Saturday, August 02, 2014

Fiber Optic Solutions/Wireless Melt Down

Fiber Optic Solutions/Wireless Melt Down


dear all…we are looking for entities (such as the one we have here) who see the meltdown with the failures of wireless communication and that their economic survival in the future mandates buried fiber optic systems with hard wired connectivity…mandated in the service area.

Delta Montrose Electric Association (south western colorado) has announced their venture out ofs TWACs (dirty electricity on line voltage transient communicating) smart meters…which are already installed in the entire service area (with the expected failure and malfunction records) to the proactive solution which may bring with it simultaneously the escape from the megacorporate jugernaught monopoly with ISP service and phones and the profit-viability for their future.  

They are installing a very large capacity fiber opti trunk carrier to every customer.  Arguements regarding distance, dispersed residents and adverse terrain dwindle here…the DMEA service area is classic western colorado…nothing straight or flat anywhere and farms miles down the road.

They are doing this to convert their already installed TWACs smart metering system to fiber optic connectivity.  This is a no-brainer for the ehs/ emf toxicology crowd…in face of the now escallating class action/ personal injury and moratorium avalanche to the power companies stupid enought to get sold down the wireless toilet bowl. 

But whoever sits on their current board knows the future and aint' stupid.  Once the hardwire connectivity is in place to the meter, they then will market high performance ISP/internet service, phone, radio and tv.  This will trainwreck telecom and fast…moving the profit carrot into the power company and sliding the floor out from under AT&T and Verizon…the Darth Vadars of wireless disco regionally. leaving them with a defunct, government porkbarreled cell tower mess they can't get bailed out of…with the bulldozer of rising consumer alarm as the truth about wireless toxicology and its now rampant infrastructure failure snowballs.

I'm already doing poractive presentations to regional entities regarding municipalities and county entities installing their own fiberoptic systems and mandating discontinuation of all wireless smart meters…folllowing the Sascatchewan, Canada mandate to the powercompany to re-analog the entire state's 105,000 smart meters due to fires.

The response in grassroots and community/ municipal administrations and boards has taken a rapid and definative/ recognizability toward dumping wireless.

If anyone knows of other hardwire connectivity/ fiberoptic systems up and running or under installation…we seriously need to know and connect them…in order to avalanch the collapse of the criminal wireless coverup and pork barrel deployment.  The dramatic 4G upgrade psychological deterioration on a general public scale here is now undeniable event to the IQ 100 and below morass on their iPhone/addictions bent.

The cell tower melt down in Heber, Arizona produced a social panic and law enforcement deluge (Ruth Davis, Smart Shelter EHS Program Dev. Director) illucidative of what is now becoming obvious as the fatal flaw in wirless connectivity…subject to hackers, remote location failures of connectivity, gps failures rampant, virus susceptibility and hacker/terrorism vulnerability.  Wireless was never intended to be more that a stop gap venture in the first place.  Guess we're watching the "stop" part of that.

It looks to me like we bow have the proactive, profit assuring, safe and environmentally sane solution…the wireless goes back in the wire, the wire goes in the ground and the municipalities/ government structures that proactively own and develop the fiber optic service will survive in the future…where as the economically shakey telecom/wireless criminal structure will not.

When I address this proactive solution and point out that communities which provide safe, fast, secure and effective hard wire/commectivity will floursih in the future and those which do not won't…this gets mileage the health and environmental effects will not…though they need adding later because now easily 60% and maybe 80% of the politicians i address are now in the know and quite concerned.

This is the way we win…and we now need to identify, support and network the entities smart and proactive enough to get it and act.

This is rolling.

(Ps…the other thing we're doing is idetifying the applicants to more pork barreled cell tower deployment, researching the "Total Information" on their positions and lives and publishing this to distribution along with pictures to every mail box in the impacted areas.  The era of hiding behind the corporate anonymity facade is quite penetrable.  This is who is responsible for your pet's death….no brainer…sure you get it.  Total Information…put it in the hands of the responsible public…let the individual decide what to do.  You just never know who knows who.  And everyone has to live somewhere…all you have to do is tell everyone where)

(PPS…of course we need to remember that Tom Wheeler and telecom are reading this at the same time you are….they can only attack people like us…i.e. Olle…just so long until they see that we're not only not going to stop…but get increasingly insistent, empowered and pissed.  Not a healthy situation for the corporate corrupt be my guess) 




Nikola Tesla…before Electrosensitization


After

"Nikola Tesla…the inventor of both Alternating Current Electrical Power and Wireless Communication…both now identified as carcinogenic, psychotropic and immune suppressive…was also the world's first Electro Hyper Sensitive and Wireless Radation Stimulus Addiction Case.   In his own words…I just don't feel right if i'm not in a 50,000 volt emf field…which he dosed himself with daily most of his adult life (due to chronic fatigue, paranoia and mental impairment)…with the obvious results.  Had he actually been the Genius of EMF (which Thomas Edilson was…not Tesla) he would have immediatly realized the biological effects of what he was working with instead of filing them for patent to sell to Westinghouse and GE.  Welcome to the aftermath."

