Notice to BHD Customers:
Recently, a few loyal BHD Customers contacted BHD Service Group asking why a company claiming to represent "Retail Pro" had contacted them regarding technical support. BHD customers reported the following:
"Shaun at ShoeFly (Zuza) was contacted by One Step Data (Arizona based Retail Pro distributor). They contacted his Bellevue store and left a message saying they were calling regarding 'his requesting assistance with his Retail Pro' and to contact them for assistence. Shaun never called for technical support and the phone number the caller left was not a BHD support number. He called back because they said "Retail Pro" and when he found out they were another support company he let them know that he is happy with BHD.
Patti at Pacific Bay Swim and Sport said that the guy said that they were representing "RPRO" and checking in on them and she thought that it was strange as we (BHD) know everything about her account." Felicia, BHD
Recently, BHD expanded its sales and marketing into the Los Angeles basin, a formerly protected area of One Step Data. "I can only presume that we must be making an impact in the LA area for OSD to be investing their time in attempting to contact our customers," states BHD President Mick Malaney. Malaney sees the irony in OSD's efforts, since BHD staff encourages its customers to investigate the Retail Pro distributor network and transfer to another Retail Pro distributor who it feels will provide superior customer service. "Our customers are our customers because they choose to be, not because they have to be."
Malaney asks BHD Customers to contact Felicia at BHD (800) 377-RPRO (7776) if they are contacted by One Step Data. "My only concern is that One Step Data representatives are being truthful and informing our customers who they are and what they want. I would find it to be highly unethical and potentially illegal, otherwise."
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
KPI Customization
We have had a lot of issues with the KPI.
There is a new version being tested and is showing promise!
There is a new version being tested and is showing promise!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
VNC EXPLOIT FIX ***IMPORTANT***
VNC Exploit Fix
Option #1
Upgrade your installation of VNC to version 4.1.2 or above.
1) Go to the RealVNC website, http://www.realvnc.com
2) Choose the link, “VNC software can be downloaded here.”
3) Choose the link, “Download & use” under the Free Edition heading.
4) Skip the personal details section and choose the button “Proceed to download”
5) Choose the top Download button, which is for the 721K Executable.
6) Read and accept the terms and conditions, choose the “Download” button.
7) When prompted, choose either Open or Run. This will start the installation wizard.
8) Follow the installation wizard steps to reinstall/upgrade your copy of RealVNC.
Option #2
Close VNC access to your network.
In order to allow incoming VNC connections, your router was configured to forward VNC ports to an internal machine. These ports are typically 5500, 5800 and/or 5900. By removing the forwarding for these ports on your router, you will disable any incoming VNC connection requests, thus closing your “door” for the VNC exploit. Because there are many different brands and models of routers, you may need to contact BHD or consult your IT department for assistance.
You may also want to consider changing the default port so VNC is not waiting on 5900. by choosing a random port Hackers will not know what port is opened for what program.
Option #1
Upgrade your installation of VNC to version 4.1.2 or above.
1) Go to the RealVNC website, http://www.realvnc.com
2) Choose the link, “VNC software can be downloaded here.”
3) Choose the link, “Download & use” under the Free Edition heading.
4) Skip the personal details section and choose the button “Proceed to download”
5) Choose the top Download button, which is for the 721K Executable.
6) Read and accept the terms and conditions, choose the “Download” button.
7) When prompted, choose either Open or Run. This will start the installation wizard.
8) Follow the installation wizard steps to reinstall/upgrade your copy of RealVNC.
Option #2
Close VNC access to your network.
In order to allow incoming VNC connections, your router was configured to forward VNC ports to an internal machine. These ports are typically 5500, 5800 and/or 5900. By removing the forwarding for these ports on your router, you will disable any incoming VNC connection requests, thus closing your “door” for the VNC exploit. Because there are many different brands and models of routers, you may need to contact BHD or consult your IT department for assistance.
You may also want to consider changing the default port so VNC is not waiting on 5900. by choosing a random port Hackers will not know what port is opened for what program.
