When creating off-site downloadable content for website visitors, PDF is obviously the right way to go.

Adobe had the foresight to create a file format that could be distributed ubiquitously due to its free Adobe Reader software.  However for a long time, the PDF file format was a closed format relying on Adobes own expensive software meaning it was prohibitive to smaller companies and individuals. 

In recent years we have seen the PDF open up and whilst I have some sympathy for Adobe and their attempts to retain a revenue stream from their creation, it only benefits the masses that there are more companies and solutions now offering PDF based solutions.

In particular, we love the concept of creating PDF files from a website – how much easier is it to offer customers the chance to download product information or reports in a format that they can store and pass on, a format the skirts the viewing and printing issues inherent to HTML.

As ASP.Net programmers, the best solution we have come across is WebSupergoo’s ABCpdf for converting HTML documents to PDF.  Their software takes the pain out of the process and offers a wealth of customisation options that can be called dynamically.

"I was chatting to a new business prospect the other day, about designing a new website, and we came to the subject of agency size and internal resources. And I was pleased to tell her we’re small. One of the smallest web design / web marketing agencies in Perth, in fact.

Why was I pleased? Because small makes us agile, responsive and attentive.

"When I need to have even the simplest change made to our website, the job has to be booked-in and scheduled and often takes three or four days to get done,” my prospect had said, referring to her current web designers."

Being small allows us to hire-in task-specific specialists - to assemble the optimum team for each unique job. Bigger agencies tend to rely on a rank of salaried generalists, who often sit expensively twiddling their thumbs between projects.

Being small means we have lower overheads, savings we pass on to clients. Being small means we spend less time on admin, arcane procedures and management, freeing up more time to focus on clients.

Being small cuts out chinese whispers: client briefs account executive; executive briefs account manager; manager briefs studio manager; studio manager briefs creative. If but one word changes at each stage the outcome is invariably different to the client’s original brief. And the process starts over.

And being small avoids the ‘Everybody’s Job Story’ in which there are four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody… 

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.

Having worked in senior roles at some of Europe’s and London’s biggest marketing and communications firms, I’ve been there, seen it, done it. If nothing else (in fact I learned a lot) big agencies taught me just how not to do things…"

The unprecedented furore surrounding the launch of Apple's new iPad has led to an equally unprecedented amount of coverage, both off and online.

Well, I couldn't prevent myself joining in as we all struggle to define what this device is, how valuable it is, how capable it is and what, if any, its affect will be on the IT landscape.

I am no Apple apologist, and agree with the slightly trite description of it as "a giant iPod touch", which, on the face of it, seems thoroughly underwhelming.  But it's the failure of this appliance to be neatly pigeon-holed that interests me the most.  What is a giant iPod touch to the world, what are the use-cases and does the world need one?

One thing that is undeniably clear is that it is not a computer in the conventional meaning of the world - a Personal Computer (PC).  If you need to run Windows or Mac OS X software, need a camera, web-cam, multi-tasking or a keyboard then what you need is a PC (Windows or Mac).  A netbook does all of those thing and most are cheaper than the entry level 499 USD model.

However, if you need those features the chances are you are involved in the creation of content in some way or another, perhaps writing, developing, blogging or photography etc.  A PC is a content creator, the iPad, if anything is a content consumer. 

If your needs don't extend beyond web surfing, music (Spotify / iTunes), movies (iTunes again), updating your Facebook status and the occasional 140 character tweet this device is ideal.  A touch screen is a very natural way of interacting with the web, and the thousands of Apps that are available will allow you to bring just enough personalization and customization to streamline your common tasks and make the device your own, to say nothing of the casual gaming potential. 

In an age where more of us than ever are creating content of one kind or another it seems hamstrung and limited compared to our Personal Computers.  I feel that the third category of device that Apple has strived to create needs a new classification, that, perhaps, of a "Passive Computer" -not very complimentary perhaps, but a fair description of its' strengths.  A device we relax on the sofa with, or sit in a cafe, a device we read or watch TV on, a device where we aren't likely to do much more than answer a few emails, but removed from the limitations of a phone-sized screen.

I admit the nod to productivity provided by the iPad Keyboard adapter and the ten buck copies of iWork show signs that Apple hope this device can be more, but I find it hard to believe that anyone with access to both a laptop and an iPad will do their spreadsheet and document work on the latter - but, hey, I haven't tried it yet.

I firmly believe that a "giant iPod Touch" has a place, not amongst the IT workers and technorati, unless they are consciously deciding to take some down-time, but next to the couch of, or in the bag of, the less savvy and demanding.  Good boot times, decent battery life, so-easy-a-child-can-use-it interface, few security concerns, no spyware and no viruses.  If I gave one of these to everyone in my immediate family I would expect the number of "support calls" I receive to drop by two thirds, after all, they never call for help with their iPhones - only their rotting, spyware encrusted Windows PCs.  Oh, but it doesn't run Flash?

