There is still something rotten in Denmark. And in our economy. Yes, the housing market has stabilized and the “headline” unemployment number seems under control. (We’ll get back to that in a moment.) But signs of a fragile economy are everywhere, if you know where to look. A big one [Keep reading]
How do you think the big computers in the sky see you? Are you “Rural Everlasting” or a “Mobile Mixer?” Are you a “Married Sophisticate,” a “Senior Product Buyer,” a “dog owner,” and “winter activity enthusiast,” “Bible Lifestyle” or an “Affluent Baby Boomer?” Maybe you are “Financially Challenged,” or “Plus [Keep reading]
Lauren Oak was watching her own young children, babysitting her infant nephew, and caring for her wheelchair-bound father when the phone rang and brought on the scariest moment of her life. “They said they were from the IRS, that I owed $16,000, that a warrant had been issued for my [Keep reading]
During Memorial Day weekend, a Facebook product manager named Mike Hudack published a sarcasm-dripping rant about the state of media, and the failure of new entrants into the marketplace. (“Personally I hoped that we would find a new home for serious journalism in a format that felt Internet-native and natural [Keep reading]
“Driving is not about getting the car going in the right direction. Driving is about constantly paying attention, making a little correction this way, a little correction that way.” Kent Beck, creator of Agile programming. The nice thing about co-authoring a book is that someone else writes half of it. [Keep reading]
When you see the word “optional” attached to a new Facebook feature, watch out. And when you see that word in the headline of a blog post announcing the feature, you should really watch out. That means Facebook is so worried whatever this new thing is will spook people that [Keep reading]
Just when you think it’s safe to have gender workplace discussions, Jill Abramson gets fired by the New York Times and stirs up a really big hornet’s nest. I don’t pretend to know very much about gender issues, but having spent 20 years writing about an incredibly male-dominated (technology) field [Keep reading]
STORY UPDATED with Fair Isaac announcement that it will change scoring formula. Surprise medical bills hurt consumers’ credit scores more than they should, the Consumers Financial Protection Bureau said today. Not only is it unfair, it’s bad business. Unpaid of late paid medical bills aren’t a great predictor of a [Keep reading]
Here we go again. I laughed, I cried and I felt like it was 2006 all over again while reading the financial press this week cheerlead administration steps designed to “ease mortgage credit.” I write about money a lot, and I hear from a lot of mortgage brokers and real [Keep reading]
Use email outside of work, and odds are 1 in 2 that you experienced a lot of stress yesterday. Maybe that’s no surprise, but it’s still more evidence that your smartphone might be killing you. Even worse: It’s killing you softly. People who work outside of work *think* their lives [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan