You know where your stuff is on your computer. The programs you buy and the data you create with them are stored somewhere on your computer's hard drive. You may even have more than one hard drive but they are all still there with you and your computer in your room. In some cases you may have a network in your home or office so it's possible that the hard drive may be somewhere nearby but most likely you still know where everything is physically located. None of this really applies with something called "Cloud Computing" and many of its advocates are hoping that more of us will be using it in the near future.

The Cloud Computing concept is a simple one. Basically all of the applications and the data you create by using them are somewhere on the Internet, somewhere where you are not. These ethereal applications are typically run by using your Internet browser. You just surf to the Web site that contains the application you wish to use at the moment and that's pretty much it. From there you start doing the job and when you're finished, you just log off. Nothing you did or created is where you are. It's all just out there in the Internet "cloud" and you can access all of it from anyplace that has a computer connected to the Internet. Cloud Computing is becoming more popular these days, especially with our increasing accessibility to the Internet and our high-speed connections to it.

So why would you want to do your work this way? The reasons are many but I'll introduce you to a few of them for you to ponder. Let's take for example a typical calendar you might be keeping to stay on top of everything you have planned to do on a daily basis. Your business appointments are notated there as well as the events you plan to attend along with what you intend to accomplish. Perhaps there are some shared resources you may need to bring along with you such as a projector. But your business also relies on everyone else on your team to be aware of your schedule as well as you knowing everyone else's plans. If not, shared resources and team members may not be available. But if everyone in your group can see the same calendar, you can coordinate dates and times together. Everyone can see what's planned at any given moment so there are no redundancies and no collisions. If something is added, changed or deleted, everyone sees it immediately. A centralized, online calendar can do all of that.

EZWebCalendar (www.EZWebCalendar.com) is an online calendar that can be accessed from anywhere by anyone you've given access to your account and their own password. Depending on how much access you give each person, they can add, change, update and delete the information displayed there. I use it to display the companies and guests who are appearing on my radio talk show, Computer America. With one look, my co-host, my producer and I can see who is scheduled to appear on any given day and time. Where there are openings, my producer knows those times are available to book guests. Relevant guest information is also stored there such as contact phone numbers, e-mail address and questions to be asked. And since we can all see the updated calendar from anywhere, a guest won't get double booked.

Another important benefit to Cloud Computing is that your data is safe from destruction if your computer is attacked by a virus, burned in a fire, stolen or subjected to any other kind of physical damage. Your data simply isn't there to be ruined. It's out there in the Internet cloud. Of course, it's a good idea to check on the service to make sure they have sufficient backup protocols.

Check out Google for a variety of free cloud computing applications. Google has its own Web-based calendar, along with several other applications that you can run in the cloud. In fact if you use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or any other Web-based e-mail service, you've already been using a Cloud Computing application and you may not have even realized it. The e-mail program and the e-mail itself aren't stored on your computer and you've been perfectly fine about that, right? Now just take it to the next step and check out the many other applications just waiting for you in that really big Internet cloud.

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(Craig Crossman is a national newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the daily national computer radio talk show, "Computer America," heard on the Business TalkRadio Network and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network, Monday through Friday, 10 p.m. to midnight, ET. For more information, visit his Web site at www.computeramerica.com.)