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Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner investigates Facebook

sales@createvision.ie — 2011-09-28T22:50:54+01:00

The social networking giant Facebook, which has 800m users worldwide, is to face an audit by the Data Protection Commissioner, Ireland’s authority on privacy following complaints about the site.

Facebook incidentally employs close to 300 people in Ireland’s capital city. Dublin has been a massive success for the company. It came to Dublin three years ago with the intention of just hiring 40 people.

Silicon Republic has the full article.

Mac versus PC

sales@createvision.ie — 2011-07-25T23:27:38+01:00

Compare the steps to set up a computer running Windows, with the steps required to set up a Mac.

The Chip Van

sales@createvision.ie — 2011-06-29T21:31:13+01:00

The Chip Van, who provide a near-nationwide chip van service from Wicklow and Kerry, have launched their new website. You can check them out at www.thechipvan.ie.

From their website: "Having a Party? Let The Chip Van Take the Hassle out of Catering for Your Event, Leaving You to Relax and Enjoy Your Party. "

Sonas Group launch new website

sales@createvision.ie — 2011-06-20T10:49:37+01:00

Sonas Group have today launched their new website at www.sonas.ie. Sonas specialise in providing quality healthcare and childcare across Ireland.

A Skode Dealer with a Great Website

sales@createvision.ie — 2011-05-07T09:00:21+01:00

Whilst most car dealers I have come across have a website, most seem to exist only because a website is something “you must have nowadays”. At Pilsen, they see things differently, and have developed a truly unique and well designed website to market their new Skoda main dealership in Dublin 12.

Weather you want to service your Skoda or VW group car, arrange a test drive or check prices and special offers, www.pilsen.ie has you covered. I got my car serviced there, and not only were they better value than other dealerships, but the service was the friendliest and best I have ever experienced. They have a nice corner with comfortable sofas where you can wait while your car is serviced, should you wish to wait, and Sinead offered me coffee from their Italian style coffee machine (meet the Pilsen Auto team). Along with a quick free car wash.

If you are in the market for a new Skoda, or want to get your car serviced, I can recommend Pilsen Auto. I know that next time I am looking for a new car, they will be first on my list to get a quotation.

When I returned to my car after the service, I was pleasantly surprised to find the following items:

Skoda real leather keyring with Skoda emergency numbers on the back.

Ice Scraper – not just useful, but a clever marketing idea as it will remind you of Pilsen Auto when your next service is due. After last winter, I had been looking for one, so I was very excited! I have a feeling it will come in very handy next winter.

Create Vision designs new website for Fastnet Outfits Ltd

sales@createvision.ie — 2011-02-01T20:05:37+00:00

From their about us page: "If you look at the map of Ireland you will find, between Achill Island and Belmullet Peninsula, a small little headland in the shape of Spain.

This north-western edge of Europe is the location of a tiny workshop where three women are individually crafting some exquisite garments out of a most amazing natural material. We proudly use the highest standards; from sourcing the wool for making the material, carefully making each individual garment to the last finishing details."

We completely redesigned their website. Other services provided included building an easy to use online store with e-commerce checkout system and mailing list.

10 Reasons to Create a Facebook Page for Your Company

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-12-14T20:23:34+00:00

With the economy being in the place that it is, there has never been a more important time to find new ways to sell yourself online. If you are thinking about creating a Facebook page for your business, we recommend reading this article by Mary Fletcher Jones.

We design website for ENF Attics

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-11-01T11:50:13+00:00

Did you know that an attic is a viable living area that can be transformed into various types of rooms. For growing families that need more space, the attic provides an ideal solution. It can provide extra living space, a games room, an office or an extra bedroom. There are many advantages to choosing such an option.

I think the ENF Attics website, which we designed, is a great example of how a website can be used by tradesmen to show off their work and win customers. The brief included using the companies signature colours of blue and red to design an effective website, as well as building an easy to use contact form where potential customers can request a quotation.

Take a look at ENF Attic Conversions. If you are interested, they offer a nationwide service.

Create Vision launches new website for James Fitzgerald Agriservices

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-11-02T09:35:45+00:00

We just relaunched a website all about recycling for James Fitzgerald Agriservices. Services offered include Farm Plastic Collection and Tyre, Battery & Metal Recycling. Do you have old tyres, batteries, metals or even old oil lying around? You can bring them to James Fitzgerald's drop centre in County Roscommon to be recycled. The project also included the creation of artwork for a recycling guide, and we completed the whole project in a record three days!

