Tom Doyle :: TALK

As managing director of 2bscene Web Design company, this is one of the questions I get on a regular basis that makes me cringe! You nearly always know that the person asking this questions hasn’t a notion of the work involved in recreating a site of this magnitude. Yes I admit, you can quite easily go to sites like Elance.com or Rentacoder.com and get a freelancer to do a poor representation of what Bebo might actually function like for a few thousand dollars, but you certainly won’t ever get a “Bebo.com”.

There are a few key points to remember when looking for a site like Bebo:

1. Be Specific
   If you want a site similar to Bebo, don’t say it like that. Bebo is a huge site, with huge architecture behind it. If you want a “dumbed down” version of bebo, your time is better spent creating a spec doc and use anologies when referring to similarities between Bebo and the site you require.
2. Don’t Underestimate the Work
   A site like Bebo would take months to develop, it’s not a small job.
3. Price Comparison
   One thing people always question is price. “Oh I can get my nephew, little johnny, who has an iPod to do this for much cheaper”, you probably can and little Johnny I’ve no doubt is great. But if you approach my company, you have approached a professional company that has offices, staff and overheads. The bills have to be paid, so yes we are going to charge the going rate and be more expensive than any college student, family member or developing countries web developers.

We love working on projects like this, but the client needs to be serious about the project too. There is not only a lot of work for us on a project like this, but also the client. The client will have just as much work to do in terms of making sure it is functioning exactly as you have envisaged.

Microsoft have release a warning of an impending IE7 autoupdate. They are basically saying that if admins want to keep versions of IE6 on their client computers, that they should be aware of the release which is due as an autoupdate.

The statement reads:

“”Because Microsoft takes its commitment to help protect the entire Windows ecosystem seriously, we’re updating the IE7 installation experience to make it available as broadly as possible to all Windows users,” said Steve Reynolds, an IE program manager, on a Microsoft company blog in early October. “Internet Explorer 7 installation will no longer require Windows Genuine Advantage validation and will be available to all Windows XP users.”

“If you have configured WSUS to ‘auto-approve’ Update Rollup packages, Windows Internet Explorer 7 will be automatically approved for installation after February 12, 2008, and consequently, you may want to take the actions below to manage how and when this update is installed.”

Full article : http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/01/17/Microsoft-warns-businesses-of-autoupdate-to-IE7_1.html

I just noticed that MyHome.ie have redesigned their website. I wasn’t a huge fan of their original site, I always felt it was hard to find things easily, but this one is worse.

I really don’t know what they were thinking this time. www.myhome.ie

EDIT: Wow, it turns out the people responsible for the new MyHome website are in fact the great Webfactory. I would have really expected a lot more from these guys. But then again maybe it was complete direction from MyHome themselves.

On the way to work this morning, I was listening to NewsTalk 106 when the much anticipated debate over the value of blogging was in full flow. Irish Times journalist John Waters had suggested in a previous show that all bloggers were “stupid”. He had previously challenged NewsTalk to find a blogger than could string more than 3 words of english together. So they did. Unfortunately I can’t remember the guys name, Fergal something! He is a barrister and a frequent blogger.

Anyway, I’m not really talking about it here to give a run down of how it went. My irk is really with John Waters, a man who seems to put all the societies problems down to the internet and the evil bloggers. John has just shown the nation how out of touch he really is. John reckons that all bloggers focus on the negative side of life and enjoy slagging and insulting people with their blogs. He even goes as far as to say that the Internet is so negative that bloggers are the cause of suicides arranged on the Internet. John has obviously never heard of web forums.

Another huge statement he makes is that the Internet is made up of 60-70% of porn websites, he couldn’t back up this statistic, but says it’s a well known fact… hmm… so these statistics from 2006 that say it’s 12% or completely wrong then? http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html

Anyway, I don’t mind being one of those bloggers that he can put into a box, because I wouldn’t call myself a serious blogger. So to back up your theory on how negative bloggers can be, please read above… oh and it’s easy to see how out of touch you are with the Internet, when you look at your hair…

I came across this post today on Boards.ie - Is this possible?

Basically, a guy called Donal Martin has set himself the task of making $1,000,000 in one year through the Internet. I really hope he succeeds, although maybe not, can you imagine the amount of similar sites that will be launched if he does? The web will be full of terrible, begging sites.

So if he does want to beg and really wants to succeed, I heard a former addict on the radio the other day, saying he used to make €3,000 a week begging outside the Mansion House in Dublin. Sounds like he’d make more money there… 

I can’t believe Newcastle United have yet again sacked a manager without giving him ample time to get his feet into the job. Yes, Sam Allardyce was sacked today.

