David Lidsky's Blog, page 4590

CEOs: BP Spill Has Had Little Impact on Green Market

"The government's policy on energy in the United States is the most stupid, idiotic, inconsistent, crazy policy you could imagine," said Michael Garland, CEO of wind-powerhouse Pattern Energy Group. Garland spoke at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum yesterday in New York City, where chiefs of leading renewable energy companies discussed the challenges facing green industries. When the matter of BP's oil spill arose, the panel talked about how things have changed--but not for the better.

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Alex Bogusky, Advertising's Elvis, Tells Fast Company Why He Quit MDC and the Ad Biz

"Miles [Nadal, CEO of MDC:] started getting phone calls from some clients that didn't like things that I had said," Bogusky tells Fast Company exclusively.

Earlier today MDC Partners, the parent company of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky ("ad agency of the decade," according to Advertising Age), announced that Alex Bogusky, perhaps the most influential figure in American advertising today, has resigned from MDC. The announcement, in the form of an innocuous press release, shocked the ad world...

Tesla Unveils Roadster 2.5

Order now, and Tesla will throw in a few shares of freshly inflated stock!

Tesla Motors doesn't have another vehicle coming out until 2012, but that isn't stopping the automaker from making tweaks to the already-released electric Roadster sports car. The updated "Roadster 2.5", launching today at Tesla's stores in Copenhagen and Newport Beach, California, is the fourth iteration of the EV.

The changes are trivial: a new front fascia and rear
diffuser, seats with improved lumbar support...

Risky Business: Which Companies Are Flirting With Failure?

Which company could lose it all in the blink of an eye? A new infographic named by brings the Forbes Risk List to life, highlighting the biggest companies that are having the toughest time in our current economy. Companies ranked on the Aggressive end have been more likely to suffer lawsuits or financial distress, meaning they're also more likely to see a drop in equity, or worse.

For most companies, the chart give a pretty rough and dirty...

Making of Touching Stories: Director Tom Routson and Hotel Tryst Tale, "Triangle"

Part video game, part immersive entertainment, Touching Stories is an app featuring four interactive films made for the iPad. We're focusing on each of the films and their directors this week. Today, Tom Routson.

In "Triangle," a couple scurries into a motel room for what looks like an afternoon tryst. But as the door shuts and the duo's bump-and-grind is reflected in the darkened TV screen, you start to notice the odd collection of objects on the dresser that are just begging to be explored...

Can License Plates Fix California's Budget Problems?

California, that barrel-wearing hobo of a state, now thinks it can make
money off license plates. Yes, license plates, those flimsy metal things
you screw onto your car once every few years, also known, in
California, as No Taxes, Anything But Taxes.

Foursquare Checks in to Almighty Security Row, Loyalty to Users Questioned

Given the tribulations that both Facebook and Twitter have suffered recently over the thorny subject of privacy, one would think that other social media sites have learned from the big guys' mistakes. Foursquare, however, has just suffered a security lapse, as reported in detail by Ryan Singel on Wired.com.

In a nutshell, the story is this: a white-hat hacker contacted Foursquare last week, claiming that a security hole on the site was making users' details public, regardless of how they'd...

Steve Jobs On The iPhone 4 Antenna Woes: "Relax ... It Is Just a Phone"

Apple's woes over what may be an issue with the design of the iPhone 4's antennas continue:But Steve Jobs is maintaining calm, and is emailing troubled customers on the matter. 

The to-and-fro conversation between Apple CEO Jobs and a reader over at BoyGeniusReport is definitely worth perusing in its entirety--assuming it's real, rarely does one see such a free, frank and extended discussion between a billion-dollar company CEO and a client (AT&T even turns the law on you if you try it). BGR...

IBM, Roche to Make DNA Sequencing Cheap, Fast, And World-Changing

Tech giant IBM and pharmceutical powerhouse, Roche have announced a parntership to advance something truly remarkable: Nanopore DNA sequencing. It's no exaggeration to say that this technology could radically influence security, criminal processing, healthcare, even dating.

DNA decoding currently involves expensive, slow, painstaking use of breaking apart and labeling amino acids with marker chemcials, then applying complex sofware to solve the code. Nanopore DNA coding is markedly...

Amazon Upgrades the Kindle DX, Concedes Defeat to Apple?

It's a big news week for Amazon: They've announced an update to the big-screen Kindle DX e-reader in a week or so, with an improved e-ink display and lower price. Way lower--down $110 to $379. Is this Amazon's first response to iPad?

The new Kindle DX will come with a graphite body, partly to make it stand apart from earlier incarnations of the device and partly to demonstrate Amazon does take some elements of style seriously (and, we also wonder, partly because a dark gray enclosure may make...