David Lidsky's Blog, page 2976
June 1, 2015
Google's Minor UI Update Is Solving The Biggest Problem On Smartphones Right Now
By predicting what you want to do next in any app, Now on Tap is a small update that could become a very big deal.
With its upcoming Android M operating system, Google revealed a major UI breakthrough for smartphones. It's called Now on Tap. An extension of Google Now, you simply tap and hold the Home button inside any Android app, and a card appears on the bottom of your screen suggesting a number of apps that can help carry out the next thing Google thinks you want to do on your phone.
Meet Project Jacquard, Google's Plan To Turn Your Clothes Into A Touch Screen
Google has a new technology that can turn virtually any type of fabric into a connected device.
One of Frog's big predictions was that 2015 would be the year that textiles got techy. Maybe it heard rumblings of Project Jacquard, Google's new venture to weave touch controls into textiles right on the loom.
Uber Is Building A Giant Glass Campus To Prove It Has Nothing To Hide
Ha.
Uber, the irresistibly convenient car service that's notorious for dubious privacy, legal, and hiring practices, is building a new campus in San Francisco's Mission Bay district. And in a somewhat ironic spin, its 423,000 square feet of office space feature glass walls engineered with what the architects call "maximum transparency" to blur the distinction between public and private.
How Google Finally Got Design
Google's transformation into a company that creates beautiful software is the story of how tech itself has evolved in the mobile era.
It would have been crazy to say just a few years ago. But today, Google produces better-designed software than any other tech behemoth. If you don't believe that, then set down your Apple-flavored Kool-Aid. Take a cleansing breath, open your mind, and compare Android and iOS.
Charter Schools Have An Awkward Secret: They're Not Very Good At Innovating
So a group of education entrepreneurs in New Orleans is helping them learn the ABCs of disruption, by starting small.
When Nia Mitchell took over as principal of Algiers Technology Academy, a New Orleans charter high school, she knew she wanted to introduce project-based learning into the curriculum. "That's the direction that we're going," she says. But she had her hands full—only 19% of her students were scoring at college-ready levels, or at least 18 out of 36, on the ACT, and only 65% were graduating within four years. Plus, her opportunities to observe project-based learning in action at other schools were few and far between.
Eileen Fisher Edits Her Closet Twice A Year--And Thinks You Should, Too
Fisher talks with Fast Company about sustainable fashion and simple living at the premiere of documentary The True Cost.
Twice a year, fashion icon Eileen Fisher completes her own version of a retail therapy ritual: She cleans out her closet.
Mike Judge's Secrets To Exquisitely Skewering Silicon Valley
The former engineer spills on the creative process behind Silicon Valley, the show.
Silicon Valley creator and executive producer Mike Judge is the first to admit that his satirical HBO series nails some things about the overheated tech industry spot on, while exaggerating others greatly for effect. (Elon Musk once told him he needed to do more research). But to create a show that strikes a nerve, Judge knows that some aspects of that reality have to become caricatures. "This isn't like a propaganda film for Silicon Valley to promote it or make it seem great," he says. "It's just a comedy and it's about these characters." We asked him how he stays inspired while dreaming up just-recognizable characters born from the tech scene mold. Here's what he had to say.
How To Be Your Own Mentor
If you're facing a tough decision, your own inner wisdom might be as good as anyone else's advice
Having trouble finding the right mentor? Here's an idea you might not have tried: tapping your own wisdom.
May 31, 2015
George Zimmer Unveils His New Tailor-on-Demand Service, zTailors
The Men's Wearhouse founder is launching a service that brings tailors to the customer's door.
Mario Galvan has been a tailor for twenty-five years. He learned the trade from his parents, who worked in small tailor shops in Mexico before moving the family to Southern California in search of better opportunities. As a child, Galvan was surrounded by sewing machines and spools of thread, but it wasn't until he entered his late teens that he began to marvel at his parent's skill. "I was suddenly able to see the craftsmanship that goes into the garments that they worked on," Galvan tells Fast Company. "I am still sometimes amazed that they are able to create such wonderful things with these little machines."
May 30, 2015
Millennials Shocked To Learn Their Generation Isn't As Entrepreneurial As They Thought
On the Millennial Train Project, a car full of young social entrepreneurs receives some surprising information about their generation.
A few days ago, I posted a dispatch from the Millennial Train Project, a cross-country voyage carting young social entrepreneurs across the American South. Throughout the journey, an impressive array of social scientists, entrepreneurs, and innovators jumped on and off the train, mentoring and dispensing knowledge to the project's participants.
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