David Lidsky's Blog, page 4837

Why Outsourced Tech-Jobs Are Saving Refugees in Kenya

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Courtesy of Samasource

Creating a cache of skilled labor in refugee communities.

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Poor, dusty, overcrowded -- Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp (population: 300,000) is the last place you'd think to look for Web-savvy workers. But a growing number of camp dwellers are finding jobs in the digital economy thanks to Samasource, a San Francisco-based social enterprise.

Over the past year, Samasource has trained 16 Somali and Sudanese refugees to use the Web at a computer center run by the charity CARE...

The Home Office, Kids Edition

Kids and offices don't mix, right? Tempting though it would be to take a leaf out of Apple's book and employ my young charges--open up a blogging sweatshop, if you like--I think I'd be on the fast track to nowhere--I'd get sacked after the seventeenth pitch of Why Haribo Gummi Bears are So Grate.

One of the most startling thing about having children around--and if you're working from home, they will be around at some point--is how much of an influence you are on them. I don't have children...

WANTED: Case-Mate Hug

The Case-Mate Hug is a wireless inductive charger, a lot like the Powermat or Palm's Touchstone. Inductive chargers let you plop your gadget down onto a special surface for charging, rather than fiddling around with wires--and the Hug is one of the best out there.

Inductive chargers aren't magic, however. They work via a magnetic field, but gadgets (aside from the Palm Pre Plus) don't have the required magnetic parts, so you need to use a case. It's a little lame, but if you were planning on...

Best Buy to Partner With Panasonic, Push 3D 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 3D 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 3D HDTVs (both LCD and plasma, more on that below) in a few hundred of its...

Apple Debuts First iPad Ad During Oscars, Demonstrates a Dozen Ways to Hold the Thing

Apple debuted its very first iPad ad during the Oscars tonight, showing off the tablet's various functions (with an emphasis on reading) in signature style. Oh, and if you were wondering how to hold a giant slab of screen with no kickstand, the ad makes sure to demonstrate about a dozen options.

It's a pretty typical modern Apple ad: soundtracked to inoffensive, perky indie rock, it shows the gadget's functions front and center, in this case committing to essentially a dead sprint through the...

Toxie Awards Go To BPA, Lead, Pthalates and More

Just in time for the Oscars, Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy have announced the winners of the Toxies, an actual red carpet event that honored so-called "Bad Actor Chemicals" or toxic compounds found in many everyday products.

Some of the winners:

Worst Breakthrough Performance and Viewer's Choice Award for Worst Chemical of 2009: Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen impersonator found in polycarbonate plastics used in baby bottles, reusable food and water containers and canned food ...

Today in Most Innovative Companies

Daily news of note from our Most Innovative Companies, including BMW, Walmart, and Netflix

 

BMW Group DesignworksUSA: Alas, there's a fix to uncomfortable crowded planes: the Boeing Business Jet 2. Sure, it'll set you back $55 million, but with a luxurious interior designed by BMW, how can you resist? The plane was recently named the second most expensive private plane in the world.

Walmart: The Whole Foods-competitor is set to open a distribution plant that's 60 percent more energy...

tvChatter Makes It Even Easier to Read Oscar Twitter Commentary (If That Is Indeed a Good Thing)

To hear the sound of wind getting knocked out of millions of chests when The Hurt Locker topples Avatar for best picture, you may want to download tvChatter, a real-time Twitter viewer that's organized by TV show. The new app developed by frog design has developed a special section for this Sunday's Academy Awards broadcast where armchair Twitters can compare Oscar pools with other viewers. tvChatter also lets users filter the Tweets within a particular show so you are only seeing...

Green Groups Capture Hollywood's Attention With Avatar Sands Ad

One of the reasons why Avatar has been such a success (besides the mind-numbingly beautiful scenery) is that it has a simple story. The David versus Goliath plot can--and has already been--applied to situations around the world by activist groups eager to hitch their wagon to the blockbuster film. But the latest campaign by environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and Earthworks might be the most effective. The organizations have teamed up to purchase a full-page ad in...

Konbit: A Skill-Indexing Communications Platform for Haitians

The recent earthquake in Haiti may not be at the forefront of our minds anymore, but the rebuilding process in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere has barely begun. Two students at MIT hope to move the process along with Konbit, an interactive communications platform that lets locals report their skills via text, phone (voice input), or Internet.

Designed by Greg Elliott and Aaron Zinman, the Konbit platform is intended to help Haitians announce skills that might be helpful in local...