Grazed from TechnologyTell. Author: Charles Moore.

A friend of mine—a longtime and formerly ultra-enthusiastic Mac fan—recently summed up his frustration with the direction Apple has taken. He still uses Apple computers because, he says, he’s too lazy to learn a new system, but he detests the walled garden model Apple has constructed around the iOS and, increasingly, OS X as well. He’s not a convert to the philosophy of cloud computing, with the exception of using DropBox for backups and file synching, but of course you could do that with a Windows or Linux system.

Meanwhile Apple’s new regime is making users more and more dependant on connection with the iTunes / iCloud / App Store mothership, which my friend says puts him in mind of 19th-Century sweatshops. They make people 100% dependent on the factory owner—in this instance the manufacturer of machines we depend on, like the iPhone, iPad, and, increasingly, the Mac as well…

Grazed from SFGate.  Author: Editorial Staff.

The Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee has agreed to introduce legislation to clarify that cloud computing services delivered over the Internet aren’t tangible goods subject to sales tax.

The Spokesman-Review reports (http://bit.ly/VXhBd9) that high-tech businesses in Idaho requested such legislation after an Idaho Tax Commission memo in October interpreted a 1993 state law as saying software is taxable property no matter how it is delivered…

Grazed from TechTarget.  Author: Beth Pariseau.

Although a recent report on PCI DSS offering guidance on cloud computing has received some criticism, some experts say it clarifies cloud computing security risks and responsibilities, and could spur cloud adoption.

Opinions on the viability of achieving compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in cloud computing scenarios are mixed; however, Chris Brenton, director of security for CloudPassage and a member of the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) special interest group (SIG), said it’s possible — but not easy — with due diligence…

Grazed from TechTarget.  Author: Jack Vaughn.

It has long been thought that the place to find the most accurate information about customers is in a company’s enterprise resource planning system. But some within the IT industry say cloud computing applications — and specifically Software as a Service-based sales applications like Salesforce.com — may eventually become the place to find the most up-to-date customer data. A subtle shift in power may be underway.

Master data management (MDM) programs may someday look on Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud computing applications as the "newspaper of record" for customer data, some viewers predict. They may already provide access to the best and most recent information about customer names, addresses, phone numbers and histories, according to MDM veteran Zeb Mahmood, head of product management and strategy at SnapLogic, a data integration software vendor based in San Mateo, Calif…

Grazed from Business2Community.  Author: Pere Hospital.

The idea of Cloud Computing is that an Enterprise instead of purchasing expensive licensed software’s and hardware spends comparatively a fraction of that amount to rent out resources needed to fulfill its Computing requirements (Hardware and Software’s) from a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) via a network system (Internet).

Cloud computing works on the basis of three models:

• Infrastructure as a service (e.g. Servers, Storage, Network)
• Platform as a Service (Database, Web Servers, Development Tools)
• Software as a Service (e.g. CRM, Email, Games)…

Grazed from Sys Con Media. Author: Maureen O’Gara.

Something very exciting and provocative just happened to ARM and its server wannabe Calxeda. Univa, which can claim sprawling infrastructures, has ported its Grid Engine software to the Calxeda widgetry in support of its fancy high-brow dynamic workloads.

The stuff is in beta but Univa CEO Gary Tyreman says his customers are already testing it and that although the ARM chip is only 32-bit it can be used in production for integer apps, even Hadoop and protein folding, ahead of the eventual advent of the promised 64-bit ARM chip that will probably be out next year. They are trying to get ahead of the market, he says. They want to explore its potential and see what apps run best on the stuff…

Grazed from GlobeRanger. Author: PR Announcement.

GlobeRanger, a global provider of RFID, sensor and asset management solutions, releases iMotion Stratus, the cloud-based version of its award winning iMotion Edgeware Platform. iMotion Stratus delivers the features of the iMotion server-based platform from the cloud, easing deployment and enabling global capability. It provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) avenue for companies to begin utilizing RFID technology without the upfront costs of RFID software and the servers to run it.

The GlobeRanger solution enables economical small initial deployments with ability to scale up as needed – from a single location to thousands of locations globally. It integrates seamlessly with iMotion server-based and network appliance-based deployments to allow the best-suited technology for the specific application to be used, whether an on-premise server or cloud-based…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

There’s another new player in the cloud protection and recovery space. Vision Solutions, which provides replication, availability and disaster recovery services and solutions, has launched its Cloud Protection & Recovery offering, which combines Vision’s Double-Take and MIMIX products into a service that cloud cloud service providers can use to accelerate their own cloud service practices.

As part of a cloud services broker practice, Vision’s CP&R recovery-as-a-service was designed with service providers in mind. While providing a "low-risk path to the cloud," the CP&R service also gives service providers a new offering to take to their customers—something customers are looking for, according to the company. The new service includes:…

Grazed from Lexology. Author: Seth A. Mailhot.

Cloud computing involves the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product. In a cloud computing solution, shared resources, software, and information are provided much like a utility, over a network to computers and other devices. Cloud computing has been embraced by the medical industry, and is used as a vital technology in electronic medical record systems and telemedicine solutions, among other products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), which regulates the vast majority of medical products sold in the U.S., generally applies its existing regulatory scheme when facing new technologies like cloud computing. This is typified by FDA’s approach to nanotechnology that was developed in the last decade…