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Summit Entertainment | 2009 | 130 mins | Rated PG-13 | Mar 20, 2010
The relationship between mortal Bella and vampire Edward is continuing to blossom and grow even
though ancient secrets are in line to destroy them. When Edward leaves in order to keep the love of
his life Bella safe; she takes it upon herself to test her life in many reckless ways. Things don't
go as she planned though when her good friend Jacob ends up saving her which opens her eyes and
mind to many more secrets that could threaten all their existence.
So what are you cats using to get music these days.
I've tried itunes when I had my iphone:nag: awful.
I'm not in the mood to pay 14.99 or w/e to M$ for a zune pass. I'm looking for a pay as you go
situation similar to what amazon has going on. But amazon seems way overpriced. You'd think if
everyone else is getting unlimited downloads of music for $15, I could find a full album under
$8.99.
Granted some are cheaper on amazon, but most are pretty expensive. Two albums will equal a whole
month of downloads, it just doesn't equal out.
The problem is I don't download very much music. I want to grab a few albums here and there, and I
end up listening to them for a couple months.
I need another effing monthly payment like i need hole in my head.:p
The shortest way to describe this is that Google is no longer a verb. It's becoming
a noun. Not just the few clicks to find information, but the information itself and the
experience surrounding it.
Today, we get to add Google's chapter to "Will One Company Dominate
the Cloud" introspective series and take a glimpse of the silent revolution from "index" to
"be" that is transforming the company and it's products to the default way to engage the
Internet.
As fate has it, Google done us a big favor in preparing for this piece. The company has launched
an assault on the enterprise with its movement in the Google App Engine, having a
stand-off with China, and negotiating with the EU. And that was
just a bit of Google
news from this week.
Sponsor
Whereas it's a bit more clear where Amazon and Cisco win (our
recent analysis) as they head towards the cloud, with Google it takes a bit more expansive view.
We have to take the focus out a bit, to be able to dial in on the details.
Acknowledgment: Developers are the Products they Build
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Tim Bray. He has been a key contributor and thought leader
in key areas of interoperability and information design, including his leadership in bringing XML
to the world. He recently announced that he's joining Google and focusing on Android in a
transition from Sun.
Several things struck us about our dialog that we think are key for Google.
First, when Bray described his new job at Google, he talked about what he wanted to do and what
he saw that needed to be done. Within three days of being there, he has a sense of ownership of
the companies products and mission. In some organizations, you may never get such a luxury.
Second, Bray described his opportunity to "roll up his sleeves" and get back in the groove as a
developer on a project he feels passion for. He mentioned his desire to take the open APIs of
Android and expose some of the information in a more portable way, for example to transfer a call
log from one phone to another. A very interesting project, with tangible results. This type of
innovation lives on top of all the work the company has done to make the API exist, and to
attract individuals who are willing to rethink how it should really work.
We think that this is the most interesting thing about where Google is right now. It's "open"
mantra gives the company the ability to see a whole generation into the future of information
channel disruption. And, by bringing in "no holds barred" developers like Bray and a legion of
others, the company is patiently solving problems that many of us don't even know exist.
Lastly, Bray said something that caused us some deep thought.
His comment, "when the Drizzle team was moved into Google, they
just kept working on the their open source project and things stayed nearly the same."
What caused us to pause was that open source development, whether Linux or XML, gives the
developer, as a person, a way to contribute to the world. And it's documented. If the Internet
was the Bible, leading a key open source initiative, is like getting your own chapter in the
book, where time will be the judge of your actions. Much better than your manager alone.
To know that hard work, intellectual capital, libraries are available to the world after the
contract is complete. This really speaks to the artist in us, in a way, the paid open source
developer is using Google as a canvas.
If working at Google offers this emotional spark to employees, it will gain entirely new
efficiencies in solving the big problems, in the context of individual efforts. Maybe this open
source spirit is embedded into Twitter, and is why it works. We like to contribute to our version
of the greater good...and want fans to cheer us on.
What we learned; acknowledgment matters, and connections to the whole population of people is an
amazing vehicle. Google: become an indie rock star - with the strength of grep.
