iPhone 4 SMTP Servers

/ Business, Technology / ,

Whilst changing my email account from POP to IMAP I discovered multiple smtp servers listed in the account settings. Most of them were turned off but to keep things neat I wanted to delete the unwanted servers, however when I opened the servers the expected red “delete” button was not there.

These SMTP servers are inherited from other email accounts on the iPhone – and if the selected account send server fails, the email client will try to use an alternate server from the other accounts (an excellent feature as it allows the iPhone to seamlessly send email whether connected via 3G or wifi). But if like me you use your iPhone to test accounts for clients then you soon accumulate a selection of SMTP servers.

So after puzzling for a few minutes on “no delete button” I hit on the idea of editing the smtp server to something more relevant to me – however saving the information after editing with an error in the name meant if failed the verification, I continued and saved the details, on reopening the information the delete button was back. So following that fortunate error I had a plan.

Go to Settings – Mail, Contacts, Calendars
Select an email account where the server you want to delete is not the default send server
Open the account and tap on SMTP Server
Under Other SMTP Servers choose the server you want to delete
Turn the server off
Edit the Host Name to anything
Click Done
On the error message click Save
Close the account – when it is re-opened the Delete Server button will be there

On deleting servers check that all your email accounts still have valid SMTP servers.

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Practice Walk for the West Highland Way

/ Walking / , , ,

I am writing this post while waiting under the Kirkstead Bridge to be picked up. Why under the bridge, well although it started off sunny earlier today there has been hail and now it is pouring down! But I did get a 20k walking in – I think I will start a mileage tally of the practice walks for the WHW.

There are two words to describe today’s walk – DOG’S MESS. now I am sure there are many responsible dog owners who clean up after their pets, however there are many who do not. I took shelter under the bridge and sat on the concrete ledge to finish my coffee, to discover my boots were in several piles of unmentionable and these were not the first piles of the day. There were many not even at the sides of the track but in the middle. And to add a final twist to the behaviour of some pet owners, some people are clearing up after their animals and then hanging the full baggies in the trees along the path side! Someone explain that!

The photo below show the high level of the water in the Witham – making use of the flood protection overflow banks.

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Kick Start Seminars Present – A Touch of Marketing

/ General / ,

I am working with a group of local business people in Lincoln to present a series of seminars, to share best business practices. The third event of this series is now scheduled for 22nd March 2011 at the Lincoln Golf Centre. There will be a variety of speakers (speaking for 5 to 10 minutes) and plenty of time to network with the other attendees.

The flyer for the event is below (click on it for a better quality version).

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The Belgian Cafe

/ Walking / , ,

I am in Ramsgate this weekend, for my Granddaughter’s fIrst birthdays – but with the West Highland Way less than 8 months away, I wanted to get some walking in this weekend. So I got ip early and walked along the sea front. The only thing this morning is that the sun has forgotten to rise – it is a grey, damp claggy day.

Ramsgate Marina
Ramsgate Marina

Ramsgate was closed this early on a Sunday morning – except for a cafe near the Marina – The Belgian Cafe. It serves excellent coffee and the bacon smelled great, the only problem is that this is walking to get fit so bacon sandwiches are out. The decor is eccentric and I guess that adds character, and I am not sure whether the accents of the staff were Belgian but they were continental. Well except for the chef who was London/Essex! And the coffee was good.

Try it out The Belgian Cafe – pics below.

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iPhone and Text Files Again

/ Technology / ,

As I explained the other day, we use plain text files as part of our process of providing support for our clients – and I had discovered PlainText for DropBox. On Friday I went looking through the Apps Store for a good client to read tech PDF files and I discovered GoodReader. I bought it for the first job, and it dealt very well with the PDF file I needed to have reference to whilst crammed into a server cupboard. However GoodReader is far more than a well thought out PDF viewer.

* It includes a text editor and has a local file system so your iPhone now has a My Documents folder!

* You can import pictures info My Documents – I am now able to document a job now with both images and text.

* At Octagon Technology we not only use DropBox to share information but we have a NAS on our network with FTP access – GoodReader has the ability to connect to this and upload and download files to the iPhone.

* Working through the set up GoodReader gives you a URL to save as a bookmark in Safari, which if you use it when on a web page it will save a local copy of the page. Very useful when I am collecting information to solve a technical problem.

* It connects to many of the Cloud services as well as user servers.

* You can connect it to an email mailbox to access files or messages.

For a full list of features check out their web site,

For me this is a “must have” app.

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Wet and Windy on the Water Rail Way

/ Walking / , , , , ,

Walked from Washingborough to Woodhall Spa today as the real start of the practice to tackle the West Highland Way in October. It has been a while since I have walked seriously for a length of time – there is always something else to do – and it really showed when I was keeping up a good pace! So more practice needed.

It was a wet and windy day and it got very dark from time to time. I took my gas mask case with a flask of hot water, a brew kit and stove. Two stops for coffee from the flask and I heated water for a cup-a-soup during the hardest rain of the day. There is a lot of public art along the path and many “interesting” seats so I found a good place to sit for the brew up with a little shelter from the wind.

The Water Rail Way is a good walk and I would recommend it anyone – it is not tough but it has some good scenery and sights, including information boards to add historic and natural history notes to the walk.

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Banana Glue

/ Business, Technology / ,

What a great name for a software company – Banana Glue!

In my job it is often useful to find out what machines are on a net work – if I can get a wifi connection the Banana Glue’s iNet scanner is a great tool to give you that information. I tried the free version and after just a few minutes on a network I bought the pro version – it rapidly let me find out the fixed IPs of the printers on the network.

The website (Banana Glue) describes the features of the software in detail, and provides a link to the Apps Store – but two of the best features are to be able to save or email the scan results, for filing or later comparison of a network’s structure.

I used it today on a smaller network, originally just to have a record of the structure but it actually showed that another PC in the shared building was using the the connection without permission – that we soon stopped by changing the WPA code and hiding the SSID.

Before the iPhone I used (and still use) an application SuperScan – which I have installed to a USB stick for use onsite. I have an older version which causes less aggravation with anti-virus software. It to can save the scan results and the software has been an essential part of my everyday tool kit for work.

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