The non-obvious blog
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02 2026 July
Summer Heat Waves Create the “Problem” of Negative Energy Prices
Here’s a “problem” you don’t hear that much about yet: negative energy prices. This is what happens when a green energy initiative such as solar...
Read Now01 2026 July
Now You Can Automate Your Automation with Prompt Generators
Anyone who has used AI actively over the past few years knows that the only way to get what you truly want out of an...
Read Now30 2026 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Algospeak by Adam Aleksic
As I work on Future Words, I’ve become even more of a student of language, and this book was one of my favorites on the...
Read Now29 2026 June
The Indianis Dentris and Other Big Winners from Cannes
There’s a new flower discovery that has been shifting perspectives in India. Well, actually, it’s not really a new flower but rather a closeup of...
Read Now25 2026 June
3 Reasons Commencement Speakers Should Be Comedians
Over the past few weeks, I’ve attended two graduations in person and watched more than a dozen clips from others that have been circulating online....
Read Now25 2026 June
The Most Meaningless Stories in America Are About Lawsuits
Seeing information visualized is one of my favorite types of media. In the past I’ve also recommended the Information Is Beautiful site as one to...
Read Now24 2026 June
Is Gen Z the First Generation to Have No Signature Sound?
The 80s had house and techno and Michael Jackson. The 90s had rave, grunge and pop. The 2000s brought minimal and dubstep and the 2010s...
Read Now23 2026 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: How to Win at Travel by Brian Kelly
If you’re an avid traveler and mileage maximizer, you probably already know Brian Kelly. He’s a legend in the frequent flier community, thanks mainly to...
Read Now22 2026 June
Imagining the Shared AI Future for Technology and Art
Last Wednesday, I spent the day among a community of thinkers and creators imagining the reality of a topic that many people are talking about...
Read Now18 2026 June
Your Ongoing Tech Problem: Haunted Updates and Software Death
We all know about the physical death of a device. The screen that is irreversibly destroyed or the battery that fails to hold a charge....
Read Now17 2026 June
The 14-Day Bikini and How Fast Fashion Really Works
Among the many misperceptions about Chinese manufacturing, one of the biggest may be that everything made in China is being created in megafactories with enormous...
Read Now16 2026 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: How To Sell Out by Chad Sanders
Can you share your vulnerabilities, expose your race and write for an audience other than your own without selling out? This is the fascinating question...
Read Now15 2026 June
Can Communal Knowledge Be Automated?
In many countries across Central and West Africa, women known as “mammies” are a fixture at local markets, selling food to families in open air...
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