Old Blog Posts

The World is Better Now than It has Ever Been — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Reasons why the world is better now than it has ever been I started compiling this list after hearing neighborhood parents complain that it wasn’t safe for their kids to ride their bicycles in the neighborhood. I heard a father complain that children only play at organized “play dates” unlike when he was a kid [...]

Will that Cell Tower kill me? — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Radio frequency energy is all around us. The color of grass, sound of birds, medical x-rays, radio and television, are all examples of radio frequency energy in our environment. The recent controversy regarding a planned cellular telephone base station near a school and hospital in West Islip, NY has raised suggestions of a link between [...]

The New Avatar In Town — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

MARCH 26, 2007 NEWS & INSIGHTS The New Avatar In Town Korea s Nexon and others are edging onto Second Life s turf, using simplified features Cyndi Lester, 20, recalls her first meeting with future husband, Frank: My avatar walked past his. [...]

Puffle Kerfuffle — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

From Wired, March 02007 (Issue 15.03) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/posts.html?pg=2 by Dawn Margolis My 8-year-old daughter, Ariel, had a serious case of igloo envy. You should see my friend Michael’s igloo, she said. He’s got two dance mats, a plasma TV, a lava lamp, a beanbag chair, and a weight bench. Ariel’s, by comparison, was nearly bare. All I have is [...]

“All Marketers are Liars” - Seth Godin speaks at Google — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

All Marketers are Liars - Seth Godin speaks at Google Seth Godin is the author of six bestsellers, including Permission Marketing, an Amazon Top 100 bestseller for a year and a Fortune Best Business Book. His newest book, All Marketers are Liars, has already made the Amazon Top 100 and has inspired its own blog. Seth is [...]

Unseen America — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Unseen America is a project that gives cameras to working people, allows them to work with each other and a professional photographer, and asks them to go out and document their lives. The images the workers produce convey to us what is important to them. Unseen America makes working people the creative subject of the images rather than the passive object [...]

The Hand Inside the Dolphin is the Hand that Rules the World — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

From Esquire, April 2007 Like most media savvy weirdos, I was fascinated by last December’s story regarding Bao Xishun, a Mongolian herdsman who saved two dolphins in a Chinese aquarium by reaching down their throats to pull out pieces of plastic the mammals had accidentally swallowed. This was possible because Bao is the world’s tallest [...]

Wikis evolve as collaboration tools — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Wikis evolve as collaboration tools | InfoWorld | Test Center | January 05, 2007 | By Mike Heck Socialtext Workspace 2.3 Traction TeamPage 3.7 Altassian Confluence 2.2.10 Near Time (Release 6837) Wikis evolve as collaboration tools Latest offerings get users swapping knowledge quickly By Mike Heck January 05, 2007 Content management systems usually won’t work as collaboration tools. Although a CMS does ease content creation, the [...]

Peer-to-Peer Lending — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

INVESTING April 23, 2008 How I Became a Little-Guy Lender Lending site Prosper gives average folks the opportunity to be small-scale angel investors by funding other people s loans CLICK HERE FOR MONEY If the sputtering economy has you wondering where to turn for cash, consider one of the new crop of social lending Web sites.

Parents are failing the education test — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Signs of disrespect for education bode ill for our future, says Fortune s Geoff Colvin. FORTUNE Magazine By Geoff Colvin, Fortune senior editor-at-large May 8 2007: 10:49 AM EDT (Fortune Magazine) In a world of rapidly rising standards and economic rewards for knowledge, are some American parents actually hostile to education? In my travels I m seeing evidence that the [...]

Website or Web Site — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Do you have a point of view regarding our chaning our style guide . I am inclined to say website .I was at Dow Jones when the journal decided to adopt email instead of e-mail . Many of us in marketing groaned that it was the wrong decision. I checked the Journal. WSJ.com articles are almost exclusively Web site . Note [...]

The Algebra Project — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

The Algebra Project is a rare success story in the troubled field of math education. More kids drop out of US high schools because they fail introductory algebra than for any other academic reason. Of the 48,000 ninth-graders who took beginning algebra in the Los Angeles Unified School District in the autumn of 2004, 44% [...]

