The top 10 cloud-based tools for developers

The top 10 cloud-based tools for developers

Unknown   9:52 AM

Google Cloud Playground

When it launched, this tool from Google was called a lot of things — most of them good. “Pure genius,” said one reviewer. As our own John Koetsierdescribed it, “It’s like Codecademy for the cloud, Google App Engine for idiots, or cloud-enabled applications development for newbies.”

The service lets anyone test-drive apps on Google’s App Engine, Compute Engine, or Datastore — all in just two clicks. Not only does this tool act as a clever lure to snag devs away from AWS or Azure. It also gives non-cloud-savvy devs a way to get a little painless experience with cloud technologies in a very hands-on way. And as a product of the Mountain View-based, publicly traded behemoth that is Google, it stands a good chance of being around and supported for quite some time. Have you used Cloud Playground? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

New Relic

New Relic brings devs the dashboards they want with the metrics they need. This company makes fascinating and useful reporting tools that many devs now swear by. The company started out with website stats that were both handy to have around and easy on the eyes. Then, earlier this year, the company started offering similar reporting tools for mobile apps, broadening its customer base to include a whole new audience. Even better, New Relic recently launched a plugin system so you can literally monitor just about any stat from your New Relic dashboard, whether it’s some secret internal business metric or a communally published and shared CouchDB monitor. And with a fresh $80 million in funding, we suspect the company is IPO-bound. Have you used New Relic? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Adobe Edge & Creative Cloud

Adobe has made a huge transition over the past year or so. In the not-so-distant past, the company made its money solely from desktop-based software, sold in boxes in retail stores or online. Then, the team did a 180 and shifted to a web-based paradigm called Creative Cloud. This cloud includes the software you’d expect — Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, good ol’ Dreamweaver — with the as-a-service subscription model rather than a huge one-time purchase cost. Adobe Edge is a suite within the Creative Cloud featuring developer tools: a code editor you can take seriously, responsive design tools that work, animation tools that use web technologies, and a cross-platform debugger. Have you used Edge or Creative Cloud? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Parse

Parse is a complete backend for mobile applications, designed to let mobile developers concentrate on their areas of expertise and never touch server code. A year ago, the Y Combinator-backed team launched a new service called Code Cloud, following that release with tools for building Windows apps in the gorgeous Windows 8 paradigm. Facebook snapped up the young company earlier this year, quickly shipping Parse Hosting to prove it’s still innovating inside the social networking giant. Have you used Parse? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

GitHub

Who doesn’t use GitHub? We’ve talked to companies that won’t hire a dev who doesn’t have a strong GitHub presence. The code-hosting company maintains popular services such as Page Generator (for putting a pretty face on projects) and Gist (for sharing code snippets), but its main focus is hosting massive and often open-source code repositories in the cloud, where contributors can collaborate and fork to their hearts’ content. The company recently launched tools for licensing and mobile web views, and even the White House got on board when drafting the country’s Open Data policy. The startup was famously bootstrapped until last year, when it raised a jaw-dropping $100 million Series A.Have you used GitHub? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Heroku

The modern web runs on Heroku. When Heroku goes down, it takes a slew of the world’s favorite apps with it. And when it adds new features, a boatload of new developers hop on the ship. This platform-as-a-service company started out as a Ruby on Rails venture. It’s since branched out to include more technologies than you can shake a stick at: Java, SQL, Facebook Platform. Its marketplace of add-ons allows for self-service add-on creation and currently offers tools for popular, complementary services like Postmark, Redis To Go, and MongoLab. Plus, its leadership takes a strong view on the value of the cross-platform natureof web and mobile development — a good sign as we move into a mobile-first future. Have you used Heroku? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft is unquestionably the incumbent of this group. Long an uncool underdog in some developers’ minds, it maintained a stronghold in the community of seasoned developers who came up on Microsoft technologies. Now, however, the company is rolling out a string of beautiful, useful tools —Visual Studio, anyone? And Azure, its cloud service, is keeping pace with competitors like Amazon Web Services. Now, Microsoft is offering Azure on a by-minute basis, and it also revamped its offering for mobile developers. At an average of 4.7 billion logins per week, San Francisco hipster-devs are running out of juice for the Azure hatorade. Have you used Azure? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Joyent

“I don’t cargo cult often, but when I do, I do it with Node.js.” This is one of our favorite Node jokes.

