2

Could you learn something entirely from YouTube? Let’s try it out with Christmas

I have a Roku and an Apple TV — fancy — and when my parents were here for Thanksgiving, my dad didn’t know how to carve a turkey (he had seen it done, and done it, but this isn’t necessarily muscle… Continue Reading

Is there any innovation in the snow removal world?

Right now, snow is falling from the Rocky Mountains to the Northern Plains; northern Minnesota has up to 26 inches, and metro Denver could have 15 by tonight. I was walking around the Minneapolis area earlier today — fell on… Continue Reading

7

The ‘smart home’ is a future idea, and GE/Quirky have combined on The Spotter

Here’s the essential idea: it’s a small device, and relatively cheap ($49.99). It’s produced by General Electric and Quirky, which is basically an open forum for ideas (you submit, people vote on them, every Thursday a panel in NYC moves… Continue Reading

It’s Small Business Saturday. Has that concept been successful in the U.S.?

Small Business Saturday 2012 registered about $4.5 billion in sales two years after being created (the concept was) by American Express. By some estimates, Black Friday 2012 registered about three times the sales ($11-$12 billion); that was even a drop of… Continue Reading

2

The Apple Cup sometimes seems like an irrelevant rivalry, but … it’s the American struggle at heart, y’all

The Apple Cup — an annual football clash between Washington State University (Pullman) and University of Washington (Seattle) — has been played roughly 105 times. In that period, both teams have been ranked only five times: 1936, 1972, 1981, 1997, and… Continue Reading

1

What exactly happened with PA Governor Tom Corbett’s popularity?

This Tom Corbett situation in PA is endlessly interesting. Basic facts: he’s the Governor. He’s a Republican. He’s insanely unpopular in his own state. He actually just had the worst poll numbers in Franklin and Marshall state polling history, and GOP… Continue Reading

7

Let’s discuss Adam Lanza and Newtown for a few moments

Let’s start with the obvious. There’s no real way to quantify a school shooting; it’s horror. It doesn’t really matter if it’s 3 people shot, or 20 people shot; we tend to like the bigger numbers because we understand that says more horror,… Continue Reading

5

In which I breathlessly and irrelevantly discuss Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell was profiled on 60 Minutes last night. My wife and I were trying to make dough at the time, and it needed about an hour to rise. I had just watched the obliteration of the Colts by the Cardinals, and 60… Continue Reading