Google and the Wisdom of Clouds — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

BusinessWeek Cover Story December 13, 2007, 5:00PM EST Google and the Wisdom of Clouds A lofty new strategy aims to put incredible computing power in the hands of many by Stephen Baker http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_52/b4064048925836.htm

Scholarships: Not Just For The Needy — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

BusinessWeek, MARCH 19, 02007 PERSONAL FINANCE Scholarships: Not Just For The Needy Why schools are giving more scholarship money to affluent kids The sticker price of some colleges and universities now rivals the $210,600 cost of the median American home, and even wealthy families feel the pain when they start writing those large checks. But affluent parents shouldn t assume [...]

Enable/Disable CD Burning — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

For some reason my company laptop was provided to me with the default Windows XP CD burning application disabled. A bit of Googling found the solution which I have reproduced here from http://www.theeldergeek.com/. However, if your system administrator went so far as to prevent CD-Writing on your laptop, I don t imagine you have [...]

Jack Welch on Success — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Jack and Suzy Welch s weekly column in Businessweek is like Ann Landers meets Dr. Phill meets Adam Smith. Sometimes Neutron Jack shines through, but in this case I found his words softer and inspirational. Here s the excerpt from his column: AUGUST 21, 2006, By Jack and Suzy Welch IDEAS - THE WELCH WAY All this talk about winning [...]

Friend Feed — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

FriendFeed enables you to keep up-to-date on the web pages, photos, videos and music that your friends and family are sharing. It offers a unique way to discover and discuss information among friends.  http://friendfeed.com/about/

Chumby — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

www.chumby.com About Chumby Industries Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Chumby Industries makes, sells, and licenses the chumby™, a compact device that connects via a wireless Internet connection and gives people a fun, hassle-free way to enjoy what they want most out of the Internet, always on and simply at a glance. Chumby Industries also runs the Chumby™ [...]

Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 15.07 Tech Biz : IT RSS Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World Evan Ratliff Email 06.26.07 | 2:00 AM In 1765, a 22-year-old British naval officer named James Rennell set out to map the entire Indian subcontinent. Traveling with a small party of soldiers, he used the advanced [...]

Fast Times, Revisited — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Fast Times, Revisited By Elizabeth Weiss Green Posted 9/17/06 This story appears in the September 25, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report. It had been more than two decades since writer Cameron Crowe spent a year undercover at Clairemont High in San Diego, immortalized in a book and the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. [...]

Stars on Parade — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Originally Published in Wired, March 02007 (Issue 15.03) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/posts.html by Rebecca Milzoff Gregory Keller is standing in front of the Gourmet Garage, an upscale grocery in New York City’s West Village. It’s cheese! he exclaims to no one in particular. Keller isn’t looking at a luscious window display. He’s peering at the moon through a telescope positioned on [...]

Jeff Bezos Risky Bet — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Jeff Bezos Risky Bet: Amazon s CEO wants to run your business with the technology behind his Web site. But Wall street wants him to mind the store BusinessWeek, November 13, 02006 COVER STORY PODCAST It was one of the Web s typical flash frenzies, a gaggle of geeks seeking the new, new thing. At 2 a.m. [...]

Let Our Screens Do the Sifting — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

Let Our Screens Do the Sifting Smart stockpicking requires juggling several considerations. Our Scoreboard can help By Robert Rosenberg http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_53/b4065082309206.htm? chan=search The major stock indexes look as if they will end the year barely in the black, but many savvy investors will do a whole lot better. Why? They selected good stocks. Our yearend Investment Outlook Scoreboard [...]

Clive Thompson on Why Sci-Fi Is the Last Bastion of Philosophical Writing — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-02/st_thompson By Clive Thompson [...]

Disable Dashboard — by Don Fick — last modified November 08, 2009 11:45 AM

August 04, 2005 08:15 am Mac OS X Hints Weblog Disable Dashboard By Rob Griffiths Dashboard is OS X 10.4’s new “always ready” utility application. When you hit F12, Dashboard springs forward, dimming the background, ready to provide you a wealth of information on everything from airline flights to currency conversions to stock prices—and much, much more if you [...]