Gary Lee Duncan
exec director
Smart Shelter Network
note: temporary link to site while we change isps:

Friday, August 01, 2014

Smart Meters: Building the Global Surveillance Grid *You're not ganna like this!*

Smart Meters: Building the Global Surveillance Grid *You're not ganna like this!*

Guys: Your Cellphone Is Hurting Your Sperm

Guys: Your Cellphone Is Hurting Your Sperm

July 22, 2014

Cell Phone Radiation

Story at-a-glance

  • Exposure to electromagnetic radiation from cell phones lowered sperm motility by 8 percent and sperm viability by 9 percent
  • Previous studies have also found that cell phone radiation can affect men's sperm count, and the quality and motility of their sperm
  • Prenatal animal studies have shown exposure to radiation from cell phones alters DNA and brain metabolism, compromises spinal cords, and affects learning abilities
  • US and international cell-phone safety standards are based only on the notion that low-frequency electromagnetic radiation and microwave radiation induce harm by heating
  • At least 23 studies have shown that microwave and other low-frequency EMFs act by activating voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) that cause adverse non-thermal biological changes
By Dr. Mercola
Four in 10 US homes are cell-phone only, meaning they’ve ditched their landlines entirely.1 This is twice the rate in 2009, and a sign of just how integrated cell-phone use is in our culture.
Among certain demographics, the reliance on cell phones as the only household phone is even higher. For instance, more than 65 percent of adults aged 25-29 live in households with only cell phones, along with nearly 60 percent of 30- to 34-year-olds.
The convenience comes at a price, however, especially if you’re planning to have children, or already have them.

Cell Phones Worsen Sperm Quality

A systematic review and meta-analysis looked into the impact of low-level electromagnetic radiation (EMR) – the type emitted by cell phones – on sperm quality, both in the lab and among male patients at fertility clinics.
Their analysis of 10 such studies showed that exposure to EMR from cell phones lowered sperm motility by 8 percent and sperm viability by 9 percent.2Previous studies have also found that cell phone radiation can affect men's sperm count, and the quality and motility of their sperm. One such study, published in PLOS One found:3
"RF-EMR in both the power density and frequency range of mobile phones enhances mitochondrial reactive oxygen species generation by human spermatozoa, decreasing the motility and vitality of these cells while stimulating DNA base adduct formation and, ultimately DNA fragmentation.
These findings have clear implications for the safety of extensive mobile phone use by males of reproductive age, potentially affecting both their fertility and the health and wellbeing of their offspring."
During the 2013 discussion “Cell Phones & Wi-Fi – Are Children, Fetuses and Fertility at Risk?,” leading experts from top universities further reported:4
“There is a direct relationship between duration of cell phone use and sperm count decline. Sperm count is reduced by half in men who carry cell phones in their pants pockets for four hours per day. The motility of the sperm is also impaired.
The testicular barrier, that protects sperm, is the most sensitive of tissues in the body, and is 100x more absorbent. Besides sperm count and function, the mitochondrial DNA of sperm are damaged 3x more if exposed to cell phone radiation.
…DNA mutations have been linked more to damage on the male side in research from Iceland, the assumption being that male sperm is more vulnerable than female eggs, which are more protected. Mutations increase with the age of the father, and more autism and schizophrenia increase with the age of the father.”
The data suggest men who plan to father children, in particular, may want to reconsider carrying their cell phones on their belts or in their pocket, in close proximity to their reproductive organs. In addition, both men and women have a number of other sensitive organs in that general area, including your liver, kidneys, colon, and bladder—all of which are susceptible to radiation.

Expert Environmental Health Researchers Warns of Wireless Radiation and Cancer Connection

