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Year: 2020

Cybercrime / Privacy

Program that funnels surplus military equipment to local cops under scrutiny again

June 2, 2020 Bob Sullivan 1

If you’ve ever wondered how your local police department ended up with military HUMVEES, visit The Marshall Project. There, you can click on your community and see if has been was the recipient of a Pentagon surplus program known as “1033.”  Since the late 1990s — when signed into law [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

If we’re going to talk about Section 230, let’s get it right

May 28, 2020 Bob Sullivan 2

With President Donald Trump threatening retribution against Twitter with an executive order, you’re going to hear a lot about Section 230 this week — and maybe for many weeks. The ensuing discussion could shake the Internet to its very roots.  That’s going to make legal scholars very happy, but it [Keep reading]

Cognitive bias

Groupthink and false consensus were already dangerous; then Facebook showed up

May 27, 2020 Bob Sullivan 2

Ever thought something was a bad idea — like walking down a dark street, or adding a feature to a product you thought no one would want — but did it anyway because everyone else around you seemed to think it was ok? Group process can be a wonderful thing. [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

PODCAST: Inside a cybercrime gang that’s stealing millions from U.S. unemployment benefits

May 26, 2020 Bob Sullivan 0

  Scattered Canary sounds a bit like bad band name from high school, but it’s really the name given to a highly organized cybercrime game base in Nigeria that’s managed to steal millions of dollars from state unemployment systems, according to my guest — Armen Najarian is Chief Identity Officer [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Maybe I’m getting soft, but Covid-19 fees really aren’t that bad

May 26, 2020 Bob Sullivan 1

I’ve spent my career writing about the scourge of hidden fees and surcharges — and how they wreck the normal price function of market economics — but for once, I’m not sure how I feel about a new fee making the rounds. (In fact, it’s the 10th Anniversary of Gotcha [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

After 40 years, What’s CNN good for? The Lisa Napoli ‘Up All Night’ interview

May 20, 2020 Bob Sullivan 0

k Once upon a time, Americans waited until dinnertime to find out what happened in the world that day. Then, Ted Turner had a crazy itch to scratch and everything changed. Not for the better, I’d argue. For starters, people now tune to TV news — and to the Internet [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

Podcast: ‘This is heartbreaking’ – unemployment ID theft victims in red tape nightmare

May 18, 2020 Bob Sullivan 3

 Imagine applying for unemployment benefits only to be denied because…you are already receiving them. Or getting a letter saying you’ve applied for unemployment when you still have a job. It’s happening to ID theft victims around the country as organized crime rings exploit a “perfect storm” that matches a [Keep reading]

Cognitive bias

The Dunning-Kruger effect: It’s not what you think

May 17, 2020 Bob Sullivan 2

I’ve been fascinated lately by the inability of people to use the simple phrase: “I was wrong.”  Being wrong is great!  It’s a powerful life tool! Sure, it hurts for a moment or two, like ripping off a band-aid. But after that, it’s liberating.  Letting go of an idea that [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

Podcast: Will someone — or some country — steal the Covid-19 vaccine?

May 14, 2020 Bob Sullivan 1

“We are being robbed…our intellectual property is all the U.S. has left, and we are being fleeced of it.” The news was easily lost in the Covid-19 fray, but earlier this year, U.S. authorities blamed China for what many consider the most important data heist in history — the hack [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

VIDEO: This is All I Got — the Lauren Sandler interview

May 14, 2020 Bob Sullivan 0

What’s it like have a baby – to start a family — while living in a homeless shelter? Author Lauren Sandler lets us know by taking us on a painstakingly reported journey through a young mother’s life, from the birth of her son through his first birthday. Readers ride along [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

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