I decided to conduct regular polls on interesting CSR / Sustainability topics during 2012. The plan is to do a new poll every 3 weeks going from Sunday to Friday that week.
This is this weeks poll:
Thank you for participating and I will publish an analysis of the results once the poll has closed here on my blog.
Google Chrome has been a great browser ever since I changed about a year ago and I must say that I will most likely not go back to Firefox any time soon. Today I want to provide you with additional Google Chrome extensions I am using at the moment.
I am using more extensions then listed here so please visit these two previous posts to have a browse through the others not listed below.
Previous Google Chrome posts:
These are my latest favorite Google Chrome extensions:
Chrome Reader – If you are using Google Reader and Chrome this is an indispensible extension in my view. Ever since I started using this little helper I am reading so many more interesting blog posts and it has helped me immense to clean up my RSS feed lists.
Google Quick Scroll – Google Quick Scroll points you to the exact position on the page when you click on the search result in your Google search. This tool safes me so much time each day when doing specific research. A win-win!
Share on Google+ Button – An essential tool for using Google+ these days. If you actively share information on Google+, will this tool make it so much easier.
I am big fan of Google+. This much is clear from previous posts I guess. As Google+ is evolving and the Google team are adding more and more features, for me Google+ really proves itself as a great conversation tool. It is my clear alternative to Twitter these days.
Today I would like to introduce you to four people on Google+ which I find extremely useful to have in my Sustainability circle when we talk about Sustainability, CSR and Social Media topics. 
Anneliza Humlen: A very interesting variety of posts including Sustainability, Social Media and Marketing.
Andrea Learned: You can rely on Andrea to provide really insightful Sustainability posts, politics commentary and on all other interesting information she comes across.
Priti Ambani: Priti’s shares are all about Sustainability, CSR and blogging. She has insightful comments and always engages. Keep up the great work Priti!
Tom Raftery: Tom seems to have discovered the real value of Google+ to harness conversations on Sustainability and Social Media. If you are looking for anyone that is using Google+ as a very effective tool for communication in this field you need to add Tom to your circles.
Google is trying to compete with Facebook and Twitter. That is what we know. After deciding to discontinue Google Wave and now Google Buzz, Google+ its latest attempt seems to finally have the potential to be a success (Stats from July).
As you would expect, have I also joined several months. And I have been positively surprised. So much so that I am now ditching Facebook as a place to share my regular updates and will purely focus on Twitter and Google+.
The reason is simple for me. Facebook is for close friends and better acquaintances but not for regular updates about resources or other social media related communications. And so far the Facebook feedback has been good on this change of tactics. My friends on Facebook are not interested in 10-20 daily updates and retweets. They want to know more about me and what I do each week personally. Well at least sometimes! 
Why I see Google+ as an alternative next to Twitter
Google+ gives you the possibility to start actual and much more meaningful conversations in my view. This is not possible on Twitter anymore as much as it was a year ago. There is so much noise on Twitter that I feel that I am missing all the good tweets and resources these days. As a consequence will I now start to unfollow a lot of people on Twitter and only follow these people I feel are relevant for the conversations I want to listen to on Twitter.
If you are looking to join Google+ please feel free to contact me to invite you or just register yourself.
This is my Google+ link: Fabian on Google+
See you on Google+ or back here of course!
WIth the arrival of Google+ , Google’s answer to Facebook, the choice which Social Media Network to use just got more complicated (Link to the Google+ News)
With so much choice these days we are are clearly left with the dilemma which Social Media Network best fits our needs and wants. Here is what I am doing and would recommend for the time being.
Twitter
This is still my absolute favorite network to share information on. To me it seems that Twitter is also maturing at the moment. Most people I connect with on Twitter know what they are talking about and have been on Twitter for a while now (i.e. know what they want from this Network). This is a good sign for the quality conversations and interaction in my view.
My advice: Use Twitter as your number one Social Media Network. There is no better alternative out there at the moment.
Facebook
I like Facebook and when I started to share more business related information a few months back, the feedback I got was and still is pretty mixed. For me the big question with Facebook is whether I am not annoying all other friends with this business information when they are expecting more of a personal note. Facebook is intended to be more personal after all.
My advice: Use Facebook mainly for personal connections. A way to differentiate networks is not really possible at the moment.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great site to host your online CV if you want to call it that. But I am not using it other then as an automatic outlet for my Twitter updates. LinkedIn in my view is the classic example of a great Social Network that is not being used enough from my side at the moment unfortunately.
My advice: Use LinkedIn on a limited basis at the moment. It is great for your personal CV, etc but not really for engaging a wider network of people you do not know so far.
Google+
Google+ is the new player in town. I have managed to get in while it is still in the testing phase and must say that I really like it. It is much simpler and “cleaner” in comparison to Facebook. The idea I have once Google+ is open to everyone, is that I will use this Social Media Network as my second CSR / Sustainability information outlet next to Twitter and limit my Facebook updates to purely personal updates.
My advice: Signup with Google+ and start creating your professional so called “Circles”. I am sure Google+ will be successful. Once more people sign up, you will see that it is a Social Media Network which will enable you to share relevant information for the intended networks at a click of a button.
I am using Google applications in many of my daily online activities and todays post is about providing you with what applications I am using and how this might help you as well depending on what you do online and how you use the web.
