by Joel T. Fagsao

So amazing! The plethora of services now available on the Internet is for the taking. Whether you are an entrepreneur, an office worker, a farmer, student, teaching or one running an academic institution, technologies available online are just simply great. You also don’t have to break a bank to get these services because some are free and could rival expensive commercial software. One service is Google Docs. Google continues to provide applications that could help you save a penny. In Google Docs you can do applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and even drawing. This service is free and you can open, edit files you created in Microsoft Word and other related MS Office software. The time has come when you no longer have to load your computers with software/applications. As long as you have online connection, you can always make use of readily available applications. This is called Software as a Service (SaS). With this system, you can work using applications or software available on demand. These applications are no longer limited by time and geographical boundaries. You can collaborate on a document with a co-worker wherever is the latter’s location. With Google Docs you can work on a document together. The Google Company has yet added another service called Google Cloud Connect. If you have MS Office (Word, Excel, etc.) in your computer, you can now save your work directly to your Google account at the docs section. This ends the worry of having to save on a flash drive and losing it to virus infection. While you work on your computer, you can set to synch your files to your Google account and on your hard drive in one click. Now when you lose your file on your computer’s storage device, you can still retrieve your file on Google Docs by logging on to your Google Account. Commercial software provider, Microsoft is no taking this sitting down, it also has offered a similar service called Windows Live (integrates Skydrive which gives you a whooping 25GB storage capacity online).

A free application called Picasa enables you to concentrate color on one aspect of an image.

If you have a business and would want to have a free website, you can check out Google Site. Google site provides a 100 MB free account for individuals, organizations who want to have their own websites. This semester, we integrated lessons on how to create a website with Google Site in our web design and development class at Xijen College of Mountain Province. This will prepare students in our province to explore and get exposure to as many website creation platforms. Students at Xijen College are alos exposed to WordPress and Joomla- website development applications which are in the open source category. By open source, we mean, anyone with knowledge of programming can help in the improvement, testing, adding new features of a software or application. The application is then available for download and use by anyone.

Already, Charlene Fadchal-Lidua, alumnae of Xijen College developed the official website of Bauko Local Government unit with the use of the WordPress platform. Had Charlene used a commercial web design software like Adobe Creative Suite, the Bauko Local Government has to shell out P89,052.00 to buy the software, another commercial web design software like Dreamweaver costs P15,934.00.

These things may sound unfamiliar to some readers especially in some of the municipalities that do not yet have access to the Internet. Education and the right information will solve this in time. Xijen College is doing its share of exploring, testing and finally integrating non commercial applications into the curriculum of the college’s Information Technology students

Finally, here’s one that can help you save a few pesos of load on your mobile phone. If you have a G-mail account under Google, you can send up text messages to your contact’s mobile phones for free. The text message recipients can also reply at no cost (read: no deduction from your load or your contact’s current load). To use this feature, log on to your G-mail account look for the Send SMS feature at the left side. Enter your contact’s mobile number, type in your text message and press the enter key to send the message.

Tech Talk
Joel T. Fagsao

WordPress is another application that will surely excite those who want to set up a website without necessarily writing code.  I will try to make things in this column as simple as possible for those who do not have a hint of what I am writing about, those who know to use a computer and those who just play Solitaire on the computer.  Writing about information technology is quite a challenge since everyone is not in the same level of understanding when it comes to this topic.  Well, I will just have to try and write about computers and related applications and developments in technologies –since this is the direction we are heading.  Who would have thought that in last month’s election we made history by participating in computerized elections?  Who would have thought that from now on, our retirees must know how to use the ATM machine-to get their pension instead of a check arriving in one’s mail box?  Of course the mobile phone-your new status symbol is proof that most of us have embraced information technology.

Basically, electronic gadgets-the products of today’s information age take inspiration from what is already there.  For example, the camera is an offshoot of what the eye can do.  Indeed the camera is a poor copy of the human eye, but the camera enhances its functions, ensures storage of images we may forget in the future and put in hard copy things that remind us in the lives that we lead. (E.g. high school class photo seen again after 20 years).

So there, many things have developed in terms of technology and we may yet see more things to come in the years ahead.

Going back now to what I talked about in the first lines of this column, what is WordPress?  WordPress is software that helps you do your blog.  What is a blog?  The computer glossary of terms defines a blog as short for Web Log.  A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”  Let’s just say it’s like writing topics in your theme notebook or daily journal.  The only difference is that the writing gets to be published online-meaning on the Word Wide Web.  Most blogs focus on one topic and gain followers (readers).  So if you want to start writing and have this particular itch to let others read what you write, then a blog is the most practical way to publish what you write.  Now here’s where WordPress comes in.  WordPress is acts just like your theme notebook or paper where you do your writing.  The thing with WordPress is free.  You can also avail of a free space at www.wordpress.org where you can park your series of write ups (which is the blog).

Let’s explore the features of WordPress.  WordPress is more than blogging software.  It has a lot of plug-ins.  By plug-in we mean we can add a lot of features just like a car-where you can add a lot of accessories.  WordPress is more than blog software.  It can also rival other web site development applications.  Ease of use and simplicity is the best feature of WordPress.  Once installed, you can go on writing right away.  Basically, if you have the money, you can rent a space (called web hosting) where your blog can be stored and published on the World Wide Web.  Then you can pay for a domain name registration (just like registering your business name).  A domain name is your identifying name in the Word Wide Web.  An example of a domain name is www.xijen.com where WWW means World Wide Web, xijen is the name of an organization, .com means commercial.  The rule here is when somebody has already registered a domain name; it becomes exclusive to that registrant.  So if you wish to register a domain name for your use, you pay a fee of five hundred pesos annually.  The web hosting can set you back from 1,000 pesos and up renewable each year.  The web host is a service that stores your website.  The web host also takes care of your being connected to the World Wide Web.  But if you still cannot comprehend this particular level of website publishing, you can still have an option.  WordPress provides a free space for you (just like providing you a free room to stay) to park your website and publishes your blogs so that others may be able to access what you write online.   This is free and it can be had at www.wordpress.com.  The downside is that you cannot have domain name like www.myonlylove.com because WordPress will be attached to your domain name like these:  www.myonlylove.wordpress.com.  As you get comfortable with WordPress you can start adding features such as photo slideshow, an e-commerce section and many more.  Eventually it will no longer be a plain and simple blog site but rather a website with all the whistles.

WordPress is part the course in Web Page Design and Development at XijenCollege every after 5:00 P.M. Tuesdays and Thursdays.  For details, contact 09081511870.