All of the Information on Earth
Google's destiny to become the hub of the worlds information is
intertwined with history. And this comes with artifacts of policy and posturing. To start with,
not everyone agrees that Google should achieve a dominant cloud position. As we're noticing,
stopping it is another matter.
We'd like to suggest that in 2010, the company is not shy about stepping towards its future and
will use its power, technology, and cash to stir it up. Here is our list of organizations in the
world that Google has, is, or will be, continually bumping into in its quest for cloud
information dominance.
China (counties own the filters for the people)
ATT (service providers own consumer on the network)
Penguin (book publishers own the words in the texts)
Visa (financial institutions own the digits in the transactions)
Facebook (social networks know the details)
Amazon (commerce sites own the decision point)
Twitter (owns "what's happening")
Microsoft (owns the computer applications and files)
Open can be a Key to Unlock Doors
We see both practical and strategic reasons that Google has a
deep connection with the open source movement. Strategically, being the new optimized layer,
removing all historic barriers to information give the company more leverage. Practically,
solutions can be built where information is free.
Reviewing a few examples, such as Google Earth, Android, and even GMail and we see that where
there are open protocols and information disruptive products can be built. Once they are built,
the Google wields a significant economic advantage in binding the worlds information assets and
converting them to eyeballs.
Here, we take a quick look at the information assets that Google is investing the global cloud.
Results: Google has moved away from Page Rank to "Closest Object" in it's
default results. What this means is that many businesses today show up as widget in the results
in google with embedded links, maps, and other efficiencies.
Ads: This is perhaps the best known and most valuable insight and unique
asset, who wants to pay for what customer
Realtime index: Google has worked to keep up with Twitter's realtime firehose
Semantic index: The company continues to add more and more microsyntax parsers
into its index, giving more controlled tools for publishers
GMail: It had to be done. And it is monetized.
Documents and files: Google Docs and the Apps Marketplace create a whole new
stream of information about an individual. Private, personal, and shared.
Mobile transactions: This is an interesting sample of where Google's strategy
to build the Android OS pays off in the cloud. Not only does Google get to connect mobile to
the rest of the offerings, but also to be able to dial in on movements, calls, and other
critical tasks in our real-time lives.
Books: Indexing all of them, first is an interesting piece of the strategy to
break apart historic containers of knowledge. Is the book copyrighted? How about the quote?
Browsers: The browser knows a lot. Google's Chrome moves it from being default
search, to being default experience. This was a great example of where access to information
"Faster pages" is the simple value proposition for consumers to switch.
Filters: Protecting companies, trademarks, and interpreting the legality of
free speech. Someone has to do it, if we're all one people.
Health transactions: Google has even taken on one of the most sensitive
challenges, private health information. And, it's connections to legacy systems that prefer EDI
to JSON.
It's clear that Google is making progress. What we've also learned in this review is that the
companies biggest asset - people - may scale to solve problems in lightweight ways that entire
teams and companies haven't been able to in the past. Perhaps being open, or transparent, gives
the company a unique advantage in being prepared for a cloud future.
Is the cloud where the action is?
What verb would you be if you were hired at Google?
Casio has been
in the timepiece business for quite a fair number of years already, and most of us would have
fond memories of a digital watch from Casio, although these days it seems to be imported from
China instead of its spiritual home, Japan. Ah well, their range of G-Shock watches are also a
cause to celebrate, since those are some tough devices which can withstand the rigors of an
active lifestyle. This time round, Casio America takes the next step forward in the world of
watches with its latest addition to the Pathfinder collection, otherwise known as the PAG110C-3.
This new Pathfinder will definitely appeal to those who constantly brave the great outdoors, but
it also has a conscience since it is eco-conscious with features such as solar technology and
recycled packaging.
After all, having your watch die out on you while you’re in the lush forest in the middle
of nowhere can be quite a frightening thought. So why not throw in some solar panels to make sure
the watch has enough juice to keep going? We wonder whether they will come up with a hybrid
mechanism that relies not only on kinetic energy to keep the timepiece ticking, but a solar panel
as well for another alternative source of renewable energy. The PRG110C-3 will incorporate
Casio’s Tough Solar Technology which increases battery life via the regeneration of
electrical power from sunlight. This will help decrease battery consumption associated with
traditional watches, which in turn assists in cutting down over three billion batteries thrown
away each year by Americans – at least that is what the Environmental Protection Agency
say. Basically, you wil decrease the presence of heavy metals in landfills which cause toxic
contamination to the environment if you pick up this digital watch.
