About Cloud Computing

If you are in the IT world, you'd probably heard about Cloud Computing, which is apparently a buzzword frequently mentioned by Gartner since 2007, and spread over the global IT industry nowadays. It is emerging at the convergence of 3 major trends nowadays, namely service orientation, virtualization and standardization of computing through the Internet.

Gartner defines Cloud Computing as a style of computing where massively scalable IT-related capabilities are provided “as a service” using Internet technologies to multiple external customers. This term derives from the normal practice in network drawing whereby the Internet is always presented as a cloud symbol in the diagram.

With Cloud Computing, the computing resources will be consolidated from various data center locations linked up together in the cloud, and will be delivered to consumers on a service subscription basis, allow access from anywhere and provide economies of scale. The concept is similar to utility services that we all are familiar with, such as the electricity.

Consumers of Cloud Computing services purchase the required computing capacity on-demand, and are not generally concerned with the underlying technologies used to achieve the increase in server capability. The types of IT services that can be provided through a cloud are wide-reaching, and have now expanded past web applications to include storage, raw computing, or access to any number of specialized services.

Notable Cloud Computing service providers include:

• Amazon - Amazon Web Services
• Google - Apps engine
• IBM - Blue Cloud
• Nirvanix - Storage Delivery Network

Redhat and Elastra also provide cloud computing based on the Amazon Web Services.

To date, there are still a lot of confusion around this buzzword, and Gartner has clarified the following to be myths about Cloud Computing and should not be taken as true:

• Myth No. 1: Cloud computing is an architecture or an infrastructure.
• Myth No. 2: Every vendor will have a different cloud.
• Myth No. 3: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the cloud.
• Myth No. 4: Cloud computing is a brand new revolution.
• Myth No. 5: All remote computing is cloud computing.
• Myth No. 6: The Internet and the Web are the cloud.
• Myth No. 7: Everything will be in the cloud.
• Myth No. 8: The cloud eliminates private networks.

Cloud Computing is a promising approach for highly scalable integrated computing service. It is still in its early stage now, and might take a few years to be matured.

OSIM OS-3200 iCare 200 Eye Massager

I redeemed this OSIM OS-3200 iCare 200 Eye Massager with my Citibank Rewards Points recently. The delivery was very efficient, as it reached my house within 2 days time right after the redemption was made through Citibank Online website.

The function of this electronic eye mask is to massage and exercise the eyes. I find it effective in relieving the eye strain and tiredness.

It is very lightweight, easy to carry, and operates with the remote control with 4 AA size Alkaline batteries. It doesn't use household electricity and doesn't have a power plug.

Its 3 main massaging features are: air pressure, heat and vibration. It also contains magnetic nodes said to be able to improve circulation around the eye area and enhancing the massage effectiveness.

There are 4 modes of air pressure, 2 modes of heat selection, 6 modes of vibration. It comes with 1 automatic massage program, and 6 manual massage modes. Selectable massage time are 5, 10 and 15 minutes. I find the default 15 minutes massage time is quite long. If you are impassion, better select a shorter time period.

I have also seen this product appeared in Maybank TreatsPoints reward list before. If you plan to redeem your points, probably can consider this as well.

How MYR has performed after de-peg from USD

Today is 21 July 2008, the 3rd anniversary after Bank Negara Malaysia (the central bank of Malaysia) announced the Ringgit de-peg from US Dollar on 21 July 2005.

To recap, during the the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, when the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced the impose of capital controls to the country, Malaysia Ringgit was pegged at 3.80 to the US Dollar in September 1998 after plunged by 60%.

The capital control measures were then gradually lifted several years later. Ringgit was de-peg a few hours after China announced the de-peg of Yuan to US Dollar on the same day.

So how has the Ringgit performed now, after 3 years from the date of de-peg?

The graph below shows the foreign exchange (forex) history of Ringgit and Yuan against US Dollar since 21 July 2005. It shows that the appreciation of Yuan is pretty steady, while the appreciation of Ringgit is more fluctuated. We can also notice that the Ringgit depreciated slightly since the recent election held on 8 March 2008 which caused some political instability as the ruling government become weaker in power.



Many people are also concerned about the forex rate with Singapore Dollar, and here is the graph.



Singapore Dollar has appreciated from the bottom of 2.22 in 23 May 2007 all the way to 2.39 in last week closing, and the appreciation rate of Singapore Dollar to US Dollar is all the way faster than Ringgit. This is because Singapore is making use of a faster rise in the Singapore dollar to curb their inflation.

Below is the percentage change of the Ringgit forex rate against some major currencies, between the date of 21 July 2005 and 18 July 2008:

Hong Kong Dollar (HKD): +17.56%
US Dollar (USD): +17.12%
South Korean Won (KRW): +14.71%
Japanese Yen (JPY): +12.62%
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR): +9.72%
New Zealand Dollar (NZD): +5.10%
British Pound (GBP): +2.85%

China Yuan (CNY): -1.55%
Canadian Dollar (CAD): -2.92%
Singapore Dollar (SGD): -4.28%
Russian Ruble (RUB): -4.75%
Thai Baht (THB): -5.75%
Swiss Franc (CHF): -6.26%
Philippine Peso (PHP): -7.00%
Australian Dollar (AUD): -7.79%
Euro (EUR): -9.75%

A simple judgement to the performance of Ringgit is to consider the imports and exports of Malaysia. The best condition is for Ringgit to depreciate against currency of exports-partners (so that Malaysian goods become cheaper to them) and to appreciate against currency of import-partners (so that their goods become cheaper in Malaysia).

Here are the top 8 exports-partners of Malaysia as reported in 2007:

• US 15.6% (RM94.52 billion)
  
• Singapore 14.6% (RM88.51 billion)
  
• Japan 9.1% (RM55.24 billion)
  
• China 8.8% (RM53.04 billion)
  
• Thailand 5.0% (RM29.98 billion)
  
• Hong Kong 4.6% (RM27.97 billion)
• Netherlands 3.9% (RM23.60 billion)
• South Korea 3.8% (RM23.03 billion)
  

And here are the top 8 import-partners of Malaysia as reported in 2007:

• Japan 13.0% (RM65.54 billion)
  
• China 12.9% (RM64.90 billion)
  
• Singapore 11.5% (RM57.96 billion)
  
• US 10.8% (RM54.69 billion)
  
• Taiwan 5.7% (RM28.71 billion)
  
• Thailand 5.3% (RM27.01 billion)
  
• South Korea 4.9% (RM24.93 billion)
  
• Germany 4.6% (RM23.42 billion)
  

Since Malaysia export Market still rely heavily on US, it is not favourable for the Ringgit to appreciate too fast against US Dollar. The depreciation against Singapore Dollar is OK since exports value to them is more than the imports. The appreciation against Japanese Yen is OK too, since imports value from them is more than the exports. However, Ringgit should follow the long-term strategy of slightly ahead of China Yuan, and current situation is unfavourable, since Malaysia imports from China is more than exports.

All in all, so far the Ringgit performance is intact and not too bad.