WEEK 13: Creating a Professional Web Presence

Lucky 13! This week we began creating professional web presences for ourselves using Google Sites, a new service launched by Google. The newest Google service allows amateur web developers, me, to create simple yet effective and professional looking websites in a fraction of the time it would take to code an equivalent site. Once you've logged in with your Google password, simply pick a template and begin editing using their GUI interface.

Creating a web presence is a must in the field of telecom. I work at a production house in St. Petersburg and the majority of our business comes in through traffic to the website. Clients want to see that you're tech savvy enough to create a polished site that showcases your work and exudes an air of professionalism. Sites that are poorly written, or difficult to navigate make clients uneasy and less likely to conduct business with your company.

Google Sites Help
I struggled a bit with different aspects of the Google Sites interface and the help section definitely came in handy. I would recommend this page for anyone who is looking to create a Google Site. The help section was easy to use and included a lot of information for such a new product.

WEEK 12: Social Tools and Cloud Computing

This week we discussed cloud computing, or server based computing. Cloud computing allows users to work from any computer with internet access because the applications or files being used are hosted off of a server and able to be accessed online. Google Docs is an example of cloud computing. The alternative, Microsoft Office or Open Office is installed on your computer. However, with Google Docs, the applications are online and your files are also saved online. This means that anyone with permission to access the Google Doc can open it up anywhere and continue editing it. Industry-wide, we're seeing a move to cloud computing with more and more services and applications hosting files in the cloud.

Telecommunication relies on cloud computing to some degree. I will create Google Groups with Google Docs of scripts, schedules, and contact information for the cast and crew to keep them up to date. However, cloud computing does not yet have a data infrastructure that can support the bandwidth required to perform video editing/rendering from the cloud. Which means in the meantime, I'm forced to store hundreds of gigabytes of video footage on numerous cumbersome external hard drives. As far as I'm concerned, the cloud couldn't come soon enough.

The Cloud and Microsoft
This is a neat site created by microsoft highlighting cloud computing technology, both present and future. With Microsoft Office's move towards cloud computing, I expect to see many more companies following suit.