Below is a list of some trends or ideas that I think will surface or grow in 2009. Note, these are not ranked.

1. Clouds Reduce the Effect of the Recession
   The US Government just announced that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. To most people, this is simply stating the obvious. Many in the Cloud Computing field have been touting how moving to the Cloud can lower high Capital Expenditures (CapEx) and shift this to Operating Expenditures (OpEx). Coupling that with a pay-for-what-you-use, use-only-what-you-need model, and Cloud Computing becomes a panacea for extending the runway of your business. Prudent companies are slashing budgets and looking to weather the turbulent market for as long as possible. Those companies that are heavily dependent on advertising will be seeing the effects of cash hording in Q1 and Q2 of 2009. Utility-based spending is a shift in mind-set that could potentially slow the freefall and domino effect we are currently experiencing.
   Recently, I heard about a similar type of idea that could potentially help the sales of hybrid or electric cars. One of the primary barriers that is preventing users from purchasing “green” cars is the high cost associated with a purchase. If the auto industry were to adopt a cell phone business model where you pre-buy your electrical charges and the cost of the car is “subsidized” through the use of recurring and predicable revenue, users might more readily opt for a purchase (at a discounted price). However, several infrastructure changes would be required in order for such a pricing-shift to take place, meaning that charging stations would have to be abundant (and possibly government subsidized as well). In the long term, building the green infrastructure would reduce the US dependence on foreign oil, establish new businesses and competition for charging station infrastructure and move towards bettering the environment. While not exactly the same, similarities can be drawn between this idea and the shift from self-hosted servers to Cloud Infrastructures. CapEx is reduced (e.g., green cars become less expensive to buy/no need to purchase servers that are under-utilized) and costs are moved to OpEx (e.g., charging your car when you need to/paying for only the infrastructure you use).
2. Broader Depth of Clouds
   Cloud Computing providers are leapfrogging each other with new features and offerings. This will continue in 2009. GoGrid was the first to provide a wide assortment of Windows Server Clouds (Windows Server 2003 at launch and later Windows Server 2008). Towards the end of the year, Amazon’s EC2 announced the availability of Windows Server 2003. Microsoft jumped into the ring as a Cloud Platform with Azure. By far, AWS is leading the field by offering a wide array of Cloud services (EC2 – Cloud Infrastructure/ S3, SimpleDB, CloudFront, & SQS – Cloud Extenders). Their footprint continues to deepen as well. But sometimes it’s not bad being #2. GoGrid is a Cloud Infrastructure provider with Cloud Extenders (with GoGrid Cloud Storage) with an emphasis on mirroring standard IT infrastructure services with a focus on ease-of-use through a GUI and programmatic control through an API. Microsoft will be launching their own Cloud Infrastructure in 2009 as well as a variety of Cloud Applications (e.g., Exchange). Google will extend its Cloud Platform with services for storing and serving large files, larger dataset management, pay-for-use enhanced usage and new runtime languages (beyond Python). RackSpace made its move at the end of 2008 with SliceHost and Jungle Disk acquisitions; look to them putting all of the pieces together in 2009. I am seeing the trend towards a broader range of services by several large players. This may confuse the market in the first half of 2009 as IT organizations struggle to figure out the best Cloud solution and how to put it all together as a financially and technologically viable strategy.
3. VC’s, Money & Long Term Viability
   With the credit market increasingly tight, if not non-existent, VC’s, Angel funders and other investors will be faced with some tough decisions. The Dot-Com era allowed for almost anybody to get money for business plans that were essentially vapor-ware. Web 2.0 was slightly better, you had to have a viable business strategy, an established user base, and well on the path to monetization to receive funding. Even with that, there was no guarantee of survival. Many Web 2.0-ers are now shutting shop, despite the fact that they are loved by many. Web 3.0 will present a much steeper hill to climb from a funding perspective. I have spoken to a few investors and VC’s recently (as the Economy imploded) and they still seemed to be somewhat optimistic, but very cautious. But it is their job to keep a positive outlook as they look for the next best thing. With Cloud Computing services gaining even more momentum, this is a good market for funding. But the VC’s and others are really doing their due diligence this time through (are they finally learning from their mistakes over the past 10 years?). Cloud Infrastructure providers will not be the ones receiving the scarce capital, I don’t think. And SaaS providers are a dime a dozen (not in a derogatory way). The SaaS market will continue to grow (not as quickly as previously, I don’t think), in fact, the first Quarter of 2009, we may see a dip as some SaaS organizations actually go under, unfortunately. I think that Cloud Aggregators (those who work to provide integrated Clouds and management services around them) will be ripe for additional funding. For Cloud Platform providers the outlook is a bit trickier as frequently they are dependent on public run-time languages or maintaining proprietary code to keep momentum. I think the smaller providers may see an influx of capital in order to remain competitive, if not survive.
4. Partnerships Galore & Weeding Out of Providers
   Strategic alliances and partnerships are critical to any business success. Not only do you increase exposure to other audiences but also provide more innovative and robust services in the process. GoGrid recently announced partnerships with RightScale, Appistry and GigaSpaces to name a few, with several others coming in 2009 (GoGrid Partners). We will see several new alliances within the Cloud Computing space but this is where my crystal ball is a bit hazy. Cloud Aggregators will be the big movers here and they really have to be. Aggregators need to ensure their own fiscal viability by broadening and diversifying their offerings. If a provider is too attached to EC2, for example, and if Amazon decides to develop functionality that mirrors that of the Aggregator and offer it for free or at a fraction of the cost, the Aggregator will struggle to remain competitive. Aggregators will be core to driving standards and interoperability (#7 below) as they will have much deeper insight into the workings of each of their partners. If they can’t remain ahead of the curve, a big fail whale is on the horizon. Tied to #3 above ($$$), those providers who can’t remain solvent or make smart decision or even monetize in a clean, clear way will go under. Obviously I don’t wish this on any provider, but it is inevitable. I won’t make any predictions but several Cloud providers are for sale or seeking funding to keep their lifeline healthy.
