Innovative Ways of Using the Cloud

By Karin Jakovljevic

December 17, 2015   •   Fact checked by Dumb Little Man

With everyone buzzing around with some new app or gadget that uses “the cloud” to store data of this sort and that, there’s a distinct level of mystification, especially for non-techy folks, regarding how the cloud works. The reality is actually much simpler than it sounds. To be fair and square, it’s just a bunch of fast computers with large data drives connected to the Internet 24/7. Sure, we could throw in a lot of fancy technology terms to wow you, but the bottom line is just that simple.

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Have you ever uploaded your photos to Facebook or Google+? Shared any of your files with friends or colleagues via Google Drive or Dropbox? Then guess what, friend? You’ve already utilized cloud computing and you didn’t even think about it.

So, how can you use cloud technology to make your life easier or better? Here are some simple but effective ideas that you might want to try:

– Store your photos in the cloud.

Some of you probably already use various social networks to share various photos. Although your primary intention while doing so is to share the images with your loved ones, what happens unintentionally on your end is that you’re storing them in the cloud so that you’re safe from losing them in case your laptop dies, or you lose a memory card without even realizing it.

– Take your files with you.

If you frequently move around to different computers, offices, or platforms, especially from your home to work and vice versa, you can take your personal or work files with you wherever you go by putting them in the cloud. This allows you to, say, work on your office report at home, save it to the cloud, and then access it again two hours later from your office without ever having to copy it to a flash drive or write it to a CD.

– Access files from various devices easily.

In order to access your photos from your Android phone or iPhone without the use of the cloud, you would have to deal with a bunch of cables and, quite possibly, drivers in order to make your phone sync with your computer. With cloud technology, your photos or files from your phone sync to the cloud and instantly sync back with your desktop computer, tablet, or laptop at the same time, depending on what kind of cloud software you use. This takes the hassle out of internal file sharing between your various devices and makes your files instantly available on each device, anywhere you go.

– Keep your passwords safe.

There are certain cloud apps that allow you to generate and store various passwords for all of your accounts, both personal and business. With many different online services and websites, quite frequently it’s hard to memorize all of your different passwords. At the same time, using the same password for every website is a security hazard. So, in order to use strong passwords that are different for almost every portal you use, you can utilize various software tools, which, once installed on your computer, help you save your passwords in the cloud. That way you’ll keep your passwords saved even if your hard drive dies, you lose your computer, or you simply re-format it in order to reinstall your OS.

– Organize your to-do lists.

If you’re a busy person, then you probably noticed that sometimes you have a hard time remembering what your daily or weekly duties are. In order to make your life easier, you can use various to-do software tools that can be installed on your computer or phone. However, if you wish to push things even further, you can use a cloud to-do list organizer that will allow you to access your tasks and duties by using any device, anywhere you need them. You just need an internet connection, and a mobile device, and you’re good to go!

– Store music and games.

With cloud technology, you can safely store your mp3 music files online and access them from any place, at any time. Are you perhaps a gamer? Well, not to worry! With a variety of tools available today, you can store your saved game statuses, and sync skins and achievements from various games in the cloud. Even if you have to format your drive, or some of your files get corrupted on your local storage, you can just reinstall the game, restore your saved files, and continue your favorite game from where you left off. Neat, huh?

There are many other ways you could utilize cloud technology for various tasks you perform on a daily basis. Use them smartly to maximize the benefits of cloud computing and avoid its possible pitfalls.

Karin Jakovljevic

Karin is the PR manager and content writer at NimbleSchedule, a leading provider of cloud-based workforce optimization software. Her main areas of interest are social media, SaaS and B2B.

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