Cloud Computing - How it can drive your business forward.
Written By: Caitlyn Young
Cloud Computing – A model for delivering information technology services in which resources are retrieved from the internet through web-based tools and applications, rather than a direct connection to a server. Data and software packages are stored in servers. However, cloud computing structure allows access to information as long as an electronic device has access to the web. This type of system allows employees to work remotely.(Investopedia.com, 2012)
Cloud Computing or Application Sharing is a term used by many, but some business owners still may be lost and unaware of how this “new wave” technology can help their business prosper. A study conducted by IBM recently predicted that within the next three years, cloud computing will grow by 41% for all businesses they’re calling this technology a “game changer”. But the question on many business owners’ minds is “what does all this really mean for my small or midsized company?” People may believe this technology only helps large corporations, when in fact that is incorrect. Cloud computing helps any business looking to save money, save time, free up IT resources, and it provides the ability to work from anywhere, anytime!
This concept allows you to meet your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Return of Interest (ROI), increase efficiency company-wide, and most importantly, you pay as you grow. This means you only get billed once a month for the usage by your company. Think of it like an electricity bill – you get billed every month only for the power you use. That’s exactly how cloud computing works. This is much more efficient than your company buying servers, building a datacenter, and hoping that the server is not being over-utilized or under-utilized and therefore costing you more money.
Not only is saving money a huge importance for companies, but so is saving time and focusing on the most important thing – growing your business! With cloud computing you never have to buy/upgrade software and hardware, and many cloud solutions, particularly those related to SaaS, require no effort on your part whatsoever. Updates are done automatically, and applications only need to be installed once to provide multiple user access. This means regardless of whether your company has 10 employees or 200 employees, it’s easily and quickly installed once and all your employees can work within the “cloud” immediately.
Finally there is the aspect of safety. All your company’s files can be backed up and stored in a safe and secure offsite location. Your files are saved using two servers (in case one fails) and are encrypted and backed up nightly or more depending on the clients wishes. You can rest assured knowing your files will always be backed up, and easily accessible if needed.
Cloud computing is a leading way for small and midsized businesses to sell their goods and services using a wide range of different documents including Microsoft programs, Outlook, Adobe, SQL and other databases and any other application used by your organization. It can also be used on many different devices including desktops, laptops, PlayBook, Android devices IPad, Mac desktops/laptops and Smart phones. This makes it simple for you and your employees to get work done from many different locations, at the office or on the go.
After reading this blog you should have a better understanding of what Cloud Computing is, and how it can help improve your small or midsized business while saving you money, time, and space. It’s a new type of technology taking off quickly. Is your company ready for the change?
Twitter improving life in Kenya
Lanet Umoja, Kenya --
When the chief of this Kenyan village received an urgent 4 a.m. call that thieves were invading a school teacher's home, he sent a message on Twitter. Within minutes, residents in the village of stone houses gathered outside the home, and the thugs fled.
"My wife and I were terrified," said teacher Michael Kimotho. "But the alarm raised by the chief helped."
The tweet from Chief Francis Kariuki was only his latest attempt to improve village life by using the microblogging site Twitter. Kariuki regularly sends out tweets about missing children and farm animals, showing that the power of social media has reached even into a dusty African village. Lanet Umoja is 100 miles west of the capital, Nairobi.
"There is a brown and white sheep which has gone missing with a nylon rope around its neck and it belongs to Mwangi's father," he tweeted recently in the Swahili language. The sheep was soon recovered.
Kariuki said even the thieves in his village follow him on Twitter. Earlier this year, the chief tweeted about the theft of a cow, and later the cow was found abandoned, tied to a pole.
Kariuki's official Twitter page shows 300 followers, but the former teacher estimated that thousands of the 28,000 residents in his area receive the messages he sends out directly and indirectly. He said many of his constituents, mostly subsistence farmers, cannot afford to buy smart phones but can access tweets through a third-party mobile-phone application. Others forward the tweets via text message.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
A recent report said Twitter is enjoying big growth across Africa. It said South Africans use Twitter the most, but Kenya is second in usage on the continent.
The research by Kenya-based Portland Communications and Tweet minster found that over the last three months of 2011, Kenyans produced nearly 2.5 million tweets. More than 80 percent of those polled said they mainly used Twitter for communicating with friends. see map below:
Related articles:
When the chief of this Kenyan village received an urgent 4 a.m. call that thieves were invading a school teacher's home, he sent a message on Twitter. Within minutes, residents in the village of stone houses gathered outside the home, and the thugs fled.
