by david allan van nostrand | Jul 10, 2023 | InterWeb, Items in the News, Misinformation traps, Using Information
An article by Gabriel Daros in Rest of World discusses a recent trend in product reviews in Brazil. For as little as $4 each, freelancers create scripted product review videos. The videos are in Portuguese, one minute long, and appear to be real customers reviewing...
by david allan van nostrand | Jun 5, 2023 | Case Study, Human Behavior, Items in the News, Unintended Consequences
Bud Light put two marketing executives on leave after someone thought it was a good idea to appeal to a transgender crowd that makes up less than one percent of the population. That promotional campaign backfired with unintended consequences, cutting into sales (-25%)...
by david allan van nostrand | May 22, 2023 | Americana, Items in the News, The world around us
“Find a penny, pick it up; all day long you’ll have good luck.” Some say the origin of this superstition comes from long, long ago when metals were believed to protect against harmful spirits. Others say when metal coins were first used as currency, only the very...
by david allan van nostrand | Apr 3, 2023 | Human Behavior, Items in the News, The Wayback Machine, The world around us
That song was composed in 1949 by the same people who wrote Frosty the Snowman. Gene Autry’s recording of Here Comes Peter Cottontail reached #3 on one Billboard list and #5 on another. Peter Cottontail is Peter Rabbit’s alias in The Adventures of Peter Cottontail,...
by david allan van nostrand | Mar 27, 2023 | Human Behavior, Items in the News, The world around us
There are many theories about how April Fools’ started, so pick your favorite from some of the most popular origin stories. One such story says April Fools’ Day comes to us from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, where the fox tricks the rooster on March 32nd. Another...
by david allan van nostrand | Mar 6, 2023 | Items in the News, The Wayback Machine, The world around us
As most of us understand history, white settlers from Europe considered the native peoples they met in the Americas to be heathens because they didn’t worship the God of the Bible, which was the one and only true word. Heathens dressed crudely, were uncivilized and...
