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With the increasing bandwidth, processing power, and affordability of the internet, many large tech companies are offering cloud computing services to other businesses. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform are just three of the most notable examples of cloud computing platforms.

 Cloud computing: How it Works

The idea behind cloud computing is simple. Instead of an individual computer or server having all the software, programs, and applications it needs to perform a task downloaded to its local disk, a cloud server contains all the necessary data and programs and can be accessed through the internet without storing data on a user's computer. One example of this that most people are familiar with is Google Gmail, a cloud based email service. Like Gmail, other cloud services, like word processors, spreadsheet editors, presentation programs, and more can be accessed by a user from any computer at any time.

Cloud computing also offers people and businesses the ability to rent cloud server infrastructure to support digital business needs like websites, company data storage, and email servers. Below is a short list of the pros and cons of cloud computing

Pros of Cloud Computing Services

• Lower initial cost due to not needing to buy server networking hardware
• System and Server updates are handled by the Cloud Computing Platform
• Server Security is handled by the Cloud Computing Platform
• Easier setup and maintenance  

Cons of Cloud Computing Services

• Monthly rental costs may surpass the price of in house servers/software
• Less control over the specifics of your hardware/software
• If the Cloud Services Platform fails, the user will have to wait for the company to fix the issue before services can come back online

With 5G network implementation continuing to grow around the world, the idea of a “smart city” becomes an increasingly relevant topic. But what is a smart city and how is it implemented?

A smart city utilizes different types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to track and manage data to increase,efficiency,productivity, and quality of life.Everyday items such as phones, stoplights, cars, and CCTV are potential links for a smart city to utilize. Examples of fields and technologies relating to smart cities include 

• Telecommuting
• Telehealth
• Blockchain
• Financial Technology
• Online banking
• Security

By connecting and monitoring these fields, human administrators and artificial intelligence will be able to maximize the speed of these services, making life faster and easier for those living in smart cities. Roadways and stoplights can bemad maximally efficient through real time, incoming smart car data. Emergency services will be better able to track the location where they are needed in a crisis, and hospitals will be more equipped with patients online records in order to provide better treatment.

In the future, smart cities will also provide key infrastructure in automated technologies such as self driving transportation, retail (ex. Amazon Go) and more.

VoIP, or IP telephony, is voice communication technology which transmits over the internet instead of traditional phone lines. Whether buying phones for a new business or replacing existing phone systems, VoIP phones are often a more suitable and lower cost option for the modern business than traditional Telecommunications hardware.

How Can VoIP Lower Cost For My Business?

• VoIP phone systems, unlike traditional voice communication hardware, require little to no additional infrastructure, as VoIP communication is transmitted over the internet. As long as the business or user has an internet connection, an IP phone can be used.

• Existing internet infrastructure allows for international and domestic calls through VoIP services to be provided for a fraction of the cost of traditional phone systems

• VoIP systems can offer integrated  video conferencing without the need to purchase additional hardware

• VoIP vendors do not typically require signing a contract in order to use IP phone system

The introduction of 5G networking is one of the biggest news stories in the 2020 tech sphere, but it is not always clear how 5G will directly impact consumers and businesses.

What is 5G?

5G simply stands for the fifth generation of standards for cellular networking technology, just as the 4G LTE our cell phones use now runs on fourth generation cellular technology. 5G cell towers and transmitters will offer cellular data to phones with speed comparable to landline cable connections, and in some cases exceeding speeds of over one Gigabit per second.

What can 5G do for my business?

Two of 5G networking’s planned applications are Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC). With eMBB, completing work online will no longer require connection to a high speed WiFi network, as cellular hotspotting will be fast enough to allow for high data capacity work to be completed from anywhere with cellular coverage, making offsite work simpler, faster, and cheaper for businesses and employees. With URLLC, VoIP and phone conferencing will be significantly clearer and reliable, with less voice lag, greater voice quality, and less dropped calls. When used in conjunction with eMBB, connecting businesses, employees, and clients over the internet will be simpler and faster than ever before.

Pandemic Protection – Let’s Make a DASH for it!

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that our housing can be viewed in three categories, namely, in ascending order of suitability for physical distancing:

• BAD: Communal residences, whether care, retirement, student, penitentiaries, etc.,
• MEDIUM: Apartments, whether low- or high-rise, with or without elevators, and
• GOOD: “Single family,” whether detached, semi-detached, duplexes, flats, row or townhouses.

Communal residences are an anathema to physical distancing. Apartments, especially those with elevators, have many of the same problems. Notably, it comes as no surprise that a large metropolis like New York City, with its high density, ubiquitous elevators and a relatively small portion of single family structures, finds itself as a hotspot for the pandemic; contagion is far less problematic in sparse areas.

Single family, as defined, are superior for physical distancing, but what is the distinguishing feature that makes them so? In short, all housing types in the last category tend to be DASH – direct access to street housing – while in most of the latter it is a physical impossibility.

But within single family, row and townhouses merit special attention. They are far more efficient: land, materials, energy usage and maintenance. Also, they make far better use of public infrastructure: streets, sidewalks, street lighting, utilities, transit, both as to initial cost and on-going maintenance.

Given the compelling need for greater density, energy and transport efficiency, surely the pandemic forms a base from which to develop enthusiasm for this path to better and more affordable city housing.