Archive for: Cloud computing

New Life for Your Thumb Drives with Portable Apps

It’s likely that a lot of us have moved towards cloud computing for storage of our files.
Documents, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations, a lot of these creations are now held in applications like Google Documents, Zoho Writer, or even placed in an application like Drop Box. This transition has left a great many of our thumb drives collecting dust on our desks, or lost in a drawer.

Portable Apps is just one way to bring life to your thumb drive, especially if you like your applications set up a certain way and you’re moving from computer to computer throughout your day. Portable Apps allows you to bring applications such as video viewers, word applications, browsers set up to your liking with your bookmarks, games, and other productivity applications that you may want to carry with you as opposed to having to start from the ground up as you change computers.

Portable virus scanners, portable zip applications, portable image editing software, and even portable coding applications allow a user to increase their productivity as a professional without the fear of downloading software onto another computer, especially if it’s forbidden in areas such as your work computer or a library setting.

Portable Apps promotes itself as “Convenient, Open, and Free.” Your entire life can be portable and your experience can remain the same no matter what computer you are on. Give it a try, dust those thumb drives off and never worry if a computer has the applications you need or if there is a compatibility issue.

Rackspace Crowds the Cloud

Cloud computing has been a buzzword tossed around within the last year, but in the plans for much longer. The idea of cloud computing basically takes files and applications typically native to your hard drive and placing them in the Internet “ether” for users to retrieve on a need basis.

Google has taken great steps to place files in the cloud with apps such as Google Calendar and Google Documents. Amazon has taken strides to offer cloud services and currently leads the market in the cloud-computing sector. While critics will debate the pros and cons of cloud computing, suffice to say that companies are making the move, and just recently Microsoft has taken that step with Azure, which will be discussed in another post.

Two weeks ago, Rackspace managed to host a major event in Austin, TX to announce their movement to the cloud. Rackspace is already a leader in the hosting industry, and now with the cloud computing additions, looks to tackle the market that Amazon has held for a number of years.

The announcement was kicked off by sharing the two companies that Rackspace had acquired to move them closer to full coverage in the cloud, Jungledisk and Slicehost. These two acquisitions fulfill the comprehensive portfolio of services that Rackspace offers to coincide with their hosting services.

According to the Rackspace blog, “Rackspace’s cloud strategy is supported by three core offerings…” These three core areas are:

• Clouds Sites: This is Rackspace’s flagship offering, which offers customers the ability to handle huge spikes in traffic with an easy to use and follow pay-as-you-go strategy. Currently there is support for both Windows and Linux.

• Cloud Files: The idea behind this initiative is to offer developers unlimited storage possibilities with a full scalable service to fit all of their needs. No longer will data need to be stored locally cutting costs for companies by avoiding the high cost of computer hardware.

• Cloud Servers: This new service option for offer on demand hosting services for businesses of all sizes. Using Slicehost as the company’s developer brand, Rackspace will utilize the Xen virtualization software to create innovative new features that will merge Slicehost intellectual property with Rackspace’s development initiatives. The goal is to offer low prices to keep the concept as an attractive and affordable option.

The services will be handled by a subsidiary of Rackspace called Mosso, which is their software development arm. You can catch the rebroadcast this major announcement at RackspaceCloudEvent.com

Access Your Music Anywhere with blueTunes

The concept of cloud computing has had its champions, but also its critics. Many believe cloud computing will be the future of information where nothing is stored locally. The critics feel that if the “cloud” goes down, so does all of our information.

Still, with the ability to access your documents, spreadsheets, pictures, and other media through various storage sites, you can now access your music anywhere, from any location as long as there is an internet connection. Welcome to the concept of blueTunes, where you can take your music to the cloud. The site allows you to upload and store your music to not only free up your personal storage space, but to allow free and clear access where ever you are.

The site is in beta right now, so invites are by email only, but sign up on their site and enjoy!