SMEStorage: Save OpenOffice Files In Google Docs Online

As I pointed out in an earlier post about Microsoft’s new Office Web Apps, there is an undeniable push towards storing document data online (in the cloud). This puts traditional Office suites in a bit of a sticky situation. They do retain a superior interface for editing documents, but they lack a built-in way to share documents with others.

OpenOffice, the popular free office suite, is able to solve this problem through the extensions made available for it. One of these extensions is made by a company called SMEStorage, which specializes in “mutli-cloud data access.” SMEStorage has the ability to use Google Documents as an online document/file storage, making it easy to access OpenOffice files with multiple computers.
Setting Up SMEStorage
Before you can use SMEStorage, you will need to set it up. This take a little more effort than, say, installing a Firefox extension.
You will first need to download the MultiCloud File Manager extension from the OpenOffice.org extension repository and install it. You then must go to the SMEStorage website and register an account with them. At the SMEStorage front page, select “I Want to Use Google Docs.”

 Once you have registered, you need to open the MultiCloud File Manager extension in OpenOffice.org. There is a new set of icons in the upper left of the suite. Click on the folder icon furthest to the left.

 When you open the extension, you will be asked to enter your login information. This is the username and password that you just created when you registered on the SMEStorage website. Once you have entered that information, click OK. The extension will begin the process of trying to connect to Google Documents.

You will be presented with a second login screen once a connection is established – this is verifying your login information to Google Documents. Enter your information again and press OK. The SMEStorage extension will finish importing your Google Documents information.
Browsing and Creating Google Documents

The browser that displays your Google Documents displays as a tree. Your documents will be located under All Files –> My Google Docs files. To open a file, you simply need to double-click on it. A status window will appear while SMEStorage downloads the information, and the file will then open in OpenOffice.org.
You can edit the document as you would normally, but to save the document you must use the new save icon that was added to OpenOffice.org by the extension. It is next to the new folder icon that was used to open the SMEStorage extension initially. You will be asked if you want to encrypt on the upload or not. This can be handy if you are on an open wireless hotspot and you want to make sure the document is secure. Otherwise, it isn’t usually required.

Limitations

SMEStorage is a great way to sync up files, but it should be noted that SMEStorage isn’t perfect. SMEStorage uses Google Documents as a storage medium and only a storage medium. The files that you save into Google Documents can not be edited while in Google Documents. This is not a problem, of course, if you have OpenOffice installed on your machines, but it is a unfortunate limitation of this extension. This is apparently to due to some conflict in the way Google Documents handles documents uploaded by third party programs.
You can get around this problem by downloading a document to your computer and then uploading to back to Google Documents with the option to convert the file to the Google Documents format selected.
Conclusion
If you like to use OpenOffice.org and you want to sync files between multiple computers this is an excellent way to do it. SMEStorage provides an excellent service for OpenOffice.org users, and the extension’s integration into OpenOffice.org is smooth.
Source: http://www.cloudmedianews.com

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Office Live Workspace vs Google Docs: Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Today, Microsoft announced that the Office Live Workspace beta is publicly available for everyone to access. The site, a free web-based extension of Microsoft Office, lets you access your documents online and share your work with others. Some say that the service's launch is a direct response to Google's entry into the web office space with their Google Docs online service. If that's so, then the question now is: did Microsoft just trump Google Docs? Or does Google Docs still rule online office suites?

 Office Live Workspace: The Basics

Before we review the features in detail, let's look at an overview of what Office Live Workspace offers.

After signing up for Office Live and signing into the service (and no, you don't have to have an MSN email address to do so), you are presented with the "Documents" area where you can upload and view files and share them with others.

However, the defining feature is of this service are the "workspaces." The "My Workspaces" section is to the left of the main window. You can create a new workspace by clicking on the plus button next to "New Workspace."

