Chris Pirillo » cloud-computing

What Technology of Today Will be Obsolete Tomorrow?

Chris — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:18:41 +0000

What Technology of Today Will be Obsolete Tomorrow? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Earlier on Geeks, I read a thread someone had started asking what basic technology that we use today will not even be around in the future. The author lists such things as the keyboard and mouse, a land-line telephone, public Wi-Fi, and even operating systems! Wait, what? You don’t think operating systems will be around in the future? Well, you could be right, actually. With more and more computing being done in the Cloud, that’s something we may yet see in our lifetimes.

What pieces of everyday tech do you feel will become obsolete in the near future – or at least during your lifetime? It’ll be interesting to see everyone’s lists and reasoning, and to compare our thoughts. You can leave a follow-up comment here, or reply directing in the thread on Geeks.

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Is Your Head – or Your Computer – in the Cloud?

Chris — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:04:43 +0000

Is Your Head – or Your Computer – in the Cloud? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Everywhere you turn, there’s someone talking about Cloud Computing lately. Let’s face it – it’s a hot concept. However, there is a large difference of opinion as to what Cloud Computing even means, much as there is with “Web 2.0″. To some, Cloud Computing is simply another term for virtually anything you do on the Internet. To others, it’s more specifically virtual servers. It gets fuzzy when you try to nail down a full description of what Cloud Computing really is.

To me, Cloud Computing is simply anything I can do online, instead of having to rely on software on my computer. There are full applications available now that cover everything from picture editing to paper writing to handling your taxes… and it’s all done from within your browser. How much easier can it get to simply go to a website and do what you need to do, instead of having to buy and install software, make sure it’s compatible with your system and other software, launch the program every time… you get where I’m going. Cloud Computing, by my definition at least, just makes life so much simpler.

How do you define Cloud Computing, and what are your thoughts on the whole thing?

I keep a fairly close eye on the programs we feature every day on our downloads page. There are some excellent pieces of software there – even a few I found I can no longer live without!

This One Time, at Band Camp

Chris — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:07:37 +0000

This One Time, at Band Camp is a post from Chris Pirillo

This phrase is used all over the world, I think, and can have many different meanings. However, in the case of a thread on Geeks today, it means exactly what it says! The poster is asking who else was (or is) involved in band during high school. I was never in band, but my assistant Kat was. Not only that – she was also the marching band Drum Major for two years!

It’s been said that what happens at band camp stays at band camp. However, I’m curious. Do you have any stories you’re willing to share? Was it as awesome of an experience as people have claimed? Keep your comments/stories family friendly and clean, please! Remember our younger audience!

While you’re thinking up your story, or reliving your memories, make sure to check out what else our community has in store for you today.

How to Save Money with Online Backup Service Discounts

Chris — Sat, 02 May 2009 12:12:50 +0000

How to Save Money with Online Backup Service Discounts is a post from Chris Pirillo

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When is the last time you backed up your important data? I’m talking about things that cannot be reinstalled. I know people who have never done it at all, because they simply don’t know how or where to do so! I’m about to tell you about a way you can do offsite backups easily. These guys wanted me to do a video about their services, but I wasn’t too keen on the idea. Until, that is, they offered up discounts for our community!

Both Spideroak and BackBlaze offer excellent, encrypted backup plans. Both are also offering you guys a nice 10% discount by ordering through my link! Nice, eh?

Spideroak offers a different approach to online backup and sharing. This difference is not only measured in the zero-knowledge privacy policy. It’s also found in the flexible design in handling your data from all platforms and locations into one centralized account. It doesn’t matter if you’re using Windows, OS X or Ubuntu. And it doesn’t matter if you’re uploading data from your computer, a USB drive or an external drive. It will all be stored in one easy-to-get-to location for you!

BackBlaze backs up your data online to their datacenters. Using military-grade security, files are encrypted on your PC, then sent and stored encrypted on their facility. You can restore from the web… or have a DVD or USB drive sent to you via FedEx! Now that is service.

So there you go. You absolutely should be backing up your data. Both of these options are an excellent resource, and now you can save money on them!

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Will we be Saying Goodbye to Windows any Time Soon?

Chris — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:06:01 +0000

Will we be Saying Goodbye to Windows any Time Soon? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Many people feel that Windows is coming to an end, and that any new operating system from Microsoft will be radically different. Still others vehemently deny this, and claim that it’s a “bunch of hooey”. I threw this question out to people on FriendFeed to see what they have to say.

