Hosting
Yeah we officially declare that we provide now hosting as well. At R 30.00 a month it is definitely an option to consider. The package is great! One Gb web space, 10 Gb traffic per month and your own cpanel loaded with fantastico and all the nice tools, bells and wistles you need
Comments (0) 21.04.2010. 16:41
User polls
User Polls was set up to gather information on web site usage. Please visit the site and cast your vote for the first question.
11.07.2008. 22:23
Beware, lest they mark thee spammer
I received an email in one of my inboxes yesterday. Now, usually, I mark mails from unknown addresses as spam, and send it to file 13 immediately.
I didn't know this email address, but I opened the message for some reason, before simply pushing the red button that sends all spam into the black spam abyss. It was sent to me from Falcon Crest Manor House, a supposedly spectacular Guest House situated in KZN.
But, a few things bothered me about the email...
Problem one: terrible heading font
The first thing that struck me was the terrible heading font used in the email. I'm sure it would look nicer if it was a bit bigger, but as it was, it made for a hard read.
Problem two: no contact person
This is the second thing that bothered me about the email. The email is not ended off with a person's name. It provides an email address (one of those info@ email addresses), and a telephone number, but no name.
Why is this a problem? Well, we're living in a day and age where South Africa is waking up to possibilities on the internet. People seem to be moving away from the idea that a website is a nice-to-have, and not really necessary.
This email smells like Viagra.
Problem three: the site is incomplete!
O woe are we! This is so sad! The South African mentality of 'oh sure a website would be ok I guess but not really that necessary' is food for mourning, and along comes this email and makes me want to tear my wetsuit! The link to the site is proudly displayed in the footer of the message. I mean, it's HUGE. You'd expect the site to work, not so?
Expect again, cos this one doesn't.
Conclusion: the end
Ok ok, it's not the end. This is simply a warning (suggestion, proposition?) to all people sending out email messages. Make sure you have the permission of the people you're sending the email to, and that you may in fact send them the mail. Make sure the email is understandable. Make sure the email is marked with a contact name and contact details. Make sure your web site is complete before embarking on a marketing campaign.
Thanks for listening.
01.05.2008. 11:38
Smile as you save money on phonebills
It seems the guys over at ICTel have come up with a great alternative to Telkom's monopolized phone bills.
Their claim: Mobile phone calls from as little as 10 cents per minute. Let's see how it works.
Register
You register on the ICtel site. You can follow this link to do that. This makes you part of the ICTel family, giving you access to huge savings.
Benefits of the ICTel system
Benefits include not having to change your current contract and 5000 toll free minutes per month, to name but two. For more benefits, view this page.
Tell your friends and score
ICTel runs on a 'tell your friends' machine, and currently, the machine seems to be running at full revs! View their FAQ's for more info.
Save some cash
ICTel seems to have come up with a brilliant way of saving yourself huge monthly phonebills. Go on, register and give it a go!
Save Windows XP
If like me, you cringe at the thought of having to change over to Windows Vista from XP, you have a chance to make your voice heard. Infoworld is the organiser of an online petition to have Windows XP not discontinued by June 30 this year. You can visit this link to post your vote.
RSS marketing
If you're a blogger, or own a website, you'll know the importance your RSS feed plays in marketing your products or services. If you don't know this, it's time to realise that you are losing out on traffic, and that you need to do something about it! If your site does not have some sort of feed capability, you need to make a plan real quick.
Enter RSS hugger
RSS Hugger is the creation of Collin LaHay, an experienced entrepeneur, search engine optimizer and internet marketer.
Easy to use website
The RSS Hugger website is easy to use. That's the first and most important aspect of this tool. Plenty of help can be found on the site, and Collin offers to deal with your gripes via email, should you need some personal guidance, which was true in my case.
Good traffic
The idea of RSS Hugger, in a nutshell, is to syndicate good content and make it easily redistributable. In other words, you find content, and your content gets found.
My RSS Hugger page
Check me out at rsshugger.com/thebigfish.co.za/kooktalk.
Keep your writing simple and short
This is a post that shouldn't be necessary, but seems an evil that needs to be dealt with in any case. I see so many articles at mixx.com dealing with writing for the web, but it seems they're posted there only to be ignored! Why though? Why not just take heed and make it easier for your readers?
Don't give me the dreaded text desert
Here's a great article on what it is, and how to avoid it: 5-simple-ways-avoid-dreaded-text-desert. You can mixx that article at 5-simple-ways-to-avoid-the-dreaded-text-desert. Also have a look at Jakob Nielsen's writing for the web.
