The big day isn't until Wednesday but there's loads of family events going on over the weekend. Here are some links we found that might be of interest. If you are planning on attending any other fun events around the country please let us know.
Local events on MyKidsTime: www.mykidstime.ie
Dublin & Limerick Skyfest: http://www.stpatricksfestival.ie/cms/events.html
Limerick: http://www.limerickcoordination.ie/projects/limerick-st-patricks-festival-2010
Cork: http://www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie/
Galway: [...]
Hi everyone,
I have been spending some time this week reviewing some of the old Security Ninja blog posts now that we are getting close to our second birthday. I wanted to create a list of things I've promised to write about but never got around to doing.
The first item on my list is a tutorial [...]
You run a branded suburban hotel that caters primarily to corporate customers. You're middle-aged. You're understaffed. You have no marketing budget. You've built a Facebook page. You tweet. When is enough, enough?
Project managers need to be allowed to re-adjust their focus away from project management methodology requirements back onto being focused on people management. While processes and tools will certainly help, they are a means to an end, not the end itself
As the ICANN meeting in Nairobi draws to a close several big questions still hang in the air.
While many ICANN insiders may be wondering about new TLDs the world's media is firmly focussed on one topic an one topic only - .xxx.
Tomorrow morning the ICANN board will officially decide what will happen with .xxx.
Will it move forward?
Will they find some way to not take a decision?
I for one will be getting up early tomorrow morning to find out!
In other news, the hosts of the next ICANN meeting, which is scheduled for Brussels, today presented a short video to those attending the current meeting.
Here are some fascinating facts and figures on mobile social networks.
Mobile users spend more time (lots more) on social networking sites than PC users.
In the US, Facebook and MySpace are top 10 mobile destinations (in terms of audience). AOL is also in the top 10, which includes Bebo.
Facebook is the number one mobile destination in the UK (in terms of audience). When you consider time spent accessing the Web via a mobile in the UK, Flirtomatic and AOL/Bebo are also in the top 10.
One of the great things I like about our backup infrastructure is how we can add extra storage without the need of shutting down the service. It can be scaled to what we need and when we need it without interrupting any of our customer's backups.
I've recently dealt with the daunting task (or so I [...]
This month we will be attending and speaking at the EuroCloud UK Event, How ISVs Make the Transition to SaaS. Our Systems Architect and Infrastructure Manager, Aidan Finn, will be discussing our SaaS operations and customer relations.
The event will be held on Thursday 18th March 2010 at SAP UK Headquarters in Feltham. You can read [...]
Facebook has announced that it plans to roll-out location features to it's service next month. This is no big surprise considering Facebook's "anything you can do" philosophy. Twitter started to activate their location based features only a matter of days ago.
This news confirms many people's suspicions of a huge 'location based' trend in 2010.
Does anyone remember that scene in 'Wayne's World' when Wayne and Garth meet Alice Cooper.? They suddenly realise that they are in the presence of a rock star and start their 'We're not worthy...' routine. It's become something of a household line since then and p..
The social media stage seems huge to many of us out there. It's no surprise that an often adopted approach to tackling it is to angrily hit the keyboard with a large stick (that'll learn it!).
It needn't be this way people! The social media can be an invaluable tool for your hotel.
Daniel Craig has written an interesting article about how to turn the 'social media beast' and make it work in your hotel's favour.
Every now and then a situation comes up for me whereby a web design client will question a website graphical element or logo I've designed and suggest something different.
Fine normally, I'm open to different views and criticisms but what if they want something that is clearly wrong or what if they presume to know better [...]
The popular social media management tool Hootsuite has announced that it is making steps towards adding MySpace and Foursquare integration to it's service.
While the MySpace integration was kind of inevitable, the Foursquare addition is a welcomed surprise.
A new online initiative has been launched, intended to help consumers make informed choices in their buying decisions to support jobs in Ireland and economic recovery.
ThinkIrish.ie is a consumer-driven campaign and on-line resource designed to provide consumers with the information they need to identify and source Irish products.
Those behind the campaign believe it could potentially [...]
Branding is key to gaining business profile. It's power is often lost on business owners and this should not be so. How can you use your brand to promote your blog and your business?
A few months back we ran a survey to track how Toddle.com is performing for our customers. From the results of the survey, we created a Wordle cloud of terms most used to describe Toddle's benefits.
As you can see, the words easy, use, newsletters and professional jump from the graphic. This got me thinking [...]
Check out the prize draw on RollerCoaster.ie to win a pair of our ever popular Everyday Waterproof Dungarees. You just need to leave your details and the good folks at RollerCoaster will make the draw on March 23rd.
Go to RollerCoaster to enter here.
A friend of mine is a keen soccer fan . Every Saturday afternoon he heads off down the pub with a few more of his mates to watch United . A couple of times per year he sets off on a major foreign expedition to the faraway destination of Old Trafford in Manchester to stand [...]
For years Hollywood stylists have carefully guarded their celebrity’s beauty secrets as if their jobs depended on it! (Because they did!) Well, not anymore… <...>
Earlier today (around 6am Irish time) the 37th public ICANN meeting opened officially in Nairobi, Kenya.
I stress the "official", as the meeting's activities had already started on Saturday with a large number of meetings taking place over the weekend.
The official opening ceremony in Kenya included the usual welcomes from the local hosts and dignataries followed by an address by ICANN's CEO, Rod Beckstrom.
What made this opening a little different is that Beckstrom did not just open the event. No. ICANN's new CEO made certain that his opening words would resonate and called out the African Telcos on their pricing:
As the vice president mentioned, there's now a fiber connection to Mombasa, which actually goes all the way to this conference center. We have some of the best, if not the best fiberoptic connectivity that ICANN has ever had in the world is right here, right now in Nairobi. Thanks for this important work. The government and the private sector together working together has done.
That service is so good, do you know what it cost to get high-speed broadband access at your home here in Kenya? $13 a month.
$13 a month!
That's an excellent price. But I'd say it's also too high, and we hope it comes down even lower all over Africa where we have one billion people, many of whom want access to the Internet. And no one needs to take my word for it because a survey of 1700 Kenyans was just completed three days ago, and published by TNS. And the research said that 77% of Kenyans want better Internet access, and 63% of Kenyans value better Internet access more than good telephone service. More than good telephone service. Can you imagine what that means?
Maria Farrell has an interesting post from Nairobi covering the opening speech, which is worth reading. You can see the full opening speech below:
This week's meeting is going to attract a lot of media attention and it will be interesting to see how things pan out as the week progresses.
Unfortunately I am not attending in person this week, though I will be following the meeting remotely, which means a lot of early mornings this week! (Nairobi is 3 hours ahead of Ireland)
Fortunately there are plenty of tools available for people to follow the meeting from afar, with both audio and video feeds for most of the meeting being made available.
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Thankfully we have been really busy!
We just completed the launch of Bulmers Berry with BespokewithDirection.
The team were in The Academy in Dublin and in the Savoy in Cork.
First grand design of the month this March is an architecturally designed 4 bed detached by award winning architect Michael Horan of Axo Architects. Not only that, but the property was also nominated...
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The first week of spring/autumn (Northern/Southern Hemisphere) brought an array of mobile topics from health to gambling and analytics to mobile payment, as mobilists - new, regular and not-seen-for-a-while Carnival contributors - pulled out all the stops. Thanks to all who submitted (hosting the Carnival has been educational as always) - keep up the good work. Find out how to submit your blog to next week's Carnival.
Here for your viewing pleasure is our updated Top 30 list of Irish Hotel Pages on Facebook. There's been quite a shake-up since last week, with 8 new entries pushing a lot of the field down and in some cases out of the top 30.
The future of your driving experience will be pushed by that of your social network and the places they recommend and have seen (or are looking at in real time).
The 37th ICANN Meeting officially opened this morning at the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi. Despite all the fears and discussions about security, Kenya has proven to be a beautiful and very hospitable country for the people that traveled...
Would you buy property in the current market?
Or is the current economic climate deterring you from buying a home?
Do you think house prices will fall further?
How much do you think property is worth...
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When a business wants to provide a service via their website or web application, they want to ensure that their users experience a good service without compromising on security. By building in a focus on security from the start when building a website or application, it is possible to ensure a quality and secure user experience. This blog post is about an approach to securing your website/web app, drawing from OWASP principles.
Not only is DataBackup.ie the largest online Backup provider in Ireland, Gold Partner certified with Ahsay and using ISO certified data centres, but our size and investment in our leading backup infrastructure allows us to also be the most competitive backup provider in Ireland.
We strongly believe in our open book pricing model of 50 [...]
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Gandi is giving away 55,000 domain vouchers. That means you can get a free domain name for one year. And yes, that includes .mobi domains.
Reportedly the self-made billionaire Ira Rennert, founder of the Renco Group owns the largest residential property in the whole of the US. The property is situated on a 63 acres site in Sagaponack,...
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According to the last property index report from Halifax in the UK residential property there saw an unexpected price fall of 1.5% in February. The decrease has been the first drop in UK residential...
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Due to the great feedback we've received from our 'Top 30 Irish Hotel Pages on Facebook' list, we've decided to acknowledge all the Irish hotels on twitter and have created a top 30 list for this platform...
Joshua presses SHIFT 2 and gets an inverted comma. Presumably you want an @ symbol instead Joshua? Looks like it's simply a keyboard or language setting and not a fault. If you go to Control Panel – Regional and Language options – Languages – Details and change your keyboard input language and region it [...]
Joshua wants to know if Windows 7 64 Bit supports any versions of C Compiler. Looks like it does!
http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en-GB&q=windows 7 64 bit and c compiler&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enIE296IE297&ie=UTF-8
Hugh's PC with a 480GB hard drive was talking upwards of 36 hours to defragment. Defragmenting is never a quick process and I would normally leave it running overnight on my 500GB drive here and it would be done int he morning so I'd say there's a problem there. You might just try to do [...]
Joshua's documents and web pages are scrolling automatically when he views them! The quickest thing to try is have a look at your mouse and make sure it's ok. Might have dirty balls or blocked laser. Also check the mouse settings and drivers. Trying a different mouse would also be a quick test. You might [...]
Aileen's PC won't startup anymore and lights flash when plugged in. Aileen keeps her pc in a dampish environment in her Garden Centre! I'm sure I don't need to say that you can't really keep a PC in a damp or cold environment and your problem probably stems from this. Try bring it somewhere dry [...]
Manny,'s CRT monitor takes about 15 minutes to turn on after a PC startup. I'd say it's possibly a dodgy or dying monitor. Which is older the computer or monitor? Ideally, you'd get a lend of another monitor to test or buy an inexpensive video card as these give better performance usually anyway.
