David Lidsky's Blog, page 3331
February 18, 2014
10 Steps To Pulling Off A Killer Hardware Hackathon
Way more than Red Bull and couches, hardware hackfests have to be planned on to the T.
As anyone who has organized one will tell you, organizing hardware hackathons is notoriously hard to get right. In many ways hardware hackathons are more "advanced" from an organizational standpoint than their software cousins are because the nature of hacking hardware requires more tools and parts than the standard laptop, Ethernet cable, and Internet connection attendees at a software hackathon need.
A Designer Shaves His Beard Into Every Letter Of The Alphabet
He's calling his glorious hairy typeface the Alphabeard Beardface.
Various beard styles can subtly communicate lots of things: that you might be a wizard, that you have a lot of soul, or that you are trying to pretend you have a chin, to name but a few.
The Five Secrets To Running A Totally Distributed Company
With 65 employees in 10 or more locations, this company's CEO says these five rules keep them working together.
Steven Schuurman is the CEO of Elasticsearch, which provides real-time search and analytics tools to developers based on the Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana open source projects. It was a distributed company from day one, partly because of its open source roots. The projects' contributors and users were already scattered all over the world.
Seattle And Austin Are Getting Bitcoin ATMs
To expand its network, Robocoin is also offering $10,000 in Bitcoin to ambassadors who help find new kiosk operators.
The U.S. will soon welcome its first Bitcoin ATMs. Robocoin, which installed a Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver last fall, announced Tuesday that it will install kiosks in Seattle and Austin later this month, reports Reuters.
Alarm Clock's Simple Flip Gesture Helps Gently Wake You Up
No more fumbling for the snooze button.
Unless your circadian clock is naturally set early, there's no good way to wake up. Designers have been doggedly trying to find a better way to get us up in the morning and we've seen some stellar attempts at alarm clocks, like the Aura, a smart alarm that uses colored lighting to ease you in and out of sleep. There have also been clever apps, like one with a gorgeous gestural interface (maybe its sheer beauty will inspire you to seize the day?) and another that needs a good shaking before it turns off.
Which Sounds Tug Most At Your Heart Strings?
An entrancing new website quizzes users on how different noises make them feel.
I'm six or seven, sitting cross-legged on my parents' bed and watching a spring thunderstorm roll through our town. Or listening, really, safe in that room, as my dad teaches me to count the seconds between the thunder and lightning and calculate the bolt's distance from our house. I've found thunder relaxing ever since, and during finals season I used to write papers to hour-long YouTube recordings of storms.
Duolingo Raises $20 Million, Will Offer More Languages And A Certification Program
The translation startup has grown to 20 million users since its launch in 2011, and it is one of the most popular free educational apps on Google Play and Apple's App Store
Duolingo, the startup that aims to translate the web while helping people learn new languages, announced Tuesday it has raised $20 million led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to bring more languages to the service and offer a certification program.
Sugar Rush: Gaming Giant King Of Candy Crush Fame Files For IPO
The Dublin-based purveyor of addictive puzzle games is looking to raise $500 million.
Candy Crush Saga is a simple strategy game. The objective? To solve puzzles by annihilating colorful candies. And now, following in the grand tradition of gaming behemoths like Zynga, King Digital Entertainment, whose portfolio also includes Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga, has filed to become a publicly traded company. Its plan is to raise $500 million.
An App For Sharing Things You Never Wanted Anyone To Find Out
Secret is a social network for the skeletons in your closet, giving it a sense of vulnerability that you just don't find on Facebook.
For a generation of social media addicts, the only thing you don't share online is the stuff you don't want anyone to ever find out. Enter Secret. The brainchild of former Square and Google Employees David Byttow and Chrys Bader, Secret is an iPhone app that is like Post Secret for the Instagram age. It's a social network based upon whispering sub rosas into the ear of a stranger.
It's like a meta-commentary on the social media age we live in.
How The Wrong Artist Got Credit For Inspiring The Macintosh Logo
The logo of the original 1984 Macintosh is usually referred to as the Picasso logo, but in reality, it was inspired by another famous artist.
When the original Macintosh first shipped to customers in 1984, it came with a whimsical line drawing of a rainbow-hued Macintosh on front. Drawn with just a few sinuous strokes of a colored crayon, the logo is often referred to as the original Macintosh's Picasso logo. But that's a misnomer. As it turns out, the Macintosh's Picasso logo was inspired by another artist entirely.
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