Reality Check
Reality can be disappointing. Self-help books and motivational speakers tell us the answer is to set ambitious goals and reach for the stars. When the results don’t meet our expectations, disappointment soon follows. There are many ways of dealing with this. In the 60’s, one answer was to give up on reality completely and settle […]
Cyber Smart by Bart McDonough (review by Paul W. Smith)
Each of us has a unique relationship with our things – especially stuff like smartphones, tablets, laptops, connected cars and all the sundry members of the Internet of Things family. We may see these as a means of making our lives simpler and more comfortable, or perhaps as tangible proof that we are affluent and […]
Buttons That Don’t Work
It’s been over 50 years now since George Jetson and his Orbit City lifestyle debuted as the first program broadcast in color on ABC-TV. George lived in the Skypad Apartments with his wife Jane and their two children, Judy and Elroy. His work week consisted of an hour a day, two days a week, where […]
Review: The Punk Rock of Business by Jeremy Dale
Initially I was put off by the title and cover of this book. The business book genre is quite saturated, and at first this seemed like a lame attempt at differentiation. As it turns out, the Punk Rock analogy is perfect, both for the generation that understands what Punk is all about, and for those […]
Short Attention Spans
I once came across some of my old grade school report cards. In those days the teacher wrote a detailed assessment, in longhand, of each child’s good traits along with those that needed improvement. My mother would send them back with her own mini-essay and a promise to work on the issues. Penmanship was always […]
Brain Drain
Is a Beagle’s brain bigger than a golf ball? (NOTE: if you own a Beagle, you are hereby recused). Once upon a time, a question like this would lead to some serious cognitive calisthenics. Beagles are infamously difficult to train, but how does canine intelligence relate to brain size? Beagles are one of the smaller […]
Beware the Lizard
“I’ve experienced many terrible things in my life, a few of which actually happened.” – Mark Twain A man driving his luxury car late at night becomes lost and slowly realizes that he is in a very bad part of town. When his car breaks down, the tension mounts. He is approached by a group […]
Startup Dreams
Book Review: Straight Talk for Startups by Randy Komisar and Jantoon Reigersman I confess that I play air guitar in the shower and I fantasize about hitting the winning basket at the buzzer. I suspect that I am not the only one who does this. For most of us, such dreams leading to wealth and […]
Mysteries
“Mysteries abound where most we seek for answers.” – Ray Bradbury There are good mysteries and bad mysteries. If you are relaxing next to the pool with a best-selling mystery novel, that’s good. If your doctor is baffled by your “mysterious” symptoms, that’s bad. Puzzling mysteries can be challenging, frustrating, or even concerning. Since […]
Tech “R” Us
We humans like to measure things. Companies like Survey Monkey (which collects 16 million answers daily) will take nearly any business contact you’ve had and convert it into a number. Over the past week, they’ve hit me up for ratings on a hair salon, a cable provider and an auto parts store. On a scale […]
