David Lidsky's Blog, page 3023
March 25, 2015
This Dew-Harvesting Greenhouse Waters Itself--And Then Makes Clean Drinking Water
Grow kale and flowers, get drinking water in return.
In parts of Ethiopia, it often doesn't rain for six months in a row, and growing food is a perpetual struggle. A new greenhouse is designed to harvest dew so farmers don't need to rely on outside water supplies.
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Ridiculous By Design: Where Design's Craziest Inventor Gets His Ideas
A new documentary tries to find the muse behind the man who invented Ear Binoculars and the Strap-On Nose Stylus.
Dominic Wilcox is known for his mad ideas. Over the last half-decade or so, he has created a succession of improbable designs, including GPS Wingtips with directions written on the sole, a pair of enormous ear binoculars, and a strap-on nose stylus for your iPhone. Wilcox has so many ideas for crazy inventions, he's published a book full of them. But where the hell does he get them all?
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5 Lessons On Innovation From Modern-Day Explorers And Adventurers
Companies should embrace the constraints faced by people in life-or-death situations—or, even better, help explore the world and make new products at the same time.
Look around you. How many of the man-made objects you see have come from one of the world's explorers?
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This App Will Let You Wear The Apple Watch Right Now
Why didn't Apple release this augmented-reality gem itself?
Not entirely sure how the Apple Watch would look on your wrist? A new augmented-reality app called ARWatch allows you to put a virtual version of the smartwatch on your wrist and play around with it. Not only is it pretty cool, it's also a great example of how brands are overlooking some of the most exciting opportunities of augmented reality.
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Lexus Is Changing The Way It Sells Cars. Step One: Stop Ignoring Women
With a program called Lexus Difference, the carmaker hopes to improve the shopping experience for a new generation of buyers.
Acknowledge the women in a group first. Wait three beats before replying to make sure somebody has finished speaking. Follow up with a call or email when you say you will. These are just a few of the recommendations that make up a new Lexus program designed to turn the daunting dealership into an appealing destination.
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Inside Google's Insanely Popular Emotional Intelligence Course
How one of Google's original engineers became a self-help guru, and why thousands are on waiting lists for his course.
In 2006, Google engineer Chade-Meng Tan decided he no longer wanted to feel like a cog in the great machine and set out to create a program that would train people to be more mindful in their lives. This wasn't some Kumbaya moment; Tan's ambitious course would train people to become more aware of their emotions, more compassionate toward others, more able to build sustainable relationships, and, ultimately, contribute to world peace. Or at least peace and harmony in the workplace.
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March 24, 2015
Amazon To The Feds: You Slowpokes Are Stifling Innovation
Amazon is having trouble flying its delivery drones through all the red tape in Washington.
Amazon is desperate to fly diapers to your front door, but the U.S. government is harshing its vibe—that's the gist of Amazon's testimony before a Senate subcommittee earlier today.
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See How Disney's Famous Logo Has Changed Through The Years
This video will very likely make you majorly nostalgic for your youth.
You know it so well: A cascading beacon of light reveals the slitted silhouette of a castle. There's a bright flash with one of the most recognizable signatures ever, and, for a finishing touch, a shooting arc against the blue backdrop.
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Obama's Raid On Silicon Valley Tech Talent Continues
Twitter and Google alum Jason Goldman will serve as the first U.S. chief digital officer.
The White House is on a tech hiring spree. Not even a week after nabbing a former Facebook engineer as its new director of IT, the White House just hired another Silicon Valley veteran. And he has quite the resume.
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The Other Shoe Drops: Facebook May Soon Host News Sites' Content Inside Facebook
Facebook is persuading news sites to host their content on Facebook. It part of the network's grand plan to keep users within its walls.
Last summer, the Gawker website received about 15 million visits in the month of June. Editors were perplexed when, the very next month, that number plummeted 25%, to 11 million. Soon, the cause of the drop came out: Facebook had changed its news feed algorithm, and posts from sites like Gawker were suddenly given a lower rank in users' feeds. Facebook demonstrated that it could make or break websites with a simple tweak to its algorithm.
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