David Lidsky's Blog, page 3375
December 17, 2013
This New Apple Holiday Ad Almost Makes It Okay To Always Be Staring At Your Phone
The spot manages to make a super annoying habit all warm and fuzzy.
Stop and think for a second. How many times have you seen in your Facebook or Twitter feed, or overheard at a party, or from someone at dinner, people complaining about other people walking around with their heads down and noses in their smartphone? And that's just the adults. When it comes to kids and teens, the handwringing about the social effects of technology is at times deafening.
A New Pursuit-of-Happiness Index For College Grads
What if we judged colleges by how engaged, successful, and purposeful their graduates are?
Student debt is at a new all-time high of $29,400 per graduate. President Obama wants colleges to be held accountable for the net value of their degrees, but the higher education leadership is balking at being held to a one-dimensional measure of success. You are more than your salary, after all.
This "Standing Classroom" Gives Students Standing Desks
Students will be able to stand or sit at their adjustable desks as part of a study to see how more physical activity improves learning and decreases idleness.
As more and more evidence suggests that sitting all day is slowly killing both our bodies and our productivity, one group of students in Melbourne, Australia is standing up for a change. A sixth grade class at the Mont Albert Primary School has been using desks that can be adjusted to standing height as part of a social experiment, run by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. We already know that changing your desk can change the work you do, but the goal of this study is to determine how being more active affects how students learn, along with their overall physical health.
Airbnb Built 50 Replicas Of Its Best Properties--For The Birds
Birdbnb highlights some of the company's most distinctive properties.
Just as the startup took an unconventional view of the hospitality industry, Airbnb also takes the non-traditional route when it comes to advertising. So it should come as no surprise that the brand that created the first short film made of Vine videos has now constructed 50 incredibly detailed birdhouses to get the word out.
One Surprising Reason Google Glass Is Bad For Drivers
Despite the high-tech appeal, augmented reality might not be the best thing to mix with motor vehicles.
Google and its Explorers seem to think that face-mounted devices like Glass are the natural evolution of computing, and the perfect way to augment everyday experiences. So naturally they'll be pissed to learn that Illinois is threatening to ban driving with Google Glass. The state says it's too distracting. But that's missing the point, because HUDs don't actually improve the driving experience in the first place.
December 16, 2013
Check Out Google's New $82 Million Corporate Jet Facility
The new Google complex will reportedly be the one of the largest single-client corporate air facilities in the world.
Google executives love to fly, and they fly a lot. A recent NASA report by the space agency's inspector general found chartered jets shuttling GOOG higher-ups received discounted fuel from the federal government that they weren't entitled to; there's now talk of Google paying some of that money back. But Google may get to experience every Fortune 500 company's wildest travel dream next month: A $82 million jet center dedicated to executives' private planes.
How Many Hours Per Week Should Freelancers Make Themselves Work?
With a bit of scheduling and a lot of strategy, you may find you can be more productive working fewer hours.
The traditional workday is not kind to those who do creative work, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. If you work in a field that falls under the wide umbrella of "knowledge work"--anything from writing to programming to complex mathematical problem solving and beyond--you may find yourself in a work environment where 40 hours isn't a ceiling but a starting point.
As Music Downloads Decline, Expect More Anti-Spotify Anxiety
We're officially buying and downloading less digital music, year by year.
It's official: We're buying less digital music. Just like vinyl, cassettes, and CDs before it, the digital download may have reached it peak, with total sales dropping 4% from last year. The culprit? It's complicated, but expect the already-raging debate over Spotify, streaming, and the future of music distribution to heat up.
These Giant Snow Paintings Are Made By One Man's Footprints
We all like playing in fresh snow. Simon Beck, with his intricately designed jaunts in snowshoes, takes this to an extreme.
After a long day of skiing, one night Simon Beck decided to try something different on the snow. He was working as a mapmaker and orienteer at the time, so he happened to have a compass in his pocket. He walked out onto a snow-covered lake, plotted out some points, and started to track out a giant star-shaped pattern with his snowshoes.
Apple Could Beat Bitcoin Out Of The Retail Market
Apple's cut Bitcoins out of the App Store, but that's only a start. Next step: Unleash the iBeacons.
Bitcoin is winning over some retailers for its cheaper transaction fees and digital access, but it hasn't permeated in-store purchases on a grand scale and might run into an unlikely contender: Apple. With its in-shop iBeacon platform, Apple could easily out-convenience Bitcoin and leverage its massive infrastructure to lure retailers away from the cryptocurrency market.
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