Your tech career depends on preparing for the cloud

[Fayla]

It's a system with a single, critical point of failure. Besides, I'm sure that hardware manufacturers won't like it either, since it would destroy / cripple their business. --Little or no need for super fast performing storage / media devices when the main performance decider would be your network connection's speed.

Don't usually repeat myself, but the "Cloud Concept" is a total Joke for so many reasons. It will never happen and the people and corporations that think (or hope) this will happen are truly "In the Clouds"

 

[thehappyman]

And how about "Networking" all your company computers together using "The Cloud" - What a Joke - How stupid do they think we are.

 

[BCXtreme]

As Lost Colonist said, probably the biggest corporate opponent of this will be the hardware manufacturers. In a truly cloud-based world, only the clouds themselves will have motherboards, GPUs, hard drives, and processors. You will pay, say, $40/month extra (likely more than that) to access a cloud system capable of high-end graphics and video games. And I'd be willing to wager that another initial moneymaker attempt will be to charge for the number of programs you're allowed to use simultaneously. Like say, one app at a time with standard cloud storage, and $10/month more per app for multitasking.

Another interesting thought is, the cloud is promoted as allowing you to access your data "anywhere, anytime." But it would not surprise me if, say, an Apple cloud would eventually be restricted to run only on Apple devices. Yet another interesting thought is, even Verizon Wireless, the largest cell network in the U.S., does not quite have total 100% data coverage of the entire U.S. landmass; and there are also significant pockets where home broadband is not available. Many poorer countries don't have decent widespread Internet access at all. If you go completely cloud-based, you cut off all of those people from computer access. In poorer countries, you wouldn't even be able to save money and eventually buy your own computer someday, because everything would be subscription-based, requiring a constant flow of money to continue using the system.

As an interesting analogy, the only way for most people to reach real-life clouds is by paying significant amounts of money for airplane tickets; you can't get there on your own. So "Cloud" = "distant / out of reach". So much for "pleasant connotations," huh?!

As at least one other person has said before, the cloud would take the "personal" out of "personal computing."

 

[lehnerus2000]

Fake Savings

As Lost Colonist said, probably the biggest corporate opponent of this will be the hardware manufacturers. In a truly cloud-based world, only the clouds themselves will have motherboards, GPUs, hard drives, and processors.

Agreed.
I'm not sure why they're not "nipping this in the bud".

You will pay, say, $40/month extra (likely more than that) to access a cloud system capable of high-end graphics and video games. And I'd be willing to wager that another initial moneymaker attempt will be to charge for the number of programs you're allowed to use simultaneously. Like say, one app at a time with standard cloud storage, and $10/month more per app for multitasking.

It's just the same as renting gadgets.
I couldn't afford $700 for a PVR, so I had to rent one.
I've been renting it for so long that I've paid equivalent to the cost of 2 PVR units.

It's a fake saving.
If you are paying $40/month to access an office software suite, after 10 months you could have paid for MS Office.
Every month after that you are losing money.
You still need a PC (at the moment) and broadband access.

This scheme is designed to appeal to "know nothing" CEOs and accountants.

As at least one other person has said before, the cloud would take the "personal" out of "personal computing."

Indeed.

 

[mr pc]

I just can't imagine that those behind the "Cloud" push would not be thinking of liability extensively. If this is going to be an "all-inclusive" experience and we know that people just don't live without computing nowadays so imagine a mass exodus of users go Cloud - there are a few hiccups: data loss/corruption/theft/mining/access/cost/contract violations etc.

Just a few well placed lawsuits would bring down the Cloud provider. The gig is cut off and then the rest of the users are burned and have to relocate back to their homes - also considering further lawsuits for damages. It could be a legal nightmare.

 

[Buddahfan]

How come little public argument from the "Cloud" pushers against govt regs that could adversely affect this new form of computing?

Because they both want the cloud (for different reasons), and there will be enough exemptions and loopholes written in whatever laws that are to be written, which will immunize those businesses from harm.

The new laws will give the Feds the right to close down whatever part of the internet that they want if they feel that it warrants them doing so.

It will be done with an executive order issued by the President.

 

[Tepid]

How come little public argument from the "Cloud" pushers against govt regs that could adversely affect this new form of computing?

Because they both want the cloud (for different reasons), and there will be enough exemptions and loopholes written in whatever laws that are to be written, which will immunize those businesses from harm.