Despite being eco-conscious, this Pathfinder timepiece retains its core features, with the
PAG110C-3 boasting advanced outdoor capabilities such as a digital compass, altimeter, barometer
and thermometer, where all of it are more than capable of meeting the needs of the serious
outdoorsman. You will also be able to enjoy five daily alarms, a stopwatch and world time in 30
cities. Is it raining, or do you have to forge rivers? Fret not – the watch is water
resistant up to 100 meters and low temperature resistant as well. Each Casio PAG110C-3 will
retail for $250 as an exclusive item on Amazon.com.
Roku’s
HD player is a great deal at $99, but it’s an even better deal if you buy one now from
Amazon. In addition to having a great Netflix box, you’ll also be able to use
Amazon’s Video of Demand service, and to get you started they’ll throw in $20 worth
of credit.
That’s a pretty good deal, considering that a movie like The Hurt Locker rents for $3.99,
or you can rent a TV show for about $3 an episode (watch Human Target, seriously). You’ll
give $99 for the Roku HD or $129.99 for the Roku HD-XR, and then Amazon will credit your account
so you can start renting as soon as you get the box hooked up. Better hurry though, because
the deal is only good until the 31st.
By David Lambert - A couple of days ago we reported about Shout! Factory's releases of G.I. Joe:
The Movie, coming out on July 27th in both high-def Blu-ray Disc and standard DVD formats. Today
Amazon.com... (more)
The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the first beta release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long-Term
Support) Desktop, Server, and Netbook editions and of Ubuntu 10.04 Server for Ubuntu Enterprise
Cloud (UEC) and Amazon’s EC2. Codenamed "Lucid Lynx", 10.04 LTS continues Ubuntu’s
proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a
high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Desktop and Netbook Editions continue the trend of ever-faster boot speeds, with
improved startup times and a streamlined, smoother boot experience.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server Edition provides even better integration of the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud,
with its install-time cloud setup.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server for UEC and EC2 brings the power and stability of the Ubuntu Server
Edition to cloud computing, whether you’re using Amazon EC2 or your own Ubuntu Enterprise
Cloud.
The Ubuntu 10.04 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu,
also reach beta status today.
Desktop features
————————
Social from the start: We now feature built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and
other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel.
New Design: Cleaner and faster boot, new notification area, new themes, new icons, and new
wallpaper bring a dramatically updated look and feel to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu One: Choose any folder in your home directory to sync, choose from millions of songs for
purchase in the Ubuntu One Music store.
Cloud computing: The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud installer has been vastly improved in order to
support alternative installation topologies. UEC components are now automatically discovered and
registered, even with complex topologies. Finally, UEC is now powered by Eucalyptus 1.6.2
codebase.
UEC and EC2: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS continues the tradition of official Ubuntu Server image releases
for UEC and for Amazon’s EC2, giving you everything you need for rapid deployment of Ubuntu
instances in a cloud computing environment. UEC images, and information on running Ubuntu 10.04
on EC2, are available at:
Stability and security: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS brings many improvements over Ubuntu 8.04 LTS to keep
your servers safe and secure for the next five years, including AppArmor profiles for many key
services, kernel hardening, and an easy-to-configure firewall.
Ubuntu Netbook features
———————————-
Ubuntu Netbook Edition is optimised to run on Intel atom based netbooks. It includes a new
consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their
favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment.
It includes the same faster boot times and improved boot experience as Ubuntu desktop.
Kubuntu features
————————
Kubuntu 10.04 LTS will be the first LTS to feature KDE 4 Platform and Applications. KDE 4 has
come a long way since its early releases and is now suitable for the high demands of LTS users.
Being an LTS we have focused on bug fixing and stability for this release, but we did find time
to add features such as touchpad configuration, Firefox KDE integration, Kubuntu notification
improvements, and cross-desktop systray menu standardisation. Kubuntu features the Plasma Desktop
while Kubuntu Netbook Remix comes out of preview status with the Plasma Netbook workspace.