I will be presenting "7 Steps to Social Media Success using Social Media Marketing" to the enterprising ladies of County Waterford on Monday 15th March. The Waterford County Women's Enterprise Network (WEN), http://waterfordcountywen.com/, have invited me to speak on this topic at their next meeting:
Profit margins are critical to any successful project delivery. Without profits, we go out of business. Why is it then that we find it embarrassing to discuss profits in our business?
Blogs in general (including some of my own posts here!) are some of the most trafficked sites on the net and the first thing that pops into most people's heads when it comes to monetizing that traffic is advertising. I've been using some of Tribulant's excellent Wordpress plugins and [...]
We are working on a new exciting directory for a existing client who wanted a directory for Ireland, but specifically a Health Directory. The website is still in Beta testing but they have asked us to go ahead and put the site live to start getting the name out there.
Get Listed.
The idea is not new, [...]
We are in the middle of our 5th house move in 7 years so are well practiced! It occurred to me while ticking off things that I needed to do that I should document the process both for my own benefit (we may well be moving again soon!) and for the benefit of others. I'd [...]
Household gadget of the week this week is this uber funky and quite handy six part toaster. The toaster design by Matt Gossington rotates and heats the toast in single compartments. You can then...
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Twitter is turning into the 'must have' tool for social networking your business. However, it's difficult to gauge just how much influence twitter is having on your business. Every half business savvy employee or owner will be consistently asking one question...what's the ROI?!
If you know what to use and how to use it, you can actually get a very good idea of how your twitter account is performing for your hotel.
Probably one of the best things about our friends at Umbra is their imagination when it comes to combining originality, classic hi quality design and the occasion sprinkling of humour. This photo frame is no exception to their range of ideas and makes for a great..
I stumbled upon a interesting blog about the color of the sun. Most people will think the sun is yellow but its actually not. The color of the sun is in graphic design terms : #fff5f2
The original article can be found here.
Here are some more stars and there colors.
I stumbled upon a interesting blog about the color of the sun. Most people will think the sun is yellow but its actually not. The color of the sun is in graphic design terms : #fff5f2
The original article can be found here.
Here are some more stars and there colors.
Hi everyone,
I received an email this week announcing the opening of the call for papers for the Month of PHP Security 2010. The month long effort is being organized by SektionEins.
I like the idea of having the month of security instead of a month of bugs. This part of the CFP really grabbed my attention:
"The [...]
Here's something to put a smile on your face, especially if you're an Irish hotel...
Travel publisher Lonely Planet have named 10 of the world's friendliest countries. Ireland appeared in the list along side countries such as Fiji and Malawi which are famed for their friendly inhabitants. The list was derived from Lonely Planets 1000 Ultimate Experiences...
For quite some time we've all been predicting that the future of social networking is mobile. New stats have revealed just how close this is to becoming a reality...
Twitter began it's life way back in 2006, the very same year facebook was born. Ever since then these two social networking giants have been battling against each other. Both Twitter and Facebook are now among the world's social media 'big boys'...
We received this query today from a driver called Chloe, who is looking to rent a car in Switzerland:
Chloe says:
Fiona,
I am going to Switzerland this summer and would like to rent a car, do you know if anyone rents to 18 year olds? I am a Swiss/American citizen if that helps.
Thanks
Chloe
Fiona says:
Hi Chloe
The [...]
Customer Reviews of a companies products or services have become a very big deal online in recent years. Research has shown that if someone reads a positive review of your offering or service online they will be most of the way to buying from you!
On my own blog, the Reviews Category consistently gets more hits [...]
At last night's Parliamentary Palace of Varieties in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, the 600 guests were dining on Ummera and Uig Smoked Salmon and reading the following in their Programme!
Live internet broadcasts? You can have it. Recently fresh internet company Usteram became a hit around the web enabling people to stream their videos just by using webcam and internet connection. By the way, you can be almost sure that your live stream will not crash, because the site survived live stream from Haiti and 3.8 million streams during Barack Obama's inauguration. <...>
Finally, after much anticipation and debate, the plans for the new US Embassy in London, designed by the Philadelphia firm KieranTimberlake were announced late last week.
The new building will be...
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Many traditional farm buildings are to be rescued from near extension by a new EU-funded grant scheme. The project aims to restore traditional Irish Farm buildings around the country to their former...
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This is a rundown of the 10 most famous YouTube video's that ended up being more famous that they bargained for from video remixes, sound boards to even mugs and shirts. These are the heroes of YouTube in no particular order.
Number 1: The Techno Viking
Ibiza is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, with an area of just 225 square miles (585 square km). What it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in terms of reputation. Ibiza's wild all-night parties were the talk of the British tabloid media for just about all of the [...]
The first question you have to ask yourself is how have you lasted so long without having a Utili-Key? These world famous, highly engineered pocket tools fold down to replicate a key on your key ring – so no embarrassing bulges in your pocket. Swiss Tech are know the world over for the..
We all have things we do in business that we don't enjoy or want to do. The trick is to make sure that we consider the benefits rather than the fear of trying or doing!
Buy of the week this week is a 4 bed mid terrace located in Dundalk. On the market for €165,000 this 3 story period property offers a lot of house for its asking price and is in a super central...
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Blueface were at the Digital Media Awards last Thursday and it was nice to see such an array of talent across all of the categories. We sponsored the Best in Blogging category where the competition was intense. Ronan Lyons was selected by the judges in the end as overall winner for his entry at ronanlyons.com. [...]
Yesterday saw the delivery of the first audio and video podcasting course for ArtLinks, presented by myself (Ken), along with Alan Slattery and John Morton of Mycrofilms. While Event Media have delivered courses for ArtLinks over the past two years or so, this was the first time (and hopefully not the last) that we've combined [...]
Samsung launched a new campaign website for B2100 models in Sweden. 70 new phones are put on the glass table above the water tank. If the phone goes down, and you are the last one who called – it is yours. <...>
Award season is in full swing and we are thrilled to announce that Doc on One won Gold at the Digital Media Awards on Saturday night. Doc on One was an extremely ambitious project. The documentary team transferred over 300 documentaries from the archives online for the very first time. Launched last July, the Doc on One has become one of the most popular sites in Ireland and the Gold for best in Podcasting is well deserved indeed. It was such a pleasure to work on this project and we hope Doc on One continues to win more listeners and awards this year.
For the curious among you, this week's documentary is “Ten minutes from Kenema”. Have a listen here, pure listening pleasure.
Love it or hate it, Social Media is a huge part of Irish life these days. With the latest Facebook stats estimating that nearly 1.1 million Irish people use the platform, it makes a compelling argument for Hotels to have a presence on it.
We've compiled a Top 30 list which includes the most active Irish Hotels on Facebook.
MyProjectTracker - we're open for business and there to help you deliver more effective projects. We give you great features while keeping your life simple. More than a collaboration tool, we also keep an eye on your costs!
Project reporting is a key part of any project. However, it is not the reason for being in a project and needs to be kept in perspective. Have we lost sight of what a project is really for?
This year the An Post Sean Kelly team registered in Belgium . This allows the team to enter many of the Belgian semi classics . These races may not be shown on Eurosport but are readily available to watch live online via feeds from European Television stations . The best place to find these feeds [...]
If the lady loves a neutral palette then this stylish arrangement from Appassionata is sure to please. A really sumptuous bouquet that will make any room feel fresh and contemporary. Pure & simple!
We're the headline sponsor, though admittedly I've been a bit remiss in promoting our involvement!
In any case the event runs over two days, with three tracks:
Intro track
Blogger's track
Tech track
The schedule includes some very interesting topics regardless of your level of experience with blogging or Wordpress, so deciding on which sessions to attend could be "interesting"!
Speakers lined up include both Irish and international figures covering a very broad range of topics including business blogging, SEO, design, usability, mobile web and a whole lot more.
So if you are interested in blogging, or want to learn more about how to make the most of your Wordpress blog (or site), then WordCamp Ireland is probably the event for you.
I'm planning on attending, though I'm also meant to be giving a presentation to the ICANN meeting in Nairobi on Saturday (remotely), so I still have to work out the logistics!
"Suffering from a recurring twinge or an incessant sharp pain? You won't be achin' for long in this spa town". *Hangs head in shame.* Sorry, it was so obvious, who could resist? Anyway, to get back to the facts....the spa town of Aachen is a real crossroads city, where Germany, [...]
Hi everyone,
I'm writing today's blog on something that I've been meaning to write about for a while now. Taint checking is something that has fascinated me since I first came across it so I thought I would write a blog about it.
Taint checking certainly isn't a new topic and several programming languages have had built [...]
Google have announced that Facebook Pages will be added to their real-time search function.
This addition is the latest in a line now also including social media rivals Myspace and Twitter.
Yet to be added are personal Facebook profile updates which are currently only searchable via Bing.
Facebook is well known for its uniformity. Everyone's profiles look the same and we're stuck with facebook's blue colour scheme. However, all is not lost! There are applications that you can add to your hotel's facebook page to allow you to display whatever you want (within reason!). Get those creative juices flowing!
These are delightful, practical and lovely additions to our existing range of Nappy Cakes.
Made in Ireland, the new single tiered nappy cakes make a super alternative to flowers and also provide the new parents with something that they'll be able to use i..
These are delightful, practical and lovely additions to our existing range of Nappy Cakes.
Made
in Ireland, the new single tiered nappy cakes make a super alternative
to flowers and also provide the new parents with something that they'll
be able to us..
The devastating floods before Christmas and the big freeze in January saw insurance companies’ payout a massive €541 million; the payout exceeded the total of all serious weather events...
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Project management and the skills of a parent are more similar than you might think. Both require a complex set of skills that are honed with practice!
A Mother's Day card is all very well and good, but you have to ask yourself, can you eat it? Which is where this adorable biscuit card comes in. Is it a biscuit? Is it a card? Who cares, it's delicious!. The perfect way to sweeten up mum this Mother's Day. (You could try to tell her you baked it yourself, but she's your mum. She knows you didn't.)
Big 'man' watches are (forgive the pun) huge right now, and this diamante-encrusted beauty from Marc by Marc Jacobs is bang on trend. The only question is whether to be fashionably late, or even more fashionably on time.
This cute journal is bound to bring back happy memories of for your mother. Of a time when you went to bed by nine, didn't drink or smoke, and when unsuitable boyfriends were only a joke she shared with your dad.
This issue keeps coming up lately, how much to charge for web design services? It seems locally here in Leitrim at least that we are pricing ourselves into the ground with one company doing sites for EUR99 and another for EUR14.99 a month. I can't go that low myself so how can I and others [...]
