I remember back in 2002 – I walked into a Starbucks, because I’d heard it was just wired for Wi-Fi – One of the first in the country to get it. It was on 23rd and Park, I believe – I sat down, turned on my PC (Yes, I had an evil PC at the time) and of course, no networks came up. After about ten minutes, I bit the bullet and asked a barista (knowing full well they wouldn’t have a clue) if there was Wi-Fi there. His expected response: “No, we have Grande and Venti.” Sigh. Since then, the coffee shop has become the de-facto standard when talking about free Wi-Fi. From NYC to LA, from Sydney to [...]

So I eat at Pita Grill a lot. I love their Steak and Rice Bowl. Their Hummus is quite good, and because it’s Hummus, I’m apt to forget how fattening it is, because it sounds like it’s good for me. However, from an email marketing perspective, they need to go back to the kitchen. I got this in my email today, with the subject line of “Happy Earth Day!”

Back in 2000, I used the term “run” only in conjunction with “to the store for cigarettes.” I wasn’t a fat-ass by any means – I’d been super-heavy when I worked for AOL – I walked everywhere for the first 22 years of my life, then spent the next three driving from my apartment in Herndon, VA (land of NOTHING back in 1995 but a Taco Bell, a 7/11, and two brand new apartment complexes – one of which I shared a three bedroom apartment in) – to Vienna, VA, where I worked for AOL as one of their founding news editors. But when you grow up walking everywhere, you’re never truly fat – you’re “he could lose five pounds” [...]

In the recent blockbuster “Up in the Air,” Ryan Bingham, (George Clooney) a “corporate downsizer and occasional motivational speaker,” challenges his audience to “put down their backpacks.” In that backpack, he claims, is everything in our life – that which is slowing us down – from knickknacks to photos to family members and relationships. “The slower we move, the faster we die. Make no mistake – Moving is living,” he says. A great quote. After seeing the movie again today for the fourth time, it occurs to me that he has a great point – “Stuff” does slow us down. And the older we get, the wealthier we get, the more “stuff” we seem to accumulate. There’s a law about [...]

I think this may be the largest audience I’ve ever spoken to! Wow!