David Lidsky's Blog, page 4608

High Line 2 Sneak Peak: Lounging Lawn, Flyovers, and the "Chelsea Thicket"

The designers of New York's famed High Line park have saved the best for second.

New York's most fascinating park, The High Line, is set for a grand expansion, and FastCompany.com got a hold of the first images of what the new section of the park will look like.

Currently, the High Line occupies an all-too-short, re-purposed stretch of elevated rail line from 14th Street to 20th Street. The second phase, which will be completed by next spring, expands the park dramatically from 20th street...

Screw Vuvuzelas, U.S. Soccer Has a Weezer-Penned World Cup Fight Song

Remember the Weezer Snuggie? The band's just blown past their previous brand-plugging efforts with an unofficial tune to support the U.S. World Cup football team at the World Cup. Will it help the fleet-footed squad score goals and stay alive and maybe advance and ... Sweet Jesus get to a TV quick!

Sorry.

Or maybe it's a fabulous PR stunt for Weezer. Check the band's site--to listen in to the new track for free, though you have to log in with your Facebook details. See how that works? Weezer's...

Extreme Corporate Narrative Makeover: Why Your Company Needs a New Bedtime Story

The birth of narrative

You hear the word "narrative" a lot these days. Election narrative,
party narrative, political narrative. Narrative Medicine, Narrative Law,
Narrative Psychology. The list goes on--just Google it.

Then there's the Corporate Narrative, a Mississippi river of company
narratives. It used to be called marketing, but these days we, the
people with the dollar to spend, have gotten cranky about being treated
like cattle. Now we're looking for personal...

iFive: BP's New Crisis Head and Judicial Buddy, McChrystal's Lumps, Kimmel's ChatShowRoulette, Andes Wins at Cannes, World Cup

While you were sleeping, innovation was punching a British guy who looks like Frodo in the chops, pulling on his Bayou-sourced alligator cowboy boots and getting down to business. Thwack!

1. "Stay calm, get organized quickly." This is the mission statement of BP's new guy in charge of the Deepwater leak, or spill response, as it's called. Robert "Bob" Dudley is a Mississipian "good ol' boy", according to one oil analyst. Meanwhile, a Louisiana court has overturned Obama's ban on deepwater...

iPhone 4 Review Roundup: Still the Smartphone Leader

 

 

With gadgets of the iPhone 4's importance, Apple tends to hand out a certain (small) number of early review units to preferred publications. (I don't think it would surprise anyone to discover that Gizmodo is no longer on Apple's nice list.) For the iPhone 4, there were five. Here are the highlights:

David Pogue, New York Times

"The iPhone 4 is already a hit. AT&T
says that it received 10 times as many preorders as it did for the
iPhone 3GS last year. On the first day of taking orders...

Major Bing Release Brings Free Streaming Music, Games, TV, and Movies

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Microsoft's Bing search engine may not be on Google's level, but it's an effective tool that's gaining marketshare. Today's rollout of new entertainment features is only going to continue that forward momentum.

This new release is focused on entertainment, by which Microsoft means music, games, TV, and movies (not politics--missed opportunity for some satirical zingers there, Microsoft). You'll notice that most of these new features are designed to keep you on the Bing site rather than...

Frenchies Go Gaga for Stupid Ads

It's smart to be stupid.

At least that's the case for Anomaly, creator of Diesel's "be stupid" ad campaign and winner of the Grand Prix for outdoor advertising at
this year's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France. The other outdoor Grand Prix—this is the first year there have been two—was awarded to Del Campo/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi for its "Teletransporter" campaign for Andes beer.

"Be stupid" is, if anything, straightforward. The ads for the Italian jeans company...

iPad Hits 3 Million in 80 Days. What Will the iPhone 4 Do?

Yesterday, according to the press office at One, Infinite Loop, Apple sold its 3 millionth iPad, just 80 days after it first went on sale in the U.S. Now, despite the fact that one analyst has claimed that its popularity has peaked, that's a whole lot of $500-and-upwards devices to flog in under three months. Back in February, Apple's own estimate for sales had around 10 million of the things leaving the Mothership before the end of 2010 but, with another nine countries getting access to the...

Poll: Americans Are Willing to Make Energy Sacrifices for a Better Future

Maybe it's something in the air--or in the Gulf--but Americans have finally decided that they are willing to make personal sacrifices for the betterment of both the environment and the economy.

In a recent national survey commissioned by GE, 79% of those polled said they would adjust their energy consumption habits and behaviors in the short term to ensure bigger changes in the long-term--most likely because 72% of respondents believe that their energy use can directly harm the country's...

Myoo Uses Crowdsourcing for Sustainability Solutions

A windmill, a solar-powered dome, and dryer hidden behind a piece of art are just some of the dozens of ideas that people have for air-drying their clothes instead of tossing them in the dryer. These ideas have been uploaded as part of a new crowdsourcing contest: The winner takes home $4,500 in prizes and corporate sponsor Levi's gets new insight into how its consumers think about saving water and energy. Behind the challenge is Myoo Create, a new company that works with brands to launching...