Node is, briefly, server-side JavaScript. The development of this open-source technology is sponsored by cloud company Joyent. In addition to its big data and infrastructure-as-a-service offerings, Joyent also offers enterprise-grade Node support. The company’s latest product, Joyent 7, is intended to help Fortune 500 companies with data center management, Node debugging, and workflow APIs. Last year, the company took a sizable $85 million round of funding, and its leadership is looking to the future and preparing for the Internet of things and the end of the client-server model. Have you used Joyent’s tech? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Kinvey

Backend-as-a-service company Kinvey is all about mobile. Its team says what differentiates this service is the absence of stacks; Kinvey is streamlined to eliminate all the backend-coding and stack maintenance. Last month, Google App Engine did a Kinvey integration, too. Aside from becoming a major mobile tech hub, Kinvey’s founders want to push HTML5 mobile development to the next stage. This Boston-based startup has raised a total of $7 million in seed and institutional funding. Have you used Kinvey? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Urban Airship

Urban Airship could be a steampunk novel or a Led Zeppelin tribute band, but it’s actually a cool collection of mobile marketing tools for app developers. Its offering includes push notifications and in-app messaging, a mobile relationship management platform, digital wallet tools, and location messaging services. The company locked down a handy Heroku integration to make the whole process even easier for devs, and its services also work with Google’s cloud and messaging tools and Kinvey’s backend-as-a-service. With a fresh $25 million in funding, the Airship isn’t going away anytime soon. Have you used Urban Airship? Take the survey and tell us if you’d recommend it.

Cloud computing accounting software

Cloud computing accounting software

Unknown   9:51 AM

Cloud computing accounting software is accounting software that is hosted on remote servers. It provides accounting capabilities to businesses in a fashion similar to the SaaS (Software as a Service) business model. Data is sent into "the cloud," where it is processed and returned to the user. All application functions are performed off-site, not on the user's desktop.

In cloud computing, users access software applications remotely through the Internet or other network via a cloud application service provider. Using cloud computing accounting software frees the business from having to install and maintain software on individual desktop computers. It also allows employees in remote or branch offices to access the same data and the same version of the software.

Most  application providers typically charge based on usage – compared to site license fees associated with traditional accounting software deployments. Accounting data backup and disaster recovery  is often a part of your cloud computing accounting software account.

Cloud communications

Cloud communications

Unknown   9:51 AM

Cloud communications are Internet-based voice and data communications where telecommunications applications, switching and storage are hosted by a third-party outside of the organization using them, and they are accessed over the public Internet. Cloud services is a broad term, referring primarily to data-center-hosted services that are run and accessed over an Internet infrastructure. Until recently, these services have been data-centric, but with the evolution of VoIP (voice over Internet protocol), voice has become part of the cloud phenomenon. Cloud telephony refers specifically to voice services and more specifically the replacement of conventional business telephone equipment, such as a Private branch exchange (PBX), with third-party VoIP service.

Cloud communications providers deliver voice & data communications applications and services, hosting them on servers that the providers own and maintain, giving their customers access to the “cloud.” Because they only pay for services or applications they use, customers have a more cost-effective, reliable and secure communications environment, without the headaches associated with more conventional PBX system deployment.

Companies can cut costs with cloud communications services without sacrificing features. The success of Google and others as cloud-based providers has demonstrated that a cloud-based platform can be just as effective as a software-based platform, but at a much lower cost. Voice services delivered from the cloud increases the value of hosted telephony, as users can equally well turn to a cloud-based offering instead of relying on a facilities-based service provider for hosted VoIP. This expands their options beyond local or regional carriers.

In the past, businesses have been able to do this for IT services, but not telecom. Cloud communications is attractive because the cloud can now become a platform for voice, data and video. Most hosted services have been built around voice, and are usually referred to as hosted VoIP. The cloud communications environment serves as a platform upon which all these modes can seamlessly work as well as integrate.

There are three trends in enterprise communications pushing users to access the cloud and allowing them to do it from any device they choose, a development traditional IT communications infrastructure was not designed to handle. The first trend is increasingly distributed company operations in branches and home offices, making WANs cumbersome, inefficient and costly. Second, more communications devices need access to enterprise networks – iPhones, printers and VoIP handsets, for example. Third, data centers housing enterprise IT assets and applications are consolidating and are often being located and managed remotely.

Benefits of cloud computing

Benefits of cloud computing

Unknown   9:50 AM

Cloud computing offers your business many benefits. It allows you to set up what is essentially a virtual office to give you the flexibility of connecting to your business anywhere, any time. With the growing number of web-enabled devices used in today's business environment (e.g. smartphones, tablets), access to your data is even easier. There are many benefits to moving your business to the cloud:

Reduced IT costs

Moving to cloud computing may reduce the cost of managing and maintaining your IT systems. Rather than purchasing expensive systems and equipment for your business, you can reduce your costs by using the resources of your cloud computing service provider. You may be able to reduce your operating costs because:

• the cost of system upgrades, new hardware and software may be included in your contract
• you no longer need to pay wages for expert staff
• your energy consumption costs may be reduced
• there are fewer time delays.

Scalability

Your business can scale up or scale down your operation and storage needs quickly to suit your situation, allowing flexibility as your needs change. Rather than purchasing and installing expensive upgrades yourself, your cloud computer service provider can handle this for you. Using the cloud frees up your time so you can get on with running your business.