"My wife and I were terrified," said teacher Michael Kimotho. "But the alarm raised by the chief helped."
The tweet from Chief Francis Kariuki was only his latest attempt to improve village life by using the microblogging site Twitter. Kariuki regularly sends out tweets about missing children and farm animals, showing that the power of social media has reached even into a dusty African village. Lanet Umoja is 100 miles west of the capital, Nairobi.
"There is a brown and white sheep which has gone missing with a nylon rope around its neck and it belongs to Mwangi's father," he tweeted recently in the Swahili language. The sheep was soon recovered.
Kariuki said even the thieves in his village follow him on Twitter. Earlier this year, the chief tweeted about the theft of a cow, and later the cow was found abandoned, tied to a pole.
Kariuki's official Twitter page shows 300 followers, but the former teacher estimated that thousands of the 28,000 residents in his area receive the messages he sends out directly and indirectly. He said many of his constituents, mostly subsistence farmers, cannot afford to buy smart phones but can access tweets through a third-party mobile-phone application. Others forward the tweets via text message."Twitter has helped save time and money. I no longer have to write letters or print posters, which take time to distribute and are expensive,"Kariuki said.
Follow chief Kariuki on Twitter @chiefKariuki
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
A recent report said Twitter is enjoying big growth across Africa. It said South Africans use Twitter the most, but Kenya is second in usage on the continent.
The research by Kenya-based Portland Communications and Tweet minster found that over the last three months of 2011, Kenyans produced nearly 2.5 million tweets. More than 80 percent of those polled said they mainly used Twitter for communicating with friends. see map below:
This article appeared on page A - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Related articles:
Want to see which countries tweet the most? Here's a map created by Portland Communications:
Thou shalt not look at thy spouse’s intimate e-mails!
'Thou shalt not look at thy spouse’s intimate e-mails'
You might end up being prosecuted for felonies!!
"Every one who, by means of any electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, wilfully intercepts a private communication is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."
Elsewhere in canada the law states
"Unauthorized use of computer
" (1) Every one who, fraudulently and without colour of right,(a) obtains, directly or indirectly, any computer service,
(b) by means of an electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, intercepts or causes to be intercepted, directly or indirectly, any function of a computer system,
(c) uses or causes to be used, directly or indirectly, a computer system with intent to commit an offence under paragraph (a) or (b) or an offence under section 430 in relation to data or a computer system, or
(d) uses, possesses, traffics in or permits another person to have access to a computer password that would enable a person to commit an offence under paragraph (a), (b) or (c) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Battered men: Maendeleo ya Wanaume betraying its own cause
by misternv
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_gRH8aLbPQ&w=560&h=315]
" From what I can gather Maendeleo ya Wanaume lives and operates from the briefcase of one Nderitu Njoka — it’s chairman and purports to be an organisation fighting for the rights of battered men.
It is common knowledge that gender relations are in constant flux and conceptions of masculinity and femininity are being reshaped and redefined as our time passes on. Therefore one wonders why Maendeleo ya Wanaume (MYW) has chosen to exclusively focus on battered men when there are a host of other emerging issues that are equally deserving of attention including the question of the boy child and others issues affecting men as highlighted by myself here and also by nittzsah here.
Putting aside the issue of MYW selective agenda focus, the Chairman’s own recent remarks are most troubling as they reflect a total lack of appreciation of some of the underlying causes of gender-based violence in particular the recently reported cases of wives assaulting their husbands in the county of Nyeri:
“It is not an issue of poverty any more. It is about women supremacy as they want to dominate men,” (reported on Feb 12th 2012)
“Mr Njoka blames “female superiority complex” for the rising cases of husband battery, tracing its roots to the high handed female colonial chief, Wangu wa Makeri, who reigned in Murang’a with an iron fist, and was particularly hard on men.” (reported on Feb 9th 2012)
“Men should be respected as family heads, but in Central Kenya, they have been reduced to the role of fathering children before they are dumped..” – Nderitu Njoka. (reported on Feb 9th 2012)
It is clear that MYW Chairman believes there should be gender hierarchy (which must be recognised and respected) and this is precisely the kind of mentality that women in Nyeri may be reacting against.
The point of departure MUST be that men and women are equal partners in the home and therefore each of them must be respected as such. The MYW Chairman’s recent comments are misguided and dangerous in that they are capable of inciting men to blindly oppose and question the empowerment of women and resort to violence as a retaliatory weapon to “put women in their place”, so to speak.
