An Interview with Roger Lockyer

 Aircraft Electrical Design Engineer

Reprinted with Permission

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askSam:  Roger, thank you for leaving your comments on our Web site.  You've  indicated that you use askSam Professional for a personal database and that you travel a lot.   Can you tell us about your use of technology as a traveler and how askSam and a laptop might fit in?

ROGER LOCKYER:   I have always been a firm believer of using technology to the limit in order to communicate. This does not mean to say that I "pose" whilst using a cellular telephone to show the world that I have one, in fact I do the opposite and either switch it off or go somewhere more discrete to use it. This is diversifying slightly from your original question; to return to it, I will say that I have tried to use modern technology to reduce the inconvenience of spending long periods of time away from home, the UK in my case. Although I may have given the impression that cellular telephones are a "poser's" toy in fact they have made communication a lot easier. The fact is that a GSM mobile telephone, which can be used in many countries, both in Europe and Asia, whilst unfortunately not in the USA, has made "keeping in touch" a lot easier. Parallel with the rise in use of cellular telephones has been the use of the Internet. There is a lot of information on the 'net, and it is increasing all the time. As a tool, the 'net has a long way to go yet, except in the area of electronic communication, "e-mail". This has expanded so fast that most people are not aware of it. This may sound strange, but as soon as somebody tells his friends that he has an "e-mail" address, his friends start looking around.  They'll find out that their office/garage/shop/factory also has that facility and that, very rarely, is there any objection to them using it to communicate with their friend. All of a sudden, they have an "e-mail" address as well! In my case, a notebook computer with a subscription to a worldwide Internet access provider gives me a permanent e-mail address.  Once you start communicating on a regular basis, the amount of mail builds up until it is difficult to manage it. As with written correspondence, you are loath to throw it away as you never know when you need to refer to it. This is where askSam has become a very important asset. The facility to import all of my mail into a database and to be able to carry out a search has proved invaluable. I only keep the current month within the e-mail package, in my case Eudora light, after that it is imported into my askSam database.

askSam: How has askSam made your life more efficient?  

ROGER LOCKYER: Using askSam has finally got me to through away my "grubby notebooks and torn pieces of paper" which we all carry around with us from time to time.

For example, how many people have the contact names at the various institutions we all have to contact at some time or the other during the year. Do you know all the credit card numbers, pin numbers, issuing bank etc? The password protected and encrypted facility within askSam ensures that I have access to that information all the time whilst knowing that the average "hacker" cannot bypass the protection by using a utility such as Norton Commander. I have expanded from my original single personal address database accessed from the command line to a reasonably comprehensive database with a series of menu's where by clicking onto an icon in each case will give you access to a wide range of subjects. As I've explained elsewhere, in my occupation I have need to travel around the world a lot; therefore I need access to information regarding hotels, restaurants, medical care, transport, international and city telephone codes, airlines, ferries and e-mail, just to name a few. Over the last two years, I have entered this information into my database to produce an apparently seamless link to the data. When I show the programme to other people they are not aware that, currently, there are up to thirty two separate files involved to produce a report. Using askSam, has enabled me to utilize a common presentation for the different menus and, just as important, a common presentation of the final selected data. Any report generated from my database carries a description of what was selected, the date and time of the request, and a line stating the source of the data was from "the information center" This professional presentation was achieved without having to undergo an advanced degree course in order to learn how to use askSam - other software vendors please note!

askSam: What kind of customer support have you received?  

ROGER LOCKYER: I've had excellent support from both your UK distributor and direct, via E-Mail to your own offices.  Generally speaking, the supplied literature with the programme is excellent. The "quick start" book was perfect for learning the rudiments of askSam whilst the more detailed guide was good, without being overpowering. The few times I have had to contact askSam for assistance there has been no "third degree" as to when & where I bought the programme and its serial number.  Instead the technical help, which is a person, not a machine, has gone straight to what was my problem.

askSam: Would you recommend askSam and why?

ROGER LOCKYER: Yes, it's a small, easy to use and powerful database. I like to show people how easy it is to start a new database from a clean sheet -- how you adapt the database to suit your requirements and not your data to suit the database! Although I have used askSam for two years, I am still amazed that I can produce the start of a working database, complete with GUI menu's, within five minutes. I have no fear about having to throw away a lot of entered data because if the format's wrong it's easy to change the method of selection. The printed documentation is very good and, if you're like me, traveling around the world a lot, the program help is excellent. Costwise, there is no need for people to "pirate" a copy, it is priced to be within range of most people's pocket and for that you do obtain a truly professional database.

askSam: Would you recommend askSam and why?

ROGER LOCKYER: Yes, it's a small, easy to use, powerful database. I like to show people how easy it is to start a new database from a clean sheet -- how you adapt the database to suit your requirements and not your data to suit the database!   Although I have used askSam for two years, I am still amazed that I can produce the start of a working database, complete with GUI menu's, within five minutes. I have no fear having to throw away a lot of entered data because if the format's wrong it's easy to change the method of selection. The printed documentation is very good and, if you're like me, traveling around the world a lot, the program help is excellent.   Costwise, there is no need for people to "pirate" a copy.  askSam priced to be within range of most people's pocket and for that you do obtain a truly professional database.

askSam:  What applications do you plan for askSam in the future?

ROGER LOCKYER: I plan to extend the scope of my personal database to include more information pertaining to my employment.  Up to now I have concentrated on the more personal aspects, but I am currently working on a vendor/supplier/product database to be fully integrated within the existing format.

There is thought about putting some of this information onto a Web site, after all some of it was downloaded from the 'net in the first place, but the reality is that it is part of a more long term project to be attacked when there is time available.

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Roger Lockyer

Email: roger.lockyer@ibm.net