The purpose of this post is provide details of the configuration settings I’ve used on a Netgear router to solve my problem, so if you’re affected read on and see if it might work for you.

I first noticed a problem a few months back when I was accessing AdobeTV via the web site or the Adobe Media Player. The streaming video would start to play but after 3 minutes the router reset itself taking up to 20 minutes to reconnect but faster if I manually reset it a second time. This was completely repeatable right down to the exact 3 minutes the stream would play before resetting the router. All the lights would come on the router and these would be static not flashing as usual.

I then noticed that the same thing happened when using the BBC iPlayer - this was now getting beyond a joke. There were anomalies in that using the same physical machine but accessing each site using Windows XP running in Parallels the router wouldn’t crash!

I mentioned it on MacBites a couple of times more as a curiosity than expecting anything to come of it but I couldn’t believe how many people contacted me with similar stories or just to say they have been following my progress with it.

As I said on MacBites episode 14 all is well here now but only because I’ve reconfigured an old Netgear router to connect to Be and stopped using the BeBox. Many people asked about the BeBox with the problem - it’s a SpeedTouch 585 r.7 manufactured by Thomson. Thomson are the manufacturer of BT home hubs so if you’ve got a similar problem but are with BT that might explain it.

There are no more details from BBC/Adobe/Thomson/BT or Be regarding what they’re doing about it if anything so if you’ve got access to another router it might be your only hope at the moment.

My, formerly, spare router is a Netgear GT845PN and I set it up as follows:

1. Backup any existing settings you may need to retain on the router.

2. Reset the router to factory settings.

3. Connect to the router - usually at http://192.168.0.1 using admin/password as the user and password

4. Select basic setup from the menu on the left

5. In answer to the “Does your ISP require a login” Click No

If you have a Static IP Address follow 6.1 if you have a dynamic IP address skip to 6.2

6.1. Select Routed IPoATM and enter your IP Address and Default Gateway as provided by Be

6.2. Select the “Get Dynamically from ISP” option

7. Specify your selected DNS server addresses: Be’s DNS addresses are as follows:

Primary DNS: 87.192.0.51
Secondary DNS: 87.194.0.52

You may elect to use alternative DNS addresses such as OpenDNS (which I use)

8. Click ADSL Settings from the menu on the left, configure the settings as follows:

Multiplexing Method LLC

VPI = 0
VCI = 101
DSL Mode = ADSL2+

And if you’ve got the problem at least you know you’re not alone - I thought I was going mad when I figured out what it seemed to be - assuming nobody else could be having similar problems or that there would be an outcry.

If you’re having problems let me know how you get on using these instructions or just drop me a line to share your pain!!

I’ll definitely be there covering the great event live for MacBites - hope to see you there.

Clicking once on the .com does indeed add .com to the current address but holding your finger or thumb on the .com button produces a fly out menu containing extra options.

The precise options vary country by country and a full list is available from iPhone Central at Macworld.

The options shown here are those available in the UK.

How cool is that?

Mike and I spent the entire week tracking every Apple related site we could find to see if Apple would be selling the iPhone on Friday’s launch day and found nothing. The Apple Store couldn’t or wouldn’t confirm whether they would be selling it or not and referred all enquiries to the web site which was finally updated at 08:02 on Friday morning … you’ll see why that was no use later LOLOL

So we had a decision to make - stand outside the Apple Store on the off chance they would be selling them or queue at O2 and hope there were enough 16gb phones to go round. The later was very unlikely as the average available for sale per O2 store was between 3 and 6 … the only problem with that was the queue of 60 people outside fighting over them!!

So we headed off to the Trafford Centre at 06:30 more in hope than expectation … actually more in hope that expectation that we would even be able to get in the place as the car parks are locked behind impenetrable barriers until 09:30 by order of Trafford Council. As expected when we got there there was no way in to the car parks at all so we started casing the joint to find a way in. On our second circuit we found a car park with a broken barrier which meant we could sneak in. We managed to navigate from car park to car park until we got to the escalators next to Selfridges - absolutely perfect!!

