I just came across a new smartphone app called Attaboy! which has the following description: Attaboy! is always there for you with a fresh compliment to lift your spirits! Rate the compliments you like (and the ones you don’t) so that Attaboy! displays only the messages that make you feel great! All compliments in Attaboy! … Continue reading These “Attaboys” Are Supposed to Lift My Spirits?
It's been more than six months since I've shared some of the more interesting comments I've received that I have opted to not approve, and thus are not visible on the blog. As you will notice, most, if not all, of these comments are either generated by some type of robot, or by someone not … Continue reading Totally Irrelevant “Reader” Comments and Questions
Here's the pitch: "A darkly comic thriller about a precocious adolescent's wish to come to grips with his own birth." What do you think? Would you want to read such a novel and then see the movie? While it may sound like an original idea, it really isn't. Anybody with the first name of James … Continue reading I Wonder if Hollywood Would Buy the Rights to My Book
I can't recall ever having read an entire Shakespeare play, but I'm guessing that at some point in high school I must have, because one phrase has always stuck in my mind. I remember the teacher asking something along the lines of how Shakespeare demonstrated the "morbid curiosity of a crowd". I must admit I … Continue reading The Morbid Curiosity of a Crowd, from Shakespeare to Villanova
April Fools’ Day – it’s one of my favorite days of the year, and I try to celebrate it by pulling off a prank that may trick a few people, and this year was no different. Just like last year, I used the Nextdoor platform as the basis for my prank, posting the following headline … Continue reading April Fools’ Day, 2018
Here was one of the questions Dan was asked this week in the Wall Street Journal: I recently started working at a company that requires employees to wear suits, and I find them uncomfortable. Can you help me understand the logic for wearing them? And here was Dan's response: In my mind, suits represent everything … Continue reading Yay! I Finally Agree with Dan Ariely!
Facebook has certainly faced a great deal of criticism lately, much of it well-deserved. However, that still does not change my belief that Facebook at its most basic level is a powerful tool for connecting people and building communities. Just before heading to London I joined the London Vegans Facebook group, primarily as a way … Continue reading The Power of Being Part of a Tribe
Why do companies charge amounts like $4.99 or $37? Why not just charge $5 or $40? It's a question I find interesting, and fortunately Wikipedia offers some insights on such pricing practices. This phenomenon is known as "psychological pricing", "price charming", or "price ending". I have only heard it described as "psychological pricing", so that … Continue reading Psychological Pricing
I know it's a bold claim, but it all has to do with "ironic process theory". According to a recent article in the New York Times, research shows that thought suppression has counterproductive effects on behaviors. Carl Jung said it this way: “What you resist not only persists but will grow in size.” So the question … Continue reading Research Shows That Reading This Blog Can Put an End to Your Smoking Habit
I remember reading this story over 15 years ago, and at the time, and still today, it seemed like amazing technology. The basic idea was that a group of grade school students in Queens was going to have a tug of war with a group of students from Lower Manhattan. And while the rope was … Continue reading A Virtual Tug of War with an Opponent 13 Miles Away; a Virtual Hug from Across the Country
Borden's Blather 