Tue, 03/24/2015 - 00:00
Smart as they are, I doubt robots worry about things that keep CEOs up at night. But then, robots don’t “stay up at night,” unless they’re running continuously. Insomnia is just another cultural difference between us humans and our new co-workers,…
Mon, 02/23/2015 - 09:03
Lately the momentum to outdistance a nagging sense of being left behind has accelerated for businesses. So many predictions about the digital workplace come tinged with a sense of urgency that it’s hard not to feel chivvied by time and circumstance…
Tue, 01/27/2015 - 10:42
Ah, the ubiquitous cell phone. So versatile. So indispensable. So short-lived. We make one billion of them every year because we can’t live without them, yet we cast them aside every 18 months on average. They collect in heaps and shipping…
Wed, 12/03/2014 - 16:14
Drivers, choose boldly! It’s time to break the monopoly of black and white vehicles. The monotonous years of colorless commuting, a sad and safe reflection of the moribund recession, are ending. If you’re planning on buying a car to celebrate the…
Tue, 10/21/2014 - 16:40
Not every idea threatens change to the status quo, but those that do are met with a fairly predictable response: attention, which can diverge into derision or fascination; resistance; and sometimes, acceptance. I just finished reading a book that’s…
Wed, 07/09/2014 - 10:26
Once upon a time, about 70 years ago, entrepreneurs rolled up their sleeves, looked around, and said, “Right. World War II is over. Antitrust laws have our backs. Let’s get out there and make some money.” And like homesteaders at the Oklahoma Land…
Tue, 05/20/2014 - 10:13
“Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.”
—Galileo Galilei It’s all well and good to say that metrology “includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement,” but that doesn’t adequately express its…
Wed, 04/30/2014 - 11:23
Football is one of life’s mysteries for me. Despite a lifetime of passing television screens where blockish humanoids coalesce and separate against a green background, I can’t get past my shallow impression of huddle and muddle.
However, this has…
Wed, 03/12/2014 - 11:44
Friday afternoons were reserved for educational films back when I was in grade school. We’d sit on the floor in a darkened room, facing a pull-down screen, and listen to the teacher fumbling behind us at the projector. The flapping celluloid sound…
Thu, 12/05/2013 - 17:16
It’s not just the looming, package-filled holidays that prompt this rant, but it looks like we’re in for another year of over-packaged consumer goods spreading fear and frustration along with the seasonal goodwill.
That’s too bad, because this is…