Parallax Mapping

Parallax mapping also called as virtual displacement mapping is an advance form of the bump or normal mapping techniques.

It is generally used to apply textures in 3D rendering applications and video games. To the end user, this means that textures such as stone walls will have more apparent depth and thus greater realism with less of an influence on the performance of the simulation/game.

Parallax mapping is implemented by displacing the texture coordinates at a point on the rendered polygon by a function of the view angle in tangent space (the angle relative to the surface normal) and the value of the height map at that point. At steeper view-angles, the texture coordinates are displaced more, giving the illusion of depth due to parallax effects as the view changes.

Steep parallax mapping is one name for the class of algorithms that trace rays against height fields. The idea is to walk along a ray that has entered the height field's volume, finding the intersection point of the ray with the height field. This closest intersection is what part of the height field is truly visible. Relief mapping and parallax occlusion mapping are other common names for these techniques.

 Source: Wikipedia, www.graphics.cs.williams.edu

Cloud Computing

The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams and is an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it conceals.

Cloud Computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"). Conceptually it is a paradigm shift whereby details are abstracted from the users who no longer need knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them. Technically it typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtual resources as a service over the Internet.

Typical cloud computing services provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

With Cloud Computing, users have been able to access data, share expertise and high-end infrastructure from around the world, and vice-versa. The resources are shared through a public platform like the internet. Several companies like Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, etc have invested heavily as they reach out to users.

The Cloud (other computers in the network) does have its pros and cons in this formative stage. Its advantages include,

• Better performance by PCs in the cloud network, as fewer processing will be loading in each individual PC, the rest on the Cloud.
• No more spending on computer upgrades, instead services of another high-power PC can be made use of.
• Lesser hardware and software required, so costs of maintenance are tremendously lowered.
• Permanence of data, as all information stays in the cloud, even if you experience a hard-disk crash.
• Sync with experts worldwide on multiple projects and avail optimum results through the Cloud.
• Work from any PC and on the move, with the availability of internet access.

Cloud Computing also has some drawbacks like,

• The over-dependence on the providers.
• The reliability of the vendors.
• Protection laws in different countries vary. For eg, according to EU data protection regulation, personal information cannot be transferred outside the European Economic Area.
• Threat of unauthorized access to confidential data.
• Requires internet throughout and near-impossible to work with dial-up connections.

Source: Wikipedia & Yahoo news