Traditional corporate data centers are moving out of expensive data storage and computing and moving into much cheaper and efficient subscription based clouds. Companies that are benefitting from the new trend includes cloud based storage behemoth Google and Amazon.com, chip makers for cloud based storage Advanced Micro Devices and Applied Micro Circuit, networkers Ciena that provide fast connecting fiber-optic equipment and Splunk, and service providers such as Verizon Communications. Biggest losers will be those enterprise software companies such as SAP, Microsoft and Oracle.

Verizon Communications and Amazon Web Service are making new programming tools that make it easier to transition software from old school company data centers onto clouds. Companies such as Advance Micro Devices are also helping Verizon Cloud by providing them with processors. Verizon Cloud expected to be in operation by 2014. Network gear maker and the leader, Cisco will face problems in coming years because its gear doesn’t fit new cloud equipment. That is why Verizon Cloud using switches from the newcomer Arista Networks that run Linux. Data storage specialists such as EMC and NetApp will not be affected by cloud revelations. However, they are under constant threat from new comers such as Violin Memory and Micron Technology.

By Samuel Phineas Upham

Researchers have known for a while that our brain releases natural painkillers when an individual experiences physical pain. However, Science Daily reports that a new study reveals that the brain releases the same chemicals when a person experiences social rejection.

In addition to being released during social rejection, the study found that opioid was also released in the brain during social acceptance. “The opioid system is known to play a role in both reducing pain and promoting pleasure, and our study shows that it also does this in the social environment,” said Hsu.

The findings of the study will be helpful to researchers who are studying depression and social anxiety. Senior author of the study, Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D., told the paper that, “”It is possible that those with depression or social anxiety are less capable of releasing opioids during times of social distress, and therefore do not recover as quickly or fully from a negative social experience.”

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

About the Author: Samuel Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media and Telecom group. You may contact Phin on his Samuel Phineas Upham website or Facebook.

By Ted Dhanik

A company is ready to go forward. The products are finished, the services have been created. And the elements of marketing have been built or rendered, and are ready to be embedded. And yet, how does a company get its marketing to the customers they desire or cater to?

Contextual advertising is a crucial step in any online marketing campaign. No matter how many elements, banners, and streaming videos are prepared, without having the ability to get them in front of the eyes of potential customers, they cannot perform the function that both time and money was used to create. A contextual advertising system solves that problem.

Basically, this system scans the texts of various websites for particular words or phrases. In doing so, it can then find relatable sites that can feature a company’s goods or services to those who may be seeking said products. Take for example a website that caters to antique hunters, which also shows hotspots and areas that posses a great deal of these type of treasures. This probably wouldn’t be the ideal place for a sports company to advertise. However, it may be perfect for a company that works with antique restoration or a travel company that builds trips to these favored hot spots.

By having the service of a contextual system at a company’s disposal, it guarantees that the marketing campaign will be seen by the intended target audience. It is one of the advantages that online advertising has to offer, using digital and technological tools for a digital and technological age.

This post has been brought to you by Ted Dhanik and friends. For all of your advertising needs, Ted Dhanik is the solution. Be sure to visit Ted Dhanik at his website and discover what he has available for you and your business.

By Phin Upham

A recent article in AEON Magazine posed an intriguing question: are there limits to the types of decisions that computer-driven algorithms can make? The article presented several hypothetical situations which showed that there are instances where the human thought process is needed even if it is not as logically sound as a computer algorithm.

One example given was a choice that a driver might need to make if a school bus was careening out of control at them on a small bridge. Would they choose to stay on the road and force the school bus over the edge or sacrifice their safety by driving off the road? It’s a choice that comes down to a person’s morals and personal beliefs and one that would be impossible to ask an algorithm to predict if a car was driven by a computer.

Find out more at: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/steven-poole-can-algorithms-ever-take-over-from-humans/

About the Author: Phin Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media & Technology group. You may contact Phin on his Phin Upham website or Twitter page.

By Ted Dhanik

Display marketing has a certain ring to it. After all, it is a visual marketing tool used on various webpages. But what are the benefits to it? Is it worth the extra cost?

Yes, and current users of display marketing say so as well. Display marketing is a great way to focus a business’ marketing strategy to achieve a specific goal and to increase traffic to a website immediately.

It does this by putting ads on sites that are specific to the clientele that browse that site. A lot of research goes into the consumers in order to construct ads that will be the most likely to guide them to a company’s webpage. Many aspects are taken into consideration and compared, such as the frequency of traffic, what times of day and when during the week these clients are viewing the pages, how often they refresh or select an ad- many of these things. All of these are combined to produce a marketing product that creates an ad geared specifically at the users and consumers.

And display ads are not just utilized on webpages. Because people have so many interfaces that they use, such as a mobile device on their way to work, a computer at work, a tablet at home, and then the television, different ads are required to fit each device. So an ad shown on a phone would not be the same one shown on a webpage- and for good reason.

It is important when selecting a display marketing company to dmake sure that they offer these specified and detailed arrangements. Display marketing will work if it is researched and prepared correctly. And simply putting ads on high traffic websites will not guarantee success- the level of detail described above is what increases a company’s ROI and web traffic, not flat and unprepared visibility.

Guest post provided by Ted Dhanik, CEO of engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik and his company offer high-performance marketing solutions in display advertising. Ted Dhanik offers his insights on display advertising in his professional blogs.