In December 2008, tech giant Google unleashed the stable version of its browser, Chrome. Less then two years later, it has eaten up over 17% of the browser market share, growing at an unprecedented rate. It’s fast and light-weight, and boasts a sleek interface. The problem, however, is that the small advantages of the new browser, come at big costs.

Google is definitely 'cooler' than Microsoft

Chrome is widely known as a free and open-source browser. Unfortunately, that is far from an accurate depiction. A proper open-source project has to stick to some basic rules and principles, and Google have failed to do the following:

1. They never released the entire code, making it more like an iPhone OS type of exploitation than it is a collaborative project
2. Instead of starting from down up, it is Google’s name that comes first, then the ‘open-source’ browser project. It defeats the purpose of celebrating the beauty of coming together from different parts of the world to bring a tool we could all benefit from. Instead, we are left with a product that gives all the credit to a company that has been making billions of dollars by ripping off advertisers (and here’s partly why it’s hypocritical, and problematic)
3. In the open-source economy, the success of projects relies on collaboration, not competition. When we all work together, we can collectively benefit. Here’s a TED talk that does a good job illustrating the advantages and mechanisms of the open-source economy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgYE75gkzkM

Somewhat of a complicated lecture, but be patient, and it will all come together by the end of it

Most importantly: Google is determined to become the richest and most powerful entity on the planet, and its real competitor is not Microsoft, nor Apple, but the open-source movement. That is because instead of competing with equivalent companies, all driven by profits, it is up against a liberating movement that involves millions of people all working for the greater good. As a result, Google’s main objective with Chrome is to weaken the support behind Firefox, divide its people, diffuse the efforts, and hinder its growth.

Just as corrupt governments diffuse labor unions and rebellious groups by bribing and/or making lucrative offers, Google boasts a single, albeit solid, advantage: performance. That is the sole plus that can be made in Chrome’s defense. On the other hand, many forget about the following disadvantages in comparison to Firefox:

• Flexibility and customization is far superior in Firefox
• The massive list of add-ons available that provide a wide range of features via Mozilla make that of Chrome seem more like a joke
• HTML/CSS rendering bugs and inconsistencies in Chrome are a rare encounter in Firefox, making designers and developers work more to make their websites and applications appear properly on Google’s application

This does not mean, however, that there is something unethical about having two different open-source projects in the same industry – far from it. However, the services and functionality they offer must be different, and/or catering to different needs. Chrome is identical to Firefox in terms of who uses it and how.

While making the switch might seem appealing, let us not forget that it is a diminutive gain on the short run, and an enormous loss on the long one. Because soon, probably  by Firefox 4.0, the performance will be too close of a call. In the long term, though, we would be helping a company hiding many cockroaches behind the fridge become even more powerful and threatening, at the cost of the only movement that is seeking to benefit all of us, as well as bring the power to the people; the open-source.

The Open Egypt HTML/CSS theme

When you’re freelancing, you don’t have a supervisor or manager to tell you how good or bad of a job you’ve done with your work. So many-a-times, you’re left in a bit of an imaginary self-critique that makes you feel like a superstar.

After throwing in a reasonable chunk of creative wit in a design for one of my clients, I was surprised to see them reject it. Even though almost everyone I spoke with was very impressed (albeit partially to help me feel better), the client thought it wasn’t top notch.

For that reason, Idecided to invest many hours converting the design into XHTML & CSS (and much more to make it compatible with Internet Explorer) for everyone to use. I feel proud to contribute something to the beautiful open-source community.

I’ve tried my best to make it clean and future-proof, so you shouldn’t have any problems digging into the code and make your alterations.

This could be ideal for converting into a CMS theme (like WordPress).

