Cloud computing is the sharing of computer resources over the Internet. Providers of cloud computing services offer hardware and software resources to their customers in the form of network storage space, software applications and utilities, and virtual IT. Network storage space provides an off-site physical location to backup data and the ability to share with remote users. Businesses can “rent” server space to store large amounts of data rather than purchasing and maintaining a server locally. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is available to users on demand for many purposes, including accounting, payroll, financial, human resources, collaboration, accounts payable, accounts receivables, communication, document creation and custom applications. There is no need to purchase and install software programs since cloud apps are web-based. Examples of cloud utilities include spam filtering and antivirus, as well as many others. Virtual IT services include computer maintenance and support.

Users pay a fee to access these managed third-party services, although some cloud computing providers offer their services for free. Fees can be on a monthly basis or sliding scale based on usage. Some providers may also require a long-term contract, which may not work if business needs change before the contract expires.

Although Internet access is required, there are many benefits associated with using cloud computing services. Data can easily be accessed by remote users. Backups are stored securely off-site ensuring business continuity should disaster strike at the local level. Hardware maintenance and software licensing costs are carried by the provider. As information technology needs increase with business growth, virtual server space can be added without purchasing additional physical hardware. Businesses that utilize cloud computing services save a significant amount of money on the costs of providing on-site computer hardware, infrastructure and software. Employee compensation costs are also reduced since labor costs associated with server installation and maintenance are reduced.

Interested in Backing up to the “cloud”?  Check out our Back Up Flash Drive

Who or what influenced you to get into design field?

As odd as it sounds, Dave Matthews got me into design.

Back in 1993 as an undergrad at Roanoke College, I was a huge DMB fan.  This was before the band became the Grammy-winning behemoth that they are now.  I “discovered” the web through an acquaintance of mine who was a computer science major.  I soon discovered a pretty robust online community around the band.  This piqued my interest and soon I was building my own website (http://www.baboonfarm.com/classic) to house my thoughts on the band.

After building that first site, I was hooked.  There is something deeply satisfying about the process of creation.

Where do you get your creative inspiration from?

Creative inspiration comes from everywhere and anywhere.  My number one source of inspiration is music.  It lets my right brain take over so that I’m not actively thinking but rather simply doing.  It’s as if music allows the creativity to flow uninhibited. I cannot even think about design without headphones and several hours of mixed tracks.  I’ve even started creating my own mixes (http://www.baboonfarm.com/category/creativity/music/) to fuel my visual design sessions.

I definitely check out sites like Smashing Magazine, Communication Arts and Design Observer to keep track of trends in the field.  I follow designers that I respect such as Khoi Vinh (@khoi), Doug Bowman (@stop), Ned Hamiz (@weightshift) and Tyler Thompson (@tyler_thompson) on Twitter as well.  And I have a library of old annuals and classic design anthologies that I tend to pull out when I’m stuck on a problem.  Dribbble is also a great resource.

What tools of the trade you use to make your life as a designer easier?

I find that having an organized workflow makes my life easier.  I have a very rigid file naming and organizational structure for my projects.  I am a obsessive layer namer and organizer in Photoshop as well.  And, by default, my left hand hits CTRL+S every 15 seconds.  It’s a good habit to get into.

What is your next planned software or hardware purchase?

Oddly, I’m not really “a computer guy”.  I appreciate what they allow me to do…but I’m not really into gear for the sake of gear so I rarely plan purchases.  when there is a need (or a want), I go out and get something.  I’ll probably wind up needing an additional external hard drive soon.

What do you see as the next evolution in design in terms of trends?

Clearly, mobile is where we are headed.  It’s a bit like going back to the early days when we were designing for 640×480 screen resolution with browsers that had limited feature sets.

Editorial design is also becoming more and more important – another throwback.  In the beginning, we designed our sites around our own writing.  And then content management systems came along and we started designing templates.  We never even saw the content.  We’re finally getting back to the business of creating visual presentations that communicate specific content.  It doesn’t happen for every project.  But its happening a lot more than it used to.

Could you share a favorite recent web or graphic design project you worked on and tell us a little bit about it?

Unfortunately, most of my recent projects were developed under strict NDAs so I can’t go into specifics on any of them.  But I am currently redesigning my own site (www.markjmaloney.com).  I threw the current iteration up there in record time so I’ve decided to “visual realign” it a bit.  None of the functionality is there and I’m still in the process of building it…but if you’re curious to see how I’ve evolved the design, the current in-progress build can be found at v2.markjmaloney.com.

What are you favorite websites or blogs that you frequent?

It’s funny.  With Twitter, I rarely visit sites anymore.  But here is the list of my daily bookmarks:

- CNN

- Facebook

- Under Consideration

- I Love Typography

- Dribbble

- Co.Design

- Things That We Learn

Any advice or tips for someone wanting to become a designer or to improve their quality of design?

Concentrate on typography and build your layouts on a grid.  It will immediately improve the quality of your work.  And demand that you build the site with the same exacting standards or all of your hard work during design will be for naught.

As part of our commitment to the development and growth of the technology community, EDGE Tech Corp is proud to support all non-profit educational and community-based technology groups. We welcome ideas from user group or community event organizers looking for collaborative assistance.

What We Offer:

Exclusive Store Discounts
Group members receive exclusive discounts on EDGE Tech Corp products.

FREE Product Giveaways
Products to give away as prizes at monthly meetings

Email your Group name, group topic, number of members, website URL, and contact information to: affiliates@edgetechcorp.com

Released this week, 100% compatible memory upgrades for the following systems

Asus Asus Notebooks G51JX-3DE

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB or 4GB
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel HM55

Asus Asus Notebooks B53F A1B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-8500
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB
• Maximum RAM: 4GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel HM55

Asus Asus Motherboards M4A77

• Speed of RAM: PC2-6400
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 0MB
• Maximum RAM: 16GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 4
• Chipset: AMD 770

Asus Asus Notebooks Bamboo U43Jc A1

• Speed of RAM: PC3-8500
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 4GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel HM55

HP Compaq Business Notebook 620 Notebook

• Speed of RAM: PC3-8500
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel GM45

HP Compaq Elite Desktop HPE-150F

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 8GB (4x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 16GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 4
• Chipset: Intel Core i7 H57

HP Compaq Elite Desktop HPE-235f

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 1GB/2GB/3GB/4GB
• Maximum RAM: 16GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 4
• Chipset: AMD AM3

HP Compaq Elite Desktop HPE-250f

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 1GB/2GB/3GB/4GB
• Maximum RAM: 16GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 4
• Chipset: Intel Core i7 H57

HP Compaq Elite Desktop HPE-270f

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 1GB/2GB/3GB/4GB
• Maximum RAM: 24GB
• # of Banks: 6
• # of Sockets: 6
• Chipset: Intel Core i7 H57

HP Compaq HP Compaq Business Desktop Pro 3130 Business PC (Microtower)

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 512MB/1GB/2GB
• Maximum RAM: 16GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 4
• Chipset: Intel H57

Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 (0646-xxx)

• Speed of RAM: PC3-8500
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel PM55 or HM55

Lenovo ThinkServer RD230 (1027, 1029-xxx)

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB or 4GB
• Maximum RAM: 32GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 8
• Chipset: Intel 5520

Lenovo ThinkServer RD230 (1039, 1040-xxx)

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB or 4GB
• Maximum RAM: 32GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 8
• Chipset: Intel 5520

Lenovo ThinkServer RD240 (1046, 1047, 1048-xxx)

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB or 4GB
• Maximum RAM: 64GB
• # of Banks: 4
• # of Sockets: 8
• Chipset: Intel 5520

Sony Vaio VPCF121FX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF121FX/H

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF123FX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 6GB (1x4GB + 1x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF127FX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 6GB (1x4GB + 1x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12FFX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12GFX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 6GB (1x4GB + 1x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12HFX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12LGX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12MGX/H

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12NGX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12PGX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12RGX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

Sony Vaio VPCF12SGX/B

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
• Maximum RAM: 8GB
• # of Banks: 2
• # of Sockets: 2
• Chipset: Intel Core i7

SUN Sun Fire X2270

• Speed of RAM: PC3-8500
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB (1GBx2)
• Maximum RAM: 192GB
• # of Banks: 6
• # of Sockets: 12
• Chipset: Intel 5520

SUN Sun Fire X4170 M2

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB (1GBx2)
• Maximum RAM: 144GB
• # of Banks: 6
• # of Sockets: 18
• Chipset: Intel 5520

SUN Sun Fire X4270 M2

• Speed of RAM: PC3-10600
• Fixed RAM: 0MB
• Standard RAM: 2GB (1GBx2)
• Maximum RAM: 144GB
• # of Banks: 6
• # of Sockets: 18
• Chipset: Intel 5520

Who or what influenced you to get into design field? I started with programming back in the day, Turbo Pascal 5.5, remember that? After the advent of Windows the so called “Multimedia Applications” started to appear and that get my attention. I remember clearly that I was really impressed with the “Enhanced CDs “ of the time, the mixture of Music, Design, Interaction and Video really was new at the time; then I started to experiment with Visual Design and Interaction, producing a some Multimedia Titles mainly for educational purposes. After that I studied Earth and Geographic Sciences where I learned the old art of drawing maps and representing complex spatial information in a easy to understand way. Where do you get your creative inspiration from? Almost from everything, Movies, TV Commercials, Music, Printed Advertising, Street Advertisement, etc. also I have a daily dosis of RSS feeds from showcase sites like CSSMania.com, Dribbble.com and Creattica.com. What tools of the trade you use to make your life as a designer easier? My Vaio AW laptop… yes a PC, I used a Mac for a short time and switch back again cause the PC side is more flexible and I can adapt better to my work flow. A Wacom Bamboo table, for easy and quick work, also better for my wrists. On the software side, Photoshop and Illustrator with a little bit of 3D Max and sometimes After Effects and Premiere. When I have to code something I use Eclipse, simply the best IDE out there. What is your next planned software or hardware purchase? I’ll be buying a new 23” display soon, also planning to buy a HTPC for the flat screen TV. What do you see as the next evolution in design in terms of trends? Luckily we are out of the “Web 2.0 Style Craziness” we had in the last years. Right now I see more time is used for usability than in reflections and gradients. Two of the main design trends at the moment in web design are Letterpress effects and Textures. And of course Minimalistic style never gets old. Could you share a favorite recent web or graphic design project you worked on and tell us a little bit about it? One of my favorite projects was a Professional Social Networking application in which I was in charge of the User Experience, Visual Design and User Interaction. Working on it was at the same time challenging and fun because we wanted to break apart of the current web design trends, but at the same time have a functional, usable and enjoyable User Experience, that can differentiate the product of the rest. Unfortunately the projects stops for the lack of financing. Nevertheless is still one of my favorite projects. http://nlapse.com/projects/tap/ What are you favorite websites or blogs that you frequent? I mostly read my stuff on my RSS Reader: Google Reader and Reeder on the iPhone. But some of the feed I read most are Engadget, Gizmodo, CSSMania, Dribbble, Creattica, ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch and like 50 more. I used to be addicted to Digg though. Any advice or tips for someone wanting to become a designer or to improve their quality of design? Keep designing, even when you have no project to work on, design an icon, play to improve an application or website you use a lot and send your suggestions to the authors. Browse all the inspiration sites you stumble upon, they are a great source to keep your ideas fresh. Read a lot of design books and magazines to keep with the latest methodologies and trend. But most important try to be unique and develop you style, that will differentiate you from the crowd. Jose E. Gonzalez Modecir – Born in 1979, Cuba, now living in Germany. Learn to program in Pascal when MS-DOS 6.2 was the hot thing. Started into Visual and Interaction Design with the old Macromedia Director. Graduated of Earth and Geographic Sciences in Havana University on 2004. After that worked as UX Architect/Visual Designer in some startups and big name companies; now as UX Architect and Front-End Developer at GRIN Publishing (grin.com)