David Lidsky's Blog, page 3169
September 15, 2014
Vivienne Westwood's Posh Virgin Atlantic Uniforms Apparently Injure Flight Attendants
Suffering for fashion at 6,000 feet: Westwood's sleek red uniforms are inflicting injury and blisters on Virgin's cabin crew.
In July, punk rock fashion icon Vivienne Westwood debuted a line of '40s-inspired blood-red uniforms for Virgin Atlantic's crew. Airline owner Richard Branson called them "extremely glamorous." But according to some of Virgin's 7,500 flight crew members, they're also extremely uncomfortable. The Sun reports (subscription required) that the footwear, a glossy red take on Westwood's signature hourglass heels, is giving flight attendants blisters. Crediting the union Unite, the Sun also reports that "the collars are so tight some of [the flight attendants] have been left bleeding." (!)
Enhanced FBI Database Lets Authorities Search Criminal And Non-Criminal Biometrics
The bureau's Next Generation Identifier, which took three years to develop, is now fully operational.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Monday that its expanded biometric database Next Generation Identifier is now fully operational.
Texting While Walking? In China, There's A Lane For That
Walk this way: A Chinese city has installed a special sidewalk lane for distracted walkers.
Texting while walking may not seem as dangerous as texting while driving, but both distracted actions are a hazard to pedestrians. To raise awareness of the risks of not paying attention while walking, a city in China recently created a smartphone sidewalk lane for those who can't keep their eyes off their mobile devices.
Why This Media Startup Is Betting On Print Newspapers
California Sunday, based in San Francisco, is giving the West Coast some new weekend reading.
Most of America's magazines are based in New York City, which houses media giants like Conde Nast and Time Inc. But it always struck Douglas McGray, a journalist who has contributed to the New York Times Magazine and the New Yorker, as a bit odd that there wasn't a similar national general interest magazine that reflected a West Coast perspective.
Apple's iPhone 6 Pre-Sales Press Release, Annotated
Instead of re-writing Apple's press release about iPhone 6 pre-sales, we annotated it in Genius.
Read "Annotating Apple's iPhone 6 Press Release" by Chris Gayomali, Fast Company on News Genius
Microsoft Will Acquire Minecraft For $2.5 Billion
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Microsoft has announced that it will buy Minecraft creator Mojang, as predicted by rumors swirling around last week. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, and will cost Microsoft $2.5 billion.
The Latest Urban Outfitters Controversy? A Blood-Stained "Vintage" Kent State Sweatshirt
All yours for $129.
No stranger to controversy, Urban Outfitters was caught selling a blood-stained "vintage" Kent State sweatshirt for $129 as an online exclusive this weekend. (Hat tip to BuzzFeed.) But if you were looking for a fall sweatshirt plainly referencing the May 1970 massacre of unarmed college students at the hands of the Ohio National Guard, well, you will have to look elsewhere: UrbanOutfitters.com says the sweatshirt is now "sold out."
How Do You Get People To Use Toilets In Places Where They Don't Already?
The problem requires more than just dropping toilets into areas that lack them--because a toilet no one uses sort of defeats the purpose.
One billion people in the world lack access to a toilet--a state of affairs that is in large part responsible for the 1.5 million people who die each year from sanitation-related diseases. But fixing the problem requires more than just dropping toilets into areas that lack them.
Why The Government Tech Sector Now Has Its Own Venture Capital Fund
As the Obamacare roll-out showed, governments can make policy all they want--but effective technology is needed to make it reality.
When Ron Bouganim, a former Code for America accelerator director and naturalized U.S. citizen from Canada, was in the middle of raising money for his new venture capital fund focused on making government technology investments, two things happened at the same time that accelerated investor interest.
September 12, 2014
Why Use Google Maps When You Can Get GPS Directions On The Death Star Instead?
Spaceship Earth is a custom map skin that turns any place on Earth into a sci-fi landscape.
Mapbox Studio is a toolkit that allows apps and websites to serve up their own custom-designed maps to users. Companies like Square, Pinterest, Foursquare, and Evernote con provide custom-skinned Mapboxes instead, changing map elements to better fit in with their brand.
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