The next issue was getting inside the place as it was locked tight. We knew others must already be queuing *following their antics on Twitter - very useful* so we waited until I spotted an unsuspecting Apple employee and we hot footed it after him up the escalator and very nonchalantly followed him inside after he used his staff card to get the door open :-))

The Trafford Centre is unusual in that it has two O2 store, two Carphone Warehouse stores and an Apple Store … in theory we couldn’t fail could we?

Once there we had the final decision to make - Apple and risk them not selling it or O2 and risk a sell out. We really shouldn’t have worried - Apple were set up perfectly, only 6 in the queue in front of us, more iPhone’s than even they could sell in a day and even better the rarer than hen’s teeth white 16gb model in stock. So it was tea, coffee, hot chocolate, bottles of iced water and hand made American cookies all round (all free courtesy of Apple - thanks guys) while we waited for the opening at 08:02 … which was why the web site update was lost on us!!

So we’re through the door at 08:02 and sat starting the purchase/contract creation process at 08:03 … oh dear, oh dear, oh dear that’s when it all ground to a halt. FIrst issue was that the O2 account creation process only worked on IE on Windows so it was VM Fusion all round while we cranked up IE amongst myriad warnings about virus protection and ad blocking requirements much to the bewilderment of hardened Apple users wondering what the hell was going on

The sign-up process was 9 sequential steps, the only respite being once you had passed the credit check at step 4 should the system crash you didn’t have to go back to step 1 but could resume at step 4. All of which was academic as it took until 11:00 for anyone in the store to actually reach the heady heights of passing the credit check stage!!

Of course passing step 4 didn’t mean a clear run to completion the system crashed time and time again, Windows gave up several times and more drinks and cookies were passed around as the phone lines to O2 HQ crashed and burnt.

The O2 store had only received 3 16gb iPhones and couldn’t activate any of them but in the end sold them to up-graders who could activate at home later. Meanwhile we were following the goings-on elsewhere via Twitter, MacRumors and a few other sites. It was the same story everywhere with O2 claiming they couldn’t have anticipated the demand … mmm that wasn’t washing as the system had crashed on Monday under the weight of pre-orders coming in at 13,000 per second. We were soon reading that in the O2 store in Milton Keynes the police had to be called in to rescue staff coming under fire from an angry mob who had queued for hours and were being asked to leave without their prized phones.

The flagship Apple Store in Regent Street London was forced to close at 15:00 as it just couldn’t cope with the numbers of folks turning up from out of stock O2 stores all over London. It was against stories like these coming in that we pressed on hoping and praying the O2 servers would have an epiphany and we’d manage to complete 2 purchases.

No kidding we all tried non-stop from entering the store at 08:02 and not a single person managed to complete the process until 13:20 when the first 4 of us (my relieved self included) signed off the process to rapturous applause form those in the queue, the Apple staff, the O2 staff on hand to help out and even shoppers outside in the Mall with no clue what was happening … unadulterated joy is obviously catching LOLOL

So finally just after 13:45 we left the store clutching 2 16gb white iPhones beaming from ear to ear.

The Apple Store staff had been fantastic as had the poor guys from O2 sent in to help with the contract related stuff. It was a good humoured “Dunkirk spirit” wait and I’d do it again in a heartbeat, it was sad to read of the problems other people had elsewhere like Milton Keynes but I guess a few hotheads who don’t know how to behave spoilt it for those who were prepared to wait. We figured we’d waited 19 months since the announcement of the iPhone and a few more hours wasn’t going to kill us *it nearly did but not quite*

Of course that wasn’t the end of our day … we then had to head to Vodafone to get a PAC number and cancel our existing service. We’ve both being out of contract for years and as Vodafone CANNOT give us an iPhone there wasn’t really much for them to say … but we’ve both been trying to get said PAC number for over a week and they are refusing point blank to give us one or let us terminate our service. The phone line people tell us to go in a store and the store people say they can’t do it and we need to write a letter to head office. Other people in the queue with Vodafone said the same thing and one poor guy even had 3 calls from Vodafone enforcement henchmen telling him the iPhone was cr*p and he should get a Nokia … each call lasted 30 minutes before he could get a word in. Mike has had three calls from Vodafone since Friday too - the why are you leaving, we’ll give you more free minutes, we’ll give you a gold bar if you stay with us type of blackmail!!