Edubuntu in Lucid features a more complete live environment containing more software from
universe and all existing language packs as well as our usual educational software in their
current version. For Lucid the text installer has been removed and so is LTSP for the time being.
We expect to have LTSP back on the DVD for the next beta. The DVD is then much smaller than it
used to be but will still provide a complete education environment based on Ubuntu Lucid.
Also included on the Edubuntu DVD is a small repository containing the required packages to
transform the regular Edubuntu desktop into a LTSP server or install the Netbook edition
interface.
Mythbuntu features
—————————
Mythbuntu 10.04 introduces MythTV 0.23. This new version is significantly faster and should feel
more responsive and stable than older versions. It also integrates better into the OS with better
support for things like ConsoleKit and Upstart.
Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and servers, with a fast and
easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications
is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.
Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other
companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support
To Get Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1
———————————————
To upgrade to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1 from Ubuntu 9.10 or Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, follow these
instructions:
Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this Beta into the best
release of Ubuntu ever. Please note that, where possible, we prefer that bugs be reported using
the tools provided, rather than by visiting Launchpad directly. Instructions can be found at
If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are not sure, first try
asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu
forums:
It would
appear that the
rock Ubisoft sent out to press may have been a little short on the specifics for all versions
of Splinter Cell:
Conviction, considering the publisher today confirmed a two-week delay for the PC version.
BigDownload spotted an
Amazon listing and followed up with Ubi, who confirmed the new release date of April 27.
As seen above, both versions of the game were previously confirmed for release on April 13. We
might normally say, "Hey, at least you PC gamers can enjoy the demo in the meantime!" but it
appears that a PC demo won't be
coming. So, um, maybe you should pick up a good book? And hey, how about that local sports
team? Did you read that book about the local sports team?
It would
appear that the
rock Ubisoft sent out to press may have been a little short on the specifics for all versions
of Splinter Cell:
Conviction, considering the publisher today confirmed a two-week delay for the PC version.
BigDownload spotted an
Amazon listing and followed up with Ubi, who confirmed the new release date of April 27.
As seen above, both versions of the game were previously confirmed for release on April 13. We
might normally say, "Hey, at least you PC gamers can enjoy the demo in the meantime!" but it
appears that a PC demo won't be
coming. So, um, maybe you should pick up a good book? And hey, how about that local sports
team? Did you read that book about the local sports team?
Homegrown Evolution has a gallery of various terrible garden sculptures for sale on Amazon.com.
This one is my favorite Amazon sculpture offering. Looks like something Saddam Hussein would have
installed by one of the shark ponds. Suggestive and creepy all at once. The Scary World of Garden
Sculpture...
The e-book war between Amazon.com and Apple
is getting uglier. Dennis Johnson cites a report in
Publishers Marketplace (subscription required) that alleges that Amazon.com is
telling publishers that if they switch to an agency model (ala Macmillan) , they
will lose Amazon as a platform for both e-books and print.
This battle, which in many ways mirrors similar struggles between record labels and online music
stores, underscores some of the challenges that moving into widespread digital distribution for a
formerly non-digital product can bring.
The Agency Model Conundrum
Recently, Macmillian’s CEO John Sargent explained the agency model, as it relates to e-book
sales, in his blog:
“Starting at the end of March, we will move from the ‘retail model’ of selling
e-books (publishers sell to retailers, who then sell to readers at a price that the retailer
determines) to the ‘agency model’ (publishers set the price, and retailers take a
commission on the sale to readers).”
In other words, Macmillan wants to be able to control how much digital books are sold for on a
per-book basis. Much like music publishers fought (and eventually won) the right to sell certain
digital tracks or digital albums for more (or less, in some cases) than the $0.99 per track/$9.99
per album standard, publishers want that same control.
Amazon disagrees. And while it did acquiesce to
Macmillan’s position at the end of January, it apparently has no plans of making those
same concessions for future publishers.
