Gong Gong Communications Blog

What is Open Source?

erica@gonggongcommunications.com (Erica Clark-Covert) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:55:03 GMT

According to Webopedia.com, "open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification." Individuals and companies who choose to follow the principles of open source are agreeing to share the computer language (source code) they have used to create a computer program or software.

Why make source codes available to the public?

The practice and utilization of open source is helpful for the programmer to receive quick feedback on his source code, creating a fast problem-solving system where others can help detect any problems, or "bugs", in the program. Sharing source code is also helpful to others because viewers are free to borrow the code to expand on the idea or to create a new program inspired by the original code.

Sharing is caring

Here is analogy to help you grasp the idea of open source: imagine you were developing a medicine and decided to share the ingredients and your research with the world. Now billions of people all over the world have access to the information. These people can now give you feedback to help hasten the success of the medicine, which will help cure sick people, or they can take your ideas and develop their own medicine, which will still help sick people. Open source is similar to this scenario, they are both giant brainstorming sessions.

Open source uses in your everyday life

Two open source softwares you may be using everyday include the web browser Mozilla Firefox and Google's Android platform. By following the principles of open source, these two softwares are encouraging people to create add-ons and applications for their products. This helps create a bug-free, fuller experience for everyone.

How to Backup Your Firefox Tabs

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:40:00 GMT

As I've mentioned in my recent post about organizing Firefox tabs, I keep lots of tabs open in my browser at any given time. In fact, I know at one point at had a whopping 99 tabs open in Firefox. And while that may not be the best practice, especially because it slowed down Firefox quite a bit, it was even more depressing when BAM! my computer crashed and Firefox was unable to restore my tabs.

99 tabs gone.

Luckily, a few months back I came across a highly underrated Firefox add-on aptly named Save my Tabs. Yup, it does just what it's title implies: it saves the title and URL of my tabs in a text file stored on my computer, and it performs this backup every 15 minutes (or whatever frequency you set). This way, the next time your computer or Firefox crashes and your tabs fail to restore (which will happen sometimes), you'll at least have some sort of failsafe.

An example of the URL backup text file from Save My Tabs, the add-on which backs up your Firefox tabs in case of crash.

Is it an ideal solution? No. I mean, I'd rather Firefox just save my bloody tabs. But, in a pinch it sure does work.

Needless to say, after my last crash when confronted with a text file full of 99 URLs, it provided me with a good opportunity to clean them up a bit.

Organizing Your Tabs in Firefox

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:40:00 GMT

Power internet users often will have several tabs open in their browser at any given time, and for someone like me who is always online, I'm constantly switching back and forth between tabs.

Firefox offers a few nifty ways in which you can organize your tabs to make your browser landscape a whole lot cleaner.

App Tabs

You no doubt have a few websites that you use constantly and are always open in your web browser, like your e-mail inbox, Facebook, or your calendar. App tabs simply reduce the amount of space the tab takes up on the tab bar, showing only it's favicon (the little website icon).

To make one of your tabs an app tab, right click on the tab and click on "Pin as App Tab". To undo this action, click on "Unpin as App Tab" and it will return to normal size.

Tab Groups

Tab groups do just that: they group your tabs. This is really useful if you're working on a specific topic and don't want all your tabs mixed together. On my browser, I have tab groups for all my clients and whatever else I may be working on, and it allows me to keep several web pages open without everything getting super cluttered.

There are two drawbacks to using tab groups, however:

The more tabs you've got open, the slower Firefox becomes.
The more tabs you've got open, the worse it becomes when your browser crashes and you lose all your tabs. Luckily, though, I wrote a post on how to backup your Firefox tabs.

What is Web Cache and How Do I Delete/Clear It

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 06:10:08 GMT

Caching is a process by which computers, programs, and web browsers temporarily store data and media for quicker recall. I like to say that it's a program's short-term memory, able to pull a bit of information quickly rather than having to wrack it's brain trying to find it.

