10/01/2007 ~ Another year has flown by extremely rapidly! The passing of time barely noticed, as I endeavour to reflect on TWO whole years of 'sole-trading' (and a little 'soul trading'!) ...Indeed, fixing a PC can be therapeutic, not just for the machines, but for their long-suffering owners who generally maintain a unified ambivalence regarding the modern syndrome of reliance on such technology - keen to understand what may lie at their fingertips, anxious to keep up with what might otherwise leave them trailing behind, and certain that, either way, it's probably not going to be as easy as the advertisements like to suggest. So, Here Is The News... TechScope has recently made a major investment in improving matters even more for ordinary folk and businesses alike. We can now offer a fully featured online remote support service, and offline messaging system. What this means is that if you have a problem with your PC(s), as long as you have a working Internet connection of some sort, we can arrange with you to connect to your computer and fix it there and then. It is an extremely simple and effective method of diagnosing and resolving many issues. More details can be found under the new Support Page. Of course, anyone who really wants a visit, can still have one; but there are many situations where this new service will speak for itself - be it major, moderate or minor problems, or a need for a demonstration or tutorial. Like all visits, the remote support is easily arranged for a given date and time slot - you get to chat to me on-screen as well as by phone, and you see me working on your machine from far away. We can even send files to each other, or I can extract a quick but full diagnostic and get back to you when I've considered the details. Brilliant!

16/07/2006 ~ So much to mention, so little time. Broadband services in the UK are changing rapidly, and Microsoft refuses to stand still. Internet Security remains the bulk of my work, but there have been a wide variety of different jobs all the same. It's a non-stop IT maintenance situation, and there is little time to update this site or elaborate on certain issues as much as I'd like. But I shall try, pretty soon. A big HELLO! to all my customers, I hope you remember at least bits of all that fundamental advice, and are moving into more adventurous computing scenarios. Remember ~ patience and calm goes a long, long way!

16/01/2006 ~ And a Happy New Year to everyone! (That's valued customers and new visitors, alike!) TechScope is officially 1 Year Old. So that's a Happy Birthday to Us ~ Talking of us, though I am indeed the Sole Trader of TechScope, I would like to mention that I am ably supported in this endeavour by my partner, Kate, whom you may well speak to if you contact us by phone. Over many years as a 'computer widow' she has accumulated much of the technical ins and outs of this line of work, and will often glean from you the relevant bits of any original inquiry, so that I have something to come back to you with, 'straight off the bat'. The support Kate provides is mainly in general administration, but, because I am very often out and about visiting people, she will also direct my movements from afar, for example, getting me to drop in on customers on my way back home.

One of TechScope's substantial strengths is our flexibility. We generally work, and make ourselves available, 7 days a week, and will fit in visits to suit your needs. This could mean early morning and short-notice appointments to sort out a misbehaving laptop or projector before an important meeting, or a late-in-the-evening visit to discuss home-based technology in peace and quiet (when the children have finally gone to bed!). Basically, if there's a space in the diary, it's yours if you want it.

Final piece of news at the moment: I am embarking on a scheme of affiliations for this web-site. This means that I will be developing a portal of carefully-selected advertising links which will take you straight to some money-saving offers from well-known and reputable companies. I am happy to give you my advice and no-nonsense opinion on both the companies listed and the products they sell, based on personal experience. If I happen to have no personal experience, I will say so, but that is less likely to be the case ~ that's why they've been carefully selected!

02/08/05 ~ It's been quite a while since the last update - March, in fact! Where did that time go?! In the back of my mind, all the while, I've been thinking about this site and how much it needs some work. The reason for the big delay? Well, it's been work that's stalled my approaches to this site these last few months, and plenty of it. I've met lots of great people and wrangled with their machines and attendant peculiarities. No job is the same as another, all told, but now that things are somewhat consolidated, I have a much better idea of what to expect in practise, and how to identify and organise the various priorities that arise. Often, there will be a clear way forward, with maybe two or three strategic options to take into consideration ~ all explained to the customer*** ~ and sometimes, there will be a kind of technical impasse which requires more drastic action, such as a complete system revamp, or even "biting the bullet" and putting the old machine into permanent retirement, to make way for something more suited to today's Internet, and associated software demands. I hope to expand on my experience some more in the coming weeks, so that readers will get some idea of how I can help, or at least, learn to understand the possible problems presented by how their machine(s) 'behave' ~ er, or misbehave!
(*** ~ Although there can be quite a lot to explain and take in - most jobs lasting more than 2 hours will conclude with a fully documented work breakdown, which provides some of the important details of what was wrong and what was fixed, as well as advice for future reference.)

04/03/05 ~ Tuition take-up has taken off. Thanks and 'Hi!' to the new students. Lots of new virus threats and similar such things out on the Net at the moment. If you've been caught out by it, you're not alone! It takes quite a lot of effort these days to keep a system safe, especially with 'always-on' Broadband systems.

20/02/05 ~ Thanks to the very positive response following initial advertising, these pages have not been updated as quickly as I'd hoped, as I've been very busy 'on the job' (which is nice!). There should be some new Scenarios pages soon, though, and a Contact Form. Will keep you posted here.

[So much for that idea! The busy-ness, since I started, has been non-stop, for which I'm very grateful, naturally. Now that administration routines are becoming second nature, there should be a little more time to dedicate to this site, even if it does take me into the early hours on occasion!]          Archive Page 1