People are split 50/50 in how we decide similarity. Half feature based & half thematic.

Writing about web page http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/research_finds_split

Reseach by Dr Zachary Estes of our Psychology department has split all of us down the middle on our perception of similarity. Half link thematically; crown and Queen and half by feature, crown and hat.

Initially the proportions were 46% thematic and 31% feature based.

Further experiments indeed showed that there was a group of people who rushed into a decision and tended to chose a theme based similarity and that there was a second group of people that thought about things a little more chose a physical feature based similarity. However what was most surprising was that the Warwick researchers found a third group of people that also thought about things a little more and yet still always chose a theme based similarity. That left an overall split in the population of around 50% who were more thoughtful and chose a physical feature based similarity (such as net and rope) and another 50% for who always went for the thematic option (net and fish) whether they used instinct or deeper thought.

The press release presents this as a discovery that can double the opportunities for pay-per-click Adwords marketing for cake – cookie or biscuit and cake – birthday. Actually split-testing Adwords professionals have discovered these two ways of association a long time ago. This peer-reviewed research will help inform search advertisers however. It confirms not ony that we are split 50/50 but that there are 3 groups when you record their instinctive and thoughtful responses.

Robert McGonigle : 06 Oct 2008 16:48 |  Tags: Adwords Cognitive Psychology Psychology Similarity Perception |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Want to ask a Big Favour? Ask for a little one first!

Writing about web page http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/

I was checking out the websites where our Adwords campaign for Neuromarketing 2008 were showing and was taken back to the Neurosciencemarketing Blog . The latest entry by Roger Dooley describes two experiments that showed that the best way to get a stranger to do you a big favour was to ask for a little one first.

His second case taken from the book, right, described how residents were persuaded to put 6×3 foot ‘Drive Carefully’ signs in their front gardens. Going straight in produced a commendable 17% success rate in an upmarket area. Asking to put a small sticker in the window first with the same message produces almost total acceptance but remarkably, 2 weeks later, 76% of these agreed to the big signs that needed holes in their lawns. Over 4 times the success rate just by asking for the little thing first. Why?

The psychology seemed to be a sort of subconscious feeling that having granted one request, it would be consistent to grant a somewhat bigger one.
(Roger Dooley )

We can also think about how our human collaborative evolution is built upon building relationships. I wonder if this two stage process also helps the requester. Even researchers cold calling need to build themselves up. We all put off asking for that big important deliverable. Does having a smaller thing to ask for first allow us to ask quicker and more naturally?

Of course the email autoresponder marketing experts have been up-selling using this phased ‘foot in the door’ for years.

If you are involved in a charity or need help for a big event check up the whole entry. It was certainly food for thought.

Robert McGonigle : 11 Sep 2008 11:14 |  Tags: Charity Cognitive Psychology Giving Neuroimaging Neuromarketing Neuroscience |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

HSBC discriminates against 18 year olds who have not passed their driving test.

Writing about web page http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/NeedANewOrUpdatedLicence/index.htm

My son, John, visited HSBC, Coventry, Cathedral Lanes, for the 3rd time recently to change to a Student account. The first time they told him that all he needed was his University place confirmation letter from UCAS. He returned with the UCAS letter, and other ID because he had just organised a large Building Society cheque, to be asked for photoID.

John produced his Photocard Provisional Drivers Licence which they rejected because he was over 18 and it was a provisional licence.
Some photocard benefits from the direct.gov.uk site include;

• A secure format reduces the chance for misrepresentation
• Makes certain that the person getting a provisional licence, taking the test and getting a full driving licence is one and the same
• Makes certain that the person obtaining the licence is the right age to do so.
  The main road-safety reason the DVLA insists on the full Photocard for learners was to eliminate impersonation at driving tests.

So I was dragged out to fetch his 5 year old passport, with photo of a child 4” shorter, and letters from Building Society, Student Finance and his University. These are all rejected because these were not on their list of letters HSBC will accept to prove residence. They asked him for utility bills or a bank statement from another bank! Even at 18, John just suggested that if he needed to open another bank account he would close his HSBC one. Then they finally conceded to upgrade his account – already an over 18, full account.

Complaints have finally extracted a promise to send a letter of apology to John as the branch conceeds they should not have demanded evidence of residence as he had banked with them for 7 years from the same address. They still stand by their policy on the photocard; which is not only wrong but discrimination on age and the ability to drive! Other banks and mutuals accept the Photocard.

