Resources
Supplementary class materials
“Cloud Computing: How (and Why) to Get Started”
This web page provides additional information and resources for attendees of my class offered through the Arlington Adult Education program. This page gives you some starting points, but is not intended to provide exhaustive listings.
General notes
There are countless options for cloud-based computing services. This list is not intended to be comprehensive, nor can I claim to have even tried all of the sites listed. But it should serve you as a good starting point. I welcome your feedback on what you've tried, successfully or otherwise.
Background info
- Introducing the Chromebook (Google commercial we viewed in class)
- How Cloud Computing Works (slightly technical)
- Definition: Cloud Computing (from a business perspective)
Miscellaneous Information
- Five Things You Need to Know About the Cloud
- Cloud computing: Legal standards up in the air
- Web AppStorm previews many web- and cloud-based applications.
- Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off
- A comparison of free Cloud Storage Services
- Your data, your rights: how fair are online storage services?
- Gmvault — Gmail Backup
- SpinBckup — back up your Google Apps or personal Gmail account data
- Using The Cloud Safely
- Google Cloud Print — how to print from your smartphone to a printer back home
- EULA Analyzer — translate license agreements into something more closely resembling English
- Down or is it just me? or Down for everyone or just me? — check a web site's online status
- The cloud isn't all silver linings — sometimes it rains
- How To Protect Yourself From Online Services Shutting Down
- Using the Cloud Securely
- Are You Using a Passowrd Manager Yet? written for iPhone, but largely applicable for Android and even desktop/laptop
- Dropbox vs. Google Drive vs. OneDrive: Which Cloud Storage Is Best for You?
- Using the Cloud Securely
- The 8 Best Free Browser-Based Adobe Illustrator Alternatives
- 5 No-Signup Free Online Video Editors That Keep You Anonymous
- Cloud Storage vs Cloud Backup: Why every solopreneur needs to know the difference
Cloud-based services
- Note that many of these
services are available in both free and
paid offerings, some are totally free, and a very few are only
available at a cost. In general, these listings are of interest
primarily for consumers and very small businesses — for a large
enterprise, the expertise of IT staff or consultants should be drawn
upon. Find the one that's appropriate for your
needs.
- Start with a web browser
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Opera
- Vivaldi
- Iron
- Stay connected with e-mail
- Google Gmail
- Yahoo!
- Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail)
- ProtonMail — secure email
- Slack (team messaging)
- Gmailify — just start at Gmail!
- Keep (and share) your calendar
- Google Calendar
- TeamUp group calendar
- Yahoo!
- Cozi — shared family calendar
- iCloud calendar
- Any.do
- Create, edit, and share office documents
- Google Drive
- Google Workspace — (formerly G Suite, Google Apps) combines calendar, e-mail, and documents
- Microsoft Office Online
- Microsoft Office 365
- Zoho
- iWork for iCloud
- Create and retrieve notes
- Evernote
- Google Keep
- Simplenote
- Joplin
- OneNote
- Read e-books
- Kindle
- nook
- Kobo
- Manage to-do lists and projects
- Remember the Milk
- todoist
- Trello
- Any.do
- Microsoft To Do
- Keep track of your passwords
- Bitwarden
- LastPass
- Enpass
- 1Password
- Dashlane
- Organize web bookmarks
- Opera (Opera Link, built into the web browser)
- Firefox (built into the web browser)
- Chrome (built into the web browser)
- Create on-line photo albums
- Snapfish
- Flickr
- Shutterfly
- Google Photos
- Edit your photos
- Croppola — cropping to improve composition
- Pixlr
- BeFunky
- iPiccy
- SumoPaint
- Photopea — Photoshop clone
- Mara
- Share your videos
- YouTube
- Vimeo
- Edit your videos
- YouTube Video Editor
- Video Toolbox
- Magisto
- Discover new music
- Pandora
- Spotify
- Last.fm
- TuneIn
- iHeart Radio
- Amazon Music
- CBC Music
- find your favorite radio station's website to listen live
- Edit audio files
- Online Audio Cutter — trim audio files, extract the audio track from videos, etc. (And look for links to other tools for quick audio and video editing)
- Audacity online (web browser extension)
- Create audio slideshows and presentations
- Prezi
- Animoto
- Organize travel plans
- TripIt
- Manage your personal finances
- Mint
- PocketSmith
- SigFig
- Create a blog
- Blogger
- Tumblr
- WebStarts
- Weebly
- WordPress
- Create a web site
- Weebly
- WebStarts
- Google Sites
- Webs
- Wix
- Build a family tree
- TribalPages
- MyHeritage
- eFamily
- FamilySearch
- Track your time
- TimeTracker
- 14Dayz
- TimeCamp
- Simplify business expense reporting
- Wave Accounting
- Shoeboxed
- Expensify
- Manage invoices
- Zoho
- InvoicePlace
- Tradeshift
- Freshbooks
- Invoicera
- Invoicely
- Manage e-mail campaigns
- Mad Mimi
- FanBridge
- MailChimp
- ConstantContact
- Conduct on-line surveys
- SurveyMonkey
- Google Forms
- QuestionPro
- Create diagrams
- MindMeister
- Mindomo
- Cacoo
- Popplet
- LucidChart
- Icovia — room layouts
- Piktochart — create posters, infographics, and more
- Fax without a machine
- FaxZero
- FaxBetter
- Scan to OCR
- Online OCR
- Hold online meetings and webinars
- Zoom
- BigMarker.com
- Meetin.gs
- Zoho
- Google Hangouts
- Make free conference calls†
- Skype
- FreeConference.com
- Free Conference Pro
- FreeConferenceCall.com
- Manage event invitations and registration
- Doodle — find out when everybody can attend [no longer free]
- Eventbrite.com
- Evite
- SignUp Genius — schedule volunteers
- Transfer files with FTP
- net2ftp
- Share files over the Internet (note lots of overlap in the next few categories!)
- WeTransfer
- MediaFire
- DropBox
- CloudMe
- Send large files to somebody else
- pCloud Transfer
- MailBigFile
- Hightail
- WeTransfer
- MediaFire
- Back up files on-line
- Box
- 4shared
- DropBox
- Google Drive
- IDrive
- SugarSync
- SpiderOak
- MediaFire
- Mega — 50 gigabytes free
- BoxCryptor — encrypt your files on the fly before saving them to the Cloud
- MultiCloud — manage and transfer files across Cloud drives
- Cloud-based backups
(similar to previous category, except the emphasis is more on complete backup and restore in case of system failures) - Backblaze
- Carbonite
- KeepVault
- Backupify — backup the stuff you have at other cloud services!
- Google Takeout — download an archive of your Google data
- Are Your Files Getting Lost in the Cloud? These 4 Cloud Storage Managers Will Help
- Develop software
- Ideone
- ShiftEdit
- CodePen
- Replit