Friday, December 5, 2008

Actual Pictures of my CherryPal




A blog reader requested pictures of my CherryPal and here they are, taken with my phone.

You can see the black box it arrived in that has the picture of it on the outside, a close up of the CherryPal sitting on the box, hooked to the monitor and power supply, and the CherryPal sitting on the keyboard so you can see the comparative size of it.

Took my CheryPal out to a cafe!

So I thought it would be interesting to see just how portable this device is. Yes, it is tiny and hand held, but that's before you add the monitor, keyboard and mouse peripherals.

So I loaded everything into my black HBO duffle bag. The keyboard is weightless and it would have fit into a messenger bag if not for the fact that my flat screen monitor is of the desktop variety, and not the smallest, slimmest available.

Cafe Roma is in UC Berkeley territory, and there is a back room where people can sit for hours working, studying, reading, without being disturbed. I have been there for live performances in this back room as well.

So I chose a table next to the wall where there was a 3 prong outlet, necessary for my monitor. Of course the CherryPal requires electricity, but only a 2 prong. (Note to self- place a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter in my bag for future CherryPal outings.)

I felt like a magician pulling out my bag of tricks, wires and peripherals in front of an audience. It is funny that the CherryPal itself is so non-intrusive. I was pleased that I had both a full size keyboard and monitor for much more comfort.

Some places provide the monitor for hooking up your laptop - and so now I have a new opportunity to explore conducive CherryPal locations outside my office.

I did explore the word processing program briefly. I plan to blog directly on location from my CherryPal for future posts!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Received my Username and Password!

Ok - just to manage some expectations here:

There is no huge organization behind the CherryPal from my direct experience.

Max Seybold is answering emails personally and recently said:

"At the Brand Angel party July 3rd I clearly stated that the success of CherryPal's design principles (building the same product, though, lower energy consumption and much cheaper) is much more important to me than the success of CherryPal (the company) itself. Don't get me wrong, I am fully commited to making CherryPal successful.

CherryPal evolved from a project to a company just recently. We are not a multi-billion dollar company. We don't have budget nor desire to put any spin on what's going on. It is what it is."

So, it goes that I received my username and password,
and my 2 colleagues and I are working to get the keyboard, mouse and CherryPal all communicating...

We plug in the username, the password, and a desktop comes up that has icons for
Home, Trash and File System.

:)

Plugged in My CherryPal, and...GNOME?

So I immediately plugged in my CherryPal to the electricity and plugged in my waiting monitor.

On the screen, the CherryPal logo appeared!!!!
Yeah, I'm in now, finally, after all these months -
then I saw a small box appear that said

"GNOME Desktop Manager"

across the top, in a gold color, with the following horizontal menu underneath:

"Session / Language / Actions / Sun, Jan 13 4:21 AM"

(followed by:)
Welcome
_____________________
Username

and box to fill in a username followed by:

Please enter your user name."

I thought that this related to the monitor as it has been around for about 7 years and originally belonged to an HP sys admin who may have swiped it before selling it to me...

So, I went out to Radio Shack with the intention of purchasing a PS/2 Female to USB-A Port Adapter to plug in my keyboard to one of the USB ports. I thought I would need two of them or else a USB mouse, and decided to purchase a cordless keyboard and mouse for $29.00 (Logitech Cordless Desktop EX100).

I put batteries into keyboard and mouse (included in box), plugged in my CherryPal (there is no on or off switch), and voila! CherryPall logo appears on screen and a connection bar (much like sending an email via cell phone) appears - then,

GNOME Desktop Manager...

WTF!

Max had said that there should have been a one page start up sheet included in the box. I did not get anything other than a small tshirt (thank you!) in the box with the cardboard packaging and the foam pocket on the CherryPal unit.

More to come...

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

CherryPal At My Front Door!!!!

It arrived!  

In a small, black cardboard box with a picture of the CherryPal on the outside.
I'm openning it - It is soooo tiny - like a compact make-up case.

It is even smaller than a paperback book - its the size of a handheld Nintendo GameBoy - the original ones - about the size of the Nintendo DS (dual screen).  If you take a standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch  peice of printer paper and fold it in half, it is smaller than that.

