But the real meaning of what THE CLOUD is and does has for most of us been pretty much analogous  to the big white fluffy thing that floats around and keeps changing shape – which is about as close to any clear definition many of us have at the moment.

So I will continue to stretch the analogy and say that as with all ecological changes in the web landscape the actual form and definition of what the Cloud is (or what it might become ) is still taking shape, and will no doubt continue to change as consumers and infrastructure adapt to what will become this new modus operendii.

Bill Gates the Prophet (not the profit)

I remember listening to Bill Gates several years back saying that the Future of computing is in The Cloud i.e. all information will no longer be held locally on your our own PC  or devices – instead there will be massive remote array of interconnected servers doing all the stuff that we currently rely on our own trusty hard drives to store (and to protect to a greater or lesser degree)  That includes all our own data property private files, media and software stuff we have accumulated over the the years.

Maybe its due to the impracticalities of trying to store all this private data on ageing hardware, as well as having to update Operating Systems and software which has made us relax our grip on our locally stored stuff.  Storage of data after all takes up increasing amounts of drive space, is difficult to access when we are out and about unless we have set up secure VPNs and/or network access – which for most people is impractical.

The explosion in social networking also has perhaps unconsciously wrought a massive shift to a new era of personal data sharing – from a few tweets to youtube videos and through to the more intimate stuff that we perhaps we  now wish we hadn’t been quite so carefree about putting out there.

Along with the increase in connection reliability and speed we all are starting to feel that bit more confident about communing in a broad sense via the Cloud – which has subsequently responded by technologically stepping up to the plate.

What it is not…

I think one thing we need to get our heads around first of all is that the cloud is not simply data storage  - its a whole range of potential benefits where we no longer have to do the techie type stuff – from updating software, setting up networks, backing up our data etc etc.  An example to illustrate this might be Google Docs . Xref the old method of writing a Memo or article in Word and the saving to your local hard drive.  Who can access it apart from you? Before anyone else can acces it you have to email or share it on the network – or change into a compatible format etc etc for somebody else just to open it.

Google Docs changes this by offering a web based App(lication), so no installing from disks and no need to update to the latest version.  You just do the typing and then share.  In fact this can be dome in real time also so that another person working on the same document can  see the changes as they happen.

The above  example just illustrates the massive potential of cloud computing – and that includes increased security, data back up, reliability and potentially global networking without the overheads or hassles.

Yes it does seem to make a lot of sense.  The massive uptake of  ’mobile’ device and Apps and the impact of sales of iPads on conventioanl PC sales perhaps is indicative already to a consumer shift to doing things in the Cloud.

Predicting the future of Cloud computing very much depends on a number of factors, not least of which is the roll out of faster and more reliable web connection infrastucture. However our early adoption does not seem to be the issue as device vendors and consumers are chomping at the bit to rollout the latest techno toys and Apps – no longer is our own concern for data privacy the barrier to any  growth – in fact quite the opposite.

Cloud Vectors and Vendors

Surprisingly perhaps its Apple  who are taking the more cautious approach with iCloud- which may be partly down to a protection of their own revenues and their knack of interpreting (and creating) current market demand, despite their boldness with the iPad – now arguably the flagship of all cool cloud devices. They seem to be adopting a more centralised Hub approach (and no prizes for guessing in which direction the revenue streams will be flowing)

Meanwhile Google in the oppposite corner are very much ahead of the game with their roll out of ‘Cloudware’  (Open Source Android OS ,Google Apps etc ad infinitum) .  They still optimistically see the cloud as the ultimate liberation from local storage and control and are confidently pressing ahead with their vision of the Cloud as The Locus of control.

Whatever the definition as always it will be the consumer who will determine what is happening in the Cloud. As with all things on the Web, personally I see it developing way beyond expectations, current technologies and constraints – it will be what we want it to be -a bit like looking at a cloud really.

Oh, and I got through all that and didn’t mention viruses once.  Well just the once at the end then.

