Google Cloud Print can now "print" to an Android device or local FedEx store

Although modern computing devices and software offer much richer ways to consume, manipulate, and share content, there are still people who prefer to put their documents and images on slices of dead tree. Google introduced a service called Cloud Print in 2010 with the aim of helping said people print physical copies of their files from smartphones and Chromebooks.

Google Cloud Print got an update today with several new features, including improved Android integration and the ability to print a file to a local FedEx office. Google also announced that Canon has joined the lineup of hardware vendors who natively support the service.

Google Cloud Print allows users to associate their Google account with a printer, making it remotely accessible over the Internet. This feature works out of the box with “cloud-aware” printers that support Google’s protocol. It can also be used with “legacy” printers by using a software intermediary that runs on a computer. Canon, Epson, Kodak, and HP support the feature on some models.

Google has introduced a new “Print to FedEx Office” option in Google Cloud Print. This feature will relay the specified file to FedEx and give the user a retrieval code they can tap into a Print & Go machine at a local FedEx Office store. The machine will print the user’s file on the spot. This feature has been available for about a year with HP’s ePrint service, but FedEx is now extending it to support Google Cloud Print.

In addition to adding the FedEx printing option, Google has also added support for “printing” to an Android 4 device that has Chrome for Android installed. When the user associates such a device with their Google account, it will show up in the Google Cloud Print list as a printing destination. Printing to an Android device will generate a PDF that automatically opens in Chrome for Android.

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from Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/04/google-cloud-print-can-now-print...

Sort Gmail Messages by Size and Get Rid of Data Hogs [Gmail]

Is your Gmail account nearly full? If it is you can either purchase more space or go through and individually delete every cat picture attachment. Alternately, you can use a clever Google Docs trick shared by tech blog Digital Inspiration to sort your Gmail messages by size and quickly delete space-hogging junk. More »


from Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5903372/sort-gmail-messages-by-size-and-get-rid-of-data...

Why the Social Learning Approach Goes Beyond Social Media

There’s no denying that Web 2.0 technologies have forever changed the way organizations look at corporate training. As a result, we now have a host of buzz words and phrases out there to describe these “new” flavors of learning.

We’ve heard terms like formal and informal learning, Learning 2.0, eLearning, mobile learning, on-demand training, and of course, social learning.

The last example is particularly interesting, since believe it or not, social learning is hardly a new concept. It was back in the early 1960s when now renowned psychologist Albert Bandura began putting together the components of his Social Learning theory, which tackled the ways people learn within social settings. Since then, many have described “social learning” as simply something that occurrs through person-to-person interactions, often in a collaborative (sometimes even formal) setting.

These days, of course, the term social learning is immediately aligned with social media specifically, which isn’t surprising. (Quick side note: In a blog post about social learning, consultant and speaker Jane Hart rather hilariously noted that adding “social” to the beginning of a word has now replaced putting “2.0” at the end of words as the trendy way to describe Web-based concepts. Can’t say she’s wrong there.)

As a result of this, many companies hear the term social learning and are immediately left wondering how they can integrate social media into their learning and development programs. But if you look at the original definition, chances are there’s already a component of social training and collaboration within their programs. Heck, things like group projects and live Q&A sessions could all technically be considered social learning, and none of them are anything new.

Getting a little more current, you could also classify live chat rooms, wikis, blog comments, IMs, emails, and screen sharing as falling under the social learning umbrella.

Now obviously, social platforms and networks are beginning to play a role in corporate training as well, especially as more professionals build networks on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. But in some cases, sites like YouTube and Wikipedia could become even more appropriate for social learning. As Hart writes in a more recent article for E-Learning Council, these are tools that not only support the sharing of content, but the creation and co-creation of it. Hart adds that “workers are now using similar approaches in their organizations to co-create and share their own content within their own work teams.”

Wikis and internal blogs are some of the simplest ways to help employees create and share content socially, while simple solutions for creating on-demand videos has put engaging, multimedia content within reach for pretty much anyone. Some up and coming institutions have already made use of this.

These are things worth keeping in mind when developing an L&D strategy for your company, as social learning easily goes beyond platforms like Facebook or even Chatter. As content creation becomes a more in-demand part of collaborative learning, companies would be wise to implement those types of tools into their social learning strategies − rather than forcing social networking platforms just because they have “social” in their name.

For more on social learning for businesses, check out some of these additional resources:

Brendan Cournoyer is a Content Marketing Manager with Brainshark. You can follow him on Twitter @brencournoyer, and visit the Brainshark Key Uses page to learn more about how video presentations can benefit your overall marketing strategy.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/channels/why-the-social-learning-approach-goes-beyond-soc...

