Miles Associates LLC

Cloud an outsourcing option

About a year and a half ago, no one was talking about cloud computing as part of IT outsourcing (ITO) deals. But now, in today’s climate of deferring capital expenditures and finding short-term savings, most everyone has their head at least partially in the clouds. That is, most companies that are considering ITO are also considering whether cloud computing is right for them.

By Chris O’Brien, San Jose Mercury News

How Twitter could be a threat to Google

Google’s search engine is so dominant that it’s hard to imagine how anyone could knock the Mountain View company from its pedestal. And yet if history is any guide, such reigns never last. IBM gave way to Microsoft, which now has been usurped by Google.

It could be a shift in technology. It could be a more nimble, innovative rival. But something always comes along and turns things upside-down, often emerging from a direction so surprising that the incumbent never sees it coming until it’s too late.

In this case, it’s hard to imagine a company that might post a more surprising threat to Google than Twitter. But just this scenario is suddenly generating some heated discussions around the Web.

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 Google finally solves the off-line access problem (assuming it works!)  Watch out for a huge growth of Gmail use in businesses!

Three Great New Gmail Add-ons: Offline Gmail and More

With offline Gmail, you can write and read e-mails. Messages that you compose while offline will be stored in your outbox and automatically sent next time you connect to the Internet.

 9 Dirty Tricks: Social Engineers’ Favorite Pick-Up Lines

What the average guy might call a con is known in the security world as social engineering. Social engineering is the criminal art of scamming a person into doing something or divulging sensitive information. These days, there are thousands of ways for con artists to pull off their tricks. Here we look at some of the most common lines these people are using to fool their victims…