David Lidsky's Blog, page 4664

Lost Finale a Pirate's Favorite--Breaks Torrenting Record

Lost's finale has broken the BitTorrent record for the number of global downloads per day. This is a wake-up call for the TV industry.

Love it or loathe it, Lost's finale on the weekend has one special accolade that you may never have considered: It's broken the BitTorrent record for the number of global downloads per day. This is a wake-up call for the TV industry.

According to TorrentFreak, over a million people around the world downloaded the epic twin final Lost episode in a period of just...

Today's Bobbleheads Gain Popularity

The modern bobblehead may be decades old, but business is still booming.

When the NFL and MLB began using bobblehead dolls as promotional tools in the early '60s, they sparked an obsession with the trinkets. After a two-decade slump in popularity beginning in the '70s, the bobblehead stormed back after the San Francisco Giants distributed a Willie Mays figure at a 1999 game.

Today, the bobblehead business is anything but wobbly. John Brey, who runs auction Web site nodderexchange.com and...

The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010

This year's 100 Most Creative People offers our own, idiosyncratic perspective on business. The selections reflect he breadth of news ideas and new pursuits at play in our business landscape. From interface designer Yugo Nakamura to HBO Documentary Films president Sheila Nevins to futurist Ray Kurzweil, we can attest that creativity is alive and well in 2010.

Apple Reportedly Under Investigation for Bullying Record Labels, Boxing Out Amazon

The New York Times reports today that the Justice Department has begun a preliminary investigation into certain tactics used by Apple in its sale of online music via iTunes. The report has not been confirmed, but cites several sources that have been "briefed on the inquiries."

According to the NYT, the Justice Department is more specifically investigating Apple for alleged bullying tactics. Amazon, which has the second-most-popular digital music distribution service in the country (after...

Ad.ly Responds to Twitter's Ban on Third-Party Ads: Claims They're Not Affected

Twitter banned third-party advertising yesterday, but the exact nature of the ban is pretty unclear. Says Twitter in their initial blog post, "we will not allow any third party to inject paid tweets into a timeline
on any service that leverages the Twitter API." But since that's incredibly vague, Twitter also mentioned that the ban would be laid out more precisely in the Twitter Terms of Service, which will be updated shortly.

In the meantime, IZEA, an in-stream advertiser, responded...

iYogi, Support.com, Geek Squad Battle for the Tech Support Title

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As gear support goes virtual, how do two upstarts fare against Best Buy's Geek Squad?

Tackling computer glitches yourself is so 2008. "About 15% of home computers are infected with malware so fixing them has gone the way of lawn-mower service -- it's no longer a do-it-yourself thing," says Kurt Scherf, a technology analyst with Parks Associates. Scherf estimates Americans spent a whopping $4 billion on tech support last year. That number should grow to at least $6.4 billion by 2013, and...

Why Splurging Is Good for Business

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Illustration by Frank Chimero

Nancy Lublin explains why shelling out for a little luxury may be the best investment a manager can make.

I don't take fancy vacations. I buy all my jewelry at Claire's. I can't remember the last time I went out to a fancy dinner. My family lives in a modest two-bedroom apartment, and my kids share a bedroom. But I do have one extravagant vice: shoes.

If most people were to take a moment to picture in their minds the average, not-for-profit, save-the-world girl...

The 2010 FIFA World Cup by the Numbers

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Matthew Ashton/AMA/Corbis

The World Cup, which takes place June 11 to July 11, may be the be-all-end-all for football -- ahem, soccer -- fans. Compared with other popular sports, it wins in financial terms as well.

 
BROADCAST ON...
 



WORLD CUP: 376 CHANNELS IN 214 COUNTRIES
 
TOUR DE FRANCE: 118 CHANNELS IN 186 COUNTRIES



 
VIEWERSHIP
 




WORLD CUP FINAL: 715 MILLION
 
SUPER BOWL: 106 MILLION



 
TEAMS TRYING TO QUALIFY
 



WORLD CUP: 204 NATIONS IN 1 SPORT
 
...

Foxconn's Human Resources Site Has Been Prank-Hacked

Shanghaiist reports that Foxconn's HR site has been hacked, or pranked, or pracked, or hanked. Foxconn is the Chinese manufacturer tasked with churning out Apple's iPhone, among other products, but is perhaps best known for the string of worker suicides it has seen in recent months.

The hacker seems to have a pretty good sense of humor, and also, oddly, a sense of respect for the Foxconn--the prank can only be found at a separate page, rather than laid over a landing page where more people...

Cisco Offers Up Its First Smart Grid Products

It makes sense that Cisco wants to break into the smart grid industry--it requires much of the same technology as the computer networking industry. Last year, CEO John Chambers announced that the computing giant had an unlimited budget for smart grid projects, and now we're finally seeing some physical projects come to light with two pieces of smart grid gear: Cisco 2000 Series Connected Grid Router and the Cisco 2500 Series Connected Grid Switch. Both of the items are based on Cisco's...