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Ericsson introduced a tweeting orange tree, wired plant which can sense changes in electromagnetic field nearby. That means it can “feel” people coming, passing by or touching its leaves.
Over the last couple of days I've gotten a few direct message from people and businesses that just didn't look right, with links attached. I obviously didn't click on them for this reason however since then I notice a few more so let it might be help to make a posting on the matter.
This is [...]
We've got yet another nice little promotion to share with you. This time round it's on .tv domain names!
Use the coupon code: tvpromo (no space - cASe SeNSitive) and you'll be able to get a .tv domain for a mere EUR19.99 ex-VAT
You will be able to register a .tv domain name at this special IF you use the coupon code. No code - no discount!
What is the .tv domain?
Originally .tv was for the island of Tuvalu, however it has become synonymous with "TV" or online video.
We have been using Blacknight.tv to promote our Youtube channel, for example and there are literally thousands of online video services that rely on the .tv extension to promote themselves online.
Our great friends Michelle & Audrey from our online wedding shop called All About Weddings have finally taken the plunge and upgraded their website to now be fully accepting Irish Debit Cards called Laser Cards. The site also accepts the usual Visa, Master Cards.
While we were at it we created a brand new fully content [...]
This post was prompted by something I read on an email list and on Linkedin the other day where the author seemed to have the view that Twitter was more about Search Engines than People. His argument was that Twitter is far too 'noisy' for people to actually read and interact but that Google could [...]
Most potential new web design clients seem to ask the same question: What's involved in setting up a web site? How does it all work?. Here's a screen video tutorial I've prepared to help explain. I've included a synopsis underneath:
In summation so..
The step by step process I personally use is as follows:
There was an article last Saturday in the UK's Mail Online about how UK Supermarkets and food outlets have come together to create a voluntary code on the labeling of pork products in respect of country of origin. (Read it here)
Since Ireland's Pork Fiasco in December 2008 there have been noises made about exactly [...]
Today I was at a conference hosted by The Brain Food Store where there were some great speakers – check the Twitter hash tag for the conversations and insights shared by people at the conference – #bfs10.
As usual however, one of the great things about attending conferences is the opportunity to meet interesting people and [...]
Despite perception to the contary Twitter is growing. New stats released show 50 million tweets a day from users.
New stats released yesterday by Twitter revealed that users now send out more than 50 million tweets per day. That means every second, 600 tweets fly through Twitter's network. If you've ever followed a trending topic ex. [...]
UPDATE 28/2: New screenshot added below The Blacknight hosting platform is very powerful and has a lot of fantastic features.
However, the control panel is not perfect and we are all too aware of this.
The control panel vendors, Parallels, have been working closely with us to improve aspects of the system so that:
You are happier
We are happier
We all have a more pleasant life
Unfortunately we cannot read people's minds, so we're going to be asking YOU, our clients, for feedback on certain aspects of the system in the coming months.
We will do our best to take all the feedback that we receive back to the control panel vendors and get as many of the changes implemented as possible.
One of the areas that we know people have been having issues with is the billing section of the control panel.
We've held several conference calls with Parallels and our staff over the last few weeks and they've come up with a draft view of how it *could* look moving forward. (NB: there are plans to for an extensive reworking of the billing side of the system in the pipeline, but that could be over 12 months away)
So here is a preview (click to enlarge):
Do you think this is better than the current display?
Is it worse?
How could it be improved?
What would you like to see here?
Do you want to see this information in this way?
Is there something on the billing side that isn't clear (with this screenshot)?
Any and all feedback is welcome, though please try to give us something to work with! Comments like "I hate it" may be valid, but they won't help us improve it.
You can leave comments here or if you prefer feel free to email management@blacknight.com with your feelings.
Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback - we really do appreciate it.
UPDATE: We have received several very helpful emails from clients with quite detailed feedback. Please keep it coming!
UPDATE 2 - Parallels have made some changes based on feedback from us, you and other clients. They've supplied an updated screenshot (click to enlarge): All feedback welcome as before
Fancy ham, flaky cheese and the passionate music of Verdi may describe a cosy evening at a nice Italian restaurant, but they also happen to be the three things that best characterise Parma. Not a bad comparison actually. Both internationally and at home in Italy, Parma has long been associated with la dolce [...]
There has been a threefold increase in the number of 'sale agreed' second hand homes in January compared to the same time last year according to new research carried out by MyHome.ie. The new data...
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Is your business too small to take credit card transactions? Are you getting caught out with cheques "bouncing"? Well with the introduction of the Square, that may no longer be an issue.
The perfect way to show mum you're thinking of her (without breaking the bank!). Reliable as ever, M&S have created a wonderful display of soft pink roses framed by tulips and alstroemeria that would rival any designer florist. Presented in a stylish hessian gift bag with a gorgeous rose corsage. Available for delivery 9th to 16th March.
How do companies promote computer games these days? It looks like having a booth with hot girls in gamers’ convention or paying actors to “protest” game in various spots is not enough anymore. Electronic Arts actually did this to promote their game Dante’s Inferno, but they also released a mini mystery game. They placed ASCII artworks into the source code of several popular websites such as Digg, Kotaku, GamesRadar and Dailymotion. <...>
mobiThinking is recruiting a small number of volunteers around the world to take part in a small case study. We invite you to conduct a search on the leading mobile search engines where you are: e.g. Yahoo; Google; AOL; Bing; Ask; Taptu. Use the terms WinterOlympicsmobile and document how many of the best local/international mobile Olympic sites come up in the search results. This will give an interesting insight into the effectiveness of mobile search engines, publisher mobile search optimization and the difference that location makes. All helpers will be credited and will have the opportunity to share conclusions and possible remedies.
For further details and to volunteer, please email editor (at) mobiThinking.com.
Cleaning the freezer can be a lengthy and messy job but at the same time it’s a very necessary job. You probably have noticed and are well aware that over time a nice big thick layer of ice can...
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We would like to welcome Sara Cullen to the team at Cada Media Ltd. Sara is joining us in an ainistrative role, with great experience working in the Gorey Chamber of commerce office we hope the her talents will suit our small and dynamic team. Welcome on board Sara.
An extra special gift for a cosmopolitan guy with an edge. Damien Hirst’s bespoke pill cufflinks derive from his Pharmacy body of work, a play on our modern reliance on science and medication. They are sterling silver, engraved with the Hirst/Hirst logo and are hallmarked. The pills are presented in a beautiful black leather box with a black satin interior which is also stamped with the Hirst/Hirst and Other Criteria logo. A gift to be truly treasured!
I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend tonight's talk given by local lad, Grant Masterson from Wreckless Skate Board Shop here in Gorey Co. Wexford. I first met Grant when he was working for Webdream Solutions next door door to our own office on John Street in Gorey too. Webdream are a website design and [...]
Scrum is a useful project management methodology that take longer than a number of days to complete. It helps the team stay focused and demonstrates progress to the end-customer.
Congratulations to doop designed www.IrishDeafKids.ie for winning at the 8th Annual Ireland's eGovernment Awards. At the awards ceremony in Dublin, IDK beat off stiff competition to win the Supporting Inclusive Education Category.
Other websites short-listed in the same category included Bluebrick.ie, ArtLinks, the Irish Maritime Development Office and the Online Maths Programme developed by Meath County [...]
We've been looking for a house to rent or buy for ages now and I also have an iPhone, so app = handy being able to browse or search homes while in bed or while out and about actually lookin for houses 'manually'. I've tried a few different property apps including [...]
When his training program said that he was to do 6 hours , and he could not go outdoors , he did 6 hours indoors on the turbo trainer. Consuming over 10 litres of water during the six hour period he was also sweating this much out . His wife had to come in to him every now and then with a bucket and mop to soak up his perspiration from the floor
Most people suffer pretty regularly from the common cold as it's known . Everyone has their own definition of just what a 'cold' is . Some people take to the bed at the first sign of a sniffle whilst others just plough on whilst coughing up a lung satisfied in the knowledge that they still [...]
[So you've started to use Twitter as a business communication tool and you would like to learn more about improving the usability of the service. One of the most beneficial ways of doing this is by using what are termed "twitter clients"...]
Managers in large organizations are too concerned with downsizing and cost cutting and not concerned enough with efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.
On Saturday, the 23rd of January, I attended an online PR workshop run by Damien Mulley from Online PR Company, Mulley Communications. I'm a little late to the party, but that's only because I had to rush out and buy seasons 1-6 of The West Wing and watch them all back-to-back. Thanks Damien!
The Ireland India Business Association (IIBA) in conjunction with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) organised a meeting today to highlight the current opportunities in the property and...
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When Dublin based businesses submit their details to Dublinbynumbers we do our best to provide the right category for that business. That means new categories may be pretty sparse until we have had enough people signed up. We've added a few new categories over the last few days. So you run or market a Dublin [...]
Australian property prices rose 4.8% in the three months to December from the previous quarter, bringing the national average property price to $525,524 Australian dollars or approx €347,414....
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Adele King, better known as Twink, could face the prospect of losing her home after she was issued with a repossession order. The Bank of Scotland began legal proceedings on Monday last to repossess...
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Mobile is a Winter Olympics winner for US broadcaster NBC. The stats show it received more mobile visits by the opening ceremony than for the entire 2006 Winter Games and after 17 days had attracted more than 2.5 times the mobile visits at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
To celebrate the launch of MyHome.ie's new shopping network Littlewoods Ireland, Ireland's Leading Online Department Store is giving you the chance to win a whopping €1,000 shopping spree to...
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Continuing with the awkwardly titled blog posts about Google Buzz, looks like I'm not the only one who's peeved about the involuntary inclusion of Google Buzz in my Gmail. Boy Genius Report tells us that Google are about to be hit with a class action suit with regard to the Google Buzz infarction:
Instead of the [...]
There's been lots of talk about VoIP recently and how it has come of age in many ways. The infrastructure required to support voice calls (i.e the broadband landscape) has changed considerably in Ireland over the past 5 years in particular. There is no question that we still have a long way to go and [...]
Hi everyone,
I saw an update on twitter this week from Bil Corry asking for people to give feedback on the security considerations section of the proposed update to the HTTP State Management Mechanism RFC (this update will replace RFC 2109).
The proposal updates many areas of the original RFC which is now 13 years old so [...]
It is vital to stay on top of market trends in your business environment along with remaining current with what your competitors are up to. Complacency can lead to irrelevance very quickly and it is up to you to remain current.
Bored of watching iPad keynote? Here it comes summed to convenient 180 seconds. Give it a try, that is obviously one of the best keynotes you probably have seen. Oh, and also incredible, awesome, gorgeous, phenomenal, cool, super, very nice and amazing. <...>
Tomi Ahonen (blogger, author, speaker etc) has been crunching numbers and has come up with the world's largest companies in mobile, having stripped away other revenues. No small task.
