Internet and Technology

Cloud computing is a new buzz in the Information Technology world. As the name implies, cloud computing includes anything that involves applications and services that run and hosted on the internet.

Actually, in spite of the fact that the term of “cloud computing” is somehow new, the concept itself is not so new. We have already used cloud computing for long ago. Anytime we use an application that is not hosted on our own computer, we make use of the cloud computing services available on the internet. We are all familiar with email services provided by Gmail, or Yahoo. This is actually a services we get from the so called “cloud computing”. So the first basic concept of cloud computing is simple: the use of services hosted somewhere in the internet, per demand, rather than hosting the services permanently on our computer.

But what’s new about cloud computing? Why is it perceived as a new technology?

The buzz has built lately due to the increasing use of internet by the world’s population, either for personal purposes or for firms and large companies. The increase of demand for services and applications that are located somewhere in the internet cloud, rather in our computer, paved the way for new technologies, well suited for distributed computing power and distributed services, with high availability to everyone, at any time.

The service itself is maintained by the service provider. The cloud computing service provider needs to manage the service efficiently in order to enable access to service by many users at a given time. He needs to use new technologies of high speed interfaces such as Infiniband, Fiberchannel, and GigaBit Ethernet, as well as computer technologies such as virtualization and compression. Special software platforms need to be used too. Keeping scalability of the hosted cloud is also one of provider’s main concerns. Security aspect should be resolved. Payment models were developed too.

All these capabilities, requirements and characteristics, and more, posed technical challenges that eventually brought about to innovative technologies in the field of cloud computing.

Who befits from cloud computing technology?

Cloud computing is beneficial for users that needs access to computing capabilities, or to other services, on a random basis. Or, it is beneficial if such a service is too expensive to maintain permanently on local computers or laptops.

In addition to regular people that do access application on the internet (and actually use cloud computing technology without being aware to this), cloud computing can be beneficial, for example, to students, that need some computing strength that is not available by their privately held computer.

Also, the use of cloud computing is most beneficial to firms that, instead of enhancing and investing in their own IT  Infrastructure, can now, on an on-demand basis, access the various services and applications available on the internet, and use them smartly, and reduce their IT expenses. This may hold for research institutes such as universities, or even colleges.

To summarize, cloud computing paved the way for innovations and enhancements in many technologies in the fields of computing, software, and hardware infrastructure. Private users, as well as institutes, can benefits from the cloud computing services, by intelligent use of services, on demand.

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The author holds B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering, M.Sc. degree in Interdisciplinary Engineering, and MBA degree.

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Introduction To Solar PV Technology

There is a pressing need to accelerate the development of advanced clean energy technologies in order to address the global challenges of energy security, climate change and sustainable development. This challenge was

acknowledged by the Ministers from G8 countries, China, India and South Korea, in their meeting in June 2008 in Aomori, Japan where they declared

the wish to have IEA prepare roadmaps to advance innovative energy technology.

“We will establish an international initiative with the support of the IEA to develop roadmaps for innovative technologies and co-operate upon existing and new partnerships, including CCS and advanced energy technologies. Reaffirming our Heiligendamm commitment to urgently develop, deploy and foster clean energy technologies, we recognise and encourage a wide range of policy instruments such as transparent regulatory frameworks, economic and fiscal incentives, and public/private partnerships to foster private sector

investments in new technologies….”

To achieve this ambitious goal, the IEA has undertaken an effort to develop a series of global technology roadmaps covering 19 technologies.

These technologies are divided among demand side and supply side technologies. Our overall aim is to advance global development and uptake of key technologies to reach a 50% CO2 emission reduction by 2050 by having the IEA leading the development of energy technology roadmaps under international guidance and in close consultation with industry. The roadmaps will enable governments, industry and financial partners to identify steps needed and implement measures to accelerate required technology development and uptake.

This process starts with providing a clear definition and elements needed for each roadmap. The IEA has defined its global technology roadmap accordingly:

“… a dynamic set of technical, policy, legal, financial, market and organisational requirements identified by the stakeholders involved in its development. The effort shall lead to improved and enhanced sharing and collaboration of all related technology-specific RDD&D information among participants. The goal is to accelerate the overall RDD&D process in order to deliver an earlier uptake of the specific technology into the marketplace.”

Each roadmap identifies major barriers, opportunities, and policy measures for policy makers and industry and financial partners to accelerate RDD&D efforts for specific clean technologies on both a national and international level.

The rationale for PV

Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on earth. The solar energy that hits the earth’s surface in one hour is about the same as the amount consumed by all human activities in a year. Direct conversion of sunlight into electricity in PV cells is one of the three main solar active technologies, the two others being concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar thermal collectors for heating and cooling (SHC). Today, PV provides 0.1% of total global electricity generation.

However, PV is expanding very rapidly due to dramatic cost reductions. PV is a commercially available and reliable technology with a significant potential for long-term growth in nearly all world regions. In the IEA solar PV roadmap vision, PV is projected to provide 5% of global electricity consumption in 2030, rising to 11% in 2050.

Achieving this level of PV electricity supply – and the associated, environmental, economic and societal benefits – will require more concerted policy support. Sustained, effective and adaptive incentive schemes are needed to help bridge the gap to PV competitiveness, along with a long-term focus on technology development that advances all types of PV technologies, including commercially available systems and emerging and novel technologies.

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If you have not already been introduced to it, WiMax is the latest development in wireless telecommunications technology that are opening doors to high-speed Internet for users all over the country.  The term is short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and refers to the system responsible for bringing fully mobile Internet access to people who are constantly on the go, as well as long-range high-speed broadband coverage to people who do not have wired connections like DSL and cable at their disposal.

To a certain degree, WiMax is sort of like Wi-Fi, in that it projects Internet signals directly to computers in a network without relying on wires, cables, or phone lines.  However, a single WiMax system can reach many more people than a Wi-Fi network.  This is because it uses a tower, which operates somewhat in the same way as a cell phone tower, to deliver coverage to large areas spanning as many as 3,000 square miles.  People can use their cell phone, or laptop or desktop computer, to get online from anywhere within this entire area.

This is fantastic news for people with long commutes to work, who want to be able to check emails and access other websites on the go, as well as for people who just want to take advantage of this technology for entertainment purposes (streaming audio and video, for example).  And it can be completely life-changing for people living in rural or remote locations who up until now have likely had to suffer the painfully sow connection speeds that come with dial-up service.

So how does it work?  There are two parts to a WiMax sytem.  It all starts with the aforementioned tower, which itself can connect to the Internet using a wired connection, or through a line-of-sight microwave link with a tower which has a wired connection.  This second way is what accounts for such widespread and accessible service, as a chain of wireless towers can be created to extend coverage to areas where wired connections are hard or impossible to come by.

In addition to the tower, there is also something called a receiver.  This is what users need in order to be able receive the signal transmitted by the tower.  There are a few different types of receivers available.  They can come as external boxes and antennas that you connect to your computer, or they can be built-in devices that you don’t even see.

Regardless of the type, there are two ways for a user’s receiver to tap into signals: line-of-sight service and non-line-of-sight service.  As the name implies, line-of-sight requires that the receiver be able to “see” the tower, meaning there must be nothing in between the two.  To get this type of service, a user will need to mount a fixed dish antenna on their roof.  Likewise, for non-line-of sight service, the receiver is attached to the computer itself and can pick up the signal from pretty much anywhere.  This type of service, though less strong, is what makes WiMax mobility possible.

Introduction to SEO (and the dreaded Google slap!)When I decided that I was going to invent Australia’s most innovative, corrective skin care range that I would be writing articles on SEO along the way……. I would have said SE…what??If you don’t know what SEO stands for, then you better quickly decide if it’s something you need before you read on… time is precious and there’s no point filling your head with tips that you cannot use.SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In a nutshell, it is basically the beautiful art of ranking on page one of Google for the appropriate search term that suits your business.ExampleOne of Homepeel’s core products is a skin peel system you do yourself at home. This saves my customers heaps of money by not having to go to the salon anymore. So what you do is think to yourself; what words would my potential customer search in Google for? In my case, the answer was skin peel.Your aim should be to have your website land on the first page of the Google results. How often do you go to the second page of results? 90% of people never go past the first page.Do an experiment. Go to www.google.com.au (when you have first finished reading this fascinating article) and do a search for the term skin peel. You will find our website www.homepeel.com.au will come up somewhere on that first page.Achieving this is the art of SEO. You are probably thinking to yourself right now “Cool, show me how to do that” and I will, but there’s no step by step guide or exact formula. This is why I call it an ART. You need to learn this art.First you need to understand Google and how it ranks. Google sends out little things called spiders (Googlebots).When a person requests a search in Google, these spiders crawl over the World Wide Web looking for web sites (web pages) that suit your search request the most.These spiders look for a number of different things and these things change all the time. Google is very clever at making sure that the results will be organic and not vulnerable to people trying to get page ranking by to dodgy activities.This is a good thing because if they did not keep strict rules for this type of thing, then the results we get when we do searches would not be relevant to what we are looking for and Google would loose it’s credibility.One way Google ensures users stay true to the organic Google search results is by introducing the Google Slap.The Google Slap is the most feared punishment for business that relies on the internet for survival.Basically, if Google see’s that you are doing activities to boost your Google ranking that are not seen as organic (meaning true, natural results) then they will place a Google Slap on your site. When this happens, the Google spiders will no longer see your web site. This means you will never show up as a result in a Google search. This will be the death of your site.Due to the existence of the Google Slap, it’s imperative that the activities you choose to pursue when trying to improve the SEO performance of your site is meaningful and true.This sounds easy, bit in actual fact it is not. As the art of SEO is still quite a new field. It is hard to know what sources of information are going to lead you down the right path.Currently there is an infinite amount of services and internet tools that claim to get you ranking on page one of Google with in 24 hrs and so on. Well, the first thing I can suggest is never choose to do something that promises quick results. This is because Google ranking is not something that can be done overnight. It takes time.One very good tip I offer is to make one of your SEO guru’s Ed Dale http://tubbynerd.com/ He is one of the most respected SEO guru’s in the world and he happens to be located in Melbourne, Australia.Below is a general list of things Google spiders look for:• How often and where the keyword (the search term) is located on your pages• Your domain name, does it include the search term• Links. Is your site linked to well respected sites? How many links do you have?• Do you a have a link to a .gov• How often your site is updated• How many hits a day it gets• Is your site registered with Yahoo• Is your site indexed by dmoz.org• Most importantly, has Google indexed your site• Is the search title in your Page TitleLately, you may be thinking “Well, Google is not the only search engine! Why do we only focus on Google?” This is because 85% of people use Google.The front page of Google is the most successful advertising space in the world. With a little, time, effort and dedication – you can find yourself there!!Feel free to forward any questions to me on jodiec@homepeel.com.au as I am very passionate about SEO and helping others achieve ranking like I have.Jodie Culpinjodiec@homepeel.com.auwww.homepeel.com.au0409 648 208