While you might have seen cache discussed in reference to your computer's memory, or in other programs, it's most commonly dealt with these days with web browsers.

Why Does this Information Need to be Stored?

Every time your web browser visits a website, it downloads all the files that make up that webpage. You see, each webpage is made up of any number of files, including HTML, PHP, Java, Flash, image files, cascading style sheets, and more. For example, by choosing to view this blog post, your browser has saved an HTML file, a CSS file, and all the images that make the design and layout of this webpage. These files are stored on your computer (they're most commonly known as Temporary Internet Files) until you or your browsers delete them.

Where the cache comes in to play is when you revisit a page. Say you clicked on a link and went to read another post on our blog. Without cache, your web browser would have to re-download all the images, files, etc. associated with this website. Because the cache has temporarily stored these files already, the page will load a lot quicker. This might not sound like a big deal, but trust me, if you had to wait for every file to download every time you visited a new web page, you'd notice the slowness!

Why do I Need to Clear my Cache?

Sometimes, websites will suddenly act a little wonky, especially if it's running complex processes (like web applications, e-mail, social media networks, etc.) Clearing the cache, and thus wiping the short term memory, will frequently solve any little issues you may be having.

Another issue is when you're on a website and you know that something has been changed on the site (perhaps it's your website and you changed some text), but the changes aren't displaying on your end. That's just an issue of your browser not thinking to download a new file. Clear the cache, revisit the page, and Bob's your uncle, the changes should be there.

How do I Clear my Browser Cache?

The very quick, simple method for refreshing a webpage with a fresh cache is pressing

on your keyboard. To do a more complete purge, view the videos below.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Click on “Tools” from the menu, then select “Delete Browsing History”.

Mozilla Firefox

Click on "Tools" from the menu, then select "Clear Recent History"

Google Chrome

Click on the “Tools” wrench button, then click on “Options”, then “Under the Hood”, then select “Clear browsing data...”

Microlending Through Kiva

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:04:40 GMT

If you've never heard of Kiva, we're excited to introduce you to this wonderful organization. Kiva was founded in 2005, and since its inception, Kiva members have loaned a staggering $293,918,825 to people are the world through microloans.

What is microlending?

It's just like it sounds, really small loans. When most companies in America go to a lender seeking funding the loan starts in the five digit range and goes skyward. But, in most areas of the world the numbers aren't that high, in fact they're more in the $200-$2,000 range. By Western standards, that's not that much, but when you live in a country whose average monthly income is somewhere between $50-$100, it's an enormous amount.

Enter the rich Westerns (hey, I call it like I see it). What's $200 to most Americans? Ok, maybe in this economy one can't be that flippant, but Kiva's approach is pretty painless: $25. Yup, you lend through $25 increments, and yes, your money will get repaid. (Unless the lendee defaults, which does happen sometimes.)

Interested? Sign up now and get a free $25 account credit!

Reid Hoffman, the brilliant man behind LinkedIn and a host of other tech darlings, is a board member of Kiva and has decided to throw a little bit of his clout and money to raising the brand's awareness. He's put up $1 million of his own money to fund the first loan of 40,000 new Kiva members. Read why Reid loves Kiva...

Why Gong Gong loves Kiva

Esther Tawiah, the business owner we lent to in Ghana.This week we setup our Kiva account and we plan on continuing to lend in the future. Why? As our company grows, we feel we should share our blessings with other business owners who want to do the same. Amanda, Jonathan, and Erica have all worked in fair trade and/or for non-profits in developing countries, and we've all witnessed how impactful a small gesture like this can be.

We're proud to say we gave our first loan to Esther Tawiah, a shop owner in Elmina, Ghana. (We couldn't shy away from a little nepotism - Amanda used to live in Elmina and Jonathan has family there.)

Exporting Your Google Calendar to a Spreadsheet (CSV or Excel)

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:30:00 GMT

I absolutely love it when great minds think alike kicks in and someone creates a tool to solve a problem I'm facing.

