OK, a couple of days later than I said (work schedule is crazy at the moment) you can download the free Sage 50 Explorer. This tool allows you to connect to Sage Line 50 data, query any of the tables and then export the resulting data to Excel or a comma separated text file.

Please note this uses the Sage ODBC driver which is read-only, you cannot change any data only extract it. However also please note the software is provided as is with no warranty of any kind implied or otherwise. If you are going to extract data to be extra safe take a backup first! Simply send an email to explorer@domorewithsage.com where you will receive a link to download the software.

In the next week or so I will be adding a couple of videos to demonstrate the product. You can additionally head over to ezinearticles.com and search for Sage Line 50 ODBC and you will find a couple of articles I have written on querying Sage data.

OK, so I don’t want this blog to become a soap-box for me to rant from, and I try and provide information which is useful and specific to the industry. However this has really angered me where Amazon UK’s so called ‘buyer guarantee’ isn’t what it appears. Three weeks ago I purchased some Adobe software from an Amazon UK marketplace seller. I strongly suspect due to the poor quality of the packagaing that the item is in fact counterfeit. Long story short rather than Amazon ‘protecting’ me and allowing me to return the item for a refund, I have to prove its counterfeit before any further action can be taken? Mind boggling! And there was me thinking that their buyer guarantee (along with the sale of goods act and the distance selling act) would enable a swift and painless refund!

Buyer beware!

One more off-topic post and then back on track I promise! If you have lots of PDFs kicking around on your computer but never really read them then maybe you ought to consider getting an e-book reader. With this device you can store hundreds of PDFs, text files and HTML files on a memory card and view them in portrait mode using electronic ink which is easier on the eyes and increases battery life massively. The one I bought is this one here http://mybebook.com/ and if after looking at it you decide to get one you can put in my email address gary@domorewithsage.com at the checkout page (it will say something like redeem coupon) and get a 25 euro discount!

OK, so not exactly Sage specific but hot news all the same is the new release of a web browser from Google. Having tried it today I have to say the interface is very slick and it performs very well. However before you jump in with both feet you might want to read the small print. The licensing terms seem very restrictive and quite worrying, they are

“By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services.”

So before choosing it as your web browser of choice you might want to bear that in mind!

Here it is, post #1 of my new blog. I hope you will find useful articles, free downloads and utilites that all have one common goal; to help to acheive more with your Sage accounting or Sage CRM system and to actually reduce or eliminate current manual process time and generate additional revenues from new business (acquired in the most cost effective way) or by intelligent communication and compelling offers into your existing customer base.