Americans have a global reputation for being a) bad at soccer (futbol) and b) good at spending money they don’t have. Looks like it might be time to challenge both conventional beliefs. As the surprisingly game Americans took the “pitch” on Tuesday against Belgium, many observers conceded that the U.S. [Keep reading]
The Electronic Information Privacy Center has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over Facebook’s now-infamous research project, alleging the social media giant “purposefully messed with people’s minds.” The complaint raises interesting legal issues. Because Facebook was already operating under a consent decree with the FTC for a [Keep reading]
The first day at a new job is full of excitement, anxiety, optimism and confusion. Am I dressed right? Will I fit in? Will I find the bathroom? You spent all that time at the start worrying about whether or not you would actually get that job, you spent ages [Keep reading]
What does the nation’s leading privacy researcher, and a frequent but even-handed Facebook critic, think of the Facebook mood manipulation study controversy? It’s a case of “shooting the messenger,” he told me. It’s also a rare peek “through the looking-glass” at the future of privacy. Alessandro Acquisti’s name might be [Keep reading]
You’ve just been fired, or quit, and it’s time to job hunt again. But on your way out the door, your new former employer confronts you with an uncomfortable reality that sounds something like this: “You’ll never work in this town again.” What now? It’s not an idle threat. Noncompete [Keep reading]
Online commentary seems to bring out the worst in people. It’s the place were trolls live and civility goes to die. Get rid of the trolls hiding under your virtual bridges, however, and you might make a whole lot more money. A study published in the June Journal of Consumer Research suggests that [Keep reading]
There was another round of confused Facebook outrage this weekend when a story in the Atlantic revealed the social media giant had intentionally toyed with users’ mood — allegedly for science, but in reality, for money. FB turned up the sadness dial on some users’ news feeds, and found out [Keep reading]
We live in a time of too many words. Remember Bruce Springsteen’s song “57 Channels (And Nothings On)?” Seems quaint now, doesn’t it? Today we have 100 million websites and often, nothing’s on. This phenomenon gives rise to one of my favorite phrases about our times: “Words without content.” Our [Keep reading]
Rarely does a U.S. Supreme Court ruling have an immediate impact on the everyday lives of Americans, but this one might. The U.S. Supreme Court pushed American law into the 21st Century a bit on Wednesday, ruling that cops can’t search through the contents of suspects’ cell phones before obtaining [Keep reading]
Americans have less paid vacation time than workers in most developed economies. Amazingly, 75 percent fail to use the sparse amount of vacation time they get. The certain backlog of unanswered emails created by time off might be to blame. A new survey conducted by HR firm Randstad hints at [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan