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This article talks about why the cloud is good for non-profits.

The nonprofit sector is in a bit of a technology evolution/revolution. As the industry looks to reduce costs, increase efficiency and engage with constituents that are living lifestyles that embrace mobile, digital and social technologies as never before. It is here that the benefits and options that cloud computing brings to the table are clear.

Amazon launched it's Cloud Player and Cloud Drive service today, which lets you store files online and stream music to your computer or Android phone. We spent some time with it this morning, and despite some missing features, the service is an amazing value and pretty easy to use. Right off the bat, Amazon gives you 5 GB of free storage, which is already more than the free 2 GB Dropbox has.

A non-profit out of California has created software for human rights workers that is designed to secretly store data about human rights violation abuses in the country where they are located. There is talk about it already being used in the Middle-East recently. The software includes a 'panic button' that a human rights worker could use that would instantly delete all the files on the computer about government violations. The data is then stored in the cloud and accessable only with a password and secret 'key.' This is a great example of nonprofits working together to fight enormous challenges, with human rights being one of the most dangerous and exhaustive areas of work in the non-profit sector.

This open-source application maps the information that your iPhone is recording about your movements. It doesn't record anything itself, it only displays files that are already hidden on your computer.

See photo at top left of article showcasing one of their high-tech, computer laden facilities on display for this article "What are the most significant security threats? What do we know about them? What don't we know? What is just around the corner that we should be preparing for now? These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves every day. It's part of our intelligence-driven, threat-based, future-focused approach to defending the country from a range of national security and major crime threats. Today, the FBI combines its investigations and intelligence operations to be more predictive and preventative-more aware of emerging threats and better able to stop them before they turn into crimes. "

Open APIs (application programming interfaces) are VERY important to look for when considering cloud-based solutions. Think about the implications for nonprofits selecting an online solution... would you want one with an API or not? (BTW... take a look at the APIs for both Google Apps online and Microsoft Office365 online. Let me know what you find.)

This is the video I showed during the 1/31 class re: APIs. (Cards vs. Candyland)

National Unplugging day is where people put away their phones, computers and any kind of social networking devices for one day. The day was very successful and people liked it because it helped them reconnect with each other because it forced them to communicate one on one. Ironically, they are going to develop an app to get the word out about National Unplugging Day.

For a multi-platform cloud solution, SpiderOak seems like an interesting way to approach cloud computing for a small NPO or at home. The process seems pretty similar to Dropbox, although, the lack of Android support seems to be a major hole in their operation.

Article about government review of potentially costly It projects and there chance for success.

We all know that new technology is the phenomena of economic sucession. in this article, it talked about how new technology incremental of the grouwth rate especially in U.S.A. for example Apple Computers and DEC, Hewlett- Packard.

It,s important to releazie the sitaution in which we were few before technology arrived. A decade ago, access to technology was limited and wiring schools was one of the nation's highest education priorities. Ten years of substantial investments have vastly improved this picture. therefore, this article has discusses the importance of technology in significan ways. According to the Secretary's Fourth Annual Report on Teacher Quality, virtually every school with access to computers has Internet access (99%), compared to only 35 percent of schools in 1994, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

""There's way too much made of a couple of acquisitions to make our market seem uncompetitive," said Gene Austin, CEO of Convio in Austin, Texas. "We are all competing in a very healthy way, in a way that fosters innovation and better things for the clients," he said. He pointed to as examples Kintera and Blackbaud, as well as other "small yet emerging organizations that will also bring innovation and competition to the marketplace."

Consolidation in the sector will continue to some degree as the firms move toward Software as a Service (SaaS). Major mergers will dictate the direction of cloud computing...

A new commission on the leadership opportunity in US deployment of the cloud is going to provide the Obama administration with reccomendations of how to deploy the cloud better.