You can start with a blank workspace or choose one of the workspace templates provided. These templates include things like "Class Workspace," "Event Workspace," "Household Workspace," "Job Search Workspace," and more. Loading one of these templates populates the Workspace with some sample documents. For example, the "Job Search Workspace" comes pre-loaded with documents like a resume, a cover letter, an interview schedule, interview preparation notes, etc.

Files can't be edited from within workspace, but clicking on "edit" will open them up in Microsoft Office (of course). Individual documents or entire workspaces can be shared with others. Using the provided Office plug-in allows for one-click access from the desktop software to the workspace.

The workspace doesn't offer offline collaboration - instead documents are "checked out" and "checked in," but the service does integrate with SharedView for real-time screen sharing.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Both Google Docs and Office Live Workspace are free services, but each has its own unique set of features.

Storage Space

Microsoft Office Live Workspace is limited to 500 MB of space, which equates to about 1000 Microsoft Office documents.

I found it hard to pin down Google Docs storage space. Going into the basic information section of docs.google.com, I found two sentences stating: "Each user has a combined limit of 5000 documents and presentations and 5000 images," and "Each user has a limit of 1000 spreadsheets." However, an actual quota in MB was not specified.

File Types

Google Docs is limited to the types of files their service allows you to edit online: HTML, .txt, .doc .rtf, .odt, .xls, .csv, .ods, .tsv, .tsb, .ppt, and .pps.

Office Live Workspace allows you to upload all kinds of files, not only Office document file types. So, in addition, you can upload .PDFs, pictures, or seemingly any kind of file except those on the blocked list, which are blocked to protect users as they are file types Windows sees as executable files.

File Sizes

Google Docs allows for documents of 500 K each, plus up to 2 MB per embedded image. Presentations can be 10 MB in size. Spreadsheets can be 10,000 rows, or up to 256 columns, or up to 100,000 cells, or up to 40 sheets - whichever limit is reached first. Each spreadsheet can have up to 20,000 cells with formulas.

Regardless of the file type, Office Live Workspace allows for individual files as large as 25 MB.

Sharing
Google Docs allows for sharing of a file or files by checking the checkbox next to them and clicking "share" from the menu. Those you are sharing with can be invited as "Collaborators" or "Viewers." You can add a short note along with the invitation. Documents and presentations can be shared with 200 combined viewers, but spreadsheets have no limit.

Similarly, Office Live Workspace allows you to share documents or workspaces with others and mark them as "editors" or "viewers". You can add a note along with the message. You can also check a box to allow "everyone to view this without signing in," and/or a box to "send me a copy of the sharing invitation." Below, a read-only preview of the file is displayed. Files or workspaces can be shared with up to 100 people.

Both offer address book integration for finding recipients' email addresses.

Collaboration

In Google Docs, collaborators have the ability to work on files together, in-real time. Ten people may edit and/or view a document or presentation at any given time. Fifty people can edit a spreadsheet at the same time.

Although Office Live Workspace allows for collaboration, it's not real-time, online collaboration. Instead, if one user is editing a file, another will be informed the file is "checked out." When they finish editing and save their changes the document is checked back in for other users to access.

Versioning

Both Google Docs and Office Live Workspace keep track of older versions of a file. You can use the web interface of either to roll back to a previous copy.

Batch Uploads

Google Docs allows you to browse for a file on your computer and upload it to the service, one-by-one. Documents and presentations can be emailed in, but not spreadsheets. In January, Google released a Document List Uploader tool that provides drag-and-drop uploads to the service. Third party tools like DocSyncer can automatically upload your documents from your PC to Google Docs.

Office Live Workspace also allows for Batch Upload, but if you're not using IE, you won't see the option. IE users can click on "Add Document" and they will be presented with the option to upload a single document or multiple documents.

Integration

Google Docs is the whole offering - there is no offline software to use, but if you needed to edit files with offline software, like Microsoft Office or Open Office, because you hit a wall with Google Docs' current abilities, you could do so by downloading the file to your PC.

