David Lidsky's Blog, page 3293
April 4, 2014
Now You Can Use Emoji To Search Yelp
An update to the Yelp mobile app allows you to find your next meal using emoji. We tried the new feature, and got some interesting results.
Emoji are great stand-ins when words aren't cutting it. Which is perfect for a service like Yelp, since sifting through meal options can often lead to paralyzing indecision, leaving you dinner-less and hangry.
Watch Out, AT&T? Google Might Launch Its Own Wireless Network
A new report suggests Google wants to offer "a full-fledged wireless service" in cities where it offers Google Fiber.
With its high-speed Google Fiber program, our reigning Most Innovative Company is already planting its roots and encroaching on broadband providers. (And getting itself some nice PR in the process.) Now, in the race for total connectivity, a new report hints that Google wants to control a swath of the airwaves, too.
Undercover Houston Cops On Bikes Are Nabbing Drivers Dangerous To Cyclists
Be careful which bikers you buzz by super closely on Houston's streets. One of them might arrest you.
In Houston, cops are taking a novel approach to arresting jerks who cut off cyclists. They're going undercover on two wheels, and when things get too tight for the law, they're calling in for support.
See A Classic "Painting" That's Actually A Spellbinding CGI Masterpiece
Hungarian digital artist Zsolt Ekho Farkas has recreated a 19th-century painting with CGI, and it's an 8-million-polygon, 3-D tour de force.
While a digital gallery could never fully replicate the experience of walking through an art museum, some computer-generated art has the same capacity to provoke awe. Take for example Zsolt Ekho Farkas's 3-D rendering of the 19th-century painting, Budavár Visszavétele. Observing this CGI masterstroke on your laptop is bound to stir up as much wonder as something you'd find hanging in a hushed room somewhere.
April 3, 2014
Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich Steps Down Following Controversy Over Support Of Gay Marriage Ban
The newly appointed chief came under fire for a $1,000 donation made in 2008 supporting a gay marriage ban.
Following a broad backlash over his support of California's gay marriage ban in 2008, Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich has stepped down.
Despite Knowing Risks, People Are Banking and Filing Taxes Over Public Wi-Fi Networks
Hackers can watch your every move over unsecured networks.
Accessing public Wi-Fi networks comes with its risks--hackers snoop on network traffic--but a new study finds 39% of U.S. adults have sent sensitive information, including banking information and social security numbers, over such unsecured networks.
Following Court Ruling, Turkey Unblocks Twitter
The social network had been blocked since March 21.
Turkey's telecommunications regulator has unblocked access to Twitter, two weeks after the country's prime minister promised to "eradicate" the microblogging service.
Get Ready For Virtual Reality Movies
How does moviemaking change when the audience becomes part of the action?
Jaunt just scored $6.8 million in funding for its camera that can make movies for the virtual reality Oculus Rift headset. Using the Oculus Rift dev kit--which the company purchased off of Craigslist!--Jaunt has created the algorithms necessary to give viewers the feeling of being inside a movie. The experience, according to Gizmodo, sounds pretty incredible:
Busted iPhone? iCracked's New App is Like Uber For Desperate Apple Lovers
Broken iPhone? This service will send a technician to wherever is convenient.
A.J. Forsythe is only 26. And, in what seems to be a growing rite of passage for twentysomethings, he, too, has shattered his iPhone. Several times.
From Google, A Giant Psychedelic Sculpture Visitors Control With Chrome
Google Creative Lab wunderkind Aaron Koblin partners with installation artist Janet Echelman on an interactive floating sculpture.
Last month, Vancouver updated its skyline. More ephemeral than a building or billboard, the new kid is a gargantuan pink-and-orange sculpture that resembles a trapeze net. But, unusually, it can be digitally decorated by spectators below.
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