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  • Don’t Make Me Think!
  • Buy someone a can of worms for Christmas!
  • Ten tips for coping with our high-tech world
  • 10 tips to protect your privacy online
  • Choosing the correct domain name to register
  • Broadband for under £6 per month!
  • Register or buy a .tel domain name?
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Here’s a must read for anyone designing web sites (or about to have a web designed for them) – “Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability” by Steve Krug.

All of the tips, techniques, and examples are presented to help web developers design sites so users are able to surf though with ease and minimal strain. That’s the premise of the book  – “Design sites so that web site users don’t have to think.”

In Don’t Make Me Think,  Steve Krug lightens up the subject of ‘Usability” with good humour and excellent to-the-point examples. At only 200 pages it can be read in one day, or is ideal for dipping in and out of over a coffee break or while waiting for a meeting! Well written, witty, full of common sense ideas and incredibly useful for both web designers and clients who want to make their sites more ‘user-friendly’.  With over 500 positive reviews on Amazon.com and 80 positive reviews at Amazon.co.uk plus a “5-star” rating , obviously others agree.

Since it was first published in 2000, Don’t Make Me Think has sold over 250,000 copies, and we can see why! You can read more and buy Don’t Make Me Think! at Amazon.co.uk.

Stafford Carson wrote an interesting and timely piece today on how can we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas without endorsing all the excesses.

Tearfund’s Living Gifts allows givers to buy a gift voucher and for the recipient to chose how it is spent.

Christian Aid’s equivalent is Present Aid which allows the buyer to choose the gift, where a can of worms can turn waste organic material into rich fertiliser!

Here’s an item we noticed in another blog, which hits a few nails on the head – we could all learn from ancient philosophers and even in the internet age, we can still benefit from their wisdom! 

 1. Go with the flow
To live in a high-tech world is to live in a world of change. It was not dissimilar for the ancient Greeks. The adventures of Alexander the Great reshaped the known world. Technologies that could build the Parthenon were being developed. So, said Zeno the Stoic, don’t resist the change; learn to live with it. If you can go with the flow, you’ll find tranquillity.  

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 Almost everything you do online, whether it’s visiting a website, reading a blog, downloading music or sending email, leaves a trail of personal data. Some of it remains on your computer; some is transmitted to third parties. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, you can and should control who sees it. In the interest of protecting your privacy, we offer some tips.

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When setting up a new web site for a client, we often need to register a domain name (i.e. the address used for their web site and emails) on their behalf and one of the most common questions we are asked is “What domain name should I register?”

It is very important to choose the right domain name, as you may have to live with it for years and even decades.  Your domain name should be memorable, easily conveyed verbally and meaningful.  Here’s some brief guidelines to help you choose your ideal domain name.

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Plusnet, our recommended Broadband Supplier for Northern Ireland and rest of the UK, have lauched a new package – Plusnet Value – for only £5.99* per month.  If you want to surf the web, stream videos online, play games over broadband, and download large emails, music files and movies, this is the option for you. You also get a Free wireless 4-port router to wirelessly connect up to 10 devices!

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.tel is a new innovative domain now launched – instead of web site content, .tel is all about providing contact details.

The .tel enables you to store, update and publish all your contact information, web links and keywords directly on the internet under your own unique domain name. Simple, fast and accessible from any device (PC or mobile phone), .tel provides a new internet standard to take full control over how and where people reach you. It is a wonderful way to be reachable by friends or customers alike with unprecendented ease-of-use.

Read more details on how Red Rhino can help you register and buy a .tel domain name.

Ecommerce offers a new media channel for new sales and advantages over traditional trading methods. Low overheads and 24/7 access offers reduced costs and therefore increased profits. Whether you are in Northern Ireland, London or Timbuktu, if you have an online ecommerce store with integrated shopping cart you can sell to the world!

The Red Rhino Shopping Cart is our ecommerce solution that includes everything you need to start, run, promote and profit from your online store. It offers a comprehensive management interface to make it easy to set-up products and manage orders. Our cart creates search engine friendly web pages and provides you with the tools to market your products to your customer base, for example using voucher codes and gift certificates.

Outline Features

• Professionally Designed Store
• Multiple Marketing and Store Promotion
• Advanced Product Variations
• Extensive Management, Analytics and Reporting
• Multiple Payment Methods
• Content Management System
• Built-In Inventory Tracking
• Search Engine Friendly

To see the Red Rhino Cart in action, view our demo store and then contact us for more details and costs.

Online Christmas shopping can be economical, convenient, and no less safe than shopping in a high street shop or store. Here’s some tips on how to help keep your online shopping experience a safe one, at all times of the year!

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If you are a web site designer in Northern Ireland and available for freelance work, drop us a line, as we’re always on the look out for skilled and customer-orientated NI website designers to add to the list of talented freelancers we use from time-to-time. Please include details of your skillset, with examples of web sites which you’ve designed (including information on your input into the web design projects) along with level of availibility.

About Red Rhino

Red Rhino is based in Northern Ireland but the nature of the Internet means that web design work can readily be done from wherever in the World. We have clients for our various services on four continents and we don’t let a few extra miles come between our clients and a great service. Providing clients speak English, as we do not pretend to be linguists, we would be delighted to be commissioned to realaise the online ambitions of any organisation. Read more about what we offer …

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