Azure, HTML5, PHP, and the SAG Awards in 13 Recent Cloud Posts

Larry and I have both been heads down working on a number of projects…hence, the recent lack of activity on the blog. But fear not! We’re not dead yet. Hopefully, we’re laying the groundwork for bigger and better things to come. We have, however, managed to come across what we think is some interesting reading…perhaps you might find it interesting too…

• SAG Awards Drupal Website Moves to Windows Azure: "The success of the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards ceremony was buoyed by the move of its Drupal-based website hosted on internal Linux servers to ones hosted on Windows Azure."
• Windows Azure using CNAME DNS records for multiple sites and SSL: Describes "what entries you have to make where in the service model and what modifications you have to make to your DNS if you want say the default planky.cloudapp.net site to be a little more like planky.com."
• Setting Up Diagnostics Monitoring In Windows Azure: A look at how to set up the Windows Azure Diagnostics Monitor, plus info on some common pitfalls and best practices.
• Do we have the tools we need to navigate the New World of Data? An update on Microsoft's strategy and product roadmap for Big Data including embracing Hadoop as part of our data platform and providing insights to all users on any data.
• Evolution of PHP on Windows: A look back (through the eyes of SoHosted Webhosting) at some of the work that has been done over the last several years to improve the experience PHP developers and users have on Windows Server and Windows Azure.
• Announcing Reduced Pricing on Windows Azure Storage and Compute: Another price drop for Windows Azure.
• Moving applications to the cloud: Part 1 – What are the considerations? "The goal of this article is to discuss several common considerations (including any changes that might apply) when moving your application to Windows Azure. Though there are also significant concerns from business perspective, this article will focus on the technical aspects."
• Rails Development on Windows. Seriously.: A good article on running Rails on Windows, with an interesting and lively discussion on the merits of doing this.
• Mass assignment vulnerability isn’t just for Rails: You’ve probably heard of the recent security issue that affected GitHub. Like most security vulnerabilities, it’s not just one language/framework that is vulnerable.
• Creating Responsive HTML5 Interfaces: Now that everything seems to be trending toward touch, you might want to start looking into creating interfaces that work well for both mouse and finger.
• There is no simple solution for local storage: A good discussion of why there’s not a great solution for caching files/blobs on the client side.
• KinectJS - Kinect + Javascript: Who needs touch when you can go all Minority Report and wave your hands at the monitor?
• A Hypermedia API Reading List: If you want to read up on RESTful things, this is a good list to start with.