David Lidsky's Blog, page 2760
March 24, 2016
Foursquare's Swarm Gets More Useful For Lifeloggers
Foursquare's new Swarm app makes it easier to quantify your whereabouts.
Ever since Foursquare split itself into two apps, it hasn't been quite the same. That division, which spun the location check-in functionality off into a second app called "Swarm," was indeed controversial when it happened nearly two years ago, and the apps' download rankings took a dip. But in recent months, Foursquare has been ramping up its efforts to turn Swarm into something to which we can all get addicted.
Scientist Has 4,795 Days to Live And Knows Exactly What He's Doing With Them
"You don't waste time on things that aren't going to get you to where you need to go."
What would you do with your time if you knew how many days you had left to live? Would you even want to know how long you had left? For one New Zealand scientist, the answer is a resounding "yes," reports Bloomberg.
Nielsen To Start Tracking Which Digital Media Players You're Streaming Content On
The move will allow content providers to see if more people watch their show on an Apple TV or Google Chromecast.
Television ratings firm Nielsen will soon begin tracking which digital media players viewers are consuming specific content on, reports Variety. Currently Nielsen already tracks what percentage of viewing of a particular show takes place on digital media players, but come April 25th those metrics will become more refined. On that date, Nielsen will start tracking metrics based on specific digital media players.
Report: Apple Pay Coming To Mobile Websites This Year
Move would pit Apple Pay directly against PayPal.
Apple's mobile payment service Apple Pay is said to be expanding to mobile websites later this year, reports Re/code. Apple Pay originally debuted on the iPhone 6 in the fall of 2014. The service has both a hardware and software backbone. The software stores a user's payment details, such as a credit or debit card, while the NFC chip inside compatible iPhones allows payments to be done on physical terminals in store. The final part of the hardware component is the iPhone's Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which is how a user authenticates a payment with Apple Pay.
One Super-Easy Way To Advocate For Parental Leave
Try using your "out of office" auto-reply message to get a conversation started.
If you've ever used email, you've undoubtedly read your fair share of boilerplate "out of office" auto-reply messages.
Four Things To Do When Your Team Is Smarter Than You
Don't be intimidated by a smart staff, just learn how to direct their intelligence and skills.
If you think the boss should have all the answers, you might be confused about what it means to be a good leader. As a general rule of thumb, every person hired should be smarter than the manager at what they've been hired to do, says Ian Siegel, cofounder and CEO of the employment platform ZipRecruiter. "If every manager at the company keeps doing that, you'll end up with an elite team," he says. "That's the dream."
The Quick-Start Guide To Social Media For Time-Strapped Execs
Arriving late to social, or have zero time to tweet? Let this CEO of a social media company show you the ropes.
Last month, I wrote an article here at Fast Company pointing out that more than half of Fortune 500 CEOs have no social media presence whatsoever, which means they're leaving on the table a huge opportunity to connect with customers and employees. That article was shared more than 4,000 times on social media in the first 48 hours. My own Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook streams have exploded with thousands of comments on the subject. I understood the scope of the problem (it's why I wrote the story), but I've been really surprised at the interest there appears to be in fixing it.
6 Lessons From Building A Media Empire
Mona Scott-Young has made her mark in the male-dominated world of hip-hop. Here, she shares her hard-won lessons.
Mona Scott-Young is a multi-tasking maven.
March 23, 2016
To Get Profitable, Shyp Is Shrinking
The shipping service is reducing head count by 8%, and says that companies that avoid painful decisions are acting recklessly.
The last time I talked to Kevin Gibbon, CEO of Shyp—the shipping-on-demand startup I profiled for our Most Innovative Companies issue—he told me that the shipping service's big priority for 2016 was to reach profitability. That was in Janauary, when the company announced that it was suspending operations in Miami and introducing packing fees for larger, more delicate items that require more TLC and materials.
Watch The Cast Of "Silicon Valley" Completely Butcher What Startups Actually Do
A new Wired video quizzes the stars of HBO's Silicon Valley on the real Silicon Valley.
In a funny new video, Wired asks the stars of HBO's Silicon Valley what they know about certain unicorn startups. Spoiler alert: It ain't much.
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