We finally managed to get someone in Customer Service *if anything was ever as misnamed* to start the termination on Friday afternoon so at the moment we’re both on temporary numbers for at least 2 weeks … and maybe more with Vodafone playing up.

It also took us an age to finish our celebratory meal, as every waiter in the Chinese restaurant insisted on coming over and admiring our phones, and an hour to get out of the Trafford Centre as people just shopping there wanted to see them too … I’d never seen anything like it!!

So an interesting day all round

Since we’d both made successful calls from the Apple Store as soon as we’d got the plastic off the phone we were unaware until much laster that other people were having huge problems getting the sim activated even days later. I hope it all fixes itself very soon for those affected.

Finally, there’s one thing you can say about us hardy Brits … we certainly know how to queue :-))

Decisions, decisions, decisions

I’m a Browser Junkie!

Well first of all I need to say I’m a browser junkie!

It’s true, I have 10 browsers installed on my Mac and an extra 3 on Windows in Parallels. Which ones I hear you ask? Well, here goes:

• Safari
• Opera
• Firefox
• OmniWeb
• Fluid
• Camino
• Shiira
• Flock
• Fluid
• Sunrise
• Netscape Navigator (yes I know it’s dead but I like it!)

And on Windows (in addition to Safari, Opera, Firefox, Flock and Navigator):

• Internet Explorer
• Konqueror
• Maxthon

I’m always open to trying more so if you find one I’m not using be sure to let me know and I’ll give it a try. Until then here’s a personal take on the final release version of Firefox 3.

What Was Wrong with Version 2?

I’ve never really used Firefox consistently as my primary browser. Obviously on Windows I gave it a try as my desperation to be rid of Internet Explorer reached critical mass. I could never quite understand why Firefox didn’t work for me, it just didn’t feel right.

On Windows I used Opera and Firefox languished neglected on my hard drive save for testing web sites in. Moving to the Mac I tried it again but it still didn’t feel right.

So what were my pet peeves with version 2?

Interface

The Firefox interface as shipped didn’t look like a native application on Windows or the Mac. Themes provide an opportunity to change the entire look and feel of the interface but each seemed to have it’s own idiosyncrasies.

It’s actually frightening how honed one can become using a piece of software, to the extent that anything else feels sufficiently alien to slow down every task undertaken.

Speed

Despite reading plenty of claims regarding how Firefox was a fast browser it never felt that great to me.

It was a slow application to launch and a memory hog when it had been running for any length of time.

Missing Features

If I’d moved from Internet Explorer I would undoubtedly have felt Firefox had numerous features that IE did not, tabbed browsing alone was always worth switching to Firefox for. I’d go so far as to say that compared to IE, Firefox didn’t have any missing features

However, using Opera for several years meant that I had a different perception of Firefox. Opera had every feature I could imagine I would ever need and if something didn’t look right or work the way I hoped then it’s configuration options where amazingly flexible and I could fix it instantly.

Of course Firefox can be made to do anything via it’s extensible add-on based architecture but that just meant:

1. Testing several add-ons before finding a suitable one
2. Installing it on my desktop, laptop, office machine etc. etc.
3. Keeping all the add-ons updated
4. Trying to overburden the Firefox installation with more add-ons than core code

Some of the missing features were just plain infuriating, like the inability to re-order tabs. I shouldn’t need an add-on to add that sort of basic functionality.

And Version 3?

I’ve been beta testing version 3 for a considerable time and there are many changes, some positive, some negative and even glimpses of exciting future developments.

