Category Archives: Rough Drafts

Prose that hasn’t been published elsewhere

Locos tacos

This story deserves an award of some kind for business writing. A subject like this calls for just the right mix of completely straight-faced reporting and just a tiny hint of a wink. Plus, of course, a huge love of Doritos.

I laughed, and I wept a bit for the outright enthusiasm that Taco Bell’s CEO expressed over his company’s innovation. Or, should I say, “innovation.” But, as they say, welcome to America!

Also, those locos tacos actually taste pretty good. Though they don’t sit too well inside.

Deep Inside Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco

What to do about the complete failure of gun control

Here’s the deal: The NRA is simply *far* better organized than the gun control lobby. A passionate minority will prevail over an apathetic majority any day, in our political system. Here’s what I think gun control people need to do, if they’re serious: Start a “National Gun Safety Association.”  Make the debate about “gun safety” [...]

My stance on covering the latest Silicon Valley rumor fest

There are a lot of rumors going around about a certain blog founder. My take is that most of it is completely unfounded and comes from people with an obvious interest in discrediting him. So for now, VentureBeat is not covering this “story.” After I posted this note on Facebook, I got asked: Are we afraid [...]

What is wrong with HTC’s Android sync service?

I’ve had several HTC phones, and I never seem to learn. The latest is an HTC One V. They all start out great — excellent hardware, seemingly fast and snappy interfaces — and turn into useless, molasses-slow junk within a few weeks. I think I’ve isolated the source of the problem: It’s something to do [...]

Why I’m fed up with Game of Thrones

Personally I don’t mind the gratuitous boobage in Game of Thrones. Any shape or size: I am a fan. But if those boobs are accompanied by a complete absence of relevance or character, it starts to feel a bit empty. Throw in loads of violence — especially when that violence seems to have no point [...]

Changing the world

I went to Austin, and I came back with an excellent orange beanie. I also spent a lot of time talking to interesting people and — when I wasn’t busy producing content for VentureBeat — drinking a bit too much. (And I made a brief appearance on NPR, which made my mom really proud.) I’m [...]

If you’re bored…

“If you’re bored, you’re not paying attention” has been the motto on my blog for at least a couple of years. I’m not sure where the phrase came from, but to me it’s a statement that there is always something interesting going on, if you are simply willing to take an interest, open your eyes, [...]

Where is the data?

There is data on gun use in the U.S. Unfortunately, we don’t have good access to it, which makes informed discussion almost impossible. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms collects statistics on gun sales and where those guns wind up. They know the make, model, and details of guns used in crimes throughout the country, where [...]

I’ve quantified myself. Now what?

After tracking my daily sleep hours, caffeine and alcohol consumption, mood, weight, and exercise on and off for a year, I decided to see if this data could teach me anything. And here it is: There’s a fairly strong negative correlation between the amount of caffeine I consume and the hours I sleep (-0.45, using [...]