Getting Unstuck
Portland Event: Saturday, July 20, at Powell’s Books – 8 p.m.
Portland Event: Saturday, July 20, at Powell’s Books – 8 p.m. Email me with questions at BobSullivan4@gmail.com
Year: 2013
RoadTrip
Day 3: Columbia to Omaha
My day was almost perfect, staring with a brisk bike ride on Missouri’s Katy Trail. If I could do that every day, I’d be so happy. And healthy. Then, a short 6-hour trip to Nebraska. Driving into Omaha is a bit surreal. It’s a much bigger city than seems like [Keep reading]
RoadTrip
Day 2: Indianapolis to Columbia
It’s so hot! But had a great day visiting old friends. First, met Axton Betz in Greenup, Illinois. She’s a child ID theft researcher (and a victim herself). Met her in Omaha two years ago. Now, she’s doing great and teaching at Eastern Illinois. Then, I got to Columbia to [Keep reading]
RoadTrip
Day 1: DC to Indianapolis
Covered more ground than we expected today, which is always good. Stopped in the amazing “Book Loft” bookstore in the German Village section of Columbus, Ohio. Book Loft is part amazing book store, part garden. Red Tape reader Scott Haag stopped by, and the folks at the store were very [Keep reading]
Technology run amok
The Internet of Things: Should we be excited, or scared?
If you haven’t heard the term already, you won’t be able to avoid it soon: “The Internet of Things.” Tech companies are racing to attach small computers and sensors to everything in our lives — coffee cups, pens, toilet paper, cars — and then enabling them to talk to each [Keep reading]
Cybercrime / Privacy
Edward Snowden, NSA leaker, answers Guardian reader questions
NSA leader Edward Snowden participated in an online chat or sorts on Monday, says the Guardian newspaper. There’s no way of verifying it was Snowden behind the keyboard, of course. You can read NBCNews.com’s coverage of the chat, by Tracy Connor, here. You can see the original chat page at The [Keep reading]
The Restless Project
Do our kids have enough down time to develop a healthy imagination?
My brilliant friend Annie Murphy Paul, who writes The Brilliant Blog, recently began a story by saying that it was more important than anything she’d written in a while, and she hoped readers could spare a little extra attention (btw, you should read it). I feel that way about my [Keep reading]
Money and Life
Moms earn more than dads now: Why that’s not all good
Pew reported May 29 that married women now earn more than their husbands in one-quarter of all households. This is an easy talker as a gender story, but the deeper truth about dual-income households is easy to miss. Take a brief moment to celebrate that which should never have been [Keep reading]
Technology run amok
Tell the truth: How many times did you check your smartphone this weekend?
Americans were never any good at relaxing, anyway. But technology has taken away our nights and weekends, and it sure seems like holidays are at risk, too. I explored this phenomenon on the Friday before Memorial Day in my Red Tape Chronicles column. Users check their phones every 6 [Keep reading]
Credit cards
Surprise! Prepaid debit cards a better deal now
I wrote yesterday about a surprising new trend — those plastic cards at checkout counters that look like credit cards but used to be hidden fee Trojan horses are actually a much better deal these days. There’s more competition now, because big banks like Chase are selling pre-paid debit cards, [Keep reading]