Oct
26
Written by Lee | Filed under General | 4 Comments
We have had our fair share of wannabe web monkeys at Fresh Egg for work experience; in fairness those who have graced the keyboards at Fresh Egg have usually always been of a good quality.
The SEO Team have had a young lad by the name of Lawrence from St Andrews School in Worthing working with us for the last week to gain some quality time in the real world.
Unless you are supremely confident, It is always going daunting for some school children to enter such a busy working environment. For one the sanctuary of school goes out of the window and the banter takes a step up, although it is fair to say a degree of schoolboy humour exists at Fresh Egg especially in the SEO team.
If you believe everything you read in the papers then everyone who attends school is either bullied, takes drugs or carries a knife. Thankfully, that is simply not the case.
It is especially not the case with young Lawrence. Let me tell you Lawrence was an absolute delight to have working with us this past week. In fact, I’ll be honest, the quality of Lawrence’s work is far better than some ‘professional’ web designers whose work we get to see first hand when we are performing life-saving surgery on the butchered websites they have produced.
With Lawrence we had a 15 year old lad who was critiquing sites with the head of an experienced web developer. We see all the hype created for youngsters who dance under showers with Britain’s Got Talent. Well let me tell you if there are more kids of Lawrence’s ability about, then Britain really does have talent!
With one specific project we actually discussed whether it was right for a web developer to have charged his client given the very poor nature of his/her work. But then that is the web industry, unfortunately it is littered with modern day John Wayne’s. So how refreshing it is that someone has young as Lawrence can pick holes in a ‘professionals’ work.
It’s not all donkey work
Let me say that when someone comes to Fresh Egg for work experience, that is exactly what they do, work.
The skill level of an individual will dictate the level of work they can become involved with. In all fairness someone coming in for just a week is going to be given more mundane jobs, but we all have to start somewhere.
Over the years I have seen a number of very talented school children come through the door at Fresh Egg for some work experience. Daniel who came to us for work experience in 2007 from Worthing High School ended up staying all throughout the summer and then came back after he had completed his exams and worked all of this summer working with us again!
The rest of the team will testify that Daniel was a great addition; he was quick to learn and he produced some sterling work. The simple fact is there are some bloody talented kids out there who are chained to their computers teaching themselves the way of the web, how to code and how to create functional working websites. It’s a pity there are so many people that have jumped on the web bandwagon who have not done the same.
Web application
By the middle of the week I received an email from Nikki (SEO Team) asking if Lawrence could create a web application for her. We put the idea to our rookie in our meeting room and do you know what? Young Lawrence was totally unphased by the task. Come Friday lunchtime the web application was completed, debugged and tested - simply outstanding!
What no caffeine?
The only thing I will say about the youngsters coming through is none of them seem to drink tea or coffee, now surely that cannot be right for the SEO’s of tomorrow. Ammon and I are fed intravenous caffeine, so it just does not seem right that this new breed of web doctors are able to survive on water alone.
A true hidden gem
Sometimes with work experience we do see some rough diamonds, on this occasion though it is without doubt we really did find a hidden gem. Lawrence is going to be one hell of a coder in years to come. I have no doubt young Lawrence will forge a very successful career for himself. He won a lot of plaudits in the office and we sincerely wish him all the best for the future and would welcome him back at any time. Quite simply Lawrence was a credit to his school, his parents and most importantly himself.
Oct
24
Written by Allanb | Filed under General, Google, Latest News | 2 Comments
The Sun (that’s right – the tabloid more famous for keeping ‘abreast ‘ of current events and soaps than doling out financial advice ) has attracted widespread support for its Backing British Business campaign.
Statements of support have flooded in from a veritable “who’s who” of business gurus and celebs. Sir Alan Sugar, Simon Cowell, Sir Richard Branson and Barry Hearn to name but a few have all put their various weights behind it. James Caan (we like him!) has also lent his support to the Redtop’s plea for better treatment of small businesses.
And now, Internet search giant Google has also clambered on board the BBBandwagon! The key message (not unsurprisingly) from Google for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and British start up businesses is the importance of getting online! If you want to get ahead, get a website!
The Sun has published a three-step Google guide on how small businesses can use their own website to generate online sales. Getting web-savvy can be vital to the survival of any small business.
1. GET ONLINE: The first step is to get a space on the web. They suggest two ways to do this – use ready made sites or build from scratch.
2. ATTRACT VISITORS: Get your site to come up when somebody searches the web for your service. Make sure you give visitors the information they want, as unique and relevant content is what will drive potential customers to your site.
3. BOOST REVENUE: -Get yourself an e-commerce system to collect payment from customers.
We agree! Naturally, we maintain that step no.2 is perhaps the most important, as that will generate the visitors and traffic via SEO that will drive revenue through the e-commerce system. If you want to get successful, get SEO!