Useful free ‘Cloud’ stuff:

Google Docs:

Well worth watching the video clip of this

http://bit.ly/aOzRxy

DropBox:

https://www.dropbox.com/

Useful file sharing Web App – synchronises mobiles, laptops  and PC. A bit like having a desktop on the web so you can share files with friends and colleagues easily.

Webcam sharing:

http://www.ispyconnect.com

Arguably not strictly a cloud App ‘per se’  but  nevertheless a great web app which makes synchronising lots of different video cameras(security and otherwise) really easy.

Google’s Social networking offering looking really useful when its rolled out with  lots of easy web sharing tools and  more privacy control than Facebook:

http://www.google.com/+/demo/

MS Office 365 is a web based version of Word,Excel,Outlookwith website editing and collaboration tools (subscription based)

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/office365/what-is-office365.aspx

(I’ll add more when i get a mo but feel free to suggest any and I’ll have a look and maybe add them in.)

In any other public space we would intuitively be much more guarded about who had access to our personal and financial information.  Perhaps we get a false sense of security from the privacy we  feel in our own ‘personal browsing space’, or through simply not being  aware of the potential dangers.

Whatever the reason the volume of malicious software (Malware) circulating continues to escalate massively.  Their insidious nature and design means that most go largely unnoticed on our PCs or mobile devices collecting and reporting details about our browsing activity.

What is Malware?

Collectively known as Malware, viruses, spyware, netbots etc  are a group of malicious hidden programs designed to corrupt, collect and/or hijack data from our online devices – usually for financial gain or some other form of malicious intent-  although occasionally just for the notoriety. Viruses as the name implies are designed not only to damage and compromise our own equipment, but have an inbuilt ability to spread and then replicate on other machines via a network connection, plug-in devices, email etc etc.

Spyware in contrast  covertly gathers and reports back any browsing activity and personal info from your machine or mobile device via the web.  The functionality of both is by no means mutually exclusive, and there are countless malicious variants being created – one every second last year (Sophos 2011 Threat Report).

Infection rates have massively increased largely due to the number of mobile devices connected to the web as well as the boom in Social Networking. This has been made much easier also by our   ‘always connected’ broadband; and as speeds increase so will the proliferation of attacks – and the lesser liklihood we will notice anything is actually going on in the background.

Why Attack?

Simple answer is money. Harvesting our private data is a lucrative business, especially in large quantities- the value of which  increases exponentially where it contains account information (access to credit card details, usernames, passwords).

There has been a massive increase in the demand for politically sensitive  or classified technical data as well as a rise in hacking online advertising campaigns  and online survey revenues from sites.

The 2011 Sophos Threats Report makes for some very sobering reading and hopefully will prompt us to take our online security much more seriously.

The number of unique malware pieces(viruses,spyware and botnets) detected by Sophos doubled in 2010.

The demand for illegally ‘harvested’ data such as  email addresses has continued to rise as well as data collected via keylogging, botnets (undetected but active malware linking together individual machines via the web) etc etc.

This huge increase was largely attributed to attacks which capitalised on the huge growth of  the smart technology market (mobile devices to browse the web) along with our massively increased use of Social Media.

And these attacks are getting ever more subtle:

• Fake anti-virus alerts – a virus alert warning appears on the screen often mimicking your anti-virus software.
• Clickjacking, a pseudo link behind a normal link which triggers a malicious attack  (e.g. by clicking on the Like button in Facebook)
• Social media vulnerabilities – e.g. Facebook Applications that have gone unvetted and unchecked- the user installs a game or downloads an update that has been infected.

Businesses have also seen infection rates rise largely attributed to the increased use of Social Networks at work with many companies  banning their use entirely. As most viruses are designed to spread through networks without being detected,  it has been essential to lock down the Social Networking  security loopholes.

Transmission

If  we haven’t taken the risks of Malware infection seriously so far  then the following is perhaps a good enough reason to reflect again:

One particular virus, STUXNET is so sophisticated that it can (and has) infected Nuclear program computers (in Iran) and altered the control process. Yet this type of infection can be transmitted through something as simple as plugging in a USB pen.

Although there has been a shift in emphasis for attacks: emails are still a major source of transmission. The cute animal pictures, and now increasingly more shocking links in emails, are frequently a disguise for something more sinister.
As always extreme caution has to be exercised when clicking on attachments and links, particularly from jokes or pictures circulated between colleagues and friends.

Prevention

Having an understanding of how Malware  is transmitted is half the battle to preventing attacks and  just as importantly prevent us passing them on to others.
And if you still are not quite sure about the other half  here are a few safeguard reminders :

• Having up to date anti virus/anti-spyware software properly installed – preferably configured so that it can detect atacks from all possible sources immmediately (e.g. timed virus scans may not pick up any recent ‘keylogging’ between scans).  Remember to scan  storage/plugin devices and media also
• Activating a Firewalls – can be deployed via Hardware (router) or software(Operating System)will block attacks trying to gain access by the ‘back door’
• Adopting a much more cautious approach to Social Networking -  particularly activities on Facebook and where individual user actions might compromise others or network security
• Clearing All browsing History regularly (daily if necessary) (cookies, saved pages etc etc- and  not just the last few days)  from ALL web browsers we use.  We may lose some quick access info but well worth the extra protection
• Uninstalling not needed browser toolbars  and Add-ons (appear at the top of the browsing window).  They are most likely relaying your browsing habits to an external agency unless you have configured them otherwise
• Take the possiblility of a virus attack seriously – if you make the assumption that you have been attacked then this may force a more cautious approach to online browsing (e.g. change passwords regularly)

One final tip (if you do not already do this).  Next time you click on  a download (possibly free), make sure you do a few checks checks before installing:

• is the company name in the address bar and the download site address reputable?
• scan the software before you install it (available usually if you hover over the download and right clicking)

2011 Future Threats

Its likely that the rapid growth and use of mobile browsing technology and Social Networking will increasingly be the soft ‘underbelly’ for malicious attacks.  Smartphones are likely to continue to be high on the agenda, particulalry where software has been compromised (jailbreaking iPhones, downloading unvetted apps)

If we are to protect ourselves in the future then having an awareness of how attacks can occur in the first places should make us much more cautious and vigilent.

Adopting a regular regime of good ‘PC  Hygeine ‘  will all help us steer clear of many potential threats and be in a better position to recognize them despite their many disguises.

Its official - Apple has now taken the lead in ‘cool’ consumer smart technology. Proclaimed an outright winner by the quick consumer test on the BBC technology website when pitted against the Archos and Dell Streak, the iPad could now become yet another iconic gadget from the ever expanding Apple empire who clearly have the pulse of the business and  consumer market.

A trio of slick new devices has now seen Apple overtake Microsoft as the Global leader – On Wednesday, Apple’s capitalisation closed at $222bn compared to Microsoft’s $219bn.

Other manufacturers are not giving up the fight however, with Archos tablet and Dell streak also performing admirably using Google’s much acclaimed Android OS.

Its fair to say also that there has always been a degree of scepticism around the launch of Apple’s  Smart tech hybrid – maybe their  risky ‘toe in the water’  approach to re-launching a tablet format device has allowed others to profit in the wake of their trail-blazing.

Apple have shown themselves to be adept in translating what is ‘cool’ and ‘hot’   into a ‘must have’- which is why they have become the clear market leaders.  But perhaps it wasn’t such a risky venture?  They do seem to have impeccable timing for getting it right.

I remember Bill Gates declaring a few years back that there would be a wholesale change in the future  in the way we work – from local applications where the computing power and data is localised towards what is now loosely termed Cloud computing.  - but this would also need wholesale changes in thinking and attitude to the way we work (and play!).  And as  our Global internet usage accelerates astronomically it was was only a matter of getting the product launch timing right.   Apple have shown that they can do this with consummate ease.

Gathering Clouds

But lets rewind for a minute and explore the ‘cloud topography’.  Currently  Blogs, social media and the like are ‘remote’  media applications we can access through a browser.