I adore Google calendar and use it obsessively, but it does have a few shortcomings, including the inability to export your calendars to a spreadsheet.

Enter Gcal2Excel a fantastic, simple-to-use web application that fulfills this simple need. All you have to do is give Gcal2Excel access to your Google account (clicking on "login" will do this, but you must click "grant access") and chose the calendar to export! You can also specify a date range, include locations, and more.

Gcal2Excel's Google calendar export options screen

It gives you the option to save the file as a CSV, XLS, or XLSX file, and the result is a simple but powerful spreadsheet full of your calendar data! This little web app has saved me some serious time!

Not sure what a CSV file is?

What's a CSV File?

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

If you've spent much time around e-mail programs, social networks, or spreadsheet tools, you've no doubt come across the CSV file. You've probably even opened one up in Microsoft Excel, not even noticing the difference between it and an XLS spreadsheet. But, behind the scenes there is a world of difference which separates these two very powerful file types.

An .xls (XLS) file or (.xlsx for newer generations of Office users) is the standard file opened and saved to in Microsoft Excel. Excel has a bevy of tools and a broad range of capabilities that most users don't even realize exist. Most people just enjoy its tabular layout, the ability to create simple functions, and the ever-popular customization of fonts and colors.

A .csv (CSV) can do none of these things, in fact it's pretty much a repository for plain text. So why is it so widely used? Unlike XLS files which are only openable in Excel and a handful of other compatible programs, CSV files are readable by countless programs, from database managers to e-mail address books. Think of it as a universal spreadsheet file which can talk with most software programs. A major benefit of a CSV file is that one can open it in any basic text editor and edit the content, versus having to have a compatible spreadsheet program to edit an XLS.

CSV files are by no means new, in fact Wikipedia dates their creation as far back as 1967. CSV is an acronym for "comma separated values" which no doubt sounds pretty odd. What do commas have to do with my spreadsheet? you may ask. Well, when you think of a spreadsheet you image data separated in cells, organized in rows and columns. Non-spreadsheet programs have to have a way in which to read that same data without the benefit of cells, columns, and rows.

This is a CSV file as viewed in Microsoft Excel

Enter the comma. It serves as the delimiter (sounds like a super villain, doesn't it?) and tells the program how to separate the values.

This is a CSV file as viewed in a plain text editor (like Notepad)

Occasionally, you'll see spreadsheets delimiter using other entities such as spaces, tabs, or pipes, but commas are by far the most common.

So why should I care?

An endless number of online marketing tools use CSV files to import data. For instance you can:

Export your address book from Outlook and import it into LinkedIn to search for new connections
Take a mailing list you typed in Excel and import it via CSV to MailChimp or another e-mail marketing program to update your contact database
Can write dozens of Twitter and Facebook posts in Excel and upload them to Hootsuite to schedule to your social media accounts

Don't be intimidated by this new (old) file format. Learning how to use these simple little files may mike your life a whole lot easier!

What is Google Calendar?

erica@gonggongcommunications.com (Erica Clark-Covert) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Are you past the point of keeping track of all your important meetings, dates, and events via a paper planner or calendar? Jump on the Google Calendar bandwagon!

Google Calendar is a free web application that is, you guessed it, a calendar! It is Google's version of a digital planner that gives you the ability to organize yourself by creating several different calendars in one window and let's you share any and all with friends, families, co-workers, and anyone else. When sharing your calendars, you have the option of letting the new viewer see some details, see every detail and event, or add his or her own events to the calendar. By sharing your calendars, you will have created a great collaboration tool for you and your family, or you and your entire company, to allow every to see when and where things are happening.

How to Access Your Google Calendar

To start using your Google Calendar, you need to log into your Google account (if you don't have a Google account or Gmail, you can make one up using your current email). After logging in, choose "Calendar" from the top toolbar.

Syncing Your Other Programs With Your Google Calendar

Another great thing about Google Calendar is that it is compatible with many web, desktop, and smart phone applications you may already be using. This means that you can synchronize the events and details on your current applications with your new Google Calendar, and vice versa. Some software applications that are compatible include: Outlook, iCal, and a plethora of Android, iPhone, and Blackberry apps.