The Positives

Completely New Look

The first apparent improvement is the interface. It’s much more Mac-like and made a huge difference to my perception of the entire browser.

In fact Mozilla have gone to great lengths to integrate Firefox into each operating system it supports. On Windows there are two separate skins, one for XP and another for Vista although they are so similar it’s difficult to discern much difference other than the colour of the icons.

Of course now Firefox natively integrates much better aesthetically with OS X I managed to find the perfect theme - but more on that later.

Talking of themes, there are plenty of themes available some specifically designed for the new version 3 so if you’re either looking for the perfect theme or trying to waste an hour while looking busy visit the Firefox theme download page.

Personas

One of the issues with themes is that each time you download a new one and apply it the browser needs a restart. A big time waster when you’re testing several themes seeking that perfect browsing experience.

In fact Mozilla themselves point out that themes can be hard to find, install and use. Creating themes also requires coding knowledge, something the best graphic designers may not have.

It’s to address these issues that Mozilla have created Personas. Very much a prototype concept and installed as an add-on, Personas adds lightweight theming to Firefox. The idea is that the user is able to select a Persona from a dynamic menu and instantly see the changes, no restart required. Personas can be added, removed and updated by their designers at any time, without the need for the software to be updated.

It is Faster

The first few betas I installed didn’t appear to differ greatly in speed from version 2 but towards the latter stages of the beta program the application felt much more responsive and certainly started up faster than I’d ever known.

The same can be said of the final release version too. Personally, I think Safari is still that bit faster but I have to say I no longer dread the startup wait Firefox previously engendered.

Google Integration

My primary use for Firefox is an interface to Google’s tools and services.

I use Google Notebook extensively and the availability of the Google toolbar and in particular the Google Notebook add-on make using it a breeze. For the uninitiated Google toolbar is an extra toolbar available for several browsers (but sadly not Safari) that adds direct access to many Google features such as Gmail, Notebook, Bookmarks, Docs and much more. In fact if the slew of tools provided aren’t enough you can generate custom buttons to further customize your Google toolbar. Google have a great page demonstrating all the features of the Google toolbar with all the details you’ll need to customize your installation.

The Notebook add-on extends the integration between Firefox and Google Notebook even further, adding an option to send selected page elements straight to your Google Notebook from the “Note This” context menu within Firefox. One click access to your Notebook is added to the chrome in the lower right corner, clicking this option opens a small window containing your Notebook. Useful as that is it’s even better to click the option to open your Notebook in it’s own chromeless window showing your whole Notebook.

Scrolling Tab Bar

When you have so many tabs open that they aren’t all displayed in the tab bar a common way for a browser to handle the extra tabs is to have them appear in a drop down list on the right of the browser window.

Although Firefox still has that very feature it now also allows the user to scroll the tab bar to the left and right using a mouse wheel. On the mighty mouse logically the ability to scroll to the right and left functions as expected but for those using a different mouse, with a wheel, scrolling up and down has the same effect.

It might be a little disorientating but it’s a positive addition for me.

Tab Management

In fact the handling of tabs has been improved all round.

Whereas adding the ability to re-order tabs using drag and drop required an add-on previously, this is now built in and the implementation is a good one with small white arrows showing where a tab will appear when dropped.

Sadly it’s not all good news with tabs though (see below).

Keyboard Shortcuts

It’s great to be able to use a plethora of browsers and not have to learn a completely different set of shortcuts to be up to speed with each one.

Firefox keeps the majority of the commonly used shortcuts standard, such as command & T for a new tab and command & N for a new window. It might not sound like a big deal but a few years ago when Opera decided to change their more non-standard keyboard shortcuts to match those in other browsers the furore was both long and loud.

Smart Location Bar

The Smart Location Bar, or AwesomeBar as it’s colloquially termed, has to be the biggest advance in Firefox 3.

