Ricky’s Online Business Blog

Playing catch up with Facebook’s Like button, Google has launched +1, a platform that allows users to say that they like certain ads and search results. Obviously, this isn’t something new, at least in Malaysia. Last year, 1Malaysia was launched a year ahead of schedule and it has now expanded to include 1Radio, 1Tv, 1Clinic, 1Email, etc (let us to come clean, everything except – 1.my).

And just when we thought that the “1″ fever was losing steam, “Cloud” becomes one of the most hyped terms today. Of course, the Cloud we’re talking about here isn’t the “visible mass of water droplets or frozen ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body.” We’re talking Cloud computing.

You could say that Cloud reached a climax when iCloud was finally revealed at Apple’s recent Worldwide Developers Conference 2011. Then, all of a sudden, books, music, files and photos are all on Cloud. Fortunately, Malaysia isn’t far behind when it comes to technology. After all, we have the tallest building in the Clouds and we can even have roti canai above the Clouds.

So, what is Cloud?

Steve Jobs says don’t even need to know what Cloud is, because you never interact with it – your apps do.

End users shouldn’t worry, however, because the moment you upload a picture on Facebook, navigate KL using Google Maps or play Angry Bird on Google Chrome, you are in fact, in a transition to Cloud. To you, it is a matter of experience which makes sharing faster. It also makes life easier and fun! So don’t crack your head trying to understand Cloud, it exists in the background. Think of it this way, you don’t need to know how a car works in order to drive a car, and remember Web 2.0? Who gives a hoot about it now?

It’s wise for businesses to make the change, however. You can be a mover and shaker by helping your customers make the transition to Cloud. Ask yourself these questions – Is your website hosted on Cloud? Does your product require an additional hardware to run? Think again and check out Cloud Computing, as well as this article.

About The Author

Pin is the founder of 1.com.my. He hosts email and websites for his customers on Cloud. He has written two books on Online Business and Linux, and he also founded a Web Developer Group that has over 100 friends. To learn more, please visit his website at http://www.1.com.my/, or join his Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pin.my.

A customer often needs to share files for his clients.  The clients need to see the photos of his products before deciding to buy.  The photo files are often large in file size.

He has been using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software for this purpose.  He created a specific directory on his web server, uploads the files into that directory, and asks clients to download from that directory.

While this has been working for his purpose so far, it is not a very good way for file sharing.  For one, non-technical users may not know how to download files using FTP.  Either they need to know what to type on the address bar in Windows Explorer (such as ftp://user@ftp.domain.com), or they need to install and use some FTP software to download the files.  Worse, some companies do not allow employees to install new program without proper authorization.

Also, if the files are to be shared among more than one client, a client who can access the directory can often see the files shared to other clients.  Of course, my customer can create different directories for different clients.  But it’s simply more work.

Also, his clients just want to look at the photos.  By using FTP, they need to first download the files in order to view the photos.  But download wastes time, especially for large files.

FTP as its name suggests, is used for “file transfer”, that is to upload and download files from and to a server.  It is not really meant for “file sharing”, which is to share files between and among more than one user.

Since my customer needs to share photos, instead of using the more technical FTP, why not use Flickr instead?  Just upload the photos to Flickr, decide who can view the photos, and share the web address which contains the photos to the clients.  The clients will be able to view the photos without needing to download.

From time to time, w can hear web sites being defaced and turned into something else. We also know server scan be brought down by DDoS (distributed denial-of-service attack). Just months ago, a customer’s web site (at that time not hosted by me) was attacked and had been down for a few days, due to sabotage by a disgruntled ex-employee who happened to be a computer expert.

I don’t like hackers’ act of hacking web sites. They are only creating nuisance for people and economic waste for the soceity, yet gaining nothing for themselves. Yes they may feel an empty sense of achievement, but it’s vanity, just like going after the wind. Even if they are paid for the job, deep down in their heart they know they are breaking the law and doing something wrong that they will not like to tell their children.

Anyway, like it or not, hacking is already being used as a tool to advance one’s propaganda, to bring down one’s business rivals, or even enemies in war. I have customers who asked how to hack their competitors, for business or even political purpose.

Perhaps in future wars, where cyberwar is a main feature, hackers will be the ones very instrumental. I’m not justifying for hackers. But my point is that hacking is here to stay.

But in a broader sense, “hacking” also means playing around with technologies, possibly to improve them. There are many scientists and inventors we acclaim who were actually “hackers” (not computer hackers) at their times to “hack around” to see what works better. Without their “hacking” skills, we would not be enjoying the standard of life we have now.

We don’t need the computer hackers. But they are not going away and we have to accept the fact. But we need the “hacking” culture, without which our society will not advance.