Why does IT ask you to clear your cache?

posted in: Did You Know 0

Have you ever called into L2B with a website functionality query and our staff ask you to clear your cache? Ever wondered why we, or IT, ask you to do this?
Caching helps with data retrieval from websites that you have visited on a web browser. Cached data assist web pages to load faster, as a portion of its content gets saved on your hard drive when loading it for the first time. Depending on your web browser settings and the number of websites that you have visited, cached data can potentially use up a lot of your computer memory. Clearing your cache protects your personal information from being picked up by a hacker and helps your web browser to run expeditiously.

In many instances when troubleshooting a website issue, caching is usually the culprit that prevents a web page from loading correctly. For example, when a new version of a website is rolled out, the cached data from the old version can cause the new version not to load up correctly. In most cases just clearing your cache would resolve the issue as this action forces the web browser to pull down a new instance of the website.

Like many things, it’s about finding the right balance. Clearing your cache frequently is not recommended, as you lose all the data acquired from all the websites that you have visited. This is not exactly ideal because when visiting any of these websites again your web browser will re-download all the data again, hence increasing your web page loading time and probably using more of your data. So, it’s best to clear your cache when there is an issue or if you have not done so in a month.

Sources:
Viteom
Ionos


To view more Articles, please visit our Leads 2 Business Blog.
If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit Leads 2 Business.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit Leads 2 Business Wiki.

About Andile Shange

I'm a Software Developer at Leads 2 Business since 02 June 2014.

Staff Spotlight: Andile Shange

Andile Shange STAFF SPOTLIGHT - doc

To view more Articles, please visit our Leads 2 Business Blog.
If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit Leads 2 Business.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit Leads 2 Business Wiki.

About Andile Shange

I'm a Software Developer at Leads 2 Business since 02 June 2014.

Coding Explained (for non Developers)

posted in: General 1

A bunch of random numbers, gibberish that doesn’t make sense but can produce life-changing applications in desktop, mobile and webspace.

This is usually the flow in conversations I have with my non-developer friends when discussing computer programming. For non-developers, this world can be quite intimidating and understandably so I will use a simple Console App program, that calculates the end user’s age.

Let’s first identify all the tools we need to assemble a Console App program. So, all we need to install is Microsoft Visual Studio on our Windows system that meets the minimum requirements. Once installed, we can launch Microsoft Visual Studio and then create a Console Application project, selecting C# as our preferred programming language.

After which we will be presented with a similar code snippet, as below:

.Net Class Library – The “using” statement is used to import the .Net Framework modules that are required to run code on a Windows system.
Open & Close – We use containers a lot to segment code and these segments are scoped by open “{” and “}” close curly braces.
Namespace – This is a container that encapsulates classes.
Class – All code needs to be logically defined in a module called a “class”.
Method Name – This is the code block that contains all the statements and in a Console App program, this is the code block that gets executed first.
Comment – This is the non-executed text that is used to explain the source code.
Console.Write/WriteLine – “Console.Write” renders text inline and “Console.WriteLine” renders text on a new line.
Console.ReadLine – Gets user input.
int yourBirthYear – We declare a variable called “yourBirthYear” that stores an integer(numeric) value.
Convert.ToInt32 – A method used to convert text to an integer.
int yourAge = todaysYear – yourBirthYear – Finally we calculate your age, we take today’s year derived from the Windows system and then subtract the year captured by the end-user. The result gets stored in an integer variable called “yourAge”, which gets printed on the next line.

We can now press F5 to execute the above Console App program. Pending there are no errors in our source code, the below snippet will pop up. Prompting the end-user to enter the year there were born.

At this stage, we have successfully built our first computer program.


To view more Articles, please visit our Leads 2 Business Blog.
If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit Leads 2 Business.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit Leads 2 Business Wiki.

About Andile Shange

I'm a Software Developer at Leads 2 Business since 02 June 2014.

How to Reduce your Carbon Footprint

posted in: General 0

How to reduce your carbon footprint.

With the constant growth of population across the globe, it is imperative to be aware of things you can do to save the planet. Adopting an environmentally friendly lifestyle can really make an impact on the overall climate preservation.
Below are a few practical changes you can make in your day-to-day life to reduce your carbon footprint.


