More and more individuals and businesses are utilizing the benefits of cloud storage as prices decrease and the level of service improves.

Public confidence in online storage options is also on the up as the issue of security is being addressed on an on-going basis thanks to advances in technology that ensure stringent data protection is now commonplace.

Despite organizations of all sizes and across all industries making the switch to the cloud, there are those that remain reluctant to embrace this significant change in how information is stored. So, why should you store data in the ‘Cloud’? And what do customers of services such as Egnyte’s cloud storage get for making the switch?

Benefits of the Cloud

    * File back-up. Using a traditional file server leaves business owners open to the possibility of suddenly and unexpectedly losing an array of confidential data if the server is damaged for whatever reason, but cloud users have the peace of mind that their files are constantly backed up. The importance of having reliable access to files and folder should never be underestimated.
    * Multi-device access. Access important documents quickly and easily whenever and wherever you want using a variety of different devices, including Android phones, the iPhone and iPad as well as PC, Mac or any web-enabled device. As long as you can get on the Internet, you can pretty much access your files. This makes sharing vital data possible on a 24/7 basis and offers a convenient business solution. Gone are the days when your files and folders are accessible only on your office computer, company laptop or when you can log in remotely.
    * Work remotely. The way companies are operating on a daily basis is changing as less emphasis is being placed on staff needing to be physically in the office for eight hours a day, five days a week. File storage in the cloud means there’s no need to have traditional file servers, which frees up office space and even opens up the possibility of not needing a business property altogether.
    * Environmental benefits. Traditional file servers require a cooling system to avoid overheating and that in turn increases energy costs at a time when many companies are battling to stay out of the red. Hosting files in the cloud, though, has definite environmental benefits as it helps to reduce emissions as well as removing the need to pay to maintain on-site data servers.
    * Security. Arguably the most important feature of cloud storage is the security aspect. Cloud users can have complete control of private and highly-confidential information and can be safe in the knowledge that data is stored safely in the cloud server.

In the year and a half since I posted Control Your Computer With Your Brainwaves — TED Conference Video which highlighted a presentation at the Ted Conference by Tan Lee,  from the EEG biofeedback device developer Emotive Systems the development of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) has accelerated at an amazing rate. In fact the acronym BCI is used so widely that when I saw it the first few times on some of the sites I am going to mention in this post, I was not sure what it represented.

For example, there is a UK blog called thinktech with the tagline The UK’s Leading Brain-Computer Interface, Mind Controlled & Neurotechnology Gadget Blog which I stumbled upon while Googling on the subject which first tipped me off about the rapid proliferation of BCI that has taken place. I would recommend taking a look at that blog to get a notion of the diversity of development taking place.

neurotechnology blog

Just in the past couple of years, a number of devices which use EEG biofeedback have become available at prices which most would consider affordable. You can get a rundown of these devides on one of those thematic Wikipedia pages that have begun popping up a lot recently called Comparison of Computer brain-computer interfaces.

I recently purchased one of these gadgets called Neurosky Mindwave at a web store appropriately named ThinkGeek. Until recently, the cheapest mobile EEG biofeedback device cost over a thousand dollers but this one cost under a hundred bucks.

Neurosky developed a complete brain wave biofeedback device on a small circuit board that it uses in Mindwave as well as some some higher end devices targets at researchers and rich people. It also licenses the board for other companies to use. Toymaker Mattel uses the board popular toys Mindflex and Mindflex Duel Another company Uncle Milton Science Toys makes a toy called Star Wars Science – Force Trainer.

neurosky mindwave biofeedback

The Mindwave device is not aimed at kids but rather at adult geeks like myself. So I spent a few hours playing around with the device. Although Mindwave is packaged Apple style in a artfully decorated boy with just the headset, a USB dongle and a CD-ROM, using the device is anything but simple. I’ve used similar types of devices before in my role as head of the Mindware catalog and before that in a college class at UC Santa Cruz back in the late seventies with the guy who invented biofeedback. Dr. Joe Kamiya.

All of those credentials did not make using Mindwave any easier. I first hooked it to one of my Windows Workstations. I installed the software and it even updated itself from the Internet. Putting on the headset was fairly awkward and when i went to the Neorsky website, I found out that there were several more sophisticated headsets which did not use plastic and which apparently made it easier to clip one part of the headset to your ear and press the other to your forehead without inflicting quite as much pain as I did on my try.

Worst of all, once all properly set up, I could not get any of the applications what came with the device to register my brainwaves. I went to the Neurosky app store and found out that there were hundreds of apps for the device. Neurosky has made available a developers toolkit and created a software API for the device. Unfortunately the most promising ones I could find in their app catalog were fairly expensive.

I finally downloaded a  14 day demo of a Windows program called Mind Workstation by a developer I know called Transparent Corp. The program has built in drivers for the Mindwave as well as other devices by Neurosky, Emotive and several more.  However, again no luck. So I gave up for the day.

meditation journal screenshotThinking about the situation later, I had an aha moment remembering when I demoed a another device of its type and found that it worked better with my Macintosh than with Windows. So I gave it a shot and and after another hour or some of trial and error, I managed to get one of the supplied programs called Meditation Journal to display my brain waves.

That was about an hour ago. Later, I’m going to give a shot at using the same program on the Windows computer and now that I know what to look for, I can probably get it to work there as well.

Most of the biofeedback games on the market until this year like those from Journey to Wild Divine use GSR biofeedback. GSR is short for Galvanic Skin Response which means that the sensors measure the electrical conductivity of your skin.

This new generation of brain games use EEG which is short for Electroencephalogram. The devices measure brain waves that are found at the surface of your scalp. Although this is a bit more promising of direct brain computer connection, there are still a lot of hurdles to overcome before we all are writing blog posts by brain waves.