David Lidsky's Blog, page 4836

Spring Is Here, and the Potholes Are in Bloom

New York City fills its two-millionth pothole, while U.K. design student Pete Dungey proposes a different solution.

Last week here in New York, drivers feigned celebration over the most depressingly noteworthy of city stats: the transportation department filled its two-millionth pothole. It's a springtime ritual on city streets worldwide. Wintertime road salt eats away the tar, rain and snow fill the cracks, the water freezes, thaws, freezes again, and, pop! Pothole.

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Fortunately, they can...

Now PayPal Goes for Cryptome, Suspends Account

Two weeks after Cryptome.com had the plug pulled temporarily on it by host Network Solutions, it seems the site has run into more problems--only this time, with someone else. The site's current frenemy is eBay, who has suspended Cryptome's PayPal account and all donations received since February 24, around the time that Cryptome ran into problems with Microsoft, following publication of the software giant's guide to online surveillance.

John Young, the New York-based architect who has run...

Cell-Phone Tech Uses Accelerometer to Spy on Employees

Just occasionally, a bit of gear comes out that makes you wonder just whose side technology is on. And none more than this cell-phone idea from the R&D geeks at KDDI Corporation, one of Japan's biggest cell-phone makers. Spyware by any other name, the technology will enable bosses to use the accelerometer on their employees' phones to check up on whether they're working or not.

The idea is simple: software is embedded into an employee's mobile that is connected to a server that analyzes...

Save Detroit! One Inch, One Dollar at a Time

Loveland is a real estate program to sell off some of Detroit's 40 square miles of vacant land for $1 per inch.

Detroit is shrinking. Coming in just under a million in the 2000 census (the first time its population had dropped that low since the '20s), Detroit is now down another 150,000 or more. Foreclosed or otherwise abandoned homes are everywhere, some more prominently than others--consider the Ice House, or Detroit Demolition Disneyland. Mayor Dave Bing is shuttering city departments...

Pixel Qi Skips Shows You How to Bolt a Power-Saving Screen Into Your Laptop, Sidesteps Manufacturer

Pixel Qi's screen tech is impressive in many ways, and neatly solves the e-ink versus LCD question at one stroke. It's curiously not available on many devices, however. Until now, that is: Pixel Qi is releasing a DIY mod kit for your laptop.

The company's CEO Mary Lou Jepsen revealed the plan in a blog posting yesterday. "The DIY kits from our distributors will be available towards the end of Q2. We will be announcing with them prior to distribution" is the important part, revealing we can...

White House Tweets, but How Many People Are Listening?

Cast your minds back to 2008. As well as the traditional settings of TV, radio and print, the race for the White House saw a new battleground: that of social media. The presidential campaign of Barack Obama used Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook to good effect, alongside a massive online push for fundraising. Fifteen months on, Twitter is still being used, but this time as a tool for spreading the President's message. But, post election, does it work?

The White House's press secretary, Robert...

Pixel Qi Skips Shows You How to Bolt a Power-Saving Screen into Your Laptop, Sidesteps Manufacturer

Pixel Qi's screen tech is impressive in many ways, and neatly solves the e-ink versus LCD question at one stroke. It's curiously not available on many devices, however. Until now, that is: Pixel Qi is releasing a DIY mod kit for your laptop.

The company's CEO Mary Lou Jepsen revealed the plan in a blog posting yesterday. "The DIY kits from our distributors will be available towards the end of Q2. We will be announcing with them prior to distribution" is the important part, revealing we can...

White House Tweets, but How Many People are Listening?

Cast your minds back to 2008. As well as the traditional settings of TV, radio and print, the race for the White House saw a new battleground: that of social media. The presidential campaign of Barack Obama used Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to good effect, alongside a massive online push for fundraising. Fifteen months on, Twitter is still being used, but this time as a tool for spreading the President's message. But, post election, does it work?

The White House's press secretary, Robert...

No iPad Tethering, but Games for Days: Steve Jobs

It's just 25 days 'til iPad arrives on sale in some global locations, and the fever's mounting. To spur it on, Apple pushed its first ad during the Oscars, which Steve Jobs was at. He's also been emailing fans to confirm some details too.

The Oscars

The Oscars, like 'em or loathe 'em, count as one of the most viewed TV events around the World...making them an absolutely perfect platform for Apple to tease its upcoming tablet PC. The glamor, the glitz, the very media-centric nature of the show...

Best Buy to Partner With Panasonic, Push 3-D Televisions With Heavy Price Cuts

As reported by Japan's Nikkei newspaper, Panasonic is going to partner with retailer Best Buy in the US for a major push of 3-D technology. Best Buy brings the retail space, Panasonic brings the hardware, and presumably, customers will come, too--because Panasonic's cutting prices by almost 50% to entice them.

Beginning this coming Wednesday, Best Buy will construct special exhibition areas for Panasonic's new line of 3-D HDTVs (both LCD and plasma, more on that below) in a few hundred of its...