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In which I actively consider quitting Facebook and the pros and cons therein (alternate title: the downfall of Americana)

I’ve been thinking about quitting Facebook a lot recently. In the last 2-3 weeks, it’s become almost more of a when, not if scenario. I still have some hesitations, which I’ll attempt to outline below, but I figured this was something worth discussing… Continue Reading

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On 60 Minutes and the cleantech / Vinod Khosla story

The above piece aired on 60 Minutes last night. It was part of an overall interesting show that profiled volcanoes, clean tech, and Kim Dotcom (who has 60 lush acres in New Zealand and thinks of himself as James Bond for some… Continue Reading

How can we help the homeless when temperatures get this low?

This is kind of a complicated question in the broadest sense, so I won’t post very long on this — because I’m ill-equipped to give an answer. New York, for example, has a cold-weather shelter guarantee, as do many other… Continue Reading

Casper, Wyoming is now the hub for athletes looking for quick, painless surgery

Compartment syndrome happens when athletes build up their leg muscles — essentially, because the amount of space within the leg is finite, eventually the muscles push up on blood vessels, which restricts blood flow. Pain follows. Typically, for someone like… Continue Reading

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It seems like the theme of the Consumer Electronics Show this year is going to be wearable technology

CES is this week (January 7-10) in Las Vegas. It appears that Olivia Munn, Dean Norris (Hank Schrader!), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars!) and others will be on hand, and the full conference session is here. (The titles are predictably conference-esque,… Continue Reading

Few things are as glorious as snowy, cold-weather football (er, via the TV), so bask in Packers-49ers and Bengals-Chargers this weekend

Two quick points before I get going with this: 1. I read an interesting article on Fast Company the other day about why things go viral; I’ve talked about this too, in the past. In short form — I didn’t want to write… Continue Reading

Is Chicago safer, or is it a mirage?

Chicago has been almost the one-word association for U.S. violence over the past 30 months, but their 2013 data seems promising: crime’s down 16 percent and homicides are down 18 percent. New York, Houston, and Los Angeles also saw pretty significant… Continue Reading

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This one paragraph essentially summarizes one of America’s biggest challenges today

More than a third of American colleges and universities have deteriorating finances, according to a 2012 report. While more Americans find that a college degree is their only ticket to the middle class, fewer institutions are able to provide it at… Continue Reading