Clouds produce more than precipitation

Those of us that live in midwest, not neccessarily the geographical midwest, but the "real" midwest, the one that has all four seasons....seasons filled with snow, rain, heat, cold, flowers, green grass and miles of corn fields.  I was raised in a small midwestern town and had a Grandfather that was a tremendous farmer, I had uncles that farmed...the weather and clouds were mainstays of our conversations.  In fact, we were dependent on clouds, clouds created the neccessary weather that feed our farms.  

Its funny...I am not close to being a farmer, but finding myself in the middle of cloud discussions, has a little bit of irony for me.

I am currently going through a series of personal beta technology movements...tweeting, blogging, linkedin, and the most painful, I've moved everything I do to the cloud.  Yes...I am flying solo on a mini notebook, an Acer AS1410.  Nifty little machine that is fast, lightweight and extremely portable.  I need to give a nod to Windows 7 too...I am a fan.

So the only application I am running locally is Internet Explorer 8.  All my docs are at google, my mail is Profitabilities Hosted Exchange. My primary business application is a custom built web based tool for quoting and billing.  I wonder how many users are like me?  I do use word and excel, but google docs is sophisticated enough to handle any word processing or spreadsheeting. (spell check says not a word, beg to differ!)  Easy transition.

In just a day I gained speed and effieciencies.  I am enjoying the benefit of connecting to wifi anywhere and having everything, even if I don't have my notebook.

Long before I made the conscious decision to move everything to the cloud, I realized I've been relying on it for years.  In 2003 I began using TurboTax Online...one of the most important things a person has to do is file taxes...I do it in the cloud.  Every year my prior return is there, I log in, update, submit, done. 

Bottomline:  The cloud has been around, I need to pay closer attention, and continue to carry the family torch...watching the clouds role in.