David Lidsky's Blog, page 4876

HP Takes Stand Against E-Waste in Developing Countries

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All too often, electronic waste from rich countries ends up in the landfills of less developed nations. Greenpeace estimates that a staggering 50% to 80% of all e-waste exported for recycling ends up being shipped to the Far East, India, Africa, and China, where laws to protect people (and the environment) from the repercussions of taking apart toxic electronics are virtually nonexistent. So we're happy to report that HP has taken a stand against this practice by banning e-waste exports...

Intrepid Robots Step Up to Detonate Mines in the Baltic Sea

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The facts are these: Russia has natural gas. Central and Northern Europe needs natural gas. In between Russia and its natural gas customers is the Baltic Sea. The Finnish government approved the construction of a line through its section of the Baltic Sea to carry natural gas. Everybody's happy, right?

Wrong. Because in the heavily polluted Baltic Sea are an estimated 150,000 unexploded bombs (it's a big sea) left by the German and Russian armies during World War II, 70 of which lie in the...

Electric Groomer at Olympic Skating Rink Is a Giant FAILcicle

Is it better to roll out half-baked green technology or wait until it's perfected? If the technology is going to be seen at an international event, it's probably best to wait. That's the lesson learned this week by Resurfice, the official ice resurfacer of the Olympic games.

The company unleashed its electric-powered resurfacing machine at the Richmond Oval's speedskating event on Monday only to have it fail. A second one was brought out, only to fail as well. The most embarrassing part...

Will Google Buzz Go the Way of Facebook Beacon?

In 2007 Facebook rolled out Beacon, an ad system that took parts of user's Facebook data that they thought were private, and made them public. Last week, Google's Buzz did something similar. Beacon was killed by public revolt--and a class-action lawsuit. Now for Buzz comes a potential FTC investigation.

Whether you like it or loathe it, Google's new Buzz social sharing system has hit the headlines in a particularly catastrophic way over and over in the week since its launch. Though Google...

HTC Asserts Its Domination of Android, and Its Toleration of Windows Mobile 6.5

HTC just announced three new smartphones at MWC that push the company's custom Sense UI onto some of the best hardware around. The Desire and Legend are destined to become the two hottest Android phones on the market, and, well, the Windows-Mobile-powered HD Mini tries its best. Sense UI is also seeing an update, becoming ever more social-media-focused.

The HTC Desire, pictured above, is the answer to everyone who loved the sleek design and top-of-the-line muscle of the Nexus One, but who...

Electric Groomer at Olympic Skating Rink is a Giant FAILcicle

Is it better to roll out half-baked green technology or wait until it's perfected? If the technology is going to be seen at an international event, it's probably best to wait. That's the lesson learned this week by Resurfice, the official ice resurfacer of the Olympic games.

The company unleashed its electric-powered resurfacing machine at the Richmond Oval's speedskating event on Monday only to have it fail. A second one was brought out, only to fail as well. The most embarrassing part...

What Fish Can Teach Us About Wind

A new model for building wind farms inspired by the way fish swim in schools could decrease costs while increasing power density.

A trio of CalTech students released a paper today arguing that wind farms could yield much greater power density if they were modeled on formations of fish. The most widely used wind turbines have a propeller-like horizontal axis of rotation that converts more than half the energy of the wind it is exposed to, but these turbines must be kept far apart from their...

Designer Eugenia Kim Brings High Fashion to Target

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Photograph by Peter Yang

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Photograph by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Designer - Eugenia Kim for Target

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Courtesy of Eugenia Kim Inc.

Big idea: To make fashionable hats the "it" accessory, like handbags, and accessible to all. "Everyone can wear a hat -- you just have to find the right one," says Kim, 35. Her high-end Eugenia Kim hats average $200; pieces in her Eugenia Kim for Target collection, which debuts next month, will go for less than a tenth of that price. The line will be Target's first-ever...

Ford Gives Dealerships a Blueprint for Sustainability

At this point, most major car companies have taken steps towards greening their vehicles with hybrid and all-electric engines. But if the cars are being sold in energy-guzzling dealerships, well, that just looks bad. That's part of the reason why Ford recently launched a voluntary dealer sustainability program to help dealers become more energy-efficient.

The program, developed in a partnership with the Rocky Mountain Institute, offers dealers the opportunity to receive comprehensive energy...

Facebook Zero: To Get More of Your Data Dollars, Social Networking Takes a Cue From Crack Dealers

Word's just leaked, before a formal announcement, of a new super-light, text-only version of Facebook designed for simple cell phone interactions. It looks like it's designed to further Facebook's penetration into daily life. And it might be free. But only for little taste.

The system is called Facebook Zero, and it was almost accidentally revealed earlier Tuesday during a 20-minute keynote address by Facebook's Chamath Palihapitiya at the Mobile World Congress event. The obsessives at...