David Lidsky's Blog, page 4792

Time-Warner's Battle for ISP Supremacy Means Free Wi-Fi in NYC

As the battle to become the go-to cable, phone, and Internet provider heats up, Time-Warner has come up with a cheeky little offer for its NY residents: free Wi-Fi hotspots for its one million cable subscribers in the city and tri-state area. In the move, TW has gussied up to rival Cablevision, and both companies are sharing their hot-spot services, in the hope of getting more paying customers for their cable services. Anyone with a Road Runner or Optimum account will be able to use the...

Interaction10: How to Design an Experience for Experience Designers?

A little over a year ago I was tapped by my friend Bill DeRouchey (from Ziba Design) to co-chair Interaction10, the Interaction Design Association's annual gathering. We both attended Interaction09 last winter in Vancouver, as observers more than participants: studiously jotting down notes about what worked and what didn't. It was there that we held our first planning meeting, excited to sink our teeth into the next chapter of the IxDA conference story, and more than a little daunted at the...

San Francisco Airplane Hangar Transformed Into Trampoline Park

What's the best thing to do with an old airplane hangar? Why, turn it into a giant trampoline park, of course. Building 926 in San Francisco's Presidio area is being turned into every kid (and adult's dream): an indoor trampoline park that features trampoline dodgeball, open trampoline jump time, aerial trampoline training, and even trampoline walls.

The Presidio Trust explains the genesis of the idea:

The idea for House of Air was developed seven years ago by Dave Schaeffer and Paul...

Photoshop CS5 Preview: Content-Aware Fill Is Magically Automatic

[image error]

Bryan O'Neil Hughes, one of the product managers of Adobe's Photoshop, let loose with a video that's tearing up the internet today, making nerds nationwide thrilled about the possibilities of even easier photo editing.

The key item demonstrated here is called "Content-Aware Fill." Essentially, in CS4, the current version of Photoshop, some image cleanup tasks had a tendency to get tricky. Shadows, lens flares, and miscellaneous detritus often posed a real challenge to image polishing, and...

Google's Quick Fix for Fast Android Adoption: Just Pay Off the Carriers

Paid Content reports that Google has a revenue-sharing deal with the major wireless carriers, all of whom offer Android phones, and even some of the handset makers (who aren't named, though they probably include long-term partners like HTC and Motorola). Paid Content notes that mobile advertising revenue, which is the source being shared, is not all that large right now, though MediaMemo's Peter Kafka disagrees with that assessment.

Interestingly, this deal only includes phones branded Google...

Navajo Nation to Get Blanketed With High-Speed Internet

The Navajo Nation will be the beneficiary of $32 million in federal stimulus money for a high-speed Internet network that will cover 15,000 square miles in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The boost hopes to help Navajo residents gain access to high-tech jobs and training which could help eradicate crushing unemployment--jobless rates hover at about 40% on the reservation. Bringing Internet access could also aid in education and keep Navajo youth from leaving the reservation in hopes of better...

Today in Most Innovative Companies

News of note from our Most Innovative Companies, including Hulu, Netflix, Huayi Brothers, and Google.

Hulu: Hulavision, the similarly-titled streaming tech company, is suing both NBC Universal and video-sharing partner Hulu, who they say ripped off their idea for online television. It all dates back to 2006, when Hula presented their business model to NBCU execs--allegedly. Fast-forward to today, and it's Hulu sans-avision-suffix that's one of the most popular video-services online and...

Concert Promoters Replacing Paper Tickets With Smart-Chip Wristbands

Live Nation, the world's largest concert promoter, is on the case of paper tickets. The firm has been trialling smart-chip wristbands in an attempt to cut down on ticket fraud, and it is expected that the promoter will roll out the scheme at British festivals this summer.

Although this can only be good for gig-goers--a twelfth of them in the U.K. claim to have fallen victim to ticketing scams, according to a government report--don't expect environmentalists to be particularly chipper about...

Net-Enabled Robovie MR2 Is a Gigantic Leap Forward in Cuteness

Robots. Love 'em or fear 'em, they're coming. But even the stodgiest metalphobe is sure to find a small place in his heart for Robovie MR2: The little tyke's just precious.

Robovie MR2 is a product of Japan's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute, and he's designed to be a desk-bound device, mainly: Standing just 30cm tall and weighing a mere 2-kg he'd possibly come a-cropper if he were to roam around at floor-level. He's a sort of advanced desk toy then, perhaps in the mold of the...

Hydropower Flush With Cash From U.S. Government

Hydropower is one of the least sexy forms of renewable energy. It doesn't involve flashy silicon panels, massive turbines spinning amidst Midwestern cornfields, or heat stored beneath the Earth's crust. But hydropower, or power derived from the force of energy of moving water, is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S.--even as its capacity has remained unchanged over the past few decades. And now, finally, hydropower is getting the respect it deserves. The Department of Energy...