Cloud Computing, Part III
Posted by Beth Still on November, 9th 2009As discussed in my previous articles, cloud computing is a system in which software programs and storage space can be accessed via the Internet. It can be used for hosting, thus eliminating the need for personal hosting services which can bog down. If you put your web design on a cloud server, you have instant access to computing power. As your needs grow, you can ramp up; as it ebbs, you release the servers back to the cloud.
There are several advantages to cloud computing:
• Scalability – easy to grow or shrink with demand
• Instantly available
• Save money – pay only for what you use
• No hardware to deal with
How it works:
Cloud computing involves surrendering control, which some people find liberating while it makes others very nervous. For instance, users of a site like Salesforce.com don’t know or care how the site is executed, how [...]
Cloud Computing – Concerns and Issues
Posted by Beth Still on November, 3rd 2009As I discussed in my last article on cloud computing, it is being called the Next Big Thing in web design, and it is steadily gaining ground in the business world. There is a lot of enthusiasm for this new frontier, but naturally there are many concerns among the “experts”.
The main concerns about cloud computing are security and privacy. The thought of handing your important data over to something called a “cloud” can be daunting. Nervous corporate executives might hesitate to take advantage of a cloud computing system because they feel like they’re surrendering control of their company’s information. Data inside the ‘cloud’ is outside a company’s firewall and that brings with it an intrinsic threat of risk, because services that companies outsource evade the physical, logical and personnel controls that I.T. shops wield over data maintained in-house. Other fears include:
• Risk of [...]
Cloud Computing – Usage and Advantages
Posted by Beth Still on November, 3rd 2009Cloud Computing has been called the Next Big Thing in web design, but just what is cloud computing? Very simply, it is a system whereby software programs and storage space can be accessed via the Internet. This allows companies to outsource the ownership and management of certain areas of its IT functionality (storage, mail room, fleet services, etc.) to a “black box” within the cloud. They probably don’t know what software or hardware is being used or what operating system it is running on, nor do they need to. This article discusses the usage and advantages of cloud computing.
Cloud computing evolved from the knowledge and experience of managed services, Internet services, application service providers, etc. Its technology is the result of a paradigm shift and is improving business computing because: (1) it is modular, compartmentalizing software applications and associated hardware and infrastructure; [...]
BuddyPress Camp!
Posted by Beth Still on October, 29th 2009Hey, all you WordPress/BuddyPress lovers: There is a camp just for you next month in New York, and word on the street says the camp t-shirts are nothing short of awesome. Not a WordPress–ario? Never heard of BuddyPress? Then this article will answer some of your burning question–about BuddyPress, specifically.
WordPress (WP) is an open source application that web developers use to publish blogs and basic content management. BuddyPress (BP) is an open source package built on top of WordPress that converts WP into a social network (think Facebook). Both are written in PHP scripting language.
BuddyPress does not enjoy the status, widespread use, or intricacies that Facebook and MySpace do; rather, it operates on a much smaller scale, and only in combination with WP. It inherits and extends upon the basic functions of the WordPress engine including plug-ins, themes, and [...]
Google Android 2.0 Debuts
Posted by Beth Still on October, 28th 2009Today Google rolled out its new operating system called “Android” (aka “Éclair”) to the web design community, and first reviews are very enthusiastic.
Some of the upgrades included in Android 2.0 are:
• an overhauled browser with a better user interface and HTML5 support
• the ability to search all saved SMS and MMS messages and automatically delete the oldest messages in a conversation when a defined limit is reached
• support for multiple email accounts
• more comprehensive camera controls that support built-in flash, digital zoom, and scene mode
• improved keyboard layout makes it easier to hit the correct characters and increases typing speed
• “smarter” dictionary “learns” from and expands with word usage
• Bluetooth 2.1 support
• an upgraded version of Google Maps with layer support
And there’s more. Android’s voice control has its own dedicated dashboard and is embedded throughout the whole system. There is a new setup for contacts that [...]
Facebook Redesign: the Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent
Posted by Beth Still on October, 25th 2009Facebook rolled out their latest web design on October 23 and already a group called “CHANGE FACEBOOK BACK TO NORMAL” has rallied. But then, no one expected the change to be welcomed by 100 percent of FB users even though FB claims that they based their decision to make it on user feedback. And, hey, there are just some people who hate change of any kind.
Facebook has introduced the ability to toggle between News Feed (self-explanatory) and Live Feed, which is the same real-time feed from your friends to which you’ve become accustomed. Facebook uses a new algorithm that bases the News Feed sources and stories they display on your past history on the site and how much attention the stories have received from your friends. Kind of like Amazon’s “if you like that you might also like this” and “people who bought [...]
DotNetNuke CMS
Posted by Beth Still on October, 21st 2009DotNetNuke has chosen Europe’s winners of the OpenForce Community Choice Awards just in time for the OpenForce Europe Conference that was held October 19-20. The awards honor the best web design created using the DotNetNuke platform. Interdigital won the award this year for best Overall Site and Best Informational site. Structure Sonores (www.structuresonore.eu) won for the Most Creative/Original Site, and Le Bazar de Wally (www.lebazardewally.com) for the Best eCommerce Site. Both websites are quite impressive.
The conference is a two-day, multiple track professional developers’ conference held in conjunction with the Software Developer Network Conference and includes speeches and demonstrations by expert software developers from the DotNetNuke community all over Europe, Asia, and Africa as well as representatives from DotNetNuke Corporation. Users attend the conference in order to expand their knowledge base, network and share best practices, tips, and information. In addition to [...]
2009 PHP Barcelona Conference
Posted by Beth Still on October, 20th 2009Hey, all you PHP Developers: it’s not too late to get your tickets to the 2009 PHP Barcelona Conference—it will be happening October 30-31 in, of course, Barcelona. It is a two-day event with three simultaneous sessions all day each day. The conference motto is “Interesting sessions for smart people, with a touch of practicality”. This is the third year for the event, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever, PLUS it is being held in one of the more beautiful cities in Europe.
Rasmus Lerdorf, a Danish developer, created PHP in 1995 in part to track how many people were visiting his website(s). He considered it to be the “fastest and simplest tool” for creating dynamic web pages for your web design. It has evolved into a widely used scripting language that is well suited [...]
Worms in the New Apple OS
Posted by Beth Still on October, 16th 2009Wow, Apple patrons are NOT happy with the OS X 10.6.1 Snow Leopard, and who can blame them? Problem #1: apparently it has a bug that causes it to EAT YOUR DATA. Not all the time, just if you log in as a guest after upgrading from Apple’s previous OS (Leopard-10.5). And not ALL of your data, just whatever is stored in your home directory, like documents, music, etc. And to make matters worse, it seems to be totally random and hard to reproduce, which make it practically impossible to debug. Oh, and another thing: the previous version (Leopard 10.5.1) exhibited the same problem. So that means that Apple was aware of this problem before they trotted out Snow Leopard and not only did they NOT fix it in Leopard, they let a whole new release go out with the same bug. [...]
WordPress Web Design and Fresh Content
Posted by Beth Still on October, 14th 2009If you have a business but have not yet dipped your toes in the blogging pool, it is definitely something worth considering. Incorporating a blog into your web design can be very beneficial to your business because you will consistently be providing fresh content for prospective customers to find in web searches. Blogging allows your customers to get to know you as a person and gives you the chance to express your passion for what it is that you are selling. It can give you a real competitive edge if you can show readers that you are an expert in your field. Blogging is a good way to incorporate personal customer service into your website by talking about issues and questions about your product or field. Your customers can leave tips, comments, links to compatible sites, etc. on your blog, which may [...]