Today I went to Spiceworld. learned about Pertino. They make a VPN and it connects to the cloud. It is an interesting concept, even to a cloud skeptic such as myself. Still, Pertino are offering Spiceworks community members the chance of winning 2014 Fiat 500 Abarth. This raises the chances that the marketing shenanigans are worth the time and effort to learn about this company, their product, and the people who use it. To win the car, entrants have to have been members of the Spiceworks community before the contest started, sign up via the registration page, create a demo network, and post something “creative” to the contest thread. According to the contest website, “you will be judged on creativity and originality, so pictures, poetry and interpretive dance encouraged. See contest thread for inspiration.” Well, I only know how to do one thing that’s remotely “creative”: zero mercy technology reviews. So it’s time to break some tech, and – with luck – win the wife a new car. The first thing I learned, upon doing some research is that they have a Wikipedia page and that it is filled with accolades from American startup and cloud-friendly publications. That’s an interesting start, and certainly makes me intrigued enough to continue. The next item on my list is that individuals whose opinion I trust – such as the venerable Scott Alan Miller: man, institution, Spicelegend, – have thrown their official weight behind pertino. Celebrity endorsements don’t typically drive me to consume products, but SAM is more than just a pretty face: his technical expertise surpasses my own, and thus his endorsement means that I would be wise to see if this product has real world applicability for my use cases. The stage set, the rational for investigation...