Here at Fresh Egg we want to do our bit to help out Britain’s small businesses too! We’re investigating the development of an “entry-level” e-commerce package that would be available exclusively to start-ups and small business clients. We want to give these businesses a simple introduction to “selling on the web” so that they can generate revenue and judge whether they should expand online sales without it costing them a fortune!
We’ll keep you informed of progress via the Blog…
The other consequence of the Sun’s campaign is the fact that our communications department now has a legitimate business reason to buy the paper every day. Now if only we can persuade Playboy to Back British Business………
Oct
22
Written by Allanb | Filed under General | 2 Comments
What with James Bond about to hit our screens again, I’ve been thinking about spies on TV and in the Movies. Spies are great for films and TV! They’ve got fast car chases, hot girls and they get to play with cool spy gadgets. But who is the greatest film or TV spy? Here’s my top 007 picks!
No 1 Jason Bourne
Always able to think on his feet and act without hesitation. He can use a hardback book, a towel, a magazine, a ballpoint pen and even vodka as a weapon! He doesn’t need Q or a laboratory. Jason Bourne can create his own spy gadgets out of regular stuff like mobile phones and even a toaster. He can coax F1 performance out of even the most knackered jalopy. He’s fluent in dozens of languages including Russian, Spanish, German and French, so he can blend right in wherever his chase takes him.
No 2. Jim Phelps and the entire Mission Impossible IMF Team
“This tape will self destruct….” Iconic words that have wormed into everyday speak and a theme tune to die for! Forget the stature-challenged scientologist – the original Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) was the man! Cool, organised, methodical, clever and audacious as was the rest of his Impossible Mission Force. But then why bother going through all those files every week when you knew he was going to pick Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) the sexy vamp, Barney Collier (Greg Morris) the electronics genius, Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus) the muscle man that made Schwarzenegger look like a wimp and Rollin Hand (Martin Landau) make-up artist, escape artist, and magician. They even had Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in it, also as man of many faces but without the pointy ears! Ensemble spying – what more do you want?
No 3. James Bond
I suppose James Bond has got to be there. Can’t be bothered going through the clichéd “who was the best Bond” thing – Sean obviously – but without Commander Bond, none of the others would have happened. He can hold his own in a fight thanks to his judo and karate skills, but it’s really the spy gadgets that get him out of tricky situations. Even the latest, grittier, more realistic version of Bond (Daniel Craig) uses gadgets and gizmos. Bond also has an array of top of the range vehicles including the Lotus Esprit submarine car (how cool is that!) and the simply brilliant Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger with a bullet proof shield, machine guns, bladed hubcaps and an ejector seat. Bet Jason Bourne in a clapped out Mini would still beat Bond in an Aston Martin DBS though!
No. 4 Jack Bauer
Ok, so he’s got a Masters Degree in Criminology and Law and his experience with LA SWAT, the US Army’s Delta Force and the CIA means he’s very, very, bright. As a Counter Terrorist Unit agent, Jack Bauer is well equipped for preventing major terrorist attacks on the United States. Maybe it’s just those split screens though….
No. 5 Maxwell Smart
Bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) also known as Agent 86 and his sexy partner Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), work for CONTROL (it’s not an acronym – it means nothing!). They investigate and thwart various threats to the world, though Smart’s incompetence always causes complications. They never fail to save the day, typically thanks to Smart’s own dumb luck and 99’s skill! Personally I thought Hymie the Robot, a powerful android originally built by KAOS but reprogrammed to work for CONTROL, was the more effective agent. Still, anything created and inspired by Mel Brooks proves you can spy and laugh at the same time!
No. 6 Napoleon Solo
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – that’s an acronym - Napoleon Solo is a dapper gentleman who charms the ladies and is always immaculately dressed. Solo is able to stay cool under pressure and can quickly devise plans, often using his charm to recruit other unsuspecting people to help him complete missions – mainly the Russian U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin who seemed to be the only one that did anything apart from snog!
No. 7 Derek Flint
The “American Bond”, Derek Flint (James Coburn) works for Z.O.W.I.E – which is an acronym too! He has as many gadgets as Bond, a grasp of some weird balletic martial art, strange taste in polo neck sweaters and blazers and the ability to induce a catatonic hibernation state in himself using a fancy watch do-hickey. Much more intentionally tongue in cheek than Bond and just as popular with the ladies, he’s not as incompetent as Smart, and he looks like Jack Bauer’s dad!
Disagree with me? Who do you think is the best on-screen spy then? Answers in the dead letter drop – third park bench on the right! And I haven’t mentioned George Smiley because he’s just too realistic. Besides, how can Obi wan Kenobi be a spy!
