David Lidsky's Blog, page 4800

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition Releases Solar Company Scorecard

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition is known for its e-waste advocacy work--for two decades, the group has advocated for electronics companies to eliminate toxic chemicals in products
and increase end-of-life responsibility. And while solar panels may not be the first type of e-waste that comes to mind, solar companies do face many of the same issues as traditional electronics manufacturers. Hence the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition's new Solar Company Scorecard (PDF file).

"We're looking...

Los Angeles Has the Country's Most Energy Efficient Buildings

Los Angeles, land of excess and big cars, just gained a whole lot of green credibility with the Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 ranking of energy-efficient buildings. Believe it or not, L.A. has more Energy Star-labeled buildings than any other city in the country--293 buildings containing 76 million square feet of floorspace, to be exact.

The rest of the rankings aren't that surprising, except for one thing: New York is last. NYC has the largest population of any city, so why is it...

Infographic of the Day: What Does the New Health-Care Bill Mean for Me?

Will everyone please cool it?! Socialism won't be kicking in anytime soon.

Okay, so this handy-dandy calculator isn't exactly an infographic. But it's an invaluable tool, given the mass confusion over what the effects of the Affordable Healthcare Act signed into law by President Obama today.

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The bottom line: Try it out. You'll see that if you have employer-provided health insurance, nothing really changes for you. If you don't have insurance, then by 2014, you'll have to purchase it. But...

AT&T Chief Blows U.S.'s 3G Trumpet, Conveniently Forgetting About Euroland

AT&T's chief of Mobility and Consumer Markets Ralph de la Vega, got on his soapbox today and spouted about the U.S.'s fabulous 3G networks, which are leading the World. The trouble is, de la Vega is spouting some cell-phone hogwash.

De la Vega was speaking at the CTIA Wireless show, which is no surprise since he's the industry body's current chairman. The overall theme of his talk was how great America's 3G wireless services are, and how fabulous the 4G roll out will be. To support his thesis...

Infographic of the Day: What Does the New Healthcare Bill Mean for Me?

Will everyone please cool it?! Socialism won't be kicking in anytime soon.

Okay, so this handy-dandy calculator isn't exactly an infographic. But it's an invaluable tool, given the mass confusion over what the effects of the Affordable Healthcare Act signed into law by President Obama today.

[image error]

The bottom line: Try it out. You'll see that if you have employer-provided health insurance, nothing really changes for you. If you don't have insurance, then by 2014, you'll have to purchase it. But...

Want a Sustainable Dreamhome Design, for Free? Vote Now

FreeGreen, which distributes free blueprints for sustainable houses, is letting the public help choose the next design it will offer. That's not just a marketing gimmick--it gets to the core of their business model.

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FreeGreen, a start-up that offers free blueprints for sustainable home designs, is close to unveiling their next great design--and anyone can help them choose it.

Their so-called Who's Next competition allowed anyone to vote on over 400 designs; today, the field was narrowed to...

Did Warner Bros. Ditch Netflix for Nearly Bankrupt Blockbuster?

Blockbuster announced this morning that it had signed a new deal with Warner Brothers to provide "immediate availability of new DVD and Blu-Ray releases from the studio." But this isn't just your ordinary licensing wheeling and dealing. The agreement gives Blockbuster a huge four-week advance over Netflix in releasing new films distributed by the second largest (and second highest-grossing) movie studio in the world--a massive advantage considering Netflix subscribers will have to wait an...

Nebul.us Unveils First Major Update

The service, which creates an infographic of your life, has added few features meant to get users more engaged.

Last November, we brought you news about Nebul.us, an intriguing start-up aimed at using infographics for social networking. And this week, they've announced their first major update since launching six months ago.

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The main premise of the service is that much like Stumbleupon, you get a widget in your browser that allows you to mark articles or songs or media...

In an Intense Time for Hybrids and EVs, Fiberforge Lightens Up

The idea driving Fiberforge isn't fuel. It's lighter cars. "Anything that needs to be moved from Point A to Point B would use less
fuel and less energy to accelerate it, move it, and decelerate it if it
were lighter," says Jon Fox-Rubin, President & CEO of Fiberforge. "And that's really where the Fiberforge process is aimed
at creating affordable structures that are lighter in weight."

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Amory Lovins: CEO & Co-Founder of Rocky Mountain Institute: A typical car today...

Uncommon Indicator: Gas at $3 Per Gallon

At first blush, the imminent rise of gasoline prices to about $3 per gallon is not such great news. Who, after all, can afford to spend considerably more on anything these days, let alone on something many of us use almost every day?

But a longer view suggests that rising gas prices signals rising demand, which means that more folks have more places to drive and require more fuel to get there (hopefully the places they are driving are jobs and not pawn shops.)

What should be worrisome, some...