Why social media like Facebook should be an important part of your marketing strategy

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-10-28T09:05:00+01:00

I read an interesting article in Fast Company about the importance of using social media to get your message out there, and how nowadays using platforms like Facebook or Twitter may be more important than even your logo design. Social media isn’t just a great platform to connect with your customers, but also to listen to their feedback and opinions. As a business, you should not be ignoring this opportunity. At the very least, you should integrate Facebook into your website.

Steve McCallion writes:

“Social brand platforms are not experiential marketing gimmicks. They do not exist to promote something else, but rather they are useful in and of themselves. A logo, by contrast, doesn't actually do anything.”

Read Steve’s full article here.

Learning how to use Google AdWords to win customers

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-10-27T11:32:00+01:00

It does not matter if you have the best product in the world, if your potential customers do not even know you exist.

In a previous business I was involved in, I was able to get us from zero to well over 1,000 customers in just a short year. Part of that success was thanks to us using Google AdWorlds effectively. What AdWords allows you to do is bid on sponsored advertising next to search results and, optionally, on other websites that use AdWords. For example, if you offer recycling services, you could bid on “recycling” and ensure that you always appear at the top of search results when someone searches for “recycling”. You can even target your ads geographically, so that you only appear when someone searches for “recycling” in Ireland, but not in the UK. This is useful if you only offer your service in a particular country.

The following video explains how you can fine tune your AdWords campaign.

If you don’t want to do it yourself, we can manage your AdWords campaign for you.

iPad printing solved

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-04-15T15:21:09+01:00

A revolutionary and magical way to print.

Fixing common Eircom Broadband problems

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-02-24T02:11:13+00:00

Are you struggling to watch YouTube videos, or websites seem to take ages to load? Here are a few easy tips to troubleshoot your Eircom Broadband connection. How do you know you might have a problem? If you have 3Mb Eircom Broadband or faster, there is no reason why YouTube videos should frequently struggle to play smoothly.

The first thing to do is to check what speed your broadband modem is connecting at. To do that, open a browser window and go to http://192.168.1.254. An informational screen looking something like this should appear:

Under the Eircom logo on your left, there is a list of options. Click "Troubleshooting". More options will appear. Click "Statistics" followed by "DSL". You will now see "DSL Statistics" information. This will give you important information about the quality and speed of your connection. First of all, look at "Max Allowed Speed". If you have 7Mb Eircom Broadband, this should be showing a number somewhere near 7000 kbps, as 1 Mb equals roughly 1000 kbps. If the speed is significantly below that, it is likely there is a problem with your connection. For example, if you have 7Mb Eircom broadband, but your modem is only showing a "Max Allowed Speed" of 4000 kbps or less, there is likely a problem with your line or the internal wiring in your home.

After where it gives your speed, also check the SN Margin and Line Attenuation. SN Margin should be around 10 or higher to get a good connection (higher is better). As for Line Attenuation, here is a guide (a lower number is better):

20dB and below is outstanding
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues

Sometimes, equipment in your home might interfere with Eircom Broadband. Things like Sky boxes are common causes of interference. Try disconnecting all devices in your home, including phones, fax machines, Sky boxes and anything else you may have. Follow this by turning off your Eircom Broadband modem for a moment, before powering it back on. Now check your DSL stats again as described above. Do you see a significant improvement? If you do, you know that another device in your home is causing the problem. Try adding devices one by one, making sure to always connect them using a ADSL filter supplied by Eircom (see diagram below).

One final tip: If your "Max Allowed Speed" is very low, for example just 200 kbps, it is also possible Eircom may have put your line in a test mode by accident. If that is the case, a quick free phone call to 1901 will fix the problem.

If you know of any other advice, you can let the author of this blog post know by posting in the comments.

Use OpenDNS to speed up the Internet
When you visit any website such as www.google.com, your computer contacts Eircom's DNS (Domain Name Servers) to translate this address into a number your computer can connect to. Sometimes this can take a few moments. To speed up the process, you can use OpenDNS. It's a free service, and not only will it increase the speed websites load initially, but they use technology to protect you from websites known to host viruses and malware. Find out how to setup OpenDNS on your computer here.

Apple iPad's Micro SIM versus Mini SIM card: build your own

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-02-02T19:42:41+00:00

If you haven’t lived under a rock for the past week you have probably been unable to avoid reading about Apple’s iPad, the latest mobile device to come out of Cupertino. Since the online and offline media has been writing about it at length, I won’t bore you with the details of what it does or how it will change the world we live in. One interesting revelation has been that Apple’s iPad will be sold completely unlocked, meaning you will be able to use it on virtually any mobile phone network worldwide, as long as they use the GSM standard. That means you will be able to use it on all four mobile phone networks in Ireland, as they all use the GSM standard: Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3. The same goes for most other countries.

