ARCHIVE — Originally published Sept. 20, 1999 The Irish love a bittersweet story. A nation of amateur historians, they retell national tragedies with pride and have always seemed most comfortable when there’s not a dry eye in the room. So why is there a now lilt of Irish laughter in [Keep reading]
Credit: California Secretary of State’s office Voting by mail is safe – at least as safe as any other way you’ve voted in a U.S. election. It’s hardly new. I voted by mail for years when I lived in Washington State, one of five states that currently have all-mail elections. [Keep reading]
Headphones. A good pair of headphones. And an external mouse. And maybe a door. Whether your family is starting school in person or remotely, everyone should prepare for long-distance learning this fall. I recently asked a bunch of parents what’s the one thing they knew in June that they [Keep reading]
Videoconferencing tool Zoom experienced widespread outages on Monday, frustrating teachers and students as many school districts were trying to ramp up return-to-school remote learning. It’s yet another sign that we’re living on Covid-19 time right now. While schools spent all summer developing backup plans in case they couldn’t offer in-person [Keep reading]
One app requires permission to disable users’ screen locks. Another claims it doesn’t collect detailed location information, but accesses GPS data anyway. Still another breaks its own privacy policy by sharing personal information with outside companies. And nearly all of them request what Google defines as “dangerous permissions.” Is this [Keep reading]
Frank Eufemia is the answer to a strange trivia question. Who did Buck Showalter announce as the opening day starter for the Yankees in 1995…but who never pitched for the Yankees? Frank’s dream — well, my dream — was squashed when everyone else’s prayers were answered, and the 1995 season [Keep reading]
“People are wired to focus on threats, so positive information is tuned out. When fear grabs our focus, our brains can’t seem to see anything else. That leads to a picture of the world that’s all gray clouds, no silver linings. There’s a link between attentional bias, depression and anxiety.” [Keep reading]
Facebook’s multi-front war on misinformation apparently has a new flank. While the firm wrestles with fake news and constant claims of censorship around the coronavirus, criminals are apparently trying to take advantage of the confusion. Some Facebook Page users are being attacked by an official-looking “Policy Team Page” alert which [Keep reading]
Some Bank of America customers say they logged in Wednesday and found their accounts showed $0 balances — leading some consumers to express fear and rage at the banking giant. The bank confirmed the issue to me and said it was resolved late Wednesday night. One consumer told me his [Keep reading]
Our minds often play tricks on us. It’s human nature. Believe it or not, people are Predictably Irrational (thanks, Dan Ariely). Marketers and salespeople use these tricks to their advantage; corporations have spent billions in research learning how to exploit consumers using these tricks. Everyone should know about them. I’ve [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan