MISys SBM Currency. One of the lesser-known features of MISys SBM, but of critical importance to companies operating in a global economy, is the ability to create multi-currency purchase orders. MISys SBM maintains a table of foreign (aka source) currencies and the current exchange rate to your home (aka functional) currency. When the multi-currency capability of the program is enabled, you can create a purchase order for any of the available currencies. The program will print the PO in the selected currency, but it can display the PO in either the functional or source currency. The applicable exchange rate is stored within the purchase order, so subsequent changes to the exchange rate do not affect an order once it is issued. Maintaining accurate exchange rates is easy, too. Because MISys SBM is a Microsoft .Net-based product, it can update its table of currency! exchange rates automatically from those published by the US Federal Reserve Bank. Cool!

Dateline: Woodstock - Like much of the country, Vermonters are breathing a sigh of relief that the transition of government in neighboring New York seems to have been completed on Monday without event. Rumors had circulated at the end of last week that New Jersey would take advantage of the fact that New York had no sitting Governor and was preparing to stage a coup which would expand New Jersey's influence north and east. Vermonters have a heathy respect for people from New Jersey (their SUV's are responsible for 28% of the gasoline sold in Vermont) but, frankly, we are not that excited about having them as neighbors. Since Ethan Allen began his fight against the Province of New York in 1777, Vermonters have been wary of flatlanders invading the Green Mountains of the Vermont Republic. Over the years we have become quite comforatble with our neighbors to the west, resting in the certain knowledge that managing ! the largest city in the United States would keep the power-mongers well occupied and away from people who just wanted to be left alone. Today, you will notice very little change as you travel west from Rutland, Vermont to Glenns Falls, New York except, curiously, that Cabot cheddar cheese sold in New York is colored bright orange, while the identical cheese sold in Vermont is its natural yellowish white. We're not quite sure why such cultural differences still remain after 230 years of peaceful coexistence. We can only image the cultural clash resulting from an unfriendly takeover by New Jesey. Good thing Ethan Allen didn't feel he needed to take up the fight over the proper color of cheese.

Network Server Selection. Whether you run MISys Manufacturing for Sage Accpac ERP or MISys Small Business Manufacturing, you have a number of deployment options. Both products are multi-tiered client-server applications, meaning that a significant amount of the "heavy lifting" is done by program code residing on a common network-accessed computer. Over the years, computer hardware suppliers have introduced "server" computers specially geared to such a task. At the same time, computer software suppliers have introduced "server operating systems" specially designed to handle the tasks associated with feeding data to many "clients." From time to time we hear of users who have decided to deploy their MISys software on a local desktop computer, or on a computer that is accessible to multiple users over a local area network. Such a deployment places a huge load on computer hardware and software least able to handle it. The result is frustratingly slow operation. If you intend to install MISys SAE or MISys SBM for a number of people to share, we strongly urge that you invest in 1) a dedicated network server (meaning that you are not running other applications on it, and 2) you run a network operating system on it (meaning not Windows XP, most likely Microsoft Windows Server 2003 <http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/> or Windows Server 2008 <http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/> ).

Caribbean Adventure 2008. Plans are now being made for our Caribbean Adventure <http://www.misysinc.com/sail/> which will take us back to the British Virgin Islands in the sunny Caribbean later this year. Currently 3 cabins are available in our 50-foot yacht in which we will explore Sir Francis Drake Passage and the surrounding islands the first week of December. Those who have been on previous adventures report that our customary agenda of 1-hour of intensive training on MISys manufacturing software followed by up to 23 hours of recuperation fit perfectly their desire to read, swim, snorkel, and relax. If you are more comfortable squinshing your toes in the white sand of a sun-drenched beach that you are starring at your computer screen for hours on end, consider coming along. Read the FAQ online or email dave@misys! inc.com <mailto:dave@misysinc.com> for more details.

MISys SAE Satisfaction Survey. Many users of MISys Manufacturing for Sage Accpac ERP (aka MISys SAE) in the US and Canada have already completed our new Satisfaction Survey. Information derived from this survey will help our system designers and software engineers in their development of the next version of MISys SAE. As a reward for devoting a few minutes of their time, MISys SAE users who complete the survey will receive a $1000 credit toward the purchase of selected products. If you haven't completed the survey, time is running out. Complete the survey and claim your reward by going to www.misysinc.com/$1000 right now.

Dateline - WOODSTOCK
Many people around the world have their eyes set on Texas and Ohio today as American voters go to the polls in those states to help determine the next President of the United States. Occassional news reports mention the fact that the state of Vermont is doing the same thing. The difference of course is that Vermont has so few delegate votes that the system used by the Republican and Democratic parties doesn't afford Vermont residents much opportunity to actually influence the outcome of the election. Not that Vermonters are daunted by the hand they have been dealt in national elections. As a percentage of the population, Vermonters are more enthusiastic, more opinionated, and more committed to the candidate of their choice than those in any other state in the Union. Political positions are fiercely debated all over the state, and locally at the Woodstock Squat and Goobble, where townies are! known to gather around the woodstove to discuss all manner of subjects ranging from how to sex a chick to the impact of Ralph Nader running from President, again. Even though Vermonters are resigned to taking a back seat in the national political scene, they are not unfamiliar with participation politics. Last Saturday, a couple hundred Woodchucks gathered at Woodstock Town Hall for Town Meeting. While it is not manditory that one wear a plaid shirt and suspenders, those who don't mark themselves as "people from away" otherwise known as "flatlanders." Town Meeting this year was well attended, but slow going. Several residents had asked that we close debate on an Article that would have approved a new set of tools for the Highway Superintendent. Debate had raged for almost an hour over the relative merit of box wrenches versus open-end wrenches when 8 people requested a paper ballot (legally, it takes only 7 people to request a paper ballot). So off we went to the checklist! and the ballot box. The good news is that 45 minutes later, the voter s of Woodstock, Vermont had decided to purchase the Highway Superintendent a brand new set of 38 box-end wrenches, worth $349 at the local Sears store. Sure, it wasn't a lot of money, but somehow the whole exercise feels a lot more satifying than arguing over who is really going to be the Master of Change.