There is one caveat: Apple claims that to save space, they switched to the next generation Micro SIM standard. This is like a regular Mini SIM card, which is used by most mobile phones today, but with the excess plastic around the chip chopped off. But it turns out that the chip itself is not only the same size but electronically identical, as confirmed by the GSM association, so the good news is that even if your mobile phone network only supplies the older Mini SIM cards, you’ll be able to simply cut off the excess plastic yourself and fashion a DIY Mini SIM card. Cheap data roaming here we come, just remember to bring a steak knife! The image below shows a size comparison between the two cards:

We will be posting our review of the iPad as soon as it becomes available. Apple, if you are reading this, please send us a review unit! You can write the author of this article at urban@createvision.ie or please post your comments, questions or feedback below.

Huawei MiFi (E5830) by 3 Ireland service and speed impressions

sales@createvision.ie — 2010-01-02T13:55:59+00:00

Recently, we did a hands on review of the Huawei E5830, sold as the 3 MiFi by 3 Ireland, one of Ireland's four mobile phone networks. Having now used the MiFi on a daily basis all over the country, including counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Dublin, Westmeath and Cork (in no particular order), we can talk a little bit more about the service. We have never found the speed to drop below 1 Mb/s as long as there was reasonable coverage in the area. This, for a mobile broadband product, is quite impressive. In fact, overall our speeds always stayed between 2 and 3 Mb/s, and we saw speeds as high as 5 Mb/s on several occasions downloading files as well as when running speed tests. While we would not suggest mobile broadband as an alternative to fixed line broadband, it's safe to say that the technology has improved. You can see an example speed test below, which we just did and is typical of the average speeds we are seeing:

You can read our original hands on review and first impressions of the Huawei E5830 MiFi here.

Our only gripe with the service so far has been that if you even slightly exceed the 15 GB usage allowance on bill pay, 3 Ireland will bill you 5 cent a megabyte. Considering 1 GB consists of 1024 megabytes, that works out as a little over €50. For example, if you used 17 GB instead of 15 during a month, you'd quickly see your bill rise by an additional €100. Of course, if you opt for the prepaid version, you won't experience that problem. However, we would like to see 3 Ireland offer a way to control your monthly spending. For example, if would be nice to have the option to suspend the service after a certain amount has been spent. Perhaps an option where you have to click "Confirm" if you wish to exceed your allowance?

You can write the author of this article at urban@createvision.ie or please post your comments, questions or feedback below.

Inspirational Posters

sales@createvision.ie — 2009-11-30T15:06:15+00:00

What do you get the designer who has everything? Try a little inspiration, in the form of almost 1,000 “font badges” featured on the Linotype Font Badges poster set rolled.
Each badge shows one font used creatively in a mini-design of its own. Some of the designs spell out the name of the font, while others are mock-ups for everything from shampoo bottles to garden centers.

This is the perfect thing to stare at when you need some inspiration, and unlike design books, you’ll find yourself looking without even intending to.
The set consists of four posters measuring 55 x 81 cm. Ideally you could frame or mount them as they will last much longer.
-Hazel

3 'MiFi' (Huawei E5830) hands on

sales@createvision.ie — 2009-11-29T19:25:57+00:00

A few days ago, we got our hands on 3 Ireland’s new “MiFi” device. This is essentially a rebadged Huawei E5830. So far, we are quite impressed: unlike a regular mobile broadband dongle, it creates a wireless WiFi network anywhere, so you don’t need to install any drivers.

To set up the device, we popped our SIM card inside and turned it on. Once we had done that, a new wireless network appeared on our laptop, which we could connect to and get online without fuss. Going by the manual that came with the device, which is about the size of a very fat credit card, you can connect up to 5 computers or devices this way simultaneously. The manual specifically mentions it working with Apple’s iPod touch, but it should work with any WiFi-capable device. We can confirm that during our testing it worked fine with various laptops and an iPhone.

We ran some speed tests, and typically got about 2.5 Mbps downstream and 0.3 Mbps upstream, which isn’t bad at all for mobile broadband. If we had any gripes, it’s that the buttons on the side of the device are quite fiddly. This is an area where we feel Huawei could improve upon.

We paid €69 on a bill pay contract with 3 Ireland, plus their standard €19.99 monthly charge, which covers 15 GB of data usage. Please add your comments by clicking the “Comments” link below. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them as best I can.
- Urban

Welcome!

sales@createvision.ie — 2009-11-28T23:58:32+00:00

Welcome to our new blog. From now on, we’ll be blogging about technology and anything related to website and graphic design.

Thanks for reading,
Urban