However, since Office Live Workspace is the web-enabled aspect of Microsoft Office software, integration is key. From within the workspace, you can click "edit" to open the file with the Microsoft Office program. The service also offers an add-in that works with Office XP, 2003, or 2007. The add-in allows you to open and save documents to and from the workspace via the software's File Menu (XP, 2003) or Office menu (2007).

Direct URLs

Both Google Docs and Office Live Workspace offer direct links to allow you to bookmark your workspace or a workspace item (Microsoft) or a file (Google Docs) via a unique URL you can save or share with others.

Folders

Google Docs allows for folders and sub-folders to store your files.

Essentially, Office Live Workspace offers folders, too, if you consider that each "workspace" is basically a folder containing files you want to group together. You can name these anything you want, but sub-folders within them are not supported.

Saving/Exporting
Google Docs allows you to save files to your computer by saving them into (depending on their original format) a Microsoft Office, Open Office, HTML, txt, or even PDF format. You choose the format you want from the menu.

Office Live Workspace of course assumes you want to save the file in Microsoft Office format or whatever other format the file is already in (ex. PDF).

Mobile Access

Google Docs are available from any mobile device, but editing is not available.

Office Live Workspace doesn't provide mobile access, unless you're a member of the Live@edu program. The Live@edu program offers students and alumni 5 GB email inboxes, 5 GB of password-protected online storage space, shared calendars, blogging tools, and access to these services on a mobile phone, all at no cost to the schools or students.

Other Features

Google Docs

    You can create a form in a Google Docs spreadsheet and send it out to anyone with an email address. They can respond directly from the email message or from an automatically generated web page and their responses are automatically added to your spreadsheet.

Office Live Workspace

    Office Live Workspace offers some nice features, such as the ability to comment on files stored on the service.
    Also, an "Activities" feature keeps track of workplace activities with the new activity panel and can send you notifications when changes are made in the workspace.
    Integration with SharedView beta allows Office Live Workspace users to share screens with each other in real-time.

Conclusion

Although it's very close when it comes to basic features of the two services, each stands out in its own way. Google Docs, although limited in its capabilities, offers real-time collaboration. Office Live Workspace, on the other hand, may not have the collaboration features of Google Docs, but the workspaces feature is unique. Plus, you have the capabilities of full-featured Office software available (assuming you own it)!

So, what do you think? Is Office Live Workspace a Google Docs killer? Or just a worthy competitor? Or is Google Docs the big winner?
Source: http://www.cloudmedianews.com/2012/02/office-live-workspace-vs-google-docs.html

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Pinterest - Social Network for Among Women

Pinterest now drives more referral traffic (3.6%) than YouTube (1.05%), Google+ (0.22%), and LinkedIn (0.2%) combined, according to Shareaholic’s January 2012 Referral Traffic Report. Pinterest grew 44% from 2.5% of referral traffic in December 2011, after owning just 0.17% of the traffic in July 2011. Facebook remained the top referral source, growing 3% month-over-month from 25.6% to 26.4%. StumbleUpon also maintained its second ranking, though it dropped 22% from 6.5% to 5.07%.

According to a recent study conducted by Sharaholic, Pinterest drove more referral traffic to sites in January than Google+, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn and MySpace all combined. In addition, it’s threatening to unseat Twitter, Google news, Google images, Gmail and Stumble Upon in the coming months to slide into the number two spot behind Facebook. Since July 2011, referral traffic from Pinterest has grown from 0.17 percent to 3.6 percent in January 2012. While Facebook holds the top spot at over 25 percent of all referral traffic, the rate of growth from Pinterest is astounding for a social network that’s so young.

