I was amused when the organization of Tony Robbins, famous motivational speaker, asked me for a web link to boost his SEO, because I’m a human who tends to do perverse things when you treat me like a machine. Here’s the email I received: Subject: You Mentioned Tony Robbins [Thank you] From: Ignite Visibility <Ignite@tonyrobbins.com> … Continued
Why is Tony Robbins pathetically begging me for SEO links?
When a SpaceX rocket explodes, they call it an “anomaly”
SpaceX tested its crew capsule’s abort system on Saturday and it exploded. They described it as an “anomaly.” Is that accurate or misleading? SpaceX designed the crew capsule so it could send astronauts into space (so far it has only carried cargo). The system it tested on Saturday was for the “inflight abort” — a … Continued
Sri Lanka shuts down Facebook. Can we stop the spread of hate permanently?
After the bombings, Sri Lanka’s government shut down Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and another social application, Viber. Apparently these applications are toxic in crises. (Also at all other times, but especially in crises.) According to government spokesman Harindra B. Dassanayake, as quoted in the New York Times, “These platforms are banned because they were spreading hate … Continued
Urgent editor
I hate client documents waiting to be edited in my inbox. It’s not that I hate working on them. It’s the opposite. It’s that I hate the idea that they’re right there and I haven’t gotten to them yet. Everyone has something that just has to be done right, right now. Maybe you need to … Continued
Beware marketing thought leaders bearing fashionable truths
I just came back from a conference full of marketers. Marketing conferences challenge the mind — but not necessarily in the way that they should. There are the talks that are intended to inspire. They are about being true to yourself and your brand, or the power of outstanding customer experience to inspire people. They … Continued
The fundamental laws of Facebook
Facebook asked for users’ email passwords, then “unintentionally uploaded” people’s contact lists without asking for separate permission, according to Business Insider. Stop trying to explain these violations one at a time. A pattern is increasingly obvious. To that end: here are the fundamental laws of Facebook, which will explain not just this violation but all … Continued
The plural company
Is this wrong? “Samsung has released a new product. They worked really hard on it.” According to style books, it is ungrammatical. “Nouns that denote a unit take singular verbs and pronouns” says the AP stylebook. Let’s look a bunch of instances. In the groups of statements below, which seems right to you? 1a. Dell … Continued
The fundamental question: Do you want answers or empathy?
Much of human conflict can be traced to a fundamental misunderstanding: giving people answers when they want empathy, or vice versa. Think about it. If you are in a serious relationship, what happens when your significant other comes to you in a state of upset about something happening in their life? When someone comes to … Continued