Dr. Devra Davis, one of the most well-respected and credentialed researchers on the dangers of cell phones, and founder and president of Environmental Health Trust, warned at the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) meeting that Wi-Fi use might cause cancer.
In particular, Dr. Davis warned about the risks to pregnant women and their unborn children, noting that prenatal animal studies have shown exposure to radiation from cell phones:
  • Altered DNA
  • Altered brain metabolism
  • Compromised spinal cords
  • Affected learning abilities
Children’s brains contain more liquid than adults’, which impacts the amount of radiation absorbed (children absorb far more). Among teens who use cell phones from a young age, the risk of brain cancer is about four to five times higher than that of teens who didn’t use cellphones.
Dr. Davis also warned about the increased cancer risks to those who live near cell towers, and even the potential dangers of having Wi-Fi in schools. She said:
We should not rely on proof in a form of death or a disease before taking action… we should rather look at evidence that shows the risks. We now have strong evidence that shows wireless radiation is a possible carcinogen, if not a definite carcinogen.
…A number of well-designed studies indicate that cellphone use increases cancer risk. Cellphones change the brain. Antennas for cellphones are continually searching for signals to send and receive information. The body or brain absorbs about half the radiation emitted from the phone at any time.”
Dr. Davis compared the radiation from cell phones to the radiation from a microwave oven, noting that power level is the only difference. That being said, it’s not an issue of heating per se.

Non-Thermal Biological Health Effects of Cell Phones Exposed

The SAR ("Specific Absorption Rate") value is a measure of the maximum tested power of the cell phone and its potential for heating tissues. The SAR rating itself is nothing new. In fact, the SAR values of phones have been available for some time, typically listed in fine print somewhere in your owner's manual, on the manufacturer's website, and in the FCC's databases.
But the SAR level only measures the power density of a phone, estimating the radiation penetration into the head using a plexiglass head of a simulated 200-pound man. This is just an estimate, and it is only an estimate of one of the components of risk from cell phones – the heat.
It does not gauge the risk from the frequencies of the cell phone, the erratic pulsing and modulation of the signals, or the magnetic fields from batteries, which is sorely needed, since it’s now apparent that cell phones and Wi-Fi trigger changes even without heating tissues.
According to Martin Pall, professor emeritus of biochemistry and basic medical sciences at Washington State University, more than 20,000 publications in the scientific literature show significant biological effects at exposures well within safety standards, including about 4,000 that discuss non-thermal effects.5
Unfortunately, both US and international safety standards are based only on the notion that low-frequency electromagnetic radiation and microwave radiation induce harm by heating.
Dr. Pall found, however, that 23 studies have shown that microwave and other low-frequency EMFs act by activating voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs)6 with “most biological effects being due to elevated intracellular calcium, consequent nitric oxide (NO) elevation, and either peroxynitrite or NO signaling.” He reported on a “whole serious of biological changes” that may be produced by microwave exposures via VGCC activation, including:
Oxidative stressSingle and double-stranded breaks in cellular DNABlood-brain barrier breakdown
Greatly depressed melatonin levels and sleep disruptionCancerMale and female infertility
Immune dysfunctionNeurological dysfunctionCardiac dysfunction

Impaired Fertility Is Only the Tip of the Iceberg

What experts in the area of the biological effects of electromagnetic frequencies and wireless technologies are finding is that there's virtually no doubt that cell phones and related gadgets are capable of causing not only cancer but also contributing to a wide variety of other conditions, from depression and diabetes to heart irregularities and impaired fertility. Researchers have now identified numerous mechanisms of harm, which explain how electromagnetic fields impact your cells and damage your DNA.
One such expert is Dr. Martin Blank, PhD, one of the most experienced researchers of the cellular and molecular effects of electromagnetic fields in the US. He gave an informative speech at the Commonwealth Club of California program, "The Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields," co-sponsored by ElectromagneticHealth.org. In it, he explained why your DNA, with its “coil of coils” structure, is especially vulnerable to electromagnetic fields of all kinds. As described in the International Journal of Radiation Biology, April 2011, DNA possesses the two structural characteristics of fractal antennas: electronic conduction, and self-symmetry.7
These properties contribute to greater reactivity of DNA to electromagnetic fields than other tissues, making the long-term consequences of repeated microwave exposures to our genetic material of great concern. Dr. Blank is adamant when he says that there is evidence of harm, and that the harm can be significant. He also points out that the science showing harmful effects has been peer-reviewed, published, and that the results have been replicated, evaluated and "judged by scientists capable of judging it."
An analysis of the range of known mechanisms of action, including DNA effects, was published in November 2010 in "Non-Thermal Effects and Mechanisms of Interaction Between Electromagnetic Fields and Living Matter.”8 Furthermore, the mobile industry's own research in the 13-country Interphone study showed a 40 percent increased risk of brain cancer from 1,640 or more hours of cell phone use,9 and independent Swedish research published in 2007 showed a 540 percent increased risk of brain cancer from greater than 2,000 hours of cell phone use.10