pinterest computerWhile Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen believes that Google+ has recently reached over 100 million users, Google’s social network isn’t driving people to other sites on the Web according to Sharaholic’s data. While the percentage of referral traffic may grow over time as more Google products are integrated with Google+ profiles, the lack of referral traffic suggests that content isn’t being shared on the service or users aren’t paying attention to content that is shared on Google+. However, sites may also see more Google search traffic as Google+ author profiles are linked to articles on the Web and search rankings may potentially increase over time. 
Similar to Tumblr, Pinterest is an extremely visual social network. Sites that offer large resolution, beautiful images with smart, intelligent content are far more likely to be shared than sites with lower quality images and poor content. Content from sites around the Web are “pinned” to a virtual cork board broken up into a wide variety of varied categories such as photography, DIY, home, women’s apparel, pets, fitness and architecture. Users can create their own boards on the service and “pin” anything that they see on the Web. Pinterest has also rolled out a variety of tools to pin content including a browser bookmark and on-site buttons.
Similar to a service like Twitter, users can follow other users to watch what they pin. In addition, users can follow specific boards rather than following all of the boards of a particular user. While users can also “repin” content found on Pinterest on a personal board, they can also like content on the site as well as leave comments for other users. On each pin and repin, a link back to the original content is included. This allows users on Pinterest to visit the site where the content originated and look around for similar content.

According to a recent demographic study conducted by Ignite Social Media, Pinterest’s audience is predominantly made up of females between the ages of 25 to 54 and content that appeals to females ultimately sends more referral traffic back to sites around the Web. In addition, Pinterest users are likely to have completed some college courses and make between $25,000 to $75,000 a year. The study also found that Pinterest users are likely to originate in the mid-west United States.

While Pinterest still remains an invite-only social network, Pinterest users are currently allowed to invite an unlimited number of friends to the service through the admin interface. Brands, particularly fashion labels and clothing stores, are also flocking to Pinterest to advertise new products and attract the attention of consumers. Online shopping website Etsy is probably the most successful example of attracting consumers with over 44,000 followers on its Pinterest brand page. Every time Etsy pins a new product to the page, it can directly influence potential customers and attract new sales on the main site. Other brands are also using the social network to run contests or use boards as a virtual focus group through the commenting system.
Source: http://www.cloudmedianews.com

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Five Cloud trends for 2012

As the Cloud gains momentum in consumer consciousness, we look at five top trends set to rock the foundations of cyberspace in 2012.

A recent poll by research firm Gartner revealed that worldwide Cloud adoption is growing at an annual rate of around 17 percent while industry surveys show 50 percent or more of organisations polled have implemented some form of cloud computing.

So now we have dipped our toes in the proverbial waters, what’s next for the Cloud?

1.       The growth of mobile Cloud

As soon as Apple lays claim to something, it’s pretty much guaranteed to get consumers’ thumbs up, and this is certainly the case with the latest move in Cloud computing. With iCloud going live this autumn, and Microsoft’s Windows 7 bringing the Cloud to the masses, the average Joe is beginning to understand the concept and embrace it. Not only do a greater number of the public now operate their social and professional lives via mobile devices and tablet PCs this is only going to speed up the assimilation of the mobile Cloud and of course the demand for faster, more user friendly and storage happy applications – something the Cloud can deliver on in bucket loads.

2.       The evolution of Cloud security

This is always going to be a hot topic, and is one of the major reasons that organisations with sensitive data are reluctant to fully embrace the benefits of the Cloud. However, this is one area of development that is accelerating at breakneck speed so much so that the Obama administration delivered a Federal Cloud Computing Strategy report identifying $20bn in spending (one quarter of the government’s total IT budget) that could be moved to the cloud. Now that’s confidence. As fast as the hackers are hacking, the developers are creating new security measures and protocols to limit security breaches such as authentication verification. Expect more from this area in the coming months.

3.      A mobile-enabled workplace revolution

Much like how email changed the way in which we communicate with our colleagues and customers at work, the Cloud is now facilitating a faster, smoother way to send and store information than ever before. Forerunners in the Cloud world, such as Salesforce, Microsoft and Google were quick to embrace the hunger for email-based platforms which have historically been perceived as mission-critical by organisations. However, now the SaaS delivery model is fast-becoming the email platform of choice.