The Smart Location Bar selects pages from both your bookmarks and history if it can match your input to any part of them. This is vastly different from Firefox 2 and most other browsers which match only the beginning of a URL.

The results are at first somewhat disorientating, each displayed on two lines and seemingly a random mix of entries. However, the undoubted power of the Smart Location bar is that it learns your intentions as you use it and adapts it’s results accordingly.

It might take practice and patience to get the most from it but if you’re not convinced of it’s benefits (too much like Clippy for you?) then you’ll be pleased to know you can turn it off and regain the Firefox 2 address bar.

Another time saver is that a single click in the Smart Location Bar selects the entire URL. Although, for this Safari user, that has proved to be something which will take more getting familiar with as I’m in Safari mode most of the day and that needs a triple click to achieve the same. My work around is to use command & L which performs the same in both browsers, it selects the URL of the current page.

Bookmark Management

Selecting Books > Organise Bookmarks from the menu gives access to the Library window, a ‘one stop shop’ for managing your bookmarks. It might sound uninspiring but this new implementation of bookmark management integrates everything you’ll need to micro manage your browsing experience.

For traditionalists Firefox has folders to store related bookmarks in but that’s only the starting point for marshaling your bookmarks. A single click is all that’s required to create a bookmark but if you require more classification another click on the star icon in the toolbar allows additional meta data regarding the bookmark to be specified.

Live Bookmarks show RSS feed items as individual bookmarks updating them as the feed updates while Smart Folders allow a user to define a set of criteria and every bookmark matching the criteria appears within the Smart Folder. The criteria available allow advanced search queries by providing matching rules on the page title, date last visited, and location.

The ability to apply tags to bookmarks brings one of the most attractive features of online bookmark management services to Firefox. It’s perfectly possible to forget folders and mange your bookmarks using tags alone.

Having the History items integrated in the same Library windows means items not saved as bookmarks at the time of browsing can be added as bookmarks later with a simple drag and drop from the History to the required location.

Confession time for me, I use entirely my own system with the majority of my bookmarks, a process I’ve mentioned before in Creating Global Shortcuts with Typinator but despite this I can certainly see the benefits of the new management system Firefox brings with it in version 3.

Partial HTML 5 Support

A cherry picked selection of HTML 5 specific elements are supported in Firefox 3.

The support for offline caching certainly caught my eye. Google Gears is aimed at providing a similar functionality but that is specific to Google. Firefox offline caching could potentially provide the ability to use a range of web based applications without a web connection.

Exciting times ahead then.

The Negatives

Of course into every life a little rain must fall and it wouldn’t be new software if it didn’t have a few gotchas.

Closing Tabs

Primarily using a different browser means coming to Firefox and finding that the option to close tabs is on the right of each tab and not the left side as in Safari and as I’m more used to.

In Opera I was able to make numerous configuration changes and altering this would be relatively simple. Together with many users I’m not familiar enough with the Firefox configuration system to easily change this but I did find a simple solution for this particular foible in the form of a wonderful theme from takebacktheweb.org I went for the GrApple Yummy (blue) theme.

Another issue I noticed is that to close a background tab (i.e. Not the active tab) it takes two clicks rather than one. The first click makes the tab active and the second click actually closes it. In Safari background tabs can be closed in exactly the same way as the active tab.

Merging Windows

Safari has this feature and it’s amazing the difference it makes when you’re trying to tidy up the myriad browser windows you’ve managed to open throughout the day and completely forgotten about. A click on ‘Merge All Windows’ in the Window menu gathers all the tabs open in any number of Safari windows and consolidates them in a single window.

Sadly, Firefox lacks this feature. However, all is not lost as the Tab Mix Plus add-on adds it and many more advanced tab management options.

Moving Windows

A bit of a strange one this but I did notice that when attempting to move either the main Firefox window or, for example, the Library window you need to be extremely precise where you click to attempt to drag the window or it just doesn’t move.

More explanation needed there I think!

