David Lidsky's Blog, page 2956
June 25, 2015
Meet The Savvy Businessman Behind The Grateful Dead's Final Shows
How did a college kid named Peter Shapiro turn a no-budget music documentary into an empire? It has a lot to do with Jerry Garcia and Co.
Since the Grateful Dead's three-decade journey came to a sudden, sad end following Jerry Garcia's death in the summer of 1995, their hippie-wizard reputation has undergone an unexpected renovation. The Dead, much to the surviving members' surprise, have become, of all things, business role models. One young hippie intuited this lesson—that the Dead's grassroots business model might have lessons to teach in an age of increasing cultural fragmentation—earlier than most. Peter Shapiro got his mind blown when he saw the Dead as a college student in the early 1990s and decided to make a movie about the traveling circus of fans that followed the group from show to show. Not long after, he took over ownership of Wetlands, a storied hippie-leaning rock club in New York's Tribeca neighborhood that hosted everyone from Pearl Jam and Phish to the Roots and the Dave Matthews Band, before it closed in the wake of September 11th.
Watch These Micro-Robots Burrow Through The Body And Deliver Life-Saving Drugs
No more injections or pills. These corkscrew micromachines go right to clogged-up arteries, carrying drugs to open them up.
One day when we want to deliver drugs to a particular part of the body, we won't use pills or injections. We'll use robot "microswimmers" that travel around the bloodstream and identify the point of attack. It'll be like the 1960s film Fantastic Voyage, except we won't miniaturize any submarines or humans; the device will be unmanned and controlled from the outside.
How Many Americans Police Kill Every Year
No one knows for sure, but The Counted explores the more than 500 deaths in 2015 we do know about.
How many people do American police kill every year? It's a question that should have a concrete answer, yet no one really knows: no government agency transparently and accurately reports the total number of Americans killed every year by police officers. This despite the fact that media reports suggest that American police kill more people in an average month than the U.K. police killed last century. In the wake of high-profile killings of Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, and scores of others, it's a statistical blind spot that needs addressing more than ever.
While We're Doing The Flags, Here Are Some Other Confederate Things We Should Get Rid Of
A frat that honors Jefferson Davis. A U.S. senator who loves Jefferson Davis's desk. A giant, giant carving of Jefferson Davis. Stop with the Jefferson Davis.
In the wake of the shootings in Charleston, an amazing national groundswell of support has built for removing the Confederate flags that have flown from state capitals throughout the South. Businesses like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart have banned the selling of flags and flag-related material. The country's largest flag maker has said it will stop making the flag entirely. And guerrilla protestors around the country are starting to deface the statues honoring Confederate generals and politicians.
Are Your Wearables Invading Someone's Privacy?
Some wearables interact not just with their users, but everyone around them. Here are three design rules for socially responsible devices.
Google's very public experiment with Glass in 2013-2014 provided an important lesson for the designers of wearable devices. Glass failed not because of the product itself but because the design generated socially awkward situations at every turn.
Designers Pay Tribute To Massimo Vignelli With 53 Original Posters
Spanish studio Husmee asked designers around the world to create a poster that commemorates the legendary designer a year after his death.
Nothing unites graphic designers more like honoring the work of Massimo Vignelli, one of the most influential figures in modern design. Vignelli died at age 83 last May. To commemorate the anniversary of his death, Spanish studio Husmee curated Timeless, Massimo Vignelli,
an exhibit of 53 posters that studios around the world designed as a tribute to the legendary designer.
June 24, 2015
Palantir Valuation Soars To $20 Billion
Big-data analytics firm Palantir is now the third most valuable startup in America.
The third most valuable startup in the United States may not be who you would expect. It's Palantir, a secretive data processing firm whose clients range from the CIA and NSA to the world's wealthiest banks and hedge funds. On Tuesday, Palantir revealed a valuation of $20 billion as part of a new round of funding.
Periscope Now Allows You To Watch Web Replays Of Live Streams
Watch any off-air Periscope live stream for up to 24 hours.
Periscope has finally addressed its users' most common gripe and will allow people to watch replays of live streams on the web, the company announced via Twitter on Tuesday.
Apple's Latest iOS Update Is Bad News For Advertisers
As part of a user privacy initiative, Apple just made it a lot harder to place advertising in mobile apps.
Apple is making big, privacy-friendly changes to the way iPhone and iPad apps work—and many developers probably won't like them. The Information reported today that Apple is taking steps to prevent app developers from accessing data generated by other apps. This data is used to target ads shown to users by major apps like Twitter, as well as tens of thousands of less popular products.
Today in Tabs: Another Day on the Content Farm
The Cir.ca of Life
She decided to teach postcolonial theory instead of seventeenth-century poetry. Because, well, you know, easier Said than Donne.
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