10 ways to enhance Google+

	University tests ERP on new Dell cloud | Microsoft claims its private cloud is up to four times cheaper than VMware's
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	10 ways to enhance Google+ Google+ has made an impressive debut by signing up more than 25 million users, despite launching as an invite-only beta. Of course, fixes and features get slipped into software prior to official release by its developers, but with Google+ several users have taken it upon themselves to write enhancements in the form of Chrome browser extensions. Here are 10 extensions that provide useful, interesting improvements to the search giant's social-networking site. Read More WHITE PAPER: Akamai Technologies, Inc. Akamai Cloud Optimization for Amazon EC2™ The emergence of public cloud platforms and services has IT organizations thinking about which applications they want to keep in-house and which they can build within the cloud. Read more In this Issue University tests ERP on new Dell cloud Microsoft claims its private cloud is up to four times cheaper than VMware's Why big data is a big deal Q&A: Hitachi GST CEO says hard drive future hangs in cloud Residents cut energy bills 11% in smart meter test Bootstrapping an Ubuntu Server on Rackspace using Cloud-Init and Fog Dell offers hosted apps for SMBs vShield, cloud computing, and the security industry The strategic importance of an ADC WEBCAST: Citrix Systems Single Sign On for Cloud and Beyond The cloud is the topic in IT these days. From SaaS and cloud computing to Web applications and mobile devices, hosted services offer enterprises new advantages over resources managed in-house. But to deliver on this promise, they must be integrated seamlessly into the user experience. More importantly still: they must be secure. Learn more>> University tests ERP on new Dell cloud University of Kentucky CIO Vince Kellen is considering moving some of the university's SAP work to a cloud environment, which would make him a relatively early adopter of ERP in the cloud. Read More Microsoft claims its private cloud is up to four times cheaper than VMware's Microsoft has always positioned Hyper-V to be a less expensive alternative to VMware. Now the software giant says that with VMware's new VRAM-based pricing, it calculates a private cloud built on Microsoft can cost up to $70,000 less than one built under VMware's licensing schemes. Read More Why big data is a big deal Like 'the cloud,' the concept of 'big data' is the subject of a lot of hype and means different things to different people. Here's what it really means, who's really doing it, and what it could mean for the future of data mining. Read More WHITE PAPER: Riverbed Fine-Tune Your IT Performance Learn how to bridge the gap between application performance management solutions that don't understand the underlying network and network management products that don't know how to map network traffic to applications. Learn more! Q&A: Hitachi GST CEO says hard drive future hangs in cloud Before the proposed buyout by Western Digital is complete, Hitachi GSTs CEO said the future of its hard drive business rests squarely in the cloud and mobile market. Read More Residents cut energy bills 11% in smart meter test Some residents of a small town in Iowa have cut their electricity use by 11% in a test that combines smart meters with cloud-based data analytics. Read More Bootstrapping an Ubuntu Server on Rackspace using Cloud-Init and Fog Recently at work I needed to figure out how to bootstrap a server image on Rackspace, preferably using Ubuntu's Cloud-Init package since we already had that working on EC2. I couldn't find a single person who had done this before, so after struggling for a day or two and finally figuring out that it does indeed work (and it turns out to be pretty simple) I thought I would share the knowledge. Read More WEBCAST: Akamai Technologies, Inc. Saving cloud computing users from evil doers This video panel discussion delves into IT's current and future security threats. Topics include web application security, vulnerabilities, threats and mitigation/defense strategies, and tactics with individual perspectives on the magnitude and direction of threats. Learn more Dell offers hosted apps for SMBs Just one day after Dell announced its first infrastructure-as-a-service offering, the company is jumping deeper into the cloud. Dell will offer a family of hosted software applications for small and midsized businesses, through partnerships with Salesforce.com, Microsoft, Intuit and others. Read More vShield, cloud computing, and the security industry Several security vendors including BitDefender, Catbird, Lumension, McAfee, Sophos and Symantec announced their intentions to work with VMware as a security partner or integrate with VMware vShield APIs. These vendors join Trend Micro -- a company that bet on vShield integration and is clearly benefiting from this decision. Read More The strategic importance of an ADC In our last newsletter we began to discuss the role of the network in supporting cloud computing. We will continue that discussion in this newsletter and we will focus on the topic of how application delivery controllers (ADC) are rapidly becoming a key enabler of cloud computing. Read More
	SLIDESHOWS The world's geekiest license plates This slideshow goes out to all those drivers who aren't afraid to say it loud: I'm a geek and I'm proud. It's filled with images of vanity plates so geeky that they prompted someone else to take a picture and post it on Flickr. Enjoy. GOODIES FROM MICROSOFT SUBNET We've got books on System Center Opalis Integration Server and Microsoft training of the winner's choice from Webucator.. Enter here. MOST-READ STORIES DoE devices security system to thwart rampant copper thefts Age bias in IT: The reality behind the rumors Microsoft's 5 biggest weaknesses Microsoft's IE will drop under 50% share by mid-2012 Mapping the price of pot across the Internet Lenovo heats up price war with $199 IdeaPad tablet 10 energy projects that could electrify the world The Ruby Principle tells us Apple didn't fake latest 'lost iPhone' Microsoft claims its private cloud is up to four times cheaper than VMware's Desktop virtualization users say the technology brings challenges
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