According to the latest Scottish House Price Monitor report from Lloyds TSB Scotland the housing market there seems to be recovering. Most areas are seeing property growth with average house prices...
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For a number of years, many digital marketing campaigns have been focussing heavily on SEO (search engine optimisation). Searches have been (and are likely to continue to be for some time yet) the main way to drive traffic to your website. Now the new kid on the block, social media, is starting to drive traffic. Therefore should we be treating it the same as SEO by using SGO (social graph optimisation)?
Personal assistant now lives in your pocket and you do not have to pay him a cent. Siri is a free personal assisting app that lets you speak or type your command and receive an instant answer. <...>
I've recently been thinking about Social Networking in terms of Ego and Religion of all things!
I believe Blogging, Tweeting and Facebook status updating is one big ego trip. What better validation of one's self can there be than sending out a message to hundreds of listeners and having them 'Like this', Retweet or comment positively [...]
Yes folks, no sooner are we getting over the quirks/compatibility more of IE8, than news reaches us that IE9 is roadmapped and due sooner than we thought.
Read all about it from Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet
It's like buses. Stuck with IE6 for years and then IE7, IE8, IE9…
While on that subject, here's a great [...]
First off what is bleeding a radiator and why do you need to do it? Radiator bleeding is a term giving to the 'act' of removing air that has accidentally gotten into the radiator's coils. When air...
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This week’s 3 properties for X amount are located in Co. Westmeath. All properties are semi detached and come in under the €135,000 mark. Not only that but they are all in commuter...
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Best Business Blogger Best Business Podcaster Best Online Financial Service Best Online Trader Best Use of Social Media e-Government Award Innovation Award Internet Entrepreneur Internet Marketer Journalist Award Mobile Internet Innovation Online Tourism Award Social Contribution Web Designer Excellence Web Developer Excellence
And the awards timeline is as follows:
15 February - Nominations Open 26 March - Nominations Close, Judging Commences 9 April - Judging Complete 12 April - Voting Opens 30 April - Voting Closes 20 May - Winners Announced at Net Visionary Awards Ceremony
So if you think you deserve it or you know somebody who does then make your voice heard now!
We are getting a delivery of new mugs today. Here is the prototype, accompanied by the superior dunking biscuit, a hobnob.
We would like to giveaway a few mugs. All you have to do is tell us what your favourite websites are and why. Enter by leaving a comment on this blog post or on our [...]
Facebook announced last week that 100 Million of its 400 Million subscribers now actively use the service from their mobile device. That is an increase of 35 Million users from just six months ago, when the figure stood at 65 Million.
As mobile network operators struggle to cope with this level of growth, Facebook has announced plans to release another mobile version of its service they call Facebook Zero.
It is a low-bandwidth mobile site aimed at people using Facebook on their mobile phones, and may help to free-up critical bandwidth on mobile networks.
Facebook Zero omits data intensive applications like photos and can therefore be used to encourage mobile internet usage, while at the same time limit the strain on mobile networks.
This comes at a time when mobile network operators are struggling to cope with the growth in usage of mobile offerings from sites such as Facebook.
In December of last year and in the UK alone, mobile users viewed a total of 6.7 billion pages and spent more than 4.8 billion minutes (60 million hours) online via their mobile phones.
The MyHome.ie team were out and about on the streets last week in county Meath meeting and greeting the public and local estate agents. You may have seen them in the wee early hours of the morning on...
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I know it's only been a short while since we welcomed Sinead into the Cada Media fold to look after our accounts, but we are now looking for an admin person to assist Sinead and help with basic administration procedures.
We put the word out on facebook and FAS a number of weeks ago and we [...]
Have you ever wonder how importnt personal branding is nd how it can help you "cash in on your passion"? Gary Varnerchuk's book: "Crush it" is a brilliant example to take into account. Check out this video review!
Buy of the week this week is a 4 bed semi detached located just 5 miles from Longford Town Centre which is on the market for the very small sum of €135, 000!
This property is part of the Cluain...
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Do you ever get stuck for inspiration in terms of what to write about for your online articles, your newsletter or ezine or your business blog? Or what you could talk about in your podcast or your inline video?
Google just might have the answer for you – in this video I go through how to [...]
In our last post Mobile App Stores? Here's a Dirty Little Not-So-Secret we mentioned that mobile web applications are a real alternative to software which needs to be downloaded through an App Store for it run on smartphones.
The irony of the post title seemed to have been lost on some. Of course, mobile web applications aren't something new. It was in fact pushed by Apple when they released the 1st generation iPhone.
At that time software developers, perhaps unsurprisingly, were up in arms at this approach and wanted the ability to develop applications which ran directly on the iPhone. And why the hell not?
iPhone 1.0 came with sub-par connectivity, making for slow web browsing and a poor web experience unless you had WiFi. Running an application entirely from the web was a tough sell and impractical.
However, the situation has improved, iPhone 3G and 3GS have been released with a rumoured 4G version on the way. Mobile networks continue to improve and as we look ahead in the medium to long term, issues with mobile connectivity will diminish.
Reaching That Mobile Audience
For now we find ourselves in 2010, mobile developers got it their way and App Stores will exceed 4.5 billion downloads and consumers will spend $6.2 billion in them, according to a Gartner Inc. forecast. It has been a great success, albeit for a minority.
This success has come at a price though. It is hard to get noticed, the holy grail of a listing in the top 10 is near impossible. Sheer numbers and manual selection by humans with unpublished selection methods make it hard to judge how your application will ever get featured.
There are now multiple platforms to deal with as Apple's approach was copied by BlackBerry, Google's Android and Nokia. While building dedicated applications on fragmented mobile platforms further increases the difficulty in reaching that mobile audience.
It just doesn't seem to make sense for businesses to chase a crowded mobile apps market. Especially if their business is not in the game of selling apps, but connecting with their customers.
Mobile Billing service, Bango, surveyed over 400 developers and content providers in the USA and Europe, and the results revealed:
*45% of developers plan to monetize their apps directly, in other words outside the app store
*48% think that although app stores will grow in importance in five years time, these channels will coexist alongside the mobile web
*iPhone tops the list, followed by Android and BlackBerry, for the most important handset/platform to develop an app for in 2010
Are Mobile Web Applications a Silver Bullet?
No. (gasps from the audience fill the blogosphere)
But mobile applications are not the only game in town, yet that message has long been drowned out by the intense coverage mobile applications have received.
The fact of the matter is that mobile web applications allow for greater simplification and flexibility in your mobile presence.
We firmly believe that mobile web applications will have an (equally) important part to play in the next few years and may just be the right approach for you.
Just look at any of Google's new services which come with a mobile web version and not an application.
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When I was completing my scrum master training with Jean Tabaka, we started the course with an interesting discussion on what we thought Agile development and Scrum was and wasn’t about. This discussion illustrated some valuable points for project teams that in today’s business world, have to be more responsive, flexible and creative when [...]
Successful entrepreneurs are a breed to their own. They are people who take personal responsibility. They are people who are prepared to do whatever it takes to make their business or project successful. They are people who always have a plan.
We've all wasted hours of our time trying to grab Internet domains that are already registered. That's why we launched Dropped.ie - to display on one page all the domains around a single word that are available to register or buy right now.
But not content with that, we've added a semantic element to the service - so if you type in a certain word, we will also seek out available domains that are related to it.
The example we have been using to show it off is "espresso" - which will also display results with the word "coffee" in. It's mostly dot-ie domains at the moment, but we also have dot-coms and are looking to expand it across all the top-level domains that Blacknight sells.
We also pull in third-party domains for sale, and let you choose regional terms to help you get to a suitable domain as quickly as possible.
One click next to each domain will display the domain's history and its popularity.
And a single click will pull you through to a registration page for that domain - making it easier than ever to get your domain and get it fast.
But that's not all - we are constantly looking at ways to improve.
So we've had a brainstorm and current thoughts include:
Letting people choose their country, and automatically pulling in regional search information such as counties or states
Picking the best available domains - of any extension - and sticking them up the top in a Best Picks box
Improving the search so it second-guesses where you are going and gets there before you
Doing a mash-up with Google Maps data or Maxmind's GeoIP tools
Here's where we want to hear from you.
What do you think of the service?
What do you think of the ideas above?
Do you have any ideas of your own that you think would make Dropped.ie better?
If so, now's the time to speak up.
Just add a comment below or email us at marketing@blacknight.com and we'll check it out and, where possible, incorporate it.
So please check out Dropped.ie and get back to us with ways to improve it.
Hearing interesting things about the new social media offering from Google called Google Buzz, it looks like their privacy policy and the fact that you can edit a on going conversation to alter the meaning means that this would be used by someone from the Dark side!!!
Gonna play around with it over the weekend and [...]
A recently-published study (Spiderlabs Study: Hotels a hot spot for credit card fraud http://bit.ly/cbYxk1) has underlined just how important security is for the hotel sector, and how vital it is to choose partners that are PCI-DSS compliant (payment card industry data security standards). Of all security breaches where credit card information was stolen, the largest sector by far to be hit was the hospitality sector. In particular the SpiderLabs study says:
"Out of the 218 data-breach investigations from 24 countries the company studied, 38 percent of the attacks occurred on hotels. And once the attack occurred, it took an average of 156 days for the business to realize it."
Unlike most providers in the booking engine space, Bookassist has full PCI-DSS compliance and takes security extremely seriously. Security has been one of the cornerstones of development at Bookassist since its inception, and the booking engine administration system has sophisticated user management to ensure PCI-DSS compliance in the hotels' internal use of the system.
Before you commit to any suppliers, ensure that PCI-DSS standards are adhered to, or it could be a costly mistake.
An 11th-century castle in the Turin hills which was the childhood home of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy is on market for $28 million.
Born in Turin in 1967 she became...
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My head is melted.
Way back in time I just had to blog, now I have to tweet, update Facebook, network on LinkedIn, save on Delicious, Redit, Sphinn, and the list goes on and on getting bigger every day.
One question - when can I get on with some bloody work?
Want to meet with us in 2010? The Redfly team will be traveling the globe to attend a wide verity of Internet marketing and blogging events in 2010. Why not get in touch if you're at any of the same events or even nearby and we can go for coffee or just shoot the breeze?
Okay no prizes for original titles for me when writing about Google's new service Buzz. I'm now seeing it in my Gmail from my PC but so far I have checked it out more often on the iPhone. I fear Google may be a little late to the party on this one but the promised [...]
Today is my last day before I take six months leave. I will return to my duties in early September.
