Somebody needs to teach Facebook’s CEO how to wield wealth and influence. This started out as a brief comment on Frank’s post about leaving Facebook. If you haven’t read it yet, go do so now. It’s an important piece of writing and gods would America be better off if we all followed his lead. Ello, you can’t arrive soon enough (and
Read moreWhat would happen if you put Yogi Berra in charge of making infographics? We’ve written about the problems with infographics before, but this one takes the cake. There’s a fun one from Ethos3 up at SlideShare.net addressing the importance of nonverbal communication when making presentations. It’s generally pretty helpful, but it also provides us with a lesson in the value of not overreaching. See
Read more“Hiring managers” say only apply for jobs you’re qualified for. Fine. Now, here are some things HR needs to do in return. I subscribe to a number of industry mailing lists and content services as part of my work, and periodically they’ll publish stories aimed at helping job seekers – how to find opportunities, how to network, résumé tips, that sort of
Read moreThe Kroger chain of stores, including QFC, King Soopers, City Market and more, are slaughtering trees for no good reason. Will you ask them to stop? I just went to the store, and it’s time I piped up about something that has been bugging me for awhile. Have a look:
Read moreAcademic performance by K12 Inc. somehow fails to measure up to rigorous big-money sports cartel standards. The NCAA has announced it will no longer accept coursework from two dozen online charter high schools around the country. These schools employ a curriculum from a for-profit company called K12 Inc. The move is understandable, I suppose. K12 has been heavily criticized for
Read moreUS sports leagues reward inferior teams and routinely deny their best teams the championship. Richard Allen Smith and I have argued from time to time about the merits of the BCS vs. the NCAA basketball tournament. Rich defends the BCS, while I point out its unfairness and corruption. He argues that the BCS does (did) a good job at getting
Read moreNo, Virginia. Intolerance of intolerance isn’t the same as intolerance of human beings. When it became public that recently appointed Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich had donated to the controversial anti-gay rights Prop 8 initiative in California back in 2008, things – as we used to say back home – blowed up. Rarebit yanked an app from the Mozilla marketplace and
Read moreIf multi-billion dollar football enterprise is forced to compensate players it will be the end of life as we know it. Did you catch NCAA Czar Mark Emmert talking with Greg Gumbel? Really fun stuff. Here’s the money shot: Would going to unionization mean no more NCAA? It’s entirely possible. Emmert said if student-athletes essentially became paid employees of universities
Read moreIABC Communicator of the Year has a pattern of bad behavior. I’m not sure “I’m sorry” is enough. We all screw up. When we do, it’s our responsibility to acknowledge it and apologize to those our mistake in someway damaged, hurt, disadvantaged or inconvenienced. Hopefully we learn and move on, never repeating the mistake. But sometimes … sometimes apologies are
Read moreRush’s decision to license “Working Man” to a company that has declared war on American workers is one of the biggest betrayals of trust in Rock history. Yesterday I offered up a brief post wondering what the folks at Walmart were thinking when they chose to use Rush’s iconic “Working Man” as the soundtrack for their ad on investing more
Read moreAmerican businesses are anti-intellectual. American universities are anti-relevance. The gods help the overeducated schmuck stuck in the middle. Hi. I’m Sam, and I’m a PhD. Hi Sam! For those of you who don’t know me, I have a doctorate. Communication, University of Colorado, 1999. Some days it’s the thing I have done in life that I’m most proud of. Other
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Walmart advertising execs need a lesson in geography. And maybe irony. Have you seen the new Walmart commercial? Pay attention at around the 50 second mark.
Read moreI don’t have any deep insight here. Really, this post is mostly about pointing to a story, throwing up my hands in disbelief and wondering what the fuck?
Read moreNo, this clever program isn’t 100% there yet, but listen to the audio and think about it for a second.
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The nation gives thanks … for what? I was never a William Burroughs fan, but I nonetheless find myself thinking about his 1986 “Thanksgiving Prayer,” surely one of the most caustic (and insightful) takes on our great American holiday. I’m in this sort of mood for a reason. Or two, or three. First off, you may have noticed all the
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lullaby pit 