I've plugged in my monitor, which goes directly into the back.  I went to plug in my keyboard, but found I need a USB connector to plug it into the CherryPal...there are 2 USB ports available - which means one for the keyboard and one for the mouse.  It only came with a cord to plug it into the wall.  I'll also need a phone connection, as there is a port for a phone jack.

There is no literature, no user manual, no directions, NADA...

I thought I was prepared with everything I needed, but guess its off to Radio Shack for my USB connector for the keyboard and mouse.

More to come in the new adventures of plugging in my CherryPal!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Announcing Cherrypal C114 - 8GB local FLASH storage






CherryPal™ replaced the C100 with the 8GB SSD C114

- still the same price!!!

CherryPal™ C114
The CherryPal™ C114 desktop is about the size of a paperback book, but has the performance you would expect from a full-size desktop computer. Freescale's fast triple-core mobileGT processor delivers exceptional multimedia performance and feature-rich user interfaces, while only consuming as much power as a clock radio. CherryPal uses 80 percent fewer components than a traditional PC, and because it has no moving parts, it operates without making a sound and will last 10 years or more.

Specifications:

-Freescale’s MPC5121e mobileGT processor, 800 MIPS (400 MHz)
of processing
-256 MB of DDR2 DRAM
-8GB NAND Flash-based solid state drive (increased from 4GB
C100)

-WiFi 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
-Two USB2.0 ports
-One 10/100 Ethernet with RJ-45 jack
-One VGA DB-15
display out jack
-Headphone level stereo audio out 3.5mm jack
-9vDC 2.5mm 10 watt AC-DC adapt
er power supply
-Weighs 10 ounces
-1.3” high, 5.8” x 4.2” wide


"The first CherryPals will get shipped on US election day, November 4th, guaranteed. We were able to upgrade the C100 to the
C114 for the same low price. We increased the local Solid State Disk Drive from 4GB to 8GB and slightly changed the casing, lighter and slimmer, very cool. I am sure you will like it. So, the store is open again with guaranteed shipment 11/4/2008, guaranteed."

1. Order directly at http://cherrypal.com/SHOP.html:
for $249.00 plus shipping. Shipping begins on November 4, 2008.

2. For $10 off, use the coupon code CPP206:
You will be asked to enter the coupon CODE at the Google Checkout site. ENTER CPP206
YOU MUST ENTER THE CODE CPP206 IN ORDER TO GET TEN (10) DOLLARS OFF!
You will be notified when your new CherryPal has shipped.

3. Please come back to http://cherrypal.blogspot.com to share your comments about your experience of purchasing, receiving, using and being a CherryPal!

CherryPal will start shipping the C114 (read that as C-eleven-four) on US Election Day, Tuesday November 4th, 2008. We all hope this day will change the world for the better.

All open and future orders will get an automatic upgrade
to the C114 - same low price of $249.00 but with 8GB
(C100 4
GM) local FLASH storage.
Use Code CPP 206 for $10 off


CherryPal will start shipping the C114 (read eleven, four) on US
Election Day, Tuesday November 4th, 2008.
CherryPal is accepting orders again, shipment on 11/4 guaranteed!!!
We all hope this day will change the world for the better.

CherryPal thanks you for your interest in green/open/fair personal
cloud computing.

For international buyers: The C114 comes with US power
adaptor
110V to 240V.








From cherrypal.com:
CherryPal HyperCloud™ Technology

CherryPal is the only company that provides a patent-
pending combination of both hardware and software
encryption, making it highly secure. The CherryPal also
offers a patent-pending single software layer technology.
This collapses the operating system and browser into
one layer, where there had traditionally been three
separate layers. It makes the computer exponentially
faster and virtually eliminates any risk of bugs or viruses
for the user.


Why being in a "CLOUD" is a good thing...