First step for everyone will be to create a Google Account. I know that we have too many accounts online these days. But this is an absolute necessity to have in my opinion. If you are looking to utilize the best online tools, etc there is no way without a Google Account. To create an Google Account just go to Google.com and click on the Sign In link on the top right hand corner.
These are the Google applications I find most useful and I am using currently:
Google Mail (Gmail)
Gmail has some amazing email features and is really useful for managing all of your contacts as well. But make sure to back up the contacts into your spreadsheet to always have them secure as well. It is also fully iPhone compatible and you can use Gmail offline or add it to your email client. Either way. Having a gmail account is a must in my opinion.
Google Docs
Google Docs is the ideal solution for sharing documents with others and for working on the same documents at the same time while being online. Here is a short video of how to use Google Docs as there are so many features for this post:
The Google Reader:
This is my central application for gathering information, news and the only way to stay on top of my blog subscriptions (250+). I found that this is the best way to manage your RSS feed subscriptions. There are many other applications that build on top of the Google Reader but the original still works the best for me.
Google Calendar
This is the application I use to manage my schedule/calendar. This calendar is fully integrated into your account but can be accessed many other different ways. I use this calendar on my iPhone and my mac and it just works like a charm. It is also nice that the Google calendar has a full integration of my Remember the Milk task/todo manager.
Google Wave
This is the new kid on the block. It will be a great collaboration tool in the future. Currently in the beta phase and Google still needs to add a lot more functionality, etc to make just right. So stay tuned. Currently you need to be invited to use Google Wave but I usually always have invites left so let me know if you need one. Here is the introduction video for you to have a first look:
These are some of the Google applications I use but there are many more to choose from. This is where to find them all: All Google Applications
Note: I am not associated with Google by any means. The intention of the post is to be helpful and useful to you the reader. Nothing more and nothing less. 
Picture Credit: adria.richards
This is the second post of the new series on domain names. Domain names have been my hobby for a long time now and the purpose of this series is to explain what I find important about domain names.
The topic of this post will be about the key uses of a domain name across the internet. The so called domain different classes.
People, organisations and governments now make different use of domain names. Here are so called domain names classes I have identified when looking at uses of domain names.
Class 1 – Personal Names
These are domain names that derive from the person’s name. Like my blog. FabianPattberg.com. mostly used for blogs and personal websites. I have only come across one different usage. Check out MaxGladwell.com. Max is not a person but only a blog brand, very clever Max.
Class 2 – Generic names
A generic domain name features a word or words that can not usually be trademarked on their own. That is why generic domain names are so popular. They are not nonsense names (class 3) that do not make sense. An example would be OrganicFood.com or MobilePhone.com these generic names are sometimes referred to as the “Real Estate of the Internet”. Some of them can be very valuable. Parked.com (Domain Parking Service) is an example.
Class 3 – Brandable and Nonsense Names
Brandable and nonsense names do not usually have an inherent meaning or obvious use on their own and are usually combinations of words. Because there are so many combinations possible with brandable / nonsense names the value usually is not more then the registration costs if undeveloped. But if you intend to develop this domain name into a website and you have pronounceable name, then you are in a good position to create your own nice brand. Examples are: Yahoo.com or Google.com
Class 4 – Acronyms
These are interesting when you have a longer company or a phrase that you would like to use as a domain name. An example is the writers network I run. The name of the network is “The Sustainability Writers Network” and the domain name I use is TSWN.org. In this way you are making the domain names a lot more user friendly when it comes to communicating with your visitor on the web. Instead of writing the full name he/she just needs to type in the acronym.
Class 5 – Numbers
Numbers are good to remember but usually do not serve as a good and useful domain name. I have seen some websites with number domains but these tend to be trendy and web designer websites. The only examples not fitting in this is 888.com but we all know that 888 is a lucky number in some cultures.
Class 6 – Letter and Number Combinations
This is the last domain name class that is really a mix of good and bad. You can have really useful names such as F1.com but these combinations are in most cases branded and trade mark protected. The important thing here is to have a short and pronounceable domain name. If you have that then you are in luck. Other wise are these domain names useless in my opinion.
One last point is that these domain name classes can be blurred sometimes. Different cultures across the globe have different words and expressions. These then used sometimes are great domain names. But also means something else: Always check the meaning of a domain name in different cultures to make sure you are not developing a brand with multiple meaning across cultures.
Next weeks domain series will be on the different domain extensions such as .com., .org, etc. So stay tuned.
Picture Credit: Daniel Broche
I have started using iGoogle over the past weeks and I am really amazed what you can do with it. This post is about how you could use iGoogle to better organize your day.
The general purpose of iGoogle is to provide you with one or more pages to combine many gadgets as they call that can make your life easier. Gadgets can either be RSS feeds, blogs and applications. Everything is customizable and really a pleasure to work with.
Here are my favourite gadgets for raising your productivity and for the better organisation of your day through iGoogle:
And finally when you look at your iGoogle page and think that it is a mess then take a look at this gadget. The compound gadget is a great tool to organize your gadgets into tabs in a compound gadget to give you a cleaner and easier usage of the page.
This is rounds up our look at iGoogle today so let me know whether I missed any good gadgets. All gadgets can be found here: All iGoogle Gadgets
All the best,
Fabian