Get Your Cell Phone Out of Your Pocket – And Other Smart Cell Phone Tips

Around the world, many countries are already adopting the Precautionary Principle regarding cell phone use. Russian officials have issued the recommendation that all children under the age of 18 should avoid using cell phones entirely. The UK, Israel, Belgium, Germany, India, France, and Finland also urge citizens to err on the side of caution with respect to their children's use of cell phones. Cell phone dangers will one day likely be as well-known as tobacco dangers, but there's going to be a window when people are extremely vulnerable.
And that window is right now. Children are especially vulnerable to damage from cell phone radiation and should not use them at all (or only for very limited amounts). Men and women who want to have healthy children need to take special precautions to protect their reproductive organs and should not keep phones in their front pockets or close to their abdomens. In the US, public warnings are not yet commonplace, but it's still important to protect yourself – and your children. There is plenty of science showing harm to warrant taking action now, and here’s how:11
  • Children should not play with radiating cell phones. Young children should not use cell phones except in an emergency. While you can put the phone in “airplane mode,” which disconnects it from Wi-Fi and the Internet, the cell phone still emits magnetic fields from the battery, which have also been shown to have equally important biological consequences. In no cases should children sleep with cell phones, and extreme caution is advised for pregnant women or women hoping to conceive due to the profound long-term impact of environmental factors.
  • Limit or eliminate Wi-Fi exposures. If you have a Wi-Fi router, make sure your router is a low-power version, not in a high-use area and keep it turned off as much as possible. Consider putting it on a timer so it is only available during certain hours, and never during sleeping hours.
  • Schools should not have Wi-Fi. Cabled/wired connections do not pose the same risks. If there is Wi-Fi, again, it should be limited to the time when the Wi-Fi is specifically needed and not be operating at other times. Ideally, classrooms, school libraries, and gyms should be Wi-Fi-free.
  • Resume using landline phones whenever possible. Get rid of your portable phone and use your landline. At the very least, don’t keep your cell phone in your bedroom while you sleep. Be aware even landline phones emit magnetic fields from the speaker, and sensitive people can sometimes feel them, especially on long calls and particularly when using trim phones. Old-fashioned desk phone earpieces offer a greater distance between the speaker and your ear that can make a meaningful difference.
  • Keep your cell phone away from your body. Avoid keeping it in your pocket or on your belt. If you’re pregnant, keep your cell phone away from your belly. Keep your phone at the other end of the room or on the seat of the car. Use texting more than talking. A cell phone case for the iPhone is available that filters out a significant portion of radiation (but by no means all the power and frequencies, and other biologically disruptive signal characteristics also remain). There are several options for shielded cell phone cases and holsters at www.EMFSafetyStore.com.
  • Use a wired earpiece or headphones with cell phones. Like with landline phones, some people are impacted by the magnetic fields from the speaker in the ear buds, so choose a model with the greatest distance from your ear, or use air tube technology with no electronics near your ear.
  • Use caution using your cell phone in your car. Signals bounce around inside your vehicle, and your head is the antenna.
  • Opt-out of new utility meters called “smart meters.” Prevent smart meters from being installed in your home whenever possible.
  • Avoid using wireless baby monitors, as they all operate on microwave frequency. Look for the old wired monitors.
  • Know your exposures. You or your community can purchase an RF meter for about $500 to measure RF in homes, schools, churches, etc. See www.EMFSafetyStore.com.
  • Support labeling laws that require cell phone manufacturers to list radiation levels in an obvious place on the packaging and at the retailer.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/22/cell-phone-radiation-sperm-count.aspx 

Electric Utilities and Government Lie About the Adverse Health Effects of "Smart Grid" and "Smart Meter" Radiation

Electric Utilities and Government Lie About the Adverse Health Effects of "Smart Grid" and "Smart Meter" Radiation

From Tom McCarey
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/smartmeterdamage30jul14.shtml
July 30, 2014


There is a media blackout on Smart Meter information other than utility and industry PR releases. "Take Back Your Power" is a film you should watch:

Join the fight to Stop Smart Meters in PA:

The utilities and the government are lying about the adverse health effects of "Smart Grid" and "Smart Meter" radiation.

Contact your Pennsylvania State Representative and demand that HB 899, HB 902, and HB 906 be reported out of the Comsumer Affairs Committee for a full vote by the House. Below is information about Texas and Canada, but it applies to Pennsylvania, as well.

...even though safety standards on wireless exposure is based on decades of scientific literature, science was missing linking the frequencies to adverse health effects.

