cloud caution
July 16th, 2008
In the race to provide businesses with the most competitive software services, it seems that we are in for yet another struggle against all odds.
It seems that every single day a new startup is offering various data centre
cloud computing services and just today I read about a startup (The Linkup) that has unfortunately been forced to shut down their entire operation.
While I strongly believe that cloud computing is the way forward, the level of business integration with these services can vastly affect the outcome of success. Without proven analysis the risk of joining in the race to adopt these services for the sake of new technology is a very dangerous game indeed.
Reuven Cohen put everything into perspective with the following statement:
"Everyday I open my netvibes, to discover yet another "as a service" offering"
My advice that I would like to impart with you today is that you should be prepared for another wave of hype around software services, there will be also be mix of cloud cowboys claiming to provide infrastructure that is clearly out of their reach. So before you hock your server and replace it with a set of services make sure you have made the right investment with a business that has the capacity meet your needs.
You can read more about departure of The Linkup via The Register.
wordcamp for wordpress lovers
July 14th, 2008
Just picked up on the WordCamp event happening in Birmingham from 19th - 20th July.
It looks like a great place to learn more about blogging, with an interesting line up of sessions.
Find out more over here.
everybody loves a captcha
July 14th, 2008
Don’t you just love them too? The worst one I have come across is the infamous Rapidshare cats and dogs nightmare.
Why do developers believe that it is feasible to render their application useless for the sake of a single captcha?
The answer is clear, if you are using a captcha for security, do not put all your eggs in one basket. A captcha is not the final layer of security needed to protect your web application from DoS (denial of service) and brute force attacks, so don’t depend on them as if they were some sort of saviour.
Putting so much emphasis on a captcha simply renders your entire application unusable and drives your user base away in frustration.
John Willis had a great post: The 10 Worst Captchas, go have a laugh, you won’t believe how outrageous they are.
cloud camp london
July 12th, 2008
Come and learn more about cloud computing and find out how it could potentially benefit your existing business model.
"CloudCamp was formed in order to provide a common ground for the introduction and advancement of cloud computing".
To give you and idea of what cloud computing is here is a quote that sums it up briefly from the wikipedia defenition:
"Consumers of cloud computing services purchase computing capacity on-demand and are not generally concerned with the underlying technologies used to achieve the increase in server capability".
Thats right supercomputers that are ready to rock on demand.
July 16th, 6.30pm to 8.00pm (Party afterward)
The Crypt on the Green
St James Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell Close
London
EC1R 0EA
It is a free event but registration is required. Find out more information over here.
the pragmatic treasure chest
July 11th, 2008
There is a little secret I would to impart with you today. It is my little treasure chest of books that have served me far and beyond. Besides the amazing range of O’Reilly books I own. I would like to make mention of the Pragmatic Programmers Collection. If you have not yet browsed through their bookshelf stop what you are doing and go there now!