Thursday, March 12, 2015
Business
&,Finance
I I
401 S. Main St. • Stillwater
)5.372-1647 o tlq)0-6i
Fax 405.372.7752
Yes Amy, We ARE in the Cloud
What's the cloud? The cloud refers to the gen, probably how most of us
Where's the cloud? Are eral concept of"cloud com,
wei0 the cloud fight nov? puting." For most of us,
Imagine Amy Poehler using the cloud and using
as she frantically harasses the internet are pretty much
a Best Buy employee with
these questions. That Super
Bowl commercial from
2013 immediately hit home
for so many of us who
use technology, who like
technology, but who just
aren't sure if we understand
everYthing we ought to
know about it.
Let's tackle Amy's first
question. What is the cloud?
one and the same.
I don't think it is any great
surprise (even to non-te-
chie folks) that in various
locations around the world
there are warehouses filled
With powerful computers
that maintain servers to
manage the flow and storage
of massive amounts of data
that comprise the World
Wide Web. In fact, that's
prefer think about the inter-
net--powerful computers
located somewhere--doing
things we don't understand.
We don't really care that
we don't understand. We
just enjoy surfing the web--
right?
But the cloud is about
more than just surfing the
web: When most people
talk about the cloud, they
are really referring to data
storage. Remember when
you used to be concerned
about how much RAM your
computer had? Remember
when you stored all your
family's photos on your
computer and worried about
what would happen if the
computer crashed or was
somehow destroyed?
Meridian Technology Center instructor Russell Frick demonstrates how the Faro Edge
portable measurement machine works inside his classroom.
004TC keeping up with
the latest technology
By Van Mitchell deiailed building plans to savvy to begin with," Frick
Journal Staff Writer
Students in Meridian
Technology Center's com-
puter aided drafting program
get the opportunity to work
with a variety of computer
programs and equipment
that helps prepare them for
careers in that field.
And one piece of equip-
ment gives the students
experience taking drawings
from a computer program
and creating three-dimen-
sional objects for display.
Russell Frick, program
instructor says students use
a 3D printer as well as a
Faro Edge a portable mea-
surement arm that allows
manufacturers to easily
verify their product qual-
ity by performing inspec-
tions, tool certifications,
CAD-to-part analysis and
reverse engineering. With
a built-in touchscreen and
on-board operating system,
it becomes a personal mea-
surement assistant.
"It's the closest thing
we have to beam me up
Scotty (Star Trek reference)
because we are transfer-
ring something by wire to
another machine that can
print it as a solid object,"
Frick said. "They have to
create this model in some
way shape or form through a
software program of choice
that generates a 3D object.
They can print on vulca-
nized rubber, plastic and
steel castings."
This career major intro-
duces students to the skills
required as a CAD Archi-
tectural Specialist. CAD
Design Architectural Spe-
cialists draw rough and
scale, for foundations, build-
ings, and structures, accord-
ing to specifications. They
develop diagrams for con-
struction, fabrication, and
installation of equipment,
structures, components, and
systems, using field docu-
ments and specifications.
They prepare colored draw-
ings of landscape, interior
and exterior designs for
presentation to clients and
can lay out and plan interior
room arrangements for com-
mercial buildings.
Frick said Meridian has
had a 3D printer for about
10 years and recently added
the Faro machine.
He said the technology
enables individuals and
companies to streamline
the process of producing a
product model.
"You used to make a model
and send it to the shop and
have them make it and test it
to make sure it was going to
be okay," Frick said. "You
would have that expense of
sending it four or five times
through. Now the engineers
can do this in the office and
be allowed to check, fit
and make sure everything
is compliant before it ever
goes to production. You take
care of everything before it
• ever goes on the engineering
floor. As they (students)
build something they can
pick it up and see visually
how big it is."
Frick said with a more
tech-savvy population, it is
important to give students
the most up to date computer
software and equipment as
possible.
"Most of these kids are tech
said. "If you don't have a
wow factor you are just a
talking head."
Frick said he is continu-
ously working to keep up
with the latest technology
changes.
"It's an everyday learn-
ing experience for me as a
teacher." Frick said. "Tech-
nology is Changing so much.
"I try to go to every training
session that I can."
Frick said after students
complete the two-year pro-
gram they leave better pre-
pared for the workforce.
"My students can get good
jobs out of this," Frick said.
"When they leave here they
can make $14 to $22 an
hour."
Frick said the pricing of
3D printers and scanners has
become more affordable for
consumers.
"You can to stores and
get your picture taken and
scanned and get your bobble
head made while you wait,"
Frick said. "It's not just into
manufacturing concepts
anymore. The consumer can
buy it for their house. You
can go to the mall and buy
a small 3D printer for $800
now."
Frick added some can turn
those concepts in a potential
sideline home business.
"A lot of people come up
with their own designs and
pitch to places they want
to go," he said. "If a pro-
spective buyer can pick up
it up and touch it and move
it around it is a lot more
effective in the sell process.
People can make everything
from jewelry or customized
phone cases and more."
We don't worry about
losing those family photos
anymore. Why not?