5. Hybrid Solutions
   Not every corporation or business is looking to the Cloud as the next sliced bread. While the Cloud can be the catalyst for a potentially more sound IT and financial strategy, it will not solve every IT challenge. There are some IT infrastructures that must remain in a private datacenter or running on dedicated, bare-metal servers. Database intensive environments may not be conducive to exclusively residing within the Cloud. This year, GoGrid launched the 1.0 version of  Cloud Connect as a way to allow for these types of hybrid (dedicated servers connected to Cloud servers) solutions. Others are calling Hybrid Infrastructure “Cloudbursting.” I expect that some of the strategic partnerships coming in 2009 will include other hybrid solutions of this nature. In fact, they may give way to full mirrored failover or redundancy solutions where traditional infrastructures are mirrored within the Cloud, sharing common datastreams to ensure near-real-time availability of data and services.
6. Web 3.0
   Web 3.0 is upon us. I have long thought that it will be all about Integration and Standards (#7 below). I have written about “mashups” and integrations as being a large component of Web 2.0. Web 3.0 will make these integrations much more seamless and go well beyond that of simple visible shared data applications. What we saw with mashups was essentially proof-of-viability and with some experimentation thrown in. Like a strategic partnership, successful integrations are critical to the furthering the power of the Cloud. In 2009, we will see integrations taking place at a much lower level of IT. Data integrations will remain as they are fairly established. Infrastructure integration and companies offering this as a solution, either as consultation or aggregation of technologies, will drive the innovation of Web 3.0. These integrations will help create new and unique SaaS and even PaaS offerings to the market. The hurdle here will be in the explanation and usability of said solutions.
7. Standards and Interoperability
   While Cloud Computing seemed like the New World in 2007 and the Wild West in 2008, it has now been colonized and settlements established. 2009 will be that of Civil Engineering. The development of standards and interoperability between the varying levels of Clouds is inevitable. It is also tied directly to the needed adoption by the Enterprise. Without clearly defined standards, best practices and even open interoperability, further adoption of the Cloud will slowed dramatically. Just as Phone Number Portability was an important factor in reforming the telcos during the 1990’s and early 2000’s, I believe that Cloud portability (enabled only through guaranteed standards and interoperability) will be a movement in mid to late 2009. Everyone has “agreed to agree,” and now are making inroads towards standards, a reality. It will be important that the big players in the space (e.g., Amazon, Microsoft, Google) become involved. IBM has tossed their hat into the Cloud ring by announcing a Cloud Computing Certification called “Resilient Cloud Validation” (but only if they collaborate with IBM). Without these big players’ participation, there will be 2 types of clouds (standard and non-standard) and/or companies that provide filters or converters to allow for Cloud Portability.
8. Staggered Growth within the Cloud
   I will go out on a limb here as say that there will be tremendous growth within the Cloud. But that is an easy prediction to make. The Cloud encompasses so much that it would be difficult to really see a stagnation or shrinkage. SaaS will expand (perhaps not as rapidly as previously) and offerings by other layers within the Cloud Pyramid will deepen and broaden. Because of the complexity of building up Cloud Infrastructures (from a provider perspective), the Infrastructure layer will take a less steep growth curve as compared to Platform Clouds and Application Clouds will beat the previous two layers out as well. Cloud Aggregators will come and go, and Cloud Extenders will evolve and become more intertwined with other Cloud layers. 2009 will also see the increased visibility of Private Clouds, especially within the Enterprise, until standards and security concerns are met within Public clouds.
9. Technology Advances at the Cloud Molecular Level
   There is probably a new layer to the Cloud Pyramid that needs to be added, one that resides at the “molecular” level. Chip makers such as Intel, are making plans on enabling Cloud-optimized CPU and other types of chips to allow for a more unique control of built-in switches. They are extremely interested in many of the open and proprietary virtualization technologies out there (Xen, VMware, Virtual Iron, etc.) and are strategizing on how to make their chipsets more compatible and efficient for use in the Cloud. Obviously, their vision is to have all Cloud infrastructures running with “Intel Inside” stamped on them. Many Cloud Computing providers, including GoGrid, already hook into chip-level switches and controls to make better use of the processors. Dell, HP and IBM will most certainly release servers specifically designed and configured for running optimized Clouds. Since all Clouds are powered by physical hardware and as advances are made further propelling Moore’s Law into the stratosphere, Clouds will become more powerful and able to take the place of traditional servers even more readily.
10. Larger Adoption
    If one factors in many if not all of the items mentioned previously, the obvious conclusion is that Cloud adoption will be significant in 2009. The Enterprise will move beyond simply testing the waters and just using the Cloud for project work. Private Clouds will help with their acceptance and the undeniable call for cost-savings through reduced CapEx will be too loud to be ignored. My gut also tells me that Government will play a much larger role as well. In 2008 I spoke with a person from the French government whose mission it was to bring the Cloud to their government infrastructure. This is only the tip of the iceberg. With the 2008 US Election, Barack Obama proved how critical an online presence is to furthering the concept of “change.” The Obama-Biden Technology Agenda points to the obvious importance of Technology, especially with the appointment of a Chief Technology Officer for the US Government.  And, as always, Web 3.0 and Startups will remain on the bleeding edge of hosting technology yet conserving cash for a sunnier day (ok, it can be a bit “cloudy”).

It’s always fun trying to gaze into a crystal ball and predict the future. When peering into it for perspective and predictions on Cloud Computing, a “cloudy” crystal ball is a bit of an oxymoron. Cloud Computing is no longer a just a “newfangled” movement but rather an established IT and business strategy that will be critical to all companies regardless of business models.

Turns out Facebook wasn’t always called Facebook. It originally launched as TheFacebook on thefacebook.com with Zuckerberg claiming he was “Founder, Master and Commander, Enemy of the State”. It didn’t become Facebook.com until 2005 when the fledgling site bought the domain for $200,000 from aboutface.com a web and intranet directory software company

Over 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States with all those people spending a whopping 5703 years (3 billion minutes) on the site each day.

The website is built on PHP-MySQL and is the second most-trafficked PHP site in the world

In April 2006, revenue was rumored to be over $1.5 million per week

The company already rejected a $975 million offer for the site

Facebook is valued at 8 billion according to Peter Thiel

It currently hosts over 1.7 Billion photos

Facebook is the 5th most valuable US Internet company, yet with only $150 million in annual revenue.

With this success, Zuckerberg (founder), Moskowitz and Hughes moved out to Palo Alto for the summer and rented a sublet. A few weeks later, Zuckerberg ran into the former cofounder of Napster, Sean Parker. Parker soon moved in to Zuckerberg’s apartment and they began working together. Parker provided the introduction to their first investor, Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and managing partner of the Founders Fund. Thiel invested $500,000 into Facebook.
Debrain

The Top Ten Computer Trends for the 21st Century

1.   Computers will become powerful extensions of human beings designed to augment intelligence, learning, communications, and productivity.

2.   Computers will become intuitive---they will "learn," "recognize," and "know" what we want, who we are, and even what we desire.

3.   Computer chips will be everywhere, and they will become invisible-embedded in everything from brains and hearts, to clothes and toys.

4.   Computers will manage essential global systems, such as transportation and food production, better than humans will.

5.   Online computer resources will enable us to download applications on-demand via wireless access anywhere and anytime.

6.   Will become voice-activated, networked, video-enabled, and connected together over the Net, linked with each other and humans.

7.   Computers will have digital senses-speech, sight, smell, hearing-enabling them to communicate with humans and other machines.

8.   Neural networks and other forms of artificial intelligence will make computers both as smart as humans, and smarter for certain jobs.

9.   Human and computer evolution will converge. Synthetic intelligence will greatly enhance the next generations of humans.

