What's the fuss over all the new cloud computing companies/services? (Amazon Web Services, etc.)
Every software startup that I know of (including mine) looks like this:We don't own servers (we only own laptops for development).We don't have a lab, no data center, no racks, no cables.We don't own software licenses (except for a Rails IDE)We store/sync/backup our data in the cloud.Our source code control system, bug databases, and Wikis are in the cloudWe don't have Exchange or Active Directory (we use Google Apps).We don't own enterprise software (we use services like Expensify, Zendesk).We are paying almost nothing (in our case $2/day) to run a alpha instance of our app at Amazon (via Engineyard).As we go into production, that will go up to perhaps hundreds or a few thousand per month to run our service. We will only pay for exactly what we use. (Right now we pay more for coffee than we do to run a production web application!)We pay little for bandwidth and power (since we don't run a production site.)We don't really care much what OS or even web server our service runs on (OK, we know but don't need to interact with it very much.)Our expenses are almost 100% people, not capital. None of our funding has gone to capital. We don't have any equipment financing.Net is that cloud computing is:Pay as you goCompletely elasticAll service/subscription, not productCheap (Amazon has made it a low-margin business)Allows you to spend your time on your app, not on servers, software, racks, power, bandwidth, licenses, backup, OS licenses, applying patches, etc.Radically lowers the entry barrier for new services, both by startups and increasingly coming out of large companies.The legacy IT guys are entering a long, slow decline:They sell servers - people are going to stop buying servers.They sell OS, web server, app server licenses - people are going to stop buying thoseThey sell premise-based software licenses - the world is moving to Saas/subscription licensing.They have high margins - Amazon (by far the cloud market share leader) has Walmart-like margins.It is practically a textbook case of a disruptive technology. Smaller companies like mine that can start with a blank slate can run entirely in the cloud with "good enough" technology. But the technology gets better every year. By the time we get to 100 employees, we will still be 100% cloud based. When we get to 1000, we still will. And you will soon see existing SMB and mid market companies running entirely or substantially in the cloud. When that starts to happen, the industry will never be the same.
Why does Amazon use Akamai CDN instead of its CloudFront?
Robert, CloudFront can use custom origins as well. Jason, you are mixing edge servers and edge locations which isn't very meaningful, for example you might have 1000 servers in a single edge location. Some stats here but no list of edge locations from what I can find: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aka...To answer the original question, Amazon has responded to this in the forums before, citing long standing contractual obligations as one of many reasons they haven't started eating their own dogfood yet.I would imagine the truth is somewhere between that and CloudFront not giving as good of an experience as Akamai does for global amazon.com traffic.They are one of the smartest companies out there when it comes to scaling and value, I have to imagine they have run tests on this before, like putting all assets in the sporting goods section on CloudFront for a month and seeing what it did to metrics.
How much does Amazon pay for relocation as a lump sum?
The company pays a sum of 1.5 Lac Rs for relocation in India and 15k $ for relocation to US( for India to US transit ).Also as far as i can tell the relocation amount stays the same across all level 4 and above irrespective of the profile.For profiles below level 4, the amount is a bit less. I don't know the exact number but its within 1 lac RsHope it helps!Edit:Forgot to mention that the relocation amount is taxable and you won't end up getting all of it in hand.Sid
What kind of relocation assistance does Amazon offer new employees?
You have two options:1 ) you can take a lump sum relocation package (e.g. $15K) and you figure out the relocations details yourself. or2) you use Amazon’s 3rd party relocation service that will offer you30 day of corporate housing (negotiable) — these are furnished apartment.rental car for a period of timea moving service that will take everything from your house and move to Seattle (or whatever location you’ll be working at)pick up your car and move to SeattleFlights from your current relocation to SeattleAndrew FranklinAuthor: How to Get a Job at Amazon & How to Get a Job at Google
Aromatherapy Burners, diffusers, etc.?
There are all kinds of ways to diffuse essential oils into the air. Any place that sells aromatherapy oils and books will likely have at least a few of them. One simple, inexpensive one is the lightbulb ring. It sits on an old fashioned light bulb, you put a few drops of oil in it and turn on the light. The heat causes it to diffuse into the air. Can last from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the oil - citrus is a top note, patchouli is a bottom note. You can also burn an unscented votive candle with a few drops of essential oil on top. Disperses quickly so doesn't last very long. You can buy a spray bottle at Wal Mart or online. Put a few drops of essential oil in a bottle of water with a teaspoon of either vodka or rubbing alcohol to help the oil mix with the water. Shake before using and spray into the air. Glass bottles are best - plastic will turn milky white in reaction to the oil & alcohol. Put 10 to 20 drops of essential oil on top of a pan of water. Bring to simmer and leave the lid off to disperse fragrance into the air. Check the water level so you don't boil the pot dry. If you're using oils at night, simply put a few drops on a tissue or cloth and tuck it inside your pillowcase. Or put a drop or two in a bit of jojoba oil and use as hand lotion. After using these inexpensive (or free) methods for a few weeks, you might want to graduate to a $15 plug-in diffuser. Go see what is available from Frontier at: http://www.frontiercoop.com/products/dif... One of the safest oils for relaxing is Lavender. Mixes well with orange or lemon. Chamomile is excellent, but costs a lot more. (It will stain fabric gray-blue.) All the oils are anti-bacterial and healing but depends on what illness you are addressing.
What is your publishing experience in Kindle Direct Publishing?
I started using KDP in early 2010 and immediately my sales took off. What really made a difference was making a book free for two days. Over 3,000 copies were downloaded in those two days and I found myself #1 in technothrillers and in the top 10 of science fiction > adventure. Sales continued when the free period ended and I got to #460 in all books paid. I was making £700 per month in royalties.It didn’t last long. In April 2010 Amazon changed their ranking system so that a free download counted as 1/10th of a sale in their ranking. Sales dropped off quickly and I withdrew the book from Select to publish it at Smashwords and via their distribution system to Apple, Kobo, B&N etc.After a while I produced more books to make a series and made the first book free. The other books were not put in KDP Select. The first book remained in Amazon’s top 20 technothrillers for more than three years. I found for every 6 books given away I got someone who went on to buy the rest of the series (9 books so far).Overall - KDP is a brilliant publishing system and is my main earner. It’s easy to use with a good help system for the novice. The three areas which you should concentrate on and give far more attention to are the cover, the book description and the Keywords used. Getting these areas right can make a big difference. Select is good too - it’s especially good for an author’s first book. Once you become known and have more books available it’s time to withdraw from Select but remain in KDP.KDP offers little help in book promotion. There’s a lot to learn here. Smashwords offers more help but it’s up to the author to do the promotion and for success you need perseverance and luck. Here’s a few things you can do to help yourself be lucky.
How do authors make money when their ebooks are priced at $0.00 on KindleUnlimited?
They don’t make much. They are building an audience for their next or previous book which people will be willing to pay for if they like the writer.The good thing about being a writer (there are some) is that readers are loyal. Of the writers I like, I will buy any new book blind (until they piss me off). I was a huge Philip Kerr fan for decades. Bought everything until the last two. Now I’m done and sad.I will say it’s a strange thing on Kindle though, that people will wait for a free day when the book is only $2.99 anyway.Finally, people who ‘subscribe’ (a monthly or annual fee) do pay money. That money goes into a pool which Kindle distributes to the writers (quarterly, I think) depending on how many down-loads you have. We get a deposit regularly for The Virgin Whore Trial and they are always sending updates about the rules.I imagine Netflix so something similar. My kid has a subscription, and I guess they track what he watches and disperse a portion of the subscription money accordingly.That’s all I know.