The majority of OS X applications have a very wide toolbar area just under the strip containing the control buttons and title. Clicking and dragging either on the title strip or a clear area of the toolbar allows the user to move the window but Firefox behaves differently. In Firefox clicking on the toolbar and dragging has no effect. To move the window you need to be precise and click and drag only on the title area.

It sound like much and I wouldn’t have thought I was that imprecise anyway but I noticed it in the first session I had using Firefox 3.

Printing

While the printing feature is a huge improvement from the early days of the browser there remain a couple of gotchas. For example, there’s no indication that the print job is in progress until the printer icon appears in the dock and there is no thumbnail preview feature.

Firefox does have a neat shrink to fit page option though that certainly helps with pages that otherwise wouldn’t print correctly, important when you consider how many times IE proved it was incapable of printing anything without losing at least an inch of text from one side or the other.

Services

Firefox still has no OS X services support which for inveterate services users is going to be a show stopper when it comes to using Firefox for anything other than casual browsing.

It is the services function that powers such useful things as the CircusPonies NoteBook clipping system, so it would be a welcome addition to future versions of the browser.

The Future

Mozilla Labs plays host to countless clues as to the future of Firefox. Three in particular caught my eye:

Fennec

Although Firefox have ventured into the mobile browser market before with less than astounding success, undeterred they have returned with Fennec (named after the Fennec Fox).

Opera have traditionally had much more success with their mobile browser so Firefox has some catching up to do but competition has got to be good news for users.

Prism

Prism is the code name given to a single function lightweight version of the browser. The idea behind this is that you can create a dedicated application to handle a specific site, this works really well for sites such as Gmail or Google Notebook.

Given the popularity of other implementations of the single source browser, such as Fluid, this is something to look forward to as it should be possible to create a browser dedicated to the site of your choosing while at the same time retaining all the functionality of Firefox.

Weave

Increasingly important in the ever more connected world is the ability to transfer your familiar settings to other machines, which is where Weave comes in.

Weave is the code name for a Mozilla Labs project aimed at providing an open-standards-based hosted online service to provide this synchronization together with sharing options and much more. Details of Weave are available on the Mozilla site.

So Am I Won Over?

Well since I use Firefox most as an interface to Google I’ll certainly be using version 3 and the speed increase both in start up and use means that I’ll enjoy using it much more than version 2. With my new theme I’ve managed to solve the problem of interface incongruity and in fact my installation of Firefox now look so much like Safari it’s difficult to tell them apart, which is great ;-).

My verdict is give it a go you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the changes.

Dock

I prefer not to use the dock at all so I have it on the right of my primary monitor and hidden. I have a secondary monitor on my 24 inch iMac which is also 24 inches and sits on the left of the iMac screen so placing the dock on the right of the iMac screen means it’s out of the way and there if I should need it. Having the dock hidden at the bottom of the screen means attempting to resize an application can inadvertently activate it.

The inevitable question is then - how do I run my applications?

QuickSilver

QuickSilver is my launcher of choice but I also tried LaunchBar which is very good - and I know QuickSilver can do a lot more than I actually use it for. I must find some time to have a look at triggers and the more advanced features.

QuickSilver is open source and available from Google Code with many tutorials also available from the original developer.

LaunchBar

LaunchBar also provides all the application launching features a Mac user could need. Available from Objective Development with licenses starting at $19.95.

Switching Between Applications

Of course running the applications is only half the story and not the main focus of our MUG discussion.

In OS X, command and tab allows switching between open applications but not in the same way as Windows.

If an application is minimized in OS X, command and tab activates the application but doesn’t maximize the open windows or allow you to select a specific open window.

This was one of the few things that drove me crazy as a new Mac user.

I had to learn to adapt to the Mac way of working and one tip I found useful was to hide an application (using command and H) rather than minimize it - when I then used command and tab to go back to the application it was in the same state as when I hid it and thus the windows weren’t minimized making me hunt through the dock to locate the required one.

But I found a perfect long term solution with a couple of small apps.