Sounds like MS is going for cloud computing. – Tim via twhirl

This is all bullshit. Anyone who knows Windows and Microsoft well is laughing their asses off at these kinds of headlines. Just isn’t going to happen. At least not anytime in forseable future. – Robert Scoble

i like this nonsense, it’s like thinking of bread without flour – marcantonio severgnini

+1 @Scoble – sebmos

Windows has been closely associated and branded as THE operating system for all needs by MS. It has also become the main cash cow and generator of its revenues during the entire period of its existence. I don’t see how can MS shed off the Windows skin all that easily or in such a short time, especially considering that Vista is just out and it has "Windows" in front of its name. – Hayk Hakobyan

Any future successor "non-Windows" operating system will still be branded as Windows. Precedent is Windows NT. The Windows brand is too important to sideline. – Ian Fogg

These same speculations have been going on for years. Just because Microsoft is branching into developing another breed of OS doesn’t mean they are going to abandon Windows. – Amit Morson

@Ian – More your area than mine, but Windows is many things including a brand, a product, a paradigm, an architecture and a platform. MS might keep any combo of those five things, but you’re right – the brand is the appealing part. – Rob Sterling

"The Cloud" is simply a word for remote services – not a magical mystery future. The reality is that the personal workstation will in some form always be with us. There will always be advantages to having a local (non bandwidth limited) source of computing cycles to enhance the manipulation or presentation of data in a lot of tasks. That workstation will ALWAYS need an OS of some form. – Soulhuntre

Microsoft is aggressively evolving Windows so that it will be capable of supplying that part of the computing chain. Research projects are playgrounds for that. Those folks who claim that the "operating system is dead" are simply not looking at what they are saying from a systems point of view. They are using the term "Operating System" and "PC" to refer to a type of workstation use case… not a technology. – Soulhuntre

Didn’t it already "die" and "everything move online"…like…6 or 7 times already? Each time, people realize that there are places where the internet isn’t accessible, isn’t fast (relative to the desktop), and isn’t private enough. Not to say there isn’t a place for web services (obviously — we’re on one), but this whole "The desktop is dead! Dumb terminals for everyone!" hype is just pendulum swing nonsense. – Robert Fischer

Weather it happens or not is irrelevant Robert. It’s a plan B and a pretty good one imo :) – DC Crowley

You guys are missing the point here. It’s about virtualization. Right now with free OSes like Linux you can bascially run as many computers as your hardware has memory to support on a single physical machine. There are lots of benefits to this. One being you can literally take your desktop from one computer to another. Window’s licensing won’t allow that. They need to come up with this lightweight OS with flexible licensing to compete. – Lindsay Donaghe

Will it get rid of Windows for most consumers and as the host OS for your machine? Probably not. But it will enable you to use Windows anywhere you want to as long as there’s a virtualization product installed that can run your VM. Ultimately they might end up getting more exposure through that since people will stop caring which OS runs on the hardware… just which OS runs on their personal VMs. – Lindsay Donaghe

Whatever apps don’t end up in the cloud in a few years will end up on your personal VMs. And you’ll be able to take those with you wherever you go (we’ve already got USB drives that are cheap and hold upwards of 16GB). It’s the future. – Lindsay Donaghe

I talked to Microsoft PR yesterday about this. This is an incubation project and will NOT replace Windows. Anyone remember Netdocs? That was supposed to replace Office, too, remember? – Robert Scoble

Just another roll of the dice in Redmond’s labs. – Bill Sodeman

Ina got it right. http://tinyurl.com/6xgqjn – jeff

I don’t think it’s dice. It’s generally a good practice to build something from the ground up to learn what’s possible and then take those possibilities into an existing project. If you tried it against an existing codebase you get more "can’t do that" then "How can we make this work." I do it all the time, probably more then I should. – shawn

When PC’s started to become available we [old geeks] flocked away from the dumb terminal en masse. I don’t envision us going back there anytime soon. – Jody Carbone

Over the top headlines definitely get attention. Take note: anyone looking for hits might want to post an article called "Apple sees end of OS X era." There are sure to be some patents or dubious screenshots that you could use. – Loren Heiny

What do you think? Will (or should) Microsoft get completely away from Windows as we know it? Or should they stay with what they have in place, and improve upon it? What does the future of any operating system have in store, and what should we look for?

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

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