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Month: October 2019

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

Has texting helped or hurt your relationships? A So, Bob podcast

October 28, 2019 Bob Sullivan 0

Is texting good or bad for relationships? Sure, it’s lovely to check in with loved ones during the day, send a little digital cheer and some emojis.  But instant communication can also really mess things up when sometimes a little space is necessary — say, when there’s a fight between [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

That free trial? Yea, it’ll cost you. And no, you can’t outsmart this gotcha

October 25, 2019 Bob Sullivan 2

Just don’t sign up for free trials. Odds are very high you’ll regret it. Perhaps you think you can outsmart the company offering them, but the more educated you are, the MORE likely you are to end up with surprise charges after a free trial. A new Bankrate.com study has [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

Smartphone hijacking hits the big time; how to protect yourself

October 24, 2019 Bob Sullivan 1

It was a shock in August when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account started sending out racist Tweets.  He’d been hacked, of course, but perhaps the biggest shock of all was how easy it was — @Jack was the victim of simple SIM card swapping. SIM “hacking” isn’t new — [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

So Bob minisode: Is Alexa listening to my conversations?

October 22, 2019 Bob Sullivan 3

You get a free Amazon Echo Dot — a gift from a friend, or a company.  Should you plug it in? Or will Alexa listen to your conversations? This is the latest question we received at the So, Bob podcast. Actually, it was a bit more nuanced than that.  A [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

So, Bob: The Gretchen Rubin interview on tech and happiness

October 10, 2019 Bob Sullivan 0

Is tech hacking your happiness?  And can you reverse that — can tech help make you happier? These are the questions Alia and I explore with Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and numerous other best sellers. People pay good money to hear Gretchen dispense her special kind of [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

So, Bob podcast — We’re back for season 2

October 1, 2019 Bob Sullivan 0

The So, Bob podcast preaches taking control of your tech — rather than letting tech control you.  So as software developers might say, we ate our own dog food and took a decent break after season one’s last episode in July. But The So, Bob podcast is back starting on [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

What’s in your wallet? A lot less interest, unless you notice this one word…

October 1, 2019 Bob Sullivan 2

Turns out, Capital One is in fact anything but a-typical. Unless you are dead, you’ve seen the ads on TV for Capital One. A coffee shop in a bank?  Capital One is anything but typical, we are told. And then the actor (Jeremy Brandt) tells us, over  and over, “One [Keep reading]

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About me

BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

Bob Sullivan