David Lidsky's Blog, page 2863
October 23, 2015
MIT's New Microwave Camera Can See Through Walls
This Algorithm Is Better At Predicting Human Behavior Than Humans Are
You're so predictable.
Analyzing big data sets in order to forecast trends or predict customer behavior usually relies on both computers and humans. Computer algorithms are advanced enough to rapidly comb through numbers and find useful patterns, and humans are still necessary for setting the parameters and analyzing the results. But an algorithm created by two MIT researchers suggest we could take out the human factor all together.
How Ikea Is Defining The State Of Play (With A Little Help From DreamWorks)
Interviews with nearly 30,000 parents and children from 12 countries informed the Lattjo collection of play-oriented design.
Play isn't just about fun and games—it's a valuable way for children to refine their motor skills, learn about the world around them, and develop social relationships. 50 years ago, that might have meant hide and seek; 30 years ago maybe it was Jenga; today it's probably any number of games on a PlayStation or iPad. Anecdotally speaking, play changes with the decades, but what Ikea wanted to do with its 2015 Play Report is quantify the social forces that are driving the shifts and understand how design in the domestic realm—the company's domain—can help adults and children play more.
Lupe Fiasco And A Waze Exec Make A Million-Dollar Bet On Inner-City Innovators
Could the next $100 million business come from a marginalized neighborhood? Waze's Di-Ann Eisnor and rapper Lupe Fiasco are sure of it.
It was in May 2014 that Di-Ann Eisnor met Lupe Fiasco. Eisnor is an executive at Google's Waze, an angel investor, and a "neogeographer," while Fiasco is a Grammy Award-winning rapper; the two were united as Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute. "We hit it off," recalls Fiasco. Soon, they got to speaking about shared concerns: inequality in America, ghettoized neighborhoods, and the lack of diversity in the innovation economy.
October 22, 2015
Amazon Web Services Drives Surprising Profit For Amazon
Amazon reported an unexpected third-quarter profit of $406 million.
As Amazon dukes it out with the New York Times over whether Amazon is or is not a nice place to work, the tech company reported surprising third-quarter profits.
Facebook Takes Aim At Twitter, Adds Universal Search
The social network is tweaking its search feature to encourage strangers on Facebook to talk to each other about news.
Facebook is altering its search capabilities, in an effort to encourage users to talk to each other about breaking news. The company is introducing universal search—making all public posts searchable—and adding a new "Top Posts" section and a list of popular links, rather than just a single stream of search results.
Google Says Mobile Search Has Surpassed Desktop Search
Alphabet, the company formerly known as Google, reported quarterly earnings for the first time on Thursday.
The words at the top of the press release seem strange: "Alphabet Announces Third Quarter 2015 Results of Google."
Today in Tabs: I'm Not a Particle Man, I'm an Article, Man
What's he like? It's not important. Article man.
a.footnote {vertical-align: super; font-size: 0.8em; text-decoration: none;}Alexis Lloyd at the New York Times R&D Lab considered what "the article" might become in the era of Facebook Instant and Apple News, and she didn't actually use the word "transclusion," but nevertheless rediscovered the perpetually just-about-to-arrive folly of the semantic web:
Instagram Releases Boomerang, A New Video App
Instagram's new video app Boomerang directly competes with Vine.
Instagram is releasing its newest app, a video maker called Boomerang. The app, announced today, allows users to create short, shareable animations that play from beginning to end and then from end to beginning—hence the name, Boomerang. This is the latest in a wave of add-on apps released by the Facebook-owned company.
There's Meat In Veggie Dogs, Pork In Turkey Dogs, And Human DNA In Everything
Trust us, you probably don't want to know how the sausage gets made.
That veggie hot dog you're about to eat might actually have pork inside, and less than half the protein listed on the label.
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