Features

• Built on the 960 Grid System: Therefore fully compatible and very easily changed for your needs
• Lightweight: Besides the three sample images used for the slideshow (you can place your own light-weight versions), all files amount to about 300kb
• Cufon font: Has a unique look with a non-system font
• jQuery Nivo slideshow: One of the coolest slideshows I’ve come across
• Social Media integration: Easy to add social media profiles and facilitate content going viral
• Sidebar UL CMS/widget-ready: Used ULs and LIs for the content of the sidebar which makes it easy to integrate with CMSs and any web applications using widgets

Preview the Wild Egypt theme | Download the Wild Egypt theme

Content

• index.php
• js files: For cufon and the jQuery stuff
• images: Placeholders and social network icons
• css: 960 GS and the main one

You can use it in anyway you want, and link backs are highly appreciated, but certainly not mandatory.

The design aspect of this video is so impressive, it’s almost over-whelming. Make sure you focus on the actual message as well, and not just get carried away with the cool hand-drawn graphics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

I’d like to see where we can go from here. One thing’s for sure, and it’s that the open-source movement is a win-win situation for everyone, so it’s time we all got on board.

The reason why the web is the ideal tool to give power to the people, is because it allows us all to connect with each other directly across space and time, sharing knowledge and experiences. That is why the web should always act as a mean to an end that will benefit us all, and it is events like this weekend’s GeekFest in Cairo that allow us to take interaction and engagement to the next level.

Cairo’s version of the GeekFest is a Creative Commons event that brings techies of all sorts together to learn from each other and share ideas. Whether you’re interested in tapping in on the twitter community in Cairo, learning about start-ups, open-source, expression via the web and new media, or anything related to our beautiful information super highway, stop by the GeekFest at the Sawy Cultural Wheel in Zamalek.

Event Details

Saturday, May 29, 2010
4:00pm – 9:00pm
Al-Sawy Culture Wheel
26 July St, Zamalek

More details at the Facebook Event page. You can also check out Maggie Osama‘s blog post.

Starting off your web design freelancing career might not require advanced tools and applications, but you’ll soon realize that’s organization is key. Thankfully, many entities have reached that same conclusion, and therefore there are numerous tools on the table for you to make your pick.

Project management tools help freelancers and agencies collaborate and organize tasks between the different members to meet milestones and sign-off projects with their clients. It might seem like a bit of a luxury to have at the beginning, until the 3rd or 4th client gets angry due to late work and brands you unprofessional. That’s when it becomes the kind of tool you simply cannot live without.

A quick Google search will inevitably lead you to 37 Signals’ hot shot, Base Camp. It is by the far the most popular project management and collaboration application in the market. Its fame is not unfounded; Base Camp’s sleek interface makes it a breeze to create milestones, assign tasks, share files and more. The main problem is that Base Camp’s value is a function of its add-ons – from billing, invoicing and financing, to time-tracking and aiding widgets, it’s a growing list. In theory, the concept behind plugins is genius, but when you consider how much you have to pay for Base Camp alone, and then the individual add-ons that make it sufficiently comprehensive, the package becomes rather hefty. Realistically, you’re looking at about $50 a month, which will only rise as you gain more clients and projects.

Even if you find Base Camp the ideal solution, chances are it doesn’t need to be your starting point. Enter ProjectPier, the “free, open-source, self-hosted PHP application for managing tasks, projects and teams.”

With ProjectPier, you can add client companies (with members), projects, milestones, task lists and tasks. Together, these features qualify it as a reliable project management system. Moreover, you can share files, start forum-like messages, and collaborate with co-workers and clients.

ProjectPier message details

What makes ProjectPier special is that it’s free and open-source, meaning with updates, it can only get better and offer more powerful functionality. On top of that, it is hosted on your own server, which gives you complete control (and privacy). The installation process is a straight-forward one, with your standard shared hosting supporting PHP and a MySQL database doing just fine. I’ve personally installed it at http://manage.tarekshalaby.com

ProjectPier with a nicer theme

Don’t be pushed away with its 90s Geocities-style interface – thankfully there are alternative themes. I personally prefer the Zura Blue Steel (shown here). You might also notice its email notifications’ feature is not complete, and there’s no way to view all of the upcoming milestones in a traditional calendar, but it is still the number one choice in my book.

