David Lidsky's Blog, page 4673

Infographic: Nantucket Windfarm vs. Gulf Oil Spill, Which Impacts the Environment More?

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We're not even half through 2010 and already we have had the chance to witness two environmental events for the books--the ever-growing oil spill in the Gulf and the approval of the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. Both the oil spill and Cape Wind will leave lasting impacts on the Gulf of Mexico and Cape Cod, respectively. But make no mistake. The negative impact of the toxic oil spill outweighs that of our biggest, latest, best effort at a...

Is This the Cheapest, Most Wacky-Looking Gestural Interface in the World?

Robert Wang's system just requires a Webcam--and some awesomely crazy-looking Lycra gloves.

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Gestural interfaces aren't quite mainstream yet, partly because they can be ruinously expensive--involving multiple cameras and custom detectors. But a student at MIT has devised one requires only a Webcam, and some crazy looking Lycra gloves that look like they'd be worn by hipsters from the future.

The obvious forbear to this tech is the Sixth Sense system, also out of MIT, which relied on colorful...

Google TV Launching This Fall With Support from Intel, Sony, Logitech, and Best Buy

Google has just debuted its TV platform at today's Google I/O conference. Project leader Rishi Chandra described it as "a new platform that we believe will change the future of television," adding that "we've gone from 100 channels that you find on traditional TVs to over a million overnight."

Yes, it mixes the Web with TV, as Chandra demonstrated in the somewhat glitch-filled launch (at one point, the audience was asked to turn off their cellphones, over fears that they were affecting the...

Threatening to Arrest Reporters Investigating Oily Beaches "Isn't Reflective of Policy:" Coast Guard

Are BP and the Coast Guard attempting to keep journalists from learning the worst about the Gulf oil spill? It certainly seemed that way yesterday when a vessel of Coast Guard officials and BP contractors threatened to arrest a crew from CBS News if they didn't turn back from their investigation of an oil-covered beach in South Pass, Louisiana. So why did this happen? The same heavy oil-filled shoreline has already been observed by Governor Bobby Jindal, after all.

"The incident isn't...

The 10 Most Creative People on Twitter

When we launched our 100 Most Creative People in Business list last year, we surprised that only about 20 of those individuals were on Twitter: from actor/director Tyler Perry to DJ Gregg Gillis. In the year since, another 10 have joined for a 50% increase, including TV mogul Tyra Banks, Google Maps manager Stephen Chau, fashion designer Stella McCartney, and others. You can find the entire group of Most Creative People on our twitter list. But out of those tweeting who are the 10 you need...

For World Cup, Adidas Unveils a Bafflingly Light Soccer Shoe

At just 5.8 ounces, these things feel flimsy. But they're not, and to make sure of that was a feat of high-tech engineering.

The World Cup's just around the corner, and that means the shoe companies are now battling over who's stuff is more innovative. So while Nike is touting something called adaptive traction--something akin to cleats that retract on hard surfaces--Adidas is touting the lightest soccer shoe ever (which is going to be worn by Argentine star Lionel Messi).

Where the typical...

Attention, BP: It's Time to Get Creative With Oil Spill Solutions

BP has failed at its numerous attempts to stop the growing Gulf oil spill, which has now reached delicate wetlands around the Mississippi River. And while the oil company has managed to slow the spill slightly with a mile-long underwater pipe bringing oil to a drill ship, the environmental catastrophe is still growing. We've already suggested some options to clean up the spill--oil-skimming supertankers and hair-based booms, for example--but the Gulf coast can use all the creative help it...

New York's Newest Crop of Star Architects

Architecture is an infamously rough profession--the saying goes, there's more starving architects than there are starving artists. So for the last six years, the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects has been giving super-young New York firms a leg up, in their New Practices Award, handed out to firms founded in the last six years. This year, 65 firms entered, and seven were tapped this week. On July 15th, they'll all get an exhibition at the Center for Architecture. But...

Use Bundle to Snoop on Your Neighbors' Finances

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Infographic by Arno Ghelfi

A new Web-finance tool helps you learn from a virtual peek inside your neighbors' credit-card bills.

Imagine a reality show that mixes the voyeuristic consumption of Keeping Up With the Kardashians with the competition of Survivor. Except it's a Web site. Devoted to helping its users spend smarter. "Once you see how people like you are handling their money," says Jaidev Shergill, founder and CEO of Bundle, a startup backed by Citigroup, Microsoft, and Morningstar...

Generation Web 2.0 Workers May Prefer Facebook Perks Over More Pay

If you want to motivate your staff to succeed, then trusting them to manage their own time--and use the Net when they like, including for accessing social networks--could get you better results than offering more pay, says new data.

Over 1,600 managers and staff were surveyed by Clearswift (a firm specializing in "unifying information security") for this research, covering the U.K., Australia, Germany, and the USA during the first two months of 2010. The headline figure from Clearswift's...