Furthermore, the MYW Chairman is at fault for implying that there is a distinction between violence against men by women and violence against women by men. This insinuation is retrogressive, baseless and does not help in addressing the root socio-cultural, economic and political causes of gender-based violence in Kenya.
Regardless of whether the victims of gender-based violence are men or women, violence within the family unit remains an extremely private affair. As a result the majority of its victims continue suffering in the muffled recesses of this private domain. An association like MYW would be advised to work closely with other NGOs including Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO) and The Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA Kenya) to properly address the issues relating to domestic violence, using the backing of the Constitution and existing legislation."
Tatu City project begins
Tatu City project to begin this month.
Construction is scheduled to begin this month on Tatu City, a US$ 5 billion residential complex in Kiambu County.
Renaissance Partners, the investment arm of Russian Renaissance Capital Financial Holdings Ltd. , and the co-owners of the project, said on Thursday that the first stage of the 11-phase project is scheduled to begin before the end of this month. “The first phase of Tatu City will kick off later this month and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2013,” said Arnold Meyer, Renaissance Partners’ managing director for real estate in Africa.
Located 15km north-east of Nairobi, Tatu City involves construction of a mix-use new city on a 2,500-acre parcel of land behind Kenyatta University - expected to host 62,000 residents on completion. “Besides the residential area, phase one – sitting on 168-acres of land – will include shopping malls, hotels and offices. It will also include construction of roads, water, sewerage, electricity and probably piped gas,” Mr. Meyer said. The 11 phases of the project are expected to be completed in 8-11 years depending on the demand. Tatu City project, the biggest of its kind in the country, is 50 per cent owned by Rennaissance Partners with the remaining shares being held by several foreign and local investors led by former CBK governor Nahashon Nyaga.
Related article. TATU CITY
Source: TatuCity
Muffled Killer(Male Prostitution)
'Muffled Killer' part 1 (video)
story by ktn's Ann Soy Mwedia
'There are Kenyan men who make a living selling their bodies to other men. Over 60% of their clients are married. They contribute to a fifth of new HIV infections annually'
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDJkd7J3SBU&w=560&h=315]
'Muffled Killer' part 2&3 (video)
story by ktn's Ann Soy Mwedia
Violence and sex trade go hand-in-hand in Kenya. In the second and final part of the series 'muffled killer' KTN's Anne Soy-Mwendia brings you a feel of life in the streets of Nairobi as a male sex worker and explains why No Kenyan should sit prettythinking the activities of male sex workers do not affect them.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xra7iQNga9o&w=560&h=315]
source @ktnKenya
Below:word fromKENYA'S GAY RIGHTS LEADER AND ACTIVIST, DENIS NZIOKA
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUwr4CpEPQw&w=560&h=315]
World's Tallest Residential Tower completed
The dome and mast of Princess Tower in Dubai Marina has been completed, making the 414m-tall building the world's tallest residential tower.
(Images 1 2 3 4 5 6 others)
Tameer, a leading real estate developer in the Middle East, announced the completion of the dome and mast of its landmark Princess Tower, making it the world's tallest residential tower at a final height of 414 meters. The project is in its final stages, and is expected to be handed over in 2nd quarter of 2012. the building stands 107 storey tall and encompasses basement floors, one ground floor and 100 above-ground levels.The world record was held briefly by the 393m-tall 23 Marina, completed in 2011.
"In a city of skyscrapers it is still an extremely satisfying feeling to have completed yet another record-breaking project. Princess Tower is now the tallest residential building in the entire world and its excellent location, distinctive presence and iconic status as a residential super-high rise makes it a very prestigious and sought-after address to live in." said Federico Tauber, president of developer Tameer.
Occupying a land area of 37,410 square feet, Princess Tower houses 763 luxury apartments, including one, two, three, four bedroom apartments in addition to penthouse apartments overlooking Palm Jumeirah, one of the most glittering urban landscapes in the Middle East. For resident's convenience and enjoyment, Princess Tower provides sports and recreational facilities including outdoor and indoor swimming pools, car parking, eight commercial retail outlets, billiard and table tennis rooms, children's play areas in addition to fully equipped gymnasiums. A unique and mesmerising panoramic full floor function area perched on the 97th floor is reserved for the fortunate few.
Princess Tower is surrounded by world renowned 5-star hotels, flourishing beach resorts, cosmopolitan restaurants, stylish bars and night clubs offering the mixture of a dynamic and exciting lifestyle with the calm and serenity of living by the sea.
source : Skycraperscity/Dubai
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