When I tried to upload a blank letterhead to Google docs, it refused it for being over 500k. It has a picture of my family on it. That was the beginning and the end of Google docs for me.
On Tue, 2010-03-02 at 09:33 -0500, Jim Hartley wrote: > OK, if you are going to define "Google Docs" as "Cloud" then maybe even > I have a use for it. The machines at work are moderately locked-down, > making it hard to get something I see there, or something I just happen > to think of (like a story idea) and want to get to my home computer, > across the boundary. But they have not locked out most of Google, Google > Docs is open, and I can use it as a set of files/folders common to both > machine. I never thought of it as "Cloud" but if it is, so be it. > > Of course I don't use it for anything too sensitive. A "story idea," > usually a few sentences, isn't worth stealing ... a complete but > unpublished story would be, and I generally wouldn't put it there. > > Jim Hartley > > Sean O'Connor wrote: > > As with anything it all depends on context. In the context of > > developers/IT people and platforms, your description is a reasonable one > > for the term cloud computing. In the consumer context, the term has a > > different meaning in it's most common use. In that context, the term is > > used to refer to any service where the majority of the application's > > execution and storage happens on centralized servers which completely > > abstract any operational concerns from the user. Examples would include > > gmail, dropbox, google docs, etherpad, github, and squarespace. > > > > All of these services allow technically competent but not necessarily > > sophisticated users to setup, configure, scale, and use systems which > > previously they would have had to have hired an IT administrator to > > setup and manage. They don't need to worry about dealing with outages, > > running out of resources, or keeping track of backups. This is > > enormously powerful and valuable for a very large section of users. > > > > Finally as a bit of a bonus, there are a number of collaboration type > > features which become much easier to implement when users are all > > working on a common system. > > > > If the privacy concerns are too great of a risk for you and you are > > willing to spend the time and money to operate your own systems that's > > absolutely your business and your right. Understand however that for > > many other people, the ability to fill out a form and not have email > > infrastructure be a problem for their company anymore is incredibly > > valuable. > > > > A side note on the privacy concern/trust issue: think about the > > incentives for Google or any other large "cloud computing" company. > > They basically make more money in the logn term by increasing the > > number of people who use their services. Anything they do to > > significantly violate a user's trust decreases the number of people who > > will use their service over the long term. At the end of the day, they > > may do stupid things (e.g. expose your address book via buzz) but they > > have very strong incentives to correct those mistakes quickly and to > > learn from them. When evaluating a service you need to look at more > > than just what /could/ they do and think about what makes sense for them > > to do. Look at the consequences for them if they do something "evil". > > > > ____________________________ > > Sean O'Connor > > http://seanoc.com > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:55 PM, Chris Knadle <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > On Monday 01 March 2010 21:54:51 Matthias Johnson wrote: > > > On Mar 1, 2010, at 9:14 PM, Mark Wallace > > > > > > <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > I see. the problem is that I just experienced over 60 hours > > with no > > > > internet access. Wouldn't that make it impossible to do much of > > > > anything with my computer? > > > > > > Ok so this is probably the biggest back and forth on lug I have seen > > > to date and it has morphed slightly off the original email but to me > > > this is the most damning thing about cloud computing. If we were > > in an > > > always connected world it might work but we are not. Also the fact > > > that open wifi is slowly becoming illegal these days the filtered > > > options for public wifi will probably be less than desirable. Cloud > > > computing is definately something not needed IMO. It also brings up > > > the issues of fair use and such. Which laws apply? Where the server > > > resides or the user? > > > > > > Matthias Johnson > > > > I'll throw this in, as it might answer some of your questions concerning > > "cloud computing" such as... "Whaaat is it?!?" [Cat from Red Dwarf...] > > > > I recently went to an IEEE meeting about cloud computing (Nov 2009 I > > think?). > > As far as I could tell the term "cloud computing" mostly means "an > > automated > > method for a user to request and for a system to provision a virtual > > machine, > > with the specified resources". In other words, you visit a web page > > to order > > a virtual box, you choose what kind of setup you want from a list of > > predefined configurations (one of which hopefully fits most of what > > you need), > > you click "go", and in a couple of minutes you've got a remote box > > available > > to you that you can ssh to, where you can modify the setup from there. > > > > Sounded like from there you can automate spawning virtual machines with > > duplicate configurations if you need to scale some network application. > > As far as I could tell, it's mostly geared towards businesses that > > can use > > that kind of automation in order to handle a network load that > > varies. It's > > not an end-all be-all solution -- it's essentially a niche market. > > > > For an individual, there isn't much need for this kind of system > > unless that > > person is running a business like Craig's List, Paypal, etc -- > > something that > > needs to be able to scale. Whether "cloud computing" could host > > services like > > these more cheaply than doing it "in-house" isn't clear. If it > > isn't, then > > "cloud computing" is essentially a solution in search of a problem. > > > > > > -- Chris > > > > -- > > > > Chris Knadle > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > _______________________________________________ > > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > > Mar 3 - Sahana and 7 Years of MHVLUG Celebration > > Apr 7 - Nagios > > May 5 - Android > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > > Mar 3 - Sahana and 7 Years of MHVLUG Celebration > > Apr 7 - Nagios > > May 5 - Android > -- Robert Mark Wallace 60 Delaware Road Newburgh, NY 12550-3802 Telephone: (845) 566-0586 Please note my new address and update your records _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Mar 3 - Sahana and 7 Years of MHVLUG Celebration Apr 7 - Nagios May 5 - Android