Members, in the meantime please, please don't hesitate to contact members at iia dot ie with your guest blog posts. Check out the guidelines here.Members are also welcome to post all types of content to the [...]
A new report on debt in Irish Society recommends that the Government should consider introducing a mortgage to shared equity scheme similar to Scotland. Where a person is struggling to repay their...
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Every business needs project management. If you do not have a project management methodology, no matter how simple it may be, your projects will fail and you will lose money! Don't be afraid of it - a methodology is simply a way of working.
Most of us are probably aware of the 250 or 300 free webtexts we are allowed each month from mobile operators like O2 and Vodafone. You basically login to Vodafone.ie or O2.ie and send your free text. Pretty handy eh? Well I've always found those websites slow, confusing and awkward so it was happy days [...]
Poke, creative agency in London locked themselves in the office for 24 hours to encourage a bit of rapid R&D. Check how some of the sweat, tears and custard pies turned into amazing things!
Do you want to attract more leads to your business with webinars? Or use webinars as a way of generating a new stream of revenue?
What platform can you use if you have an audience who does not want to or can not install webinar technology on their computer due to restrictions in terms of their [...]
Californian based artist Kellyann just tweeted us this great message.
Thank you! just sent my toddle via email list & twitter…rec'vd inquiry for sale minutes later…cheers to you. kellyannart.com
Congrats Kellyann, keep us updated on how it goes.
When filling out your CAO form, a career in the property sector may not be the first option that would come to mind. However despite the challenging market the IAVI (Irish Auctioneers &...
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This nifty gadget is for the coffee lovers. The Handpresso, which is said to a revolutionary concept and the talking point of design, is a small size Espresso machine that you can take with you on...
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As a web design and development agency with our fingers on the pulse of the interweb we should really pass comment on Google Buzz. As a proven Google fan too (did I mention I bought an Android phone? Yup folks, skipped the iPhone. More on that later!), I should be jumping on this band wagon. [...]
Youtube success story. Justin Bieber is a 15 years old small town boy from Canada with a nice vocal. Discovered on Youtube (where he has been posting his own made videos since he was 13), he has been singing for president Obama, presented on Grammy Awards, etc.
Extend Basecamp Project Management with this time saving Firefox extension.
Hard to believe that this extension is now four years old. We have released an update to this extension to make it compatible with Firefox 3.6.
Basecode adds a formatting bar to your messages box within Basecamp. See it in action below.
When renting a car in Pula, you should know that the best and easiest place to pick up your rental car is in Pula Airport. Pula Airport is situated just 5km to the North east of the city of Pula, on the southeast end if the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia.
Pula is famous for [...]
There's lots of nonsense going around at the moment in relation to the recently introduced 30km speed limit in Dublin, however our favourite is this video created by David Rochford:
Filed under: Humour, In the news, Safe driving, We like
Mobile applications continue to attract great interest. Everybody wants an ?app for that?, whatever ?that? means to them.
The relentless hype drives many businesses to plough money into developing their own mobile applications, spend nail biting weeks waiting for App Store approval, have their mobile app rejected, sent back for bug fixing, re-submitted…you get the picture.
But wait, we are in the midst of a revolution in computing, cloud computing. In a time when everybody and their Granny are moving to online applications, the mobile world relentlessly marches on to the beat of a familiar drum. Software.
iPhone, app for that? Yes? Great. What about Google's Android? What about Nokia? The list goes on.
Does it make sense to have a team of developers work on software, which needs maintenance, updates and support, then duplicate that for each device? Not really.
The dirty little not-so-secret is that you don't need a mobile application to be on a smartphone. An alternative strategy exists in the form of a mobile web application but the approach is often overlooked.
A mobile web application is a great alternative in most cases, and guess what? No App Stores to worry about. Easily manage your mobile presence across many devices at the click of an upload.
This approach allows you to concentrate efforts on a single task, a single project. It will give you the flexibility to change direction on a dime and support new devices practically overnight.
As mobile web browsers continue to improve, it won't be long before mobile apps will be web-based by default.
So if you are thinking you need a mobile application, think again. Consider a web-based approach instead and save yourself hassle, money and time.
Right after Apple's big iPad announcement on January 27, the thoughtful MobileTech blog asked, "Is the iPad a mobile device like any other mobile phone in terms of browsing?" ... meaning, of course, is there still a need for mobile-optimized sites?
Update 12 February, 2010: Valentine's details from Flirtomatic
Anyone wondering about the marketing impact of Valentine's should take a look at mobile/online social network Flirtomatic which saw sales of virtual gifts jump 100 percent in the first nine days of February. Flirtomatic sells 1 million virtual gifts annually, peaking around Valentines Christmas and New Year, when it introduces new content for flirts to send to their friends.
Flirtomatic is running Valentine's promotions with AT&T and Metro PCS in the US and all main UK network operators. It is also running a special Valentine's ad campaign with O2. Each O2 user signing up for a free pay-as-you-go SIM card is rewarded with FlirtPoints and a secret Valentine's Day gift (not O2 branded), which they can send on to whoever they like (not just Flirtomatic users).
Sometimes , when you see a single cyclist pedaling along an isolated country road it may look like a lonely form of exercise . Sometimes it can be anything but that .
Yesterday morning , I headed off for what I thought was going to be a nice handy 2 hour training spin . The morning [...]
We are currently looking to hire a web developer to join the team. Working with our designers and software developers you will be responsible for the front end output of our client projects.
We are looking for a motivated self starter with at least 2 years experience in a similar role. An undergraduate or post graduate [...]
Do you have a professional profile online at the business social network LinkedIn? Do you display endorsements or testimonials on your LinkedIn profile?
But what if the testimonial you receive is incorrect, or you want it to more accurately reflect what you did and who you worked for?
Or has the company name changed since you worked [...]
Just like our houses, greenhouses / glasshouses need regular maintenance and cleaning to keep them in good nick and working order. The end of Winter or the beginning Spring is a good time to clean,...
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While may say that Limescale is not harmful to us, it can be a nuisance. The build up of calcium in your kettle can cause it to take longer to boil, therefore using more energy and adding little...
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Hi everyone,
The blog I'm writing today is a bit different to the blogs I normally write. I normally discuss application security vulnerabilities or how to write secure code but I wanted to post something different today. I used to write the occasional post which covered a specific issue in security I'd been researching that wasn't [...]
Blog re-design and transfer for Komplett.ie
It was great to be contacted by the guys at Komplett, Ireland's biggest online Tech store and a multinational player in Europe, to redesign their existing blog. Their old one existed on Wordpress.com and was pretty inflexible. Moving to a standalone version of Wordpress has opened up the site and [...]
I have often wondered how I ended up in search engine optimisation. I like instant gratification - I like to see the work done and have that feel good feeling factor viewing or watching something I have done.
In SEO I can get to the end of a day and wonder what have I done today. [...]
Know a germaphobe washing his hands 20 times a day and recommending to touch doorhandles only with your elbow? Introducing their new hand sanitizer moistorizer, „Gold Bond“ gives you a chance to prank that individual. At “Ultimate hand scanner“ website scans your hand for questionable organisms.
We noticed today that we recieved an email for the the ICS monitoring Team threatening to cut of internet access.
This is spam email delete it.
The email looks like this:
Warning: This message has had one or more attachments removed Warning: (report.exe, report.zip). Warning: Please read the “cadamedia-Attachment-Warning.txt” attachment(s) for more information.
Your internet access is going [...]
With only two grand design posts a month this property is definately worth a mention. 2 Albert Road Lower, Sandycove, Dublin is an amazing villa style period home which has been re-designed,...
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Had a good, educational and inspiring day in Dublin yesterday!
In the morning I caught Damien Mulley's talk on the benefits of Social/Online Media and although I'm fairly heavily involved in this area already there was plenty to learn, proved by all the notes I took! The new idea is that you have to “earn” your [...]
When delivering any customer project, it is important to remember that it is their project, not yours. We must not get lost by looking inwardly at how effectively we think we are delivering but more on how the customer is receiving the project i.e. their satisfaction.
There is a guy who regularly comes into the shop called Katz Malackie . Now Katz is not an Estonian sprinter but a van salesman from just outside Clonmel . He never raced , but always had an interest in cycling and often fixes up neighbours bikes , and bikes he 'pulls out of ditches' [...]
Are you doing great work? When I received an invitation to do a podcast interview with my internet friend Michael Bungay Stanier to talk about great work I was thrilled.
Then he emailed me the questions he wanted to cover in the interview – well really thought starters for what he wanted to explore and my [...]
When Neil of Safety Skills Training Ltd called into our office to inquiry about setting up a new business for Safety Training Courses in Ireland we originally told him it usually takes about 6 weeks to set up a website. Taken into consideration getting a logo designed, stationary printed, brochures created and web content created.
I [...]
LOST, the final season with all its Lost mania is here. The last segment to the Lost saga is at last underway so hopefully we’ll all soon find out what is actually going on and how it’s...
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If you are a serial sleep-talker, beware of a risk that your friend or wife one day publish all your nightmares online and get famous. The Sleep Talkin’ Man, a web page on the 1st week of January receiving more than 1m hits, publishes audio recordings of Adam Lennard, 36, an advertising executive from southwest London, nighttime slumber.
House and Home magazine; Ireland's beloved and best selling interiors magazine with an accessible mix of Irish ideas for Irish interiors, are carrying out a consumer survey this month and would love...
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January arrived, then it completely flew by and now we find ourselves almost wrapping up the first week in February. Of course, we've been busy in the time since and one of the developments to come out of the last month is a new podcasting course tackling both audio and video delivery for the internet.
Under [...]
February has arrived and so the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom i.e. spring cleaning is soon to get underway. Spring cleaning time is a prime opportunity to get rid of unwanted and...
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Risk management is a key consideration for any business project. As with many project management processes, there is a believe that it is a complex undertaking. This is not the case and business projects can benefit from a risk management process that is uncomplicated!
We were recently approached by a Bed and Breakfast in Wicklow called Glendale BnB who also have selfcatering accommodation in the famous Glendalough in the garden of Ireland in Co. Wicklow.
This family run accommodation business is run by Christy and Valerie Merrigan, who take pride in their location and being in the middle of everything [...]
Santos Gonzalez Sanchez a mortgage lender and the president of the Spanish Mortgage Association revealed in a statement to the Spanish press this week that the country’s property market sector...
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With stubborn gunk, 'burnty' bits and who knows what else, cleaning your oven isn't the most exciting or attractive job. However the job at hand isn't as difficult as it sounds and it is possible to...
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A perfect pampering giftbox for the upcoming Mother's Day - this box can be her own little secret for feeling fabulous. Scented Soya Candle – Light this fragrant candle,..