The CherryPalCloud™ Innovation

CherryPal has removed the hassle from personal
computing by moving most of the software and data that
traditionally sits on the desktop to the Internet. Instead of
accessing programs and data from your desktop
computer, the majority of information is processed and
stored on the web in a highly secure environment called
the CherryPalCloud™, which is automatically accessed
at boot-up. The CherryPalCloud removes many of the
headaches typically associated with traditional personal
computers, including:

* application downloads, software upgrades and
crashing operating systems, because everything is
maintained in the CherryPalCloud by CherryPal
administrators

* viruses and hackers, because the user’s hardware
is no longer exposed to local bugs and viruses

* lag time, because the majority of cumbersome
software applications are stored in the CherryPalCloud,
the computer operates just as fast – if not faster – than a
traditional PC.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Portable TVs To Be Left Behind in Signal Switch




By David Lieberman
 



October 10, 2008 7:16AM 


Many electronics manufacturers find themselves waiting to reach an agreement with broadcasters on a technology standard for a new generation of energy-efficient mobile televisions that could work in cell phones, iPod-like portable players and PDAs. Broadcasters would then transmit a separate signal to these devices. 

In an era of dazzling battery-powered portable devices including iPods, computers and cellphones, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to be unable to catch the news and entertainment anytime and anywhere we want. But millions of people who own portable televisions, including those who depend on them when they flee their homes or lose power during hurricanes and other emergencies, may soon return to the dark ages. Virtually all of the nation’s 7 million battery-powered TVs receive analog signals. They’ll become useless after Feb. 17, when broadcasters must abandon analog and just transmit digital signals — unless the sets are connected to digital-to-analog converter boxes. 

The problem is, the vast majority of converters must be plugged into the wall. That makes them unreliable in an emergency. 

“Unfortunately, a lot of well-intentioned policymakers found out after the ink was dry that there were more (portable) devices and households affected” than they imagined, says Richard Doherty of The Envisioneering Group, a research and consulting firm. 

That’s a “great irony” in the federally mandated move to digital TV, says Shannon Dunham, a communications specialist at law firm Sherman & Howard. Although the government “intended to reclaim the (analog) bandwidth for emergency use” — including police, fire and medical communications– “in the end, they’re going to affect people who get emergency information” from portable TVs. Radios equipped to pick up audio from local TV broadcasts also will lose those analog signals. The Red Cross says that it’s not worried. 

“More people tend to listen to radio (stations) than watch TV in a disaster,” spokesman Jonathan Aiken says. Looking for Local News But many local disaster officials are apprehensive about the loss of portable TV at a time when lots of chain-owned radio stations have cut back on local news. “It is absolutely a concern of ours,” says Veronica Mosgrove, a spokeswoman for…

View original post here:
Portable TVs To Be Left Behind in Signal Switch

http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=62376

© 2008 USA TODAY. All rights reserved.
© 2008 Mobile Tech Today. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Samsung Korea shows off two new green PCs






High on a Hill

Eco-friendly technology for Asia

by Hillary Chan, Malaysia

Oct 8, 2008 02:11




















I think it is unfair that when green tech gadgets get reviewed, the reviewer will inevitably emphasize how low the specs of the machine are and give it lower points or star ratings because of that, without giving it additional brownie points for being green. I guess gadget makers will just need to work harder to bring us greener yet more powerful machines, while consumers keep pounding their doors to keep demanding them to be made. The latest to launch green PCs is Samsung Korea, which showcased the MV100 Tower and MZ100 Slim Tower only a few days ago.

Samsung's new machines consume only 60W when used in power-saving mode and that's pretty amazing even though it is not the lowest in the market. I don't know the exact specs for these Samsung PCs, so I can't compare.But the CPU casings are black and mean-looking, which mean I assume it is more powerful than any on the EarthFirst chart.

The lowest energy sipper is still the CherryPal which my colleague wrote about here. It uses CherryPalCloud which helps you save information on the Internet, so you will never need that much harddisk space anyway. So which green PC (on the chart and off) appeals to you most?

http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/high-on-a-hill/post.htm?id=63006747&scid=hm_bl
Copyright © 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Union Square's Albert Wenger offers crash course on cloud computing













[Posted on October 3, 2008 - 6:47 PM]
-- Mary Kathleen Flynn


The profile of so-called "cloud computing" has been rising rapidly over the last week or so. First, Oracle Corp. Larry Ellison mocked it as "gibberish," then Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman called it "stupidity," citing privacy concerns. Meanwhile Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer told a London audience Wednesday that the software giant will soon release "Windows Cloud."

