Written by: Jasna Sýkorová
You can buy an office chair without ever leaving the one you’ve got. Some independent manufacturers and smaller vendors even offer delivery and consultation online, free-of-charge. Enter the key words “office furniture” into your search engine and start shopping.
http://www.ikea.cz
In order to easily orientate yourself on Ikea’s pages, it is worth a visit to the “site map”. Office furniture has its own separate chapter: workrooms. You can look at individual items in the section “Products A-Z”. You can also arrange the design of your work space through e-mails, but on-line purchases, virtual architects or consultations are not possible. Ikea’s competition pays even less attention to the internet. Sconto’s website (www.sconto.cz) shows only furniture that is on sale, along withinformation about their company. The same applies to the Asco nábytek website (www.asko-nabytek.cz). |
http://www.techo.cz
Techo supports non-traditional design, as you can see in the photo gallery. Basic information is well arranged in the left menu column. Products such as chairs or storage systems are supplemented by services – from leasing to repairs. Some products have their own pages, such as www.iqzidle.cz. The middle column carries up-to-date information, and on the right there is an interesting link entitled “references” where you can look at solutions realized for large Czech firms. The pages serve both as a business card and a communications tool. It is possible to ask questions about each item, such as the price, by using the “contact” section. |
http://www.forliving.cz
These pages don’t waste space and get directly to business, offering a copious amount of chair models. Clicking on a picture enlarges it, and available colors are indicated, as well as some additional information. All delivery and purchase conditions are entered on the home page and are easy to understand. Payments can be done by transfer or C.O.D. Unfortunately, someone forgot to give the dimensions of the chairs displayed (as of mid-April). |
http://www.hobis.cz
Furniture from Czech maker Hobis is not especially luxurious but it is very popular in local offices. The same can be said for their presentation. To see the assortment of products, you must click on the main collage of furniture in the middle of the site. There you will find information on prices, colors and dimensions. With most types, you can have a closer look or see it as part of a set. Hobis does not sell on-line. It cooperates with ArCon, which develops software for architects that enable virtual designs of interiors. A library of relevant software can be downloaded free-of-charge. |
http://www.alfainterier.cz
Once you skip the introductory animation you will enter into a pleasantly designed virtual shop – offering office furniture, among other things. You can throw a cabinet “into the cart”, for example, and it will be displayed together with the dimensions and price in a summarized “shopping cart”. The individual pieces of furniture are mostly represented in illustrations, but there are no guides on how to make a purchase until a customer actually tries to do it. Some other chapters – such as “Demo architect” with proposals for individual sets – are likewise insufficiently documented and are not easily understood. |
novelties
http://www.dsl.cz
This site contains a survey of ADSL (asymmetric digital service line) service providers, a gauge of the connection speed, accessibility of ADSL in your locality and a discussion forum. Nearly everything regarding ADSL in one package.
http://www.nakole.cz
Cycling enthusiasts can find information and advice on traveling in the Czech Republic and abroad (some sections are under construction). Linked to the former Cyklostránky, the site will be completed by the summer season.
http://www.hr-server.cz
A two-year-old website for HR managers makes it possible to insert articles from external contributors and to put in an advertisement. The compilation of news, new books, trainings and other sections are also useful.
http://www.jnp.cz
Jak na počítač – a new magazine about computers and their use. Pictures of work surfaces and one issue can be downloaded free-of-charge. These modest pages will hopefully be expanded as time goes on.
| word of the month: Port scan – Port scan makes it possible to find out which applications someone is using on their computer and to hack into them. Applications communicate through the internet with so-called ports – i.e. fixed numbers that are given to them. Port scan finds out which of your ports are “open” and communicates with them. The review of “open” ports then puts together a rough list of applications used (web server, file sharing). If you consider your computer’s IP address is a telephone number through which your computer dials to connect to the internet, then the port functions as fixed extension or phone line through which it is possible to connect to a certain program. |
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