David Lidsky's Blog, page 3297
March 31, 2014
Please Don't Smash This Minimalist Piggy Bank
You know what, maybe just keep this piggy bank for yourself instead of giving it to a kid.
Now that we think about it, why exactly is a piggy bank only for children? We all need a place to keep our change; maybe it's a bowl, or a mason jar, or a hole you dug in the backyard (its location marked by a creepy stick sculpture inspired by True Detective), but regardless, we each have something. Why not use something that subtly reminds us of a traditional piggy bank?
A Futuristic Sofa Made Out Of 11,000-Year-Old Volcanic Lava
Peugeot Design Lab's new Onyx sofa is 800 pounds, $185,585, and molten hot.
For almost 11,000 years, the Volvic lava stone of France's Auvergne region, home to many sleeping volcanoes, has been filtering water. Now that rock has been transformed into a sofa for display at Milan Design Week.
Citi Bike's Growing Pains, In 5 Charts
The bike share's annual memberships have proven more popular than expected, putting a financial strain on the widely used but troubled program.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that New York City's sprawling bike share program, Citi Bike, is in a deep financial hole, allegedly hemorrhaging tens of millions of dollars.
How A Risky Ad Campaign Turned The Portland Timbers Into One Of Pro Sports' Hottest Startups
The Oregon Major League Soccer team is consistently drawing unusually passionate sellout crowds. Here's why.
When the portland Timbers made their playoff debut last fall, it might have been the first time casual followers of Major League Soccer had even heard of the young team, which launched just three years ago. But in their short life, the Timbers have quietly become a fixture in the league--and are changing the way MLS teams think about marketing themselves.
March 29, 2014
How Facebook's Machines Got So Good At Recognizing Your Face
In DeepFace, Facebook has some of the best facial recognition technology in the world. Here's why it's a big deal.
The ability to recognize human faces has always been a benchmark for artificial intelligence. Facebook's new facial recognition technology--called DeepFace--comes astonishingly close to human intelligence in that measure.
March 28, 2014
Building On Its Color-Changing Bulbs, Philips Debuts 3-D Printed Smart Lamps
The company also introduced a wireless light switch powered by finger taps and a more affordable (though non-color changing) smart bulb.
Philips Hue turned the lighting world on its head when it introduced its connected color-changing light bulbs in 2012. On Friday, the company showed off three new lighting products: a smart white-only bulb, a wireless light switch, and artistic 3-D printed lamps.
Make Your Elected Officials Babysit, And Other "Alternatives" To Paid Sick Leave
Family policy advocacy group Moms Rising has a few so-sad-they're-funny ideas for the 41 million Americans who don't earn paid sick leave.
Earlier this month, the Institute for Women's Policy Research released a report on access to paid sick days in the U.S.--and the results were not healthy. According to the report, 40% of private-sector workers and 80% of low-wage earners--totaling 41 million Americans--do not earn any paid sick leave. This means they have to choose between a sick child or self and a paycheck, endangering themselves and others if they are forced by necessity to work.
Is The Oculus Rift Acquisition A PR Disaster For Kickstarter And Facebook?
In this week's News Scrum, the staff debates Minecraft developer Markus Persson's reaction to the deal, and whether the outrage will (and should) be contagious.
This is a News Scrum, in which senior reporters read one of the morning's top stories and discuss it in context, with research, related links, data, and ancillary explanation.
Ceci N'est Pas Un Shirt: Opening Ceremony Debuts Surreal Magritte Line
Opening Ceremony's newest collection features clothing inspired by Belgian painter Rene Magritte.
Surrealist painter Rene Magritte had no trouble imagining naked women with fish heads or creepy adult-baby hybrids, but he might never have imagined that nearly 50 years after his death, fashionistas would be strutting around wearing his art. In Opening Ceremony's wild new collection, 12 of the Belgian artist's most famous images are plastered onto clothing, as well as Manolo Blahnik stilettos, Birkenstock sandals, and Vans sneakers.
Why You Should Work A Tough Job, Even When You're Old
A new study finds a correlation between jobs that use your noggin and that noggin's capacity as it ages.
Can your job condition your brain to stay active into old age? A new study from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor suggests that it might.
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