Netflix to Release All 10 Upcoming ‘Arrested Development’ Shows at Once

arrested development images


Netflix is planning to simultaneously release the entire fourth season of Arrested Development “sometime next year,” the company announced at an event in Las Vegas Tuesday evening.

The streaming video subscription service is developing 10 episodes of the series, which was cancelled for poor performance in 2006, in partnership with Fox and Imagine Television.

Each episode will center around one character, the show’s creator, Mitchell Hurwitz, said from the stage. He added that the new shows will be similar to the previous ones, but declined to go into further specifics about the format or storyline.

Hurwitz also expressed hope that he and his team could go on to produce fourth and fifth seasons of the show for Netflix, should the first 10 episodes prove successful.

Netflix revealed in November that it had signed a deal to revive the beloved sitcom, which it would bring exclusively to its U.S. subscribers in the first half of 2013. The company now appears to be less certain about the timing of the release, but did say on Tuesday that episode production would begin this summer.

This isn’t the first time that Netflix has released an entire season of an original show at once. The company’s first original series, Lilyhammer, premiered its initial eight episodes all on Feb. 6, and is planning to bring the show back for a second season.

More About: arrested development, netflix

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/04/18/netflix-to-release-all-10-upcoming-arrested-de...

Fear and loathing at NAB 2012

If this week’s National Association of Broadcasters Show is any indication, by 2020 “broadcasting” is a term that will be foreign to anyone under 40. Based on the show’s programming this year, as well as the general vibe that multiplatform delivery is the future, it seems that pretty soon no one will be concerned about how content is distributed — just if it’s good or not.

How quickly things change

This was my fourth or fifth year in attendance, and in many ways, it was shockingly similar to the others I’ve attended. There was (again) a lot of talk but no real movement on stuff like mobile DTV and 3-D TV, as well as grudging acceptance among incumbent content creators that the Internet, mobile and tablets are platforms they need to play on, even if there’s no real money there.

But there was one thing that was very different, at least in the makeup of the show’s keynotes and “super sessions.” In attending a few of the higher-profile sessions, I got the feeling that this year’s NAB Show wasn’t actually about broadcast TV, at least not in the way that it’s sold or distributed. It was instead about the multiplatform piece, and seemed specifically to shine a light on those who were leading the charge in that arena. The only problem is that the creators and distributors it highlighted weren’t broadcasters, at least not in the traditional sense, but those mired in the online-only or online-first world.

While last year’s NAB show featured a keynote speech by CBS head honcho Les Moonves, there were no comparable heavy hitters from the TV world to give their vision for the future. Notably, the show seemed to cater instead to those who were interested in how streaming and multiplatform delivery were disrupting the traditional TV model. NAB brought in speakers like Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, Machinima President Philip DeBevoise, Electus’ Ben Silverman and Revision3’s Jim Louderback, among others.

Even those speakers who are part of the traditional broadcast model seemed to be there not to talk about the business of TV, per se, but about distribution in the bold new multiplatform world. Hell, even Betty White — who we all know of because of her TV career, and who spoke at an early breakfast slot on Tuesday — has seen her career resurrected mostly because of a Super Bowl commercial that went viral online and made her part of the conversation again.

What is a broadcaster, anyway?

I wasn’t the only one who was confused by the whole thing. I facilitated a roundtable discussion for a group of attendees Wednesday morning, leading a wide-ranging talk about a number of topics facing content producers and distributors.

The makeup of the room was impressively diverse: There were attendees who were there at their first NAB show, and others who had been going for decades. There were some present who worked for PBS, others who produced news and other content for local affiliates, and a university professor who was there to comment on the way the behavior of college-aged viewers were changing. There were participants from the agency side, others who created apps, and still others working on new web-original projects. There was even a guy from Brazil who produces surfing shows for the web. He switched from TV distribution to streaming video more than a decade ago.

One of the folks there — whose name I’ve unfortunately forgotten — summed up the feeling of the show pretty well: “How do we define a broadcaster?” he asked. “Is it someone who distributes content over the air? Is it someone who does over-the-air and cable and satellite? Is it someone who does that and also does delivery on the web and to other platforms, with a certain number of viewers?”

