David Lidsky's Blog, page 4818

LA's Funnest Funicular (!) Railway Is Back in Adorable Business

Angels Flight, a Los Angeles landmark and tourist destination, is back in business after a horrible accident forced the halting of service back in 2001. It's still quaint, but under the classic design is some serious modern security.

Angels Flight is a funicular railway, which is a cabled railway consisting of two cars that move simultaneously in opposite directions, counterbalancing each other, usually up a steep hill--so while one is at the top of the slope, the other is at the bottom, and...

Cash Is So Twentieth Century: Bump iPhones to Exchange Money Instead

While Paypal has been less and less relevant, thanks to competitors like Google Checkout and Amazon, they may just stage a comeback with an idea that's cute and useful at the same time: a bump-triggered iPhone app.

Bump Technologies, the company that makes the Bump iPhone app, provided the underlying tech for Paypal's newly announced app. But instead of exchanging contact information, now you can exchange money. The app also includes a tax, tip, and check calculating feature, so you can...

MOG Announces Mobile Apps and All-You-Can-Download Service, Throws Down Gauntlet

MOG, the Berkeley-based do-everything music service (we're not exaggerating; its features include Lala-like streaming, Pandora-like recommendations, Last.fm-like community, and sophisticated blogging tools) is adding two huge new features: an all-you-can-download subscription, and mobile apps for iPhone and Android. Spotify, iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune, Pandora, Slacker, and every other service vaguely involving music: watch out.

Currently, MOG offers a $5 per month streaming service called MOG...

Google Predicts Mobile Ad Rates Will Top PC Ad Rates, Will Make Bank Either Way

In a briefing, Google Engineering Vice President Vic Gundotra sounded off on the importance of mobile to Google's future success, saying "Google has bet big on mobile." And when Google bets big, you can bet advertisements are somehow involved.

Ad rates for mobiles are still far less per click than on a full PC, and the total revenues of these different ad streams backs that up (check out our infographic for an overview of ad revenues). But mobile ad rates are skyrocketing, thanks to...

Today in Most Innovative Companies

Daily news of note from our Most Innovative Companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, Frito-Lay, and Google.

Nokia: Apple and Nokia have been at loggerheads ever since they sued and countersued one another over patent-infringement. Now, Nokia is upping the ante, requesting Apple's antitrust claims against the Finnish mobile device maker be thrown out, and accusing the Cupertino-based firm of some unfair legal diversions. According to a Nokia court document: "These non-patent...

Work Smart: How to Make Procrastination Productive

You've got a big, important report to write for work and you're dreading it. The deadline has been weighing on your mind for weeks and so far, you've done nothing about it. At this point, you'd rather get a root canal than get started. Still, you set aside time this afternoon to buckle down and get to work, but instead you're playing Solitaire, you're checking Facebook, you're reorganizing your pens, you're chain-smoking on the fire escape, and you're feeling like crap. You're...

Windows Phone 7 Apps: Everything You Need To Know

Windows Phone 7 Series: It's a thing! And it looks pretty great, so far. Last month's announcement, though, left a lot of questions. Questions which will be answered here, in Gizmodo's live coverage of Microsoft MIX 2010 keynote. Constantly updating.

How exactly will multitasking work? What about those incredible cross platform game demos? Whither WinMo 6.x, and its devs? (And what's with this "Classic" and "Starter Edition" business?) What happens to the Zune? Will we see more hardware...

Digg's CEO, on the Redesign: "Every Single Thing Has Changed"

Confused on what Digg was and will soon be? The aggregator in chief helps us understand how he plans to make his all-new site a must-have for social Web surfers.

Digg's touting its redesign, coming in the next few months, but "redesign" doesn't really cover it. This is more htan a surface-level change, an aesthetic adjustment or a new skin. This is more of a simultaneous launch of a totally new social news site with minor similarities to Digg, and the elimination of the old Digg. Digg CEO Jay...

H&M Clears Up Status as Green Villain With Sustainable Textile Collection

H&M has been hurting on the green front lately. First the fast fashion brand got in trouble for destroying unused clothes, and then the company was accused of selling fake organic cotton. Not to mention those Madonna tracksuits on the world). So it's no surprise that the company is trying to redeem itself with the "Garden Collection," a line of clothes made with tencel, recycled polyester, organic linen, and organic cotton. Of course, there's still a chance that the new organic cotton...

Affresol Building a Line of Modular Homes Made Out of Recycled Plastic Waste

At a time when extreme weather events seem to be relatively common, would you feel safe living in a home made out of recycled plastic? Affresol, a U.K. modular home designer, is betting on it. The company is launching a range of $63,000 prefab homes made out of recycled waste plastic. And believe it or not, Affresol claims the homes are well-insulated and completely waterproof, fire retardant, and rot-resistant.

Affresol's secret is a material called Thermo Poly Rock (TPR), a strong, light...