Microsoft 365 vs. Google Docs. vs Zoho (FIGHT!)

The age old question will finally be settled today. I wish I could be that decisive but between the three SaaS offerings it comes down to preferences really.  Since I can pronounce no clear winner I will at least give awards and honorable mentions in individual categories, Usability, Features and Value.

Usability - Winner Microsoft 365, Honorable Mention Google Docs


We are all familiar with the Microsoft Office desktop product suite.  You will feel right at home using Microsoft 365.  The ribbon feature of the newer office versions has carried over into 365.  Working in office 365 feels just like working on the desktop version.  My only gripe about Microsoft Office 365's usability is that many of its useful and advanced features seem to be hidden in menus.  A common misconception or popular gripe is that Microsoft 365 requires you to download a desktop application in order to run it.  This is completely false, no software is required.  Only if you want to have advanced collaboration and desktop integration is this necessary.

The simplicity of Google Docs is what earned it an Honorable Mention.  It is extremely easy to get an overview of all of your documents from the homepage and it is possible to access any document or to create any type of document from the homepage.  Google's design when editing documents (even though recently updated) leaves much to be desired.

Zoho fails at overall usability.  Integration between the various offerings is non-existent and separate accounts are required to use some portions of the site. Usability within the individual applications is great however and helped it take the gold in the Features category.

Features - Winner Zoho, Honorable Mention Tie, Microsoft 365 and Google Docs


Zoho offers a myriad of SaaS features.  Over 27 applications are available for use.  Zoho definitely feels more fleshed out than Docs and 365. For Microsoft Office you will immediately notice that the online version is lacking many features present in the desktop counterpart.  However, this is the first version of 365 and it is already up to par with Google Docs feature wise.  Many features like setting up a blog or team pages, or creating a personal webpage are useful but hidden under menus and not immediately accessible.




Value - Google Docs


Google was the clear winner here.  Almost all of googles SaaS offerings are free and I do not see that changing anytime soon.  Microsoft 365 offers a free trial and requires a subscription after the trial period.  Zoho is mostly free but resources for free accounts is lower than that of google.  Another advantage of google is you share your storage space between the multiple platforms.  So if you upgrade your storage to 15GB with google you can share that amongst your google docs, gmail account etc.  With zoho you are required to update each account individually without the possibility of sharing resources.


Zoho https://www.zoho.com/
Google Docs http://docs.google.com
Microsoft 365 http://office365.com

How routers really work.

This assignment required us to listen to the How Stuff Works Podcast: "How routers work".  The hosts did a good job of providing a general overview of routers and associated protocols. Unfortunately it is hard for me to pay attention to podcasts... so after listening to it three times I have a decent understanding of their discussion.  I hope to overcome the shortfall of all audio podcast by providing pictures to keep you interested.

The hosts focused on three layers of the OSI model. For those of you that don't live in your parents basement OSI stands for open systems interconnection (I didn't know what OSI meant either) and is the backbone of the modern network. In the most basic sense the OSI model is set of definitions to help create the ideal network. .  

Layer one is the 'bit' or physical layer. The actual physical elements of a single communication device such as the internal configuration of the device (pins, bit rate, encoding) or other elements like the voltage needed to transmit data.

Layer two concerns communication between devices within a LAN (local area network).  Which contrary to the title of the post, a router is not needed to allow communication within a LAN, only a switch.

A router is needed when you need to communicate with another network. The network of networks (Layer 3 - internet) is when routers really come into play.  "The router controls the information moving from a local area network to the internet.... and without a router... global communication would not be possible."

Routers transmit pieces of information called packets. Many packets are used to send or request a piece of information. Packets also come with instructions on where the data is to be delivered. Routers help packets reach their final destination by automatically selecting the fastest path to the destination server.  A router uses a routing table to help it send packets.  Routing tables contain a list of dynamic rules that are constantly updating by routers communicating with each other to help select the best paths for packets to be sent.

Routers constantly communicate with each other to determine the path of least resistance.

Routers essentially calculate the cost of transmitting a piece of data to its destination.  For example, one packet may be sent from router A to router B to router C to router D.  Typically routers look for a path with the fewest hops and if a packet has been through too many hops the router may think the packet is lost or has already reached its destination and is loitering on the network.

Bunnies all over the world are tasked with delivering your Wikipedia searches to and from routers. 

MAC addresses are associated with each device on a local network.  Once a bunny has reached the router with the requested information it looks to see which MAC addressed requested the information and delivers the wikipedia search for Miss Piggy to my laptop. 

Ten points if you can spot what is wrong with this picture.

Sometimes we may receive packets from evil malicious bunnies that are carrying data that is harmful to our computers and network.  That is why it is important to have a firewall.  Thankfully, most routers have firewalls built into them.  Firewalls have a set of rules they use to filter out bad packets from ever entering our local networks.

I like to think of my firewall as being Mr. T

I only scratched the surface on how routers work.  If you have any questions please comment and I will try to answer your question as concisely as possible accompanied with an appropriately funny image.

Business Models and Shameless Plugs

In this assignment I was tasked with creating two business model diagrams.  One of which was to be based on a company you have worked for and one where you create a new infomediary business.