These applications  are essentially about quick communications but now include a range of media tools  for photos, music and video.  An opportunity was looming large to link all of this activity up to mobile devices – at the same time there has been a seismic shift from users to browsers, from the PC work station mentality to mobile connectivity.

Apple foresaw this and stepped up to the plate by providing the complete package –  slick  mobile devices + the apps to go with them .  Almost  at the same time Google adopted a more more open source philosophy by  releasing the Android operating system which could be run on a range of devices and thus liberating users from the shackles of Apple’s cash cow.

But will it stop there? Why not have all our applications and data outsourced ,i.e. in the cloud, rather than have everything reside inertly on our PC or laptop or smart device? After all, the cost of the hardware as well updating applications is tedious.  If its all taken care of  ’in the cloud’ for us we’re left free to get on with the things we should be doing.

This is no longer a vision for the future but a reality for many businesses who now see outsourcing all their networking and IT administration requirements as the way forward rather than employ in-house expertise.

But maybe we’re all not comfortable with this concept just yet . I for one am still sceptical about uploading all my stuff to a remote centralised location with very little knowledge of where my bit of the cloud happens to be at any one time. Perhaps  we are rightly still  suspicious about the ‘cloud’ and view it as  a metaphor for ‘we really don’t know exactly where stuff  is or who can access it ‘.

Will this mindset change? I think it has to. Having recently emerged from a what was a almost a viral meltdown on my own home network, I now have to confess to a  false sense of security with all my data residing on my home and business PC network.

We have become so connected that perhaps we forget that we have now become  irrevocably interconnected.

So maybe its time to start handing over the reigns to the experts in the cloud…or maybe not just  yet.

As the hordes of those now web savvy get older and older  its a foregone conclusion that the proportion of wrinklies twittering and posting on Youtube will be doing this from a comfortable armchair armed only with a cup of tea and a hob nob.
Yet there still are and always will be , those who adamantly refuse to ‘get connected’ (hate that phrase).
Their loss really, and it also means we can blog and twitter to our hearts content about them because they will never read it anyway.

Lets face it, much of the innovation and technology it is no longer new; and as we all grow older we are becoming wiser anyway if not a bit doo-lally judging from the facebook comments I get.

There are still attempts to censure free speech – what we proudly call ours as a right in any democratic society. China’s filtering of Google searches and Pakistan’s banning of Youtube. But this only illustrates how  the internet has irrevocably engaged both Politics and Global Socialization

I am actually attempting to make a serious point about all of this, that is there is a paradigm change – not just in business which has been snowballing for a long time, but in all our social involvements.

A recent report showed that we are now spending 65% more time online than we did three years ago. The driving force in this change has been social networking perhaps unsurprisingly -and the more familiar we get the less scarry it becomes and  the more we seem to be embracing it.

There is the other extreme  - take a look at sites like Chatroulette (or perhaps you shouldn’t) where webcam communication is randomly selected (via your IP) and peer to peer. Perhaps the lack of control is a bit scarry ( the only rules are to keep your clothes on – as if!).

Sites like these will have their place – and when they don’t they will quickly fold.  Its all part of our libertarian society and we do bang on about freedom of speech don’t we?

The web has always been said to mirror society closely- and the more sophisticated it becomes  the more inclusive it will become for us all.  John Lennon’s vision for a truly people powered global society coming of age  perhaps?

What does it take to get to number one in Google? – its easy!- copy a unique string of  words on your site that nobody else has on theirs…paste it in a search… and you’ll  probably be top or thereabouts

Thats the end of my post-  job done.

If it were only that simple!  But thats what most people want after all  - to be No1  in Google . . I’m stating the obvious but actually by going through the above simple exercise highlights a few  important questions before we even start:

• Is that phrase ever going to be type into a search engine ever again?
• does it describe accurately what we are promoting?
• when users find us what do we want them to do next ?

I’m assuming the answer to the last question is not ‘leave as soon as possible’ although you may be surprised how many do  if you look at your home page stats.
You may have a site that is primarily for generating advertising revenue and so you will want to generate maximum through traffic, where ‘success’ will be exiting your site via a ‘revenue juicy’ click through ad.

However if you have  an ecommerce site you will want to channel  attention to the right pages rather than allow them to leave straight away.  People in browsing mode have the attention span akin to a goldfish swimming in Jack Daniels, so plan how you can grab their attention pretty quickly before they exit without getting beyond your home page.

Either way the same formula applies: more traffic=more revenue. So the same general strategy to get them there in the first place should be the  same, i.e. choosing that all important search phrase for your pages.

Choosing the most effective search words

Wo we need to construct a search phrase that is  not too long and obscure (i.e., its never likely to be typed in a search) and not too short, otherwise the competition will leave you languishing in 10,000th position.

Ideally choose  2 or 3 words particularly relevant to the  page’s content on your website. Also  if the website address, page name (my-key-phrase.htm), page title and page content all have ‘related’ keywords then bingo! –  although its more than likely the web address will not be part of the key phrase.

Note of caution here – Google’s algorithmic nose can sniff out anything contrived, so always be cautious about overloading the page with the key phrase words etc. and start off your optimising by reading your page content first.  Check to make sure the content is relevant,  focused and high quality.

You can then start to tell the world about it by making  it more search engine  ’friendly’  by providing the contextual cues (appropriate page title headings, subheadings, image names).  I always recommend viewing your page in  a text based browser as this is how search engines index pages. ( Lynx is a traditional  text based browser although www.textise.net allows you to do the same thing much more quickly)

External links

Google ranks the importance of your site not just by its content but also by the links to it from other sites on the Internet.  The more reputable these other sites are the more ‘cred’ they add to your site in Google’s eyes, particularly if they have the key phrase words in the link itself, (e.g. ‘my unique search phrase‘  rather than click here)

Job done? not quite – I’ve saved the best till last.

Do Your Homework

Just before you go key search phrase crazy, you have to bear in mind one  minor inconvenience – your supremely crafted key search terms may never be entered in a search – double doh!! And the only way to find this out is to do a quick check to see how often its typed in.

Lots of tools out there to help with this, but Google’s keyword tool is the quickest and easiest.  If you’re not sure what is the best phrase try Google’s suggestion tool.  The difference between the two is subtle but important- the latter helps you come up with a  phrase better matched to your page content. (i.e you may think you have found a great winning phrase that matches your page content perfectly  but Google may not agree so best to get it from the horse’s mouth)

That’s certainly enough to get started, but to summarize just a couple of closing thoughts

Your site will get found if:

• the content is worth looking for
• it has a definite market  niche
• there is a market for it in the first place!

But where do they get all this free information and data  from, and who writes it all?  From Us.  Me and you. As the amount of personal information about us all is being voluntarily uploaded via Social networking media,  the web Megaliths like Google with its massive collating  and repository resources, consume it heartily as  its daily bread and butter.

All tends to sound a bit neurotic I know, but I often talk to cautious web users who are almost phobic about signing up to anything that snaps of social media irresponsibility.  And in many ways I can’t blame them.  I did think this was more down to a fear of the great ‘online unknown’ and a paranoia of all things technological.  But could there also be a smattering of our naivity and passiveness creeping in,  as Google street view cameras capture us and our homes in greater and greater detail (now 3D!).

We can so easily fall in love  with our online social media apps and tools. They’re free but for a good reason. Very large amounts of data  yield a  proportionately increasing commercial return when packaged and served up correctly.

For a moment let’s indulge the scenario that all you have ever published on the web doesn’t ever disappear, but is archived. Archiving does make it sound all respectable and safe but data is archived rather than deleted for a reason, i.e. for future reference.

A recent move by US Library of Congress to archive every tweet ever posted publicly perhaps has come as a bit of a surprise.  Its reasoning is that all our tweets will form a valuable  social commentary of historical events – including all its momentous and trivial moments as they unfold in our public and often our private lives.

Is it my inherent distrust of government tinkering in our webspace or their moves to archive ‘Our’ information without ‘Our’ consent that sets my paranoic alarm bells clanging?

Embed me

There is also a massive surge towards sharing and embedding our social media interactions outside of their current Social Media framework, perhaps as a way of unifying all our separate online social involvements rather than having to start again from scratch every time there is a new kid on the block.

All reputable Social media sites and others including Google invariably have API tools so that content can hooked up to and extracted, repurposed, mashed up and processed on other sites.

A n example of this that proked some online controversy  recently was  the API-mashing of the site foursquare.com.  This site leverages Twitter/Facebook live tweets to provide geographical local town movements we care to relay via mobiles etc in real time.

The site Pleaserobme.com then used Foursquare’s API to build its own site  to highlight how easy it was to take all this shared information about individuals who had given their own home address, and using their realtime tweeting about their whereabouts could then publish which homes would be empty at any given (real)time.

The site now seems to have removed this feature, but made very a serious point: how easy it is  to ‘pull’ in real-time social media data and for the wrong purposes, and also the fact that no-one is really regulating this type of embedded exploitation (self regulation aside).

The embedding of data is now becoming much easier and commonplace.  Twitter has now announced its @anywhere tweet option, which will allow  you to tweet  your comments via other media sites that have this facility, (rather than  via the SM bookmark icon)

There may well be virtuous  ’drivers’ to develop a universally and socially coherent platform for us all to enjoy , although its more likely its do with a fear of a levelling off  in interest (as has happened in Twitter recently) and consequent financial freefall ( the demise of Bebo) which commercially motivates the drive for Social Media sharing  just to stay ahead of the competition.

And lets face it, their success and livelihood is built around how easy and  frequently we can post  our views and opinions,  including our most throwaway comments –  which of course aren’t actually thrown away.

Some web links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8621297.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8570293.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8521598.stm

http://foursquare.com/

http://pleaserobme.com/

Under the hood of every successful website  there is invariably a database or more likely a whole cluster of them. It is quite literally the driving force in website architecture, and  probably the most important component in managing and delivering content efficiently to the pages of your website. So whether your website is a Mini or a Hummer its time to talk DB’s.

BUT (and its a big but), the learning curve can be steep particularly for the first time database user  - there’s nothing quite as mind boggling as the complexities of Database topology.  And there is no getting away from them –  if you want your website  to perform well and be able to manage content yourself,  it obviously makes sense to have some rudimentary understanding of what is going on in the background.

So which is best?

Migrating to MySQL

Eureka moment

And finally…

Facebook DB architecture:

Development of youtube architecture vid:

No content – BUT high listing

The second surprise in My Googling  this week came right out of the blue, and it was one I should have perhaps been aware of. The scenario : when you can actually do a search for a key word/phrase and you’re ousted in the position listings by a site that not only does not have the key word or phrase on their page, they don’t even have their site indexed by Google.  Please feel free to contradict me at this point because  (in the words of V. Meldrew) I didn’t really believe it either. There was no actual site page content in the Google listings excerpt either.

The person that actually came across this was scratching his head over this one as well. Could Adword keywords perhaps be affecting the natural rankings perhaps?

If you haven’t already guessed the answer by now here it is – backlinks or inbound links, external links or whatever other terms are used to describe a link to your site coming from an external site’s page.

More surprisingly perhaps was the ‘potency’ of the anchor text, i.e., the textual key word/phrase being used in the  link itself.  Further investigation revealed that the external links pointing to the site numbered in their thousands.

Now two  interesting implications follow:

• A site content doesn’t even have to be actually indexed to be ranked highly in the natural listings, furthermore:
• A site can have its robots text file configured to ‘no index, no follow’   – in other words specifically telling the search engines NOT to list the site, and yet it still appears in searches, (albeit minus any content)

Mmm…. is  there something discrete in the Google algorithm that enables sites to be ranked regardless of page content? Is it configured in such a way to place to simply ignore content and carry on regardless and use the backlink anchor text instead? The example in my next post should hopefully go some way to restoring my confidence in natural listings.

Am I stating the obvious?..  in the meantime feel free to add your pearls of wisdom

(all comments are moderated BTW)