The part I like most about ProjectPier, is that my clients actually find it very user-friendly and easy to use. It doesn’t take me the standard ‘technical courses’ to get the clients to add files to it, check out and comment those that I post, and follow up on the tasks as they are being completed. A must-have for any freelance web designer/developer, and I would go as far as saying the same to agencies and small to medium companies in the field.

NOTE: Credit to Omar Mohamed from Hadaye Helwan, Egypt for hand-picking ProjectPier when we were looking for a project management tool for our startup touringa (which is my next post’s topic – stay tuned!).

When working on any web projects, organization is key. Perhaps when you are working on your own, using a handful of tools to be sure that you are on top of things is not a priority – it could in fact become a waste of time. However, once you start collaborating (the key word) with others on projects, it is crucial that you establish a system of communication. Between the projects, tasks, milestones and tickets, you’re sure to be left MIA if email and chat programs are your paths to international communication.

A very popular web-based project management tool is Base Camp by 37 Signals. Although its price tag is not at the attractive end at the spectrum, when you are ready to work with a group and are bidding for bigger projects (with a goal of making more profit), Base Camp’s monthly charge is a small price to pay for a significant increase in efficiency and productivity. The long list of alternatives (both open-source and commercial) could be discussed at another point, the one aspect that I wanted to pay close attention to is tracking issues and bugs.

Without a doubt, one of the best and most popular bug tracking tools is Bugzilla. The free and open-source application can be installed on any server and provides a web interface to be accessed from any browser. However, aside from an interface that could confuse a designer or two, Bugzilla’s main problem is that it requires ‘root’ access on the server it is installed on, which virtually eliminates the vast majority of web hosting providers. If you are not willing to invest in a dedicated server (see my posts on the different types of hosting), or at least a Virtual Private one, nor setup your own server at the home or office, then you’re in a need of an alternative – ideally one that runs entirely using PHP and MySQL.

WebIssues client on Linux

Look no further, for the ever-progressing planet of the beautiful open-source brings you WebIssues; an open-source, self-hosted issue tracking and team collaboration tool by Michał Męciński. Just visit the website, download the zipped file to be unarchived and uploaded to your server (preferably under a sub-domain such as bugs.mywebsite.com). You’ll need to do edit the configuration file and type in the address and login of the database that you’ve created for the application to use. After that, download and install your WebIssues client (available for Linux, Mac OS and Windows) and start reporting bugs.

As oppose to a strictly web interface, WebIssues provides a powerful access via the desktop client. Think of it as replacing your webmail with a desktop email client; performance is much better, the options are much easier to access and far more advanced, and searching/filtering is a walk in the park.

Some of the main features, besides the aforementioned desktop client access, include:

• Easy searching, filtering and sorting of all issues
• Fully customizable issue types, which allows you to tailer the interface for your particular projects
• Different permission levels and security

WebIssues desktop client on Mac OS

Perhaps more importantly, WebIssues strength lies in it’s strong database structure, and its easy-to-use API which allows you to add to it as you see fit. With time, not only will the application itself improve, but developers contributing will introduce even more features and enhancements that we could all benefit from. After the inclusion of an extensive system for reports, as well as a basic web interface, it’s hard to see WebIssues being outdone by any competition.

A core part of a team’s collaboration on web projects consists of tracking all of the bugs that arise, otherwise finishing off projects will become an impossibility. The free, open-source WebIssues allows you to do precisely that, regardless of the OS you use, while hosting it on your own server.

NOTE: WebIssues was first spotted by Omar Mohamed (website under construction), a web developer from Helwan, Egypt.

Many are unaware of just how easy it is to start your own blog using the best open source tool for blogging out there: WordPress. This is a tutorial that will get you up and running in no time. It will cover everything from purchasing your domain name and hosting account, to downloading, installing and configuring WordPress on your website. After all, your space on the World Wide Web is your birth right, and giving it up because you overestimate the process involved is a pity indeed.

