You can be forgiven if you have the impression that I hate AI. I do have profound concerns with the ways the technology is being rolled out, sure, but I’m still an enthusiast at heart and I love playing around with this stuff. This week I wrote about a free transcription application that took a half-hour episode […]
Tag: tech
The life changing magic of shutting up
Here’s a secret the people who run social media networks don’t want you to know—the one thing you can do to mess up their entire plan. You can, if you want to, shut the fuck up. It turns out, when something big happens in the news, you don’t have to react to it. You are […]
Startup founders: hire me to be your CEO
An open letter. You should make me the CEO of your company. I promise to upset your investors in ways that are really, really, funny. It’s okay to upset investors because they’re not people, just pools of money that long ago gave up on non-fiscal concerns like joy and human connection. You have their money—they […]
On the shutdown: call out bullshit, then question your own.
As you know by now the US government’s been held hostage by right-wing extremists. These people thought Romney was going to win in a landslide, so reality isn’t their forte. We should absolutely call them out on their bullshit, especially when the result of it is a government shutdown that’s going to cost the American […]
Hey, media: stop letting Apple use you as its PR department.
For all the talk of social media being the future of marketing, one company stands outside it all: Apple. This company’s every move is speculated about constantly on every social network, but how many people follow Apple on Twitter? None; they don’t have a Twitter page. Apple knows a truth about social networking no supposed […]
Gas Is Too Cheap
Gas prices are too low. Far, far too low. Within decades we will regret ever charging as little as four dollars a gallon for gas. Divide global oil reserves by global oil consumption and we’ve got 33 years left. Oil is a limited resource, and we’re going to run out of it. That’s not some […]
People Talking Without Speaking: The Ignored Disaster
Sitting in front a computer. That’s what I do lately. It’s what most of us do lately. Learn the conventions of the web. Tweet it. Like it. Digg it. Write a snappy headline or no one will read it. Stay on top of the trends. It doesn’t matter whether that’s true or not; give people the […]
‘Grapes of Wrath’ and the Great Recession
It’s difficult to think of anything new to say about The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck’s masterpiece. But recently I, after years of Kathy insisting I do so, got around to reading it. I couldn’t help but notice a few things relevant to the here and now, and seeing as I have a computer I figured […]