David Lidsky's Blog, page 4541

"Heroes" Creator Tim Kring on His New TV Series, Transmedia, Future of Television

In a world where a single TV or laptop screen can no longer contain a worthwhile story, one man dares to spill his epic across multiple platforms. But time is running out...

"Heroes had an underlying message about inter-connectivity and global consciousness," show creator and writer Tim Kring tells FastCompany.com. "I think we used the phrase 'we are all connected' at least 100 times in the first season alone. It's a message I'm very interested in putting out in the world."

And so his "we are...

Cause Marketing Gets a Lift From "Superman," OfficeMax

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a joint venture between Participant Media and one of the country's biggest office supply retailers!

Cause marketing has a history that is near and dear to my heart, from YouthAIDS' partnership with footwear company Aldo and major celebrities like rapper Ludacris and pop singer Avril Lavigne to MTV's partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation to promote young adult health in marginalized communities. A consistent player in this scene is Participant Media, a...

Al Hammond Shares the Latest in Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Innovations

Hammond says some cutting-edge researchers afraid to "make a technology decision."

Al Hammond belongs in the same category with CK Prahalad and Stuart Hart as some of the world's pioneering bottom-of-the-pyramid researchers and strategists, and Hammond has specifically targeted rural connectivity and health care. From the World Resources Institute, where he authored the pivotal research report, The Next 4 Billion, to Ashoka, where he forges links between private companies and citizen sector...

Specter of Apple Looms Over Verizon, AT&T's Cell Phone Credit Cards Game

We've seen a number of contactless credit card enterprises hitting the news recently, backed by big names and with slightly different notions about how the technology works. But the news that AT&T and Verizon are forming a joint venture to compete in this space totally transforms the market from a slightly boring, and long-term one, to a dynamic and exciting one.

Bloomberg notes that the efforts include T-Mobile USA and will be piloted in stores in Atlanta and three other U.S. cities and...

Microsoft's Role in the Erosion of Online Privacy

The Wall Street Journal makes no bones about the matter: Its report, based on discussions with industry insiders, is headlined "Microsoft Quashed Effort to Boost Online Privacy." The core argument centers around the new version of MS's "industry leading" browser that hit PCs in 2008: Internet Explorer 8.0. According to several sources close to MS's management and coders, there was a huge move to differentiate IE8 from the other, increasingly competitive, browsers on the market by making it a...

Influence Jacking!

Yesterday I learned that Fast Company's Influence Project is going to be hijacked tomorrow. The hijacking is reportedly being organized by Nate St. Pierre and executed through his global networking site ItStartsWith.us. The objectives stated in a draft copy of a blog post state:I think we've waited long enough for something beneficial to come out of this project. I know that Fast Company has good intentions, but to this point it hasn't really gone too well. So here's how it's gonna work from...

iFive: Branson on Fun, Asia Nobels, China Water Projects, BP Destroys Fisheries, Iraq Loses Electricity

All you need to know right now, from shrimps to billionaires.

While you drifted off, BP stole livelihoods (again), Branson blogged about being in business for funsies, and some new competitors arose in Asia.

1. Fishermen and seafood consumers fear for their lives, as brown spew hits supposedly safe fisheries along the coast. Damn you, BP! Even if you are trying to permanently cap the spill, we want our shrimp!

2. Branson tells the world on his blog that having fun is important in work...

Jamba Juice to McDonald's: You Selling Smoothies is Just as Crazy as Us Blending Cheeseburgers

It's almost too easy to make fun of Jamba Juice, what with
the overpriced drinks, allegedly ripped-off ad campaign, and--no, this isn't a
joke--recently launched clothing line, featuring neon-green hoodies emblazoned
with the phrase "official taste taster." That said, it's truly refreshing (ha)
to see the smoothie titan finally start dishing it out.

Earlier this month, McDonald's made a play for Jamba's market share by launching a line of "real fruit" smoothies. (They're actually made...

Makers of 'BlackLight: Tango Down' Anticipate Video Gaming's Downloadable Future

"BlackLight: Tango Down" is a first-person shooter focused on multiplayer online skirmishes, in the vein of mega-hit "Modern Warfare." The difference? "BlackLight" can only be downloaded and costs just $15, far less than a boxed game. Fast Company asked Marcus Beer, Director of Public Relations, and Shane Bettenhausen, Director of New Business, at Ignition Entertainment, about their strategy in releasing downloadable games, and whether digital titles are the industry's destiny.

Kevin...

Rupert Murdoch Rumored to Be Launching Tablet-Targeted News Service

Is News Corp head honcho Rupert Murdoch planning a game-changing digital news outlet?

That's what sources are telling CNBC, which today reported that "this new digital news venture would incorporate text, photo and video, tailored for the iTunes app format."

Of course, with the iPad's rapid success and many companies from Microsoft to Google to HP planning their own tablet devices, it's not too surprising News Corp, which owns a slew of newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and...