Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 49

The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of 2022 | The Non-Obvious Book Awards Longlist

It’s mid-November and this time of year means one thing for our team over here at Non-Obvious Company … it’s Book Awards time! This year we considered a record number of titles for our awards (more than 1000 books from publishers of all sizes) and narrowed the list to our selections for the top 100 non-fiction books of the year which made the Non-Obvious Book Awards Longlist. Our choices are a diverse set of titles that talk about everything from zoning cities to speaking with whales.

The hon...

California DMV Approves Usage of Pointless Digital License Plates

If you’ve been patiently waiting for your chance to buy a digital license plate for your car … you clearly have too much money. This week, California approved a digital license plate for use on all vehicles. So what does it do?

The features for this relatively pointless innovation include a combination of everything you can already do on your phone (renew your registration without going to the DMV!) and features that most electric cars already have (remind yourself where you parked!). The dig...

Why Are Stories That Glorify Murderers So Popular?

There was already a TV show called How To Get Away With Murder, but the new Netflix series Monster about mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer’s life might be similarly instructive. As the new TV miniseries reaches record audiences, many are asking whether the sympathetic portrayal of one of the most notorious serial murderers in US history is doing more harm than entertaining. The show helps audiences empathize with the killer, while forcing victims and their families to relive tragic memories.

An ...

The Danger of Falling In Love With a “Petbot”

Loona is a small household robot with a personality designed to keep you company. There is more than a month left in her Kickstarter campaign, but the project has already raised close to $1.5M. The cleverest thing about the marketing for this so-called “petbot,” though, is how it can interact with your living pets. Loona isn’t meant to be a pet replacement.

Instead, it could become your pet’s best friend—while also offering a way for you to check in on your pet (via cameras) while you a...

The Inevitable Death of the “Golden Passport”

For years the European island nation of Malta has offered what many call the “Golden Passport” – an exclusive citizenship to Malta for wealthy donors who can afford the nearly $1M fee. Critics complain that it enables shady characters to get access to a European passport to move freely through Europe. And more philosophically they argue that citizenship shouldn’t be something that is bought and sold. Yet the freedom an EU passport affords is a major benefit depending on which country’s passport ...

Are Men Struggling More Than Women In Today’s World?

The headline of the story and this provocative question may feel biased.

In a world where men have enjoyed privileges and opportunities for centuries that women have only recently been able to enjoy, even suggesting that men (and particularly boys) are somehow ignored and that there may be a reversed “gender gap” feels like hypocrisy. Yet the danger of boys and men being left behind as our culture evolves is one that author Richard V. Reeves describes as urgent in his new book Of Boys and Me...

What the Popularity of Closed Captions Tells Us About the Value of Making Accomodations

Twenty years ago when I was leading web production teams, we had to ensure our sites were compatible for people with slower browsers, screen readers and any other accommodations. At the time, I remember feeling like this was far too much effort for a relatively small population. Eventually I realized the problem with this mindset and began to understand how many people are left behind when technology is not accessible.

In the WSJ this week, there was a feature story about how closed captions (onc...

Here’s Why Everyone Loves the 90s Again

Non-Obvious Story of the Week from Rohit Bhargava

Why are the ’90s so popular? According to self-described “white boy rapper” Vanilla Ice, “the ’90s was the last of the great decades, because after that, computers killed the world.” Now the 54-year old rapper is headlining the “I Love the ’90s” national concert tour along with “other forgotten acts of that decade including Color Me Badd, Coolio and Tone Loc.” He has a new energy drink flavor named after himself, and he’s even opening a pop ...

New Global Study Reveals the Emojis That Make You More (Or Less) Attractive

Forget the best and worst pickup lines, now thanks to Adobe all single people have some data on the emojis to use (and which ones to avoid) when trying to appear more attractive. This is just one data point from the recently released 2022 U.S. Emoji Trend Report from Adobe’s font team. Other conclusions from the report:

Adding emojis to your messages makes you cooler, friendlier and funnier.Emojis can boost mental health by making it easier to express ourselves.The crying while laughing emoji...

Why Are We So Unprepared For Predictable Things?

Non-Obvious Story of the Week from Rohit Bhargava

It’s been exactly a week since Queen Elizabeth II died and my newsfeed is still filled with a combination of mourning and criticism as Britain grapples with the loss of its longtime monarch and figurehead for decades of colonialism. The story that captured my attention, though, was the plight of more than 800 brands that had the “royal warrant” from the Queen to use the British coat of arms in their marketing because a member of the royal fa...