the best thing to do is to...
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Asset Labels For Identification

Posted by Adrian on Jul 17, 2008 in Articles, Labels | 0 comments Asset identification labels are useful for so many different organisations, and here at Mercian Labels we have many people contact us asking for such labels. Asset labels have so many different uses, but they are commonly used to help organisations track their assets and deter theft of their property.  One common area of confusion we find with asset labels is what the best material to use for...
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new software system, dry run results

Posted by Adrian on Jul 14, 2008 in coding, Open Source | 1 comment Well we did a full dry run last Friday with the new PHP driven labels CRM system (yet to be named – any ideas?) and it didnt go as well as we hoped.  So much so that we have a list of bugs to work on before its good enough to go “live”, hopefully next weekend. Patience is a vurtue as they say, but I’m just so keen to see the new system up and running and give us some...
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open source migration progess – July 2008

Posted by Adrian on Jul 8, 2008 in Open Source | 0 comments The BIG migration of our mission critical MIS system from MS Access to POSTGRES PHP is due to happen this weekend.  OK, its taken 18 months, not 6 months to write, but I’m sure it will be worth it. Duplicate dry run on Friday, so watch this space…
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changing business banks – what a faff.

Posted by Adrian on Jul 8, 2008 in Labels | 0 comments Yesterday we just completed a change of business bankers.  This is not an activity to be undertaken lightly, but given that Mercian Labels has doubled in size in recent years and moved into the “commercial” banking sector of £1M-£25M turnover businesses we had really outgrown our previous banking arranagment. For those company owners and company directors watching this blog,...
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we won the cat5 dog lead auction…

Posted by Adrian on Jul 8, 2008 in Open Source | 0 comments Jake over at Senokian ran an auction for his emergency cat5 dog lead as reported on The Register I won it.  One of the most bizzare purchases I’ve ever made, but all proceeds went to a good cause and we were pleased to support Jake and battle Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Anybody have anything else weird to sell...
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Label printing methods

Posted by Adrian on Jul 8, 2008 in Articles, Labels | 0 comments At Mercian Labels we have a variety of different label printing techniques, these include printing digital, hotfoil, thermal and flexographic labels. The different label printing options can result in confusion by our customers to what way would be best to print their labels. There is no right or wrong answer to this question as each label printing method has its own benefits. For customers who...
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