David Lidsky's Blog, page 4891

China Busts Nation's Biggest Hacking School ... for Google's Sake?

China can't seem to keep out of the news about hacking and cyberwar can it? The country's police have scored a positive news report, however: They've closed down the nation's biggest hacker training school. It does raise some questions though.

The action went down in Hubei province in Central China, and three people were arrested and a pile of money and other assets were seized. The three were responsible for running the Black Hawk Safety Net, allegedly, and they're facing charges of...

Tech Life | Sima Diane Sistani

Tech Life follows the daily routines of the world's Fastest movers and shakers to find out what products make them click -- and scroll and surf, too.

Business Development | Branded Entertainment | San Francisco

Blackberry or iPhone: Both--one for emails, and the other for fun. I am on three phones all day--the "crack"-berry (my blackberry actually has a cracked screen), iPhone, and my work landline (no landline at home).

Alarm Clock: iPod alarm (iHome Brand)--much better wake-up call to...

French Town Heats Swimming Pool With Sewage

Sometimes swimming in public pools can seem a little unsanitary, but one French town in the suburbs of Paris really puts the poo in pool. Sophie Deschiens, the Environment Councilwoman for the town of Levallois-Perret, was bugged by the wasted energy of hot water getting dumped down the drain. The water in city pipes averages a temperature of 68 F, so why not put it to good use?

Deschiens researched a system that uses a series stainless steel plates attached to the bottom of sewer pipes...

Calpine Corp. Building First Power Plant With Self-Imposed CO2 Limit

The jury is still out on whether the Obama administration will pass a cap-and-trade bill, but at least one utility is gearing up for potential regulations. Calpine Corp. announced this week that it plans to build the first power plant in the U.S. with a federal permit that sets a limit for CO2 output. The federal government didn't request this--Calpine took the initiative to get the permit for the 600 megawatt natural gas plant, which will be located in Hayward, California.

Calpine's plant...

Swirl Turns Washing Clothes Into a Game

Remember the energy-generating SOccket soccer ball we wrote about last week? Turns out other designers have similar ideas kicking around in their heads. The "Swirl", a concept washing machine from Germany's designaffairs Studio, is a soccer ball-like device that cleans clothes during play.

Using the device is easy: just stick clothes inside the ball, lock the lid, fill it up with water and let kids play with it to wash and scrub the clothes inside. The device can also double as a water...

Are These Ten Names the Future of Industrial Design?

Philippe Starck thinks so. He picked ten of France's best and brightest to usher in the new decade. Is this the end of an era, or the start of something better? Decide for yourself.

Freeway System for Bikes Could Make L.A. More Cyclist Friendly

Los Angeles is known for its freeways, sure, but trying to make use of those four-lane traffic pileups as a cyclist could prove disastrous. That's where a proposal from a cycling activism organization called the L.A Bike Working Group comes in. The group recently proposed a "Backbone Bikeway Network"--a system of bikeways that is comparable to a freeway for cyclists.

The Westside Bikeside blog writes:

The Backbone Bikeway Network will get you from Downtown to West L.A., Crenshaw to Valley...

Detroitcicle: Abandoned House Covered in Ice Not Blight, It's Art

Ice House Detroit raises awareness of the housing crisis there by turning a foreclosed house into a giant ice cube.

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As cramped as they sometimes feel, cities can be full of empty space, especially these days as houses foreclose and construction sites stall. What to do with those empty lots has been a hot topic these days: San Francisco groups like Local Code and Hayes Valley Farm propose re-greening, spurred by city legislation encouraging developers to keep unused lots active. In New York...

Can Your Shoebox Do That? Onitsuka Tiger's Magical Puzzle

The shoe company's newest ad campaign features a real-live Japanese tansu box. Will anyone notice?

We've seen (and yawned at) Adidas's augmented-reality-equipped sneakers. Well check out Onitsuka Tiger's new Web site and ad campaign--it's AR come to life.

That giant tansu puzzle box shoe? Well, it's real. Ad agency Amsterdam Worldwide hired Niigata tansu masters Ogura Tansu Ten to build a five-foot-long Tiger shoe out of traditional Japanese puzzle boxes--the kind that hide secret...

Facebook Redesign Paves Way for Facebookmail: Google Beware?

Facebook is beginning a roll-out of a redesign to its Web page that places more emphasis on notifications. It'll improve things for users for sure, but it's just the first step of a plan to give Facebook serious Web emailing powers.

Though the tweaks to Facebook's Web UI are pretty subtle, they'll probably have a big effect--starting with notifications. Currently these updates appear all the way down in the bottom menu bar's right hand side and it's pretty easy to overlook them. In the new...