So let’s jump right into this

Step 1: Domain & Hosting

Makre sure your host supports PHP and MySQL

Before you can run a website or blog, you need a unique address (domain) pointing to a space that you’ve reserved on a remote server somewhere on the planet (hosting). You can view my guide on hosting to fully understand the different categories, and thus, which one is best for you. Generally speaking, if this is your first time, a standard shared web hosting account, that usually offers a free domain on top, gets the job done.

For example, if you choose to go with Blue Host, then simply visit the website, and sign up for an account that will cost you $7 for every month, and you’ll probably pay for two years in advance. Any standard plan from any provider will do, granted it supports PHP and MySQL databases (some providers don’t offer databases with their basic packages, but that’s a bit of a rarity nowadays).

Step 2: Create the Database

Now that you own an account, log on to the administration control panel, which is provided to you by the hosting company you’ve chosen to go with, to create a database:

Find the link to add databases (could also use PHPMyAdmin)

1. Go to your control panel and login
2. Find the databases link, click “add new database”
3. Give it a name, for example: WordPressBlog
4. Add a user that will be accessing the database (by creating a username and password)
5. Take note of the address of the database (in most cases, it’s “localhost”, but sometimes it’s different. In which case you’ll see it displayed along with the database name somewhere)

Now that you’ve created the database, as well as the credentials for accessing it, you’re ready to install WordPress.

Step 3: Download WordPress, Then Upload It

This is a straight forward process:

1. Go to http://www.wordpress.org/
2. Download the zipped file
3. Unarchive (extract) it on your computer, you should be left with a folder called “wordpress”
4. Open your FTP client. FileZilla is one of the best – free, open source and efficient
5. Enter the FTP information for your website (given to you by your provider, usually found in the control panel)
6. Upload the contents of the “wordpress” folder to the root directory of your website (you can upload the entire folder, in which case the installation would be at: www.yourwebsite.com/wordpress)

Now that WordPress has been uploaded to your server, and your database is created, you are now ready to go through the famous five-minute installation.

Step 4: WordPress Installation

Everything is significantly easier with WordPress, and the installation process is no different.

You'll be prompted to create a configuration file

1. Direct your browser to where the WordPress files had been uploaded (if in the root directory, then just go to www.yourwebsite.com)
2. You will be prompted to create a configuration file, this is where you store basic information such as the database credentials. Click on the button
3. Click on “Let’s go” to enter the information
4. Enter the database information. You should have all of the details from when you created the database earlier. You can also change the prefix of the tables created in the database, but “wp_” will do just fine
   
   

   Enter the database information

5. If the database credentials were correct, WordPress will give you confirmation that the tables have been created and the initial data has been added. In some cases, the configuration file is not writable, in which case you will have to manually edit the file to add the database information. You can follow the steps on the WordPress Codex installation guide
6. Enter the title and email that you would want to use
7. When all goes well, you will be given a temporary generated password that you will use to enter the administration control panel for the first time. Click on login and enter the credentials that you were just handed
   
   

   Temporary account details. Change password after logging in

Now’s the time to access the control panel and get ready to start blogging!

Step 5: Configure WordPress

The first time you enter the admin panel, you should change your password to something you can remember (you’ll be reminded to do so anyway). It’s also good practice to add another user to replace “admin” so that your alias appears with the posts. If you want to create another administrator account, click on “Users” from the menu on the left, then add, then enter the information. Don’t forget to make the user “Administrator”. Now that the user’s created, log out, and login with the new username and password. Feel free to delete the original “admin” user, now that the blog has a new administrator.

