The non-obvious blog
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18 2025 July
7 Tips for Making Your Website Non-Obvious (and Interesting)
Updating a website is one of my least favorite things to do as an entrepreneur. It just takes so much time. But if you’ve ever...
Read Now23 2025 May
Useless Rebranding and the Underappreciated Marketing Strategy of Doing Nothing
HBO rebranded to HBO Max, and then to Max … and now back to HBO Max. Meanwhile Google is losing their longstanding “I’m Feeling Lucky”...
Read Now22 2025 May
When the Government Refuses to Protect Consumers, Tools Like This Can Fill the Gap
For over thirty years, the EPA’s Energy Star testing and certification program has helped consumers see how energy-efficient an appliance or electronic device is before...
Read Now21 2025 May
The Hobo Handbook May Be the World’s Most Secretive Book
There is no way to buy a copy of the legendary Hobo Handbook. * Long rumored to be a “book” filled with advice from train...
Read Now20 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard
From all the “30 under 30” lists to the stories of tech billionaires who made their fortunes in their early 20s it can seem like...
Read Now19 2025 May
Need AI To Provide Closure? That Might Be in All of Our Futures …
If the dead could speak, what would they say? One family used AI to create an avatar version of a man who was killed in...
Read Now16 2025 May
Why 3D Fixables Could Create an Entirely New Sustainable Industry
Philips is beta testing a new platform that allows consumers to 3D print a replacement accessory for one of their electric shavers. Right now, it’s just one...
Read Now15 2025 May
People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies
For years, people have been worried about what will happen if humans start to worship AI and technology. The opposite question is one we rarely...
Read Now14 2025 May
What You Can Learn from a Tragically Predictable Kanye West Interview
Kanye West agreed to do a sit-down interview with talk show host Piers Morgan. It didn’t go well. Initially I watched the full 17-minute video,...
Read Now13 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Smarter Than You Think by Clive Thompson
“Tools for thinking help make people smarter. But they don’t necessarily make them morally better. So what happens when you take brutal rulers and give...
Read Now12 2025 May
After More Than Half a Century, Obscure Chinese Typewriter Gets Rediscovered
Back in 1947, Chinese writer, translator, and linguist Lin Yutang accomplished what many described as impossible. He developed the first compact typewriter design with a...
Read Now09 2025 May
The Irrelevantly Entertaining Details of the Met Gala Are Hard to Miss … Or Care About
Every year around this time I face a similar struggle as I read all the stories about the Met Gala. I wonder why people care...
Read Now08 2025 May
What One Man’s T-Shirt Test Says About Sustainability
For the past two years, startup founder Torleif Markussen Lunde created a quiet test of the sustainability of three comparable white t-shirts. The most expensive was...
Read Now07 2025 May
Virginia State Exposes What It Costs to Be in the Michelin Guide
The upcoming Michelin Southern Restaurant Guide will be missing locations from one state this year: Virginia. Rather than paying the $360,000 “partnership fee,” the state’s tourism...
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