Increasingly we are looking for value for money in the purchases we make. I cover the subject of creating an irresistible offer in my digital marketing and social media workshops and without question, the attendees agree that they are also on the look out for great value offers.
Last year Hitwise reported that in the UK, [...]
Almost a month to date since the last update of Irish results, Google has mashed the Irish results once again. If you are checking your local rankings in Ireland for a site that targets Ireland do your best to ignore all the results this week.
Last month when Google did this same update I freaked a [...]
AC/DC has already shown how to rock the office with their Excel concert. It seems Microsoft goes the same way with words “fun” and “spreadsheet” going in the same sentence. They introduce “Ribbon Hero”, a game built on “Office” software experience.
We had a very busy, creative 2009 so I thought you'd like to see work we launched in December.
On time for the Christmas season we created a cross channel media campaign for SafeFood. The campaign featured a festive website, email newsletter, Facebook fan page, Facebook landing page,Twitter page and a quirky competition. First, we built a new festive website for SafeFood showcasing all their fantastic Christmas content. We integrated the “I still love turkley” campaign on Twitter and Facebook to tie into the safe cooking message and to highlight all the creative goodness leftover Christmas food can make. The campaign also ran on Boards.ie were SafeFood gave their expertise to help those entertaining friends and family to make the perfect Christmas feast.
Overall the new campaign was very successful with great traffic through the site and hopefully a few less disasters in the kitchen! It is really good to see how an intergrated approach like this can grab the imagination of users and generate lots of attention.
The SafeFood team are busy, passionate people so along with the Christmas campaign we also worked on the redesign of Weigh2Live. Weigh2Live makes it easy for anyone who wants to make changes to their diet and lifestyle. You may have seen the TV ad campaigns running on RTE at the moment. It's a great resource for new year resolutions and for the rest of the year as well. The site also contains handy tools that will help you stay on track and keep you motivated. A good positive start for the new year for all of us.
In December we continued to work with our friends over on Rehab Bingo. Over the Christmas holidays the newly redesigned Rehab Bingo site was launched with the addition of a few new characters and extra functionality to help playability.
Have a look at the right game sidebar and you will find our new feature game Barnyard Bill. With a colourful array of farm animals and our kindly farmer Bill we are delighted with the reaction to the new game with Rehab Bingo players.
Take a look at our other feture game this month Bee Mine just in time for Valentines Day. Good luck and happy playing.
With all that creative output in December we are busy putting the finishing touches to a few more projects which we will announce in February. Will keep you posted!
If you're feeling strapped for cash and wondering where all your salary is going then you might find our free Personal Annual Budget Planner useful. This is a spreadsheet we've put together that will help you to identify your personal and household incomings and outgoings and track them on a monthly basis.
Complete the planner now [...]
Ok, now I know I said I wouldn't rant anymore and try to keep this area for news and products launches etc, but I just have to mention “browser compatibility” and websites. Yesterday we had an existing customer ask why their new website we are creating looks weird in Internet Explorer 6.
When I checked the [...]
In one US college “Coca-Cola” introduced a vending machine selling… happiness. The viral movie has already gathered 1.2 million views on Youtube. Where will happiness strike next?
I'm prompted to write this after a recent experience with a client who ignored my once yearly invoice for Domain and Hosting renewal a little too long (one of many!). If you have a website then you will almost definitely get a yearly or monthly bill from either your hosting company or web designer for [...]
It was not pleasant watching Arsenal on the wrong end of a 3-1 thumping, especially as i had to watch the game with 5 United fans.
As soon as i thought i was fed up with football i cam across this video for the promotion of a recent Kasabian single. It is quality. I think the [...]
These are delightful, practical and lovely additions to our existing range of Nappy Cakes.
Made in Ireland, the new single tiered nappy cakes make a super alternative to flowers and also provide the new parents with something that they'll be able to use i..
Paul was previously Marketing and Communications Director at Havok and currently works with JoltOnline among others.
Paul had some brilliant advice and war stories from his time in Havok on how they, as a start up from Trinity, had go out and sell to the leading companies in games and film. Image it seams is vital but not that difficult… or expensive.
I got a lot of great points to take away from the day and here they are in no particular order.
PR
Start your PR locally. Use it as your training ground to hone and practice your message before you move international.
With everything showing up on Google do not underestimate local press. A Wired journalist rang up Paul after a story in the Tipperary Star popped up in his alerts.
Develop relationships with three key Journalists and publications.
THE trade publication of the industry.
A national publication
One international publication.
Wired is THE publication for a technology company and it took Havok a year from initial contact to getting covered in the magazine.
The easiest way to get international PR is to get on a plane and go have a drink with a Journalist and start a relationship.
Journalists do not write for their readers first. they write for other Journalists and their editor. Remember this when pitching a story.
It's easier to get coverage if you 'promise' to take out advertising in the future. Most trade magazines are run at a loss to maintain an audience for other business activities, events for example. So do not stress too much if you are unable to take out advertising for a long while.
Third paragraph PR is better for credibility. The public are very media savvy. They recognise a PR piece about a company for what it is.
However if your opinion is mentioned in an overall industry piece it lends more credibility to you being an industry expert.
You are the best person to tell your story. Do not use a PR firm to be the middle man. It annoys Journalists.
Business
The first sale was for $1 to get past the 'First Customer' credibility problem.It was a marketing deal in return for using the customer in PR, Marketing and Case studies.
There is value in everything you produce. Watch out for opportunities. Havok had an artwork tool to help users of their main product. 3dStudio Max wanted this for their application and it generated $18 million for Havok over 3 years.
Paul believes Tradeshow stands are a waste of money. Think smarter or of a 'Meta Stand'.Instead of a stand Havok would organise wacky transport (with a bar) carrying VIPs from a tradeshow to the afters party and again at the end of the night back to their hotels. A fraction of the cost, and more memorable.
One horror story in the early days of Havok involved spending half a million on a stand, intending to make a splash. They ended up wedged between Microsoft and Sony who each spent about $10 million to launch their next gen consoles. It almost broke them.
At a tradeshow in Calais they rented a $20k Yacht and moored it outside the event instead of spending the $200k cost of a stand inside. They also got to save costs by sleeping 8 people and eating on it as well.
For a tradeshow all you need is you and a laptop walking around. Just as effective.
In most cases you are not selling your features. What you are selling is reduced risk.Customers assume that your product works. They want to know you will be around in 3 years and will not make them look bad to their piers and boss.
And last was a question from the audience asking if the Trinity name helped them abroad when making contacts and selling. He said at the time no but after the very successful companies that have emerged over the years including Havok and Jolt Online it can open doors now.
For many years now the 'Carrick' group has set off at nine am from outside what was the old ESB office in Carrick . This group spin is an institution in Irish cycling with every level of rider from Sean Kelly down joining in . Before it would have been possible to fill every national [...]
Maybe I'm qualified to give business startup advice or maybe I'm not but here's what's worked for me so far!
I would highly recommend starting your own business, especially in the current climate. You know it's unlikely you'll ever be happy in your 9 to 5, doing the same thing day in day out and all [...]
Project management is used by everyone in business to greater or lesser extents. It is still, however, considered a tool for IT and Engineering. Joe the Plumber shows us this is not the case!
The Trinity Enterprise Network invited Marketing Consultant Paul Hayes from Beachhut PR to give a talk on building an international brand. And they very nicely agreed to let me come along.
Paul was previously Marketing and Communications Director at Havok and currently works with JoltOnline among others.
Paul had some brilliant advice and war stories from his [...]
Modern organizations have armies of people trained in producing and publishing information, but there is a huge and growing lack of people who are skilled at organizing, analyzing and prioritizing it.
[After reviewing the Flip Mino HD Camcorder 4Gb, we decided it would be such a useful product for our business members to capture short business video's on that we decided to give one away!...]
Hi everyone,
I will be posting the final part of the security code review checklist today which will help you review source code and identify any Session Management and Secure Resource Access vulnerabilities.
I received a lot of good feedback about the checklist items I posted in part four of the checklist. Don't be shy about giving [...]
We recently added a feature to the Mugurdy homepage listing the top 10 searches in the past 30 days. Some of these are pornographic so we're working on filtering out the innumerable combinations of dirty words.
Think of it as a zeitgeist of what people want to look at; it can range from part numbers of electronic devices through to sociology homework questions.
Some of our recent work… Visit our Pull Up Banner Stand and Pop Up Stand pages for more details on these types of stands or contact us at info@appliedsigns.ie.
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No need to watch Photoshop tutorials to create a digital masterpiece. Unbelievable. This great 2.5 x 2,3 meters masterpiece is drawn entirely on MS Paint!
Raman hears a screaming girl when trying to play songs on windows XP. Presuming you are not trying to listen to Yoko Ono Raman, I'd say try updating your sound card drivers via the manufacturers website. If all songs are like this it's probably the sound card or its drivers. If only a few songs [...]
On a recent internet blog, I read a truly alarming article regarding the hunting of American tourists. The article was advocating the killing of American tourists as though they were animals simply because of the way they look.
This type of hate mongering is nothing short of racism and shouldn't be tolerated [...]
The Sicilian city of Trapani has acted as a crossroads between Europe and North America for years - and it shows. On first impressions, you're bound to be taken by the elaborate tilework, colourful fishing boats and weather battered rooftops, but further exploration with Trapani car hire will lead you to [...]
Vitoria is the gateway to Spain's vibrant Basque region. If you're flying into Vitoria Airport, you'll find Vitoria car rental desks in the main arrivals hall of the airport. Vitoria is located 41km to the south of Bilbao, in the northeast of Spain. It was known as a quiet, unassuming hamlet [...]
Calling all business bloggers! If you blog for your business, no matter what size, we want to hear more about your experience. We would like to gauge the effectiveness of blogging for business, start collecting data about trends, the costs involved, your target audiences and the benefits. We look forward to sharing the anonymised results [...]
Last night, RTE's Nationwide had a piece on Val Manning of that famous institution, Mannings Emporium at Ballylicky, West Cork.
Anyone travelling on the road north of Bantry on the way to Glengarrif, Kenmare and Killarney will have passed this little shop with the grand name; anyone with a modicum of interest in food will have [...]
I am a big fan of performance related pay and while it is most widely used for managers in private sector organisations, I believe that it should be applied to Premier League Footballers.
Premier League Footballers get paid a fortune, whether they play or not, and whether they or play well or not. We've all seen [...]
Just a short note to our readers to say that due to the volume of work we have on at the moment we will be unable to continue writing as often as we would like and will be using the blog for news updates about our new products and services we are launching in February [...]