Barbarians at the gates

Considering who was speaking at this year’s show, I think there’s a clear answer to that: the definition needs to fall outside the traditional scope of the broadcasting industry and needs to include folks who are making content that doesn’t necessarily originate on TV. When Netflix introduces a slate of programming that includes shows from David Fincher, Kevin Spacey, Eli Roth and the return of Arrested Development, you can no longer define content as “premium“ just based upon whichever distribution platform it appeared on first.

I’ve always attended NAB with a view toward the digital future — and over the years, I’ve been frequently frustrated by how the industry doesn’t seem to “get it.” This is the first year where I’ve felt that the show and attendees were having real discussions about the future, the first time someone acknowledged that the big broadcast and cable networks weren’t the only ones who held the keys to the future of video.

But I wonder what that means for everyone else at the show, or, what the people who have been going to NAB for decades think about the barbarians at the gate that are taking up all their speaking slots and shaping the discussion. What does it mean when there are no real broadcast titans speaking at a show for and about broadcasters?

It probably means that the world is changing, and it could mean that smart content creators and distributors are doing everything in their power to stay ahead of that change. And maybe, just maybe, it means that the broadcasters at NAB could learn a lesson or two from those who are doing so, including the folks at Netflix, Machinima and Revision3.

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from GigaOM http://gigaom.com/video/fear-and-loathing-at-nab-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&...

YouTube Sensation Does the Robot in $10 Million Roomba Campaign [VIDEO]


Dubstep master and YouTube sensation Marquese Scott is back with another jaw-dropping routine. His 2011 YouTube dance video gained more than 43 million views. This time, he is promoting the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner.

iRobot Corporation — behind the Roomba and Scooba automated cleaners — is making moves with a robust $10 million ad campaign, appealing to fans on T.V. and online. Scott appears in the T.V. and online spots doing “the robot,” alongside the Roomba.

The T.V. spot will run on national cable channels as well as on the websites of online publishers including Conde Nast, Epicurious and The New Yorker.

iRobot promotes the futuristic Roomba vacuum in the ad campaign, though their long list of products includes automated machines that wash floors, pools and gutters. The campaign celebrates “the unique bond that is created between people and robots,” according to the Boston-based ad company Mullen.

iRobot is also tying in a global YouTube competition with the national ad campaign. Dubbing it an “Robolution,” iRobot has created a branded YouTube channel to promote a robot dance contest.

Contestants are asked to submit videos of themselves dancing to the iRobot theme song, available for download on the branded YouTube page. It’s suggested that dancers mimic the Roomba’s slow back-and-forth movement — like Scott does in his videos.

SEE ALSO: Beyond the Roomba: How iRobot’s Technology Is Making War Zones Safer for Soldiers

The YouTube page so far is a branding win. People can submit entries for the dance competition while reading up on the latest iRobot products, all in one place. Plus, there’s room for fans to leave personal comments about the futuristic products.

Watch Scott’s unique moves in this YouTube video created specially for the competition:

Can you do the robot better than a Roomba? If so, post a link to your “Robulution” video in the comments.

More About: irobot, roomba, Scooba, Video

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/04/18/roomba-ad/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=fe...

Startups Meet Reality TV: Watch ‘TechStars’ on Mashable


Getting into a top startup accelerator program can make the difference between a company making it big and being lost in the ether. Starting today, Mashable goes behind the scenes of that experience by bringing the Bloomberg television show TechStars to our community.

TechStars has emerged as one of the most influential and well-funded accelerators, with the 114 companies that have been through the program raising a collective $134 million — and 8 of them being acquired. The organization now offers companies up to $100,000 in funding, after raising a $24 million round of funding last fall.

The process of getting into TechStars — which is statistically more challenging than getting into an Ivy League university — and then going through the grueling 3-month process of building your startup, was profiled by Bloomberg in a 6-episode documentary that recently aired on the cable network.

Now, you can watch the TechStars show on Mashable. We’ve made the entire series available on-demand, and chopped it up into short segments that are ideal for Internet viewing. Over the course of the next couple of months, we’ll also be sharing each episode as part of a Mashable post, giving our community a chance to discuss the themes of each show in our comments section.

In the first episode, embedded below, TechStars executives review the hundreds of pitches they received from startups that applied to the program, and then grill some of the finalists during in-person interviews. The episode also features soundbites from top investors Fred Wilson and Brad Feld, Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.

We hope you enjoy watching TechStars on Mashable, and invite you to view the full series at any time in our video section.


More About: mashable video, techstars

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/04/18/techstars-on-mashable/?utm_source=feedburner&u...