10.  As computers surpass humans in intelligence, a new digital species and a new culture will evolve that is parallel to ours.

Copyright © 1990-2008 Dr. James Canton & Institute for Global Futures^SM All Rights Reserved

The Internet is regarded as the best place to do everything such as finding entertainment, shopping, or research, there’s still the danger of anonymity. You may find yourself in another persons shoes, literally.

One example of the evils of the Internet is Phishing, which is a criminal method of obtaining your most personal information for the benefit of the evildoers. Some of their methods are stealing your password, credit card details, or even your identity.

It’s easy to avoid being victimized by phishing. Here are some helpful advice on protecting yourself from these criminal activities.

DON’T give your personal information to anyone.

This is the most basic guide in avoiding phishing. This mostly applies to e-mail, private messages on bulletin boards/social networks or chatting with your online friends. They have identity thefts in social networking sites in which the criminal took advantage of the identity to obtain sensitive or personal information from other people.

If an e-mail message asks you to give your name, e-mail, password, credit card number, address, never reply to it, even if it seems like it’s important. It might be one step to identity theft. So never, ever, give your personal information to anyone.

Create strong passwords

Simple phishing is to crack passwords of accounts. The easier the password you have on your account, the easier it will be cracked. A combination of numbers and letters is the ideal password for those who want their accounts to be protected.

Use secure online payment services

In shopping online, you have to determine if the payment service is secure. This is easy since you can research about how secure the payment service is on search engines or from friends. Remember that you will give your credit card number and other valuable information so it’s better to have some background knowledge than none at all.

Avoiding fake websites

Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer have anti-phishing measures which detect fake websites. These fake websites could lure you into giving them your personal information and use them against you or for their own benefit. Some fake websites require you to which automatically give them your username and password. Double check if the URL is correct just to be sure you’re in the right place.

Killing the spam e-mails

In most e-mails, there is a spam filter which automatically sends your spam in a different folder to be dealt with later. Spam e-mails are very dangerous and should be deleted immediately. The usual indication of spam is that it entices you to look inside with the subject and is usually from a person you don’t know.

The Internet isn’t the safest place in the world, even if you think you’ve covered all the bases. As long as you’re lurking in there, the possibilities of crime are endless. So the key is just to be very careful.

Reproduced from computerspot.net

Computers have become almost an appliance at home.  Even children are familiar with computers and use them for various reasons.

Children are attracted to computers because they consider it as a toy.  They usually think that computers are for gaming and multimedia purposes.  Some think that it’s for educational purposes.

If you are planning to buy a computer for your kid, choose wisely.

You can consider the following 10 tips below to buy the right computer for your kid:

1. Know your kid’s computing needs

Make sure that you know your kid’s computing needs.  The computer that you kid needs may be used for research, homework, multimedia or gaming.

2. Buy an affordable computer

Once you know your kid’s computing needs, you can now have the option to choose the features and specifications for the computer.  With this, you will be able to buy an affordable computer that meets your kid’s computing needs.

3. The computer unit must be strong and can withstand pressure

Some kids think that computers are toys and may carelessly handle the computer unit.

4. Get a computer unit with free bundled software

Choose software that can teach your kids history, geography, reading, and more.  There are computer store shops that offer great deals of computer package with free bundled software.

5. Make sure that the computer unit is user friendly and easy to operate

This would make it easy for kids to use and handle the computer with care.  Like for example, younger kids would not find it hard to turn off the computer unit by themselves.

You can ask a computer technician to configure it for you or if you are knowledgeable enough with computers, you can configure your kid’s computer.

6. Consider buying a screen protector for the computer

Too much glare from the computer can cause eye problems and headaches for your kids.  It is better to buy a screen protector to help lessen this possibility.

You can also configure the computer monitor’s brightness level to make sure that it will not be irritating to your kid’s eyes.

7. Consider the storage capability

Although the computer unit is solely for the kid’s use, it would be better if you buy a storage media that can store more information and programs.

8. Make sure that the computer is Internet ready

It would be best to choose a computer unit that can be easily connected to the Internet.  Your kids may want to browse and research online for their homework or projects.

9. Install a security program

A security program like web filtering software can protect your kid.  This would prevent your child from unknowingly accessing a malicious or pornographic website.

10. Make sure that the computer unit has warranty

You will always have peace of mind if your kid’s new computer has at least 1 or 2 years warranty.

Warranty assures the buyer that if the unit is defective or gets damaged later on, he or she can expect support from the seller or manufacturer of the computer unit.  That would make the computer unit cost effective.

Reproduced by computerspot.net