David Lidsky's Blog, page 4572

July 13, 2010

iFive: BP Caps Leak, Global Recession, Iran's Nuclear Scientist Defects, Sarkozy Scandal, Hef's Private Playboy

While you were sleeping, innovation was pulling on its flares and platform shoes and practising its disco moves in front of the mirror. The reason? What with oil, dissident scientists, spies, Castro and recession, we're so back to the 70s--and here's our first track, from BP and the Sunshine Band.

1. According to BP, the latest containment cap over the Gulf spill is working. (According to The New York Times, BP's has a "history of boldness and costly blunders.") It was lifted into place by a...

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Published on July 13, 2010 05:22

NYC To Begin Tracking Water Use Wirelessly and in Real Time


Smart energy meters can help us conserve energy, sure, but what about water? As anyone suffering through a heat wave knows, water conservation can be just a crucial as power to keeping a city running. Beginning this week, residents of the Bronx will have detailed access to the minutiae of their water use courtesy of a real-time, online water use and bill tracking system.

The tool is available thanks to a $252 million citywide upgrade of the water-meter system. The upgrade also includes a...

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Published on July 13, 2010 04:48

Microsoft Crams Facebook Into Outlook With Outlook Social Connector






Get Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft launched the Outlook Social Connector earlier this year, beginning with the integration of LinkedIn into all the elements of Outlook. Now, Mashable is reporting that Microsoft is about to integrate both Facebook and Windows Live Messenger into Outlook in much the same way.

Outlook will pull both pictures and status updates from Facebook friends directly into your email, as well as various other information like wall posts and activities. What you can't do is update...

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Published on July 13, 2010 03:18

Man Sues Facebook, Claiming to Own an 84% Stake in the Company

[image error]Facebook is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Wellsville, NY resident Paul D. Ceglia after he sued the social networking company, claiming to have a whopping 84% stake dating back to 2003.

Ceglia says he entered into a contract with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2003 to build the site, and that in that contract he was promised $1,000 and a 50% stake in the company. He says the contract included a clause that entitled him to a further 1% of the company per day until the site...

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Published on July 13, 2010 01:26

July 12, 2010

Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures Inject $23.5 Million Into Engine Startup EcoMotors


The Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures dream team are swooping in once again to provide much-needed cash to a worthy sustainable startup. The pair recently injected millions into nuclear power startup TerraPower, and now they're back again to invest $23.5 million in EcoMotors's series B funding round.

EcoMotors builds a lightweight, high-efficiency, low-cost combustion engine that supposedly offer 50% greater fuel efficiency than similar conventional engines. The company's Opposed Piston Opposed...

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Published on July 12, 2010 16:13

Mutant Salmon Coming to a Kitchen Table Near You

genetically modified salmon


Do genetically modified fruits and vegetables make you uneasy? Get ready for transgenic salmon, set to become the first genetically modified animal to be approved by the FDA. AquaBounty, the company behind the salmon, claims that its AquaAdvantage salmon reaches market size twice as fast as regular salmon (16 to 18 months).

The transgenic salmon is a mash-up of Atlantic salmon, a growth hormone gene from the chinook salmon, and an "on-switch" gene from the ocean pout that triggers the fish...

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Published on July 12, 2010 15:17

B&N Offers Students Free NOOKstudy eTextbook Software

Barnes and Noble NOOKstudy app

Proof, if you needed it, that Barnes & Noble is one of the more dynamic retailers around: as well as hardware, it's just gone into software, with its free NOOKstudy application, a Mac- and PC-compatible program that lets students keep everything they need on their computer, from textbooks and class handouts, as well as making notes directly into their eTextbooks.

The firm, whose Nook is one of the cheapest e-readers around, has been trialling NOOKstudy at schools for a while now, hence its...

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Published on July 12, 2010 15:07

uSocial: Celebs Faking Number of Twitter Followers

Brace yourself for some bad news. Justin Bieber doesn't actually have 3.6 million Twitter followers—he's faking it.



At least, that's the claim from social media marketing company uSocial. The Australian firm says it has "substantial evidence" that many celebrities—including Bieber, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Martha Stewart, and even Barack Obama—are artificially increasing their number of followers. No word on how uSocial gathered this information—thanks to the time difference, a rep wasn't...

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Published on July 12, 2010 15:01

BlackBerry 6 First Look Video: Let's Play Spot the Influence

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BlackBerry's still the number one smartphone platform in the States, but it's losing ground in the consumer market to iPhone and Android thanks to a relatively stagnant development history--BlackBerry looks pretty much the same now as it did three years ago, an unforgivably slow pace in the smartphone world.

The upcoming BlackBerry 6 OS is the biggest change for BlackBerry in a long time, bringing all kinds of new features to compete with flashier consumer OSes like Apple iOS, Google

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Published on July 12, 2010 14:56

America's Biggest Seed Company Wants to Turn Gardening Into Self-help

One only needs to note the proliferation of Victory Gardens during World War II or the past year's explosion of community plots to know that when economic times are tough, Americans head back to the garden. But today's gardeners are also sowing seeds for weight-loss and environmentalism, according to legendary American seed company Burpee, the country's oldest and largest seed purveyor. As Burpee CEO George Ball noted earlier this year, sales of Burpee seeds are up 15-20% in 2010, and...

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Published on July 12, 2010 14:40

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