It was October 2009 when Bre Pettis — his unmistakable sideburns and dark-rimmed rectangular glasses framing his face — took the stage at Ignite NYC, threw his hand in the air, and shouted “Hooray!” two times. A PowerPoint slide lit up behind him, revealing… Read More ›
Articles
How Loud Are Your Headphones?
Many models of headphones make varying claims about reducing the noise your ears are exposed to. With the help of an audiologist, The New York Times has put together this experiment to demonstrate how much sound your ears may be… Read More ›
The most emotional of objects
A few months back I asked my son why he did not wear his watch anymore and the answer surprised me. He said that it brought him bad luck and that things got better when he stopped wearing it. Crazy… Read More ›
On a Brighter Note about Apple Customer Service
On a brighter note about Apple customer service, my wife and I went to our local Apple Store, Bayshore Ottawa if anyone cares, to replace her iPad. It had dropped on a concrete floor and had a lovely large snowflake… Read More ›
Defriend everyone on Facebook…
Messing around on Facebook recently, I was appalled to see a man I used to work with gleefully posting about Trump’s election win. I went through a mixture of emotions. First, there was the shock that I had allowed myself… Read More ›
Lincoln’s Great Depression
When Abraham Lincoln came to the stage of the 1860 state Republican convention in Decatur, Illinois, the crowd roared in approval. Men threw hats and canes into the air, shaking the hall so much that the awning over the stage… Read More ›
The Toymaker Who (Actually) Saved Christmas
Alfred Carlton Gilbert was told he had 15 minutes to convince the United States government not to cancel Christmas. For hours, he paced the outer hall, awaiting his turn before the Council of National Defense. With him were the tools… Read More ›
How to Hide $400 Million
A few weeks after she realized her husband was finally leaving her, Sarah Pursglove flew down to the Bahamas to figure out how much money he really had. Like many women married to very wealthy men, she didn’t know much… Read More ›
Numbers
Over time I have come to realise that numbers, or rather real-time tracking, are becoming more prevalent in my life and I am starting to wonder what the benefits are. Fitness and sleep numbers are difficult to ignore after you… Read More ›
Can Technology End Poverty?
A ten-year-old boy named Dhyaneshwar looked up for approval after carefully typing the word “Alaska” into a PC. “Bahut acchaa!” I cheered—“very good.” It was April, 2004, and I was visiting a “telecenter” in the tiny village of Retawadi, three… Read More ›
