Ruby Receptionists and Live Chat • 28th September 2022

How to have better conversations | Ruby

There was a chapter in my life where I was obsessed with figuring out how to have better conversations. I was a few years out of college. I’d landed a decent office job that called for near-constant social contact with colleagues and customers. Yet, for all that A-game adulting, I had a painful little secret: I dreaded conversations.

Freelancers Union Blog • 12th June 2018

4 Key Continuous Learning Lessons From a Cat

My cat is easily the most “together” person I’ve ever met. She’s always well-groomed. She’s rarely late. She’s religious about getting twelve hours of sleep every night, yet manages to maintain a peak level of fitness. Her persuasion skills are the stuff of legend.

Grunge.com • 21st August 2019

Anton LaVey: The truth about the Church of Satan founder

There are many different kinds of evil. Of course, you've got your just plain nasty black-on-black evil, like serial killers and tacky gold-chain wearing despots. Then you've got crazy evil (eating a firefly) and senseless evil (axing Firefly). And of course, let's not forget that there's a whole library of lesser quasi-evils: mildly foul deeds of infamy like sticking gum under public library desks or sneaking almond milk into an innocent person's coffee.

Grunge.com • 4th March 2021

The True Story Of World War II's Code Talkers

Bear in mind, cryptography had advanced in leaps and bounds since the early years of the 20th century. Military intelligence knew that merely speaking in an unusual and seldom spoken language wouldn't cut it — not by itself. The Allies needed a new kind of code. It had to be intuitive enough to the Navajo that it would feel as effortless as speaking their own language. The code also had to be efficient, allowing soldiers to communicate swiftly about military activity in the thick of battle. And

Loudnewsnet.com • 20th September 2020

Life on Venus? Who cares? | Loud News Net | Counter Culture

I learned a hell of a thing this week. It turns out that our hot planetary neighbor, Venus, is shrouded with trace elements of phosphine. Astronomers believe phosphine can only be generated by biological processes — either bacteria or industrial production.

Now to be clear, the probability of a canning factory on Venus is pretty slim. But the bacteria thing? That’s getting a solid maybe from astronomers who make it their business to know such things.

Yep, 2020 was the year the universe decided

Grunge.com • 6th August 2020

The disturbing past of Forest Haven Asylum

The US is littered with abandoned structures. Some of these spaces are entirely forgotten. Lost, their bones of brick and wood slowly return to the soil with barely a soul to Instagram their passing. Other structures are carefully curated and preserved, like a long-dead butterfly — pinned to cork, neatly labeled, and slowly doomed to fade under endless curious eyes. But a rare few abandoned structures jut raggedly from the earth, like an obscene finger gesture from the past. These places are sti

Freelancers Union Blog • 6th July 2018

Charging what you're worth: Lessons from a vacuum cleaner

Years ago, I owned a vacuum cleaner. To be clear, I didn’t buy it. Nor do I have any recollection of someone giving it to me. One day I looked in my closet and simply discovered it nonchalantly resting against a wall. It seemed rude to question its right to be there.

Neurogress • 17th February 2018

Leave me alone! How to socialize with my robot buddy self

Imagine, if you will, that we are living 33 years into the future. This might sound a long way off but consider this: Back To The Future came out around 33 years into the past. It’s not that far off.

It’s the year 2050 and you’ve just purchased the latest model robot. Like your typical robotic companions of the mid Twenty-first Century, this particular model is about 5 foot 9 (not too threatening) and is a beautifully shiny chrome with red speed stripes.

It’s controlled via a little piece of t

Grammar.com • 16th October 2019

How To Write An Amazing Blog Post

Picture a cheese sandwich — a truly terrible one. What does it look like? If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking of something like a single square of processed cheese (I see it curling and browning at the edges) encased within two stale, dry slices of wonder white. It’s cut in uneven triangles. Depressingly, every single day countless blog contributors are churning out bland and questionable content — the writing equivalent of a deeply misguided cheese sandwich.