Thank heavens for that. 

I spent part of last week creating a "mind map" (a.k.a. "a diagram") of Internet Marketing activities to assist with brain-storming ideas for some of our clients.  I am pretty happy with the result and attach it here in case it's of use to anyone else who also faces the challenge of calling many of these potential activities to mind when discussing how to allocate an, often small, monthly budget.

One of the most interesting things to come out of this was when a colleague cast a critical eye over it and commented that how, just a few years ago, the whole nascent industry was fixated on "Search Engine Optimisation" (SEO) - and how, on the diagram, it's relegated to just a few brief headers in the top right corner.  An interesting point.

The area I find most challenging is to quantify the value of each of these other activities for any specific customer.  It's not easy, and getting harder, as the "social web" becomes ever more significant and some core ideas - such as the "web page" being the atomic unit of the Internet come more into doubt.  

The day will no doubt come when social relevance will be a significant factor within Google's results, and individuals and communities, rather than web-sites, will be able to link to pages, providing some "PeopleRank" alongside the long established "PageRank".  The effects will be a sea-change for all website owners, as reputation will be as significant as budget, and brands can no longer buy their way to high placement.

After all, if a trusted and "socially significant" technology journalist buys some gadget from my store and leaves a positive review, surely that should outweigh a handful of "Aunt May" buyers who slated it for finding it difficult to understand?  Should Google be able to understand this and promote it accordingly?   Perhaps, but what if my abilities are more in line with an "Aunt May"?  How could Google possibly understand that enough to factor it into search results and advert positioning?   

Another example: if a business executive with a network of well-salaried friends visits a car-themed website shouldn't Google know to advertise luxury German saloons, whilst showing Skoda & Fiat adverts to stay-at-home parents visiting the same site?

For me, there-in lies the thought that at some future date we may all be searching purely within familiar communities, taking the experience of friends whose abilities are known, and who know us, to provide advice and information over that of one big scary algorithm. 

It is Google's challenge, as well as that of every Internet Marketer out there, to understand the implications of the social web as swiftly as possible and seamlessly weave the knowledge it gives us into existing business models and strategies.

Internet Marketing Activities.png (155.14 kb)

Internet Marketing.pdf (1.68 mb)

A great article appeared in this months' PC Pro magazine by independent journalist Paul Ockenden.   I broadly agree with 95% of it, and feel it might be of use to some of our clients, and potential clients, so I've uploaded a PDF copy here.

A few areas need a little clarification:

• The article discusses the two choices of "Big Agencies" and "Inexpensive Individuals" to develop sites.  As a small team, mtstudios falls between the two, and has more in common with the latter, especially in terms of pricing structure.  However we have separate staff covering the two disciplines of design and development - the importance of which is covered by the article.
  
• The article states that eCommerce solution can cost "tens of thousands of pounds".  Whilst true, it should be noted that mtstudios sell a system suitable for most eCommerce starting a £2,000 - so don't be put off!

Overall, have a read, but please don't think it replaces the value to be had in speaking to someone in person.  We'd be happy to have a chat with you, and never try a "hard sell", we genuinely enjoy assisting businesses in making the right decisons for their online presence.

HowToCreateAWebPresenceForSmallBusiness.pdf (52.67 kb)

No one likes it when their PCs break, which they inevitably do.  Here at mtstudios we occasionally do repairs for customers and friends but often feel guilty at the time involved and consequent expense.

However, the article below caught my eye in PC Pro magazine, October 2009 - it's a horrfying read.  How these "engineers" can snoop and hack without any consideration, invent faults and charge for un-replaced parts is beyond my comprehension.  This article should be compulsory reading for anyone who gets friends and relatives to fix their PC's - often for free - they are owed a debt of gratitude!

If you know of any trustworthy PC repair companies why not give them a mention in our comments section?

PC REPAIR SHOPS EXPOSED

(this Article originally appeared in PCPro magazine, October 2009, and was based on a report carried out by Sky News.)

An undercover reporter from Sky News reveals the shocking conduct of Britain’s PC repair shops.

How many technicians does it take to fix a laptop? Just one, but if you know where to find him, please let us know. We’d heard there were serious problems with computer repair shops, so we put things to the test, to find out why customers were getting such a raw deal.

The exercise was simple.  Create a simple fault on a laptop, load it with spy software, take it into several repair shops, then sit back and see what happens.

First, Sky News engineers installed professional spy software on a new laptop.  Spector Pro was programmed to load on startup and silently record every “event” that took place. If the mouse was moved, a folder opened or a file looked at, we’d know about it. We also installed DigiWatcher. This devious little tool auto-runs on startup and tells any connected webcam to secretly film whoever is at the machine. We then filled the hard drive with the sort of data anyone might have on their PC: holiday photos, CVs, MP3s, Word documents and login details.

