What is Cloud Computing and how does it work, explained in simple terms?

Actually, you’ve been using cloud computing all this time, unless you were living in a cave somewhere, and that cave somehow didn’t have an internet connection.

So let me put this in as simple terms as possible:
Cloud Computing is the ability to use the power of other computers (located somewhere else) and their software, via the Internet (or sometimes other networks), without the need to own them. They are being provided to you, as a service.

That means you don’t have to go and buy some super powerful gigantic computer system and risk have it sitting there, doing nothing. By utilizing the cloud, everything is ready for you whenever you might need it. Exactly where the hardware and software is located and how it all works doesn’t matter to you, as a user. It’s just somewhere up in the vast “cloud” that the Internet represents.
Now you know one of the reasons they call it the Cloud Computing.
One good example of someone who provides these types of cloud services would be RackSpace cloud company.

To illustrate the point even better, let’s go over one typical example of cloud computing that you must have used before (exception are those with the cave thing from above).

Google as an example of cloud computing

What happens when you type and search something on Google?
Have you ever thought about this? Does your PC goes through all that information, sorts it out for you and display all the relevant results? No, it doesn’t. Otherwise, you would wait much longer for a simple results page to display. A simple PC can’t process all those billions of websites in a fraction of a second, like Google does. Your PC only serves as a messenger to tell Google what you are looking for. Everything else is done by some of Google’s powerful computers located somewhere, Who-Knows-Where in the world.
Now, did you ever care about how or where that comes from? Why would you, right? Exactly. That’s a great example of how cloud computing is used.

At this point, I’m sure you understand what cloud computing is and the basic idea behind it. If that’s everything you wanted to know, you can stop here, and go enjoy your life knowing what Cloud Computing is. If you are interested in just a little tiny bit more about it, continue reading to the end (not long from here).

3 Types of Cloud Computing

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is basically when you buy raw computing hardware to use over the net, usually servers, or online storage. You buy what you need and pay-as-you-go. The best and the most basic example of this type of cloud computing is buying a web hosting for your website. You pay monthly fee to a hosting company for the storage on their servers and to have them serve up files for your website from those servers.

2. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a case where you use the complete software application that’s running on someone else’s servers. The best example of this is Google Docs, which you can use for creating and storing text documents, presentations, spreadsheets and so on…

3. Platform as a Service (PaaS) is case where you create applications using web-based tools so they run on systems software and hardware provided by another company. As an example, consider a situation where you develop your own e-commerce website but have the whole thing, including the shopping cart, checkout, and payment mechanism running on a merchant’s server.

That should be all you need to know to get you started.

As you can see, the idea behind cloud computing is very powerful and useful beyond measure. Especially now when you actually know what it is.

Credit for a great comic image used above goes to CloudTweaks.

With mobile device sales growing, mobile security apps are proliferating as well. Of the hundreds of security apps available for your mobile device, there are six (three for the Android and three for the iPhone) that warrant special consideration.

Lookout for Android

This security app has received top accolades from CNET, PCWorld and TechCrunch, offering excellent services for data backup and restore, phone tracking, and anti-virus and malware protection, as well as a great visual interface. The app got kudos recently in Oregon after a man who’d lost several possessions in a home robbery was able to use his Lookout-protected Motorola phone in order to track down the criminal.

Fingerprint Security for iPhone

There are a number of fingerprint security apps available but this one pushes the envelope on biometric technology. Get futuristic on identity thieves by accessing your phone with nothing more than the lines on your thumb.

Security Shield for Android

This anti-theft and identity protection app utilizes GPS in order to allow for automatic real-time location tracking. And it’s web-based console and added protections against spyware and malware make it particularly useful for cellular devices.

Big Brother Camera Security for iPhone

Okay, full disclosure, this app was banned, but it’s so cool it simply has to be mentioned, in case you can jailbreak it into your device. The Big Brother Camera Security app allows you to remotely photograph the person stealing your phone or gaining unauthorized access to it. The ban came over concerns the app could also be used to violate privacy expectations by collecting user passcodes.

WaveSecure for Android

Developed by tenCube, this app won the Android Challenge 2 by offering users a robust way to remotely lock, track, and backup your cell phone. The app is easy to install and allows you to secure your uploaded media as well.

GadgetTrak for iPhone

GadgetTrak has won numerous awards and can essentially do the same thing Big Brother was banned for—remotely capturing photos of thieves—without compromise device passcodes. The newest push notification feature on this app sends a message to the device which attempts to trigger GPS tracking.

Mobile security will not diminish in importance as the years go on. Rather, the need for protecting you and your assets against malware, viruses, and identity theft will accelerate as hacking technology grows. Start equipping your devices with security apps now and avoid a giant headache later.

I have had the opportunity to play with the new Firefox 8 and I’ve seen a couple of new things included with the new version.