My older son went through the same problems 2 years ago before switching out to the Warwick campus branch. It turns out that Coventry University has their own branch these days too and I am convinced that the Cathedral Lanes branch just don’t want students.

Robert McGonigle : 22 Aug 2008 23:05 |  Tags: Anti-Student Bank Hsbc Complaints Hsbc Policies Photocard Licences |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Sat Nav Points of Interest (POI) as a Route to Market.

Writing about web page http://www.lpgmap.co.uk/download.php

I was introduced to satnav points of interest as a route to market by Julian Hewitt of Automotive Tanks who has TomTom LPG and Biofuels POI files to keep his Landy fuelled. He noted that his file did not include their other family business AT Gases close to junction 10 of the M6. This LPG Autogas business is kept busy by the local Wolverhampton Taxi fleets but many motorists are having to drive miles past AT Gases to fill up because the station is not on their satellite navigation maps.

The first thing I found is that there are several sources for this information but that these do not include TomTom etc. The LPG and Biofuels industry sites were one source and the alternative ‘free’ sites such as pocketgpsworld.com offering a wide range of downloads including free competitors’ to TomTom & Garmin’s paid for speed camera services etc. It was surprising that these SatNav home sites were not set up as one-stop-shops for all kinds of POI files; Psion and other PDA sites did this well. Instead they forced their users to visit the free model competitors.

So the problem of getting your information into these downloads has multiplied for the small independent retailer. They can get listed in the standard industry lists as these form the basis for many of these POI files. Luckily I discovered that www.lpgmap.co.uk had the most up to date and comprehensive POI files included Biofuels sites, available for 4 top satnav brands, TomTom, NavMan, Garmin & DestinAtor. These all had AT Gases included so the suggestion to the free sites becomes to update their POI files to this latest level.

I have recommended that they contact these sites with their precise latitude and longitude co-ordinates. Another problem thrown at them by the Post Office is that their post code for letters does not line up with the best Post Code for navigation. I have seen other websites that need to add ‘use this postcode for your satnat’.

POI files range from walks to Ham radio repeators, pub grub, car parks for the Royal Show at Stoneleigh and Doctor Who film locations. I would pay for one linked to Camra’s Good Beer Guide!

Robert McGonigle : 24 Jul 2008 12:31 |  Tags: Destinator Garmin Navman Poi Points Of Interest Sat Nav Satellite-Navigation Satnav Tomtom |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Center Parcs 17 year journey up market to sell–out to the brands?

Writing about web page http://www.centerparcs.co.uk

I have just returned from another family trip to Center Parcs. In the last 17 years we have made over 30 visits to 6 holiday villages in 3 countries. The picture of the Redway below was taken at Longleat in 1999.
We have been to all 4 UK ‘villages’ but our favourite has been Sherwood Forest near Ollerton. The nearest and most mature but it is the friendly people and the quality of service that has made Sherwood the best. From baby-sitters to silver service, reception and the cleaners.
.
It was the cleaners at Sherwood who started to take Center Parcs up market by suggesting a full cleaning service for the better villas. We first experienced this in Villa 335, pictured left, now 901, one of 2 discrete prototypes for their ‘executive villas’. By the time we visited De Huttenheugte in Holland it was clear that the UK centres were already way up market of most of the European parks. More villas were upgraded with the removal of the double bunk rooms and the introduction of two story villas from the model of the Oasis site in the lake district. The activities and facilities have also been improved from the Action Centre to the Wii Lounges this year.

The Restaurants have also been becoming more ‘British’ influenced by Whinfell Forest, the ex- Oasis, park. Their top restaurant was oriental themed, next came an Indian and a real pub. The Rajinda Pradesh, Indian brand is now at all 4 UK parks and the top brand at Sherwood.

Recent changes have not all been for the best. La Sapinière at Sherwood, where we were welcomed back by name over many years, has gone but the biggest change has been outsourcing to the brands; Starbucks, Strada & Cafe Rouge. Competition should be to the customer’s benefit but it was sad to hear that the long-standing staff of Chez Pierre are leaving in large numbers from Cafe Rouge. What Sherwood has lost is any bar where you can meet and chat with fellow guests after a meal. Indeed I cannot get a single real beer I would drink, draft or bottled, in the whole park. The re-branded Country Club seemed promising as the ‘Foresters’ Inn’ but it turned out to be another gastro-bistro.

