http://www.prashanta.com/so-what-is-that-again/ http://www.prashanta.com/cloud-computing-take-one/ <h4>It is not a fad - it is real ! The Cloud merely refers to the "net" - the catch is that the net could be inside the firewall - the corporate LAN or WAN or outside the firewall - the INTERnet<br /></h4> <h4>The former has also been often lovingly termed the "walled garden", while the latter is often spoken as SaaS - Software as a Service or Storage in the Cloud - voila!.</h4> <h4>Enough of geek speak, let is get down to business. Let us focus on the cloud computing of the INTERnet kind.<br /></h4> <h4>It is very simple really - it is the practice of locating your information or application on a facility that is physically not located within your corporate LAN or WAN. So take email as an example - one can run MS Exchange or Lotus or whatever on a server that is located inside the corporate LAN or WAN OR one can used something like <a href="http://www.google.com/apps/" target="_blank" title="Google Apps">Google Apps</a>. The catch is that you can still have an end user experience that is identical. For example end users can use the Outlook client to <a href="http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/outlook_sync.html" target="_blank" title="MS Sync to Google Apps">access</a> their emails and calendars etc., but the storage and the actual email server application has somewhere - in fact if you are using Google - you can not find out! <br /></h4> <h4>Another example is <a href="http://www.xero.com/" target="_blank" title="Xero">Xero</a> - instead of running your FMIS on a server inside your corporate LAN/WAN - you just access it over the INTERnet.</h4> <h4>The concept is quite established, so is the technology - it is the transition of Broadband (slowly but surely) into a utility class service that is suddenly making Cloud Computing very attractive. It is bringing wide spread changes in the IT industry including demand for different skils and skillsets.</h4> <h4>This is serious disruptive change - recently <a href="http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/AboutUs/MediaCentre/MediaReleases/21July2009.htm" target="_blank" title="NZ Post Google">NZ Post</a> switched to Google Apps quoting serious productivity gains - so take a good look.<br /></h4> Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:00:00 +1200 http://www.prashanta.com/cloud-computing-take-one/ http://www.prashanta.com/crowdsourcing/ <h4>Crowdsourcing is outsourcing a task traditionally performed by employees or contractors via an open call to an undefined group of people, usually using the internet. A crowdsourcer broadcasts a problem - which may involve a design task or the capture and sifting of large amounts of information - and invites users or members of a community to submit solutions. Input from members of the crowd may be purely voluntary, or motivated by payments or prizes, while the crowdsourcer owns the best solutions.</h4> <h4><br />Crowdsourcing relies on electronic media - particularly Web 2.0 <a href="http://www.prashanta.com/so-what-is-this-web-2-0-anyway/">technologies</a> - to coordinate input from a large, distributed community, without the need for corporate hierarchy. Online communities play a key role in crowdsourcing by connecting those interested in participating in a project and serving as a venue for collaboration.</h4> <h4>Crowdsourcing offers a number of benefits, including:</h4> <ul> <li> <h4>A low cost way of generating solutions to business problems</h4> </li> <li> <h4>The ability to access expertise from outside the crowdsourcer's organisation</h4> </li> <li> <h4>The ability to bring to bear resources on a scale that may not be possible through conventional means</h4> </li> <li> <h4>Richer interaction with customers by enlisting them as participants the process of creating products</h4> </li> </ul> <h4>There are however some potential pitfalls. There may be significant overhead costs in eliciting or processing inputs from a crowd. Lack of monetary incentives may result in too few participants or lower quality of work. Legal issues, such as lack of written contracts or non-disclosure agreements may also discourage some firms from using crowdsourcing.</h4> <h4>Some examples of crowdsourcing indicate the diversity of problems to which it can be applied.</h4> <ol> <li> <h4><a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php" target="_blank">iStockphoto</a> is a web-based stock photography provider using a micropayment business model. Photos are contributed by over 50,000 photographers, including amateurs and hobbyists. (The business was profiled in a 2006 Wired magazine article that coined the term crowdsourcing.)</h4> </li> <li> <h4>In 2009 the Guardian newspaper set up a system for members of the public to search and examine 700,000 <a href="http://mps-expenses.guardian.co.uk/" target="_blank">expense claims </a>submitted by British MPs. Over 20,000 people participated</h4> </li> <li> <h4><a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/" target="_blank">OpenStreetMap</a> is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Contributors input geospatial data from GPS devices, aerial photography or local knowledge. There were over 100,000 registered users as of mid 2009.</h4> </li> </ol> <h4>A couple of good articles are here <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> and a Wired magazine <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html" target="_blank">Wired</a> by Jeff Howe</h4> Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:30:00 +1200 http://www.prashanta.com/crowdsourcing/ http://www.prashanta.com/test-ie-embedded-video/ <p> <object width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/QJncFirhjPg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QJncFirhjPg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> </object> </p> Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:16:00 +1200 http://www.prashanta.com/test-ie-embedded-video/