Overfocusing and ImmersionThe point of optical illusions like “Duck-Rabbit” and “Young Woman or Old Woman” isn’t that one of the options is correct. Instead, the…Feb 14, 2022Feb 14, 2022
Anti-Vaxxers and the Arts of PersuasionPeople decide with their hearts and then later justify those decisions with their heads.Feb 6, 2022Feb 6, 2022
Secret Stories: Microsoft, Activision, Spotify, Joe Rogan, Neil Young, FacebookWhen a big business story hits I try to ask myself, “what else is going on?”Jan 30, 2022Jan 30, 2022
Amazon’s Secret Strategy with its new Department StoresAmazon never does things for only the obvious reasons, which makes me wonder what the company is up to with its latest retail foray…Aug 25, 2021Aug 25, 2021
Book Review: Go read “Joey Somebody” by Joey Dumont immediatelyThe short version of this review is simple: drop everything, and order a copy of the new memoir, Joey Somebody: The Life and Times of a…Apr 19, 2021Apr 19, 2021
Technologies of GriefWhen a family member dies the script is clear: you scramble the jets, cancel your appointments, lean on a friend to watch the dog, and get…May 27, 2020May 27, 2020
It’s time: subscribe to your local paper; turn off your ad blocker. We did.We live in Portland, and a few years back we let our subscription to the local paper, The Oregonian, lapse because we just weren’t reading…Apr 5, 2020Apr 5, 2020
Will Twitter decide the 2020 presidential election?Is Mayor Pete Buttigieg really surging? Is Senator Elizabeth Warren really the new frontrunner? Can any of the Democratic candidates match…Oct 30, 2019Oct 30, 2019
Should you look at your kid’s smartphone? Digital parenting tips #2(This is the second in a series of practical tips about parenting in the digital age.)Oct 23, 2019Oct 23, 2019
Have this talk before your kid gets a phone: digital parenting tips #1(This is the first in a series of practical tips about parenting in the digital age.)Oct 9, 2019Oct 9, 2019
Published inThe StartupTHIS is the kinder, gentler Uber?This week, the California legislature passed an important bill that could result in the reclassification of Uber and Lyft drivers as…Sep 13, 20191Sep 13, 20191
Brad’s Smartphone Daydream: Multiple ModesI’m distractible. Easily. My iPhone is the worst (but far from the only*) temptation to wander away from what I should be thinking about.Aug 22, 2019Aug 22, 2019
Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert, Great Stories & Terrible UXWhen friends from different corners of my life recommend the same thing, I pay attention. Years ago, within days, an arch feminist…Aug 17, 2019Aug 17, 2019
Why Amazon made “The Boys”Amazon Prime Video’s new superhero satire is too niche to be a big hit, but it pieces into Amazon’s strategy of taking shrewd advantage of…Jul 31, 2019Jul 31, 2019
Am I B.L.U.E.? (Bored, Lonely, Uncomfortable…Ever)One reason there’s an obesity epidemic is that humans evolved in a world of caloric scarcity: getting enough food wasn’t easy for most of…Jul 17, 2019Jul 17, 2019
Does what we buy represent who we are?This week’s episode of the delightful NPR podcast “Hidden Brain,” “I Buy, Therefore I Am: How Brands Become Part Of Who We Are,” explores…Jul 3, 2019Jul 3, 2019
The challenge of deepfakesThe original Star Trek show from the 1960s has proved prescient again and again. Starfleet’s pocket communicators and slightly larger…Jun 12, 2019Jun 12, 2019
A better streaming modelOn July 26th, “Veronica Mars” will return for a fourth season, twelve years after the end of the third and five years after a movie that…May 29, 2019May 29, 2019
When businesses ask the wrong questionThe question most businesses ask most frequently is “how am I doing compared to my direct competitor?” This is the wrong question, and it…May 16, 2019May 16, 2019
Netflix’s only hope is to advertiseA recent Wall Street Journal article, “Netflix Fights to Keep Its Most Watched Shows: ‘Friends’ and ‘The Office,” shared that only two of…May 2, 20191May 2, 20191
