Latest Window Cleaning News

Compass180 Introduction - A New Episode Begins: Some 12 years ago Window Cleaner Pro was devised by Ian to help run a small window cleaning business, it has progressively evolved and developed to what it is today. The software was originally written as a hobby but as interest and demand grew it became evermore time consuming and with a worldwide customer base it became evident that there was a need to take it from being a hobby to a business. Brad was then introduced to share the increasing workload and expose the software in the marketplace.

The software has been developed and grown in a fast-paced world, the needs and requirements of a business a decade ago were very different from the current day. Much the same as can be said of the technology available, hence why desktop applications such as Window Cleaner Pro are now giving way to internet based applications.

With the current business model of a one-off licence fee it becomes apparent that this is not commercially sustainable as there is no revenue stream to assist in the further development of Window Cleaner Pro.

Due to requests for additional features within Window Cleaner Pro we felt that the current architecture was unable to embrace the requirements fully and based on our extensive experience of web-based applications it was time to re-write the software to run in this environment.

The past few months have been taken up with the conceptualising a successor to Window Cleaner Pro. The initial development has already started and it is evident that it will be a very powerful program, it will encompass many of the features requested and will provide a much more flexible foundation for ongoing development.

This will be a brand new web-based application that we have named Compass180, it will replicate the existing ease of use and functionality of Window Cleaner Pro but will add refinement and also enable you to automate tasks such as sending of SMS text messages and emailing of invoices/receipts, allow multi-user access to live databases, multiple jobs to one customer and integrated CRM. Compass180 will satisfy the demands of those clients that require a feature-rich application in order to support their business.

The initial development of this software requires a vast commitment in time and effort from both of us and, to ensure the ongoing development and support we have made the decision that access to Compass180 will be based on an affordable monthly subscription. This will generate revenue that will not only allow us to support the software but also allow us to ensure our commitment to you and your business on the Compass180 platform.

As already explained the commitment put into Window Cleaner Pro cannot be sustained, this is because as customer numbers grow the revenue is not commensurate to the level of support required to maintain an ever increasing customer base and we feel that our clients deserve a continued high level of service. The resource that new users currently bring is committed to supporting existing customers which leaves precious little for development of the current program.

To this end we foresee a point in time when we will have very little resource to offer the current level of free support for Window Cleaner Pro. Should you wish to continue using Window Cleaner Pro we will, of course, honour your lifetime license but you need to be aware that no further development of the program is planned and at some stage a revised support package will be introduced to offset the cost that is associated with supporting Window Cleaner Pro as our focus will be concentrated towards the ongoing success of Compass180.

We trust you can see that to go forward it is imperative to embrace new technologies and create a sustainable business to ensure that our clients are served in the best possible way, we hope that our existing relationship will be continued and the alliances we have forged within Window Cleaner Pro will mean we can all move forward together as we have done in the past. We are both heavily committed to Compass180 and ensuring the application will help you to run your business in a more profitable, streamlined and efficient way. With your continued support we are sure it will surpass your needs and requirements.

Due to the help, advice and interest already shown for this project we have set up a Twitter feed (search for Compass180) so you can keep track of our progress and become part of the creation of Compass180. Please feel free to follow us and post your comments and thoughts as we embark on this exciting venture.

We will be offering a preferential introductory rate to Compass180 for all our existing customers as well as data migration should you wish to upgrade from Window Cleaner Pro.

Since the beginning we have appreciated your loyalty, and your continued support means a great deal to both of us.

Best regards, Ian and Brad. More from WC Pro' on the 2nd video here.

In the end, a Hempstead man's al-Qaida brother was really a paid FBI informant. His orders to join a holy war were bogus. And the closest he came to sneaking to the Middle East was the pre-dawn boarding of a ship at the Port of Houston. Barry Bujol Jr., 29, faces 20 years in prison if convicted of identity theft and attempting to aid foreign terrorists. During a Wednesday hearing, an angry Bujol tossed aside an expected guilty plea and asked for a trial. As he was led away by deputy marshals, the towering, bearded and shackled Bujol took the extraordinary step of openly questioning his lawyer's courage and interest. "You are talking to a coward over there," he said looking at a court officer who was talking to his appointed attorney, Joseph Varela. The exchange marks the latest development in a series of cases of alleged home-grown terrorists tied to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner said he'd give Bujol and his attorney a chance to mend fences before considering a lawyer change. "We are not going to ignore a defendant's concern about counsel," Hittner said. Whoever ends up representing Bujol will have to pass a government background check to review classified evidence. Bujol was arrested in May after a two-year investigation that stretched from Texas to New York and weaved across the Web. It also involves a yet-to-be-identified informant who authorities say befriended Bujol and posed as a member of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Before his arrest, Bujol was a senior at Prairie View A&M University. His brief work history includes stints as a window washer and a computer technician. Bujol was born in New Orleans and raised Baptist, according to his family.