In the Publishers Marketplace report, Michael Cader writes:
“At least one independent publisher of scale was told categorically by Amazon in a recent
phone call initiated by the retailer that Amazon would not negotiate agency selling terms with
any other publishers outside of the five initial Apple partners. This publisher was told that if
they switched to an agency model for e-books, Amazon would stop selling their entire list, in
print and digital form. In conversation, Amazon is said to have reiterated that as matter of
policy they are declining to negotiate an agency model with any publisher outside of the five who
have already announced agreements with Apple’s iBookstore.”
In other words, the agreements that have been made with the five publishers signed to work with
Apple — Macmillan, Harper Collins, Penguin, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster — will
not be passed on to smaller publishers.
It seems even the agreement with the other four publishers outside of Macmillan (known as Agency
Four) isn’t set in stone.
Cader also writes:
“The indications are that if the Agency Four have not finalized new digital sales
agreements with Amazon prior to the launch of Apple’s iPad, they could face delisting from
direct sale at Amazon, as Macmillan did.”
Translation: If those publishers don’t finalize a new digital agreement with Amazon before
the launch of the iPad, they risk being removed from
Amazon.com
Amazon Is Biggest Now, But For How Long?
Because it is both the biggest seller of e-books and print books, Amazon has enormous power in
the publishing industry. However, it’s unclear how long it will be able to play hardball
with publishers, especially as formidable competitors like Apple (with iTunes) and Google emerge.
Apple, interestingly, held a reverse stance with music executives for many years before finally
changing course in January of 2009 with the introduction of variable pricing. However, one reason
Apple was able to exert so much influence over record labels pricing was because until Amazon
launched its service (again, Amazon took the reverse approach with music, letting publishers set
variable pricing for tracks and albums), there was no real competitor in the digital music space.
Amazon isn’t quite as lucky. First, e-books have been around for years and are available in
a variety of formats from a variety of different storefronts. In fact, Amazon sold digital books
long before it introduced the Kindle.
The e-book market has evolved much more quickly than the digital music space, which leaves less
wiggle room for retailers, like Amazon, to exert pressure.
However, make no mistake, for smaller publishers, the risk of losing listings on Amazon.com is
still probably a big enough threat to have an effect.
We’ll keep following this situation as it develops.
Rebellion et Sega viennent de sortir le premier DLC payant pour Aliens VS Predator 3. C'est
disponible sur Steam, Xbox 360 et on imagine sur PS3 pour environ 6 euros. Le DLC contient : Quatre
maps multi qui auraient dû être dans le jeu de baseUn bon gros doigt d'honneur de la
part de Rebellion et Sega pour vous remercier d'avoir acheté le jeuSi vous faites partie de
ceux qui ont pris le jeu plein pot sur Steam, vous serez également ravis d'apprendre qu'AvP
3 est actuellement en promo à 33€. Une bonne affaire ?
peut-être, mais on peut surtout trouver le jeu à bien meilleur prix ailleurs : sur
Amazon.co.uk, par exemple, le jeu est actuellement à 25€ sur PC
et 40€ sur consoles, et vous avez la boîte en plus.
"...I heard a song that I liked a lot.... The next day I was thinking to myself that perhaps
the rest of the album was worth getting.... So I went over to iTunes I saw that it was available
for $9.99.... [But] I... discovered that it was available on Amazon.com for a good bit
less...."
Dan Cohen at GearDiary has done a small comparison of MP3 album prices between Amazon and iTunes. His article points out some interesting differences between the two sites,
such as albums having differing number of tracks, which certainly surprised me! He concludes that
Amazon was the less expensive retailer, at least for the titles he compared. Frankly, I have
never downloaded an MP3 album, as I still prefer a "hard copy" (a CD, or LP...), but for those of
you who have, is Amazon or iTunes your vendor of choice? And is price the only important
distinction between the two? Or are there other retailers which offer even better bargains or
other advantages?
The two configurations of the ASUS K52 will be there K52JR-A1 and K52F-A1. The latter features an
INtel Core i5-430M CPU along with a 1GB ATI Radeom HD5470 GPU, making it a great choice for full
featured HD. It will also include a 500GB HDD. The former will feature a slightly less powerful
Core i3-350M CPU and integrated graphics from Intel, as well as a 320GB HDD. Both notebooks will be
equipped with 4GB RAM, DVDRW, HDMI, a 15.6" 1366x768 display.