Amid the controversy, I figured it was a good week to get a tutorial on cloud computing, and fortunately Union Square Ventures partner Albert Wenger (pictured) was kind enough to give me one. At Tim O'Reilly's Web 2.0 Expo in New York last month, Wenger gave a presentation on cloud computing, which he walked me through Thursday at Union Square's office.

One of the tricky things about trying to understand cloud computing is that there is no concensus on a definition. If you try to look up the term on Wikipedia or through Google searches, as I did, you'll find yourself more confused at the end of the exercise than you were going into it.

Thankfully, Wenger begins his presentation with a definition, albeit a multi-part one. He says there are four key characteristics of true cloud computing:

1. Cloud computing is independent of machines (either real machines or virtual ones), giving applications developed for it the ability to run on any hardware.

2. It requires little if any configuring.

3. The same code scales from hundreds of users to hundreds of thousands of users so developers do not need to rewrite their programs as they grow their companies.

4. It enables easy integration and delivery of Web services at scale.

"When the cloud is fully realized, developers will no longer have to worry about provisioning and monitoring machines, whether virtual or real, or whether they will be able to handle a 1000-fold increase in load on their service," Wenger explains. "A single individual will be able to create a site or service that can affect the lives of many millions or even billions of people."

Wenger says cloud computing will "fundamentally transform how software and services on the Web are created."

Putting his money where his mouth is, Wenger leads Union Square's $1.5 million investment in 10gen, which is developing a cloud computing environment. The majority of 10gen is owned by AlleyCorp, the New York incubator of former DoubleClick Inc. executives Kevin Ryan and Dwight Merriman.

Wenger, who advocates "regulation by transparency" instead of standards, says Stallman is right to raise privacy and other control issues about proprietary cloud computing environments, such as Google App Engine, Amazon Web Services and Salesforce.com Inc.'s Force.com.

10gen's approach is to develop an open-source cloud computing environment. "What MySQL did for databases, 10gen will do for cloud computing," predicts Wenger.

See Albert Wenger's Continuations blog
See Sept. 29 post on cloud computing from Tech Confidential


http://www.thedeal.com/techconfidential/behind-the-money/blog/behind-the-money/the-profile-of-socalled-cloud.php

©Copyright 2008, The Deal, LLC. All rights reserved.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Stallman not the only Cloud Critic


What Does 'Cloud Computing' Mean, Exactly?

A lot of people aren't sure, but one thing is for certain: Dislike for the phrase has brought together some strange bedfellows.

October 1, 2008
By Andy Patrizio
http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3775346/What+Does+Cloud+Computing+Mean+Exactly.htm

With so much talk about "cloud computing," it's easy to feel lost in the clouds. If you either don't understand the term, or don't see a reason for it, you're in good company.

Take Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, for one. During his recent Churchill Club appearance, Ballmer dismissed the uniqueness of the concept by saying, "When people talk about cloud computing, they're talking just about taking some stuff, putting it outside the firewall, and perhaps putting it on servers that are also shared or storage systems."

Oracle's always-quotable CEO Larry Ellison went one better, according the Wall Street Journal. Ellison declared during a recent analyst conference, "The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?"

According to Gartner, you can blame hardware and software vendors for the confusion -- and the apparent outrage it's spawning. David Smith, a vice president and research fellow at the analyst firm, said he agreed that "cloud computing" represents another take on well-worn concepts, brought about as vendors slap the latest buzzword on their products if they think it will help them sell.

Full story at InternetNews

Copyright 2008 Jupitermedia Corporation All Rights Reserved.

Gartner Says Contrasting Cloud Views Creating Confusion








STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 29 -- The term "cloud computing" is being loosely applied and defined differently, and it's creating a lot of confusion in the market, according to Gartner, Inc. Analysts say it is imperative to understand these different perspectives and set the proper expectations to obtain the anticipated benefits.

Gartner defines cloud computing as a style of computing in which massively scalable IT-related capabilities are provided "as a service" using Internet technologies to multiple external customers. However, there have been different perceptions of what is included in cloud computing.

"The term cloud computing has come to mean two very different things: a broader use that focuses on 'cloud,' and a more-focused use on system infrastructure and virtualization," said David Mitchell Smith, vice president and Gartner Fellow. "Mixing the discussion of 'cloud-enabling technologies' with 'cloud computing services' creates confusion."