Starbucks can create £1-2 more value from a coffee, a restaurant can increase earnings per cover in £10s adding £100s on a weekend break but get the balance wrong in a holiday village and you risk bookings of over £1,000. I doubt that I will return to Center Parcs again in a hurry.

I have loaded some Center Parcs digital photos in this Flickr slideshow and also blogged with my family hat on over at www.mcgonigle.co.uk .

Robert McGonigle : 11 Jul 2008 23:05 |  Tags: Brands Center Parcs Holiday Village Real Beer Sherwood Forest |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Biggest expansion of Internet Domain Names in 40 years starts new Land grab

Writing about web page http://www.icann.org/

A huge expansion of the domain names available on the internet from next year has been approved by ICANN.

The biggest change will be the introduction of non-roman characters for the 4.5 billion people who do not use our letters. This will take some time to sort but Russia, China and some others will be fast tracked.

Back in the English speaking world the land grab will start from Q2 next year. For a cost in the “low six figures of dollars” the wealthy, cities & speculators can apply for anything that is legal & decent. So Bill might try for .gates and Victoria may get .beckham. Big corporations might as well get their brand; search.google etc.

The real action will be budding domain registrants who hope to sell to many businesses with a regular strong income for their names. The most quoted has been .hotel but .music .movie .photo & .party could be early goldfields. The risk for speculators lies in our language’s diversity, with many synonyms and its rapid evolution. Will .health win over .medical? Will financial businesses need .bank, .credit and .finance? Will we need .birmingham for visitors to supplement .brum? Will it be .curry or .indian?

This spells the end of smaller countries exploiting the older two letter country codes as I touched on in the CCM Blog .

I feel sure that someone will think that the dreaded triple s of .solutions, .systems & .services will sell. They will be right but they will be selling management zombie terms; designed to be forgotten.

If one of your businesses main keywords is offered, especially if it is already in your brand (at the end is perfect) then consider buying.
If there is a plethora of choice then do your homework and test. You should test using £5 .co.uk domains before spending big on the new names.

My test results over two years have consistently shown that .co.uk will outperform .com for UK customers. This week I identified a local service market where this was not true, the .com won by 30%!

Scientific split-testing can take the guesswork out of web-marketing as I touched on in this post and in more depth in this article in ‘The Marketing Leaders’.
Sensing customers with pay-per-click advertising

Robert McGonigle : 27 Jun 2008 17:52 |  Tags: Domain Names Icann Split Testing Tld Tlds Web Marketing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Bajan Buffet, Atlantis Hotel & Ostins 'Fish Fry' in Barbados

Writing about web page http://www.mcgonigle.co.uk

Our visit to Barbados has been mentioned briefly on the family blog but the Flickr stream, left, has reminded me of one of the many food highlights.

The weakness of the dollar and the B$ meant that even the ‘international class’ restaurants at the Crane Hotel where we stayed were not so exorbitant. I preferred the older seafood specialist L’Azure restaurant to the new themed Japanese & Thai Zen restaurant.

The real bargains were well posted with the Bajan Buffet at the Atlantis Hotel, Bathsheba, Barbados recently well reviewed in the Telegraph . We went to the Wednesday buffet at under £11 and found all the food to be excellently prepared & presented with three ladies serving and keeping the food just so. I enjoyed a rare treat as they served roast blackbelly sheep. The meat of this goat-like sheep is popular across the Caribbean.

The Oistin’s “Fish Fry” is an evening tradition especially on Friday night. The fish are landed, filleted in the fish market and grilled in the open within a stones throw of the beach where you can eat marlin, tuna, shark, kingfish, flying fish, barracuda, dolphin fish and snapper. Our mistake was to wait until Friday because we could easily have eaten there twice. The prices made Coventry’s fish & chip shops look expensive. (The Oistins photos were loaded last and the Flikr links are on the left.)

My Barbados slideshow can be seen at www.hillfray.co.uk but be warned that this is best viewed on a good broadband link.

