David Lidsky's Blog, page 3291
April 7, 2014
Launching This June: Original Shows For The Xbox One
With original programming for the Xbox One, Microsoft sets its crosshairs on Netflix.
Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox have been inextricably linked since the latter's inception. But somewhere along the way we saw their strategies for ensnaring new customers diverge: Sony's PlayStation 4 targets a market of hardcore gamers; Microsoft wants the Xbox One to become a do-it-all entertainment center that the whole family can use.
Urban Sprawl: Get Fat, Stay Poor, And Die In Car Crashes
A new report on metro density says it straight: Quality of life improves in compact cities.
That urban design improves the quality of people's lives is an old idea. A new study, Measuring Sprawl 2014, now finds that people who live in densely populated regions benefit in many ways. In brief, they have greater economic mobility, they're healthier, and they live longer.
AmazonDash Aims To Make Shopping From Home Even Easier
The device lets you scan barcodes and order new products with voice commands to re-up your AmazonFresh queue.
Amazon's growing grocery delivery service, AmazonFresh, isn't intended to level the grocery store business. Rather it's part of a more ambitious goal to make same-day delivery real.
Infographic: Six Californias Would Be Devastating For Democrats
What would happen if Tim Draper got his way and California was split into six states? Republicans would have a lot more power, and presidential elections would never be the same.
Once you've lived through a few presidential elections, you know how it goes. The Republican candidate seems to be holding his own. Then California crashes in, a deep blue tsunami of electoral votes that changes the tides in favor of the Democrats.
The Ultimate Minimalist Home? No Kitchens Or Bathrooms
At the Vitra Design Museum, industrial designer Konstantin Grcic shares some out-there visions for how we'll live in the future.
Konstantin Grcic is a known talent who has created pieces for companies such as Muji, Flos, and Vitra. His work even has a home in MoMA's permanent collection. But as intangible systems and user experience steal the limelight from heroic products, how does an industrial designer adapt?
Introducing Burlingame, A Safer Font For Your Dashboard
After working with MIT to test typefaces side by side for readability, designers at Monotype have created what they think is the most readable, safest possible font for drivers.
In an attempt to appear manly and aggressive, many car dashboards use a font called Eurostile. It's boxy, robotic, and has a futuristic edge. It can be found in the opening credits for sports programming and science fiction TV shows. It's also incredibly difficult to read. "It's so pervasive," Carl Crossgrove, a senior type designer at Monotype told Fast Company, "and it's so not legible." The "3" looks like the "B," which looks like the "8," all of which is made worse when a car is moving at 60 miles per hour and the entire dash vibrates.
Piano Hero: How JoyTunes Makes Young Musicians Actually Like Practicing
One startup has come to dominate the world of music-learning apps. "The trick is getting through that initial three-year phase where there's no payoff, where you're practicing but no one wants to hear you play because you suck, honestly," says CEO Yuval Kaminka.
Several years ago, Yuval Kaminka was wrapping up a master's degree at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, and he found himself with some free time, much of which he would spend visiting with family. One day, he was playing a Wii tennis game with his eight-year-old nephew, and Kaminka marveled at his nephew's skill and dedication to the game. Then, Kaminka's sister walked in, telling her eight-year-old son it was time to practice his violin.
A Broken Place: The Spectacular Failure Of The Startup That Was Going To Change The World
With almost $1 billion in funding and ambitions to replace petroleum-based cars with a network of cheap electrics, Shai Agassi's Better Place was remarkable even by the standards of world-changing startups. So was its epic failure. A 21st-century cautionary tale.
"So this is the car." I'm standing outside a shopping mall somewhere in Tel Aviv, Israel, as Guy Pross shows me his ride.
How To Make Working From Home More Productive
Working from home has its challenges. Five home office professionals share their secrets on making it work.
As a freelance writer, I spend the majority of my working time in my home office. While zero commuting hours, the ability to work in my pajamas, and flexibility over my schedule sound like a dream; working from home also has its challenges.
The Proven Ideal Length Of Every Tweet, Facebook Post, And Headline Online
Feel like you're too wordy--or too brief? Find out the right length for posts to Twitter, Facebook, and more, for the best impact possible.
Every so often when I'm tweeting or emailing, I'll think: Should I really be writing so much?
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