Took my time going to see this but finally managed to catch it last weekend in the Gaiety Cinema Sligo. It was difficult to avoid all the hype about this film in the last few months and the danger was that it would never live up to its hype. Some early reports [...]
In my last article you might have noticed that I embedded a presentation that I had created and uploaded to Slideshare.net.
As a follow on to that I thought it might be helpful to share some thoughts on how you can use your presentation on Slideshare.net to attract more leads into your business.
Here is a short [...]
Luxembourg car hire has its ups and its downs…
The Good:
When you're renting a car in Luxembourg, all you need to bring with you is a valid driver's licence - an international driver's licence is not essential.
Most major car rental companies have offices in the capital.
In terms of visuals, driving in Luxembourg [...]
Off the usual topic, but relevant to anybody who does this kind of thing. By which I mean write a blog about your interests or business.
Imagine seeing it re-worked and unrecognisably presented to the world in a tabloid newspaper. The following could very well happen to you. It did to @mrs_schregardus .
The piece was written by Luke Byrne under the heading “The Male Chauvinist Pigs of Irish Air Traffic Control” and claims to have discovered how a “Controller’s web diary reveals the sexism and filthy language that are rife in the tower”. In truth it is a simple blog – NOT a diary, with all the sinister undertones that conveys of spying on fellow workers – posted by a young Air Traffic Controller by the name of Melanie Schregardus who jotted a short and humorous little piece some time ago in answer to her online friends who asked what it was like to be an ATC.
Byrne obviously pilfered the blog and has done a fairly amateurish cut-and-paste job which, even to readers of the Mail, is self contradictory and extremely malicious. He quotes her as saying “The arrival of this wave of new (female) controllers caused turmoil among the old guard” and in the next sentence gives her actual comment “Initially older male controllers were bemused”. Byrne writes “She said sexism was institutionalised in the work practice of the tower” (neither she nor her team work in the tower). I studied the blog and could find no such statement – she did joke about one of the older men saying “finally, some eye candy”!
Among the other sensationalist items of plagiarism there’s “She revealed that she endured one of the most pervasive forms of workplace sexism – the filthy language of the ‘boys’ around her”. And goes on to repeat the actual quote from Mrs Schregardus – “The banter between the guys can get quite inappropriate…”
It doesn’t quite live up to his opening paragraph promise that “A woman traffic controller has lifted the lid on the REAL world inside the control tower – a den of male chauvinists who turn the air blue with crude jokes and expect their female colleagues to take on the ‘girlie’ tasks of sending birthday cards and arranging the Christmas party”. The last shock-horror revelation refers to the Schregardus mention of a quid-pro-quo arrangement whereby she, as the only female on her team, looks after the arranging of the annual party and has the whip-around when it’s a mate’s birthday, while the guys watch-out for her and make sure she is treated well wherever she goes. Used to be called chivalry, I seem to remember.
Not surprisingly, she refused to talk to Byrne when he contacted her out of the blue some weeks ago asking for her views of the ATC industrial situation (she recalls being surprised to receive such a call from a stranger, suggesting he was already stalking her via her private blog page), she has never met him, nor has she given him permission to read her blog, let alone misquote from it, nor did she ok the use of her private picture, taken at home, which is not on her site. All of this must raise questions about the privacy of Facebook, Twitter and the other online social meeting places.
And finally there is the devastation caused to a young woman suddenly finding herself occupying a tabloid page and allegedly saying all sorts of things about her employers and about her team members. Even when the dust settles, her chances of career advancement in aviation are negligible – mud really does stick. Ironically she was one of the two controllers who, with the blessing of their union and team members, volunteered to mann their posts in case of emergencies during the recent four-hour stoppage – unpaid and obviously unappreciated for their dedication to duty and to safety.
One of the key limitations of developing Web applications for iPhone is that you are not allowed to access the hardware on the device via the Web browser. For example, you cannot access the camera on the iPhone; neither can you access the accelerometer. This seriously limits the kinds of applications you can develop on the iPhone. One notable exception, however, is the support for tracking the location of devices, through a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular triangulation.
Augmented reality is going to be a big deal this year, as it starts with the famous basketball player Shaquille O’Neal singing on the top of the bottle of “Muscle Milk” high-energy drink.
Here's a handy PDF for Beatles lovers and musicians, the entire Beatles catalogue of songs with lyrics and chords!
Credit to Sergio Palumbo for compilation.
Enjoy!
Beatles Complete Guitar
“Huis Clos sur le Net” (literally: “In camera”, or “Behind closed doors on the Net”) is an intriguing experiment in which five journalists will be locked away in an isolated French cottage with Twitter and Facebook messages as their only sources of news.
The five-day “Big Brother” style experiment begins on 1 February. The reporters - [...]
Most projects fail because of over-ambitious time-lines. It's time we all started speaking the truth at project commencement and stopped trying to push unrealistic time-lines as a customer or agreeing to them as a business owner.
I recently came across a new platform called Backupify.com where you can backup your presence on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and even other tools such as the project management tool Basecamp and even your Gmail account.
Backupify is available to register at no cost until 31 January 2010 so you might want to [...]
Definitely our biggest inquiry so far this month has been people asking to set up an online shop or payment gateway for their business using the net. We had a business from Kildare in with us today going over all the options available to them. We looked at VISA machines for their shop to maybe [...]
The Haiti earthquake pictures on Twitter spread across the news sources as a wildfire. TV and radio hosts in the Caribbean country were using Twitter as a resource for their stories, and Haiti earthquake pictures were making their way from Twitter feeds to the CNN news desk.
We'll be attending the upcoming DomainPulse event in Lucerne, Switzerland.
DomainPulse is the most important event for the German speaking domain industry, and is held each year in either Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
This year's agenda includes topics such as IDNs, DNSSEC, legal issues and internet governance.
It's also one of the few domain industry events that doesn't seem to have new TLDs on the agenda, so that's probably as good a reason as any to attend! (Only kidding!)
Next time you're thinking of taking a pot shot at someone in your blog, through Facebook or through an online forum, think twice about what you write.
Bloggers, website owners and indeed anybody who publishes content online need to be aware of Ireland's new defamation law, which came into force this month.
The recent unfortunate hacking of the popular Irish boards.ie website has prompted discussions about the passwords we use online and the fact that most people use the same password on dozens of websites.
A recent international study of social network and e-commerce sites showed that the top ten most popular passwords are incredibly easy to guess, [...]
We came across this very funny video “Injustice: The Ballad of Sharon Ni Bheolain” via Darragh Doyle and it got us wondering who is Ireland's favourite newsreader?
Clearly Sharon has a fan club, but who is your fav?
While we may have a year to prepare before a property tax and water charges are introduced and in full swing by the end of 2011, 2010 is not immune and householders will not escape the brunt of more...
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The Latest MyHome.ie Property Barometer shows that in 2009 asking prices fell by 14.6% nationally and by 18% in Dublin. This year I do not expect asking prices to fall to the same extent and...
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Great news for Ireland that one of the worlds leading online transaction companies are expanding their staff from 1100 in Dublin by a further 100 new jobs, announced today. So listening to people talk about the recession and saying that no one is hiring is wrong.
Business has not stopped it has just moved online.
If your [...]
Who is behind the wildly popular Facebook games as Mafia Wars and FarmVille? Competing with your friends while growing rice or radish appeared to be quiet a profitable business. <...>
The 2010 race looks like yet another epic . Philip Cassidy , 2 time winner looks set to compete in what will be the 30th anniversary of his first Ras . Malcolm Elliott is another 48 year old who will surely be making an impression on the race . There will of course be the [...]
They say there is a time for every season and situation under the sun. For us last year was a time of intensive learning. At the start of 2009 we set ourselves a goal, to push outside our comfort zones and to learn as much as possible. We wanted to develop new thinking and expand our competencies in areas of finance, strategy, marketing and business development. All of this work coincided with the running of business as usual and producing what we believe and you have told us, is our best work to date.
As 2010 begins I thought I'd review how we got on and how this new thinking has impacted on our business, our personal and professional development and the lessons that are bearing fruit for us now.
Last year, as many of you know, Alan completed the Hothouse Programme in DIT. From the intensive nature of the programme together with a fantastic bunch of like-minded entrepreneurs, who supported, encouraged and facilitated much refining and aligning of our business model, Hothouse enabled us to present a fully rounded, well executed business plan that was highly commended at the Seedcorn competition this year.
While Alan was busy in DIT, I completed the Advanced Diploma in Management Practice for the Arts with the University of Ulster and Business to Arts. Again it was a fascinating course and opened up my thinking on strategy and business development. It also facilitated meeting a fantastic group of people who work in the Arts in Ireland, they continue to inspire and inform my thinking.
Alan and I were then accepted onto the amazing Enterprise Ireland iGap programme that has pushed our thinking and our business forward at breakneck speed, most importantly, at the perfect time. All three programmes are proving to be an incredible experience and we will continue to reap the benefits well into the future.
And the final reward; as the last days of 2009 came to a close, our very first Innovation Voucher landed in the mail box. It will be used now a new development phase that has been well considered and researched thus using these funds to their optimum potential.
To sum up, taking part in any programme can be daunting but the clarity it gives, the perspective you gain at one remove, of your structures, product, customers and your thinking is worth the effort. The biggest benefit we have received is focus and clarity and a plan to make our business better by working smarter not harder.
As I said earlier, there is a time for everything. And as the world grapples to put Humpty back together again, maybe it is time to learn something new or improve skills you have already. It may be uncomfortable at first but will certainly stand to you in the end.
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a few things with you all today in this blog post. I think everyone who has read any of my blog posts or spoken to me in person over the last year will know about the principles of secure development by now. I really believed in this approach to secure [...]
A pretty nifty and handy ‘gadget’ to have especially in the current water shortage is a water butt. What is it? It is a barrel-like tank that can collect rainwater from your roof's...
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It seems odd to have to make this obvious statement in 2010, but hotels' behavior still indicates that they are not seeing the obvious: Customer reviews are one side of a conversation - hotels need to answer back. Hotels not dealing with this are going to be increasingly in trouble when trying to build their online and offline revenue.
In the last number of years, the hospitality industry has witnessed an explosion of customer-generated content. Ask any average person what they think the highest-trafficked sites in travel are and you will generally get a list of high profile third party hotel booking sites. And of course there are plenty of big brand names dominating booking. But they are not dominating travel. Any ranking of travel sites by traffic will show you that bookings sites are nowhere near the top of the pile, but rather review sites and customer generated comment are the leaders in capturing people's eyeballs online.
What this tells us is that booking is the end point of a process, and that this process is increasingly dominated by online research. Potential customers want to explore, to read and to be informed before they eventually settle on the target for booking.