Other reasons why Google Calendar is a useful alternative to your planner

You can't forget your Google Calendar sitting on your kitchen counter. Simply access your calendars from your smart phone or computer.
You don't have to write in pencil because everything you type can be deleted, retyped and color coordinated.
You can be reminded about upcoming events via email or other memos
You can send invitations to events and keep track of the RSVPs

Why the Right Web Browser Matters

KUCt_amanda@gonggongcommunications.com (Amanda L. Sage) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Saving Your Time, Patience, and Sanity

When you spend as much time on the internet as I do (I estimate that 50-75% of my working day is spent online), then the tools one uses become pretty darn important. Just like sales reps have comfortable, fuel efficient cars, and carpenters have durable, reliable tools, my web browser is pretty important to me.

What is a Web Browser?

This phrase stumps a lot of people who don't realize that use one all the time. Simply put, a web browser (or internet browser) is the program which displays web pages for you.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) was the browser of choice for well over a decade, with competitors like Netscape Navigator dying off in the late '90s. IE rose to popularity mostly because it comes pre-installed on all PCs running Microsoft Office, leading to its industry dominance and also an enormous anti-trust lawsuits with the government of the United States and several other countries.

Web browser usage stats as of February 2012 from W3SchoolsBut Microsoft has never been the only game in town, and over the past several years, many viable alternatives have begun to outstrip IE in popularity.

Apple's Safari browser has consistently held a small percentage of the browser market since its inception in 2003, expanding its reach by offering its program to Windows users in 2007.

Opera has been around since 1994 and has held firmly to a small but faithful percentage of users. It's popularity has increased dramatically over the past few years with its Opera Mini browser, widely used on mobile devices the world over.

The open source evangelists at Mozilla launched Firefox in early 2004, and within a year the browser was taking a significant chunk out of IE's market share. Firefox is now widely used by the mainstream masses with more than a quarter of all internet users.

Google jumped into the browser game in 2008 with the release of Chrome and has since enjoyed rapid adoption by fans of the media giant's web apps. In just over 3 years of existence, Chrome has gobbled up a quarter of the browser market.

The Problem with Internet Explorer

The problem with IE is that there are so many problems, too many to list here. From a usability standpoint, IE can be very slow, it's limited in its customizability, and it's buggy. When you spend a lot of time on the internet, these factors can become a deal breaker.

From a technical standpoint, Internet Explorer is a nightmare and the bane of most website developers' existence. You can take a website that displays perfectly in Firefox, Chrome, and the other popular browsers, and watch IE turn it into a piece of post-modernist art, with things displaying wrong, disappearing, and just turning out wrong. It takes a lot of extra work to get sites to display properly in IE, often times involving hacks or workarounds that still leave it not-quite-right.

Part of the problem is that IE is just plain out of date and relies upon antiquated technology. Every update to IE is still behind the other major browsers in terms of adoption of new technologies. Really nifty capabilities are added to the internet each year, which browsers like Firefox and Chrome rush to adopt so that their users may benefit. For whatever reason, Microsoft doesn't feel the need to join in with the innovation.

I am completely, 100% biased against IE and I admit it. It's made my life difficult on more occasions than I care to say. Thankfully, I'm with the vast majority of the technological world. There are entire online communities devoted to the detestation of Internet Explorer, especially version 6 which was the worst release yet. It is so bad that countless development teams won't deal with the hassle involved in program websites and web apps to work in IE6.

So What Browser Do I Use?

Well, that's a much happier question to answer. I have been a Firefox devotee for years. I appreciate Mozilla's dedication to creating quality open source programs, and I absolutely love the ability to customize my browsing experience.