The FCC and other international governing bodies adopted the Specific Absorption Rate(SAR) for limits of human exposure. You will see at the link it is a plastic model of a head with a temperature probe in the top. The SAR test didn't consider the smart meter routers, relays, collectors, antennas or that humans are bio electric.

http://www.thermoguy.com/pdfs/FCC_and_PUCs_on_Smart_Meters_and_Advanced_Wireless_Communications.pdf

As a result of the missing science in the SAR test, the Texas PUC only addressed the smart meter as an end use device and state in their safety sheet that a short distance from the meter keeps you safe. Oncor admitted through their lawyer the average coverage area of the smart meter router is 5 sq. miles and one collector 125 sq. miles. If you are in the coverage area, a short distance from the meter is irrelevant.

http://www.thermoguy.com/pdfs/Texas_Senate_Committee_Meeting_on_Smart_Meters.pdf

As soon as you see the wireless goal is to blanket the state, it creates a complexity of problems with literally everything the wireless frequencies touch. These RF EMFs go through walls, roofs, people, infrastructure, everything in ecosystems and will bring unrealized consequencies including liabilities. The meter program is well intended stimulus money but will not address Texas's energy problems. I have linked a file to a Utility Commission where we outline the energy issues including infrared images of energy waste. Texas building exposure to solar EMFs are causing the buildings to generate extreme heat and the utilities are responding to the symptoms with massive energy waste reacting to the symptoms.

http://www.bcuc.com/Documents/Proceedings/2012/DOC_32604_C19-6_WKCC-Submission-RDCK-Nelson-Creston_Suspension.pdf

Health Canada is presently revising safety standards and a draft bill was introduced by a U.S. Member of Congress to update the Specific Absorption Rate. As soon as they add the errors or omissions in the SAR test, the frequencies will be illegal as applied.


Texas dealing with their building solar exposure with paints, finishes or shade will immediately knock massive energy waste off the challenged electrical grids without re-inventing the wheel. Air conditioning is really refrigeration being used because the building has become a source of extreme heat.

A smart meter opt out program will not address the true radiation coverage or the real liabilities and costs to all industries. Here is the last link where a Texas utility explains to their customer's inquiry as to how they read their analog meter through the power lines from a central location.


Sincerely,
Tom McCarey
www.stopsmartmetersPA.com

"...necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom." - Sir William Pitt (1759-1806)

SCHOOL PLANS TO TAG STUDENTS WITH MICROCHIP BRACELETS TO ENCOURAGE ‘GOOD BEHAVIOUR’

SCHOOL PLANS TO TAG STUDENTS WITH MICROCHIP BRACELETS TO ENCOURAGE ‘GOOD BEHAVIOUR’

Parents not even informed of proposal as teachers measure up wrists of children

School Plans To Tag Students With Microchip Bracelets To Encourage 'Good Behaviour'
by STEVE WATSON | INFOWARS.COM AUGUST 1, 2014

In a move that sounds like something out of a frightening dystopian fiction, a school in New Zealand has come under intense criticism from parents for attempting to introduce a scheme to tag children with microchips in order to promote good behaviour.
Fairfax Media reports that Swannanoa School in North Canterbury plans to attach chipped bracelets to students to track their behaviour. Many parents were not notified of the scheme, only finding out about it via minutes from a Parent Teacher Association meeting.
When the local media investigated the proposal, the school finally sent out notifications to parents. A letter from the principal suggested that the plan was more efficient than alternatives such as ID cards, which could be misplaced.
The school has even gone as far as measuring up the wrists of children in preparation for the plan, which it says will cost $7000 to set up.
Under the proposal, the devices locked to kids’ arms would allow teachers to use portable scanners in order to add reward points to a student’s good behaviour record, stored on a database. Students would be rewarded points when they did something teachers determined to be positive, and incentives would be enhanced with the promise of prizes for reaching a certain amount of points.
The chips would contain information including names, points tally and the school house that students belonged to. The school claims that the devices would not have a GPS tracker.
Naturally, parents are outraged at the scheme, which is otherwise literally employed in prisons and to monitor the whereabouts and activities of offenders, or those on parole.
“I don’t like the idea of my children being scanned,” said mother of two Emma Goodin, adding that she does not want her children “treated like grocery items or criminals”.
“If it’s just for good behaviour, why would you invest that much money in it?” commented Liz Rutherford, another mother who has also vowed to remove her children from the school should the plan go ahead.
When notified of the proposal, a government Education Ministry spokesperson told reporters that “Individual schools decide how to encourage good behaviour in consultation with their community.”
In a poll accompanying the Fairfax media report, over 83 percent of respondents said they would remove their children from a school introducing such a scheme. Just 16 percent said they thought it was a good idea or would go along with it.
Infowars has previously reported on similar stories of schools in the US attempting to introduce such schemes. In 2013, a Texas family whose daughter was expelled for refusing to wear an RFID tracking chip fought the scheme in the courts and was eventually victorious as the school scrapped the system.
In our report covering that case, we noted how several other schools around the nation have also attempted to use various chipping and tracking methods, including biometric technology. Bracelets such as the ones touted by the New Zealand school are now routinely used in theme parks and at events such as concerts to store digital currency, making payment for items and entrance to restricted areas quicker.
However, the personalization of such technology, and the use of it to specifically monitor an individual is highly invasive and should be considered a significant threat to privacy. When there is a debate over whether even incarcerated criminals should be subjected to it’s use, one must ask why are there moves to employ it in schools?
—————————————————————-
Steve Watson is a London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.
It's government re-education time again, and in an effort to support the ongoing Infowar aimed at injecting liberty and truth into the mainstream education system, the Infowars Store is having a limited time 10% discount on all items by using promo code "10". Click here for more information.