The new laws will give the Feds the right to close down whatever part of the internet that they want if they feel that it warrants them doing so.

It will be done with an executive order issued by the President.

Yeah to go along with your very own personal IP Address that can be tracked, blocked and banned at will.

Not to mention degraded bandwidth, higher fees applied, censored and black listed.

Welcome to the new Utopia.

 

[smarteyeball]

- How stupid do they think we are.

Very.

Welcome to the new Utopia.

And welcome the world of re-definitions

 

[Buddahfan]

Soluto

I will try and keep this post short

If you want to skip the detail go to the Update at the end of the post for the comment about Cloud

Using a PC can be a deeply frustrating experience.
We have all come to expect our computers to be sluggish or unresponsive at times, for no apparent reason.

Soluto’s goal is to bring an end to the frustrations PC users encounter.
Soluto developed technology that tackles this problem from two different directions:

Soluto

Can Soluto really make PCs less frustrating?

By Ed Bott | May 25, 2010, 5:19am PDT

A tiny software startup in Israel is trying to make your PC less frustrating. I got a sneak peek at Soluto last month, before its official unveiling yesterday, and I’ve had a few days to play with their software in advance of this first look.

The idea behind Soluto is to use the experience of thousands (or, ultimately, millions) of PC users to approximate the knowledge that a Windows expert gathers by trial and error. The software—currently in beta and free for the download—runs as a background service that watches your PC as it works, detecting slowdowns and trying to analyze the cause. By comparing those events and possible causes against a database of apps, drivers, and other software (cleverly called the PC Genome), the software can suggest solutions that you can implement with a click or two.................

Windows 7 already does a decent job of delaying and prioritizing some startup tasks so that the system feels responsive well before it officially completes all boot-related tasks. On that virtual PC with the nearly-three-minute boot, I was able to be productive less than a minute after startup—launching programs, using a web browser, and checking e-mail while the system did many of its startup tasks in the background. Still, performance felt snappier and some tasks were more responsive after Soluto had completed its work. I would expect more noticeable performance improvements on Windows XP, which uses a less sophisticated startup process.

Soluto’s software is lightweight and unobtrusive, although, ironically, it notes that it delays startup by a few seconds. On the two systems where I’ve installed it, I’ve seen no untoward side-effects, and its recommendations have been reasonable and conservative.

This is a very clever solution to a genuinely frustrating problem. Time will tell if this startup can build the critical mass they need to be a success. If you try the software out, I’m interested in hearing your experiences.


Update 25-May 10AM Pacific: Ah, the woes of being a cloud-based startup. Soluto’s servers are being hammered right now, which means that the cloud-based service is not responding properly and is returning a misleading error message. The company says they’re working hard to resolve the issues.

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.
Link to complete ZD-Net article

 

[BCXtreme]

Agreed.
I'm not sure why they're not "nipping this in the bud".

Probably because they're as confident as I am that this vision of a totally-clouded p) world will never happen.

It's just the same as renting gadgets.
I couldn't afford $700 for a PVR, so I had to rent one.
I've been renting it for so long that I've paid equivalent to the cost of 2 PVR units.

It's a fake saving.
If you are paying $40/month to access an office software suite, after 10 months you could have paid for MS Office.
Every month after that you are losing money.
You still need a PC (at the moment) and broadband access.

This scheme is designed to appeal to "know nothing" CEOs and accountants.

Actually, most accountants are probably smart enough to figure out the long-term costs. It's the CEOs we have to worry about; or rather, the CEOs that aren't accompanied in the hierarchy by a CTO.

I just can't imagine that those behind the "Cloud" push would not be thinking of liability extensively. If this is going to be an "all-inclusive" experience and we know that people just don't live without computing nowadays so imagine a mass exodus of users go Cloud - there are a few hiccups: data loss/corruption/theft/mining/access/cost/contract violations etc.

Just a few well placed lawsuits would bring down the Cloud provider. The gig is cut off and then the rest of the users are burned and have to relocate back to their homes - also considering further lawsuits for damages. It could be a legal nightmare.

Another doomsday scenario. Yes, liability would be a big issue. Especially since there are people out there that will sue anyone involved in a given scenario, regardless of whether those parties were at fault or not. I can just see cloud providers getting sued by users over accidental deletion of data due to PEBKAC: "There should have been more failsafes," "It shouldn't have even let me delete something that important." Then you wind up with you actually having to get special permission from the cloud provider to alter or delete your data.