As any beautiful open source tool, there are tons of options that you could go for right after a fresh installation. Having said that, the following are the personal recommended additions/configurations after you’ve logged in for the first time:

• Enable Permalinks: This is by far one of the biggest advantages of WordPress; the simplicity of the process of controlling the URLs generated. If you’re a frequent blogger, choose year/month/day/title. Otherwise, year/month/title should do fine
  
  

  Enable Permalinks: easy and powerful

• Enable Akismet Plugin: I’ve talked about this plugin in my post Essential WordPress Plugins where I’ve listed and discussed every single plugin used for this website. Akismet is revolutionary in how it automatically detects spam comments and places them in a separate queue that you’ll probably never need to check – it’s never mistaken
• Browse/Install More Plugins: You can check the list of the plugins I use, or you can simply browse the most popular plugins from the “Plugins” menu item on the left. You won’t lose anything in trying out plugins and disabling them if you’re not satisfied. Almost any website/blog could use popular plugins such as “All in One SEO Pack”, “Contact Form 7″, “Social Bookmarking RELOADED” and “WP Piwik” (here’s why you should be using Piwik instead of Google Analytics)
• Change Theme: As attractive as the default theme may seem at first look, it’s a good idea to go for a different theme. The new version of WordPress allows you to browse the different themes available as if installing plugins – very convenient. You will find the link to install themes under the “Appearance” tab. Otherwise, there are numerous websites dedicated to free WordPress themes that you can install, upload via Filezilla, and activate with the theme menu item

Now you’re golden. You’ve set everything up, and now you’re ready to start sharing your thoughts and ideas with the entire world.

Step 6: Start Blogging!

You can start by making a test post, just to get acquainted with the interface and features. After that, you may want to go through the following content-related options:

• Add a couple of pages where you will be displaying information that doesn’t change much (for example, “About Me”,  “Contact”, or “WordPress Guides”)
• Decide whether or not you’re going to be using categories (best used for posts that are displayed on different parts of the website. Otherwise, stick to tags only). Create your categories from the “Posts” menu item
• Make links’ lists such as “Blogroll” or “Shout out to my people” where you can share various links with the visitors. The “Links” menu item is found on the left and is also very easy to use

That’s it, you’re done! As you can see, the entire process takes 20 minutes or so, and there are substantial amounts of resources for help and support flooding the net if you need them. Generally speaking, it is a straight-forward process and there’s very small room for issues and problems.

You’re Voice on the Web – Your Right

The most important aspect of yet another revolutionary product from the open source community is that it simply acts as a channel that facilities the communication and information exchange between people across space and time regardless of race or origin. It is very important to take advantage of your right as a member of the community of the World Wide Web, the current generations are the first in history to be granted such a privilege. Underestimating its power, or overestimating the technical skills required, is a shame. So get yourself a blog and write about whatever it is you want to blabber about, you have absolute freedom. Beautiful.

The optimistic crowd that form the borderless and limitless open-source community world-wide have finally been rewarded a long sought-after dream: taking the beautiful concept of open-source beyond software, and into the hardware division.

A group of scientists from Standford University have succeeded in putting together a programmable digital camera that allows anyone to write the software to achieve any feature your imagination can come up with. This results in a digital camera made of extremely cheap components, offering features that no other proprietary manufacturer does. You’ll be paying for the dirt-cheap components, and just as they’ve always taught us, the best things in life are free (open-source software included).

This is a brief look at the Frankencamera by the scientists themselves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psi_njPBryE

It currently not the sexiest of cameras, but how charismatic was the first GUI for Linux? What matters is not the current product, but the potential results. And from what we can tell from this revolutionary innovation, the sky is the limit, and the users from every corner of the globe will inevitably be the ones who most benefit.

While it might seem like a bit of a hassle, adding support for the Arabic language on your Mac is a simple, straight-forward process. This is a quick guide to adding the Arabic keyboard to Mac OS X, as well as the softwre to use in order to open and edit office documents in Arabic.

