Google introduces ‘Google Enterprise’ with more robust management tools

Google is rolling out new tools for businesses to better manage Chromebooks.

Chromebook usage in businesses has grown in recent years, for a few good reasons. Chromebooks are dead simple to log into and use, and if something does go wrong it’s easy to powerwash them. Google already provides basic management tools for businesses interested in deploying Chromebooks, but soon, admins will have another option. Google has announced a new suite of tools called Chrome Enterprise.

While a lot of businesses may be moving to be 100% in the cloud, most businesses aren’t there yet. For these customers, a Chrome Enterprise license will include support for Microsoft’s Active Directory. This will centralize management of Chromebooks without a business needing to be 100% in Google Cloud. Chromebook Enterprise will also allow businesses to centrally manage all of their devices through VMWare Workspace One. IT administrators will be able to build and deploy a single application to handle all of the virtualization needs for Chromebooks, including Android apps and a virtual Windows environment.

Speaking of Android applications, Chromebook Enterprise will also let administrators manage which Google Play applications an end user can install on their Chromebook, as well as managing which Chrome extensions the user can install. As more and more Chromebooks gain the ability to run Android apps, it’s great to see businesses get options to manage which applications are allowed. Finally, Chromebook Enterprise will feature managed OS updates so administrators can test new version of the operating system before it is rolled out to end users.

Chrome Enterprise will cost a flat $50 per device, which still keeps Chromebooks cost effective for businesses. Google will be hosting a question and answer webinar on August 23 for those interested in learning more about Chromebook Enterprise.

Do you think Chromebook Enterprise would be a good fit for your organization? Let us know down below!

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I didn’t see the eclipse in totality, but it was still pretty great

Like more than a few stories in my life, this is one of procrastination and regret. Yesterday’s total solar eclipse was the first to be viewable from the US in my lifetime, and my hometown of Lincolnville, South Carolina, was right in the path of totality. But I live in New York now, and for a number of reasons, I wasn’t able to travel to see the eclipse in all of its glory. And believe me when I tell you that I was a whiny brat about it — especially as the big day drew closer.

However, a few days before the Aug. 21st event was also when I decided to start looking for eclipse glasses. This was well after everyone had sold out of them and it was probably too late for an online order to arrive. This made me even whinier, because I knew it was entirely my fault. I called dozens of stores in NYC and across Long Island — 7-Eleven, Lowe’s, Walmart and Toys “R” Us — with no luck. I popped into 7-Elevens I came across while driving, and from the employees’ reactions it was clear they had sold out ages ago and I was embarrassingly late in my search.

But my luck changed: My sister in North Carolina had an extra pair that she could mail me. (She clearly doesn’t have the same procrastination gene.)

Of course, I overestimated the speed of the postal service, and the morning of the eclipse, I still didn’t have the glasses. Tracking told me they were at the post office, but if I waited for regular mail delivery they probably wouldn’t get to me until after the eclipse was over. My backup plan was to attend one of the library viewing parties nearby, but I took a shot and called the post office, begging them to pull the glasses out of sorting and let me pick them up instead. They agreed because they’re saints.

So while I was still regretting not being able to see the eclipse in totality, the procrastination part of the saga seemed to have worked itself out just in the nick of time. About an hour before the eclipse was set to begin, I set myself up outside a coffee shop near my apartment in Queens that had a perfect view and outside seating.

Around 1:25 PM, when the eclipse began, I started to look up and also looked around for fellow eclipse watchers. No one. Just me. I was a little disappointed and wondered if maybe I should have gone to that library party instead. But a little later a couple sat down behind me and I could hear them talking about the eclipse. They were checking to see what time it was going peak and trying to figure out some information about this eclipse and eclipses in general. I heard them say they didn’t have glasses and were going to use their phones to see it, something you should only do with a filter. (And yes, at this point I was just straight up eavesdropping.)

I waited for them to say the word “eclipse” loud enough that it wouldn’t be totally obvious that I was listening in and conceivable that I had just overheard them, and then I offered them my glasses. They didn’t realize the eclipse was already viewable, and when they took up my offer and looked, they were blown away. Right at that time, a group of people was walking into the shop and saw that we were using glasses to see the eclipse. They asked if they could use them too; of course I said yes. Our growing gathering then attracted a few passersby who took turns looking up … and suddenly, finally, there was this burst of excitement and wonder and all of my regrets just sort of fell away.

This happened over and over for the next hour. People walking by would see me using the glasses and ask where I got them. I would tell them my story of near disaster and then offer them mine. Everyone took up the offer, and their first look almost always came with a gasp and joy. One person used my glasses, left and came back a few minutes later with someone else he had clearly pulled from work just so she could see the eclipse. She used the glasses and then quickly ran back to wherever she had come from while yelling thanks and waving as she went.

The couple behind me and I kept passing the glasses back and forth into the eclipse’s peak and well afterward. At one point, another woman with glasses showed up and started sharing hers with another small cluster that had formed to use mine. But I noticed another group had gathered down the street and none of them had glasses: Everyone was just using their phones. Since she seemed willing to share her specs, I asked her if she wanted to let the group down the way use hers. (I was set up with my laptop and pretty immobile.) She did, and when they started using her glasses, I could see the excitement from where I was sitting.