Protest against bid to set up mobile phone tower

Protest against bid to set up mobile phone tower

AABHA ANOOP

Attempt by a private telecom company to set up mobile phone towers in a thickly populated area in the city has kicked up a row once again.

Attempt by a private telecom company to set up mobile phone towers in a thickly populated area in the city has kicked up a row once again.

Barely a month after the Kozhikode Corporation aborted the attempt to set up a tower at Eranhipalam, it is now the residents of Kottuly who are fighting against a tower in their locality.

The plot beside the CPI(M) office on Pipeline Road at Kottuly has been leased to a private telecom company that has already laid the foundations for a tower in it. Ironically, it is being built flouting the rules concerning its distance from residential areas. “The law that prevents construction of mobile phone towers within 200 m of any residential area has been openly flouted. The residents have come together and submitted a petition to the Corporation to stop the construction immediately,” said Praveen C.K., chairman of a committee set up to fight against the tower.

The telecom company, which has acquired permission from the Central government to set up 130 towers in different parts of the city, does not need the permission of the Corporation to go ahead with the construction. The Corporation’s powers are limited to giving fitness certificate to a building that would support the tower.

Local people are apprehensive about the harmful effects of radiation the tower would allegedly cause. Anita Rajan, councillor of the Kottuly ward, said the company concerned had not approached the Corporation for any sort of permission, as the tower was being built on land and not on top of any building. “However, the Corporation has powers to intervene when laws are flouted openly,” she said, and added that the Corporation would act upon the petition filed by the local people.

The committee is planning to launch a campaign against the tower and also to create awareness of the harm the tower could supposedly cause, among the residents.

The Rise of the Clouds: Progress and Prospects

The Rise of the Clouds: Progress and Prospects

Guest Editors' Introduction • San Murugesan and Irena Bojanova • August 2014
International readers, read this article
in Spanish and in Chinese
Translated by Osvaldo Perez and Tiejun Huang
cloud in sky in full color
Several converging and complementary factors are driving the further ascension of the cloud (cloud computing). The increasing maturity of cloud technologies and offerings coupled with users' greater awareness of the cloud's potential benefits (as well as limitations) is accelerating the cloud's adoption. Better Internet connectivity, intense competition among cloud service providers (CSPs), and digitalization of enterprises — particularly micro-, small-, and medium-sized — are increasing the cloud's usage. The changing attitude and mindset toward the cloud among users now accustomed to the growing ubiquity of mobile devices and applications is also greatly improving the cloud's adoption. Cloud technologies offer appealing responses to the growing demand from emerging markets for computing services at affordable cost, and governmental support and initiatives are propelling the clouds, as well.
Cloud computing isn't just an IT paradigm change, as some perceive. It's redefining not only the information and communication technology industry but also enterprise IT in all industry and business sectors. It's also helping to close the digital (information) divide, as well as driving innovations by small enterprises and facilitating deployment of new applications that would otherwise be infeasible.

The Cloud is Poised to Rise Further

Cloud computing's appeal is driven by several distinct features, including:
  • pay-as-you-go access to a variety of IT service offerings,
  • on-demand access to resources at low cost,
  • resource elasticity to meet varying demand, and
  • colocation of computation and data that enables large-scale data analytics.
It can efficiently and effectively source huge computing resources to a large number of users.
Yet, despite cloud computing's appeal and growing usage, several concerns and limitations have kept it from mass market adoption. Understanding and addressing these limitations and vulnerabilities as appropriate is key to successfully embracing cloud's potential. Cloud promoters are offering new cloud services and pursuing standardization efforts to address cloud migration and adoption constraints.
In this month's Computing Now theme, we examine some key challenges in harnessing the cloud and how to address them and highlight emerging services and applications. We explore cloud adoption best practices and how the cloud is changing enterprise IT's role, and we conclude with a look at the cloud's prospects.

Cloud Considerations and Challenges

Embracing the cloud isn't just about using or deploying applications and storing data. To realize the cloud's promise, users must address not only functional requirements and technical feasibility but also several important nonfunctional aspects. It requires a holistic approach that considers both technical and nontechnical issues.

