David Lidsky's Blog, page 4530

Greenopia's Green Beer Rankings: New Belgium, Bison, Eel River Come Out on Top

It's 100 degrees outside and virtually impossible to not crank up that energy-sucking air-conditioning to full blast, but you can still keep some modicum of green credibility--just keep to Greenopia's list of the most sustainable beers.

Greenopia ranks New Belgium as the most sustainable brewery (four out of five leaves) thanks to its "dedication to environmental initiatives," which include locally-sourced packaging, resource-efficient production, extensive environmental reporting, organic...

HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations

Today, hidden away in a late-Friday press release, HP announced that its CEO Mark Hurd will be resigning following a claim of sexual harassment by a former contractor to the company. In the interim, he'll be replaced by CFO Cathie Lesjak. Here's Hurd in his own words:

As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my...

Business Essentials: Eye-Trackers to Test Your Company's Homepage

Eye-trackers are expensive. The devices, which measure eye motion, can be used to study what attracts a viewer's gaze on, say, a company website. (They're also used to assist the disabled.) They can help your business figure out whether a design is user-friendly or confusing, and show what visitors find most appealing. Until recently though, the technology wasn't worth the benefits, as it could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 a pair. But all that's changed now thanks to new...

Iowa: The Wind Energy Capital of the United States

China may have overtaken the U.S. as the Saudi Arabia of wind power (got that?), but the U.S. is still home to some major wind energy powerhouses. The annual Wind Technologies Market Report tells us that four states--Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota--managed to squeeze out over 10% of their in-state energy production from wind power last year. Iowa emerged out in front with 20% of all in-state production coming from wind energy--unsurprising for anyone who has been pummeled...

BP Wants to Keep Drilling Near Gulf Oil Disaster Site

In possibly the worst incidence of deja vu in recent memory, BP says that it still might drill in the massive reservoir where the Deepwater Horizon leak unleashed over 4 million gallons of oil. BP's reasoning is most likely a combination of pure greed and a realization that domestic oil resources are limited--the reservoir is estimated to hold $4 billion worth of oil, according to the Associated Press.

You might think that BP would be banned from deepwater drilling in the Gulf, but in fact...

Greenopia's Green Beer Rankings: New Belgium, Bison, Eel River Come Out On Top

It's 100 degrees outside and virtually impossible to not crank up that energy-sucking air-conditioning to full blast, but you can still keep some modicum of green credibility--just keep to Greenopia's list of the most sustainable beers.

Greenopia ranks New Belgium as the most sustainable brewery (four out of five leaves) thanks to its "dedication to environmental initiatives," which include locally-sourced packaging, resource-efficient production, extensive environmental reporting, organic...

BlogHer Blogs for Water, Opportunity to Help Pakistan Floods

Just how far can social media cause marketing campaigns go?

The female blogging conference, BlogHer, kicks off today and offers up a little something different this year--the chance to have your blogging make an actual impact. BlogHer teamed up with none other than Procter and Gamble, as well as changents.com, to donate a day of clean water to "someone in need" for every participating blog post (and corresponding vote) that promotes clean drinking water.

The timing of BlogHer and its water...

Power Plant Waste Could Clean Up Oil From BP Disaster

After over 100 days, the BP oil leak finally appears to be plugged. But while the White House claims that the vast majority of oil has evaporated or been cleaned up with burning, oil skimmers, and dispersants, there is still plenty of the sticky stuff lingering just below the ocean's surface. One potential solution: power plant waste.

Sudipta Seal, the director of University of Central Florida's Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis and NanoScience Technology Centers, has figured out a...

Climate Change Is for Real, Y'all

Let's lay that argument to rest now, shall we?

Ever wonder how to reconcile the gazillion arguments out there surrounding climate change? Probably not, because we know that, as astute readers, you're smart and you agree with us that climate change is, indeed, real, otherwise we wouldn't be writing about it all the time and you wouldn't be reading our stories! But hey, one more final study on this stuff won't hurt. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released one...

Digg, WikiLeaks, and Censorship, American Style

Anti-free-speech/user-privacy articles are all over the news this week. And though the fuss over U.S. net neutrality may have been wrong, censorship is alive and well in America--it just takes a slightly different form.

Military censors(ish) WikiLeaks visits by staff

Concerned by the recent Wikileaks fiasco, which saw tens of thousands of potentially embarrassing (and also, for some forces still in the field, potentially life threatening) facts exposed to the world's eyeballs, the U.S...