The non-obvious blog
Dedicated To Helping Readers
Be More Interesting Since 2004.
As Featured In:
Be More Interesting. Join over 25,000 readers and subscribe now!
30 2025 December
The Quantified Uselessness of the AI-Generated Year in Review
There’s a special kind of uselessness amplified by AI that’s probably surrounding you right now: the year in review. The idea wasn’t a bad one....
Read Now12 2025 November
Electricity Will Be Free in the Future. In Australia, It Already Is.
Solar power in Australia costs about a third of what it currently costs in the US. As a result, more than 1 in 3 homes...
Read Now10 2025 November
Adobe Is Rolling Out Emotion Mixers Where AI Can Shift the Tone of Voice Overs
At the Adobe MAX Creative event last week, WIRED reported on several enhancements to audio editing that are likely to be coming soon inside of Adobe products....
Read Now07 2025 November
How Long Should It Take Before Something Is Declared a Flop?
The initial ratings for the American reboot of The Office were famously bad. People didn’t love the character of Michael Scott and the entire effort...
Read Now06 2025 November
Why Zohran Mamdani Won the NY Mayoral Election
The day after stories of Zohran Mamdani’s meteoric rise and win of the NY city Mayoral election were everywhere this week. The best recap I read...
Read Now05 2025 November
Bill Gates Now Says We Are Fighting Climate Change Wrong …
Something unusual was amiss in the media this week: climate activists were hating on Bill Gates. It all started with Gates publishing a blog post...
Read Now04 2025 November
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
In a world where multiverses are real, there’s just one catch … no one can visit a world where they already have a living counterpart....
Read Now03 2025 November
The Personal Exoskeletons Are Coming—Here’s What It Means
Nike just announced a groundbreaking new sneaker that includes an advanced exoskeleton to make walking and running easier. It’s essentially a bionic shoe. The upside...
Read Now31 2025 October
All Online Outrage Is Fake
Remember the “outrage” generated online by the revised logo for Cracker Barrel restaurant? According to a new piece this week from the WSJ, much of...
Read Now30 2025 October
Lessons From the Reinvention of Pittsburgh into an AI Robotics Hub
Pittsburgh was known for steel. Now the city has ambitions to become a hub for something else: AI and robotics. The pieces seem to be...
Read Now29 2025 October
The Villains on Pre-K TV Are Cuddly, Annoying and Onto Something Interesting
How does the evolution of the way we learn to see “bad guys” evolve as we grow older? That was the interesting question at the...
Read Now28 2025 October
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Toxic Positivity by Whitney Goodman
If you’re an optimistic person, it’s possible that you’re part of the problem. We often feel like being positive and having the right mindset is...
Read Now27 2025 October
Can The Ring Camera Eliminate Neighborhood Crime In 12 Months?
Thanks to advancements in AI and the ubiquity of the Ring household doorbell cameras, Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff believes we might be twelve months away...
Read Now23 2025 October
Why Every School Should Teach Vergangenheitsbewältigung
The Flakturm IV bunker building was too sturdy to destroy. The WWII era air raid shelter used thick concrete walls that made it impenetrable during...
Read Now