There are simple tweaks that you can make which in return can save you energy and money.
Turning off your lights and appliances when they are not in use. Using laptops instead of desktops, as they use less energy. Replacing your fridge, if it’s 15-20 years old as they can be “energy hogs”. Planting trees around your home.
Using the following 5 R’s of zero waste:
Refuse – Avoid single use of plastic and paper
Reduce – Buying only what you need
Reuse – Dispose of less and upcycling items where possible
Rot – Find a nearby food drop off centre
Recycle – Glass and metal


The most environmentally friendly diet is one with less meat (red), as red meat production uses a lot of water and land. Growing your own garden consisting of lower food chain products such as vegetables, fruits, grains and beans can be one of the best ways to lower your carbon footprint. Eating in season and locally, can really help to reduce the carbon footprint created by shipment of your foods, especially when you consider how far your food had to travel to get to you.


As a consumer society, we think of fashion as disposable items and often justify buying the latest styles. Resulting in our wardrobes being overly populated and resulting in most of our clothing items in landfill sites. Which presents an issue of contamination as some of these clothes are not “organic” and often sprayed with lots of pesticides. To mitigate this overload, we can re-purpose old clothing, buy locally handmade garments and vintage.


Toxins emitted by transportation engines are not only very dangerous to human health, but the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from transportation engines far surpasses emissions from electrical generators. This identifies transportation engines as one of the biggest sources of air pollution.
Where plausible you should walk, cycle or take a bus to your destination. When using a vehicle, spread your carbon burden by inviting people to share your commute. If you are frequent vehicle user, service your vehicle regularly to reduce emissions.
Most importantly “Go easy on the gas”.

Sources:
Going Zero Waste
NY Times
Wired


To view more Articles, please visit our Leads 2 Business Blog.
If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit Leads 2 Business.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit Leads 2 Business Wiki.

About Andile Shange

I'm a Software Developer at Leads 2 Business since 02 June 2014.

Fitness Secrets from a Tech Junkie

posted in: General 0

Fitness Secrets from a Tech Junkie

For those of you that are looking for hacks, quick fixes aren’t a thing when it comes to Fitness. You have to put in cash and consistent hard work. Yes, cash plays a huge role in this Algorithm. From paying for Gym Fee (public use), Gym Equipment (private use), Nutrition and Gadgets that give you a slight advantage.

Gym Fee

Many of us keep Gym Memberships for guilt purposes, in the hope that someday we will use these premises. As we all know this could be a costly exercise. But for those who are in it for all the right reasons, exercising within a public audience can increase work-rate. Affordability and location is something that one needs to evaluate before committing.

Gym Equipment

I find that having gym equipment at home works best for intermediate and advanced fitness junkies, as they have already been exposed to this broad world. Whereas, public facilities (such as gyms) could be more beneficial to beginners. An example of this would be, someone who wants to start the gym but doesn’t necessarily know where to start or what to buy. Fitness junkies already know what works best out there and seldom make the mistake of overspending on excessive fitness equipment and nutrition.

Nutrition

Just as all conventional concepts of computing employ the IPO (Input, Process, Output) System. Your diet plays a huge role when exercising, from your stamina to your overall outcome. This starts with your first meal to your last meal of the day and of course not neglecting snacks in between. Firstly you have to identify your goal; may it be Losing Fat, Building Muscle, Improving Endurance or Increasing Flexibility. You need a diet plan.

Gadgets

It is 2019 after all, so much has changed with how the modern world does things. Keeping track of your progress is essential and this where these gadgets come into play. There are some impressive fitness gadgets out there namely: Ozmo Active Smart Bottle, Tangran Smartrope, Bose Soundsport Free wireless headphone, Garmin Forerunner 235, JaxJox KettlebellConnect, Powerdot Pain Reliever, Vyper 2 Vibrating Fitness Roller and Withings Boady Cardio. Don’t be afraid to spend on a good gadget. The results can be very rewarding.

Hard-work

Catching up with your mates whilst exercising can be a distraction, you have to stay focused and make every second count. Many fitness junkies would rather train alone than with a friend and even go to the extreme of changing gyms just to maintain focus. This is something you’d need to monitor because you have to keep your break intervals short to get maximum results from your exercise. Challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to go that 1 km extra or to add an extra 5 kg on that last set. If you never try it, you’ll never know what it feels like to do it.

