David Lidsky's Blog, page 4725

Nike CEO Calls Tiger Woods Ad "Polarizing" But Authentic

Nike's unwavering support of Tiger Woods in the wake of his scandalous affairs was not entirely surprising, the company has a track record for sticking with athletes through troubled times. But even some of Woods' most ardent fans were taken aback by the first post-scandal TV commercial that aired during the Masters. Created by longtime Nike collaborators Wieden + Kennedy, the spot shows Woods with a solemn face as the voice of his deceased father Earl speaks in voice over. Here, Nike's CEO...

WANTED: Office Assault Post-It Gun

Any executive for whom Sun Tzu's The Art of War is the perfect encapsulation of their business philosophy might like industrial designer Alex Marshall's office toys. There's a Post-It gun, designed, apparently, for "extreme ideation and brainstorms," and a C.C.G., or coffee-cup grenade, described as an anti-drowsiness device.

Marshall claims that the gun began life as a "super-advanced fart machine," so how that evolved into a concept that Michael Scott would probably insist on toting around...

Today in Robots: Fabulous Farm Droids, Scary Stick-on Spy Planes

Robots, robots everywhere, with barely time to think (about the coming robocalypse.) Mechanoids are a fact of life folks, and if you need proof then learn about Chinese farmer Wu Yulu and his list of robo pals, and Stanford's freaky sci-fi-esque perching UAV.

Wu Yulu is something of a one-mad mechanoid phenomenon--he'd almost fit the geeky home-tinkerer stereotype from many a 1980's vintage sci-fi movie. Wu has produced 38 individual robotic inventions, and has been invited to present some of...

Remembering C.K. Prahalad

Of the thousands of people we meet in life, only a few become part of our lives in meaningful ways. I'm sure we all remember a favorite teacher or coach, a college professor, first love, or grandparent whose advice we cherish. For me, C.K. Prahalad, who died April 16, was such a person.



Like many people, I had been moved by his books, Competing for the Future, and The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, as well as his philosophy: that global poverty could be eradicated, and fortunes could...

Government Web Presence May Lead to Increased Trust in Politicians

While trust in the people who make the laws may be bumping along the bottom, a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that government Web sites could be the thing that increases American faith in its leaders. Only last week the Research Center released data--which you can see above--showing that the crappy economy, combined with the hugely partisan political view and an unhappy populace, is leading to epic discontent with U.S. politicians.

But Pew's Government Online

Spotify Goes All Social Media With Spanky Relaunch

Describing it as a "next-generation" relaunch, Spotify has unveiled its new look, ahead of its U.S. launch. Fans of Facebook and iTunes might notice some similarities with the music streaming service's facelift, but founder and CEO Daniel Ek told the BBC that, despite being a next-gen service, some of Spotify's new features are definitely retro.

"It's almost like going back to the record shop or being at your friend's house," Ek said of the new ability to browse a friends' music collection...

Slacktivism: Helping Humanity With a Click of the Mouse

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Illustration by Frank Chimero

Sending a text or clicking to vote may be the trendy way to help humankind. The question, says Nancy Lublin, is whether such so-called slacktivism really works.

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Name-calling is never nice -- that much most of us learned in kindergarten. Go ahead and criticize the substance of an action or the content of a speech, but just calling a person a nasty name is like pulling hair. Unfortunately, a lot of it happens in the do-gooder sector--and lately, much of it has been...

Nissan, GE Join Forces to Tackle EV Smart Charging

How can the next-generation electric grid support millions of EVs charging at the same time? What kind of wirting will homes need for fast EV charging? These are just a few of the pressing questions that the auto industry needs to figure out before launching a full-scale fleet of EVs on the market. To that end, GE and Nissan announced a collaboration this week to research the integration of EVs with homes and buildings as well as EV charging dynamics with the grid.

The partnership makes...

Stahlbush Brings Biodegradable Packaging to the Frozen Food Aisle

It's always healthiest to eat fresh food, but Stahlbush Island Farms is making a noble attempt at greening frozen produce with the first ever biodegradable bag for frozen fruits and veggies.

The BioBag, developed as part of a collaboration with Cadillac Products Packaging Company, maintains a
normal shelf life for the twenty different frozen fruit and vegetable
products produced by Stahlbush--no small feat. Stahlbush's bag, which uses brown kraft paper and water-based ink...

Stanford d.school Proves You Really Can Design a Space for Innovation

"Space matters." That's the mantra at the Stanford d.school, where students and staffers have spent six years figuring out how to tweak an environment to make it a more fertile breeding ground for ideas. Now they're going to find out if those ideas work.

The boxes were unpacked in late March, in time for the start of the university's third quarter. But the official ribbon-cutting on the 40K square foot new
building (which houses both the d.school and all other design programs at Stanford...