I know the results have not been great for Sam since he has arrived. But there is no doubting his great talent as a football manager. Look what he did with Bolton!

I just don’t understand it anymore. Newcastle remind me of the music industry of today. There is no way we’ll ever have another U2 if record companies continue to work the way they do. For a new artist, if they don’t have a hit record with their first album they are dropped. Even if their second album does badly, the artist is questioned about thier ability. They should think back to u2’s first albums and how badly they went.

Newcastle are doing the same, except with football managers. You just have to look at Manchester United and Alex Ferguson. If he wasn’t given the many chances that he received, United probably would never have succeeded to become the club they are today.

Newcastle United football club and it’s supporters have to take a serious look at themselves. The fans want to take a bet on their legend Alan Shearer instead of supporting and putting their hope behind a proven master of football management.

You’re just digging a bigger hole NUFC!

From the 16th of Januray 2007, Google Earth users will be able to visit a 3D virtual replica of Wesport, Co. Mayo.

Apparently, the Westport Town Council worked with AMT3D to develop the 3D model of Westport. Read more about it here >>

Sadly, last Friday night, I had the January blues and  had nothing else to do but stay in and watch TV. Even sadder was the fact that I turned on Big Borther Celebrity Hijack instead of doing something useful with my time. But in fairness to the show, I was for one moment at least - glued to the TV!

This years Celebrity Big Brother is quite different to those in the past. Instead of filling the house with past it celebrities trying to rejuvinate their careers, we have a house full of normal people who apparently have some special talent. The celebrity bit, comes in the form of a hijacking of the Big Brother hot seat. Our first celebrity hijacker was Matt Lucas of Little Britain fame. He made the whole experience quite funny!

Anyway… each housemate claimed to have a special talent. So instantly the one that caught my attention (unsurprisingly) was the young internet entrepreneur from Liverpool. 19 year old Liam Young claimed to be the successful owner of a web design and hosting company who employed 12 staff, had over 250,000 clients and hosted over 2 millon websites. I thought this was absolutely brilliant for a 19 year old who couldn’t have been out of school for long.

However… he went on to explain that his company OxyUK technologies had a turn over of just £200,000. Which means he must be offering a very low cost hosting price, somewhere around the 10p per annum range I guess. I couldn’t help myself dig further into his business and see what more I could find out and if he is in fact as successful as he claims to be.

I found an interesting post on WebHostingTalk - where it appears that Laim himself posed the question:

“When your not earning a hugh turnover but have everything else in place making your company look ‘top dollar’ and very profesisonal, what would you answer when someone from the press queried…”. After numerous replies, he goes on to say that he has a profit of 40% of his gross. He doesn’t say if staff costs are included in that, but whatever way you look at it… He can’t be paying his staff very much, can he?

Older posts to be found on the web go back as far as 2005 with at least one unhappy customer. There’s even a page where he explains himself as such an awe inspiring youngster.

You should also check out his companys’ website, where there is a message saying that they are so busy that they can’t take orders until the 1st of February 2008, around about the time Big Brother will finish. Surely with 12 staff they can continue to sell while he’s away - no??

One things for sure, no matter what comes of his OxyUK business, he’ll certainly make plenty of money for this little story he created, so hats off to him!

I read with sadness today that Dave Rooney, better known as IrishDeveloper (www.irishdeveloper.com) took his own life on the 28th of December 2007.

I only knew him through the various web forums and blogs that I frequent, but not on a personal level. So all I can say is that his knowledge and sense of humour will be greatly missed by all.

Rest in Peace Dave.

It was announced today that the Green Party are proposing a new tiered driving license system. They are suggesting that we have a system whereby people in rural locations will have a restricted license that will allow them to legally drive at certain times of the day and at certain speed limits etc.

The system is the brainchild of councillor Mary White, who today on Newstalk 106 said that it is aimed at people living in remote areas and elderly people who rely on their cars to get through their daily tasks. Adding to that she suggested that this license is for those who get nervous when they sit the real driving test.

What a complete farce!!!!!

For me, driving is black and white. You can either drive or you can’t. If you haven’t passed a driving test, you shouldn’t be in a car without a licensed driver. Why in this country do we always go out to make things more complicated than they actually are. You can drive or you can’t - how simple can it be???

Next thing they’ll be suggesting is a tiered drink driving system… oh yes… I know… they are already discussing this…