To recap, we all get Googled, so it makes sense to help people find your best you. To that end, I’ve been brainstorming ways to put my full name in a web address, likely through buying a fresh domain. PeterMucha.com is taken, and I’m not looking to buy it from the Mississauga, Ontario, man who Read More …
In Sunday’s Parade magazine, Marilyn Vos Savant’s column posed a puzzle: What four positive numbers have a sum that is equal to their product? Meaning: a + b + c + d = a x b x c x d. Then she gives the answer as 1, 1, 2 and 4. Uh, not to nitpick, but Read More …
Why is all self-congratulations egotistical? In this age of You-Tube and Web 2.0, we’re all (well, bloggers anyway) being typecast as self-centered thumb-sucking babies. But is it just vanity? (All is vanity!) I don’t think. Sometimes you just feel good, celebrating your gifts, enjoying seeing your imagination come to life, hoping others benefit somehow. It’s Read More …
Instead of Yosemite Sam and “Back Off!” you’d see Yosemite Samsonite and “Half Off.” Instead of “How’s my driving?” you’d see “What’s in your wallet?” Instead of silver silhouettes of Playboy bunnies, you’d see an ad for the return of the Volkswagen Rabbit. Yeah, but who wants to see this? Especially since, sooner or later, every static Read More …
Life used to be simpler. Forecasters told you the “relative humidity.” But, no. That’s no longer the best measure. Now it’s the “dew point.” Supposedly it tells how much total moisture’s in the air, which better correlates to mugginess. (You don’t feel muggy when it’s 100 percent humidity at 40 degrees. Supposedly. But I think Read More …
First, I’m happy to say I’ve been doing some guest-blogging for inventorspot.com. Posting top-of-the-head creative exercises I call Brain Reps. Here’s my first, on inventing excuses. Ouch. Brain cramps, again?! Yeeow. That’s what I get. For not stretching my mind first. For jumping right into a drill, still on a full stomach. Today’s obstacle Read More …
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m not. And I don’t mean to pick on Marilyn vos Savant, who is almost always interesting and accurate, and never claims a record IQ brings infallibility. But I think today’s answer to a puzzle is flawed, because two answers can be right. Here’s the puzzle: When a prominent psychiatrist was found slimed, police questioned Read More …
Entropy. The state where all energy dispenses to the point of random pointlessness. Or something like that. With millions of bloggers and thousands of news services and hundreds of social networking sites (not just digg and del.ico.us and fark but combos), is the Web becoming such a crowded chaos, it’ll be harder and harder to be Read More …
The world as you see will be radically changed by the Flat-Screen Revolution. J.K. Rowling had it right: People will move in paintings and newspaper pictures. But take it further: Imagine how decals with moving images would make race cars even more of a visual riot. Billboards will move. Bumper stickers. (Once wrote a sci-fi Read More …
That name’s a bit grandiose, I know. But that’s my dream, my hope, my goal. Newspapers are supposed to be dying, heading for obsolescence instigated by the Web. Doesn’t have to be that way. And to make my case, I’ve been working for months on a parallel blog. Finally, it’s time for an unveiling. Take a look. The address is Read More …
Intriguing and funny, Mental Floss the magazine bills itself as “Where knowledge junkies get their fix.” But the name made me wonder: Is there a way to have a floss that really is mental? How about whenever you pull out some floss, the container talks? (Like a a talking doll or action figure. We had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Read More …
By themselves, logical statements don’t persuade. And neither do examples or metaphors. But put all three together, especially if the statements are short and memorable, and maybe you have a three-part formula for making a little magic happen. Jesus told parables, and his ideas sure caught on. He had some snappy sound-bites, too, like “He who shall save Read More …
Not saying Rush Limbaugh should hold court on your editorial pages. (Not knocking that, either.) Asking how the energy and give-and-take of the best radio talk could swiped and put in print. (1) Column of best bits of the Morning Zoos. (2) Host online chats, and slap some of the lively dialogue in print. (3) Do team writing, or Read More …
Gossip columns are popular, and so are TV series. Doesn’t it seem sometimes that people are almost as interested in TV characters as they are in real people? Aha! Do a newspaper column called Character References that’s “gossip” about what happened last night on TV. Write it up in chatty mock-shock-schlocky style. Boldface the unreal names. Only Read More …
The needed newspaper revolution could learn from the one on TV: Faltering ratings were boosted, temporarily at least, with the surge in reality TV. Basically, such shows were (a) cheap to produce, and (b) based on providing contrived vicarious thrills. How do real people behave? In a way, isn’t that one reason we read newspapers? Read More …