Break up your writing into smaller pieces
People who use the web often do not have time to read your lenghty stories. Break up long articles into smaller bits. Not only does this make it more user friendly, but it gives you more content to post in the long run.
Avoid large images
I live in a country where bandwidth is an issue, and I'm sure there are other places where it's the same. Take that into account when posting images.
Chek yor speling
It's not that hard to get your spelling right. Use some sort of spell checker. Make an effort to present your best writing to the person who's reading your stuff. Leave bad spelling for text messaging. It looks unprofessional if your article is full of spelling mistakes.
Don't give me so many links
There are some brilliant articles submitted to mixx, and I'm sure to other social bookmarking sites as well; the problem is, there are so many resources to check, that it would take a day just to go through everything. If your articles are short, you need not have a million links to different resources. You're wasting people's time.
It's different for print
The web is different from The Life of Pi. I want The Life of Pi to be a text desert piece. I don't want to read your overly long articles on the net. I've got other things to do too. Keep it simple.
Windows Vista service pack one
Great news for Vista users. Windows has released service pack one for Vista, which can be downloaded here.
Apparently, according to this article, it's not that easy to install, but absolutely worth it, since it comes with many bug fixes and patches.
Make sure you read the overview section before installing.
Create a song and send it to your friends
So you'd love to be a singer, but you suck. Your mom is the only one who told you, you'd be the next Pop Idol, and you believed her, much to the dismay of the Idols judges, and much to the entertainment of Idols watchers.
Let them sing it for you!
Fear not, oh ugly-voiced one. Wipe those tears! Get up, and surf to Let them sing it for you.
Create your own song
Type some words into the box, press the play button, and hear the beautiful sounds that flow from your computer's speakers. Ok, so it's not quite what you expected, but it's still better than what you can produce. Besides, it's all top artists' voices used in the production. What more could you want?
Write your friends some songs
This is the good part. You can create a song and send it to a friend via email. The perfect free christmas gift! Enjoy!
South African auction site
A new South African auction site saw the light a while ago. I responded to an advert I saw, and created an account with them. I had some difficulty with my account a few weeks ago upon signing up, but the glitch seems to have been removed.
It's free!
This is obviously the best part of the site. You get to sell your goods for free. There are upgrade options available at very reasonable costs (R20 for a home page feature), which makes it even more appealing.
Their buttons are large
Have you ever sat a semi-internet-illiterate person down by your computer to study them while they surf the web? I have. It gives great insight into how such people use the internet. Big buttons are a must. People hate getting lost, and big buttons reduce their chances of doing so. Hippobay seems user-friendly enough for any semi-internet-illiterate to be able to use, which is great! They even have a 'New user help' section for total noobs.
Chatroom, forum and blog included
Hippobay even offers a chatroom and forum (with an FAQ section) for you to mingle with other auctionees (I don't think that word really exists). Another great way to get exposure. As if that's not enough, users are also offered a blog, where you can post anything. No really, anything. See for yourself.
ID verification
Getting verified to sell on the site is quite a mission. You have to download a form, fill it in, add a copy of your ID, and email, fax or snail-mail it back to them. This is not a bad thing. They say it's to curb fraud, and I think it's a good idea, since fraud in our country seems to have become a school subject.
Check it out
Check out hippobay. It's a fast loading site, and it seems to gain in popularity quite quickly. Nice job over all!
Autofill on Google toolbar
This is definitely one of the best tools I've ever used on my browser! Still don't get why I'm so slow on the uptake when it comes to new things. The AutoFill option on the Google toolbar fills in all your preset information on any web forms that allow for this functionality. If you haven't downloaded the Google toolbar yet, you can do so here.
Set it up
To set up your toolbar, you click on the settings button on the far right of the toolbar, and then click on options..., which opens a pop-up, wherein all your settings are found. To set up the AutoFill option, click on AutoFill, and enter your details. You can even enter your credit card details for online transactions!
Not all sites have the AutoFill option
You will come across sites where the autofill option is not available. When this happens, you'll see how useful it really is, since you have to manually fill in everything, which is a schlep. Hopefully website builders will take this handy tool into account with their designs in future.
South African youtube
Wow, this is sweet. South Africa has its very own youtube! It's called myvideo, and I think it's definitely worth a shmaak at amatomu and a stumble.
Just checked out an old favourite of mine there, called 'The Braai'. Beautiful piece of video artistry done by some really imaginative South African boytjies. Eish, sommer gets me in the mood for a lekker braai...