The two prevalent views of cloud computing are as follows:

  • The cloud is an idea that derives from the perspective of the Internet/Web/software as a service (SaaS). The focus is more on cloud than computing with the emphasis placed on access to services from elsewhere (that is, from the cloud). This cloud is a global-class phenomenon and a high-level concept that can refer to a range of services extending from system infrastructure (for example, compute services and storage services) through applications (for example, CRM) and business processes (for example, payroll services). Gartner's definition is along these lines, with the off-premises nature of cloud services being the point of reference, and applicability to intraenterprise use as a secondary effect.



  • The second popular interpretation is a use of technologies, including virtualization and automation, that focuses more on the computing than on the cloud aspect, with emphasis placed on the technologies that enable the creation and delivery of service-based capabilities. This perspective is an extension of traditional data center approaches and can be applied to entirely internal enterprise systems with no use of external off-premises capabilities provided by a third party.

"Although these perspectives are different, there is a connection between them. Any provider of cloud computing services must have an environment that includes an infrastructure to support their delivery. Virtualization often is used to implement this underlying infrastructure to support delivery of the cloud computing services," Smith said. "Cloud system infrastructure services are a subset of cloud computing, but not the entire picture."

Gartner recommends that users clearly separate the consideration of cloud computing and cloud computing services from the use of cloud computing-related concepts and technologies for the creation of internal systems. Both perspectives (services and technologies) are valuable and should be pursued; however, they are two separate but related initiatives.

Gartner analysts will provide additional analysis on cloud computing during the upcoming Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2008, taking place Oct. 12-16 in Orlando, Fla. Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the IT industry's largest and most strategic conference, providing business leaders with a look at the future of IT. More than 6,000 senior business and IT strategists will gather for the insights, tools and solutions they need to ensure their IT initiatives are key contributors to and drivers of their enterprise's success. Gartner's annual Symposium/ITxpo events are key components of attendees' annual planning efforts. They rely on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to address business challenges and improve operational efficiency. Additional information is available at www.gartner.com/symposium/us.

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    Copyright © 1994-2008 Tabor Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
  • Wednesday, October 1, 2008

    Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallman














    Richard Stallman on cloud computing: "It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign." Photograph: www.stallman.org


    Web-based programs like Google's Gmail will force people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that will cost more and more over time, according to the free software campaigner


    The concept of using web-based programs like Google's Gmail is "worse than stupidity", according to a leading advocate of free software.

    Cloud computing – where IT power is delivered over the internet as you need it, rather than drawn from a desktop computer – has gained currency in recent years. Large internet and technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Amazon are pushing forward their plans to deliver information and software over the net.

    But Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the computer operating system GNU, said that cloud computing was simply a trap aimed at forcing more people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that would cost them more and more over time.

    "It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign," he told The Guardian.

    "Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true."

    The 55-year-old New Yorker said that computer users should be keen to keep their information in their own hands, rather than hand it over to a third party.

    His comments echo those made last week by Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, who criticised the rash of cloud computing announcements as "fashion-driven" and "complete gibberish".

    "The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do," he said. "The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?"

    The growing number of people storing information on internet-accessible servers rather than on their own machines, has become a core part of the rise of Web 2.0 applications. Millions of people now upload personal data such as emails, photographs and, increasingly, their work, to sites owned by companies such as Google.

    Computer manufacturer Dell recently even tried to trademark the term "cloud computing", although its application was refused.

    But there has been growing concern that mainstream adoption of cloud computing could present a mixture of privacy and ownership issues, with users potentially being locked out of their own files.

    Stallman, who is a staunch privacy advocate, advised users to stay local and stick with their own computers.

    "One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control," he said. "It's just as bad as using a proprietary program. Do your own computing on your own computer with your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary program or somebody else's web server, you're defenceless. You're putty in the hands of whoever developed that software."

    guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

    Thursday, September 25, 2008

    Black’s the colour to help save energy, says Andrew






    22/ 9/2008
    A 13-YEAR-OLD boy has set up a search engine website that can help people save energy.

