Web Services and Cloud Computing

[Courtesy: java.sun.com]

There is much attention given to Web Services and Cloud Computing after the recent launch of Amazon Web Services. The terminologies or the called technical jargons are yet to be exposed in full length and many people aren’t clear about the underlying facts. Still if you go to an Amazon employee and ask for a definition, he might stumble upon to provide a meaningful description. Since these are in their maturity phase and there is long way to go to explore in depth and create awareness.

Let’s go back to roots to understand the Web Service. Initially when the programming language was used, we define functions or procedures to reuse the set commands in our program. This function or procedure when invoked with the required parameters or supply in values they apply the series of commands within them on these supplied values and return the output to the calling code or the parent handler. Let’s say you have written the program in C or C++ language then the function written is also in the C or C++. So the function and the program are in the same language and platform. After a period several programming packages and operating systems started exposing something known as Application programming interfaces [API]. APIs are language dependent set of codes available for usage in the programs. You can invoke these API depending on the functionality and passing the set of necessary arguments.

After these there were several ways in which the reusable code were developed and consumed. Still there was a dependency on the plat form or some sort of conversion required to use these pre-written functions. When the development cycle was getting matured, Service Oriented Architectures [SOA] and Software as a Service [SaaS] concepts evolved leading into the development of Web Services. Web Service as the name implies is a service provided over a network like web. A wiki definition states Web Service as “a software system designed to support interoperable Machine to Machine interaction over a network”. You can simply consider the Web Service as set of APIs exposed over internet or some sort of network. You can invoke these Web Services by passing the required values and get back the results and the biggest break through is these are interoperable. Meaning these functions are independent from the calling platform or language. You can call a Web Service via Java or via .Net or from any programming tool/language which offer you to consume the Web Services. This is possible using the eXtensible Markup Language [XML] formats and Simple Object Access Protocols [SOAP]. Going into the background process of how it works is a whole different subject and detailing here might dilute the basics.

The Web Service expose their signature like what input it takes and what output it gives via Web Service Description Language [WSDL]. Now I know what is a Web Service and its basic operations, I want to know the list of Web Services available on the web and the Universal Description, Discover and Integration [UDDI] pitches right in there. UDDI is like yellow pages of Web Services on the web and it describes the list of Web Services available with a description of the functionality. So when I want to use a Web Service, I go to the UDDI, search for service related to my required functionality and use it in my program.

Let’s now move onto the concept of cloud computing, you can say it as a data center available outside your company or your walls and you consume the power of it for your processes. On the web it is defined as “A pool of abstracted, highly scalable, and managed compute infrastructure capable of hosting end-customer applications and billed by consumption”. It is collection of resources from computation power to applications lying outside and you can use it for your work. Opposed to the SaaS you can call as HaaS – Hardware as a Service. So all you need is a desktop with connectivity to the vendor you have tied up for cloud computing service and you are on the hook for your operations.

Both these are maturing and over a period you will see many players trying to fill in the space. Now Amazon Elastic Compute, Google Apps, Microsoft Mesh are to name from the big players in this area.

All these are the phases of widening of our technical advancements and it is going to be a joyful trip as we leap forward.

Not Sure!

Steve Antony Ballmer took charge as Microsoft CEO by Jan 2000 and the history of stock price is seen below [Cover Story given by the Business Week].


[Courtesy: Google]

What makes me think is successful leadership is a prodigy then? When Bill Gates could elevate the company in terms of revenue why not Ballmer. I do understand the competition factor is different over the period. May be I am blunt :-(

Language Gene!

[Courtesy: Forward]

Enemy of the State

[Courtesy: www.allposters.com]

The privacy theft by the internet and other sources were shown in a video footage from googleanonymous site. It’s very obvious how deeply it intrudes into a common man life and how it can steal once complete private affairs. When it comes to professional life how it affects the business through phone tapping and other means. If someone who controls this critical information wants to frame you as a fool yep he can. So someone can control someone life if they want to, which is ridiculous. As technology improvises every time, there is always the backside of it to use improperly. If such goes to the hand of wrong person then the result of it becomes adverse. More and more such adverse effects will be seen in coming years due to the technology advancements. If it is used for betterment of a mankind then the purpose of its birth is right.