4.       Smart buildings, smart grids, smart everything

IBM recently predicted that there will be 1 trillion devices connected to the internet by 2013. This ‘internet of things’ as it is referred to, will be fronted by the network companies and mobile phone giants and we can expect to see sensor networks, smart grids and smart buildings popping up everywhere. IBM has gone a step further with this and is teaming with the Mediterranean island nation of Malta to build a smart utility system. Plans include 250,000 utility meters with interactive versions that will allow Malta’s electric utility, Enemalta, to monitor electricity use in real-time and set variable rates that reward customers that cut their power consumption.

5.       Get your head in the Cloud - it’s going nowhere!

Even those who appear to be against the Cloud amid fears of security issues are inadvertently in the Cloud via their connections with Salesforce.com, OpenAir and other SaaS applications. The reality is the Cloud is everything and everything can be hosted in the Cloud. This isn’t science fiction anymore, this is modern life.
Source: cloudcomputing-news.net

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Five Predictions for Managed Cloud Services in 2012

The proof-positive business impact from managed cloud services deployment, including the numerous associated productivity benefits and anticipated cost-savings, have pushed cloud computing well into the mainstream during 2011.

As we move into 2012, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that this evolution will continue as more users test the growing capabilities of the public cloud services that are already available.

However, by 2015, IDC envisions a very different scenario -- one where cloud services will become commonplace, thereby forcing significant changes in the ongoing adoption of progressive business technology practices throughout legacy IT organizations.

"In the next 24 months, the 'cloud' as a marketing label will cease to exist, as the success of cloud services will mean that it will permeate the sourcing strategies of the CIO and business unit manager alike," says Chris Morris, Lead Analyst for Cloud Services at IDC Asia/Pacific.

He adds, "The use of externally sourced business and IT services from the cloud will form the basis of what we see as the Outsourcing 3.0 period, and will provide an extensive portfolio of services from which innovative solutions can be constructed."

How Cloud Drives the Next Wave of Outsourcing

With Outsourcing 3.0, the cloud will metamorphose into a universal service catalog of individual cloud services. This will begin to replace both traditional information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) engagements as well as on-premises infrastructure.

IDC believes that in an Outsourcing 3.0 scenario, the sourcing of business and IT services from multiple external suppliers will result in a major challenge for the enterprise CIO. They will become a service broker and aggregator, involved in sourcing, integrating and managing the services -- on behalf of their business units.

Drawing from the latest research and internal brainstorming sessions amongst IDC's regional and country analysts, the following are five cloud predictions for 2012.

These key points represent major trends with either the most significant financial impact or long-term market impact across the Asia-Pacific region, according to the IDC assessment.
1.Less than Half of End-Users across APEJ will complete their Private Cloud Projects by 2014
2.Making 2 + 2 = 1: Cloud Service Orchestration Services Lead the Drive to Outsourcing 3.0
3.Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will become Verticalized by 2013
4.By the end of 2012, 90% of Telecom Service Providers (SPs) in the APEJ region will have brought a broad portfolio of Cloud Services to market; but, by end of 2013, their Portfolios will become Specialized as they redefine their preferred role in the Cloud Ecosystem and target specific markets
5.Cloud SP (CSPs) strategies based on Aggregation and Resale of IT and business services will Fail to meet Profitability Goals by 2013 unless they can efficiently and effectively Manage, Support and Bill Services from Multiple Service Providers

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Amazon's cloud extinguishes Kindle Fire?

 Kindle Fire uses the cloud in order to speed up the mobile browsing process. Using what Amazon calls a "split architecture", Silk makes on-the-fly decisions about how to route incoming and outgoing traffic, whether it be in the typical fashion or through the cloud.

A number of Kindle Fire users are reporting Internet connectivity issues that are preventing them from browsing the web, according to posts to Amazon's community forums. Devices connect to WiFi but not to the Internet, or speed drops dramatically.