Yet a cursory look at some of the dominant online players in hotel reviews reveals the fact that hotels are still not engaging with this. Time and again we see review after review by guests online with no response or input from hotels. As a hotel, think about what this means to your potential customers: if a customer stood in the lobby and either complained or praised your staff or hotel, would you let them stand there without even acknowledging their presence? At the very least it would be rude, but more likely it would result in you losing that customer for life, as well as anybody that he might talk to. Your repeat custom would suffer rapidly.
The startling absense of hotels from the online conversation is very visually highlighted in Bookassist's recent launch of an iPhone mobile hotel app platform. Customer reviews that have been automatically collected by the booking system for hotels over the past number of years are displayed as a key feature of the iPhone app, and are represented by conversation "bubbles" coming from the customers. Yet many hotels have never used the system's opportunity to respond, leading to the iPhone app's review display looking like an unanswered conversation of one-sided bubbles, which of course is exactly what it is. Where hotels have responded, such as that shown in the image, the positive impact on the potential customer browsing the reviews is clear - this hotel cares, this hotel takes me seriously, this hotel fosters customer relations.
Hotels that respond to comments, such as ARCOTEL Kaiserwasser staff in the image above, are engaging in a conversation that speaks volumes about their commitment to customer relations.
Hotels, make it a resolution now to engage online with your customers in 2010. You need to put interaction with your potential online customers to center stage and not just treat it as an inconvenience. There is no hiding online and there's no point hoping it will all go away.
1. Set Google Alerts on your hotel name and variations of it so you can instantly see if someone is referring to you online. Make sure someone in your organisation has clear ownership of monitoring this.
2. Register with the major online review sites such as TripAdvisor and, again, make sure that someone in your organisation has ownership of the reading and responding process.
3. Get on Twitter, monitor Twitter for comments about your hotel, and assign that task to someone in your organisation as a primary role, not just something to do when they find a minute here and there.
4. Remember it is a conversation - you must respond to positive as well as negative comments just as you would if the person was standing in front of you. Refusing to make eye contact or ignoring the person talking to you gets you nowhere in real life, and if anything makes matters significantly worse. It is exactly the same online - except that this time the whole world is gauging your refusal to interact and what it might mean for them as a potential customer.
5. Get proactive, not just reactive. Conversation is a two-way street so instead of just responding, get out there and have your say first. Get online and tell people about new developments in your hotel, tell people about events, ask your guests their opinions. Use blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other approaches to get your name and your opinions out there. Remember, all of these have the added advantage of being found in the search engines when someone is looking for information about you.
All marketers planning to jump on football (soccer)'s mobile bandwagon over the next six months must look at how football clubs and seasoned mobile marketers engage mobile fans. With tips from the experts.
As the football-loving world (that's soccer if you're from the US) winds itself up to a fever pitch in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in June, it's essential to take a look at the role that mobile plays in football. All marketers planning to jump on football's mobile bandwagon over the next six months please take note.
Today we received our ABC certificate of our audited traffic figures for Boards.ie for November 2009.
Though technically a shorter month with a total of nine weekend days, we performed well, having a total of 1,793,932 unique user/browsers – the daily average was 83,622 and a grand total of 27,974,653 page impressions, or a daily average [...]
It's not often you see your boss naked in a bath on the internet, now, is it?
We've been big fans of COVIES since we've heard of the idea and watched the trailers and now that it's online over at http://www.thecovies.com, we're delighted to give it a big shout out.
Starring, among many others, Tom Murphy (his [...]
Housing output in Ireland will continue to decline through 2011 as the country works through a glut of properties built during the construction boom,...
My brother in law Tony got Eircom broadband in recently but it wouldn't let him go online on the laptop wirelessly. Eircom support couldn't help but after a bit of messing around I found that there were 2 different software programs trying to configure his wireless access and clashing with each other, the default windows [...]
Whenever a new customer tests our server backup service we are often asked how the service affects their internet connection and how much bandwidth the service will use.
The majority of SME's we deal with don't have their server hosted at a data centre so they use a standard broadband connection that is fed into their [...]
StreamServe, a leading provider of business communications solutions, is to establish an inside sales and customer care operation in Galway, creating...
Just to let our spam filtering clients know that next week we are upgrading our servers again, (yes i know a pain in the ass but hey it's for your benefit!) These new servers will mean new IP addresses and so we are informing you that you can update your firewall rules with the following [...]
Its great to see new businesses starting up all the time and we often have to remind people the life has not stopped and this is apparent as we learnt of the investment in building and security that David O Sullivan has recently completed in his new massive buildings near Gorey in Co Wexford.
Storage Facilities [...]
Japan has just reinvented the billboard. To get the same advertising effect on the buildings they simply used QR codes that can be read by iPhone. <...>
So just how does Google consider the links that we post in Twitter and Facebook – will they be considered as incoming links to our website and help us get found online in the search engines?
That's a question that Matt Cutts answers in a recent YouTube video.
Matt talks about the fact that many people don't [...]
France has followed Germany's lead, and has advised computer users to download a different web browser after Microsoft's Internet Explorer was found...
Growing your very own vegetable patch is simple and fun. Everything you need to get going is inside your gift box including starter growing pots, compost discs, seeds and..
Airbus plans to progressively cut about 1,000 temporary workers hired to work on the A380 superjumbo after the planemaker made progress producing the...
Your name in this novel! Star in the classic Wonderland story!
You and your friends become the main characters printed throughout the book: you choose who plays who! For instance, the White Rabbit can become: William the White Rabbit! The choice is yours!
The lessons learnt in Karate can equally be applied to business. The need to constantly watch your competition, get yourself some mentoring and learning all the time are part of both.
Each year as the season begins , Team managers give a pep talk to all of their riders to motivate and encourage them for the year ahead . This is our version of a pep talk for all worldwidecycles.com riders , and it revolves around chamois (pronounced shammy) cream ;
We're delighted to be supporting No Drama theatre's upcoming production of Charles Dyer's 'Wanted: One Body!', so we are.
The group, formed on Boards.ie, has gone from strength to strength since May 2008 and their play, running from January 20 to 23, promises to be a great evening's entertainment.
I often get asked how to get the maximum benefit from social media investing the least time.
It seems that many people are looking for high impact results with little effort. I remember listening to Richard Delevan last year at an event hosted by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce comment that you needed to invest at [...]
How many times you got frustrated for not being able to implement an app or make it work correctly on your fan page? Enjoy, from now, the job of pimping your business page with Involver..
Traditional marketers and communicators are obsessed with achieving their objectives. Web marketers and communicators are obsessed with helping customers achieve their objectives.
This week's news of a major financial restructuring at EMPG, which will see existing shareholders virtually wiped out, confirms suspicions that boss...
Social media and social networks are being used increasingly for fundraising, communication updates and at times of disaster - from posting updates on Twitter to sharing information on YouTube.
Here are some examples that caught my attention this week.
The disaster in Haiti has been much publicised in the traditional media and earlier this week I noticed [...]
Before you get upset or to stop any confusion amongst the people to read this blog, it's actually really simple we are looking for a “Flash Animator” to work with us on a number of new projects.
If you are experienced Flasher we are looking for you. Experience is a must, we get many Multi media [...]
Hi everyone,
I posted the third part of the security code review checklist last week which will help you review source code and identify any Secure Storage vulnerabilities.
I received a lot of good feedback about the checklist items via emails last week. Don't be shy about giving me feedback (good or bad!) whether it is through [...]
Hi my name is Bernadette and my company is called Coolrain Marketing. Anything you want advertised for you business we can do it. We have a warehouse...
Arguably mobile ad networks know as much about much about mobile advertising, the behavior of mobile consumers and the popularity of mobile Websites as anyone. There was a time when ad networks' mobile metrics reports only provided a small proportion of this valuable data, but that's changing fast. Now more ad networks are on the case, competition is leading to much more useful reports (particularly among the more recent entrants).
In July 2009 doop were contracted to build an online payments system for Tattersalls Ireland Limited.
Tattersalls bloodstock auctioneers hold 7 auctions per annum over 21 days selling 1000's of lots from their complex in Ratoath, Co.Meath. Traditionally vendors selling lots would pay entry fees of lots at the sale by cheque. The ability to pay [...]
As water supplies across the country remain at critically low levels, authorities last night warned that water supplies in some parts of the country may not be back to normal for several months....
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It seems nowadays you do not have to travel anywhere to explore a new city. “360 cities” has just launched a stunning panoramic view of Prague, Czech Republic. 120-gigabyte photo file was made from 600 pictures shot with 21-megapixel camera.
I was browsing facebook and a friend of mine who works in a Media company in Sweden posted a link to a blog from a social media company in the UK. The post was about the percentage of tweets that contain brand names or organisation names. So what you may say,but like everything on the [...]
When booking Estonia car hire, it is always a good idea to shop around on price comparison sites to get the most competitive deals available for your selected dates. It is more than likely that you will be flying into Tallin Airport. At the time of booking your Estonia car hire, simply enter [...]
President of the IAVI Aine Myler and MyHome.ie Paul Murgatroyd discussed whether we are at the bottom of the property price market on TV3s Morning Ireland.
A recent IAVI survey reported that...
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Google, the verb that spawned a word on how to search for information, has been voted the word of the decade by a group of American speech scholars....
It is said that the average person uses 148 litres of water a day; this is the equivalent of nearly two full baths of water! Minor adjustments in our daily activities at home and in the garden can...
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Why get one? Draught excluders are a quick, easy and a cost effective method to reduce heat loss and help to retain heat in the rooms of your house. They stop the cold air from the outside creeping...
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WHEN your economy has painfully shrunk by more than 10pc, one might expect a little sympathy from the professionals who track such trends. But Willem...
The recent blast of snow and wintry conditions has highlighted how unprepared the country was for the weather front. With over 100 schools throughout Ireland and over 10,000 schools throughout the UK closed, many working parents were forced to stay at home and tend to their kids. However, despite there being up to a 40% [...]
We are often asked if we can sponsor a website or give a free website to people. We do sponsor websites sometimes, but it depends on the site, if its a registered charity or maybe the local lost pet group then yes we might be in a situation to help, but if you are a [...]
It's a baptism by fire for mobiThinking, stepping in at the last minute to host this, our first Carnival of the Mobilists. But it's a pleasure and an education to read and share the best of the mobile blogs from the past week (or so).
Pramit Ghose of Bloxam Stockbrokers looks into his crystal ball and predicts some surprises for 2010:
The US stockmarket trades in a 30% range in 2010 with the benchmark S&P500 Index trading between 975 and 1,300 (currently 1,100), ending the year up a modest 5%-7%. The positive momentum of new money flows and continuing profits [...]
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Safe Baby Handling Tips Book