At one point, I mentioned that I was a science writer, and the people around me started asking lots of questions about the eclipse, how it works, why this one was special. I still wish I could have seen it in totality, but between the curiosity and the thrill people had when they looked at the eclipse with the solar viewers, it was the next best experience I could have asked for. For a short period yesterday, so many of us were looking up together, both at this coffee shop and across the entire country. People were excited about something totally new to them. They were sharing this experience — the first for many and the last for some — with complete strangers. They were asking questions. They were curious and excited. And really, what more could a science writer want?

This isn’t an “isn’t it great when we all get along?” story or me opining on how we’re bigger than all the turmoil that’s going on around us. This isn’t even a comment on how everyone should trust science a little more. I know that what happened yesterday at that coffee shop and coffee shops, fields, sidewalks and building tops across the country was brief and momentary. It wasn’t evidence that we can heal our country’s wounds anytime soon or that there’s a light in the distance. It was just a really lovely moment, and that’s all.

I’m glad to have experienced the eclipse the way I did. I won’t forget the looks on people’s faces the first time they looked up. And I won’t forget the temporary and spontaneous camaraderie that I experienced with perfect strangers on a sidewalk.

So while there was definitely a hefty amount of procrastination in this experience, there was less regret than I imagined there would be in the end. But you best believe I’m heading toward the path of totality in 2024. I’ll see you there.

Images: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani (black eclipse); NASA/Joel Kowsky (ISS transit)

Hulu’s live TV service is now available on Xbox 360

If you’re still watching Hulu on your Xbox 360, here’s some great news for you. The on-demand streaming service has just expanded its new “Hulu Experience” interface to the almost 12-year-old Microsoft console. The best part is that you won’t have to do a thing — the update will happen automatically. Plus, you’ll have the option to subscribe to Hulu’s live TV plan, currently in beta, right from your console.

You’ll be able to create up to six different profiles, including ones for kids, to keep your viewing habits and recommendations personal. Subscribers to the Hulu with Live TV beta will have unlimited access to the Hulu library with limited commercials, including Hulu originals and movies. Xbox 360 users will also be able to add premium channels like Showtime, HBO and Cinemax and upgrade to a no commercial plan. They’ll also be able to purchase options for a cloud-based DVR and the ability to watch on unlimited screens, just like the rest of Hulu members on other, more modern platforms. These include the Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Xbox One, iOS, Android and Chromecast.

Source: Hulu

Seinfeld’s first Netflix stand-up special premieres September 19th

Earlier this year, Netflix announced that Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee series would be moving to it over from Crackle and that Seinfeld would have two stand-up specials appear on the streaming service as well. The first of those specials is now slated to premiere September 19th.

Jerry Before Seinfeld will mix the comedian’s stand-up performance at New York City’s The Comic Strip with videos of him as a child and other material that’s never been aired before. That includes Seinfeld’s collection of legal pads which hold all of the jokes he’s written since 1975. The special will feature some of the key jokes that helped push Seinfeld’s career to where it is today.

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee — new shows and all of the old ones — moves to Netflix later this year. You can watch a few clips of the new stand-up special on Instagram and you can check out one of them below.

You go to a party, there’s nobody there. ‘Where’d everybody go?’ ‘They left!’

A post shared by Netflix Comedy (@netflixcomedy) on Aug 21, 2017 at 7:11pm PDT

Source: Netflix

Sony ‘won’t allow’ cross-platform dino survival in ‘Ark’ either

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The makers of a huge multi-platform game want to unite their disparate users so everyone can play together, regardless of whether they’re playing on PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, and Sony is blocking that. This time, it’s Ark: Survival Evolved. Lead designer was answering questions on Twitter recently and when someone asked if cross-network play would ever happen, he replied with the following. “We have it working internally, but currently Sony won’t allow it.”

We have it working internally, but currently Sony won’t allow it 🙁

— Jeremy Stieglitz (@arkjeremy) August 18, 2017

If you’re keeping track at home, this is the third time we’ve heard that. The first time was with Minecraft back in June, then came Rocket League. At E3, Rocket League developer Jeremy Dunham said that someone from his studio had been in contact with Sony every day since the game launched, and the answer about cross-platform play never changed. Psyonix too, has cross-network play up and running in its offices.

“There have been slight variations on how it’s been presented to us, but essentially it’s the same answer,” Dunham told Engadget. “It’s ‘not right now” or ‘It’s something we’ll consider.’ That’s paraphrasing, but there hasn’t been any movement.”

With this news about Ark, it sounds like it’s that way for everyone who asks.

Via: Eurogamer

Source: Jeremy Stieglitz

Delta tests customer service video chats to field your complaints

Delta is certainly trying to update its tech to join the 21st century. This summer, it’s tested replacing boarding passes with fingerprints and checking baggage by scanning passengers’ faces. But the airline’s next advance is kind of an old-school dream: Airport stations that let customers video chat with a service representative.

Delta has opened up a test kiosk of five screens in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) for customers to chat with an airline representative on everything from reservations to feedback. The design also lets you type out messages if you feel better ranting over text. In other words, it’s the same kind of text-and-video customer support that online companies have been doing for years.

