What keeps me up: Google Cloud Print

Google hopes to make printing from anywhere and any application — including “web apps” — simple using Google Cloud Print.  Printing from a browser typically includes many things that clutter the printout such as navigation bars and advertisements.  In the case of web applications, parts of the document may also be missing if scrolling is required.  Google Cloud Print promises to allow web applications such as Google Docs — or even conventional applications — to print “properly”.  Furthermore, Google will keep the software for your printer up to date (although you’ll still need to make sure the printer is properly configured to use Google Cloud Print).  Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?  Maybe on the surface.

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Peddling an idea

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a charitable organization that has laudable goals including improving healthcare and reducing extreme poverty.  One of its current fights recently suffered a setback when it was announced that a polio outbreak had struck Tajikistan, a place that had previously beaten back the disease.  With an infusion over the last two years of more than half a billion dollars and a world-wide expense of nearly $10 billion USD, polio has yet to be beaten.  Success in this campaign is far from guaranteed; so far, humanity has managed to use its skills to eradicate exactly one disease: smallpox.  Regardless of whether we manage to vanquish polio, we will certainly face other diseases.  Is there are more sure-fire way of saving lives?  Perhaps even one that could also help reduce poverty at the same time?

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