Our laptop now looked just like any other. To create the fault, we simply loosened one of the memory modules so Windows wouldn’t load. To get things working again, one needs only to push the chip back into the slot and reboot.   Any half-way competent engineer should fix it in minutes. We teamed up with PC Pro readers to track down shops with the worst reputation and took our laptop in to be repaired. We expected poor service, but nothing prepared us for the first shop we visited.

SNOOPING ON HOLIDAY SNAPS

Laptop Revival in Hammersmith offered us a free diagnosis when we dropped off our laptop. Yet the spy software later revealed something extraordinary. The boot log shows that the technician discovers our loose memory and clicks it back into position. The machine is rebooted and the problem solved. He then begins browsing through our hard drive. A folder marked ‘Private” is opened and he flicks through our researcher’s holiday photographs, including intimate snaps of her in her bikini. He stares at picture after picture, stopping only to show them to colleagues. He then picks up the phone and calls our researcher.

He tells her our motherboard is faulty and will need to be replaced. Usually it costs £130, but he’ll do it for her for £100. We tell him we’ll think about it and give him a call tomorrow. After more snooping, he logs off. But a few hours later, another technician boots our machine. He also begins searching our hard drive until he finds login details for our Facebook and Hotmail accounts. With an audible cackle he removes a USB flash drive from around his neck, plugs it in and then copies them across. He also discovers our holiday photos and copies those of our researcher in her bikini.

The spy software takes a snapshot of the files on his memory stick. One is called MAMMA JAMMAS (urban slang for females with large breasts).  It contains more holiday snaps of girls in their bikinis. Most worryingly, he discovers login details for our bank account, logs onto the banks site and attempts to break into the account.

He only fails because the details were false. Laptop Revival declined to comment.

ROGUE TRADERS

There were similar problems with Digitech in Putney. Although its staff fixed our fault, they also spent a while snooping. The webcam reveals the technician takes a quick look over his shoulder, before flicking through our holiday pictures. He then attempts to clean up what he’s done by deleting the Recent Documents folder. Digitech later told Sky that it was looking at the photos to test the memory.

There were also problems with PC World in Brentford. The technician triumphantly diagnosed a faulty motherboard and insisted we needed a new one. We were told unless we paid £230 in advance, we couldn’t have it repaired. We agreed. But when we collected the laptop and got it home, we discovered only the memory had been replaced and not the motherboard. PC World apologised and offered to refund £200 of the repair fee.

Meanwhile, at Evnova Computers in Barbican the loose memory was also spotted, but the company told us we needed a new motherboard. We declined the offer and collected our laptop. When we examined it, we discovered technicians had soldered the memory bus pins together to recreate the original fault. Evnova later claimed it believed we were from a rival repair company.

There were also problems with Micro Anvika on Tottenham Court Road.  It fixed our laptop then called us to claim it needed to examine the machine to find the fault. We were charged £145. All this for a loose memory module. Micro Anvika later told us we should only have been charged £95.

Only one shop performed flawlessly. Pix 4 in Shepherds Bush promptly discovered the loose memory, popped it back into place and told us with a smile there would be no charge.

Quick one this, Microsoft have finally entered the security software arena with a completely free, lightweight, quiet, tidy anti-virus and malware package called, catch-ily, "Security Essentials".

It has received generally excellent reviews (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/mse.asp, http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/10/04/microsoft-security-essentials-review/, http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200926/3926/Review-Microsoft-Security-Essentials etc.) and is the first Security product I have ever run.  I urge everyone to download and install it, unless you are a die-hard user of one of the paid-for packages, and arguably even then?

This won't be part of automatic Windows Update for a long while as the big anti-virus companies still carry enough clout to make rumbles about anti-competitive behaviour.

So download it from here: http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

I recommend removing any other anti-virus package from your PC first, especially if it's a free one (AVG etc). 

I love Gmail.  Living without the bloat of Outlook is perhaps the most productive improvement I've made in the last twelve months, but one niggle remained - "sent on behalf of".More...

Not sure how long these instructions will work for, but in response to O2 charging £15 a month to tether an iPhone to a PC - and yet still claim the contract carries "unlimited" data use (aka #02fail) I have downloaded, tried and proved these steps both work and are simple - and the iPhone doesn't need to be "jail-broken", in fact it barely counts as a hackMore...

This month sees the revamp of sunprincess.com.mv, home to the boat's - Dream Catcher 1 and Dream Catcher 2.  These luxurious boat's live in the wonderfully intriguing waters of the Indian Ocean and allow their guests to explore the beautiful islands and reefs of the Maldives.  As the blog title says... "I wish I was there!"

The revamp has focused mainly on the design and has lifted the website from its rather pedestrian previous design to something much more in keeping with the service it provides, and its target clientele. But while we were there, we improved some of the tools staff had to manage the site, introduced some great photo galleries and laid the foundations for further search engine and Internet marketing work.