Alan Williamson

Alan Williamson's Blog Cloud computing is real. Cloud computing is changing how we in the software world work. But it is not everything to everyone and it is definitely not the second coming that will change how we all interact on the Internet. While I respect Stephen Fry hugely, I find myself a little disappointed that he has jumped onto marketing hype and taken his legion of followers off on the wrong direction. I expected more. The computer industry's history is littered with dead buzzwords and over hyped technology. Sometimes we don't even bother defining exactly a given buzzword. Take Web2.0 for example, it is different things to different people. Besides the problem that comes from being ill defined, it always leads to a huge amount of confusion in the market place. Another classic naming blunder from the annals of history is of course the Java and JavaScript d... (more)

Is Aptana Really a Cloud?

 Alan Williamson's Blog The line between what is considered a cloud and what is paramount to hosting is a blurry line at the best of times. What qualifies a companies offering as a cloud based product offering? That is a question that is continually debated in the cloud circles and no one has really yet to offer a real concrete reason. Setting aside all the marketing buzzwords that will get thrown in "scalability" / "on-demand" / "deploy", a cloud offering has to deliver on its hype. For me when words like those are thrown around I want to see: Scalability The ability to start u... (more)

Exclusive Q&A with Cloud Computing CEO Michael Crandell

"We are in an ideal position to accelerate our business to continue our leadership in this rapidly advancing cloud market," says RightScale CEO Michael Crandell, in this Exclusive Q&A with the editor-in-chief of SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Journal, Alan Williamson. "We decided the timing was right to create a war chest that would take us to profitability," Crandell added. Earlier this month RightScale snagged $13M in a Series B round of venture funding. Here's the interview in full: Cloud Computing Journal: $13M is quite a chunk of change to raise in this climate. Was this about w... (more)

Pointbase Goes Micro: Small is Big

In our last issue, WBT Editorial Advisory Board member Anita Osterhaug gave readers a heads-up about mobile Java ("It's user-centric...and it's coming," [v. 1 n. 3]). In this issue it's only natural that we take a closer look at some mobile Java that's actually arrived: this month PointBase, Inc., releases PointBase Micro, a complete Java SQL database in under 50KB. In the world of wireless, where all vendors have an ax to grind - whether they're sellers of hardware or software or applications or services - it pays to cultivate a well-developed sense of skepticism. The triumph of... (more)

How to Create a Gadget for Google Desktop

Alan Williamson's Blog Have you played with Google's Desktop tool? This is basically a strip on the side of your screen that lets you house small applications, called Gadgets. The tool is available for Windows, Linux and Mac so no matter your vice there is a flavour for you. There is a wide variety of Gadgets available, ranging from the usual news tickers and clocks right through to games and even being able to vote if a girl is hot or not! Each gadget is essentially a small Javascript application that is built to a given framework that is provided to by the Google application th... (more)