David Lidsky's Blog, page 4662

BP Tries to Plug Gulf Oil Leak With Top Kill Method, Watch Live Here

It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of BP's failed
efforts at stopping the Oil Spill that Ate the Gulf. The latest
long-shot solution involves pumping drilling mud down a pipe and into
the Deepwater Horizon's well in an attempt to hold back oil--a process
known as "Top Kill". This marks the first time that Top Kill has been
used 5,000 feet below the ocean's surface.

There are risks, of
course. The procedure could end up eroding the broken riser pipe
connected to the...

Sony OLED Screen Thin Enough to Wind Up Around a Pencil

Sony's just revealed an OLED screen that's so astonishingly flexible it can be rolled tightly around a tube the size of a pencil. All of your sci-fi-inspired bendy screen next-gen computer dreams just came true.

The technology hinges on a new kind of organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) based on a new semiconducting material that has eight times the current modulation rate of existing OTFTs. This makes the display powerful, but there's at least one more clever trick--instead of relying on...

Dan Heath: Want Your Organization to Change? Put Feelings First

[transcript of video:]

When we want people to change, we try to teach them something. We think if my Dad just understood the health complications obesity causes, he'd eat healthier. Or if my teenager just understood the danger of texting & driving, she'd quit it. The problem is this: Knowledge rarely leads to change.

Look at the warnings on cigarette packs. "Cigarettes release carbon monoxide." Do we think smokers simply don't know that cigarettes are bad for them? A lack of knowledge isn't the...

Twitter Circles Wagons Round Huge Pile of Money

Although all social networking eyes seem currently to be turned toward Facebook as it inches gingerly toward a more private model, it's actually Twitter that's having its moment in the sun. It's begun to outline just how it's going to monetize its 140-character platform, and now that more details are emerging, it's clear just how big and well-appointed Twitter's nest is going to be.

On Monday, Twitter banned
third-party ad networks on its service revealed plans to take a percentage
of the...

Reinventing Memorial Day: Beyond the Mattress Blowout Sale

Why has Memorial Day, like so many of our national holidays, been reduced to appliance sales, fast food specials, and vacation deals?

With the recent near-collapse of our economy, the ways in which we understand and celebrate national holidays seem particularly challenged. This erosion of meaning is just one of many examples of the growing gap between the promise of America--freedom and opportunity through sacrifice and unity--and how people experience Brand America. Like any brand, America...

Facebook Attempts to Make Privacy Settings Simple [Video]

Facebook's complex, ever-changing privacy settings have angered many a loyal user. Now the social networking site is hoping to undo some of the damage with a new policy intended to make privacy controls simple. Previously, Facebook had 50 privacy controls; now it has approximately 15.

The changes, outlined in a blog post from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, include one-click controls to set who can see private content, the ability to control who can see users' friends and pages, and a simple control...

Proposed Indian Toilet Park Has a Whiff of Community

In Delwara, an odd mix of public and private business

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The New Delhi firm Vir.Mueller Architects has some curious plans for a poor Indian town in desperate need of a
public loo and a community center: They're doing both. As in, "Grab
your picnic baskets, we're headed to the crapper!"

We shouldn't mock. Responding to a complete lack of sanitary restrooms in
Delwara--a village just outside the palace city Udaipur--Vir.Mueller proposed a "design strategy focused on creating a community
space...

Infographic of the Day: Using Flickr Geotags to Map the World's Cities

Photographer Eric Fischer uses Flickr's geotags to create city maps that show the places of intense human interest.

We've seen maps of photographic activity around the world, and maps of traffic activity in a city, which reveal how heavily roads are used. And now, photographer Eric Fischer has combined both ideas, creating maps of 50 different cities around the world, using only the geotags of photos uploaded to Flickr and Picasa. What emerges are basically maps of human interest--that is...

PayPal Reminds Everyone They're Still in the Mobile Payments Game

In the wake of MasterCard's opening of its API to app writers, PayPal teases its future smartphone payment tech. With Visa in the game too, things could get feisty.

This is beginning to look like a new digital market battleground. PayPal's spoken up, in the wake of MasterCard's opening of its API to app writers, to tease its future smartphone payment skills. With Visa in the war too, things could get feisty.

In a post yesterday on PayPal's official blog, its senior director Damon Hougland has...

Facebook Flexes Political Muscle, on Eve of "Improving" Privacy

As tipped in CEO Mark Zuckerberg's not-quite apology the other day, Facebook's due to address its poor performance on user privacy. And as part of its drive to fix stuff, it's addressing House and Senate staff on Thursday, flexing a little political muscle.

Mashable was the first to dig up some info on the event, via a curiously (or perhaps ironically) open "public event" page on Facebook itself--shown in the image above. As you can see, the event description reiterates some of Zuckerberg's...