David Lidsky's Blog, page 4632

MIX It Up! Why Freedom Is a Bigger Game Than Power

In May, Fortune published its annual "Fortune 500" issue devoted to America's largest corporations. It's full of reports on huge companies, billion-dollar legal battles, and supremely confident executives who talk a good game and dress even better. In other words, it is an issue that revels in power--who's gaining it, who's losing it, who's using it to make money or lose money.

The issue contains all kinds of well-crafted articles, yet as a whole seems strangely beside the point. Whether...

iPhone Multitasking "Delay" Is Real, But Misleading

Multitasking is coming to the iPhone in just a smattering of days as part of the new iOS4 operating system. But it requires some re-programming on behalf of any app that needs to use it. Need we worry that app writers won't be ready in time?

Over at PocketLint they're running a story with the eye-grabbing headline: "EXCLUSIVE: iPhone 4 multitasking - massive delays expected." The main thrust of the piece is that "currently," according to PocketLint's testers, "only Apple apps, like the...

Steelcase Goes DIY With Ecovative Home-Grown Packaging (It's Edible, Too)

Next time a company brags about their sustainable packaging, ask why they aren't growing it themselves. Steelcase, a San Francisco-based office furniture company, is doing exactly that as part of a partnership with packaging startup Ecovative.

The plant-based packaging foam, set to roll out this month on Steelcase's Currency line, is made up of agricultural byproducts (seed husks, cotton burrs) and bound together naturally with mushroom roots. "It has the consistency of a rice cake with a...

Tune in at 2:45 p.m. EST: Ellen McGirt Live With Chris Hughes, Andrew Rasiej, and Caterina Fake

Fast Company senior writer Ellen McGirt is moderating a panel today at the #promise conference, and it'll be live streamed at 2:45pm Eastern. Her panelists include Chris Hughes, Andrew Rasiej, and Caterina Fake. Watch it in the embed below, or at the official site.

Zero-E Adds Eco-Bling to Architectural Modeling

Woods Bagot and Buro Happold have invented a design program that helps architects and engineers create zero-emissions buildings.

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These days, progressive architects and engineers wax philosophic about bio-mass digesters, photovoltaics, and water recycling systems. But what is their effect, really? Will they truly make a difference?

Woods Bagot, an Australia-based architecture mega-firm, and Buro Happold, a British giant in architectural engineering, have teamed up to produce Zero-E, a...

Tune in at 2:45 p.m. EST: Ellen McGirt Live With Chris Hughes, Andrew Rasiej, and Caterina Fake

Fast Company senior writer Ellen McGirt is moderating a panel today at the #promise conference, and it'll be live streamed at 2:45pm Eastern. Her panelists include Chris Hughes, Andrew Rasiej, and Caterina Fake. Watch it in the embed below, or at the official site.

Delicious Eye Candy: Kengo Kuma's Ghostly Land Art

From the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma comes CCCWall, a gorgeous land-art installation at the University of Milan.

From the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma comes CCCWall, a gorgeous land-art installation at the University of Milan. Pretty as the pictures are, you've got to see the video of the thing in action to appreciate how beautiful it is:

[youtube wb56dTX7iL4:]

Unveiled
during Milan Design Week in April, the installation is a screen of
sheer organza curtains strung over a secluded quadrangle...

GE Upgrades Its Turbocharged Gas Engines With Two-Stage Technology

GE has just unveiled a new two-stage version of its turbocharged gas engines which will give them higher output and efficiency. The technology, which will initially be fitted to the firm's existing Jensbacher 624 gas engines, is aimed at low-energy projects that power CHP applications in hot and humid countries. The first to pilot the two-stage Jensbacher is Dutch market garden firm Red Harvest, whose owner appeared at the launch, in Jensbach, Austria, this morning.

The system, which can be...

Bill Gates' American Energy Innovation Council Unveils "Business Plan for America's Future"

Can a brain trust of seven people convince the U.S. government to spend upwards of $16 billion each year on research and development of clean energy technology? What about if that group includes Bill Gates, John Doerr, and Jeff Immelt? These three corporate leaders, along with a handful of others, recently established the American Energy Innovation Council, an organization that aims to stoke economic growth and create new industries by investing in world-changing energy technology. And...

GE Upgrades Its Turbocharged Gas Engines with Two-Stage Technology

GE has just unveiled a new two-stage version of its turbocharged gas engines which will give them higher output and efficiency. The technology, which will initially be fitted to the firm's existing Jensbacher 624 gas engines, is aimed at low-energy projects that power CHP applications in hot and humid countries. The first to pilot the two-stage Jensbacher is Dutch market garden firm Red Harvest, whose owner appeared at the launch, in Jensbach, Austria, this morning.

The system, which can be...