The trouble was widely reported today and attributed to WiFi. However, based on a cursory technical review and thorough exploration of forum posts, BetaNews sees a likely different cause: Some kind of breakdown between Amazon's Silk browser, Amazon's supporting web services and local ISP connection -- relating to server caching, we suspect.

If this was a WiFi issue, Kindle Fire wouldn't connect at all. Common theme among the reports: WiFi connects, Internet doesn't. That suggests a different problem, either with the network (such as IP assignment failure) or something else.


That dependence on the cloud to make the web work will cause the Kindle to appear as if it has limited or no connectivity in the event of a failure of one of these channels.

"We got the Kindle Fire today and have had a very hard time establishing a connection to our home Wi-Fi network", one user reports. "We have never had problems w/ other device, but the Fire will not connect -- it times out".

Even more strange? The problem comes and goes. "Mine was not working for an entire day, and the next morning, poof...working again", another user laments.

Many ISPs cache content to speed up delivery, particularly for commonly accessed pages. We suspect that for some Kindle Fires the practice interferes with Silk's cloud-dependent architecture. If a certain route Silk uses fails, the caching server will continue to have issues until that cache expires. This could explain the issue where browsing works poorly one night, and seemingly fixes itself the next morning.

Another user reports the speed issue mentioned above. "I seem to be having an issue where my Fire can connect to my router, but my internet's speed immediately plummets down to where it can only download at 1.0 kb/s", the post states. "As soon as I make my Kindle forget my network the speed jumps right back up".

A breakdown with Amazon's cloud, again focusing on ISP caching, could again explain performance problems.

BetaNews could not reproduce the issues on our in-house Kindle Fires. There's no official confirmation of the issue either: Amazon has not responded to our requests for comment.

Is there a way to fix the problem? That's not clear. Some Kindle Fire users report updating their software to the most recent versions -- 6.1 or 6.2 -- fixing the problem, while others say they must physically reset their routers. On the software updates, it is not clear whether the issue is addressed as Amazon only states that the updates "provides improvements to the operation of your Kindle Fire". Additionally, the threads in the forum show that this method has not worked for everybody.

Router reset lends some credence to the theory there is breakdown between Silk, Amazon's cloud and the ISP. When the router resets, it acquires a new IP address from the ISP, which in turn may route the path to Amazon's cloud servers differently.

User Cindy G explains how she fixed her problem by using these solutions. "What did finally work was this -- I manually downloaded/installed the 6.1 update, and then pushed the reset button on my router -- this finally made it work", she said. "Power cycling the router didn't help, I had to actually reset it".

Regardless, until Amazon speaks up its hard to say what is going on -- although the company's silence may indicate that even they are befuddled by Fire's connection issues.

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eMailDodo: A Cloud Service That Lets You Send Emails To Groups

eMailDodo is web app that allows you to send emails to groups of friends or family via an email cloud service, and all members in your group can use the same, single email address. It’s easy to remember and saves up a whole lot of time. You won’t have to worry about mistyping an email ID, or even accidentally leaving somebody out. With eMailDodo, you can efficiently create and administer the email groups, and everybody gets email-sending rights. Furthermore, you can add up to 50 members in a group, which is often more then enough.

eMailDodo requires a simple sign up, after which you can create groups and send them emails with ease. To start adding members, click Create a New Group. You will have to enter the E-mail, Name and Mobile (optional) of the members. In addition to that, you can also Import and Export your contacts, and even edit member details using the spreadsheet option.

The Groups option at the top of the page lets you access all your added groups, where you can Send Mail, Send Question, See Answers and See Members. Furthermore, you can also delete the entire group.

Click the Send Email via web option in order to send a mail to your group. The mail will be sent to everyone in the group, and everyone can easily reply back to all the members without having to worry about manual selection of recipients.

eMailDodo is fast, efficient and handy, letting you save time and making life easier. Visit the link below and let us know what you think.
Source: addictivetips.com

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