A few years ago, he fell in love and married a Muslim woman he met on campus. "He just gave up, wanted to get out of the United States," said his father, Barry Bujol Sr. "He is African-American, but he was going over there to where the Muslims can flourish." The elder Bujol recalled religious discussions with his son and accompanied him to a mosque service but waited in the car. "He was trying to strengthen himself," his father said. Bujol allegedly shrouded himself with more than a dozen e-mail addresses and 11 aliases on a computer at the university's library, as well as on his own laptop.

Agents contend many messages went to the informant, but a few went to a U.S.-born Yemeni cleric suspected of communicating with Army Maj. Nidal Hasan months before the Fort Hood rampage. The cleric sent Bujol a 15-page document, "The 42 Ways to Supporting Jihad," according to court papers. Bujol allegedly asked how he could secretly build a website to support jihad. He is accused of offering the informant U.S. military manuals found online and suggested attacking human operators of unmanned drone aircraft flown in Afghanistan. Ami Pedahzur, an Israeli- born expert on terrorism at the University of Texas at Austin, said if Bujol had joined al-Qaida, there is no telling what threat he might have posed. "These are local, everyday people. No one suspects them, and they turn out to be very dangerous," he said. Previous story here.

'Window cleaner' stole from couple: A window cleaner who stole £200 from an elderly couple has been spared jail. Octogenarians Robert and Margaret Peters suspected Jackson Bogart had not even cleaned windows at their Brislington home, Bristol Crown Court heard. When Mr Peters paid him £20 just to get rid of him, Bogart entered their house to use the toilet and pocketed £200 cash from a wallet. Bogart, 38, of Clayfield Road, Brislington, pleaded guilty to burglary, which occurred on April 4.

Judge Michael Harington handed him a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 52 weeks, with supervision, 100 hours of unpaid work, a three-month curfew and £200 compensation The judge told him: "This is an exceptionally serious case. It is hard to think of anything meaner to do than to steal money in that way from elderly people." Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said Mr and Mrs Peters, aged 89 and 79, both used walking frames to get about. Miss Bolt said they were suspicious when Bogart knocked, saying he had cleaned their windows, but gave him £20. She said: "The defendant asked to use the facilities because his trousers were muddy. He entered the premises and the couple tried to keep up with him. "He moved around the ground floor and he was too fast for them." The court heard that after Bogart had left, Mr Peters discovered that £200 was missing from a wallet in his room.

Bogart was arrested after being spotted in a video identity line-up; he had also left his blood on the wallet, enabling police to grab his DNA. Jason Taylor, defending, said: "Mr Bogart is thoroughly ashamed and disgusted with himself that he took advantage of these elderly people. "He is more than happy for money in his possession to go to the victims in the case, so there is at least some form of recompense for what took place." Mr Taylor said his client had a poor criminal record, but his last substantial conviction was in 2006.

He said Bogart had been working as a welder, but when his younger sister was found dead in a flat in Belfast he drove there and was arrested for driving while disqualified. He then lost his job and that returned him to old ways, with the exception that he didn't resort to drug-taking, the court heard. Detective Constable Sarah Bowden, the police officer in charge of the case, said: "This was a mean-spirited offence and the victims are very shaken and upset."

UCO’s 2010 “Broncho Up” Homecoming festivities ended over three weeks ago, but the cleanup is ongoing. Students decorated windows all over campus as part of homecoming festivities, but some buildings still have painted windows. Chase Pulliam, chair of this year’s homecoming committee, said that the window cleaning operation had been hired out to GCA Services Group, the custodial service UCO employs to do its cleaning. Some buildings have already had their window decorations removed, but others have yet to receive cleaning. “There’s not really a certain deadline,” Pulliam said. In budgeting this year’s homecoming expenses, Pulliam said that the homecoming committee allocated funds for GCA to clean the windows instead of the students who painted them. “I don’t think that it’s necessary for them to come back and clean the windows,” Pulliam said. Kay Robinson, director of Campus Activities and Events, said that the task of having students clean the windows would have be a challenge of accountability. Pulliam agreed. “It’s kind of hard in the accountability process to make sure these windows do get cleaned,” Pulliam said. “It takes time to go out of their way.” Additionally, Robinson said that the painted windows would needed to be treated with special chemicals in order to remove the paint. While no specific timeline has been promised, Robinson said that the full cleanup of the window decorations could take about a month.

A job and business creation initiative to increase employment and enterprise in the countryside is reaching out to people who have been missed by traditional efforts to boost the rural economy. Advisory service Coquetdale and Whittingham Vale Work Web (CWVWW) has been up and running for six months as part of the wider Removing Barriers to Work project initially set up by Northumberland County Council. CWVWW helped cousins Anne and Daniel Bainbridge to start in business with Coquetdale Window Cleaning and Cleaning Services. Both were unemployed before deciding to start up the firm and were able to access three grants towards essential in addition to advice.

