David Lidsky's Blog, page 2927
August 4, 2015
Helix Sleep Uses Your Personal Data To Create A $900 Custom Mattress
The company touts itself as the first brand to employ "cutting edge data and analytics" to mold mattresses to your body.
Doling out $5,000 for a Hästens Marquis bed does not mean it will fit your exact sleep specifications—and that's where Helix Sleep hopes to make its mark. The startup, which officially launched on Tuesday, seeks to customize your mattress by gleaning insight from data like height and sleeping style. The queen-size, custom mattresses run $900 each.
Who Made That App? Makerbase Aims To Create An "IMDb For Internet Stuff"
Makerbase, launched by tech bloggers Anil Dash and Gina Trapani, is a searchable database of Internet creators.
Tech bloggers and entrepreneurs Anil Dash and Gina Trapani announced a new product on Tuesday called Makerbase, which they are pitching as a user-edited database for Internet creations—a catalog of credits for things like websites, apps, and podcasts. Makerbase hopes to be a "directory for people who make things," according to its tagline on Twitter.
August 3, 2015
Twitter's News Tab Surfaces Trending Headlines
The new feature is yet another tweak to Twitter's interface aimed at casual users and those new to the site.
Twitter is toying with a new feature targeted at prospective users: a news tab in its iOS and Android apps designed to instantly update with breaking stories from approved sources.
The Smart Cigarette Case That Guilts Smokers With Hard Data
The quantified-health craze is taking aim at our worst habits. Can a connected cigarette case help smokers quit?
Quitting smoking seems like one of the most challenging things you can do. I've never smoked, but I've seen friends try a range of tricks to try and kick the habit—from lozenges and patches to mobile apps. But what if we could somehow marry the quantified-health craze with this public health pandemic?
Amazon Restricts Prime Membership, Only Lets You Share With One Friend
Do you share a Prime account with a friend or coworker? Now you'll have to share your credit card information with them, too.
Now that Amazon reportedly has 40 million Prime subscribers, the e-commerce site is tightening the screws on its sharing capabilities. As of this weekend, subscribers can only share their Prime membership with one other person, rather than four—and both people sharing Prime privileges will have access to all credit cards on the account.
Your MacBook Is Not As Secure As You Thought
Researchers successfully hack into Macs that are not connected to the Internet.
Researchers have created the first firmware worm that targets Mac computers, in a move that gives corporate security teams a sharp new headache and pokes holes in one of Apple's top selling points. A proof-of-concept worm from Xeno Kovah of LegbaCore and Trammell Hudson of Two Sigma Investments jumps from MacBook to MacBook, even if the computers are not connected to the Internet or on a network with each other.
If You Still Check Your Voicemails, Apple May Have Siri Transcribe Them
The tech giant is testing a transcription service that uses Siri to render your voicemails in text form.
Do you think voicemail is the worst? You should, because it is; in almost any scenario, sending a text, email, Gchat, Slack message, tweet, Snapchat, or Facebook post is more efficient and enjoyable than leaving a voice message. Apple, however, seems to believe that voicemail is not dead yet. The company is piloting a service called "iCloud Voicemail" that would have Siri transcribe your voicemails, Business Insider reports.
How To Tell If Windows 10 Is Succeeding (It's Not As Easy As It Sounds)
Windows 10 probably won't turn the PC market around in terms of sales of new machines. But it can still advance Microsoft's greater goals.
Microsoft is boasting that people installed Windows 10 over 14 million times in the new operating system's first 24 hours. It's a big number, but it doesn't mean all that much.
Robert Kirkman Tells A Story About The Career Pivot That Put Him On The Path To "The Walking Dead"
With his latest creation lurching toward screens, Robert Kirkman takes us back to a day at a comics convention that set him on the path to The Walking Dead.
The monster success of The Walking Dead feels so inevitable now. The show, which has broken one ratings and social media record (the season five premiere earned 17 million total viewers and 1,320,056 tweets) after another, is the cultural phenomenon we need and deserve as a society reckoning with our own suddenly looming mortality. It may not be walkers on the horizon, but we live with the collective feeling that something is going to overrun our idyllic farm sooner rather than later.
Honest Co. Catches Heat For Its Sunscreen From Sunburned Customers
Jessica Alba's $1 billion non-toxic hygiene company is defending its sunblock as compliant with FDA standards.
Jessica Alba's The Honest Co. has been receiving complaints via social media from sunburned users (and parents of users) of the all-natural hygiene company's sunscreen lotion.
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