How bugs are managed between software developer (IP) and Software support (BHD)
BHD is often asked how bugs are managed between software developer (IP) and Software support (BHD). The following is a routine example.
The latest RetailPro 8.52 URC released on August 8th has been found to contain a problem in the XZout.exe file. The details of this problem are outlined in the CCU release notes below. A revised core containing the corrected XZout.exe has been distributed to the Partners Website. http://partners.retailpro.com/RP852.php . For those of you that have already downloaded the core released on August 8th, the latest version of XZout can be downloaded from the Tools and Utilities area of the website. Latest Update: 852XZ081106.zip . You only need this file in order to bring the August 8th your core up to date. If you have any questions related to this re-release please feel free to contact us here in support.
Client Controlled Update
08/11/2006
All Users
A Client Controlled Update is being provided to resolve the following issues:
Issue Description:
16056 - Tax Breakout in XZ Is Incorrect Does Not Match Reports
RTI Solution: An update to this issue is the fact that the discrepancy for the values was not based on the exe that was being used but is a rounding issue with a specific preference that is used. By default, retail pro sets tax decimal values to 5. If this is used, the numbers are correct and display as the user expects them to, however, if you set your tax decimals display to 2 or other then 5, your values within the x/z will be off as described by Jason H. in the original issue. A fix has been made such that X/Z will not follow the lead of reports.exe to recognize this preference setting during its calculation of the tax details.
Technical Support Note: While this will address the issue outlined in the bug, please be advised that there is still a discrepancy between Reports.exe and XZ.exe. The issue surrounds data used in investigation of the fix. It was found that users may have receipts that contain item and row # information = to 0. This could be the case if the items were deleted after the document had been posted, bridged in or edited with the repair tool.
SQA is asking for the assistance of the technical support staff in working with client to determine how invoices with 0 record row information got in the database or provide full data for review in house on this issue.
This is a separate bug
It is imperative that our support team be kept in the loop with respect to those issues that are still outstanding or have been uncovered during the testing and review of this fix.
Please review outstanding issue 16061 and 16062 within the BTF Devtrack database prior to release.
File Location(s):
T:\Products\8-Series\852\Updates\Client Controlled Update\OSD\852XZ081106.zip
A controlled update is one that is merely intended for a specific client for which this problem is severely affecting. The changes made within this release will be in effect within the General Update Release Cycle of issues.
Please contact SQA if there are any additional questions or concerns.
____________________________________________
2006 IslandPacific/RetailPro User Conference
September 11-12 2006
Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV
visit http://www.islandpacific.com/2006uc or call
(949) 476-2212 for more information
The latest RetailPro 8.52 URC released on August 8th has been found to contain a problem in the XZout.exe file. The details of this problem are outlined in the CCU release notes below. A revised core containing the corrected XZout.exe has been distributed to the Partners Website. http://partners.retailpro.com/RP852.php . For those of you that have already downloaded the core released on August 8th, the latest version of XZout can be downloaded from the Tools and Utilities area of the website. Latest Update: 852XZ081106.zip . You only need this file in order to bring the August 8th your core up to date. If you have any questions related to this re-release please feel free to contact us here in support.
Client Controlled Update
08/11/2006
All Users
A Client Controlled Update is being provided to resolve the following issues:
Issue Description:
16056 - Tax Breakout in XZ Is Incorrect Does Not Match Reports
RTI Solution: An update to this issue is the fact that the discrepancy for the values was not based on the exe that was being used but is a rounding issue with a specific preference that is used. By default, retail pro sets tax decimal values to 5. If this is used, the numbers are correct and display as the user expects them to, however, if you set your tax decimals display to 2 or other then 5, your values within the x/z will be off as described by Jason H. in the original issue. A fix has been made such that X/Z will not follow the lead of reports.exe to recognize this preference setting during its calculation of the tax details.
Technical Support Note: While this will address the issue outlined in the bug, please be advised that there is still a discrepancy between Reports.exe and XZ.exe. The issue surrounds data used in investigation of the fix. It was found that users may have receipts that contain item and row # information = to 0. This could be the case if the items were deleted after the document had been posted, bridged in or edited with the repair tool.
