David Lidsky's Blog, page 3262
May 14, 2014
Why You're Afraid Of The World To Your Left
A new study says there's a spatial bias to how we assess what's dangerous.
People think the space to their left is a dangerous one, according to new research. In a study that will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Management Science, University of Utah researchers tested whether people's assessment of risky situations--such as crossing a street in front of an oncoming car or deciding to evacuate after an earthquake hits a nearby city--differs based on what direction the threat comes from.
Everything You Need To Know About Facebook's New App Accelerator
Facebook's new FbStart accelerator is designed to help startups create mobile apps. Here's how it hopes to make a difference.
This story contains interviews with Facebook employee Vijay Shankar, Techstars cofounder David Brown, and CEO of Frontrow education and Imagine K-12 graduate Sidharth Kakkar.
Take A Look At The First Keyboard For Google Glass In This Twee-Tastic Video
Minuum is betting that most users don't think voice commands are enough.
Now that Google is allowing anyone with a cool $1,500 lying around to score themselves a pair of Glass, you'll probably start seeing a lot more tech geeks wearing headsets in public talking to themselves. Our hands-free, hyper-tethered future is well on its way! So if voice command interfacing is the wave of the future, what good is something seemingly as reductive as an input keyboard?
An App For Selling Access To A Street Parking Space You Do Not Own
Parking spaces need to cost more. But creating a private market for a public good isn't the way to do it.
In San Francisco, a tech startup is rolling out what may be the ultimate idea for co-opting public resources for the private good: Helping individual citizens to charge for access to city-owned street parking spaces.
Mark Zuckerberg Is Officially An Old Loser, According To Mark Zuckerberg
Happy 30th birthday to the Facebook mastermind! Wonder if he still thinks "young people are just smarter."
Happy Birthday Mark Zuckerberg, you old bag of unemployable bones!
George R.R. Martin's Secret To Productive Writing: A DOS Computer
The Game of Thrones creator apparently prefers his writing programs from the '80s.
George R.R. Martin possesses a once-in-a-generation imagination, with a Tolkien-like ability to conjure up the sprawling fantasy worlds teeming with hidden messages now running every Sunday night on HBO's adaptation of his work, Game of Thrones. As Tuesday night's special guest on Conan, the A Song Of Fire and Ice author revealed one of his low-tech secrets to ridding himself of distractions to focus on writing, and it's kind of barbaric; downright Dothraki-esque.
May 13, 2014
Google Tested The Safety Of Its Self-Driving Cars By Swarming Them With Bikes
That's one way to do it.
We know now that Google's self-driving cars are safer on the road than most human drivers. Most of that is due to the fact that robots aren't prone to things like distracting text messages, blinding flashes of road rage, or bad decisions after a night out. According to some estimates, fully autonomous smart cars could save over 30,000 lives a year.
Why Google Is Being Forced To Delete Certain Search Results
The European Union's highest court ruled that Google will have now have to take down links if requested by individuals.
Privacy laws in places like the U.K. are notoriously strict--and they just got stricter yet. In a new ruling that could have huge implications across the Internet--including on Facebook and Twitter--the highest court in the European Union ruled on Tuesday that Google must allow individuals the right to delete links about themselves from its search engine.
An Illustrated History Of The Camera
From the Camera Obscura to the Polaroid, see the rapid evolution of cameras over 150 years.
In a day when lens-equipped smartphones have all but replaced actual cameras, it's easy to feel nostalgic for the ritual of loading a film cartridge and waiting for the images to develop. To fuel that nostalgia, here's a brief illustrated history of the photographic camera, designed by Retrofuturismo-Kitsch. From the age-old Camera Obscura to Talbot's Mousetrap of 1835 to the Sony Mavica of 1981, the infographic offers stylized images of 48 contraptions, each of which were, of course, cutting-edge at the time.
6 Starchitects Wearing Their Most Famous Buildings As Hats
These are the kings and queens of architecture. Now check out their crowns.
Starchitects are a kind of royalty in their own right, so why shouldn't they have crowns? Architects wearing their own buildings as hats is a new project by illustrator Paul Tuller. Based in Brooklyn, Tuller's illustrations and caricatures have been featured in a number of different publications, including Fast Company.
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