David Lidsky's Blog, page 3160
September 30, 2014
Netflix Enters The Original Movie Game
The streaming service scored the rights to the sequel to the Academy Award-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Maybe it was inevitable that Netflix would one day get into original movies, but hardly anyone would have predicted such a splashy entrance. Next year, Netflix, in a partnership with The Weinstein Company, will make its production debut with the sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Academy Award-winning art-house epic that pushed the limits of cinematography in 2000.
General Catalyst Invests $10 Million In Stripe's Ecosystem
The VC firm will dole out $250,000 to $500,000 apiece to early-stage startups building atop Stripe's technology.
Stripe is on a streak. This month, it signed big deals with Facebook and Twitter to power their buy buttons as the social networks eye the e-commerce space. Adding fuel to its rapid growth, venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners on Tuesday announced a $10 million fund to invest in early-stage startups building atop the payments processor's technology.
Ebay Is Finally Spinning Off PayPal Into Its Own Business
Score another one for Carl Icahn.
In an about-face from earlier this year, eBay has decided to spin PayPal off into its own separate business in 2015. What makes the move so surprising is that eBay has spent the bulk of the year fighting off mounting outside pressure--namely from super-investor Carl Icahn, who penned a corrosive open letter to eBay's board back in February--to split its core businesses into two.
Why Startups Should Let Developers Leapfrog To New Technologies
Encouraging developers to wear multiple hats makes for happier coders and stronger companies.
Developers could learn a lot from Charles Lloyd. As legend has it, the jazz saxophonist was known to rotate the musicians in his band during concerts in the 1960s. When the group returned to the stage for an encore, the drummer would would sit down at the piano, Lloyd sat behind the drum kit, and pianist Keith Jarrett would pick up the saxophone that made his bandleader famous. The stunt not only wowed crowds, but it made each individual player that much more versatile--and the group as a whole much stronger.
8 Ways Rail Travel Could Evolve By 2050
With world population growing and moving to cities, we're going to need far better rail design than exists today. From driverless trains to ticketless travel, here's a glimpse of how it could look.
With Amtrak continuing to hobble along on less-than-generous funding, the present moment may not feel like a "renaissance" for the railroad in the U.S.. But that's how it looks in much of the world. Countries like China have been investing heavily in trains (including 300 mph Maglevs), and all signs point to the trend continuing. With 9 billion people expected on the planet by 2050--and the majority of us living in cities--there's bound to be a need for efficient, environmentally sensitive transit that doesn't use up too much space.
From Land Mines To Eco Clothing: The Unlikely Story Of Amour Vert
How one couple ditched the defense industry in a quest to make the hugely wasteful fashion biz more eco-friendly.
When Linda Balti met Christoph Frehsee at a trade show in Abu Dhabi, both were working in the defense industry. Frehsee produced land-mine-clearing machinery with his company, MineWolf Systems, while Balti developed fighter-jet simulators for French defense giant Thales Group. Neither could have imagined they would one day preside over a fashion label at the forefront of the eco-conscious movement.
This Origami-Inspired Office Design Expands, Contracts, And Changes Its Shape
Want more room? Not a problem. Using drones and inflatable balloon-type devices, a new kind of transformable architecture could create buildings that morph to meet our needs.
Right now, a building might be considered "smart" if it can autonomously adjust its internal systems, like the lighting or, say, the air conditioning above a particular employee's desk. But the smart buildings of the future may use sensors to control architecture itself. A new prototype from students at Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia shows how a shape-shifting building might work.
September 29, 2014
Photoshop Comes To Chromebooks
That's right, Google's $200 laptop can now run Photoshop.
Chances are, you don't own one of Google's cheap, cloud-based "Chromebook" laptops, but they accounted for 21% of all laptops sold last year in the US. And designers may have new incentive to drop $200 on their next knock-around computer because Photoshop is coming to Chromebooks.
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5 Ways Protesters Organized #OccupyCentral
The Hong Kong protests have gotten the world's attention. How did they do it?
Organizing a protest is a logistical nightmare, from decisions on signage to addressing fears of government surveillance. But as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong flowed through city's streets over the weekend, one thing was clear: The effort did not lack for logistical support--or food.
"Where Did I Park, Again?" Waze Can Tell You
Waze's new app update automatically remembers your parking spot.
Waze, the free, Google-owned smartphone app that offers real-time traffic information based on user reports, will now automatically remember parking locations when a driver uses Waze to navigate to his or her destination.
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