David Lidsky's Blog, page 2879
October 1, 2015
News Corp Sells EdTech Subsidiary Amplify
Earlier this week, tablet-based educational platform Amplify announced that it was letting go of 500 employees.
On Wednesday, News Corp announced that it is selling Amplify, the company's educational tablet unit, to outside investors. Nearly 40% of the company's workforce—500 employees, to be exact—were reportedly laid off as well.
Amazon To Ban Sales of Apple TV And Google Chromecast
Amazon wants to make it harder for customers to buy devices from rivals Google and Apple.
As the streaming wars heat up, Amazon is playing hardball: Effective October 29, the e-commerce retailer is banning sales of Apple TV and Google Chromecast units, according to Bloomberg. Amazon's reasoning is that Apple TV and Chromecast are not compatible with its streaming service, Prime Video. Bloomberg reports that third-party sellers have been told they must stop selling both products; new listings are no longer being accepted, and existing stock must be sold before the ban takes effect.
Today in Tabs: Tyrangiel of Rohan Departs For The Riddermark
Please stop, bear . . . It's not even food. It doesn't even taste good.
a.footnote {vertical-align: super; font-size: 0.8em; text-decoration: none;}Welp
This Is How We Watch Porn On Our Phones, According To Pornhub
Popular adult site Pornhub has released detailed metrics on how users consume porn on their smartphones and tablets.
Pornhub, the very NSFW adult site, realized something early on: People love watching porn on their smartphones. The company was one of the first adult content services to make the leap to mobile, and its data team—yes, they have a data team—just released a new set of metrics on the porn-viewing habits of smartphone users. As it turns out, Pornhub's data indicates that iOS and Android users have pretty different porn preferences.
IBM Says Its Carbon-Nanotube-Based Chips Can Break Through Limits of Moore's Law
IBM says Its atomic-thin transistors can blow silicon-based chips away.
IBM's Research division says it has discovered a way to replace silicon semiconductors with carbon nanotube transistors, an innovation that Big Blue believes will dramatically improve chip performance and get the industry past the limits of Moore's law.
American Airlines Lets Passengers Track Checked Bags In Real Time
American Airlines adds online tracking for checked bags—so you can watch your suitcase from start to finish.
Frequent fliers of American Airlines can bid adieu to hour-long waits at baggage claim: The airline recently introduced a tracking service on its website, through which customers can track their bag as it makes its way from check-in counter all the way to baggage carousel.
Your New Credit Card Security Measure Is...A Selfie?
America is switching over to chip-based credit cards. And this means big, big changes for credit card security.
If you're an American with a credit card, the odds are good you received a replacement card in the mail lately. These cards, with an embedded chip inside referred to as an EMV, are part of a major shift in the way credit cards work in America: In late 2015 and going into 2017, financial liability for credit card fraud will shift to stores and merchants if they don't accept these EMV chip cards. This means that store owners are rushing to buy the expensive equipment to process EMV chip cards, and card issuers are pumping out cards as quickly as customers can activate them.
Why Nest Wants Weave To Be The Language Of Your Connected Home
Nest made thermostats and smoke alarms sexy. Can it do the same for door locks and other mundane appliances?
Nest, the Google-owned company that builds products for the connected home, has turned appliances even as mundane as thermostats and smoke alarms into beloved, sought-after Christmas gifts. Could it help do the same for other staples of the home: lightbulbs and door locks, air conditioners and coffee makers, ovens and refrigerators?
Why Everything Brands Say About Gen Z Is Wrong
Marketers need to look closer at the differences between this generation and millennials to find insights with significant meaning.
As the millennial marketing craze reaches saturation, a new obsession is making the rounds among brand marketers: Gen Z. Roughly defined as anyone currently 12 to 20 years old, this group is now falling victim to many of the same vague platitudes and insights that characterized "Who Are Millennials?" articles for years.
Animated Heat Maps Reveal The Loudest Neighborhoods
These areas either have the noisiest neighbors or the nosiest neighbors, depending on how you look at it.
Noise might seem like merely a nuisance, but it's also a health risk: according to the World Health Organization, noise pollution can lead to cardiovascular diseases, sleep disturbance, and stress. Last year, NoiseTube gave Smartphone users a way to measure and map noise levels so they could help city officials monitor it. Now, the real estate site Trulia has come up with its own way of visualizing noise pollution: using the crime data on noise complaints.
David Lidsky's Blog
- David Lidsky's profile
- 3 followers