South African security specialists: Red Alert has been providing security services to South Africa since 1981. Established in East London, South Africa, Red Alert’s security services were initially isolated to the local geographical area. However, a national rollout plan saw the business expand over a period of almost seven years. In that time, offices were opened and management and sales representatives were employed across the country. Harvey recalls: “During that process we started two other divisions within the company: we started a cleaning division and an armed response division.Those were some of the key developments in the middle stages of the company’s history.” Trained staff provide disposal of waste materials, office and ablution cleaning, window cleaning, high pressure cleaning and, for the automotive industry specifically, the cleaning and replacing of specialised filters. The Armed Response division provides intruder alarms and reaction services, including 24-hour armed response, CCTV, community policing, alarm installations, maintenance and system upgrades, and 24-hour monitoring services.

The design of the London Assembly’s City Hall building is costing taxpayers “a fortune” because the bill for window cleaning has spiralled to £140,000 a year, the Standard revealed. Washing the 3,000-plus panes of glass on Norman Foster’s building now costs £13,600 a month - more than doubling the bill eight years ago when it opened. And, despite the rising costs, people working inside say that its complicated design means many windows are still filthy. Figures obtained by the Standard from the Assembly’s accounts show that in the past financial year £138,930 was spent cleaning glass at the Mayor of London’s headquarters, nicknamed the Beehive. Back in 2002 then mayor Ken Livingstone admitted having to pay £61,000 a year.

Boris Johnson’s office said that the terms of the lease meant windows must be cleaned to a certain standard and the market rate was being paid.

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat leader at City Hall, said: “Clearly there was a fundamental oversight when City Hall was built and no one gave any thought as to how the windows could easily be cleaned at a reasonable cost. As a result of such incompetence a fortune has been spent.” She called it was “a prime example of a modern building where the design has come first and practicalities second”, adding: “Serious questions now have to be asked as to why the cost of cleaning the windows has been spiralling while so many continue to be filthy.” The GLA said that, to ensure the windows were cleaned to a reasonable standard, both specialist safety equipment and highly skilled staff were required. See more of this story from yesterday here.

The Clothes Cabin, a volunteer-run Chandler charity that gives free garments and bedding to the poor opened at its new location this week in a mostly vacant shopping center on the northwestern corner of Alma School and Ray roads. It's the group's second move in two years. Founder and director Caryn Shoemaker said she is thrilled with the larger space, the donated remodeling help from local contractors and the "great deal" a landlord gave them on rent. Under an agreement with the current landlord, Shoemaker cannot disclose the rent amount but she said it is a bargain. The organization wouldn't have been able to move to the new location without an outpouring of help from businesses and residents, many who pitched in to refurbish the vacant retail space, she said. Business contributors include Fish Window Cleaning.
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Yume Robo climbing robots: The Shanghai Expo saw some interesting exhibits - This trio are known as Yume Robo, and they have been climbing up and down this 15-meter wall at the Japanese pavilion every 20 minutes, for approximately 184 days. The three robot team was created by some group of engineers “at 15 small and midsize companies in Osaka”. You can see them in a video after the jump if you want to check them out. Be warned, they climb really slow and they cannot work without a safety rope. I’m not certain who dressed these guys, but they are about 1.4 meters tall and weigh 30 kilograms. And what is the deal with the rabbit ears antennae on their heads?

I suppose one should wonder why they made a robot that could climb. Perhaps someone wanted to make a robot that would become a window washer for tall buildings. Of course, this would imply that some big metal scaffold would be on this building. Maybe they could put some suction cups to the robots. I suppose that is the wonderful thing about robots, we just make them so we can prove that we can make them. That, or for when someone gets stuck at the top of the Tokyo Tower. Yume Robo team to the rescue!

And finally...from the Norfolk UK Expo...

Scarecrow contest brightens west Norfolk village: Villagers in west Norfolk came together at the weekend to bring a bit of colour and humour to their village and enjoy a scarecrow competition. There were scarecrows in all shapes and sizes dotted around Boughton, near Downham Market, on Saturday for the annual competition. Frank Reid, committee member of the community group, said: “This is the second year the scarecrow competition has run in the village. It was so popular last year that we knew we had to do it again. “We timed it this year to coincide with the half-term week so the children had a whole week to get their scarecrows ready and keep themselves occupied. “I think it has proven to be a really popular event here because both young and old get involved in making something, it goes on display in the village and it’s a good community event.” In total there were 18 entries in the competition with eight-year-old Molly Insall winning the children’s section with her window-cleaning scarecrow.