The laptop weighs 5.8lbs and will be running Windows 7 Home Premium. The K52JR-A1 configuration
will cost $869.59, and the K52F-A1 will cost less at $700.99.
A serious dispute is brewing in the world of ebooks, pitting publishers and Apple against giant
online retailer Amazon. A significant part of the appeal of ebooks is that they are (or should be)
much cheaper than printed editions. In the publishing world, royalties paid to the author typically
represent just 10% of the retail price. Both publishers and retailers take their cut. Printing is
usually 30%, and then there are warehousing and shipping costs.
A serious dispute is brewing in the world of ebooks, pitting publishers and Apple against giant
online retailer Amazon. A significant part of the appeal of ebooks is that they are (or should be)
much cheaper than printed editions. In the publishing world, royalties paid to the author typically
represent just 10% of the retail price. Both publishers and retailers take their cut. Printing is
usually 30%, and then there are warehousing and shipping costs.
Earlier this year, Amazon found itself in a showdown over e-book pricing with publisher
Macmillan, which wanted the ability to set pricing for its works. Amazon initially pulled all of
Macmillan's titles off its virtual shelves but, a few days later,
conceded there was little it could do—Macmillan's works went back on sale, and Amazon
apparently gave up on trying to force its prices on the company. Despite that rousing lack of
success, reports are now indicating that several other publishers may get the same treatment, as
Amazon is threatening to stop selling their works as well.
Indications of an ongoing fight between Amazon and book publishers were apparent
almost as soon as the Macmillan matter was settled. Amazon had been purchasing e-books from
publishers at a wholesale rate, which allowed it to set the retail prices; rumor had it that the
company was selling works at a loss in order to push Kindle sales. Publishers, which have an
obvious interest in keeping prices for their work higher, were certainly not pleased with this
approach.
Earlier this year, Amazon found itself in a showdown over e-book pricing with publisher
Macmillan, which wanted the ability to set pricing for its works. Amazon initially pulled all of
Macmillan's titles off its virtual shelves but, a few days later,
conceded there was little it could do—Macmillan's works went back on sale, and Amazon
apparently gave up on trying to force its prices on the company. Despite that rousing lack of
success, reports are now indicating that several other publishers may get the same treatment, as
Amazon is threatening to stop selling their works as well.
Indications of an ongoing fight between Amazon and book publishers were apparent
almost as soon as the Macmillan matter was settled. Amazon had been purchasing e-books from
publishers at a wholesale rate, which allowed it to set the retail prices; rumor had it that the
company was selling works at a loss in order to push Kindle sales. Publishers, which have an
obvious interest in keeping prices for their work higher, were certainly not pleased with this
approach.
From the customer’s perspective, it’s all the same. If it’s provided over the
Internet on a pay-for-usage basis, it’s a cloud service. Within the industry, we argue
about definitions more than is good for us. Customers look in from the outside and see a much
simpler array of choices.
Why is this important? It matters to how we market and support cloud services (of whatever ilk).
Yesterday EuroCloud UK (disclosure: of
which I’m chair) had a member
meeting, hosted at SAP UK headquarters, that covered various aspects of the transition to
SaaS for ISVs. From the title, you’d imagine it would have little content of relevance to
raw cloud providers at the infrastructure-as-a-service layer. (One of our challenges in the early
days of EuroCloud, whose founders are more from the SaaS
side of things, is to make sure we bring the infrastructure players on board with us). But in
fact, much of the discussion covered topics of equal interest at any level of the as-a-service
stack: How to work with partners? How to compensate sales teams? What sort of contract to offer
customers? How to reconcile paying for resources on a pay-per-use basis with a per-seat licence
fee? What instrumentation and reporting of service levels should the provider’s
infrastructure include?
And then came the customer presentation, by Symbian
Foundation’s head of IT, Ian McDonald. He was there as a customer of SAP’s
Business
ByDesign SaaS offering, whose team were hosting the meeting. But it soon became clear that
his organization’s voracious consumption of cloud services runs the gamut from high-level
applications like ByDesign and Google Apps through to Amazon Web Services, Jungle Disk storage
and file sharing (stored on either Amazon or Rackspace), even Skype. Symbian’s developers
still build their own website infrastructure using open-source platforms but that too is hosted
in the cloud. The imperative for Symbian, as a not-for-profit consortium, is to stay flexible and
minimize costs. An important part of that is having the capacity to scale rapidly if needed but
without having to pay up-front for that capacity.