Business continuity

Protecting your data and systems is an important part of business continuity planning. Whether you experience a natural disaster, power failure or other crisis, having your data stored in the cloud ensures it is backed up and protected in a secure and safe location. Being able to access your data again quickly allows you to conduct business as usual, minimising any downtime and loss of productivity.

Collaboration efficiency

Collaboration in a cloud environment gives your business the ability to communicate and share more easily outside of the traditional methods. If you are working on a project across different locations, you could use cloud computing to give employees, contractors and third parties access to the same files. You could also choose a cloud computing model that makes it easy for you to share your records with your advisers (e.g. a quick and secure way to share accounting records with your accountant or financial adviser).

Flexibility of work practices

Cloud computing allows employees to be more flexible in their work practices. For example, you have the ability to access data from home, on holiday, or via the commute to and from work (providing you have an internet connection). If you need access to your data while you are off-site, you can connect to your virtual office, quickly and easily.

Access to automatic updates

Access to automatic updates for your IT requirements may be included in your service fee. Depending on your cloud computing service provider, your system will regularly be updated with the latest technology. This could include up-to-date versions of software, as well as upgrades to servers and computer processing power

Introduction to Cloud Computing

Introduction to Cloud Computing

Unknown   9:49 AM

When you store your photos online instead of on your home computer, or use webmail or a social networking site, you are using a “cloud computing” service. If you are an organization, and you want to use, for example, an online invoicing service instead of updating the in-house one you have been using for many years, that online invoicing service is a “cloud computing” service. Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing resources over the Internet. Instead of keeping data on your own hard drive or updating applications for your needs, you use a service over the Internet, at another location, to store your information or use its applications. Doing so may give rise to certain privacy implications. For that reason the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has prepared some responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). We have also developed a Fact Sheet that provides detailed information on cloud computing and the privacy challenges it presents. Cloud Computing Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the Internet. Cloud services allow individuals and businesses to use software and hardware that are managed by third parties at remote locations. Examples of cloud services include online file storage, social networking sites, webmail, and online business applications. The cloud computing model allows access to information and computer resources from anywhere that a network connection is available. Cloud computing provides a shared pool of resources, including data storage space, networks, computer processing power, and specialized corporate and user applications.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing

Unknown   9:48 AM

Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personaldevices to handle applications. Cloud computing is comparable togrid computing, a type of computing where unused processing cycles of all computers in a network are harnesses to solve problems too intensive for any stand-alone machine.

In cloud computing, the word cloud (also phrased as "the cloud") is used as a metaphor for "the Internet," so the phrase cloud computing means "a type of Internet-based computing," where different services — such as servers, storage and applications —are delivered to an organization's computers and devices through the Internet.

How Cloud Computing Works

The goal of cloud computing is to apply traditional supercomputing, or high-performance computing power, normally used by military and research facilities, to perform tens of trillions of computations per second, in consumer-oriented applications such as financial portfolios, to deliver personalized information, to provide data storage or to power large, immersive online computer games.

To do this, cloud computing uses networks of large groups of servers typically running low-cost consumer PC technology with specialized connections to spread data-processing chores across them. This shared ITinfrastructure contains large pools of systems that are linked together. Often, virtualization techniques are used to maximize the power of cloud computing.

Educational technology

Educational technology

Unknown   5:08 AM

Educational technology is defined by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology as "the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources."^[1]

Educational technology refers to the use of both physical hardware and educational theoretics. It encompasses several domains, including learning theory, computer-based training, online learning, and, where mobile technologies are used, m-learning. Accordingly, there are several discrete aspects to describing the intellectual and technical development of educational technology:

• educational technology as the theory and practice of educational approaches to learning
• educational technology as technological tools and media that assist in the communication of knowledge, and its development and exchange
• educational technology for learning management systems (LMS), such as tools for student and curriculum management, and education management information systems (EMIS)
• educational technology itself as an educational subject; such courses may be called "Computer Studies" or "Information and communications technology (ICT)".

Technology

Technology

Unknown   5:07 AM

Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. Technology can be the knowledge of techniques, processes, etc. or it can be embedded in machines, computers, devices and factories, which can be operated by individuals without detailed knowledge of the workings of such things.

The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistoricdiscovery of how to control fire and the later Neolithic Revolution increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans to travel in and control their environment. Developments in historic times, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. The steady progress of military technology has brought weapons of ever-increasing destructive power, from clubs to nuclear weapons.

Technology has many effects. It has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of Earth's environment. Various implementations of technology influence thevalues of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion ofefficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.

Philosophical debates have arisen over the use of technology, with disagreements over whether technology improves thehuman condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar reactionary movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, arguing that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition.

Until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but 21st century scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and passed their knowledge to other generations.