I've often said that a big part of who you are is determined by when and where you where born. Well who knew it applied to my weakness for potato chips and pretzels. I try to eat healthy, but I have to admit that I find it quite difficult to walk past our kitchen cabinets … Continue reading You Can Take the Boy Out of Pennsylvania, but You Can’t Take the Snacks Out of the Boy →

The Wall Street Journal had a story last week about the risks corporate CEO face when they try to be a "socially responsible" business. From the story: Many corporate chieftains argue that companies shouldn’t only seek to be money-making enterprises; they should also be good corporate citizens. From Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz to Unilever PLC Chief Executive … Continue reading Realizing Once Again That Not Everyone Thinks Like Me →

My son and I were at the mall today, and as part of our late morning/early afternoon visit, we walked past an indoor playground. There was the usual mix of young kids, parents, and possibly grandparents, but one person stood out to me. It was a young woman sitting on a bench with a cup … Continue reading I’ve Got to Stop Making Snap Judgements →

Over the years, many jobs that used to be done by humans are now done by machines and computers. Besides the ones noted above, think film projectionists, elevator operators, and bridge toll collectors. While there may still be some people doing those jobs, they are a dying breed. I'd be surprised if there were still … Continue reading Will Accountants Go the Way of Switchboard Operators and Bowling Alley Pinsetters? →

While driving in the car today a story came on the radio that made a reference to a "Dancing Machine". My mind immediately drifted back to the 70s, and the classic TV show, The Gong Show. For me, it was must-see-TV. I even remember for a while there was a group of us that would … Continue reading Remembering the Gong Show →

I've written before about friend and fellow Villanova faculty member, Bud Drago, who has his own band, Freeze Time. The band just released its latest single, “Hey Alexa, Haven’t We Had Enough of Jeff Bezos”. The takes a fun look at how Amazon has grown and grown and grown, and wonders when, or will it … Continue reading “Hey Alexa, Haven’t We Had Enough of Jeff Bezos” →

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has released a treasure trove of music sales data that is sure to keep any music lover busy for a while. As a little bit of background, the RIAA is the group that verifies albums and singles as gold (greater than 500,000 unit sales), platinum (greater than 1,00,000 … Continue reading If You Like Music, and You Like Data, You’ll Love This Web Site →

I am a big believer that there are multiple benefits associated with exercise, for the body, mind, and soul. To me, it's the closest thing we have to a magic pill to keep us healthy. That's why I was concerned when I read the results of the latest exercise study, this one conducted by the … Continue reading Does This Mean I Can Sleep In Some Days? →

Last year I wrote a blog post, "Must Comedians Use the “F” Word to Get a Laugh?" that explored the prevalence of the f-word not only in comedy, but in everyday life. The post noted that while many comedians make ample use of the f-word, there are many successful comedians who do not. Well today … Continue reading Good, Clean Fun. Yes, It Is Possible. →

That was my result after taking the Implicit Association Test (IAT) for Gender and Career. The IAT measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., Female/Male and Career/Family). The main idea is that making a response is easier when closely related items share the same response key. One has an implicit association between Male and … Continue reading “Your data suggest a strong automatic association for Male with Career and Female with Family.” →