Tech World

Cloud computing is all the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition. As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing," the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including conventional outsourcing. Cloud computing is all the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition. As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a ...

For startups, user growth, product growth, virality, marketing usually goes on the top of their priority list. As part of product planning cycles, embedding information security into their product/service is the last concern for most startups. Which is deeply ignored here? Information and data security. Often you see devops engineers, systems engineers, infrastructure engineers or system administrators wear the security hat in these startups and performs some of the small security fixes or patches. Even though they can perform research on the procedures to apply patches, harden databases, or implement remediation as a result of the industry breaches, they might not take every decision or option from security perspective. Consider the Code Spaces startup breach that basically caused them to go out of business due to improper hardening of the root passwords and not following the AWS security best practices. This deeply ignored lack of security awareness has actually...

The event in San Francisco was aimed mostly at enterprise customers, and Microsoft promised an OS that will be more intuitive for the millions of workers still on Windows 7 and older OSes. Here's a rundown of some of the key points we learned Tuesday about Windows 10. The natural name would have been Windows 9, but Microsoft is eager to suggest a break with the past. "We're not building an incremental product," said Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft's Operating Systems Group. Microsoft considered the name "Windows One," he said, to match products like OneNote and OneDrive and its "One Microsoft" business strategy. But he noted the name was snagged a long time ago, by a young Bill Gates. Perhaps Microsoft didn't like the idea of being numerically one step behind Apple's OS X. (A reporter asked jokingly if subsequent versions will be named after big cats.) Whatever the reason, Windows 10 it will be. "When yo...

What I found interesting, though, was just how many people could clearly associate with being a people pleaser.  If you read through some of the comments you’ll see that many had no problem laying out their life story knowing that they were among fellow pleasing addicts.  And those who really got the message had a tone of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders. In this post I lay out some of the key signs of being a people pleaser and then offer some tips to help overcome this terrible and self destructive personality trait. Since writing that post I’ve spoken with many readers about the topic and I’ve come to realize that this is not only a common issue for many, but that the end result is a certain faded version of the individual.  Just like pouring water into a glass of fine wine, those who are actively living out their people pleasing personality are quickly diluting their very existence. In the above mentioned blo...

Commencement speakers look for nuggets of wisdom that graduates will take with them as they journey forward in their lives. Along the way, speakers hope to inspire a life or two and create reason for a cheer, a tear or evoke fear. My speech will be titled 10 Steps to Achieving Success in Life. The list is by no means all-inclusive. However, I think it provides a very good starting point from which to develop a road map for successful living. I think the graduates will find great value in this list. I only hope that I will be able to live up to my own advice and consistently follow these 10 steps. 10 STEPS TO ACHIEVING SUCCESS IN LIFE 1. Set Goals : “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where,” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. - dialogue between Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice’s Adventures i...