1. Start-up is now much faster.

This is because Firefox 8 comes with a new feature for tabs loading. I call it “Lazy Tabs”. Here’s what that means.

When you start your Firefox,  (if you’ve set the option to load tabs from last time), instead of waiting for all tabs to load simultaneously, Firefox starts loading only one tab (the one you see), and the rest of them are waiting for you to activate them, one by one, when you need them.
So when you click at one of them, that one starts loading.

Up until now, there was a Firefox Add-on, BarTab, that enabled this functionality in older versions, but now you don’t need it anymore.

2. You can do Twitter searches directly from address bar.

You don’t need to go to Twitter to conduct message searches. Now you can choose Twitter to be one of the default search engines for Firefox, and you can conduct your searches right from within Firefox 8.

Google, Yahoo, Bing and others are still available if you prefer using them. You can set your default search engine at the top-right side of Firefox, near the address bar, as shown in the screenshot above.

3. Add-ons installed by external applications are disabled by default.

This means that all add-ons that are installed by external applications must be explicitly switched on by the user. That’s a great thing, and let me tell you why.

For example, when you install a software, and it comes with a certain browser toolbar that tries to install itself automatically and without your permission, it will be stopped in its tracks.

4. ‘Downloads’ history is now more accessible.

This is a minor change, but still, it makes it easier to check Downloads history since now it can be accessed through opening browsing History panel from the menu.

It is no longer needed to open a separate window to see Downloads history. You can find everything right inside the History panel, as you can see in the screenshot below.

Mozilla Firefox 8 Download Link

Remember, this below is the link to Mozilla’s FTP server where they store the final release of Firefox 8. The official links will be available on November 8th.

Download Firefox 8 here. (Firefox Setup 8.0.exe)

Three phone makers will incorporate the new operating system, and those are the more high-brow brands of HTC and Samsung, as well as Nokia. As far as which service providers will carry the Microsoft phones, not much is known; however it is speculated that AT&T will carry both the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus.

As far as the operating system itself goes, Windows lovers can expect everything that they love about the system in the palm of their hand. The phone is fun and extremely easy to use, and can handle way more than simple functions like searching on Bing.com or finding a phone number through Anywho.com.

The interface is broken up into six hubs for easy navigation, and the predominate focuses are on People, Pictures, Media, Marketplace, Microsoft Office, and Games.

Facebook is very easy to use on the interface, but the Twitter integration could still use some work. The photo and media hub is very similar to Zune which is nice because it allows users the ability to sync their phone content with that of their computer. For gamers, the integration of Xbox Live makes the Windows phones an exciting new addition to the smartphone market.

Like Android, the Windows user interface is also highly customizable so that you can have what you want at your fingertips at all times.
But perhaps the biggest accolade that can be given to the Windows series of phones is that they don’t come across as an iPhone knock-off. They truly have their own unique interface, and are capable of giving each user a unique experience.

Whether or not Microsoft will be able to succeed with its Windows phones will be another story. While many reviews have given Windows phones high marks, the late entry into the market has many worried that they won’t stay around. So if you are a die hard Windows fan, show your support and get a smartphone that you can sync with your computer – get a Windows phone.

There is no direct way to do this, yet, but here’s a short and easy workaround that will add your Facebook friends to Google+ in no time.

You will need a Yahoo! account and (of course) Google (+) Plus account.

1. Go to your Yahoo! mail account and go to “Contacts” tab. Then click “Import Contacts”.

2. From the given options, choose “Facebook”. After that, you will be asked to grant permission to Yahoo to access your Facebook contacts, so you go ahead and click “Okay”.

Then you will see short message “Retrieving data from Facebook…” And just so you know, this process might take a while… It depends on number of your friends, if you have 1000+, you’ll need to be patient for a moment (however ironic that may sound)

3. Refresh page and go to your “Contacts” tab again. Check the button to select them all from the list. Now click “Actions” and from the drop-down menu choose “Export All…”

4. From the available options of exporting, choose Yahoo CSV format and click “Export Now”.

You will be asked to enter a Captcha anti-spam code here, so you do that. Then wait for about 5 seconds and you will see your contacts have been exported and downloaded into a Yahoo CSV file format. We will use that file now to upload the contacts to your Gmail account.

5. Go to your Gmail account. Click on “Contacts” button located below “Mail” button on the upper left side. Then click “More” and from the drop-down menu choose “Import”.

6. In the pop-up window, click the “Choose File” button and find the Yahoo CSV file that we downloaded before in the step 4. Then click on “Import”.

7. And now finally, you can see all your contacts there in Gmail, which means they will also be available in the Google+ Circles panel.
So now go to your Google plus page, go to Circles and click on “Find People”. There you will see all of your Facebook friends ready to be added to your Google plus circles.
Now just add them to corresponding circles of your liking and enjoy your Google+ experience.

If you don’t have Google+ account and would like to create one, but you need an Invite, then just ask for it in the comments, and I will send you one.
Enjoy!