Robert McGonigle : 24 Jun 2008 11:54 |  Tags: Atlantis Hotel Barbados Bajan Buffet Ostins Barbados Ostins Fish Fry |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Sites joins the Business set of Google Aps – Team Edition

Writing about web page http://googlesitesblog.blogspot.com/

Google are bringing together their collaborative applications into packages aimed at business. All the usual web-based tools are there; Gmail, Docs, Talk, Calendar and Home page. To this they have added Google Sites which can be used to create collaborative public websites and intranets. Sites emerged from Google’s acquisition of JotSpot and is completely different from GooglePages.

A first look at Google Sites reveals a professional look and access control but it lacks the range of templates, widgets and tools of the older GooglePages. It also fails, yet, to match the integrated corporate feel of Microsoft’s Office Live Small Business, MSOLSB. Google’s paid offer remains simple at £25 per year per user. The MS Live pricing model was discussed in this posting .

Google will catch up fast chasing the MS Live benchmark but I will not be recommending the Google approach until they can register, import and manage domain names as well as MSOLSB.
http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/video/sites_overview_video.html

UPDATE
Google’s blog sites, www.blogger.com , now have a domain registration partner as well as permissions control for up to 100 authors. This proves that Google continues to progress. Sites.Google has multi-users but no domain registration and Pages.Google has neither.

Robert McGonigle : 11 Jun 2008 16:32 |  Tags: Google Aps Google Sites Googlepages Ms Ol Sb |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Finding Canon Stephen Timbrell on the Web

Writing about web page http://www.covdioc.org.uk/stephentimbrell.htm

Stephen Timbrell’s page has continued to gather many testimonials and messages of condolence. I checked back recently to confirm that friends from college, previous schools and colleges, etc have been finding the page and adding their own words.

I checked because Google Analytics revealed that 77 visitors searching for Stephen Timbrell had visited this Blog. Visitors came from as far as Australia, Iceland, Sweden, Germany & France and from all over the UK. A very low bounce rate, I hope, indicates that most visitors followed the link to Stephen’s page.

Search for ‘Canon Stephen Timbrell’ on the web and you will find many pages; the 2 St James’ Parishes in south Coventry, the Diocese, the Local Press and some Blog tags. Many of these have links to his page which is good because this is harder to find as it does not have a page title.

I also found a Tribute to Stephen Timbrell also announcing last Saturday’s Service of Thanksgiving at Gorsley Baptist Chapel where Stephen had been a long time Deacon and Trustee after he moved to Coventry.

The memorial service for Stephen in Coventry will be held in the Cathedral on the 13th of June at 7:30pm. This was in the CET and free papers but is not yet findable on the web so I’ve updated this entry.

Robert McGonigle : 29 May 2008 15:10 |  Tags: Canon Stephen Timbrell Gorsley Baptist Church Stephen Timbrell Stephen Timbrell Memorial Stephen Timbrell Service Stephen Timbrell Service Of Thanksgiving |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Celebrating Stephen Timbrell, teacher, leader, evangelist, father & large gentle west–countryman

Writing about web page http://www.covdioc.org.uk/stephentimbrell.htm

Stephen Timbrell, head teacher of The Blue Coat Church of England School in Coventry , died on Monday of cancer.

I’ve been fortunate to know Stephen Timbrell as a head teacher, in prayer and as a fellow parent as Stella joined Richard’s class & Tom, T-T in our house, became friends with John. He truly represented the Blue Coat School’s founding triangle of School, Family and Faith Community writ large.

What strikes me is how short a time he has been in Coventry making his achievements the more remarkable. Other people have catalogued his impact on my son’s school better that me over at this electronic book of condolence on the Coventry Diocese Site.

Since I heard an oncologist describe the ‘cancer personality’ I have seen it now for the third time in Stephen. When Stephen picked up Tom one Saturday morning from an overnight stay, he arrived at 10am, suited, having completed his first meeting of the day! God’s most vibrant creations are often short lived. The spirit blazed in Stephen Timbrell and has moved on, his purpose done.

I will remember Stephen Timbrell, teacher, leader, evangelist, large gentle west-countryman and dad who left his youngest son with the taste for real cider.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Sallie-Anne, all of the Timbrell family, colleagues and pupils.

Robert McGonigle : 15 May 2008 14:25 |  Tags: Blue Coat School Canon Stephen Timbrell Stephen Timbrell |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

DSLR price competition is all in the 'up–sell' accessories.