For Symbian, relying on the cloud for the entirety of its IT infrastructure gives the cost
flexibility and agility of execution that it requires. It doesn’t differentiate between
infrastructure and applications as a service — what matters is that they are
delivered from the cloud in a usage-based billing model.
The takeaway for industry players is that we all have to work together. Earlier in the afternoon,
the meeting heard a presentation by Chrysoula Christopoulou, a long-term member of the SAP
Business ByDesign team and a key architect of its go-to-market and channel strategy. SAP will be
bringing live its partner strategy for ByDesign this year (it already has some beta partners
working with it) and it will encourage partners to offer mashups, add-ons, integration services
and other extensions to ByDesign. Indeed, SAP is planning to introduce an application marketplace
(they’re all the rage
these days) and will be positioning ByDesign to its partners not just as an application but
also as a platform.
SAP needs partners to sell ByDesign because (for the average case) the product alone
doesn’t produce enough margin to cover the cost of making a sale. By adding their own
extensions and services, the theory is that partners can spread that cost of sale across a larger
total value. I think the Symbian story demonstrates that ByDesign partners should consider
casting their net wider and as well as building on ByDesign they should also offer services that
bring together a complete portfolio of cloud services. Most ByDesign customers won’t have
the same in-house resource of smart developers that Symbian, because of the nature of its
business, has on tap. Therefore there’s probably a big opportunity for partners to provide
that expertise as part of their service offering. Of course they still have the challenge of
providing it at cost-effective prices that are more in line with the price points of cloud
services — the old SI models of long-term projects and sky-high bills
don’t work in the cloud. The opportunity is around understanding the cloud environment and
helping customers make the most of it — becoming the customer’s trusted
advisor as they embrace the cloud, from top to bottom.
Synology sigue aumentando sus productos de NAS de alto rendimiento con el
objetivo de colocar alguno de sus productos en cada casa u oficina que quiera tener un sistema de
almacenamiento completo y en red. El último modelo que ha presentado en España es
el DiskStation DS410.
Este Synology DS410 alcanza un promedio de lectura de 115 MBs y 4 MBs de
escritura cuando lo configuramos en RAID 5. Uno de los aspectos que más nos gustan de las
soluciones de Synology es el software de gestión con el que acompaña a sus
producto. En este modelo se cuenta con el Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3,
centrada principalmente en facilitar el compartir contenidos o en ayudarnos a configurar los
diferentes discos duros que coloquemos en sus bahías. Contamos por ejemplo con la
función Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), que simplifica la configuración RAID
(disponemos de 4 bahías) al optimizar las capacidades de disco con redundancia de datos
cuando se utilizan discos duros de diferentes tamaños.
También nos gusta el asistente EZ-Internet para establecer un acceso sencillo a
nuestro espacio de almacenamiento personal desde cualquier ordenador conectado a
Internet y para hacer copias de seguridad usando el sistema Amazon S3.
El consumo es otra funcionalidad que se debe valorar al comprar un NAS, que suele estar conectado
las 24 horas en nuestra casa u oficina. Este modelo de Synology tiene encendido y apagado
programados, y la hibernación del
disco duro.
De sus especificaciones destacamos el procesador de 1 Ghz, el puerto Gigabit, dos USB y el SATA.
Su precio todavía no se ha hecho público.
Amazon, dans la bataille autour des ebook qui se profile avec Apple, ne joue pas les
sÅ“urs bons offices avec certains des éditeurs présents à son
catalogue. Michael Cader rapporte, ainsi, sur le site Publisher Marketplace, qu'au moins un
éditeur indépendant s'est vu menacé par un responsable...
Amazon annonce la disponibilité de sa liseuse pour la plateforme Mac. Les usagers pourront
se connecter au magasin en ligne pour faire leur choix dans un catalogue de 450 000 livres et
journaux, principalement en anglais.
