David Lidsky's Blog, page 4600

Infographic of the Day: Walking and Biking Are Rising Explosively

The hard data is remarkable.

It seems like walking and bike riding are in vogue these days, as people start realizing that commuting, carbon emissions, and city planning are all inextricably linked.

But you'd be excused for thinking it was just a fad drummed up by pinko journalists and their big city ways. It's not, as this graphic by GOOD shows:

However, the graph does suggest that a rise in biking and walking aren't spontaneous trends brought about by more thoughtful consumers (or even...

Rumor: Foursquare Due to Get Venture Cash Injection

Foursquare is reportedly on the verge of landing a large venture capital investment which will let it dramatically expand its enterprise, according to people in the know. We know it's hot technology ... but what's Foursquare's direction going to be?

The news has surfaced over at the Wall Street Journal in a piece which fingers Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz as the likely leaders of this latest funding round. The newspaper suggests an announcement is due as soon as this week...

Times Square Billboard Touches Off Controversy Over Artistic Credit-Sharing

Should Space150 and Forever 21 have paid or at least acknowledged a very similar project that debuted a year ago?

Last Friday, we broke news of an new video billboard in Times Square for Forever 21, created by Space150, in which a model appears to pluck certain people from the crowds onscreen. It seemed like a clever, fresh project--and that's where the trouble started.

Chris O'Shea, a leading figure in interactive-installation design, quickly wrote to point out that Space150 project...

Apple: iPhone 4 "Most Successful" Product Launch, Defying the Antenna Critics

Apple just revealed official figures for the first three days of iPhone 4 sales, totaling to a sweet 1.7 million units. It's not as fast a sales rate as some analysts predicted but still represents huge successes in the face of controversy over its design.

The press release is pretty simple--Apple announces "that it has sold over 1.7 million of its iPhone 4 through Saturday June 26, just three days after its launch on June 24." There's some waffle about the wonderful tech the phone sports...

iFive: The BP Question, G20 Conference, World Cup Aftermath, Apple iPhone 4 Saga Rolls On, LHC Smashes Record

While you were putting your dreams of a World Cup final to bed, innovation was smashing particles together at an amazing rate, ruminating over the fallout of the BP oil spill and fiddling with its new smartphone.

1. It's been 69 days since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, and the bigger questions are now being asked. As BP's situation begins to hit hard on the trading floor, pointy fingers are moving away from Tony Hayward and settling, Donald Sutherland-like, over his predecessor, John...

U2 VC: $120M to FB

It's a beautiful day at Facebook. Elevation partners has just injected $120 million in venture capital, which will certainly help power-up Zuckerberg's business ... but why did Bono's firm make this move?

Back in November 2009 Elevation slid about $90 million over the negotiation table in exchange for 2.5 million shares in the world's most popular social networking Web site, and has seen that investment multiply by two and a half times in value. So perhaps it's not surprising that Elevation...

Why FIFA Refuses to Sanction Goal-Line Technology

Technology is everywhere in soccer. From hi-tech fabrics, divot-defying cleats, and dynamic new ball technology, sports firms such as Adidas and Nike are constantly pushing the boundaries for new and innovative products. And the matches you see on TV are the best yet, with FIFA, who owns the television rights, sticking cameras everywhere they can possibly stick them so that TV spectators can enjoy the hits--and misses--from every conceivable angle.

There is, however, one blind spot. And

Robotic Lifeguard Uses Sonar to Sense Swimmers in Distress

EMILY, which stands somewhat awkwardly for EMergency Integrated Lifesaving lanYard, is a new robotic lifeguard that could help save lives at our nation's beaches. It's a four-foot-long motorized buoy in appearance, but there's a lot more under the hood.

Says PopSci, EMILY is equipped with an electric motor somewhat similar to that of a Jet-Ski, which gives the buoy enough power to move at 28mph through even difficult waters--about six times faster than a human lifeguard. It's got some serious...

Amazon's Kindle App for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch Gets Embeddable Audio and Video

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Amazon doesn't really care if the Kindle hardware dies. They'd rather it didn't, of course, but Kindle is much more than a couple of e-ink ebook readers. Kindle is much more important (and more profitable) as a store, available from tons of different devices--so just because its Kindle 2 and Kindle DX can't handle audio or video (or, um, color), that doesn't mean Amazon can't keep pushing the medium forward.

Amazon thus announced today that its Kindle app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch is...

Rumor: Google to Launch Facebook Competitor, "Google Me"

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Over the weekend, Kevin Rose (of Digg and extensive rumormongering fame) let loose with a tweet involving two of our favorite companies, Google and Facebook. The complete tweet is above: It alleges that Google is to launch a Facebook competitor "very soon" under the name "Google Me." This all comes from a "very credible source."

Kevin Rose is almost as well known for his breaking of rumors as he is for founding and running Digg--his predictions, especially as regards Apple products, have...