"Enemy of the state" is one such film where it deals how the NSA using hi-technology tries to devastate a man's personal life. It’s a movie about a murder; NSA does in the event of making to pass the surveillance power bill. The NSA deputy general says "I want every details of this guy from blood samples, urine result and his sex nature". So when they want they can get into any detail of an individual. Another time Brill a main character of the movie says "At least be happy that they don't know what you think inside. There is your privacy". Oh boy... hmmm .The movie has Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight in lead roles. The plot was good and the screenplay was tight. The technical aspects shown as part of the movie was a gaze. Will Smith was amazing and performed a subtle act has a how common man would be surprised when his life is exposed. The leaders speak that to protect the nation the people has to give everything they have....then what protection is nation giving to them...irony...It’s a good movie to watch from the aspect to know how the information theft is growing as tech advances...Better watch out guys....

LOL :)

"Why did my iPhone fail so soon? Apple’s Geniuses couldn’t say on the spot. But I think it had something to do with heat — my iPhone would get incredibly hot to the touch when plugged in and charging while I was on a long phone call. So hot I lived those first three days in constant fear that it would heat to the point of burning up.

So hot that I was tempted to put some raw egg in a foil cup and set it atop the iPhone to see if it would cook — or if not actually cook, turn opaque from the iPhone’s super-heated back surface. Describing this on my blog JOEyGADGET promoted one other iPhone owner to comment:

“Yep, mine seems hot but I don’t know if it’s too hot. Hotness is relative you know.” Agreed when discussing physical attraction, but when talking about physical touch, take my word for it, my original iPhone all but burned the skin on my hand."

Read more here!

New Opera...

Am using the Opera browser for quite some time. I like the sleek look and the presentation. Recently upgraded it to 9.2 version. It has the feature of speed dial as we have in our phones. You can set 9 most visited sites of yours as speed dials and it will show in one tab as thumb nail view. It’s convenient and good to use. Also I like the widget feature of it which is available in the early versions.

Grr...oh lucky chaps

Mandayila bulb adikuthu, munadiye oyunga padichirukanum....Kathu thaan varuthu...

Many things I know it won't happen but still I dream. One such is working here....Check out this....

The WOW Factor!

It’s a wish to own it for quiet sometime after coming to US. I have seen people going crazy about it and have also seen several promos on it. One day had a chance to browse through its features in Best Buy store. It’s been an awesome experience for me and felt fond of it. The sleekness, sound effects, clarity, compactness... I was resisting my self from buying it for some reason. But today couldn’t stop from being the proud owner of it. Yes! finally bought the Apple iPod 30 GB. What can I comment on it, it just mesmerizes you with its sound effect and the video ah… Uyrin Uyrie video from kakha kakha movie made its debut entry into my iPod and after that non stop music for past 3 hrs. It might be a bit high expenditure for me but feel its worth buying. Few albums already in my play list are from Elton John, Backstreet Boys, Enigma, Spice Girls, Bryan Adams, Aqua, Swades, Michael Jackson, Venga Boys and list goes on…Importing the songs\videos thru iTunes is the main activity for the upcoming days :-) You will definitely feel it as a WOW factor!

Foresight?

Mr.Jimbo what are you looking at? Road ahead in the tech industry?


[via:Wiki]

Yahoo Mail Beta !!

[Click for a blow up;]

Last week sometime I was prompted to upgrade my Yahoo mail to new beta version. I was pretty sure something would be in the enriched form to keep them in the race with other mega giants especially Google. The faith wasn't disappointed. The web yahoo is replica version of Microsoft Outlook client and done exactly similar fashion with glossy look. It was really awesome to see the features and easy mailing facility. It has almost all the features of Outlook including the Inbox, Archive, Personal folder [Yeah...only on the web] and other simple drag tech.

I wonder such competitions between the big giants makes more and more easy for the web users especially the novice users. Thus, enabling swift reach of technology to unexplored lands. As one among the users group, excited to see such enhancements. Amazing stuff... Keep going monsters.

Google Sweetenings

[Click snap for a blow up]

Today, I noticed the change in my Google Toolbar. I then checked out the new features and it’s really helpful for all the users for getting a rich browsing experience. For long time I used to carry my favorites as a file from system to system. Every time I add\update my favorites, I send a copy as mail to myself. The new toolbar had relived this pain and you can carry your bookmark wherever you go and Google does it for you. The search box has been modified and really amazing to get list of values as you type in as suggestions\history\Did you mean? Apart from these, providing logon options to Google accounts, send to options, translator and much more. Check more features here.

I like the way they create the tools. They are very simple but cover everything they would like to do. No flashy colors, no big banner but it catches your eyes. Capturing the basic user’s needs and making surfing easier & comfortable. Everybody need is right information at right time. This is what Google is capitalizing and working on it. The bookmark is a kind of your information need, the listing of search values as you type in, and so on. I am curious and like to be an audience at their technical meeting when designing such tools. It’s like wanting to see how they hit the nail. BANG!!