Business

Although the company behind Meteor, a framework for building real-time JavaScript applications in vein of Google Docs, just announced a nice big $11.2 million round of funding, it’s not the only game in town. In my story earlier this week I mentioned Mojito, a framework developed by Yahoo. But there’s still another framework that has escaped my attention, even though it’s around longer than Meteor: Derby. Much like Meteor and Mojito, Derby is a client and server side JavaScript framework for building real-time applications. Its synchronization engine Racer can be used independent of Derby. Nate Smith (an ex-Googler) and Brian Noguchi are the core developers of the framework, and the founders of the stealth startup Lever. “We have a stable financial base,” Smith wrote on the project’s Google Group. “We have a very different business model than Meteor, and we are creating a product-focused company that will continue to support the framework.” Meteor, on the other hand, is being develop...

Why is the cloud so hard to make funny? Do a search on YouTube. You will see songs about the cloud based upon Joni Mitchell and Vanilla Ice songs. “Cloud, Cloud Maybe.” Groan. Thank goodness for The Onion. Finally, the cloud is funny. The cloud is not supposed to be funny. How can you be funny about a bunch of servers? Elasticity? That’s not funny. There are some decent attempts. One Microsoft spoof on VMware is funny but not Onion kind of funny. It features Tad, the sales guy from VMlimited. And then there is the cloud consultant. He has no credentials but lots of friends who are social media experts. You can get a bit of a laugh about Hitler learning about a security issue. But the Hitler spoofs are numerous on YouTube so it doesn’t have quite the edge. Most of the cloud videos are so awful that they become funny in their own cringing way. Microsoft’s “To the Cloud,” campaign ranks high in that category. I did some checking to find other videos by The Onion about the cloud. I could...