Get Rid of Underarm Stains with Dishwashing Detergent and Hydrogen Peroxide (Plus, Other DIY Cleaning Solutions) [Household]

Sweat stains are notoriously hard to get rid of. If aspirin, citrus, and baking soda/borax remedies haven't worked for you so far, consider this one-two punch of hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing detergent. Plus, this visual cheat sheet from Picklee shows you how to concoct several more cheap cleaning solutions for more serious spring cleaning. More »


from Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5902780/diy-cleaning-solution-recipes-to-conquer-the-to...

The 5 Most Over-Hyped “Future of TV” Topics

television-is-dead

Editor’s note: Jeremy Toeman is a founder of Dijit Media, a startup whose vision is to create the ultimate “hyperpersonalised social TV guide” mobile experience. Jeremy has over 11 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, social TV and consumer technology working with companies like Sling Media, Mediabolic, Boxee, Clicker, VUDU, and more. Follow him on Twitter @jtoeman.

From some of the chatter out there, it seems like the prerequisites to have “deep knowledge” about the TV industry is to have ever watched TV.  Yes, that sounds pretty cynical, but I see post after post espousing wisdom on topics that are so misguided it makes my head shake – involuntarily.  While everyone is certainly entitled to their opinions, there’s just something to be said for a little research, a little fact checking, and deep diving with industry experts.  I think the “future of TV” industry at large would benefit greatly from a little more of the above, and a little less jumping on bandwagons.

Accordingly, here are the 5 topics I see on practically a daily basis that are just plain tired, and should be put to rest.

1. The Future of TV is about Voice Control and Gestures

In the future, you’ll tell your TV to change to channel 702, ask it when the next Tom Cruise movie is on, and wave your hand to change the channel.  Really?  This is exciting?  First, when it comes to gestures, the *best case scenario* is using gestures for the most simple of functionality, such as channel/volume adjustments.  What’s the “when’s the next Tom Cruise movie on?” gesture (protip: you jump on your couch).  It’s a model that works great for games, and not much else.

And as far as talking to your TV, whether it’s Jack Donaghy’s awesome voice-controlled TV for Kabletown, or this funny commercial, it’s clearly an easy topic to play around with:

But is there value in it? Some, definitely.  I do not, in any way, question the fact that a well-executed voice interface to change channels, perform searches, etc, sounds great.  But is that really revolutionary?  Considering that TV watching is primarily done with a second screen (iPad, smart phone, etc) in hand these days, the ability to search without using the awful on-screen interfaces as provided by set-top box makers has already improved dramatically.  Searching for show listings, actors, etc, using a dedicated app or even just google is a marked improvement.  I don’t consider a voice-enabled search “revolutionary” at this stage.

2. The Future of TV is all about Social TV

Literally every “big” show event these days has a followup about how it’s the most gigantic moment in the history of #SocialTV ever.  Well, considering this is a fairly new thing, and more people are still signing up to services like Twitter and trying out Social TV apps, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise now, should it?  Of course Game of Thrones broke records, just like how the American Idol season finale will later this year.  As will the Olympics, then next year’s Superbowl.  But here’s the thing: other than huge events, app makers and broadcasters alike are still trying to figure out what Social TV really means.

It’s clearly not about check-ins, that’s very 2011 thinking.  And it’s not going to be about measuring real-time tweets (hello West Coast, sorry, your Tweets just don’t count), which is very 2012 thinking.  There’s something happening in the “engagement with TV” space, but it’s probably a much richer experience than what we’re talking about.  Oh, and so we don’t forget to address it – nothing, not a single thing, in the field of social/real-time engagement works particularly well when it comes to “catch up” TV.  Which there will remain plenty of for years and years to come.

3. The Future of TV is all about Cord Cutters

Auntie May just cancelled cable and bought a Roku, what the what?  Cable is doomed, it’s like newspapers and the music industry.  Slow down folks, not so fast.  First and foremost, not a single report from any credible source has ever painted a picture that cord cutting is having, nor will have, any impact on the industry.  At an average price of $80/month, cable (and satellite and telco, but I’ll just say cable from this point forward – less typing), is about the best deal in entertainment you can find on a dollars/hour basis.  Most Roku, WDTV, and Apple TV owners still have a paid cable service, as do most Netflix and Hulu subscribers.