Security

As several recent surveys reconfirm, users' concerns about security and privacy of data and applications remain a barrier to cloud adoption. Several technological options are available for securing data and application on the cloud, but many cloud users fail to give adequate upfront thought to securing the systems. This is an issue that not only CSPs but all stakeholders must tackle through multipronged efforts and further research and development.

Migration and Integration

The nontrivial act of migrating an existing (legacy) application to the cloud requires thoughtful and careful handling, tailoring the application and interfaces as required. Currently, aggregating and integrating cloud offerings is difficult, particularly from different providers. Yet, several efforts are under way to address this problem, including the development of cloud standards and open platforms, such as Open Virtualization Format (OVF)Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI), IEEE P2301 Cloud Portability & Interoperability (CPIP) standard, and IEEE CSP2302 Standard for Intercloud Interoperability and Federation (SIIF).

Network Access

Ensuring appropriate high-bandwidth network connectivity is crucial to successfully using the cloud. However, many users as well as internet service providers neglect to enhance their network infrastructure and capacity to handle increased traffic — both from and to the cloud.

Cloud Strategy

To realize the benefits of clouds, an enterprise must develop a comprehensive cloud strategy that also examines and addresses potential risks, including cloud unavailability and failures, as well as compliance requirements, as applicable. Relying on the cloud doesn't eliminate the need for risk management or disaster recovery.

Theme Articles

CN's August 2014 issue presents seven articles that explore new opportunities in cloud computing and what the community must do to realize them.
In "Key Challenges in Cloud Computing: Enabling the Future Internet of Services," Rafael Moreno-Vozmediano, Ruben Montero, and Ignacio Llorente analyze the issues the cloud community and researchers must address to overcome adoption barriers and turn the cloud vision into reality. The challenges they identify include efficient cloud management, cloud-aggregation architectures and technologies that enable cloud providers to collaborate and interoperate, and cloud infrastructure security, reliability, and energy efficiency.
Security issues require a comprehensive solution to ensure successful application deployment on the cloud. On that front, we begin with Edward G. Amoroso's "Practical Methods for Securing the Cloud," which offers broader insights into how cloud decision makers and adopters can best address security risks and threats by using several practical methods in combination. Next up, "Cloud Data Protection forthe Masses," by Dawn Song and her colleagues, outlines a vision for data-protection as a service (DPaaS), which comprises a suite of security primitives offered by a cloud platform. DPaaS would move the key management and access control to a middle tier — the computing platform — to balance rapid development and easy maintenance with user-side verifiability. By posing several practical questions that remain open, the authors provoke further thought and inspire future research and development in this area.
With its focus on how games are developed, deployed, and operated (as opposed to how they're played), gaming as a service (GaaS) is an emerging cloud service that's gaining interest in the game industry. This new architecture is moving more of the logic to the server and offering developers a new level of agility to deal with the vast array of complicated devices and address emerging competitive markets and business models. In "Toward Gaming as a Service," Wei Cai, Min Chen, and Victor C.M. Leung survey existing platforms that provide cloud gaming services, classify them into three architectural frameworks, and analyze their pros and cons. The authors also examine the features of different game genres and determine their impact on design for cloud gaming services. Finally, they describe a vision of GaaS provisioning for mobile devices and suggest research directions.
Deployment of gaming and other applications on mobile devices leveraging the cloud's promise calls for a reliable, high-bandwidth, end-to-end network. Yet, in many situations — such as geographical regions recovering from natural disasters or remote and developing regions with weak networking infrastructure — users and application developers can't assume reliable mobile connectivity to the cloud all the time. One promising mechanism for addressing this major limitation is cloudlets. Trusted, resource-rich computers that are connected to the Internet and available for use by nearby mobile devices, cloudlets act as surrogates or proxies for the real cloud. They serve as the middle in a three-tier hierarchy: mobile device, cloudlet, and cloud. Under failure conditions, a cloudlet masks the cloud's absence by performing its essential services. In "The Role of Cloudlets in Hostile Environments," Mahadev Satyanarayanan and his colleagues examine how mobile users can leverage the cloud in distinct ways and how VM-based cloudlets located in close proximity to associated mobile devices can provide reliable connectivity to the cloud.
A well-known use of the cloud is to deploy an enterprise application to exploit features such as scalability and flexibility to meeting uncertain demand and extreme usage variability. As a case study, "The BestBuy.com Cloud Architecture," examines how retailer Best Buy embraced the cloud to solve such problems with its e-commerce system. The company's IT personnel designed a new e-commerce platform to integrate cloud computing as part of the system so that, rather than simply operating on a cloud, the architecture exploits the inherent qualities of a cloud. Author Joel Crabb outlines the rationale for the company's cloud choice and hybrid cloud architectural decisions, as well as discusses the lessons learned from the project, which will be helpful for other cloud adopters.
Adoption of and migration to the cloud is nontrivial and presents new challenges to the enterprise IT team. In the final theme article, "The Future of Enterprise IT in the Cloud," Jamie Erbes, Hamid R. Motahari-Nezhad, and Sven Graupner discuss trends that are forcing changes in IT — cloud services, mobile consumer devices, and increased cross-enterprise collaboration. The authors emphasize that supporting IT's shifting role requires new mechanisms and frameworks that support services' end-to-end life cycle, from acquisition to integration, consumption, financial management, and termination. They conclude that an enterprise IT team can act as broker, integrator, or manager of a hybrid portfolio of services, retaining its central role in the enterprise.