Add the Arabic Language and Keyboard

The first step is to add a foreign keyboard, and that can be easily achieved via the System Preferences:

1. Click on the Apple logo on the top-right corner, and open System Preferences
2. Under the Personal group, select International
3. Go to Input Menu, check Keyboard viewer, scroll through the languages, and select Arabic
   
   

   The international input menu

4. Check Show input menu in menu bar for quick and easy access

Languages' menu

You will notice that your Mac OS X’s native language flag has appeared on the bar across the top (for example, USA flag for US English). In order to start typing in Arabic, simply click on that flag, and select Arabic from the menu that appears. If your keyboard does not have the Arabic alphabet printed on, you can select “Show keyboard” from the flag menu for access to a visual keyboard then you can use your mouse clicks to type. Of course, it is an inconvenience, and you are much better off either getting the letters printed on, attach transparent stickers with the Arabic letters on the keyboard buttons, or purchasing and attaching an external USB keyboard.

Opening and Editing Arabic Office Documents

Many Mac users choose to install Microsoft Office for Mac (the latest of which is the 2008 edition) to use programs such as Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Aside from the fact that it is yet another Microsoft product with stability issues and unexpected flaws, the software bundle has an attractive and intuitive interface, and helps make you productive and efficient. The only major disadvantage, however, is the lack of support for Arabic. This means that you cannot even open a .doc file, for example, that is written in Arabic.

download OpenOffice.org

There are two main office bundles that can tackle this problem: Apple iWork (with Arabic support), and OpenOffice.org. The former could be quite pricey and does not necessarily offer the smoothest transition from its Microsoft counterpart. The latter, on the other hand, is free and open source. Even if OpenOffice.org cannot be considered a direct replacement, it remains a convenient solution as it sits comfortably side-by-side with Microsoft Office without consuming much space or resources in general.

Thus, this is how you can install and configure OpenOffice.org to work as a supplement:

1. Go to http://www.openoffice.org/ and download the installation file
2. Install OOo on your local machines and move it to your Applications folder
3. Open OOo and go to the Preferences menu
4. Under Language Settings, select Languages, check Enabled for complex text layout (CTL)
5. Select Arabic (Egypt) from the CTL drop-down list
   
   

   OpenOffice.org Language Settings

This will result in the ability to type, create/edit office documents, and open files, all in Arabic. The same could be applied to any language, but Arabic in particular tends to scare people off with its apparent complexity, but as you’ve seen, it’s as easy as basic configuration, and a beautiful product from the open source community.

When Google announced the open source mobile operating system, it reminded everyone of how the power of open source extends beyond desktops, it can now be experienced on the road via portable devices and mobile phones. Skeptical linux fans would’ve preferred the open-source community to come up with it first, but nevertheless, even if it is a huge corporation that set the stage, it is still the users and the penguin people that produce the play.

That has been precisely demonstrated via Dj’it, the latest and most exciting product of the Android industry, that brings a wealth of functionality and flexibility to your Android phone.

The Dj'it Application for Android

Dj’it is an application for your cell phone that turns it into a music console. It’s the ideal solution for music lovers that want to take their parties on the road, and be able to preform advanced tasks, such as composing and mixing, on the go using their mobile phone.

Whilst still in the development phase, it promises to bring live dual-track mixing directly from your music library straight from your phone. Therefore you have the ability to play different tracks in parallel, and mix between them. No need to worry about the volume levels, Dj’it automatically settles the tunes on the some tone so that the transition is smooth and seamless. Moreover, you can use your phone as a compositor to record tracks and blend them in with the ones on your phone.

Throw a party, and spin away

Even for those who love the music, but dislike the technicality behind it, Dj’it can be all fun and games, as it allows you to organize parties, locate them on the map, and invite those who will be dancing to the live DJ spins, also carried out by the Android application.

Create playlists

After sorting out your playlists and tunes, you can then share them with fellow Dj’iters and connect with them. You can also map out the locations of Dj’it parties, or send out invitations for others to join the musical revolution.

The Dj’it team, boasting developers Roberto Diaz and Gema Socorro, is based in Gran Canaria, Spain, and is taking the music console to the Android Development Challenge. You can learn more about the project through the Dj’it Facebook page.