Delta will review the kiosk’s usefulness before building more of them, but at least folks suffering travel difficulties could access these right in their terminal. It beats angrily tweeting the airline when things go south.

Via: CNET

Source: Delta

Thanks to Google, Shutterstock can stop automated watermark removal

Stock photos have watermarks to make sure that you don’t use them without paying for them. Removing them used to take some Photoshop know-how, but Google found a way to remove them automatically. The team also explained how to counteract the strategy with slightly varied watermarks. According to The Next Web, stock photo purveyor Shutterstock has now reverse engineered and implemented the process to prevent automated watermark removal.

The original removal process requires hundreds or thousands of photos with the same watermark. Google’s software can then detect the repeated image structure and then remove it completely without degrading image quality. Shutterstock’s software response adds minor inconsistencies to the watermark pattern itself, using machine learning to keep it random, thus confusing Google’s software. The changes are to the structure, or geometry, of the watermarks, not the opacity or location.

“The result was a watermark randomizer that our engineering team developed so that no two watermarks are the same,” Shutterstock’s CTO Martin Brodbek told The Next Web. “The shapes vary per image and include contributor names. By creating a completely different watermark for each image, it makes it hard to truly identify the shape.” The technique is already in use, too. You can see an example of one of the new watermarks on one of Shutterstock’s image pages.

Source: The Next Web

Sony Music taps Dubset to monetize samples in remixed songs

It’s tough enough for artists to make sure they’re paid for every stream of their songs, but what about remixes? There is a system in place from Dubset called the MixBank Rights Management Platform, and it helps rights holders identify samples in songs that belong to them. Apple Music and Spotify already use the platform to help pay sampled artists for their contribution to streaming remixes. Sony Music has just opted into the system, making it the first major label to use Dubset’s platform. This enables Sony to manage its massive catalog and monetize the use of samples on streaming services.

Dubset’s Mixbank platform helps identify sampled music within the complex audio field of a DJ remix set, which can have hundreds of samples per set. DJs who use Mixbank are freed up from having to find out which samples were cleared for use on streaming services, too.

Dubset currently claims that it has deals with 14,000 labels and publishers, but Sony is the first major label to join up. “Hundreds of millions of music fans are streaming DJ and remix content, and labels, publishers, and performance societies need robust solutions for managing the use of their catalogs within this massive category of under-monetized music, Dubset CEO Stephen White told Billboard. “We are honored that Sony Music has selected Dubset to help identify and unlock the value in these uses of their catalog,” said White.

Via: Billboard

Source: Dubset

Crashplan drops its cloud backup service for home users

If you rely on Crashplan as a remote backup for your computer, you’re going to have to find an alternative in short order. Code42 is phasing out its Crashplan for Home service as it switches its focus to business users. The company has stopped offering new or renewed Home subscriptions as of August 22nd, and the service will shut down entirely on October 23rd, 2018. If you haven’t moved your files elsewhere by then, you’re out of luck. The team is trying to make the transition as gentle as possible, at least. It’s extending all Home subscriptions by 60 days to give people time to find alternatives, and it’s offering discounts for both its own Small Business tier and a preferred alternative, Carbonite.

You don’t have to go to either of those options, of course. Alternatives like Backblaze exist if you need to safeguard absolutely everything, and you can use free or low-cost services like Google Drive if you’re just interested in protecting a limited number of can’t-lose files.

The move isn’t entirely shocking, especially in an era where ISP data caps make it impractical to upload the entire contents of your PC. Businesses are more likely to need that absolute protection, and their tendency to subscribe in bulk makes them tempting targets. However, this does underscore the risks of trusting your backups to a cloud service — there’s no guarantee that the service you need will always be available. If you need to recover files no matter what, it’s still wise to lean on other services and local backups.

Source: Crashplan

Nope, ‘Alto’s Odyssey’ isn’t coming out this summer

It’s going to be a bit before we can play Alto’s Odyssey. The followup to the ridiculously relaxing snowboarding game Alto’s Adventure won’t be out any time soon, developer Built By Snowman writes. “The endless desert still awaits and it’s even vaster and more mysterious than we envisioned when we first conceptualized a new adventure for Alto and his friends,” a blog post reads.

“As a small studio striving to make sure everything we release is lasting and artful, we’re firm believers that much of what makes an experience magical lies in the little touches. The care and polish provided to make sure people are truly delighted.”

The team didn’t give any insight as to when the mobile game will come out, not even a release window. The game was first announced last December, and in February the developers promised we’d be hitting the desert this summer.

Since then, it’s announced three separate projects, Where Cards Fall, Skate City and Distant. The former is an isometric 3D puzzle game — think: Monument Valley but with a group of teenagers and giant playing cards. Skate City is, as the name suggests, a skateboarding game. The latter is a platformer that “focuses on the elegance of movement.”

One has to wonder if taking on these additional games (Snowman serves as publisher and “creative partner” for Distant) had anything to do with Odyssey’s delay. Hey, at least we got a new screenshot (above) out of it.

Source: Built By Snowman