Additionally, the reason TV != music is about distribution and lockup agreements.  Sure, artists had labels, and labels distributed their music via CDs to retail stores, and there are a lot of analogies to the TV industry.  Except for the lockups, bundles, affiliates, and a dozen or so other participants in the TV production-to-consumption cycle.  TV shows can’t start their own distribution service – because 90% of TV shows are made by the folks who own the distribution side.  And the networks can’t just go direct to consumers, they’d sacrifice huge amounts of money to do so.  Like billions huge.  And for what?  To directly engage with (read: provide customer service for) people who get pissy if their DVR cuts off the end credits one time on a show they don’t even care about. Yeah, sounds great. This is highly related to Death Topic 5 below, so more in a moment.

4. The Future of TV is all about Apps

Just imagine a world where instead of browsing channels or searching for things, you can download apps for it all.  ABC? App. NBC? App. Fox? App. Bravo? Part of that NBC App (or maybe it’s own). TBS? App. SyFy? Same as Bravo, maybe.  How about the shows themselves?  Where’s Seinfeld?  Could be it’s own app!  Or, since TBC has syndication rights (well, some of them), it’ll be in their app.  And I’m sure NBC still owns some rights too, so maybe there instead.  Or possibly it’ll get split up amongst each of the stakeholders, on a per-season basis.  This is the future, and it’s awesome.

If awesome means terrible.

As I’ve said before, TV isn’t about work, it isn’t about search, it isn’t about finding things and effort - it’s about escape. TV should not work like the Web nor like my smart phone any more than my microwave should work like my smart phone.  Yes, we could use some better paradigms for discovering content, and integrating with second screen apps sounds like a good idea in many ways.  But that doesn’t mean I want an app per channel, show, network, etc.

5. The Future of TV is the Death of the Television Industry As We Know It

As I wrote above, TV is dying, it just must be dying!  The kids are watching lots of videos on the YouTubes, and since the Internet by definition is disruptive, it must impact TV.  After all, the TV services business is a $200+ billion dollar a year industry, and if you factor in manufacturing, production, distribution, and other related costs, it easily scales past $500 billion.  And this still doesn’t account for the internal marketplaces within each of the players.  That’s a lot of money for the Internet to kick the snot out of and hand over to the engineers in Silicon Valley!

Well, what if it doesn’t?  What if all the brains and the coding and the apps and the investments can’t topple this old school, well-loaded, not technically unsophisticated industry?  What if instead of disruption, the contributions of the Internet and the tech sector simply contribute to more growth?  After all, that’s what happened with cable in the first place, then VCR, then DVD, …  Sure, some of the deal-making might change, and we should expect to see the players evolve, grow, and of course fade.  Netflix is larger than any US cable operator, maybe they’ll take one of them out?  Or maybe the cable companies will expand into competitive regions?  Maybe the Xbox will be the next generation of set top boxes, with no need for truckrolls?  Lots of potential, lots of Internet contribution, but dying?  I doubt it.

In conclusion…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not all doom and gloom for speculation.  I love some good speculation.  But the above topics are worn thin, dried out, and only mildly less entertaining to read about than tech bloggers getting into spats with each other.

There’s a ton of innovation on the second screen that goes far beyond Social TV.  Future TV interfaces are coming and changing, and Voice Control will play a role, but what else should we expect?  There’s no real evidence that cord cutting is happening, and sure, it might come, but as with all things, it’ll either be massively slower or faster than all typical predictions, so let’s move past that point.  What else is out there?


from TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/14/future-of-tv-is-overhyped/?utm_source=feedbu...

Bitten by the maker bug: one man's first steps with Arduino

Hopefully you're here because you've heard about this new-fangled "Arduino" thing, and you'd like to know more. Maybe you know your way around a soldering iron, maybe you want to relive your glory days troubleshooting college lab circuits, or maybe you just like looking at pictures of circuits. Hopefully, some or all of this will help whet your appetite to play around with the Arduino and discover what it can do.

Arduino describes itself as an "open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software." If you're interested in maker projects, circuit boards, or just goofing around with a soldering iron, Arduino may be worth your time.

Arduino hardware is available in a number of form factors, so you can decide whether you want to spend a lot of time assembling hardware or build the boards by hand. The hardware can receive input from a "variety of sensors" which can be used to turn on motors, lights, and "other actuators." Programming is accomplished via the Wiring-based Arduino language. Best of all, everything is offered under an open source license.

This article marks the start of my journey—one from a guy who has some basic circuit knowledge and some (rather outdated) technical training, to a guy who decided to get off his butt and figure this Arduino stuff out. This specifically is the small start to a greater project I have in mind—ultimately driving a color, multipixel display by means of an Arduino processor. Before we get to the whiz-bang cool stuff, today we start from the absolute bottom of the barrel.

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from Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2012/04/bitten-buy-the-maker-bug-one-ma...