Because we no longer store
our photos (or other large
important files) on our
personal computers. We
upload them to Facebook,
to Walgreens.com (to print),
to Shutterfy, etc. When I
charge my smart phone's
battery by connecting it to
my desktop computer, the
photos automatically upload
into my Dropbox. (I'll get to
what Dropbox is a bit later.)
So, to Amy's second ques-
tion: where is the cloud?
The most important thing
to understand about the
location of the cloud is that
it is NOT on your comput-
er's hard drive. It's not on
your smart phone either.
If your computer burns
up in a fire, your photos
are safe if you have stored
them somewhere on the
internet-- somewhere in the
cloud. If my smart phone
gets dropped in a swim-
ming pool, I don't lose all
the songs I've purchased
because those are stored on
Google Play.
Are you in the cloud right
now? Whether you realize
it or not, yes, you probably
are. Ever uploaded a photo
to Facebook? Ever bought a
song through iTunes Store
or Google Play? If so, then
you are storing your data
in the cloud. It's just that
in these examples, your
thought process was that
you were "posting to Face-
book" or"buying a song"-
not so much that you were
"storing data in the cloud."
There are times, though,
when we understand that
we need to store docu-
ments (perhaps financial
documents) somewhere
other than our fragile com-
puter or phone. Once upon
a time, we would store
these backup files on flash
drives, writable CDs, or...
for those of you old enough
to remember.., floppy disks.
Today, there are numer-
ous applications that offer
the service of data storage
in the cloud. Dropbox is a
common one. For most of
these services, you begin
by registering for a free
account. For example, go
to Dropbox.com. Generally,
the free account allows you
to store a limited amount
of data; With Dropbox, this
is referred to as Dropbox
Basic and you are allowed
2GB. If you need more
storage than 2GB, you will
have to purchase it.
Most of us who use Drop-
box, probably starting using
it on our desktop computers
at work. I think I first set
up a Dropbox account in
2007. The reason I did so.
was because I was sharing
large files --too large to
email--with a client. I just
placed the files in a Drop-
box folder and allowed my
client to have access to the
folder as well. Either one
of us could access the files
from our own computers at
any time.
As usual, when I start one
of these technology-based
articles, I run out of space
before I run out of things to
write. Check out my article
next month when I will
share more about common
apps for data storage--some
of which may already be
installed on your smart
phone. We'll take a look
at how individuals, as well
as small business owners.
might use these common
apps to get organized, be
efficient, and be productive.
Be Prepared for Those RMDs
You might not think that 70
½ represents any particular
milestone. But when you do
reach this age, you will have
to make some decisions that
affect an important aspect of
your life -- your retirement
income.
Here's the background:
Once you tum 70 ½, you will
need to start taking with-
drawals from your 401 (k) or
similar employer-sponsored
retirement plan and from
your traditional IRA (but not
your Roth IRA). Actually,
you will need to begin these
withdrawals -- known as
"required minimum dis-
tributions" (RMDs) by
April 1 of the following year
and continue taking them
by December 31 each year
after that. These RMDs
are calculated by dividing
your account balance at the
end of the previous year
by your life expectancy, as
determined by IRS mortal-
ity tables. If your spouse is
your sole beneficiary and is
more than 10 ]/ears younger
than you, you'd use a sepa-
rate table. Don't worry too
much about the number
crunching, though --, your
financial advisor generally
can do the calculations for
yOU.
What you should concern
yourself with, however, are
the first two words of RMD:
"required" and "minimum."
These words mean what
nvestments
they say. If you don't take
withdrawals, or if you with-
draw less than you should,
you could face a 50 percent
penalty tax on the difference
between what you with-
drew and what you should
have withdrawn and then
you'll still have to take out
the required amount and pay
taxes on the taxable portions
of those withdrawals. So it's
a very good idea to take your
withdrawals on time and
without "shortchanging"
yourself.
Of course, you can cer-
tainly take more than the
required minimum amount
-- but should you? The
answer depends on whether
you need the money. But
even if you have to take
larger-than-minimum with-
drawals, you'll want to be
careful not to take out more
than you need because if
you "over-withdraw" year
after year, you run the risk
of outliving your resources.
That's why it's so important,
during the early years of
your retirement, to establish
a sustainable withdrawal
rate for your retirement
accounts. Your withdrawal
rate will depend'on a variety
of factors, such as your other
sources of income -- Social
Security, earnings from
employment, savings, etc.--
your lifestyle choices, your
estimated lOngevity, and so
on. In any case, once you
have arrived at an appropri-
ate withdrawal rate, you'll
need to stick to that rate
unless your circumstances
change.
If you have multiple IRAs,
you'll also face another
decision, because, once
you've calculated your total
RMDs for the year, from all
your IRAs, you can take that
amount from one or more
of them. Depending on the
investment mix of these
individual IRAs, you may
find it beneficial to take the
money from one account
and leave the others intact,
to potentially grow further.
(If you have multiple 40 1 (k)
s, though, you will likely
need to calculate and with-
draw the separate RMDs for
each plan.)
Other issues are also
involved with RMDs, so,
when the time approaches,
consult with your tax and
financial advisors. By study-
ing all your options before
you begin taking these with-
drawals, you should be able
to maximize their benefits.
Matt Hull is a financial
advisor for Edward Jones
Investments in Stillwater.
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