LiteSwitch

LiteSwitch replaces the default application switcher and the replacement has the ability to mark apps for closing, you can hide apps, unhide them and obviously switch between them. Small enhancements really make the difference such as having the application name displayed at the bottom of the app switching display.

I leave LiteSwitch set to just do the same as the default command and tab switcher but love the extra functionality.

LiteSwitch will also remap the command and tab key to it’s own use which 10.5 doesn’t seem to do easily.

LiteSwitch is available from Proteron.com where you can download a free 30 day trial. A license is $14.95 (approx. £8.00)

Witch

Witch is the second half of my solution and although it can do much more I use it to switch between the different windows of the app I’m currently using.

I map option and tilde (between shift and z) to this function and life is good again!

Witch can actually completely replace the command and tab functionality giving you a switcher which displays not only a list of apps but a list of apps and their associated windows.

If I could map cmd & tab to Witch without using a system hack I’d probably use Witch alone most of the time.

Witch is available from ManyTricks.com and priced at €9.95 (approx. £7.90).

Be afraid … be very afraid

Like the 5G video iPods the new iPhone comes in 2 colours - black or white.

While the official announcement was not exactly a surprise the accuracy of some of the reporting in the lead up to WWDC has been.

A week ago The Times correctly predicted the new iPhone would be available in July at a price of £100. While the time frame seemed forseeable I was skeptical about the price prediction - it seemed too good to be true.

However, I stand corrected and kudos to the Times for their spot-on prediction. I’ll be keeping a close eye on their predicitions in the future

First a disclaimer, I am not a fan of spreadsheets. There I’ve said it and I know it’s sacrilege to some.

Don’t get me wrong I use them as much as the next person but I’m always very careful in creating a spreadsheet based solution. As a veteran IT professional I’ve seen too many spreadsheets that should come with a warning slapped on them.

In the best cases they are often over complicated in construction and built without a thought as to what they may need to become in the future. However, in the worst cases they just plain don’t add up. Incorrect references and formula and the most eye straining designs you’ll ever have the misfortune to witness coupled with an obvious misunderstanding of the concept of a spreadsheet all mean too many spreadsheets are just not fit for purpose.

Be it a lack of training or a laissez faire attitude on the part of those who should know better in an organization in my experience it is a pervasive problem in organizations today.
Anyway, climbing down from my soapbox …

History

To add to this dismal situation Excel has a long history of calculation malfunctions!

Just to clarify I don’t mean when a formula is incorrectly formulated by a user. These calculation malfunctions manifest themselves in various situations even when the details entered are completely correct.

What’s Wrong with Excel Now?

Well, the latest issue manifests itself when a collection of positive numbers should add up to a given negative number.

That is easier to show rather than describe so per the following screenshot of Excel, in each of the 3 examples the sum of positive values should add up to the negative value (on Row 1) therefore the result of the SUM in row 10 should be 0 - which as you can see it is not.

For example in column B:

100.03 + 0.04 = 100.07

-100.07 + 100.07 should = 0

But according to Excel it is 7.95891E-15 . If you change the format of the cell to Number and increase the decimal places (see row 12) you can see the REAL values.

So as demonstrated Excel, prior to any forthcoming patches, has a problem with addition and/or subtraction especially evident when calculations involve a mix of negative and positive numbers as the result approaches zero.

Does it matter?

OK so does this really matter? My answer is a resounding “Yes” and in more circumstances than you may imagine.

1. Data Comparison Operations

Any time two numbers are compared you need to be aware that the number displayed on the screen isn’t the complete number Excel uses to make any required comparisons and that complete number might adversely affect the result of the comparison being made.