    Andrew Davey, who lives in Knaphill, got the idea after reading a blog by Mark Ontkush, a green computing specialist based in Boston, USA.

    Mr Ontkush had calculated that an all-white web page used 74 watts of electricity to display, whereas an all-black screen uses only 59.

    He said that on a website such as Google, which deals with approximately 200 million queries per day, the change from a white screen to a black one would save 15 watts each time it was displayed. That would add up to a significant amount of energy saved per day.

    Andrew said: “After reading the article I thought it was quite amazing that it hasn’t been done already. It’s so simple but very effective.”

    The youngster set up his own energy-saving black web page alternative to Google called ecosmartsearch, which took him about a week to do.

    He said: “It works with the Google search engine and gets the same results as Google. I’ve always been good at computers and I turned my talents to website design, not something easy at all.

    “My friends really like it. I’m just trying to get them out of the habit of using Google. I showed a couple of teachers and they think it’s really good. They are really impressed and have started to use it.”

    Andrew had previously made a website for his dad’s medal business.

    He said: “I wanted to make my own website in which I could gain some income and become better at website design. I decided to put the writing into green to associate it with energy-saving.

    “I also wrote: ‘We are saving energy, now it’s your turn,’ on the home page, hoping that people will think about that light they left on and go and turn things off.

    “I have a couple of ideas to make things that save energy. I would like to be an entrepreneur and have my own web design company.”

    Andrew has also been part of the green team at Woking High School.

    He said: “We were looking at energy-saving issues. I think helping the environment is a great thing to start doing. Every little helps.

    “I’m really proud of myself for what I’ve done as I don’t think many people of my age have made a proper website and got it on to the web.”

    To use Andrew’s search engine and save energy, go to www.ecosmartsearch.com.

    © S&B media 2008

    Tuesday, September 23, 2008

    Filtering Viruses Through The Cloud


    » Full Story on Forbes.com







    09.22.08, 6:00 AM ET

    To fight an epidemic of malicious code, security software vendors are heading to the data center.

    http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/09/21/virus-clouds-security-tech-security-cx_ag_0922virus.html

    Anti-virus programs are notorious for acting suspiciously like the malicious software they're meant to eradicate, hijacking your PC and choking its resources by scanning files endlessly.

    Now, security software vendors are hoping to solve that parasitic problem with the same information technology transformation meant to make all software cheaper, more efficient and less resource-intensive: the move to the "cloud."


    In the past months, cybersecurity vendors including F-Secure, McAfee (nyse: MFE -news - people ), Symantec (nasdaq:SYMC - news - people ) and Trend Micro have all released new versions of their software designed to move more of the work of identifying viruses, Trojans and other forms of "malware" off of desktop PCs and onto faraway servers connected by the Internet. Beyond lightening the load on their customers' machines by performing more analysis as a networked service, they also claim that cloud-based approach may be a more effective strategy for keeping up with the ever-faster flood of new malicious code.

    By all appearances, more desktop machines are becoming infected with malicious software than ever before. Over the past year, the number of PCs ensnared in botnets--herds of users' computers infected with malicious software that sends spam or performs click fraud--has more than quadrupled, according to cybersecurity researchers at the Shadowserver Foundation.

    One element of the problem, says Trend Micro's vice president, Carol Carpenter, is the acceleration of malware's mutation into new, as-yet-undetected strains. "Three or four years ago, we saw 50 new threats a day. Now we see 50,000 threats a day," she says. "The order of magnitude has changed dramatically."

    That means protecting users from newly discovered malware is no longer a matter of days or hours but seconds. Updating a customer's anti-virus software three times a day, as the 2008 version of Symantec's Norton software advertises, or even 10 times a day, as F-Secure boasts, is no longer enough.

    The cloud-based solution announced by Trend Micro in June and implemented earlier this month by McAfee and F-Secure is designed to cut that vulnerable period to seconds. Rather than wait for a database of newly identified malware signatures to be downloaded to a PC, the upgraded software takes a "hash"--an identifying number that doesn't reveal the file's contents--of every new application running on a machine and compares that identifier to the software vendors' continuously updated database of threats on in-house servers. If the application doesn't match anything in the vendor's database of safe files, the software issues a warning to the user and performs a closer scan of the file for suspicious characteristics.

