Category: business and consumers
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It’s (mostly) okay that everyone is everywhere all at once
We’re increasingly fractured across multiple online services… and — for the most part — that’s actually okay!
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Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms: don’t believe the anti-hype
Everyone’s hella snarking about the FB Horizons Workrooms project (collaborative work in virtual reality) but mark (ha!) my words… 99% of them haven’t tried it. 95% of them didn’t bother actually RTFA (“Who is gonna pay thousands of dollars per person for this??!?” [it costs $299]) Nearly everyone will be “WOW! This is revolutionary!” when…
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Thrice-weekly postal deliveries: Pound wise or pound foolish?
I was reading a fascinating article in The Economist about the U.S. Postal Service, and a few things came to mind: Hmm, the comments are delightfully civil and informative! Can I count on one hand the number of postal items I receive quarterly — perhaps even yearly — that I actually want? Why, yes, I…
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My idea for saving the U.S. Postal Service: Address for life
As I’ve written previously, I’m in the process of moving from one townhome to another in the city of Mountain View, CA. What a massive pain! Transferring all utility bills to my soon-to-be-ex-roommate, starting or getting transferred utilities at my new place, and of course, all the physical moving! But there’s one other thing I’m…
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"Ultimate Rewards" by Chase = Insulting Rewards (marketing)
I’ve had Chase credit cards for probably over a decade. One of them was just converted to an “Ultimate Rewards” card and today a huge glossy brochure arrived in my mailbox. 23 pages, bucketloads (technical term) of words, and one ridiculously obscured very-plain fact: This card offers 1% cash back. Now mind you, that’s nothing…
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Quickly figure out cost savings for a fuel-efficient car
I have a Prius and I like it a lot*. It may not be universally seen as stylish, but I don’t care 🙂 It’s not only environmentally sound, it’s roomy, comfortable, and — with voice recognition and other geek pleasures — it’s fun, too. But you, bottom-line reader, may be asking, “Okay, so what’s in…
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Amazon, inexplicably hampering its most loyal customers
[Note: Links below are affiliate links, so if you click and buy, I make money.] I have bought hundreds of items from Amazon (yes, I’m an Amazon Prime member, surprise surprise :-P) Some of them I’m particularly fond of and want to either repurchase or recommend to a friend… but I can’t do easily because Amazon…
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Knott’s Berry Farm — For shame!
Okay, this is not a rant on junk food. I think when people eat Cheez-wiz, they aren’t misguided enough to assume they’re eating healthful real cheese. When people eat a double fudge brownie, I doubt they’re confusing this with an apple. And when people eat Cap’n Crunch cereal, there’s no way they’d assume they’re consuming…
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Pandora Mobile highlights awesomeness but also severe lame-itude
Do you know Pandora? If you’re in the United States, where Pandora is legally available, you may have come to enjoy this awesome uber-customizable music radio over the past years. If you’re not in the U.S., perhaps you’ve discovered the beauty of anonymous proxies :cough:, which I’m not going to mention here :p. But perhaps…
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A music solution that’s so brilliant, no wonder why the music industry has shunned it
The other day I got a (yet another) piece of inbox spam on the otherwise cool service last.fm. And no good can come from spam, right? Not sure what got into me, but I actually went to the site (which I’ll not name, so as to not potentially give them any customers). And you know…