The most obvious comparison function is the IF statement. For example, an IF function that uses 0 in the first argument, as in =IF(B12=0, “True”,”False”)

However, comparisons in Excel are by no means limited to the IF statement alone. Indeed all the following functions use comparisons:

• IF
• LOOKUP
• HLOOKUP
• VLOOKUP
• SUMIF
• SUMIFS
• COUNTIF
• COUNTIFS
• AND
• OR
• NOT

2. Scaling Errors with Large Multipliers

Another situation where the miscalculation can manifest problems is where extremely large numbers are used. This is because while the errors are many decimal places to the right of a number, multiplications using large numbers will serve to magnify the error.

Why does it happen?

These errors are a result of a floating-point rounding error and if that hasn’t already reduced you to a catatonic state you can read more about the details in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base article 214118.

Could it be avoided?

In a word - Yes and it should be. Programmers often have to write code to take into account failings elsewhere.

A personal allegory will serve as a demonstration.

Many years ago when Excel 2000 was state of the art and Excel 97 was the version of choice for a client of mine I undertook a project to develop an Excel based solution. Part of the solution required a form to be displayed to the user from which they selected a date from an OLE data control.

This worked perfectly on my Excel 2000 system but when deployed at the client’s site the date was constantly 1 day out. The user would select a date using the control but the date displayed was incorrect. After much testing it became clear that Excel 2000 and Excel 97 did not handle dates in the same way when using VBA code to manipulate the data.

Obviously I had to create a solution to work around the VBA anomaly introduced with Excel 2000. I created a simple code block to check the version of Excel in use and adjust the date accordingly.

Wringing my hands and complaining about known anomalies wouldn’t help the client and in this regard Microsoft should take the same approach. While floating-point issues may be the root cause of the problem they can be handled in such a way that the end user is not adversely affected.

A fact that has not escaped other software providers.

Is it only Excel?

Excel is not alone in is it’s miscalculations. Apple’s Numbers calculates incorrectly in exactly the same way.

However, the good news is there are many programs that handle the issue elegantly and calculate correctly, including:

• OpenOffice
• NeoOffice
• Google Spreadsheets
• ZoHo Sheets

In the meantime … what can you do?

There are several techniques available that may eliminate the issue from your spreadsheet.

However, bear in mind that these are only a temporary fix which shouldn’t be needed and may not work in every situation and the burning question how do you know when you’ll need it before the final figures are in?

Sorting

Reordering the listing of values can on occasion solve the problem. Obviously, this just serves to emphasize how ridiculous the problem is! The order in which figures are added should have no impact on the result and there are occasions where reordering items is not possible. For example, a list of sales figures sorted by month can’t be reordered to accommodate Excel’s idiosyncrasies.

Using Precision as Displayed

Another potential solution is the Microsoft recommended use of the ‘Precision as displayed’ option.

‘Precision as displayed’ is an option in the Excel Options the function of which is to force Excel to calculate using only the level of precision displayed in the cell rather than the full data stored within the cell.

This is an approach which should work well with accountancy and financial data where precision to two decimal places is required.

In other situations ‘Precision as displayed’ can actually cause problems of it’s own and certainly the data will be less accurate than with the option disabled.

In Excel 2000/2003 the Precision as displayed option is in the Calculation section of the Excel Options.

In Excel 2007 the Set precision as displayed option is in the Advanced section of the Excel Options.

Using the ROUND Function

The Round() function rounds a value to a specified level of precision. The values contained within the cells are not altered but the value used for comparative purposes is determined by the level of precision specified by the arguments in the ROUND function, as follows:

=IF(ROUND(B12,2)=0, “True”,”False”)

The use of the Round function means that the value contained within cell B12 is rounded down to 2 decimal places prior to it being compared to, in this case, zero thus removing the potential impact of any floating point errors to the far right of the decimal point.

The Round function adjusts a value up or down depending the threshold. If the significant digit is 1,2,3 or 4 it rounds down whereas if the significant digit is 5,6,7,8 or 9 it rounds up.

Conclusion

So there it is - an insight into the latest in a long line of Excel issues to affect the unsuspecting user.

It becomes clear that it is folly to rely on Excel to correctly compute even the most basic calculation. Best advice is check everything … at least twice!