5 Cool Things You Missed At the Softlayer Cloud Computing Workshop

Softlayer recently concluded their Asia-pacific tour, and in case you missed it was every bit worth it.

Softlayer just finished its Asia Pacific leg of its workshop educating attendees about the unique cloud solutions the company offers. Needless to say that the workshop kind-off strengthened the already well-established fact that Cloud is the future of all technology. But for startups this future is hard to come by as adopting the cloud is no straightforward task. The basic intention behind the Softlayer workshop was to acquaint startups to the cloud, and basically bring them to a level of ease.

Here are the Five coolest things you may have missed by not being at the workshops:

1. Bare Metal Servers

As snazzy as it sounds, it actually is. Softlayer’s use of bare metal servers to run networks that are not only faster, but require low levels of storage and maintenance as compared to other physical servers. Attendees at the workshop were acquainted with this new physical technology that helps Softlayer deliver better performance and speed.

2. Access

Perhaps the most engaging part of the workshop was where the attendees were taught how to make their own cloud networks, work with APIs. This section was especially a big hit with people attending the workshops.

3. Interaction

The interaction section was organized to bring businesses closer to each other. To get acquainted with what everyone else was doing, the problems they face and measures that are employed to take care of these problems was one of the highlights too.

4. History

Not everything was about the future. Softlayer also laid emphasis on the history of Cloud and helped attendees learn about the genesis of a global player that is now everywhere.

5. It was Free

Yes, it was absolutely free. All that knowledge, interaction and information - even the snacks were free. One just couldn’t leave empty handed.

5 Unexpected Ways Tech Has Changed Your Life

Technology has practically changed every aspect of our life. Our lives will never be the same again. The world has turned upside down in a very short span of time. Can you imagine your life without the Internet? You cannot! Read on to learn about the 5 unexpected ways technology changed your life.

The technological changes of the last two decades have practically changed the way humans used to live. Some of these changes have silently crept into our lives and become so essential that we can’t do without them now.

Let’s read about 5 such changes!

1. Banking

Not too long ago, banking meant standing in long queue and spending half a day in a simple task like depositing a cheque. Today, most people use online banking facility to pay bills and to perform numerous transactions. So advanced is the technology that a consumer can also apply for a home loan from the comfort of his couch.

2. Level of Communication                     

Who would have thought back in 1999 that there will be a day when we would be able to take pictures, play games, stream movies and also shop from a telephonic device? The landline phones have almost become obsolete and smartphones are offering all the freedom in the world to their customers. Video chatting has become as common as replying to emails while in the tube.

3. Use of Google

The dictionaries and encyclopedias have been given compulsory retirement thanks to Google. So dependent are we on this search engine today that we cannot imagine a world without Gmail, Picassa, Blogger and Drive.

4. Virtual Shopping

And we are just not talking about eBay and Amazon here. The consumer today can buy practically anything under the sky by clicking few buttons on his PC. From planning a trip to buying antivirus software, it is all possible in your pajamas.

5. The Phenomenon of Social Networking

Social networking can be easily called the most titillating phenomenon of this decade. Facebook and twitter have redefined the way people connect with other people. The definition of relationships on line and offline have been redefined.

Chinese investors look to Singapore after USA, a study by EIU finds

Singapore, according to a recent study, has become the second-most attractive destination for investors from China. In first place, the United States still holds its own, but Singapore is fast catching up.

As per the study Singapore notched up a score of 54.6 out of 100 as compared to the States’ 57.5. The study was conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which placed Hong Kong in third with a score of 50.2. A total of 67 economies were evaluated based on their worth for investors from China.

The top three are unchanged from the survey last year, as they are developed economies favored by investors. The ratings take into account the market capitalization, the operational hassle, and the probability to expand etc to arrive at a consensus for investing locales. Singapore and Hong Kong feature so high in the list mainly because of their openness to foreign investment.

According to the EIU Singapore has managed to trump Hong Kong to second place as it provides a diversified platform, while Hong Kong is restricted to a few sectors alone. It is therefore understandable that Singapore has the capacity to attract more investors as compared Hong Kong. For Singapore, the Chinese investment total has gone up to a whopping US$2 billion from the paltry US$20 million in 2005.

Japan has meanwhile, slipped to a lowly rank of 6^th despite being the closest neighbour. According to the EIU, the reason for this is years of deflating economy and no impressive economic growth to show. Chinese investors have therefore chosen to look further than many would expect them to. The States lead the list as normal with US$3.9 billion worth of investment from their Chinese counterparts. One of the main reasons behind this, as the EIU puts it, is the vast natural resource inventory that the US provides and the level intellectual property they can serve up.

The study also predicted, that by 2017, China’s outbound investment activities will easily overtake the incoming investment drive and make China a net investor in the global market.