StarWarsIntro.com
The first diagram is of a business I actually started in high school.  It was born from my love of Star Wars.  Users can can re-create the iconic scrolling text introduction with their own text, music or graphics.  I first created the program back when Flash Actionscript 2.0 was released.   There was no dynamic 3D text support with MX 2004 so I would manually create orders as they came in.  I spent a good two weeks glued to my desktop trying to match everything as close to the movie as possible.  It turned out to be a bigger success than I would have ever imagined.  I received order after order and was glad to take their money but I was not much fun converting each order manually into 3D and placing it into the program to run.  Once converted into 3D the text was no longer editable and customers would frequently want to change something at some point and I would have to repeat the entire process over.

Screenshot from starwarsintro.com

Actionscript 3 and CS3 came to the rescue and really changed the way I do business.  The dynamic 3D text support allowed me to re-create the program from scratch with the ability to load data dynamically from a text or XML file.  I am now able to offer a DIY version where users simply update the provided XML file with their text and the program does the rest.   I still offer a custom version where I create the scroll for them. It gives the simplicity of only needing one file and the option of using .mov format.  It is much easier for me to create and update than the previous version. Lastly I offer the source code for those who want the ultimate in control.

My client base is quite diverse. The majority are used for birthday celebrations. I have had someone propose to his wife with one which I thought was creative. Corporations often use them as intro's to training seminars or award ceremonies. Companies like ExxonMobil, Sony, Ernst & Young, and Vision Works to name a few are among my customers, many are repeat customers. TomTom even used the scroll as their press release in several languages when announcing Star Wars voices for their GPS devices. A few years ago a promotor working  MTV commissioned me to create personal invitations to celebrities for the MTV music video awards. Others incorporate them into their website or use them for some other purpose.

Jango Fett next to George Lucas

I am still waiting on King George to send a bounty hunter after me but perhaps he agrees with me that I am helping his brand more than taking away from his warchest.

starwarsintro.com

Adrenaline Junkies

For my infomedia business I created something out of my imagination.  I have several existing ideas but I chose to create a new one. I've only known my classmates for a week and they could steal my ideas. Just kidding..

My idea is a infomedia site geared to 'Adrenaline Junkies'.  There is currently no central location for thrill seekers to virtually meet, discuss their trips (brag), post videos or provide ratings/reviews of places to go. The site would be centered around a message board allowing users to post reviews / comments.  A few of the unique features of the website would be for users to be able to 'check in' at locations and provide an 'adrenaline rating' for where they are.  For example people check in at the Skykomish River in Seattle, or the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags and after the trip they can give it a rating to share with the community.  Users could then view the top 'adrenaline' activities from around the world and associated reviews/videos etc.  Companies could bid to become a featured adrenaline area or provide groupon style deals to adrenaline junkie users.  Users would also win points for checking in at locations, purchasing trips through the adrenaline junkie site or having a highly rated review among other things.  They could then use the points to purchase apparel, bid on trips etc.  Other community members could rate other members 'adrenaline adventures' to compete to become the the top adrenaline junkie. The possibilities are endless.

I think it is important to note that some of the customer segments can also be classified as partners.  The site in theory would benefit both the end user whether it be a thrill seeker or business and Andrenaline Junkie at the same time.    My application of the idea is fairly broad and it would likely behoove me to narrow the scope a bit..... but for the purpose of this exercise I am thinking big! This idea isn't that bad... hmmm time to register a domain name.

The Shwartz is strong with this one.

Carey Drake in Barcelona

Welcome to my blog, consider yourself lucky that you now have the privilege of hearing my most inner thoughts and scandalous desires.  Not really, but hopefully that sentence gives you an idea of my sense of humor.

Seriously though, this is my class blog for the Master of Internet Technology program at the University of Georgia.  From time to time I will be elaborating on class discussions or talking about a project I am currently working on.  I have to admit that I am a WordPress fanboy and this is my first time using blogger.  I thought I would give it a try, embracing the academic spirit of breaking out of my comfort zone and learning about new ideas and methodologies. Not to mention that I seem to have a hard time remembering to update WordPress installations.

To tell you a little bit about myself I am currently 22 and a native of Athens, Ga.  I work for UGA as a web developer in the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute and also run two small business of my own.  Web development is a passion of mine.  I built my first website when I was barely out of elementary school back when frames and tables were cool.

I am the one on the left. (Captain Rex)
Recently sold to a new home.

I love to travel as much as possible.  Some of favorite places to visit are Barcelona, Los Angeles, Coruscant, the Mushroom Kingdom and most recently I have fallen in love with Seattle.  Aside from traveling I have enjoyed playing piano for the past 12 years and am a huge fan of Gerswhin. One of my life goals is to actually memorize Rhapsody in Blue.. 3/26 pages to go.  When I am not serenading myself on the piano I am a thrill seeker, always looking for the next class V river to go white water rafting or another perfectly good plane to jump out of.  A recent hobby of mine has been costuming.  I am a member of the Star Wars 501st and Rebel Legion costuming groups but I do not limit myself to only Star Wars costuming.  At the moment I am working on a Jurassic Park ranger costume for DragonCon.

I am genuinely excited to be apart of the MIT program and the challenge it will provide me.

Please visit and comment often.  Whoever leaves the 1,000,000 comment to my blog will win a free Nintendo Wii.

Carey Drake