David Lidsky's Blog, page 4586

iFive: Weather Crucial for BP, Google Mobile Payment System, Venrock Raises $350M, Anna Chapman on Film, Bieber to N. Korea?

While you were setting off fireworks, throwing a coyote on the barbecue, and squeezing on your Stars and Stripes Speedo, innovation was releasing mobile payment systems, scraping together $350 million, and wearing 3-D specs. But not all at the same time.

1. Here's the A Whale oil skimmer ship being put through its paces in the Gulf. Only trouble is, 10-foot waves are hampering its progress--and Neptune alone knows what the stormy weather will do to the relief well drill. They have one chance...

Chinese Working Conditions Raised ... Along With the Price of Gadgets?

The worker's environment in Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn has been a sticky issue for Apple's PR department, but it's also highlighted one big fact: If Western firms stick with Chinese sources, gadgets will get more expensive.

This is the thrust of a piece at the New York Times, which starts by looking at the reports about the new tear-down revelations concerning Apple's newest iPhone version: The smallest part of the cost of putting the thing together seems to be the...

Infographic of the Day: What's Cheaper Now Than It Was in 2000?

Inflation is an iron law of economics. But not everything rises in price
over time: When people talk about "rising standards of living," they're
referring in part to the fact that over time, lots of things actually
get cheaper, thanks, in part, to rising productivity and competition.

BP Foresaw its Doom in 1970s "Offshore Oil Strike" Board Game

Offshore Oil Strike is a genuine BP-endorsed board game from the 1970s, in which players manage an offshore drilling operation. Hazard cards hinder gamers with clean-up costs and rig explosions. It'd be a great joke, if it wasn't real.

The game, created by Scottish gaming company Printabox, has long since been discontinued and wasn't exactly a sensation in its day, but slightly battered versions have recently been pulled from lofts and garages—and have appeared selling on eBay for your...

Why MDC Will Never Love an Ad Man Like It Loved Alex Bogusky

The inside story of how a "life contract" between MDC Chief Miles Nadal and his rock star Chief Creative Insurgent soured.

"There is only one Alex and I'm the only one who has him," MDC Partners chairman and CEO Miles Nadal gushed to me at a Manhattan book party four weeks ago when I asked him about Alex Bogusky's new role as Chief Creative Insurgent at MDC. "Alex and I have a life contract. It's a moral contract. As long as he's happy, he's mine."

Nadal, who in one breath compared his...

A Fresh Identity for the Girl Scouts of America

The world's largest organization for girls gets a much-needed facelift.

Insert Batteries Any Way You Like With Microsoft Instaload

Traditional removable batteries of the AA and AAA variety might be
going the way of the dodo: Modern gadgetry that used to rely on them now
use internal, rechargeable batteries. But there are still a good few
items out there that need those defiantly old-school juice cylinders,
like keyboards, mice, and remote controls.

Microsoft, in an odd
bit of engineering, has created a system that removes the confusion of
the positive and negative ends of batteries. Called Instaload, it lets...

How Companies Are Using Skateboards as Billboards [gallery]

As a vehicle for branding and promotion, the skateboard is anything but a slacker.

A Smarter First-Aid Kit, Thanks to Infographics

When you think about it, your standard first aid kit is piss poor. They don't address how they actually function in the real world: Forgotten for years until an emergency, and often used by someone who has absolutely no medical training. The solution? Infographics, obviously.

The First Aid Support Kit by Kristine Erdman contains several compartments, each one dedicated to a specific type of injury. When opened, the lining of each compartment is printed with an infographic showing how...

IDEA Spotlight: A Robot Cleaner for the Stylishly Lazy

Mint is a robot that propels itself around your floors, mopping up dirt at the press of a button -- which means that even really lazy slobs don't have an excuse anymore.