Consistency

With the festive season approaching, many of us are looking forward to vacationing more than anything and the gym will be taking a back seat during this season for most of us. Maybe what you could do is to shorten your workout period instead of cutting it out completely because complete absence is not an option. This way you won’t feel guilty when having that ice-cream.

Many fitness junkies use this time best, as they know that public facilities are less congested and residential roads are a little quieter than usual. This is a great opportunity for beginners to start exercising because they don’t need to wait to make the infamous New Year’s Resolution pledge to start.

Sources:
Self
Breaking Muscle
Matador Network


If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit Leads 2 Business.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit Leads 2 Business Wiki.
To view more Articles, please visit our Leads 2 Business Blog.

About Andile Shange

I'm a Software Developer at Leads 2 Business since 02 June 2014.

L2B Blog: The Year in Review – 10 Best Blog posts from 2017

If you have missed any of our blog posts this year, here is a monthly review of some of the best blog posts from 2017, depicted from your traffic volume:

 

 

 

The booming growth of “Commercial Construction & Renovation” happening in  South Africa.

Written By: Sasha Anderson

Publication date: 30 January 2017

Page Views: 82

Unique Page Views: 35

Average Time spent on the blog: 38 seconds

 

 

 

 

Enhance your fishing abilities to entice the big fish businesses through “Mastering the art of cold calling, tips for successful B2B Sales

Written by: Karen Garner-Savory

Publication date: 09 February 2017

Page Views: 256

Unique Page Views: 111

Average Time spent on the blog: 30 seconds

 

 

 

 

 

Providing a creative remedy for tedious daily tasks with “Innovations In Smart Home Technology

Written by: Marlaine Andersen

Publication date: 09 March 2017

Page Views: 119

Unique Page Views: 58

Average Time spent on the blog: 52 seconds

 

 

 

 

 

 

Racking your brain on the universal human need for shelter. “What is the importance of appointing an architect?

Written by: Claire Donaldson

Publication date: 13 April 2017

Page Views: 124

Unique Page Views: 48

Average Time spent on the blog: 35 seconds

 

 

 

 

 

The never-ending roadworks that we find ourselves in “Potholes and Pitfalls in civil engineering contracts

Written by: Bianca Warwick

Publication date: 11 May 2017

Page Views: 108

Unique Page Views: 67

Average Time spent on the blog: 03 Minutes and 04 Seconds

 

 

 

 

A quirky and yet vital list of “10 (or 11) tips for recruiting great Project Managers

Written by: Michelle Hosford

Publication date: 15 June 2017

Page Views: 110

Unique Page Views: 50

Average Time spent on the blog: 02 Minutes and 51 Seconds

 

 

 

 

 

Finding a favourable balance in room temperature to get the ‘ka-ching’ light bulb. “Why air conditioning can increase productivity

Written by: Jackie Van Zyl

Publication date: 13 July 2017

Page Views: 273

Unique Page Views: 112

Average Time spent on the blog: 01 Minute and 147 Seconds

 

 

 

 

 

Quenching the thirst with tools pertaining to water preservation with “Waste Water Management

Written by: Angelique De Freitas

Publication date: 24 August 2017

Page Views: 264

Unique Page Views: 114

Average Time spent on the blog: 01 Minute and 53 Seconds

 

 

 

 

 

Dealing with the complexities of preserving the environment for our future generations through “Sustainable construction with 3d Modelling

Written by: Tamika Mays

Publication date: 14 September 2017

Page Views: 198

Unique Page Views: 83

Average Time spent on the blog: 32 Seconds

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knocking down barriers without leaving a mess and extra work. Here is a guide on “How to demolish a wall the right way

Written by: Julia Smit

Publication date: 12 October 2017

Page Views: 170

Unique Page Views: 75

Average Time spent on the blog: 29 Seconds

 

 

 

We believe that each and every one of our informative blog posts making the above list and being accidentally left out, have allowed you to walk with an insurmountable amount of knowledge, filling out the gaps and providing answers to the questions you may have been too shy to ask.

May the forces be with you.

About Andile Shange

I'm a Software Developer at Leads 2 Business since 02 June 2014.