How would you feel if genome analysis revealed you were predisposed to “early sudden death” from vascular disease? Less hungry for chips? Determined to blow all your savings in Vegas and have as much sex as the day is long? And what if a message in your inbox from a lab in sunny California coldly […]
It’s time for a survey
Originally published in July 2010 in Blog
Gary Shteyngart is a funny guy. His new book, Super Sad True Love Story, follows the obsessions and catastrophes of the information age, and I can’t wait to read it! In Garyland, “books are extinct, eternal life can be purchased by the elite, subways offer business class and see-through jeans are the latest fashion.” (hat […]
Will you still love me tomorrow?
Originally published in July 2010 in Blog
While you were sleeping
Originally published in June 2010 in Blog
Here’s an update on two earlier sleep posts, “You snooze, you lose” and “Rubin Naiman in conversation.” Hey all you cool kids! When it comes to apps, Caveat Emptor. Technology’s war on boundaries continues with “Social Sleeping.” Here’s another case of, just-because-you-can-doesn’t-mean-you-should. The iHome + Sleep app lets you “post updates to your social networks […]
Great in its day
Originally published in June 2010 in Blog
It’s really hard watching one generation replace another, especially when the older one is filled with heroes (I’m thinking of how technology is forcing the early retirement of some perfectly good minds). It’s like witnessing a grand ship sink … all the way down to the bubbles on the surface. The End
Rubin Naiman in conversation
Originally published in May 2010 in Blog
You snooze, you lose
Originally published in May 2010 in Blog
Since when did sleep become the enemy? Was it when Martha Stewart gloated that she only needed three or four hours of it every night? Is that when the rest of us (this writer excluded) began pasting determined smiles over our exhausted bodies, when Martha taught us that less sleep = more corporate success? And […]
Things are looking up
Originally published in February 2010 in Blog
Just when I thought smart phones were fast becoming the device of choice for philanderers, and sexting the most dominant literary form on these gadgets (“U look good naked,” etc., etc.), a new study shows that we’re using the email accounts on our phones and computers to spread more enlightening news. An article by John […]
