David Lidsky's Blog, page 4704

NASA Fires Off a Test Rocket It Hopes to Never Really Use

Another bit of the cancelled Constellation project just actually rocketed into the skies: A testbed Orion space capsule has followed the Ares i-X atop a fiery plume off the launchpad. But unlike Ares, Orion may actually reach space. Possibly.

Today the Orion capsule, a 16-foot diameter, 11-foot tall space ship roughly the same shape as those used to bring Apollo astronauts back to Earth in the 1960s and '70s, was catapulted into the air by rocket. After a brief parabolic trip after the solid...

Gulf of Mexico Spill Inspires Digitally Produced "Oil Paintings"

An unsettling artwork, created using digital images of the ecological disaster.

Well that didn't take long. The disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico has inspired its first artistic masterpiece: Deep Horizon, a series of "oil paintings" created by digital artist Ubermorgan.

The paintings are actually drawn from images of the disaster, which have then been digitally manipulated with compression effects and video-editing. Thus, the colors in the images take on a distorted, liquefied...

FCC Pushes for Net Neutrality and Internet Regulation: What Happens Next? [Update]

Net neutrality, considered a centerpiece initiative for FCC chair Julius Genachowski, would effectively stop Internet providers from slowing

or blocking access to Web sites. It's among the most important political topics that most net-heads don't understand. And the debate's just been reignited: Yesterday Genachowski revealed plans to reclassify

broadband lines so that they are governed by the same rules as traditional phone networks, which the FCC has legal authority over--creating a...

Smart Solar Panels Shine at the Stanford d.school's Beta Trade Show

Last week, we saw how the Stanford d.school's new building was designed for innovation. This week, how the school converted into a trade show to give students an opportunity to showcase--and sell--their ideas.

Our concept Veloz Solar just took part in the Beta Trade Show at the Stanford d.school. This trade show featured ideas from our class LaunchPad, which meets twice a week to discuss strategy,
tactics, prototypes and how to brainstorm ideas for startups.

Our device allows solar panels...

i Heart U: Apple Patents Biometric iPhone Unlock

Brace yourselves for another Apple patent. It's a weird and wacky one. It's about using a "seamless" biometric heart rate monitor to identify iPhone users. Seriously. Your boom-tiddy-boom could unlock your iPhony-phone.

Apple's patent couldn't be simpler: Part of the metal shell of an iPhone (can you say iPhone 2010, anyone?) is replaced by electronic sensors that detect the pulse of the user's heart as it reaches the hand holding the phone. Peculiarities in each user's heart patterns at the...

Drug Rugs: Designer Turns Viagra Into Stuff of Elegant Interiors

Designer Dan Golden produces rug designs based on the world's most
popular pharmaceuticals. And this spring, his designs are being
produced by Odegard, a top-tier rug-maker.

Facebook's Global Emotion Analysis: Sports Can Make Us Sad Like Disasters Do

Facebook's happiness measurements have been little more than novelties so far. But the analytics team has just tweaked its system to cover more of the world, and turned the happiness index into a serious research tool. The first results are in: sports and national events can make us all sad, it seems.

Facebook's off-topic investigation of happiness has in the past been tightly limited to just a few nations. Now the team's used the localization powers of Facebook to add in 18 more nations...

Is Goldman Sachs the Face of Capitalism?

Goldman Sachs is the smartest, toughest, most aggressive, most powerful player in the world. Period. They have the most powerful political connections. They get the smartest people to work for them. They have the most competitive culture. They make the most money. They win more than they lose, and they win more than almost anybody else. The way they play the game makes them the biggest dog in the world.

In other words, you could think about Goldman Sachs the way most of the world thinks of...

Apple's iAd Goes ViP, Leaving Google Behind the Velvet Ropes

Apple's new iAd platform is going to be a serious contender, newly leaked data shows. The company is so keen to beat its competition in the mobile advertising space that it's releasing a special paid analytics system that leverages iTunes data.

The news comes via TechCrunch, which has received inside information from a Quattro Wireless sales rep (Quattro is the mobile advertising platform Apple bought earlier this year). This makes the information extremely reliable, and the news itself even...

Prison Valley Interactive Documentary Puts Anti-Social Behavior Into Social Media

Last month, a strange little project launched online. Prison Valley is an interactive, Web-based documentary with its own iPhone app, and a heavy social media presence. It's been produced in three languages, by two French guys with a little help from the the Franco-German arts channel Arte. What's odd about this project is that, instead of the TV documentary being the focal point and using the Web as a promotional tool, it's the other way round.

The premise of Prison Valley, which took 16...