Author: Chris

Seth Stevenson over at Slate describes all 12 types of ads in the world and urges us to resist them all: To me, the 12 formats serve…well as a weapon of defense for the consumer under assault from endless advertising messages. It’s like learning how a magic trick works: Once the secret’s revealed, the trick…

I know that my earlier post on Gen Y kids was a bit bogus. There are huge generalizations and no real data in the argument. But I’m going to stir the pot more by posting portions of an earlier column by Jeffrey Zaslow on Generation Y that has a bit more anecdote and information about…

The Wall Street Journal continues its campaign against Generation Y with an article by Jeff Zaslow that tries to explain why so many young people act with such a sense of entitlement. It pins the blame on, among other things, California, indulgent parenting, and consumer culture. But I suspect that the culprit is the last…

Patricia Cohen reports in today’s New York Times on a development in economics that will have a huge effect on denialism: the increased willingness to question the orthodoxy of neoclassical economics. Consumer rights, environmental protection, and any number of other issues has suffered for decades under the neoclassists, who hold their beliefs in markets so…

Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona alleged yesterday in testimony before the House Government Reform Committee that the White House censored his speeches and activities. Laura Mackler of the Wall Street Journal reports: The most recent U.S. surgeon general told Congress the Bush administration routinely blocked him from speaking out on controversial issues, including stem-cell research,…

Another interesting article in the Times discusses shining the light on pharmaceutical industry gifts to doctors. What’s interesting about it is that shows another example of how industry self-regulatory principles often have holes (here, a lack of “detail”) that leave the problem to be addressed unaddressed. In the privacy field, the most notable example of…

So, Apple releases Itunes 7.2, complete with the ability to download DRM-free, high-quality MP3s. However, these MP3s contain all sorts of personal information in the metadata, thus allowing tracking of who possesses the files. The solution? Privatunes, a program provided by a French company that erases the personal information from the metadata. The best part?…

An article in today’s New York Times shines some light on drug industry gifts to doctors. Pretty interesting stuff: Vermont officials disclosed Tuesday that drug company payments to psychiatrists in the state more than doubled last year, to an average of $45,692 each from $20,835 in 2005. Antipsychotic medicines are among the largest expenses for…

I just received my July issue of Harper’s Magazine, complete with an article about lobbying and public relations in Washington. Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall, but it’s too good for me not to share some highlights. It seems to me that this article screams for a legislative intervention and for an ethical rule…