    That communication between the PC and the database over the Internet, say researchers at F-Secure and McAfee, takes as little as 100 milliseconds. And by pulling the process off the desktop and into the cloud, it uses just a fraction of the computing resources of a traditional anti-virus scan.

    Software developers have different approaches to the cloud-based anti-malware system. F-Secure, for instance, scans every application, while McAfee uses an initial filter based on size and how hidden a file's source code is to determine whether it needs scanning in the cloud. Jon Oltsik, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, points out that Trend Micro was the first to announce the technology, but balks at picking which company's approach is most effective. "From a technology perspective, they're all pretty close," he says. "This is not a game of leapfrog. It's a change in the way we have to do things to keep up with the monumental growth in the number and sophistication of attacks."

    Security offerings in the cloud aren't strictly new. The security firm Postini, for instance, offered to scrub e-mail for spam and viruses as early as 1999, filtering e-mail before it reached a user's computer without any software on his or her desktop. In July of 2007, the firm was purchased by Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) to be integrated into the search giant's software-as-a-service applications.

    In fact, none of the major software vendors implementing malware-detection in the cloud are offering "cloud computing" in that pure form: Each application still involves installing software on the desktop to more easily scan a client's machine and also to detect threats that come from sources other than the Internet, such as a USB drive.

    Still, that incomplete move to the cloud holds the potential to act as a kind of collective intelligence, says Oltsik. A software vendor like Symantec, for instance, asks its users to opt in to what it calls the Norton Insight system, which currently assembles data from 17 million customers and uses it to better understand when a new strain of malicious code has appeared. Security researchers liken that approach to a "neighborhood watch" strategy.

    Even so, cybersecurity isn't likely to overtake the extraordinary evolution of malware, says Rich Mogull, a security consultant and blogger. Even with malware detection performed over the Internet and piped out at faster speeds than ever before to client computers, no company offers anything beyond "signature-based" filtering, or filtering by characteristics in the program's code, says Mogull. In other words, new malicious files can only be detected after they've been found elsewhere in a company's anti-malware network.

    Because malware will appear in forms that even a company's Internet-hosted database doesn't recognize, outbreaks will still occur even among "protected" computers, he says. Given that some cybercriminals are now writing custom malware targeted at single organizations, that's not enough, he says. "No matter how fast we react in this cloud-based scenario, it's still reactive," he says.

    But the next generations of anti-malware software may go beyond signature-based detection. Researchers have been working for years on "behavior-based" malware detection, watching what applications do rather than looking at their characteristics to determine their intent.

    Symantec's vice president of research and technology, Carey Nachenberg, says its software, possibly in the next year, will try a "reputation-based" approach. He declines to share details of the new strategy but says that one simple element of reputation is simply how many times an application has been seen before--newer, unique applications will be automatically less trusted than common, tested ones. He says the system is closer to Google's Web page ranking algorithm than traditional anti-virus programs.

    "Right now, our fingerprinting is faster than ever before," Nachenberg says. "But in the future, the fingerprints disappear completely."

    http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/09/21/virus-clouds-security-tech-security-cx_ag_0922virus.html

    2008 Forbes.com LLC™ All Rights Reserved

    Sunday, September 21, 2008

    CherryPal Delivery Update


    Good News From CherryPal Center: 

    "The CherryPals had gone back to the manufacturer to fix a firmware issue. We were surprised ourselves about the software issues.  The delay was caused by a software bug in the graphics core of the processor. We started a joint project with Freescale and got the graphics core issue resolved. It is fixed now. We are doing final testing right now.

    "We expect to start shipping the C100 in early October."

    Here at CherryPal for Everyone we have been very patient waiting, hoping, and learning about cloud computing, green computing, and the competitive space.  Stay tuned to http://cherrypal.blogspot.com to get first tastes!

