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THE RED TAPE CHRONICLES

Technology has hidden side effects -- we reveal them here

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Privacy

Facebook adds ‘option’ to know what you’re watching and listening to

May 22, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

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]

Money and Life

Women in tech: A new ‘voices’ project

May 21, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

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]

Gotchas / Consumer

Medical bill nightmares unfairly sink credit scores, says consumer agency

May 20, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

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]

No Picture
Money and Life

Is it a good idea to loosen mortgage lending standards now? What could go wrong? (And who really benefits?)

May 19, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

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]

Getting Unstuck

Americans brainwashed, now think stress is good for them

May 16, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

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]

Getting Unstuck

ARGG!! Two thirds of U.S. adults want to quit, 76 percent working in the wrong field

May 15, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

There’s an epidemic of stuck in America.  It shows up in the economic data, of course, but more important, it’s really hitting folks’ lives hard. A new survey by Rasmussen College found that more than half of U.S. adults “say they don’t have significant growth opportunities in their current positions.” [Keep reading]

Getting Unstuck

Squirrel! Why distractions can ruin your future (I’m sorry, what were you saying?)

May 14, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Feel an urge to check Facebook one more time before diving into this story?  Do it.  A little hungry? Grab a bite to eat.  Use the restroom if that’s on your mind.  Cold? Grab a blanket. OK, now that those things are out of the way, let’s talk about distraction. [Keep reading]

No Picture
Privacy

EU Court: Right to be forgotten trumps right to know; Google must remove search results on request

May 13, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

It might be the Pandora’s Box of all Pandora’s Boxes.  A European Union court has ruled that Google must remove results from its search engine that point to a newspaper post about a Spanish resident’s 1988 auction of his repossessed home.  With the ruling, the European Union Court of Justice [Keep reading]

Technology run amok

If you post to Facebook and no one likes it, does the post really exist?

May 13, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

It’s easy to make fun of “Facebook makes us sad” research. After all, when we were kids, we didn’t even have Facebook while walking uphill to school both ways.  But Facebook is the way we live now; ignore such research at your own peril, and the peril of the folks [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Hidden ‘gotcha’ fees are bad enough, but how does a ‘credit’ become a fee?

May 12, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Penny Williams watches her bills very closely, so she noticed right away when her CenturyLink high-speed Internet bill rose mysteriously by $1.88. A glance at the paperwork revealed two new fees accounted for the difference, but the listed explanation didn’t make much sense. One line of the bill included the [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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