David Lidsky's Blog, page 4691

New Green Card to Suggest Greener Pastures for Immigrants?

The U.S. government unveils a new green card. It shows a lot more coherence than immigration policy itself.

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The government hasn't shown much love for immigrants of late, what
with Arizona passing the "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow,
segregation forever" bill, and 10 other states hot on the trail.

So
when U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services unveiled a
redesigned green card yesterday,
we braced ourselves. Surely it would involve some horrid, jingoistic mashup of eagles and
flags and...

Hey, Hef? Sharp's Smartphone Cam's Got Your 3-D Playboy Urges Covered

Sharp's got a new mini camera module ready to be crow-barred into the tiny spaces inside cell phones. But it's no ordinary camera unit. It's 3-D capable, chaps. Sexters and armchair Hugh Hefner wannabes just got their killer tech.

Sharp notes that its diminutive sliver of plastic and chips is an "industry first," as it's not only capable of 3-D image recording, but also can shoot half-HDTV footage in 720p resolutions. The three-dimensional component works like many current and upcoming 3-D...

Kayak.com Cofounder Paul English Plans to Blanket Africa in Free Wireless Internet

Paul English, the cofounder of travel search engine Kayak.com, wants to blanket all of Africa with free and low-cost Wi-Fi. It's a "big, big project," one that will consume the next decade of his life, English tells FastCompany.com.

JoinAfrica aims to bring a world of information to a continent whose population only has 8.7% Internet penetration right now. At the core of JoinAfrica is the belief that providing basic Internet is as essential to society as clean water and clean power.

...

A History of Green Brands 1960s and 1970s – Doing the Groundwork

Written by Landor Associates' Chief Strategy Officer, Russ Meyer, this series explores the evolution of the sustainability movement through the eyes of a marketer interested in the growth of green brands

Green cars, green cleaners, green plywood. Today there are eco-friendly alternatives in virtually every product category. Consumer interest in green products continues to rise as more products are introduced each year. It becomes increasingly more difficult to imagine a time when climate...

Kayak.com Co-founder Paul English Plans to Blanket Africa in Free Wireless Internet

Paul English, the cofounder of travel search engine Kayak.com, wants to blanket all of Africa with free and low-cost Wi-Fi. It's a "big, big project," one that will consume the next decade of his life, English tells FastCompany.com.

JoinAfrica aims to bring a world of information to a continent whose population only has 8.7% Internet penetration right now. At the core of JoinAfrica is the belief that providing basic Internet is as essential to society as clean water and clean power.

...

Designers of Xbox 360 and Google Phone Try Their Hand at Interior Design

The design firm Mike and Maaike unveils their new products.

Even if you've never heard of Mike and Maaike, you know their work. Mike Simonian led the design of the Xbox 360 while he was working at Astro; Maaike Evers designed for HP and Palm. When the two formed their own studio, they designed HTC's G1--better known as the first Google phone.

At New York's International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which opens this weekend, they're unveiling several new products that depart from the ultra...

Printable Brick Could Cut World's Carbon Emissions by "At Least" 800 Million Tons a Year

The brick, made of sand, bacteria, and urea, has won Metropolis's 2010 Next Generation award.

Metropolis magazine has announced the winner of its 2010 Next Generation contest: A brick that doesn't have to be baked or fired, but rather, can be grown.

The Next Generation contest awards designs that tackle the world's problems, and the humble brick is a Big Problem. As our own Suzanne LeBarre writes:

Tossing a clay brick into a coal-powered kiln, then firing it up to
2,000˚F, emits about 1.3...

Gross: In Design, Bugs Are the New Black

From ant-trail chairs to centipede lamps, entomology is the new hotness.

Entomophobes won't like this. The Dutch firm Edhv has turned insect tracks into a chair--a pretty one, to boot. But consider: Every time you sit down, you'll think of ants crawling around your heinie. Egad!

The chair's called Debug, and it
debuted at the Milan Furniture Fair last month. You make it by shoving
some insects--ants, crickets, whatever--into an ad hoc mapping
machine, then recording their every frazzled move...

Inside a Gamer Geek's Quest to Infect Masses With Zombie Blood

Alienware Area-51 tower? Check. Triple high-def flat-screen monitors? Check. Wireless dual-action game controller? Check. Left 4 Dead? Check. Zombie Blood?

Check.

Harcos Labs, the creators of a slew of gaming-inspired drinks like Mana Potion and Nuclear Powder, did not come up with a monstrous green goo beverage to market a movie or a new line of high def TVs, as we speculated earlier. They are tapping into the thirsty nerd market with a new style of energy drinks. Zombie Blood hopes...

Dan Heath: How to Find Bright Spots

[transcript of video:]Let's say your kid comes home one day and shows you this report card. Anything jump out at you? Well, if you're like most parents, all you really see is this. And you'd hire a tutor, and your kid would be grounded, and they can kiss their Wii goodbye. This thought experiment comes from the author Marcus Buckingham, and what it reveals is that we're wired to focus on problems rather than strengths. It would be the rare parent who'd say, "Wow, honey, you've really got a...