David Lidsky's Blog, page 2898
September 4, 2015
The New York Subway Still Runs On Analog Technology From The 1930s
Upgrading it is slow and expensive work, but the new systems will eventually allow more trains to run on the same track.
The New York subway is old. You see the signs every time you ride it. The paint on the cast iron pillars is layered like the rings of a tree trunk, and if you removed the ads from the walls, the stations would fool any time-traveler from the 1950s into thinking they were still in their own time.
September 3, 2015
Direct Response: How Tech Is Aiding The European Refugee Crisis
Facebook and Amazon users are helping migrants get everything from clean underwear to a place to live.
The European refugee crisis is reaching a fever pitch this week, with train stations flooded by migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. In response, citizens are going beyond charitable donations and are turning to social media and other novel tech methods to assist those in need. Interestingly, many of these projects actually leverage e-commerce in ways designed to help the refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, and elsewhere.
Why Are You Still Making These Basic Email Privacy Mistakes?
Everybody knows never to mix personal and work email. But everybody does it anyway.
It's the oldest Internet advice in the book: Keep your personal and professional online lives separate.
Note-Taking Just Became Easier With Google's New Voice Transcription Tool
Just in time for the school year, Google is upping its docs game.
As the new school year gets off the ground, Google has updated Docs with a number of features that should help students be more productive and efficient. On Wednesday, Google introduced voice transcription, research capabilities, simpler data visualization tools, and Microsoft Office-style templates, along with the ability to take surveys and more easily check who recently edited a file.
Today in Tabs: Come On Obama
Got Milt?
Question: What do these tabs all have in common?today was honestly awful
This New Drone Is Designed To Safely Break Apart On Impact
The Snap, from Vantage Robotics, features magnetic break-apart components and, surprisingly, a high-quality 4K camera.
One of the biggest concerns people have about drones is that they are thought to be dangerous: People can lose control of them and endanger people and property, or fly them too close to aircraft and put entire flights at risk.
A Rival Traffic App Is Suing Waze For Allegedly Poaching Its Database
PhantomAlert claims it buried fake points of interest in its database to shield against copying—and that Waze has those same markers.
Before the advent of GPS and navigation apps, cartographers sneaked "paper towns" and "trap streets" into their maps—fake points of interest that they used to detect plagiarism. If someone copied their map, it would be easily identifiable through the inclusion of those locations. That same trick has found its way into modern-day mapping systems: A new lawsuit brought against Google and its traffic app Waze cites sham points of interest as evidence that the Google-owned service copied from a competitor's database.
This Vaccination Campaign Gives New Meaning To The Phrase "Viral Ad"
ImmunizeBC uses a unique mailer to show how contagious the measles are.
The issue of vaccination is a touchy one for a lot of people, but it's not just junk science and paranoia that keeps people from vaccinating their kids, there's also just good ol' fashioned forgetfulness.
The Magic Of Science Has Created Ice Cream That Stays Frozen Longer
A new protein additive could let you enjoy your entire cone before it gets all messy.
What makes ice cream melt? If you answered "the hot summer air," you are only partly correct.
Airbnb Launches An App For The Apple Watch
The new app focuses on messaging between guests and hosts.
Airbnb may have been late to the iPad, but it is already on the Apple Watch. The same team that launched Airbnb's first iPad app in April launched its first watch app on Thursday. The new app does not replicate an Airbnb Passbook integration, which sets reminders for Airbnb stays. Instead, it primarily facilitates messaging between hosts and guests (hosts can also confirm guest reservations through the interface).
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