David Lidsky's Blog, page 4733

White House Swings Open its Digital Doors to Developers

The Government's plan to make its online presence more user- and owner-friendly has been a long-term plan of the Obama administration. Last year, the White House switched from a proprietary content management system to Drupal, and on Wednesday it went a step further, announcing the release of some of its custom code "for anyone to review, use, or modify."

For the people, by the people, indeed.

For the American people, this means a bigger, better communication portal, which allows them to...

NBC's Not-So-Subliminal Green Messages Revealed

Anyone who watches 30 Rock, The Office, Community, or any other number of NBC shows has probably figured out that the network is trying to slip positive messages about sustainability into its programming. And in fact, NBC Universal claimed last year that its reputation as a green brand is recognized by 82% of viewers. It's brainwashing (or "behavior placement", in NBC-speak) ... for a good cause!

Just in case you don't have time to watch NBC Universal's Earth Week-themed programming, the...

Infographic of the Day: Should We Stay in Afghanistan?

Everything you should know about the debate, in a single flow chart.

Afghanistan's been way off the front page lately, pushed aside first by health-care reform and now financial reform. But the situation's still a mess, and it's no accident that some have called the conflict Obama's Vietnam.

Except its worse than the Vietnam War, in a couple of ways. In Vietnam, we didn't want to withdraw for fear of some domino effect. If Vietnam went Communist, so too would the entire region. But that was...

Why Google and ITA Are Meant for One Another: Hiring Puzzles

Consider, if you would, a theoretical lonely hearts ad. Peripatetic puzzle fanatic seeks similar. Must be rolling in Benjamins, like primary colors, travel, the eternal quest for knowledge, and free food, including the stuff in trays found on airplanes. Is this perhaps the secret message that ITA, the company that creates the software underlying almost every online travel transaction, sent out as it looked for a buyer for its $1 billion business?

There are myriad reasons why Google and ITA...

The First Windows Phone 7 Smartphone Leaks--and It's From Dell

Just when you thought it was safe to write Dell off in the mobile world, they come out with this bombshell of a leak, published first by Engadget. Take the leaks with a grain of salt (some of the images are clearly mockups), but don't dismiss them outright--these look very possibly real, and very exciting. Check out this post for the leaked Android phones.

The Lightning maybe the most interesting of all the phones, since it's the first real prospective Windows Phone 7 phone (man, that doesn't...

Apple Just Patented Your Vacation

Apple wants to blend iPhone hardware and apps to manage your in-airport experiences. In fact, they've app-ified the entire travel package.

Now boarding: iTravel.

The latest Apple RFID-based patent has surfaced, but this time it's not just clever, it's bizarre and rather breathtaking in its scope. Apple wants to blend iPhone hardware and apps to manage your in-airport experiences. In fact, they've app-ified the entire travel package.

In the incredibly detailed patent data, we can see that...

SFO's New Terminal 2: A Model for Green Airports?

Flying is an inherently unsustainable activity--the amount of CO2 spewed from planes on a daily basis is cringeworthy--but that doesn't mean airports can't be models of green innovation. Enter San Francisco Airport's new Terminal 2, a $383 million project that will expand and renovate the old international terminal into a 587,000 square foot LEED Silver terminal for Virgin America and American Airlines.

The project, designed by Gensler and Turner Construction, is designed to bring back the...

Hot Chip Rumor: Apple Might Bite Off ARM

When Apple's quarterly financial data hit on Tuesday, I did what I regularly do: Ponder how Apple could usefully spend its enormous cash reserves (now $41.7 billion). Well, there's a hot new rumor to answer that: buy ARM Holdings, the British company that designs Mac microprocessors.

According to London paper the Evening Standard, the financial district is "aflame" with the idea, being loudly repeated by well-informed "gossips." And the low-down is that this isn't just meaningless...

Hulu to Begin Pushing $10 Per Month Subscription Service in May

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Hulu might be turning a profit, and it might be the second-most-successful video streaming service on the Internet (after YouTube), but it's no secret--in fact, what's the opposite of secret?--that content providers are less than thrilled with its revenue. Viacom pulled two of Hulu's most popular shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, just a few weeks ago.

There's been a pretty persistent rumor that Hulu would try to earn more money by charging a monthly subscription, a la Netflix...

Three Dell Android Smartphones Leak: HTC Had Best Watch Their Back

When the Droid Incredible was announced, I asked if anybody besides HTC was even making Android phones anymore. The answer, it seems, is yes. Good God, yes. Dell's phones are in the HTC mold, except more daring in design. If Dell can pull these things off, HTC should be worried, and we should all be really excited. The phones are clearly mockups, so it's important to remember that these are officially unconfirmed rumors, but they're very strong rumors that I personally don't doubt.

Dell's...