Month: January 2019

Be Careful How You Use Social Media; Your Life (Insurance) Could Depend on It

Life insurers haven't changed their approach to underwriting for decades, relying heavily on costly medical screening, such as blood and urine tests. However, that may be about to change. Life insurers want to monitor how you behave online as a way of assessing your health and bypassing more traditional methods. According to a story in … Continue reading Be Careful How You Use Social Media; Your Life (Insurance) Could Depend on It →

Profile in Passion: The Wiki Geek

President Trump. J.K. Rowling. Kim Kardashian West. It's probably no surprise that Time magazine named these three individuals as being among the top 25 most influential people on the internet. But at least one name on the list may not be so easy to recognize. My guess is that you have not heard of Mr. … Continue reading Profile in Passion: The Wiki Geek →

Why Would You Not Get the Extra Large?

This is a job question for Superman Dan Ariely. A few times during the year, Wawa, the Philadelphia-based convenience store (and by far THE best convenience store chain in the U.S.), has a promotion that offers any size coffee for just $1. The coffee cup sizes come in small, medium, large, and extra large, and … Continue reading Why Would You Not Get the Extra Large? →

Music Monday: Discovering a Great Irish Band – We Banjo 3 – Thanks to Twitter

I was checking my Twitter page the other day and I noticed I had a new follower (quite the rare event), and it was from a band I had never heard of. I have no idea how the band came across my Twitter page, but I decided to check them out and see if I should … Continue reading Music Monday: Discovering a Great Irish Band – We Banjo 3 – Thanks to Twitter →

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

On January 27, 2006, the United Nations Department of Public Information held the first universal observance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day at United Nations Headquarters. Here's some info about the day from Wikipedia: International Holocaust Remembrance Day is meant to commemorate the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War. It commemorates the genocide that resulted in … Continue reading International Holocaust Remembrance Day →

An Anatomy of a Blog Post

When I sat down last night to write yesterday's blog post, it was one of those days where nothing had come to me during the day as an idea to write about. That meant I had to implement my Plan B method for coming up with a topic. And once I had come up with … Continue reading An Anatomy of a Blog Post →

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

An EasyJet flight taking off in France had to be diverted last week because of a fake bomb threat. Flight EZY4319 from Lyon to Rennes was in the air when authorities received an anonymous call that suggested a bomb could be on the plane. The pilots returned to Lyon, but no bomb was found. Investigators said the … Continue reading Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire →

Are You $$Cheating on Your Partner?

According to CreditCards.com’s latest financial infidelity poll, 19 percent of U.S. adults who are in live-in relationships – which equates to 29 million people – are hiding a checking, savings or credit card account from their partner. In addition, 20 percent of all survey respondents feel a partner hiding a secret bank account from them would be worse … Continue reading Are You $$Cheating on Your Partner? →

Behavioral Economist’s Latest Solution to Every Problem? Alcohol

Apparently, alcohol is the answer to all of life's problems. At least that's the impression you might get if you read Dan Ariely's latest column in the Wall Street Journal. Here's the first email he received: Hi, Dan. At work we have a large code base—all the source codes for our computer programs—and it’s managed … Continue reading Behavioral Economist’s Latest Solution to Every Problem? Alcohol →

I Need Emotional Support after Reading This Story

This seems like a story that would be set in Florida. Unfortunately, it's right here in Pennsylvania, my home state. And just knowing that makes the story even more frightening. Joie Henney, 65, of Strinestown, Pennsylvania, lives with two alligators, one of which is a four-and-a-half-foot-long, registered emotional support animal called Wally. That's right, an alligator has … Continue reading I Need Emotional Support after Reading This Story →