Writing about web page http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS400D/

Years ago buying my first SLR required a trip to Leicester. The original huge Jessops shop and competition from Jacobs in the centre of town made it the best place for photographic kit. The $ was also well over 2 to the £ making it a great time to buy. The volume Jessops sold in that period started their growth to the national chain they still hang on to much of.

Recently I finally bought a DSLR, the Canon EOS 400D. The price was much the same everywhere with the biggest discount being the Canon £45 cashback promotion. I ordered online with Jessops to pick up in Coventry. The process was not perfect but the trip was short and they threw in a camera backpack. The Canon cashback process, below, appears to be an excellent mechanism to monitor selling prices as they end up a copy of the retailers receipt:

• Register online.
• Cut out the barcode from the box.
• Photocopy the receipt.
• Send to Ireland.

The competition still is keen between the different manufacturers as the real business follows with glass and accessories.

I priced a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II CF card, generic spare battery & UV filter comparing the Jessops bundled discounts with www.7dayshop.co.uk on Jersey. Paying for the £6 accelerated shipping option this was still half of Jessops price at under £30. (Plus this included 4 AA 2700mAh NiMH batteries!) It is the necessary extras that can cost you. Canon do not include a CF memory card.

I went for the Canon partly because we already have 2 Canon digital cameras with software, cable and memory module compatibility. The huge range of Canon lenses was also a factor. The first SLR camera I used was a borrowed Canon AE1 in Morocco in ‘79.

The biggest bonus of going to the DSLR over the digital compacts is the fast, smooth, manual zooms. I took the plasticy EF-S 18-55 mm kit lens and bought the EF 50 mm f/1.8 II as a portrait lens. This is the equivalent to a 35mm film focal length of 80mm. Whether this truly replaces my favourite lens of all time the Tamron SP90 remains to be seen.

Robert McGonigle : 14 May 2008 14:56 |  Tags: Canon Eos 400D Dslr |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Centurion, Tamworth. A good pub–lunch stop off the M42 / A5 Junction

Follow-up to The Rising Sun, A5, Brownhills | Good food, service & Spuds! from Rob McGonigle on Internet Search & SMEs

The last time I passed The Centurion Pub-Restaurant just off the A5 in Tamworth it was closed for refurbishment. Today I found that the food was freshly cooked with good ingredients and well presented. It is still using a lot of the Brewers Fayre menu and gives Nectar points but the branding is now missing. Are they starting a more up-market chain? Typical of many places the map markers were all wrong so I have annotated Google Maps. The Centurion is here .

The link above is to my Rising Sun post that has generated a steady stream of visitors, probably because it is difficult to locate on the maps too. No I am not planning to create a collection of food pubs on the A5!

Robert McGonigle : 09 May 2008 17:44 |  Tags: A5 Pub Food My Google Maps The Centurion Pub |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

OFCOM says Coventry Analogue Cable switch–off is VM commercial call.

Follow-up to Coventry Analogue Cable Switch–off next week – 3 years ahead of Digital UK Plan! from Rob McGonigle on Internet Search & SMEs

Ofcom replied to my email explaining that the early switch-off of our analogue cable service, yesterday, was a Virgin Media commercial decision and told me to find a better aerial / satellite dish fitter.

A Sky salesman has been in the road and found 5 more neighbours that are in the same boat. He was selling a ‘better dish’ that can pick up the signal through the trees. I am not convinced as the signal depends not only on brute signal levels but also error rates caused by the leaves and movement. Some of the neighbours are in better positions so we will see how they get on. The Sky man did observe the prevalence of mini-dishes caused by the poor Freeview reception and declared.

Whitley has become a Sky village.

My experience with Virgin Media’s customer service has not improved even after they cut the house off. The direct debit was not adjusted so VM have charged me for days with zero service. I stripped out their ancient cable boxes last night as they run very hot. Whatever I use in the future will use less power than these heaters.

Robert McGonigle : 02 May 2008 14:58 |  Tags: Coventry Analogue Cable Ofcom Sky Satellite TV Virgin Media Complaints |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Coventry Analogue Cable Switch–off next week – 3 years ahead of Digital UK Plan!

Writing about web page http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when

The escalation of my complaint to Virgin Media’s Chief Executive’s office actually produced a reply.
Patricia Wolstenholme called, apologised because there was nothing VM could do then added the surprise.

Virgin Media did not decide when to turn off their analogue cable service in Coventry. This was due to the head end feed service being switched off by BT as a part of the national plan.

Patricia was vague about who was behind this decision.

I can’t receive Freeview or satellite TV due to local topology and close large trees. My home will have a better chance of receiving the Freeview service when the Central region analogue transmitters close down in 2011. This is because the Terrestrial Digital transmitters can then use higher power levels as these will no longer interfere with analogue transmissions.

This interference problem is clearly why the switch-over to digital TV has been planned in such a carefully choreographed manner.

So why has the feed to Virgin Media’s analogue cable customers in Coventry been cut off three years before this regions planned switch-over date?
This could still be a VM commercial decision but I am following my enquiries to Gregory Bensberg, the Ofcom Director responsible for the Digital Switchover, gregory.bensberg@ofcom.org.uk with no response so far.

I have learned that you can get high level, timely answers to complaints from Virgin Media but you have to approach the Cheif Executive’s Office. The Cheif Executive is Neil Berkett, his email address produced the response, neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk and that his office’s number is currently 08456505050. It is a shame that I finally find this out in my last week as a customer.

Robert McGonigle : 25 Apr 2008 10:16 |  Tags: Anologue Cable Digital Switchover Digital TV Digital Uk Ofcom Sigital Switch Over Virgin Media Virgin Media Complaints Vm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Google Adwords in other Languages

Writing about web page http://armyland.gr

I only write Google text adverts in two languages;
UK English and US English.

I was asked to help with a Greek website. With an excellent bilingual helper I still ignored their advert copy. You need to truly understand the nuances of language but I was able to give them three pointers.

• To optimise their bidding.
• To split test with 2 or more Adverts.
• To echo back the Search Query of the user on one group with a wide variety of terms.

Within 2 days Mr Armoutis of Armyland.gr reported back:

Your suggested changes has trebled the CTR from 1.72% to 5.4% whilst the cost per click has dropped from over 10c to 4c. More importantly the campaign has delivered its first verified phone order. Thank you for your help.

The simple echoing of the searcher’s query works in any language as demonstrated by eBay. Good split-tested Advert Copy for tightly grouped search terms can do better again but this technique can help identify the best groups of words to move into their own group first.

Robert McGonigle : 23 Apr 2008 10:31 |  Tags: Google Adwords Keyword Keyword Echoing Languages |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Fixed Width v Stretch to Fit Websites

Writing about web page http://unipole.co.uk/default.aspx

Many website templates and free website builders, such as Google’s Page Builder & Free Parking’s WizzSites have a fixed width for your website. This has the advantage of fixing your websites look. To ensure this for most viewers screen resolutions these are normally kept quite narrow.

The MS Office Live SB website builder defaults to 780px wide. You can enable their ‘Advanced Design Features’ and this allows you to select 100% where the webpage will ‘strech to fit’. I quite like this approach since we cannot determine the shape that the browser window will be in the user’s screen. An example has been created by Lee of Unipole with a three column design using 100%. His site’s minimum width is set by the 941px logo but his design manufacture & finishing page is slightly wider due to the picture’s he used.

Another good example of the ‘strech to fit’ approach are these Warwick Blogs especially when used with pictures that ‘float’ using BlogBuilder.

Robert McGonigle : 20 Mar 2008 11:21 |  Tags: Free Websites Msolsb Website Templates |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Warwick Digital Lab and the 'New Media'

Writing about web page http://www.ideasforlife.tv/

I attended the recent training seminars at Rootes on Digital Media. Presented by University of Warwick, Urban Communications and Maverick Television this took us from adding podcasts & video directly into these Warwick Blogs to the new IPTV channel Ideas for Life.

Debates broke out about the quality of new media. There is a lot of rubbish out there but loads of really creative stuff too. The reduced costs of production and publishing has empowered many talented people who would never have seen the inside of a BBC studio in the past. The interactivity requirement for the ‘new media’ tag was also questioned but the 606 Rant Line shows that everyone can podcast if the tools are made available.

The real message was to encourage academics at Warwick to take advantage of the new media to narrowcast their research findings using these new channels including ideasforlife.tv.

One of the functions of WMG’s new Warwick Digital Laboratory, to open this summer, is to host technology demonstrators and showcases. It will also be a centre for research capabilities and knowledge transfer. We should ensure that the simple ability to record audio and video content is a seamless part of this new resource. Not leading edge technology but easy ways to record and broadcast the demonstrators, showcases, case studies and people that will make the WDL an exciting place to work & visit.

Robert McGonigle : 07 Mar 2008 10:57 |  Tags: Iptv New Media Podcasts Videostreams Warwick Digital Lab Wdl Wmg |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

MS Office Live free Website, Contact Manager, Emailer, Workspaces – What's the Catch?

Writing about web page http://www.microsoft.com/uk/smallbusiness/products/office-live/evaluate.mspx

Since I first created a website hosted on Microsoft’s Office Live Small Business online applications platform, last week, their whole offering has been changed. All the applications such as their contact manager, a simple to use CRM system, team workspaces, project management tools, email and newsletter management have been popping up to enable free of charge. So what is the catch? Their evaluate page, above, shows that you now pay for additional users and space.

But for free you get:

• 500MB for your website.
• 100MB for photos.
• 100 x Live Hotmail email accounts with 10 MB storage.
• 5 users who can use collaborative tools.
• 50 MB of project storage.
• 200 free emails per month with their e-mailer whilst in Beta. (Till the end of April 2008.)

The number of users is the first obvious limit.
If up to 15 team members were to use this seriously you should probably have a contract and some support.

The really tight limit appears to be the 50MB project space. Not a problem for spreadsheets and text documents but your powerpoint files could eat this up quickly!

Still I do not think anyone can quibble about this extermely professional package that has been assembled by Microsoft for Small Businesses. Microsoft may be the new IBM but this package could make the SME space theirs.

Robert McGonigle : 05 Mar 2008 17:15 |  Tags: Collaboration Workspaces Crm Emailers Web Applications |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

'Shooting' Gun Stands on the Enville Estate

Writing about web page http://gun-stands.co.uk

Last Thursday, before I attended the Mike Smith Memorial Mass, see previous entry, I had an early morning appointment on the Enville Estate, South Staffordshire. I found myself in parkland, with sheep & two fine hunters, taking digital photos for the latest CCM startup, Gun-Stands.co.uk .

Keith Woodall was on the same Enville Estate, for a shoot when he first observed the problem faced by many shooting parties; “I hated to see fine matched pairs of shotguns in the wet grass”. He designed the Stand and manufactured it with the help of local business GRP Building Products . Finalising the website details a packing specialist measured up the stand for the shipping containers. He was a clay pidgeon club member who immediately saw another potential customer. “I have to take my son along to hold the guns upright as noone wants to put their guns down on the rough concrete”.

This is the latest web-site I have created using MS Office Live Small Business or MSOLSB to its friends! These sites, with a free properly hosted domain name, are simple to set up but support all the correct search engine optimisation support. The only area I am thinking of improving is the site map which is not to the full SiteMaps.org standard. But it does have an effective site map as standard and it will be easy to upgrade this to the XML based standard.

Robert McGonigle : 04 Mar 2008 21:08 |  Tags: Enville Estate Gun Stands Msolsb Musket Site Maps |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Celebrating the life of Mike Smith on his Anniversary

Follow-up to Mike Smith, Craftsman, Metal Spinner, R.I.P. from Rob McGonigle on Internet Search & SMEs

Yesterday I attended a mass to celebrate the life of Mike Smith conducted by Fr. Prem Jayalath Fernando at the University Chaplaincy.

His youngest daughter, Thérèse, is now a student here at Warwick and organised this Mass on the occasion of the anniversary of Mike’s premature death. Father Fernando was well briefed about Mike’s business and links with WMG and WMCCM and he also painted a different picture of Mike as an Alter Boy and chorister. Mark Swift also took time out as he juggles two jobs and my son Richard, who met Thérèse on NAGTY events, was able to attend. Thérèse was also supported by 4th year Chemist, Matthew Cooper.

I did not find out about Mikes death till some time later so his anniversary caught us all by surprise, even his daughter. This late notice meant several work friends of Mike sent messages of support and apologies including Iain Robertson of MAS, Tony Ashford in the ‘Quarter’, Dr. Jay Bal, WMG and Sharon Tuersley ex-WMCCM and now on the library staff.

Robert McGonigle : 29 Feb 2008 17:30 |  Tags: Metal Spinner Mike Smith |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem