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When the idea of Google Wave came out, I got excited and thought that it will be a revolutionary communication platform. Then, I began to use it and i realized it really is nothing special. I was excited when I got ther invitation but, unless I am really missing something major, I don’t see the point of using Wave.

With Google Wave you can send messages, called Waves, in real-time to friends and you can collaborate in realtime. The biggest flaw in that is that very few people currently have Google Wave so there are very few people to communicate with and even then, the feature set is scarse. I think that if the application store that is rumored to come through may save Wave, but as it stands right now it is not as revolutionary as it claimed to be. I really hope that Google works to add more features and innovate, which Google is quite good at. If they do this, then they could easily make it the revolutionary platform that it set out to be. However, as it stands right now, I prefer regular email to Wave as of right now and think Google has a long way to go to make Google Wave the next “wave” in communication.

Cloud Computing is a great way to work and collaborate wherever you are whenever you need to work. This is especially beneficial for students because students work at home, in school, at the library and at a friend’s house. Why bother carrying a thumb drive that could get lost, dropped or broken when you could just go on the cloud and be able to access your information anywhere on any computer. This applies to Secondary students and even more to college students. Cloud computing not only adds convenience for students, but also allows a group of students to collaborate from their dorm room, the library or across the world.

First and simplest Cloud service is Google Docs; it allows users to write documents, spreadsheets and presentations online and to share and collaborate with others over the internet. This makes working on a project much easier no matter if people get sick or can’t make it to class, work can be worked on across the web. Google has also developed more tools specifically for students which allows Google Docs to be used as an equation editor, has added a built-in language translator, and chemical equation balancer.

Next, Dropbox, if you don’t think that Google Docs will cut it for you, Dropbox is the next best thing. I wrote about how Dropbox is so great and combines having files local and being able to share over the cloud. You can install it on all your computers and easily share data or just use the simple web interface and have a thumb drive you can access on any computer with Internet access and can’t be lost or broken. Dropbox also allows you to share documents either publically or privately with other users.

Cloud computing seems as though it is meant specifically with studnets in mind because it lets user do what they want, when they want and it is near impossible to loose your data unless you forget your password. I have always loved cloud computing but, now using it for school work it is even better!

For those who have multiple computer and want to access files between them, usually requires the user to use either an external hard drive or thumb drive and manually move the file from one computer to another! However, that is now a thing of the past with Dropbox. With Dropbox, all you need to do is sign up for an account and install the program on all the computers you want to use, the program works on both Mac as well as Windows. With the free account you get 2 GB of storage but, if you need more you could pay for up to 5o GB of storage. With Dropbox, you have a cloud drive that you can use like a thumb drive, but once you save files to the Dropbox, they are automatically uploaded to the web and then are synced to the other computers. This makes thumb drives a thing of the past and let you just save files to Dropbox and you can access it anywhere, even online in your browser!

Personally, I use my Dropbox to sync files between my Macbook Pro which is on my desk most of the time with my netbook that I take to class so, my school work is availible and up-to-date one whatever computer I choose to use! If you think 2 GB is not enough for you, which if you are just doing documents it should, since I have all my school files on there and some other stuff and I am only use 2%! However, if you need more you can get another .25 GB for going through the Dropbox tutorials and even more if you invite your friends! Dropbox is a great solution if there a a few crucial files you want to have backed up, Dropbox is a awesome way to do it! If you want to not worry about copying files and remembering a thumb drive give Dropbox a try, you will not be disappointed!

When I first started using Mozy last October, I truly enjoyed the service and having a backup service where you just “Set it and Forget it” . However about 4 months ago, I have begun to experience issues backing up my data and  have not been able to back-up my data ever since. I contacted Mozy support however, they were unable to help me and told me to do the same thing everytime: uninstall, reboot and re-install. I also realized that Mozy for the Mac, although it is a paid service for unlimited data for $5 per month per computer, the Mac version is still in BETA! I do not want to pay $5 per month for a beta program.

After four months of much wasted time and trying in vain to make Mozy work, I decided that it was time for me to begin to search for a replacement. The first alternative that I looked at was the very popular Carbonite. It provided the unlimited storage that I want however, it did not let me backup data off external hard drives, which for me is necessary because I keep all my video editing files and other very important data on external hard drives and I need to keep that data safe. After some more searching, I found Backblaze. Backblaze, like Mozy, has unlimited storage for $5 per month per computer and allows me to backup my external hard drives.

Don’t get me wrong, when Mozy worked, I loved using it and liked having peace of mind knowing that my data was safe. however, I don’t want to continue wasting time trying to fix a beta product that definitely has its share of bugs. I still like what Mozy is doing and if they repair their issues, I woulod consider going back to them. However, I am very happy with Backblaze and hope it does not have all the problems Mozy has.

Cloudscoop has been a great project and I feel I have put a lot of content on the site but, I have run out of ideas for new posts. I have moved all the Cloud Scoop content on to the Gdovin.net Cloud Computing Section so you can continue to read the content there and I will also write a more about cloud computing on that site. I am also becoming a full-time college student this fall so I probably won’t have a lot of time for multiple websites so, it will now all be a part of Gdovin.net! As for the domain, I  will have Cloudscoop.com redirect to Gdovin.net cloud computing section until the domain expires! I would like to thank all the readers andother people who have help Cloud Scoop in it’s run. Please enjoy all my future cloud computing  content on Gdovin.net!

Picnik has a lot of features for a web image editor and Adobe, the maker of de-facto photo editor, has now made their own web editor called Photoshop Express.  Unfortunetly, it does not live up to the powerful name Photoshop. The only advantage that it has over Picnik is storage of 2 GB, which is able to be upgrade if you pay. Image editing is not nearly as powerful. This is a disappointment that Photoshop is the best desktop editor but, cannot build a web client. I reccommend using Picnik.

A lot of people want to do basic photo editing but, don’t want to shell out $70 for Photoshop Elements and think that GIMP is too complicated. Plus, you need to buy and or install your software on each computer. Cloud computing comes to the rescue with Picnik which takes care of  simple image editing and can although it does not do everything Photoshop does, but for average users it should be fine.

Picnik has a simple UI and lets you edit pictures from either the web or from your hard drive. As far as features, it lets you zoom, rotate, crop, modify colors, sharpen and reduce red eye. You can also, get a premium account to further, the features and still starting at only, $2.08 a month. If Gimp is to complicated and Photoshop is too expensive for you then, try Picnik it may be worth your while.

Cloudberry already has made a great FTP-like explorer for Amazon S3 but, what if you want to back up all your data to this server because it is so affordable and everyone should backup their data incase of disaster. Cloudberry Onlinebackup takes care of this need and lets you install it on as many computers as you like and backup your information onto your S3 account and save money over other services and does everything you need. It has all the features you need including scheduling, encryption, verification, notification and much more! Once again it is only Windows but, I hope it will expand and let others be able to keep their data safe on S3.