Cloud Computing...what the buzz is about?

Cloud Computing is perhaps the most talked about topic now a days in computer and software industry. Since most of us are unfamiliar to this term so let me explain it in a simple way.
                   "Cloud Computing is the usage of computing resources  that are resided somewhere else e.g, on a hosting server."
Until now, we use the computing resources of our CPU i.e, processor, memory and storage. In cloud computing, you 'hire' these resources of a hosting company and pay them the 'Computing Bill' on daily or monthly basis. The more usage of these resources, the more you have to pay to them. Lets assume you have a huge amount of data to store (Suppose 10 GB) and this data is increasing day by day. You have a personal hard drive of 40 GB already filled with your data. So instead of keeping this data on your personal computer, you will buy the Cloud services of a company and upload this increasing data to their servers. Now it will be the headache of these Cloud Servers to keep your data, process it on their own systems and just send you the final results on demand via Internet. Below, I have shared my own cloud computer's desktop which is  opened right in my web browser. 

(Click to enlarge)

Enjoy Unlimited 1Mb DSL in just 735 Rupees per Month...

Ramadan Mubarik...! Most of my friends who have DSL in their homes are paying appx. 1000 rupees monthly to connect with the global village. One thing is straight forward; these so called 'Student Packages' are still not affordable by Pakistani Students. An average student hardly gets rupees 1000 to 1500 as 'Jaib Kharch' from home so paying 1000 to 1200 as internet bills can kill your economic strategy for the whole month. Here, I would like to share my experience of enjoying 1mb unlimited internet in just rupees 735.
The thing to be noticed here the most is, most friends do not know that their dsl service provider is charging them 150-200 monthly as MODEM RENT. You know what? You can get rid of this cost by buying ur own modem!! The cost of a new modem is around rupees 3000 but u can buy a second hand for just rupees 1200. Spending 1200 once means getting rid of modem rent charges for 2, 3 years (if you take care of your modem as your girl friend) which are appx. 3600-4800 for 2 years. If u dont find a used modem, i can buy u one, here in gujranwala.
Second thing is: choose LinkDotNet. Dont be confused by rumors, give it a try. You will surely find no difference between PTCL and LinkDotNet. The reason for choosing LinkDotNet is that, they are offering unlimited dsl for just rupees 735 per month. Call them at 111-600-222 and inquire about packages. They will tell u 885 for 1mb which includes 150 as modem rent but if u wish to use your personal modem, you can get their dsl services for as low as 735 Rs. (Here, we are assuming that you have a ptcl line at ur home and your dad pays its bill including line rent). You can further share this 1mb connection with your neighbors as LinkDotNet do not impose any restriction over it. As far as speed is concerned, I am giving you the Speed Test snippets below for both:

PTCL 1 MB Speed test by whatismyip.com:

LinkDOTnet 1 MB Speed test by whatismyip.com:

Battle of Browsers...

 I am surprised how people endlessly debate about Internet browsers on the web. Fans of one browser are dying to put others low. In fact, it is one of the indefinite debates taking place in the cyber world. I often enjoy reading threads like Intel vs. AMD, Pentium vs. Celeron, Nokia vs. Sonyericsson, X-Box vs Playstation, Avast vs. AVG and Windows vs. Mac. What I found interesting is, people love to praise & support the things they own!!

Though as far as browsers are concerned, I decided to share my own experiences with you about 3 "Daddies"of the time ,i.e Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome. I will take each browser one by one so first comes Internet Explrer...

1. Internet Explorer :
                       Internet Explorer is world's most popular browser having 43% shares. If you are an ease lover and don't want to suffer from some headache after installing windows on your personal computer, then this is for you. If we generally talk about speed, Internet Explorer sucks big time!!(let me apologize to IE fans and Bill Gates). It takes relatively longer time to download a webpage and open it. Its downloader also sucks. If you are using a shared bandwidth, you will probably die waiting for a relatively bigger file to download.(On my 1Mb DSL connection, i got 90-100 kb downloading speed on a freshly installed windows and 10-30 kb after 2-3 months, I don't know the reason behind it). It is also resources hungry. Despite of these bitter facts, Internet Explorer provides maximum portability and functionality. You can easily add-in your favorite plugins and personalized features.It has the highest Java Script Execution Time. Download accelerators love Internet Explorer. RSS and Windows Live! feeds are easy to manage and the best thing about it... it is Windows friendly.. Here comes a bad news for Windows XP users, you are stuck forever on IE 8 because IE 9 is not for XP :( IE 8 have no HTML 5 support and in 1 or 2 years, it will be a thing you don't wanna have in your PC. So choose your browser wisely today!!

2. Firefox:

Microsoft employees surely hated it for a long time and the reason is clear; Firefox ruled the Cyber World with its enhanced features. The first thing people loved about it was SPEED. It gave people a 'Jailbreak' by providing faster browsing on their existing internet connections. Firefox introduces 'Tabbed' browsing for the first time. It also allowed people to manage their downloads in a separate window and pause, resume an ongoing download. The only disadvantage in using Firefox was its slow execution time but you can get rid of it in newer versions . Firefox provides portability less than IE. Firefox holds 30% shares which are decreasing permanently.If you had asked me for a browser before 2 years, i had recommended it to you. But now a days, my relationship is much stronger with another browser instead of IE and Firefox .

3. Google Chrome:
                                                 The best thing about Google Chrome is, its Google's own so it's your very own.. What I mean by 'Google' is your best friend that is always there when you need it. So, Chrome browser is somehow, related to YOU. Google chrome is no doubt the best browser for you if you wish to head towards  Semantic Web ( Future of Internet when Computers will know and understand Web automatically).
 Google chrome is still in trial (Beta) releases. It is the result of an open source project so you can say that it is built for public, by public. Chrome have a lot of built-in features. You don't even have to install Flash Player to stream videos on YouTube. It offers the best browsing speed in the town, fastest execution time and coolest browsing environment. By opening it, you don't have a feeling of running a computer software, instead, opening it feels like opening the WEB itself as a stand alone thing. Despite of these great features, Google chrome encounters a lot of bugs and face some serious difficulties while living in Windows OS. You have to install it separately for all users. Some Windows applications don't understand it so there is an interesting battle seen between IE and Google Chrome to make them your default.

If you haven't tried Google Chrome yet, then you should be surely jailed ;) I personally use Google Chrome and I also suggest it to you. Download it here.





Closing Words:
                                       The best thing is that which gives you the most charm!! Time changes and so does the technology and preferences. Things popular today can be in dust tomorrow. So, choose the things that suits you the most.

Finally, i found this interesting chart that differentiate between different browsers. It'l help you a lot in choosing the right thing for you.