CLOUDy with a chance of meatballs
Posted by Sandeep
Yes! You read it right! Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. But wait! I’m not here to talk about the movie with the same title name. Rather I’m here to talk about one of the most debatable and the current sizzling topics in the Information Technology world “Cloud Computing”. I don’t have to introduce what Cloud Computing is all about. Perhaps that is because all of us have heard it all before and probably there are masters of Cloud Computing out here. This “pay as you go” computing – allows businesses to lease computing resources as and when they are in need of it, information is shared over the network easily and blah blah … But what made me to think about this write up is that though it’s booming yet there have been few takers. Like many, I have serious concerns about the security.
How can anyone expect companies to give all their sensitive and confidential data to a black hole in the sky?
If you are thinking that cost-cutting is one of the major advantages of Cloud Computing then I guess you’re compromising your security of data with cost-cutting which is a serious issue to be thought about. By the way, cybercrime is on the march as online predators deploy armies of “botnets” and computers are hijacked without owner’s consent these days.
On a second thought, a lot of smaller companies and startups who don’t have a data security policy in place, and invest very little on security, cloud would be an attractive option to them. Complicating issues further, one can’t go and demand for a separate server or a processor for each and every individual customers. It’s a “virtual” machine – a slice of a machine with its own operating system that is partitioned off by the software from other customers. Ultimately, there is a sharing of processing and storage space. And so the analogy of the title :D
All said, Google will offer cloud-computing services designed specifically for U.S government agencies. Sounds paradoxical eh?
Googlle, Haarvard, Oxfard, What next?
Posted by Sandeep
Ok! So you are thinking of taking up some certifications programs in Google like Cisco's CCNA and Sun Certified SCJP? Then welcome to the world of Googlle Institute of Software and Software Studies. Yes! You read it right! GoogLLe with a double L. I'm not kidding! A bunch of ugly a** guys out there, attempting to leverage not only the name of Google but also their favicon to deceit people. If you take a look at the website, they offer you two courses
Info on Cricinfo
Posted by Sandeep
I don’t know how many of you out there are avid cricket fans and follow the progress of your favorite team ball-by-ball no matter how much pressure your delivery manager imposes on you or even during the toughest times of your work. Yes! Cricket fans like me by now would have guessed what I am talking all about. Cricinfo.com, one of the biggest sports websites in the world, logs in almost 10 million unique visitors on a monthly basis.
It all started when Simon King, an English graduate working at an American University was fed up with not knowing how his team was doing. What began as a network of fans over Chat instantaneously grew about to become the world’s largest cricket website.
Usage of LOL
Posted by Sandeep
The abbreviation LOL. Laughing out loud. Oh!! I'm so worked up with it. Every now and then, I see people using it in the internet while instant messaging, when commenting on social-networking platforms and sometimes even while communicating face to face. Still worse, people use it in inappropriate and ill-suited contexts.
"Its raining here! Lol"
"I'm bored.. lol"
"My sister ate my burger.. lol"
"LOL!! It sounds really great to hear that.." Honestly, its not. In fact, its totally freaking me out!
It all started when Usenet, a worldwide distributed internet discussion system, was using the abbreviation LOL to express a textual, emphatic expression of laughter. The abbreviation then spread pandemic and became a regular, universal word in the english language.
An analysis of Laccetti and Molsk in their essay entitled "The Lost Art of Writing" states that "Unfortunately for these students, their bosses will not be 'lol' when they read a report that lacks proper punctuation and grammar, has numerous misspellings, various made-up words, and silly acronyms". David Crystal, a linguist, rhetorically questions "How many people are actually 'laughing out loud' when they send LOL?". It is indubitably true!
You can call it as a brand new variety of language emerging or cool language stuff or even expressiveness and richness of the language but the usage of it in business correspondence or corporate world won't be so LOL.
Ubuntu’s Karmic Koala
Posted by Sandeep
So begins the battle between the Operating Systems again. And this time a much fierce battle I guess. With Microsoft Windows 7 and Apple's OS X Snow Leopard 10. 6 already rumbling in the arena, there enters Ubuntu 9.10 codenamed Karmic Koala.
Karmic Koala
- Linux kernel - Version 2.6.31
GNOME - Version 2.28
Firefox - Version 3.5.3
Software Center - graphical utility for package management
GRUB2 as the new default bootloader
Ext 4 filesystem default
But, the best part of Karmic Koala is Ubuntu One, a new web sync feature that gives you 2 GB of free online disk space and also allows you to syndicate and synchronize contacts, notes and share files between several computers. Yes! I know! I can already see people ruminating from Windows. Wait! There's still more to come.
You can chat to your friends and your office colleagues through Empathy which integrates: Yahoo, Gmail, MSN, AOL, Jabber and many more. There is F-Spot for you through which you can manage and upload your photos to photo-sharing sites like flickr, facebook, picasa and what not!
Create your presentations, documents with Open Office v 3.0 which is quite compatible with all other available office applications including the most famous Microsoft Office. Access Last.fm, Internet Radio portal directly using Rythmbox.
Cannonical COO Jane Silber quotes "Ubuntu 9.10 gives users more reasons than ever to seriously consider Linux at a time when many are thinking again about their operating system options. We are delivering a platform for users interested in an easy-to-use, great-looking, web-friendly operating system".
The average boot time is about 26 seconds with the Xorg showing up around 15th second. The eventual goal is to deliver a 10 second startup. Probably, we can find one such thing happening in 10.04. Software Center has an excellent selection of software, revamped audio framework improves sound control across multiple applications and many new and improved features.
At the core of the Ubuntu philosophy is the belief that computing is for everyone and whatever your circumstances.