Starting last week, New York Magazine asked me to participate in a roundtable conversation with NYMag’s book critic Sam Anderson, Improv Everywhere‘s Charlie Todd, the New York Times‘ Virginia Heffernan and David Rees, creator of Get Your War On. In...

For about ten years, Slate has had an intermittent series of articles that explain how to pronounce names of people who are in the news. As someone whose (first) name is frequently mispronounced, I can appreciate the effort. (For the record: I...

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you’ve been missing out. But fear not! I take care of my loyal blog readers as well, by offering you the highlights of the interesting links I’ve been sharing there: “I find it bonkers, by the way!” That’s Rick...

I have some things to share with you. Alice Marwick‘s extraordinary keynote speech on internet celebrity from last year’s ROFLCon. It was the highlight of the event, imbued with both humor and a conscience. Mike Pusateri: “I am American, so I make...

Those of you who liked my post the other day about not missing anything while I was offline might also enjoy a conversation I had with CBC Radio’s show Spark, part of which will be on the air today. Canadians can hear it on CBC Radio One at 11:30...

I have to admit, I was a little bit gobsmacked when I saw that our little nerd world is becoming so mainstream that Jimmy Fallon had a gadget blogger featured on his show the other night — and it wasn’t even for an iPhone launch! Now, I believe Mr....

While listicles (articles that are simply lists, as cataloged on great sites like Listicles) are often the laziest form of journalism, they can also be among the most delightful. Something about the “I’m just phoning this in” nature of this form of...

Whoa Is (Not) Me is a site that’s a little over a year old, dedicated to defending the career and reputation of Keanu Reeves. It is distinguished from other Keanu fansites by a number of traits, including that it is “possibly the first Keanu fansite...

What makes lolcats appealing is that it’s simultaneously obscure and accessible. It’s an inside joke told in an online lingua franca, but with a bit of effort anyone can become an insider. “An in-joke used to be constrained by geography and who you...

A little over a year ago, I wore a funny t-shirt while posing for a photo that was published in an article in the New York Times. The shirt‘s a reference to a popular (and rather offensive) internet meme, and the reaction was immediate and...

So, I’m in the New York Times today, as part of the story called Loosing Google’s Lock on the Past. I’m not a huge fan of how the story turned out, mostly because my quotes are almost incoherent. What I was trying to say is that the expectation for a...

Interesting parallels between my area of expertise and the area in which most of my clients work, or Information Architecture vs. Spatial Architecture. I was reading an article on accessibility guidelines for home construction, and it’s interesting...

Whew! After a long Labor Day weekend hiatus from updating this site, I have finally returned. Lots of new ideas, but oh so little time to upload them… First of all, some poetry. A reflection on aging in general, and on my birthday in particular,...

While traveling back to Pennsylvania today, I had occasion to reflect on a recurrent observation of New Jersey that I have every time I go through the state. While I’ve long referred to Jersey as "The Armpit of Our Nation", it occurs to me...

Thanks to the design excellence and automotive auspices of the Ford Motor Company, I am in scenic Throop, Pennsylvania. Yes, this town is exactly what one would expect of a location named Throop. Of course, this is not just another bellyaching...

A Guide to Gratuities: While I’ve always been a generous tipper, (almost inappropriately so) I have definitely come under the sway of my much more miserly friends, to the point where I now find reasons to take deductions from the tip I was going to...

An unsolicited word of advice for all you triskadecaphobes out there, superstitions are for idiots. This concludes today’s...