Searching a web page with your browser
How do you search a web page when you're looking for a specific word or name? The other day I did a search for an old acquaintance of mine I last spoke to more than a year ago.
Begin at the beginning
I know his name. I know he'd probably be involved in some sort of club. I couldn't find him on Facebook. I figured Google might be of help. As always, he was! Google spat out a couple of website names when I searched for his name. I clicked on one of the links, and a web page opened.
Needle in a haystack
The page was a humongous list of people that had belonged to or still belongs to this specific club in Port Elizabeth. Eish, you want me to go through all these names? Imagine if they're not alphabetically ordered? What do you do?
Use your browser as a tool
People don't seem to realise that a browser is a tool. While it is obviously primarily for browsing the internet, it offers more than only that. Any good browser has built in functions to help enhance and simplify your internet experience. Some browsers offer a heck of a lot of add ons to not only simplify your internet experience, but actually assist you in the development of your websites (if you're a web developer).
The magic keys
To search a web page, press and hold down your 'Ctrl' button, and while you're holding it down, press the 'F' button. F for find. It works differently in different browsers. Internet Explorer brings up a pop up window, while a bar displays at the bottom in Firefox. In Safari a bar appears just below the main bar at the top. You simply type in the word you're looking for into the search box, and click the search button. Voila, Bob's your imaginary friend!
3G modem on Vista and XP
You've bought the vodafone 3G modem, and you're trying to run it on Vista. It's not working. What to do? Throw the computer out the door and start your on snailmail club? Downgrade to XP? Fear not. There is an easier way to get connection satisfaction.
Update the datacard (only for Vista 32 bit)
Download this datacard update. The original post says nothing of removing the simcard when performing the update. In fact, the readme PDF, if you've cared to open it, only says that the datacard needs to be plugged in to your system when you run it.
Datacard update (1.6mb)
Now, unzip and run the exe file. This may take a while.
Update the firmware
Now, you'll need to update your firmware. This is the modem. Again, nothing is said about removing the simcard. Download the following file, unzip it, and run it.
Firmware update (6.1mb)
Update your dashboard
The next step is not really necessary. It is only an update of the dashboard of the 3G modem, in other words the user interface. But run it anycase. It looks cool.
UI update (8.8mb)
Your modem should now work on Vista. No guarantees though. I could not get the new UI to run on a friend's computer, but the modem at least worked, and he got connected to the net! So what if the user interface is old? you can hide it in the taskbar if you don't like it!
This will work for XP too
This is not only a fix for Vista, but the newest upgrades for the 3G modem, so use it for XP too.
Send us money
The next step is very simple. Email us for our bank account details, and deposit R500 000 into our banking account.
There. You're all set to go poke your friends on facebook!
Comments (1) 12.10.2007. 02:00
Content, death and taxes
Do you know your client?
The internet is probably the most interesting place on planet earth. The internet, and the inside of a KFC restaurant. But let's stick to the internet for the purposes of this article. Being in the web industry, serving content, communicating with humans and bots, can be a daunting task. It is not easy. It is a challenge, since, with every website built, you basically become part of the client's company. At least a little bit of you, in any case. No point in building a site for a client, if you don't at least have some sort of idea what his/her/it's business is about. So in a sense, you become a Jack of all trades, and master of serving content.
What quality is your meat?
The Big Fish likes to keep a bird's eye on all that's happening in the internet world. Have our fingers on the pulse, so to speak. This way, we know what the latest buzz and craze is. But what do you do in such an ever changing game, to stay current? We know how to spit out the bones, and eat the meat. But how do you know the meat you're chewing isn't only ground bone?
Stick to certainty
This is why, good people of planet earth, it is good to always revert back to the good ol' 'death and taxes' way of thinking. Nothing is really certain when it comes to what Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other search engines want served for their daily meal. Nothing, except content. Nothing is certain but death and taxes in real world. Nothing is certain but good, relevant content, served in the right manner, in the virtual world.
Keep it human
The first step in serving content, is to realise that your first audience is of the human kind. Let the bots stand in line. Let them take second place. They can wait. A bot doesn't need sustenance to keep it going. A human, on the other hand, needs to be cared for, nurtured, and often spoiled, to keep it happy. This, I dare say, is the golden rule of any business. Because if you remember that you're working with humans not much different than yourself, you SHOULD remember that they want to be treated the same way you would like humans to treat you. And that means not lying to them, not wishing their worst, but their best. Not trying to milk them for all they're worth, but giving them your best. Because, after all, that's what you expect from others, not so?
