The other day, I heard a radio ad for the season premier of a popular TV series. I didn’t catch the name of the show, but the ad promised “the biggest reveal ever”. I’m not very familiar with the TV business, but somehow I know that a “reveal” is when they disclose a fairly shocking […]

I read today that United Airlines is increasing its change fee to $150 per ticket. In other words, if you book a flight and need to change your plans later, they charge you $150 for the transaction. They also bill you the difference between the old fare and the new fare, which is standard procedure […]

I’m always amused when I see a field service manual that tells the reader how to behave. In such cases, the text instructs the field technician to do things like “dress properly” and “treat people at the site with respect”. I don’t know what planet the writers are from, but my experience has shown that […]

I write very few personal checks, since most of my purchases are made with a credit card or electronic debit. But at work, I’m involved in a fair number of transactions that involve sending or receiving checks. It’s no secret that checks suffer from some drawbacks, including the long delay between when you write a […]

Today my BlackBerry crashed when I plugged in a headset. This is the same headset I’ve been using with it for years. Since the headset is analog, I didn’t even realize that such an interaction was possible. Perhaps the BlackBerry software changes the audio input and output when it senses a new device. All I […]

Don’t fly very often? Here are some tips from the trenches: – Leave your two-pound belt with the stainless steel hawk head buckle at home. Believe it or not, metal detectors will beep when you put metal through them. – Southwest has open seating. The sooner you check in online, the earlier you’ll be able […]

A few months ago, I noticed a neat looking noodles place that opened up a few blocks from me. I checked out their menu online and it looked promising. Then I went to Yelp and looked at the reviews. Apparently, a lot of other people noticed the place too, since there were quite a few […]

I’ve been seeing a lot more advertising for toilet paper lately. Maybe it’s just a Chicago thing, but these marketers have significantly increased their presence on billboards, bus shelters, and other out-of-home media. I’m guessing this campaign is running in other big markets too, like New York and LA. Cottonelle seems to be the brand […]