Industry Perspectives



In the video segment, Dejan Milojicic (IEEE Computer Society President and senior researcher and managing director, HP Labs' Open Cirrus Cloud Computing Testbed), Sesh Murthy (VP, Cloud Innovation and Solutions at IBM Global Technology Services), and John Messina (Senior Member, Cloud Computing Project, NIST) offer their viewpoints and perspectives on cloud infrastructure, security, and standards, respectively.

Bright Prospects

Cloud computing's transformational potential is huge and impressive. Investors, corporations, and start-ups continue to eagerly invest in promising cloud computing technologies and services in both developed and developing economies. The cloud ecosystem has begun to evolve to provide an array of services that support the deployment of cloud-based solutions for applications across numerous domains. Further new cloud deployment types, models that deliver value-added services, and costing and business models are on the horizon.
Many new players are getting into the cloud arena, performing niche roles, and individuals and businesses are increasingly adopting cloud-based applications in both developed and developing economies. Governments in many countries are also promoting cloud adoption, particularly among micro, small, and medium enterprises. As a result, a new larger cloud ecosystem is poised to emerge.
As we've discussed, successfully and fully embracing the promise of clouds will require adopters to address a range of factors, including security, privacy, access management, and business continuity. Furthermore, they may have to use services from multiple service providers, aggregating and integrating them with the organization's legacy applications and systems, as well.
Thus, near-future developments should focus on standards for cloud security, data virtualization through advanced analytics and parallel-processing optimization, mobile applications, and platform as a service for specialized mobile platforms. Another key area for further development is interoperability among clouds, which would let users scale a service across disparate providers, while maintaining the appearance of a single system. Cloud federation — the interconnection of cloud services from different providers and networks — is another promising approach that would let providers wholesale or rent computing resources to other providers to balance workloads and handle spikes in demand.

Clouds in the Future

We welcome your comments and perspectives on this exciting topic. For example:
  • How will clouds emerge in the next 5 to 10 years?
  • How will clouds shape and transform the IT industry, business, and society as a whole?
  • What are your real-life experiences in embracing the cloud?
  • What are the real challenges facing cloud computing, CSPs, and users, and how should stakeholders and researchers work to address them?
  • How can CSPs, regulatory bodies, and researchers work together to raise the cloud to further heights?
Please share your insights, ideas, and experiences below.

Citation

S Murugesan and I Bojanova, "The Rise of the Clouds: Progress and Prospects," Computing Now, vol. 7, no. 8, August 2014, IEEE Computer Society [online]; http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/archive/august2014.
San Murugesan headshot
San Murugesan is editor in chief of IT Professional, the director of BRITE Professional Services, and an adjunct professor at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He is a corporate trainer, a consultant, a researcher, and an author. He is coeditor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Cloud Computing (Wiley 2014), as well as Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices (Wiley 2012), Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications (IGI-Global 2009), and Web Engineering(Springer 2001). Murugesan is an editorial board member of Computer and edits its bimonthly column, "Cloud Cover." He is a fellow of the Australian Computer Society and the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), as well as a distinguished visitor of the IEEE Computer Society. Contact him via email san[at]computer[dot]org, @santweetsLinkedIn or his Web site.
Irena Bojanova headshot
Irena Bojanova is a professor and program director of Information and Technology Systems at University of Maryland, University College. She has a PhD in Computer Science from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Bojanova is the founding chair of the IEEE CS Cloud Computing STC, a general chair of the IT Professional Conference, and editor of Encyclopedia of Cloud Computing (Wiley, to appear in 2014). She is also an associate editor in chief and the editor of the Trends Department in IT Professional, an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing, and an associate editor of International Journal of Big Data Intelligence. Bojanova is a senior member of IEEE. You can read her cloud computing blog at www.computer.org/portal/web/Irena-Bojanova. Contact her at irena.bojanova@umuc.edu or LinkedIn.
- See more at: 

http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/archive/august2014#sthash.fYIA48oB.8Lsn1D9f.dpuf