SQA is asking for the assistance of the technical support staff in working with client to determine how invoices with 0 record row information got in the database or provide full data for review in house on this issue.
This is a separate bug
It is imperative that our support team be kept in the loop with respect to those issues that are still outstanding or have been uncovered during the testing and review of this fix.
Please review outstanding issue 16061 and 16062 within the BTF Devtrack database prior to release.
File Location(s):
T:\Products\8-Series\852\Updates\Client Controlled Update\OSD\852XZ081106.zip
A controlled update is one that is merely intended for a specific client for which this problem is severely affecting. The changes made within this release will be in effect within the General Update Release Cycle of issues.
Please contact SQA if there are any additional questions or concerns.
____________________________________________
2006 IslandPacific/RetailPro User Conference
September 11-12 2006
Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV
visit http://www.islandpacific.com/2006uc or call
(949) 476-2212 for more information
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sage BW Client Care Renewal Increase
Effective September 1, 2006, Sage Software is increasing the BusinessWorks ClientCare plan renewal prices from $575 to $599. The pricing will be reflected on the customer's renewal notice beginning September 1, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Tech and Training Lead Times
Training:
Phone appointments starting on 9/19
Onsites starting on 10/2
Tech:
Phone appointments starting on 8/29
Onsites starting on 8/31
*Only a couple days open then we are booked for onsites again to late September.
Phone appointments starting on 9/19
Onsites starting on 10/2
Tech:
Phone appointments starting on 8/29
Onsites starting on 8/31
*Only a couple days open then we are booked for onsites again to late September.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
The following article should be interesting to BHD clients who advertise on Google
We're posting the following article, due to the fact that we're aware of companies who are clicking on their competition's websites to jack up their competition's advertising rates. BHD is not one of those companies; however, it's a valid reason why BHD does not advertise for a higher position on Google.
Google Says Worries About Click Fraud Are Overblown
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; D04
Google Inc. released a report yesterday criticizing independent consultants and researchers who have raised questions about click fraud, a growing concern of online advertisers worried that they are being overcharged for illegitimate clicks on their ads.
Google and other Web sites that host Google ads are paid when Internet users click on them. Automated "click robots" repeatedly click on Web ads to fraudulently inflate the amount of money an advertiser pays.
According to a report in June by Outsell Inc., 27 percent of advertisers surveyed said they had reduced online ad spending because they could not be sure that the clicks were from authentic users. The June report estimated that $1.3 billion in pay-per-click revenue from Google, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. is related to click fraud and that 14.6 percent of all clicks are fraudulent.
Google disputed those figures but declined to provide its own estimates.
Google said reports about click fraud have exaggerated the problem and could scare away advertisers. In its report yesterday, the company attacked the methodology used and conclusions drawn by click-fraud consultants, arguing they either lacked the technology to differentiate between a fraudulent click and a Web page reloading or that their technology improperly counted a single click as multiple clicks. Google cited specific examples of such methodological problems.
The reports "have led to vastly inflated estimates" of the problem, said Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google's product manager of trust and safety. "We saw media reports and data from consultants submitted by advertisers and it didn't make any sense. This report details the flaws and explains the discrepancy. We want to help consulting firms."
Ghosemajumder said Google had taken steps to develop industry-wide standards to identify, quantify and define click fraud.
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask.com said last week that they would work on such standards over the next year through the Interactive Advertising Board, an industry group. Google recently launched a feature for advertisers to see how many invalid clicks Google has detected, but Ghosemajumder said the company would not make that aggregate information public.
"We think the most important thing is how it affects advertisers," Ghosemajumder said. "We don't want to provide any information to help the bad guys."
Research and click-fraud consulting firms criticized in Google's report said they stood behind their results and were encouraged that the company was addressing the problem. They have called on the industry to abide by a third-party measurement system, similar to how traditional media use Nielsen or other sampling data to provide a measurement of audience size.