Apple gĂŠpeken is olvashatĂłk az Amazon
elektronikus kĂśnyvei, miutĂĄn megjelent a Kindle
olvasĂłt kivĂĄltĂł
szoftver Mac OS X operĂĄciĂłs rendszerre
optimalizĂĄlt vĂĄltozata.
- Le géant américain du commerce sur Internet Amazon a annoncé hier le
lancement d'une application Kindle permettant la lecture de ses livres numériques sur la
nouvelle tablette iPad qui sera lancée par Apple le 3 avril aux Etats-Unis. L'application
permettra à tout internaute d'acheter et de... -
Amazon a publié aujourd'hui une application Kindle compatible avec les Mac. Les utilisateurs
d'ordinateur Apple pourront y lire des livres électroniques Kindle achetés sur la
boutique en ligne d'Amazon....
Twitter est un service puissant et largement plus ouvert que n’importe quel site internet
dit « 2.0 ». Sa structure et son api permettent par exemple d’utiliser le
service sur des applications plus efficaces que le site lui-même.
Cette souplesse permet égalements à Twitter de
s’intégrer dans les réseaux sociaux tels que LinkedIn, MySpace ou bien
Facebook.
Mais cette année, Twitter devrait aller beaucoup plus loin grâce à sa
plateforme @anywhere.
Techniquement, @anywhere va permettre à des sites tierces de profiter directement de la
capacité de communication de Twitter.
L’explication est encore assez floue mais on peut imaginer par exemple, que le simple fait
d’ajouter une ligne de JS sur votre site transformera tous les liens @quelquechose en lien
dynamiques qui affichera un mini profil et les derniers tweet de la personne au survol.
En allant un peu plus loin, le fait de passer sur le lien de @unestardeciné devrait
permettre d’interagir avec cette personne sans quitter le site en cours.
Les premiers partenaires seront Amazon, AdAge, Bing, Citysearch, Digg, eBay, The Huffington Post,
Meebo, MSNBC.com, le New York Times, Salesforce.com, Yahoo!, et YouTube.
Bien que chez nous, on ne trouve pas encore d’interdiction de tweeter en cas
d’incendie, le réseau de communication fait de plus en plus de bruit. Avec ce genre
d’évolution, Twitter pourrait devenir de plus en plus populaire et même
indispensable pour profiter de toutes les fonctionnalités des autres sites internet.
A website that sorts everyday the most relevant information to you.
Vote for the news and Matoumba will learn your tastes and the information that you like the most.
It is all FREE!
Find here the history of the stories you found interesting.
Show this to people who share the same interests as you,
and if they use Matoumba, their own votes will fine recommandations to you.
The shortest way to describe this is that Google is no longer a verb. It's becoming
a noun. Not just the few clicks to find information, but the information itself and the
experience surrounding it.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with 
His comment, "when the Drizzle team was moved into Google, they
just kept working on the their open source project and things stayed nearly the same."
Google's destiny to become the hub of the worlds information is
intertwined with history. And this comes with artifacts of policy and posturing. To start with,
not everyone agrees that Google should achieve a dominant cloud position. As we're noticing,
stopping it is another matter.
We see both practical and strategic reasons that Google has a
deep connection with the open source movement. Strategically, being the new optimized layer,
removing all historic barriers to information give the company more leverage. Practically,
solutions can be built where information is free.
Casio has been
in the timepiece business for quite a fair number of years already, and most of us would have
fond memories of a digital watch from Casio, although these days it seems to be imported from
China instead of its spiritual home, Japan. Ah well, their range of G-Shock watches are also a
cause to celebrate, since those are some tough devices which can withstand the rigors of an
active lifestyle. This time round, Casio America takes the next step forward in the world of
watches with its latest addition to the Pathfinder collection, otherwise known as the PAG110C-3.
This new Pathfinder will definitely appeal to those who constantly brave the great outdoors, but
it also has a conscience since it is eco-conscious with features such as solar technology and
recycled packaging.
The 
Â*Xbox 360
Cette souplesse permet égalements à Twitter de
s’intégrer dans les réseaux sociaux tels que LinkedIn, MySpace ou bien
Facebook.
Recommandations
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