By far the biggest advantage of Firefox, in my opinion, is its add-ons feature. Add-ons are like little mini-programs that you can literally add-on to Firefox to expand its functionality. What kind of functionality, you ask? Oh, everything from bookmarking to news feeds to shopping to security. There are thousands available from the add-ons directory, they're almost always free, and they can really make your life easier! I have over a dozen which I use faithfully, and I'll be sharing them from time to time on our blog.

If you're ready to ditch IE and move to Firefox, download it here...

What About Chrome and the Other Browsers?

Chrome is a really great alternative, and despite a few exceptions, I've always heard great things about it. It's one of the only major Google products I haven't folded in to my day-to-day life. Why? My 6th grade English teacher taught me "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", and it's been a reliable mantra ever since. Firefox has given me no reason to leave, so I haven't.

But, that doesn't mean that Chrome (or Safari or Opera) aren't great options. Or, even Internet Explore (I say this through clenched teeth). It all depends on what you're comfortable with and what makes your internet-based life easier!

Google Reader vs. iGoogle

erica@gonggongcommunications.com (Erica Clark-Covert) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A few weeks ago I wrote a post explaining RSS feeds. If you're ready to put your newly-learned skill into action, below I'm breaking down our two favorite RSS feed readers, both part of Google's suite of free tools.

Google Reader

Some popular RSS readers include FeedDemon, My Yahoo, newsgator, myAOL, and even Microsoft Outlook's RSS reader. We here at GGC use Google Reader because it is compatible with many of our other Google tools, and we like the clean, easy-to-navigate digest-style layout.

So, how do you use Google Reader? Watch the how-to video we created explaining how to setup a Google Reader or iGoogle account, or follow these instructions:

Once you click on the RSS feed icon on a website:

Choose Google Reader from a drop down or button menu
Sign into your Google account, if you are not already
And submit

You can also add new RSS feed subscriptions by accessing your Google Reader directly, using the following instructions.

Log into you Google account
Click on the menu option (the top right of your page) called "More"
Select "Reader" from the drop-down menu
Click the "Subscribe" button the left
Search for RSS feeds by entering URLs
If the website has an RSS feed, you can then add it to your collection

An example of a Google Reader account with several news articles queued up for reading.

iGoogle

Another option for receiving your RSS feed is by utilizing iGoogle. iGoogle is a customizable webpage you can custom with RSS feeds and Google gadgets, great for use as your browser's homepage. To setup your iGoogle page, visit http://google.com/ig. You will be prompted to pick a theme, your location, and indicate your interests so it can suggest items of interest. Next, your new iGoogle page will appear and you can continue to personalize the page by adding more gadgets and feeds.

When you initially create your new iGoogle page, some gadgets are already added for you including YouTube, the local weather, the local time and other things that match your interests you indicated upon first arrival. You can also add Google Reader as a gadget, which will let you access your RSS feed on this same page. To add your Google Reader to your iGoogle page, use the following steps (or watch the how-to video):

Go to http://google.com/ig
Click "Add gadgets" on the top left of the page
Search "Google Reader" using the box on the right
Under the Google Reader icon, which will appear first in your search, click "Add it now"

You will then be taken back to your iGoogle page and a condensed version of your RSS feed will appear.

Example of an iGoogle homepage with RSS feeds and gadgets.

What's the difference between Google Reader and iGoogle?

By accessing your RSS feeds through Google Reader, the webpage will only display your RSS feeds. This is a good option when you are only interested in getting information from the websites and blogs you subscribed to. When you visit iGoogle, you can access the same information with your Google Reader gadget, but the information will be condensed into a smaller window. Using your iGoogle webpage is a good option when you want to read your RSS feed subscriptions in addition to seeing other info, like the weather and popular YouTube videos.

Please show us how to setup our Google Reader and/or iGoogle account!

Your wish is our command...

Now you are ready to start collecting RSS feeds from your favorite websites to create your personalized Google Reader. You can enjoy reading your feeds on your distraction-free Google Reader or on your all-encompassing iGoogle homepage. Enjoy subscribing to RSS feeds to get top news and updates and start exploring the gadgets iGoogle has to offer to create a personalized homepage.