"It needs to be addressed in the same way TV, radio, newspapers and magazines deal with it for the privilege of reaching certain people who buy certain things," said Chuck Richard, vice president of Outsell. Internet companies "cannot escape a third-party audit bureau to provide an independent measure of who they are reaching . . . It's inevitable."
Google Says Worries About Click Fraud Are Overblown
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; D04
Google Inc. released a report yesterday criticizing independent consultants and researchers who have raised questions about click fraud, a growing concern of online advertisers worried that they are being overcharged for illegitimate clicks on their ads.
Google and other Web sites that host Google ads are paid when Internet users click on them. Automated "click robots" repeatedly click on Web ads to fraudulently inflate the amount of money an advertiser pays.
According to a report in June by Outsell Inc., 27 percent of advertisers surveyed said they had reduced online ad spending because they could not be sure that the clicks were from authentic users. The June report estimated that $1.3 billion in pay-per-click revenue from Google, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. is related to click fraud and that 14.6 percent of all clicks are fraudulent.
Google disputed those figures but declined to provide its own estimates.
Google said reports about click fraud have exaggerated the problem and could scare away advertisers. In its report yesterday, the company attacked the methodology used and conclusions drawn by click-fraud consultants, arguing they either lacked the technology to differentiate between a fraudulent click and a Web page reloading or that their technology improperly counted a single click as multiple clicks. Google cited specific examples of such methodological problems.
The reports "have led to vastly inflated estimates" of the problem, said Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google's product manager of trust and safety. "We saw media reports and data from consultants submitted by advertisers and it didn't make any sense. This report details the flaws and explains the discrepancy. We want to help consulting firms."
Ghosemajumder said Google had taken steps to develop industry-wide standards to identify, quantify and define click fraud.
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask.com said last week that they would work on such standards over the next year through the Interactive Advertising Board, an industry group. Google recently launched a feature for advertisers to see how many invalid clicks Google has detected, but Ghosemajumder said the company would not make that aggregate information public.
"We think the most important thing is how it affects advertisers," Ghosemajumder said. "We don't want to provide any information to help the bad guys."
Research and click-fraud consulting firms criticized in Google's report said they stood behind their results and were encouraged that the company was addressing the problem. They have called on the industry to abide by a third-party measurement system, similar to how traditional media use Nielsen or other sampling data to provide a measurement of audience size.
"It needs to be addressed in the same way TV, radio, newspapers and magazines deal with it for the privilege of reaching certain people who buy certain things," said Chuck Richard, vice president of Outsell. Internet companies "cannot escape a third-party audit bureau to provide an independent measure of who they are reaching . . . It's inevitable."
Monday, August 07, 2006
CATASROPHIC FAILURE ERROR FIXED IN CREDIT CARDS
If you are using PPM for credit card processing and receive this error, Please contact BHD customer service at 1-800-377-7776 and request the may hotfixes. This error is Fixed in this set of updates.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Tech and Training Lead Times...
TRAINING:
Phone appointments starting 9/12
Onsites starting 9/18
TECH:
Phone appointments starting 8/16
Onsites starting 8/22
Phone appointments starting 9/12
Onsites starting 9/18
TECH:
Phone appointments starting 8/16
Onsites starting 8/22
Support on Version 6
After December 31st 2007 we will no longer be supporting version 6.
Please contact your sales rep for more information.
Please contact your sales rep for more information.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
"credit cards freezing retail pro" FYI
we have seen a few of these calls lately. if you have the computer set to automatically log out after a certain amount of time (let's say 2 minutes) and the clerk hits the credit card button. if they get caught up talking and don't do anything and that time elapses, it will log them out. THE CREDIT CARD SCREEN IS ON TOP! they do not realize it and think that retail pro is frozen up. simply move the credit card screen and log back in.
(watch out for this also if they are not setup in workstation preferences to close the credit card window automatically after the card is authorized)
(watch out for this also if they are not setup in workstation preferences to close the credit card window automatically after the card is authorized)
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