David Lidsky's Blog, page 4595

Congress Interested in Google's, and Others', Investment in Chinese Censoring

The Google-China saga took a twist yesterday as Google adjusted how its site works under the Chinese censor rules. And today Congress is getting interested in U.S. roles in Chinese censorship. So is China a no-go or a go-to business prospect?

On Tuesday, rumblings from within Google indicated it may be
reconsidering its trick of redirecting Google China users to a Hong
Kong server in order to work around censorship laws. The Chinese
authorities have found another saber to rattle--Google's...

iFive: Energy Change Law in Jeopardy, Storm Hits Deepwater Clean-up, Verizon Goes 4G and iPhone, SpiderKid!, Gaga Goes Homme

While you were sleeping, innovation was being held to ransom on Capitol Hill. Ah, frack it, it said, before shrugging on a suit and smoking a cigarette--all in the name of art.

1. Barack Obama's attempts to push his clean energy agenda through the Senate looks like it is on hold for the moment. Add that to a report in The Guardian, which claims that Americans, feeling the pinch of the downturn, are returning to their cars as public transport budgets are cut all over the States, then a...

Foursquare Scores $20 Million From Venture Capitalists

[image error]Location-based social networking game Foursquare has had a great year. They've got 1.8 million users, adding about 10,000 more every day. They've secured partnerships with tons of private companies, including Starbucks, Zagat, Bravo, and the New York Times Company, and have so far fought off rivals like Gowalla and Loopt.

Perhaps that's why Silicon Valley veterans Andreessen Horowitz (Marc Andreessen is a co-founder of Netscape) decided to become major investors. Along with Foursquare's...

Microsoft's Data Visualization Software, PivotViewer, Is Now Available

Live Labs, led by Gary Flake (check out our interview with Gary here), is one of the more interesting teams at Microsoft. They're also responsible for PhotoSynth, a sort of Google Street View taken to the next level--it stitches together user-generated photos seamlessly to create a 3D tour of an area.

PivotViewer is a key development for Microsoft Silverlight, a web app framework similar to Adobe Flash. PivotViewer, when it was announced by Flake at a TED conference in February, brought the...

Tesla Raises Shocking Amount in NASDAQ Debut

For all its ambitions to revolutionize the electric car industry, Tesla Motors has only posted a profit once, back in July 2009. It has released just one car (the Roadster), and sells 10 vehicles per week. And yet Tesla's first day of public trading on the stock market has been an indisputable success. Tesla Motors stock zoomed to $25 a share on its first day of trading, closing at $23.89, a fat 40.5% increase from its $17 offer price. The performance is remarkable given the otherwise...

Russia Places Order For 200 High-Speed Electric Locomotives

While the U.S. continues to rely on polluting diesel locomotives, Russia is quietly putting the finishing touches on its electric railroad network. This past week, Alstom and Transmashholding announced a $1 billion-plus plan to build 200 EP20 electric locomotives for the Russian market. Alstom also manufactures Amtrak's Acela Express--the fastest train in the U.S.

The EP20 locomotive goes 200 km/h (124mph) and can operate in temperatures as low as -50°C. Little construction will be required...

Goal-Line Tech Expert: How FIFA Can Kick Bad Calls in 3 Easy Steps

Sepp Blatter, FIFA's stubbornly immovable president, has long resisted in-game technology to assist soccer referees. But after two more blown calls on Sunday threatened to overshadow the World Cup, he inched toward acknowledging what a worldwide audience could see for themselves: Soccer is ready for the 21st century.

England's Frank Lampard was robbed of an obvious goal by
out-of-position officials in a loss to Germany. And Argentina's Carlos Tevez scored an off-sides (read: illegal) goal...

Corporate Activism: GE Sends Giant Wind Turbine Blade to Washington, D.C.

Climate activism isn't just for nonprofits and idealistic individuals. Sometime, major corporations get on board in a big way--literally, in the case of GE, which recently sent a 131-foot wind turbine blade to Washington, D.C.'s Nationals Park for the 2010 Congressional Baseball Game. The blade, which is 75 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, comes from a 1.5 MW turbine manufactured in South Dakota that provides enough energy for 400 homes.

GE company teamed up with the American Wind...

Deep Inside Alleged Russian Spies' Tech and Techniques

Beautiful Russian spies, high tech gadgetry, political intrigue, White House involvement ... is this reminding you of the Cold War or James Bond much? Well it's real news today, in the U.S. and all about USB sticks and Wi-Fi--not bullets so much.

The story is all about the Justice Department filing criminal charges against 11 people (including break-out star Anna Chapman, above) allegedly embedded in U.S. society as covert Russian government agents tasked to get close to high-ranking...

Government Contractors HP, IBM, Merck Top List of Best Corporate Citizens

Government contractors aren't always the best corporate citizens. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has witnessed the public meltdowns of energy companies, defense contractors, and financial institutions. But, as in any sector, some companies are more ethical than others. Corporate Responsibility Magazine recently took on the challenging task of rating all the companies that garnered the government's $535 billion dollars' worth of outside contracts in 2009.

The Best Corporate...