    Wednesday, September 17, 2008

    Everything’s Gone Green

    INFOCHAT
    The Information Center of the I.T. Industry


    http://infochat.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/everythings-gone-green/

    Everything’s Gone Green
    Posted by Admin on September 16, 2008

    Users Are Confused About the Issues and Solutions Surrounding Green IT - Gartner
    by: Jerry Liao

    Nowadays, most computer companies are talking about virtualization, VoIP, cloud computing, mobility, SaaS, and Green I.T. But it seems the industry made a mistake as somewhere in terms of explaining to users what these technologies is all about. Particularly, Green Computing. What is it really? In general, green computing relates to the use of computing resources in conjunction with minimizing environmental impact, maximizing economic viability and ensuring social duties. But how many I.T. users actually understand what green computing is all about?

    As pointed out in a recent study by Gartner Inc, IT users are unsure of the implications of green IT and where to invest their technology budgets. Gartner analyst said this confusion will continue for some years to come in what is a rapidly changing segment of the industry.“The IT industry is saturated with green IT talk,” said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner. “Conferences, presentations and consultants are springing up to provide guidance and advice on a range of issues that are being codified under the generic term of green IT. Unfortunately, with so much hype, users are left with a sense of confusion about where and when they should invest their time and money.”

    There is a great deal of uncertainty about which green technologies and products are actually available today and which may become available in the future. The future “productization” of technologies will not just depend on the maturity of the design but also on the prevailing market conditions and the possibility of future legislation.

    However, Gartner research shows that the spectrum of green technologies, services and legislation that users need to focus on can be broken down into short-term (immediate), midterm and long-term activities. The immediate issues affect the next 24 months and need to yield a quick return on investment while the midterm category covers the next five years. The long-term category covers products and activities that are, by nature, rather esoteric and may never become mainstream.

    Immediate Green IT Issues for Users to Focus OnImmediate Green IT issues center around power, cooling and floor space problems in data centers and office environments. With this in mind, Gartner has identified eight important areas for users to focus on during the next 24 months:

    - Modern data center facilities’ design concepts
    - Advanced cooling technologies
    - Use of modeling and monitoring software
    - Virtualization technologies for server consolidation
    - Processor design and server efficiency
    - Energy management for the office environment
    - Integrated energy management for the software environment
    - Combined heat and power

    Midterm Green IT Issues for Users to Focus OnDuring the next two to five years, many green technologies will mature and become important to IT groups looking to develop greener IT organizations. However, much of the planning and assessing of the appropriateness and cost of using these new products needs to be examined earlier and in the context of an overall IT strategy. This is especially the case where government legislation (affecting building design, for example) may come into force. Gartner highlights eight areas in this category:

    -Green IT procurement
    -Green asset life cycle programs
    -Environmental labeling of servers and other devices
    -Videoconferencing
    -Changing people’s behaviors
    -Green accounting in IT
    -Green legislation in data centers
    -Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and IT programs

    Long-Term Green IT Issues for Users to Focus OnThere are many green IT technologies, services and projects that will span the next five to 20 years. Much of the industry hype (or “greenwash”) sits in this area and is causing confusion for users. They are unclear about whether carbon-trading programs will become the norm, or whether it will be possible to recycle energy from data centers in a simple and cost-effective way. Gartner has identified the following seven areas to focus on:

    -Carbon offsetting and carbon trading
    -Data center heat recycling
    -Alternative energy sources
    -Software efficiency
    -Green building design
    -Green legislation
    -Green chargeback

    I am just wondering if the I.T. companies themselves understand what green computing is all about. There are some vendors who would sell products and/or solutions to consumers without knowing what the product is all about and how it would benefit their clients. For the nth time, vendors should realize that the word marketing is not just about selling, its about establishing relationship / partnership with your clients. Earn their trust and be sincere, and you don’t have to do any selling anymore.

    Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
    My Plan for Continual Learning about Technologies
    Have you tried turning it off, and on again.
    Global Green USA

    This entry was posted on September 16, 2008 at 8:48 pm and is filed under Digital Citizens. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    About CherryPal for Everyone (CP4Every1 or CPFE)

    CP4Every1 is constantly crawling the web (on human hands and knees) to find unique information of value regarding green technology, cheap and reliable connectivity, personal, portable and sustainable industry developments, future and social/cultural transformative technology, political relevance and news that is NOT just another re-posting of the same press release pushed out by the industry.

    Please note that all copyrights and links to original material are provided and respected. NO robots were used to post content.

    Your comments are invited.


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