The new laws will give the Feds the right to close down whatever part of the internet that they want if they feel that it warrants them doing so.

It will be done with an executive order issued by the President.

That law was never passed, to my knowledge.

Yeah to go along with your very own personal IP Address that can be tracked, blocked and banned at will.

Not to mention degraded bandwidth, higher fees applied, censored and black listed.

Welcome to the new Utopia.

By all means, write to your representatives and senators and express your opinion, whatever it might be. But let's not discuss it all here, it's really not the place.

Suffice it to say that cloud-computing as an all-inclusive idea is ripe for abuse at all levels: private, corporate, and government.

 

[Buddahfan]

New Cassandra database can pack two billion columns into a row

New Cassandra database can pack two billion columns into a row

By Joab Jackson
January 14, 2011 11:34 AM ET


IDG News Service

The cadre of volunteer developers behind the Cassandra distributed database have released the latest version of their open source software, able to hold up to 2 billion columns per row.

An open source database capable of holding such lengthy rows could be most useful to big data cloud computing projects...................

 

[mr pc]

But Will It Blend?

 

[Buddahfan]

But Will It Blend?

What do you think?

 

[Buddahfan]

6 Ways To Fail In The Cloud

Our latest survey shows double-digit increases in cloud adoption. But ignore integration, security, connectivity, and three other factors at your peril.

By Michael Healey , InformationWeek
January 15, 2011 12:00 AM
http://www.informationweek.com/news...ticleID=229000684&cid=InformationWeek-Twitter

http://www.informationweek.com/news...ticleID=229000684&cid=InformationWeek-Twitter
cont here

 

[Buddahfan]

Report: Breaches in the cloud illustrate need for stronger authentication

The number of security breaches is rising as organizations increase their reliance on cloud-based services, collaboration tools and enabling users to access networks, Forrester says in a new report. Weak usernames and passwords are making matters worse.

It appears that there are storm clouds gathering

 

[Dave76]

The inevitable has already begun, who could of guessed :sarc:

 

[Tepid]

Man, gotta love it.

you can not hardly get the largest majority of users in any organization to use a properly formatted password.
There will come a time when you will no longer be able to choose your own password. It will be provided.

OR, you will be provided your own IP (almost inevitable) and uncrackable RSA by anyone other than government (if your lucky).

Hahahaha,, the Real tyrants of the WWW are a comin', are you ready?
Or do you even care?

 

[Colonel Travis]

Tepid, your post should be engraved on a 12x9 horizontal plaque and hung above every office door and office bathroom door on planet earth. It would probably cost 4-5 trillion dollars but I think it would be worth it.

 

[Iforgot]

IBM developed Clusters in Linux, to use the power of desktop pc's
Microsoft is developing "The Cloud" so the latest multi core pc's can be used as Terminals.

 

[Buddahfan]

Cloud computing makes users of us all

January 24, 2011
Cloud computing makes users of us all

As we outsource more and more to cloud services, those of us in IT will be reduced to pleading on the phone just like our users.


Here's yet another reason cloud computing is not a new idea: For users, corporate computing has always been a cloud. Users have applications they rely on to do their jobs; they load data to crunch on; they interact digitally with coworkers, clients, and partners -- and all of it comes from this amorphous blob known as IT. Without this stuff, most of them would have nothing to do.
That obliviousness, for better or worse, defines the relationship between users and IT: From their desks, users look down the hall toward IT and see ... nothing. Night-vision goggles can't help, nor would a bridge allow them to cross the chasm and instantly discover what IT is about.
[ Also on InfoWorld.com: Paul Venezia reflects on the lessons from the days of gonzo IT. | Cut straight to the key news for technology development and IT management with our once-a-day summary of the top tech news. Subscribe to the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. ]
This distance from core technology extends to users' personal lives. They're using Gmail, streaming movies from Hulu or Netflix, and using sites like Flickr and Facebook to provide them with all kinds of services -- and they magically work. They're someone else's problems, and when it breaks, users get very angry.
In IT, we know exactly how the sausage is made. We too rely on data, applications, and communications tools to do our jobs, but we have the benefit of being able to see into the magical forest of the back end. We're also far likelier to fix technical problems on our own -- or we should be. An IT person would never be fazed by a dialog box that has a greyed-out Continue button and an empty check box, for instance.

cont on link above