BradBerens.com
Thoughts about where our real and digital worlds collide.

  • Cathedral, or “When My Pack Rat Tendencies Come in Handy”

    I surfaced from a recent spelunking expedition through boxes in our garage with “Cathedral, The Game of the Medieval City,” a strategy game that I discovered at a Renaissance Faire somewhere between 25 and 30 year ago, bought, played, loved and eventually stuffed into a box during a move… probably to my first year in…

  • Everybody’s a Muggle in Rowling’s “A Casual Vacancy”

    As I type these words I have reached page 160 of J. K. Rowling’s new novel, “A Casual Vacancy,” so I’m about one third done and have made enough progress to know that I’ll finish the book and that I can draw early conclusions. Note: there are no plot spoilers here past the first five…

  • “Don’t cold call me, Bro” now live on iMedia Connection

    Quick cross-post: I’m pleased to report that my latest post — “Don’t cold call me, Bro” –just went live on iMedia Connection.  Hope it sparks some comment!

  • Short Post: ToodleDo printing woes…

    Oh ToodleDo, Oh ToodleDo, you know I love you for your sensuous tagging and sorting, for your alluring ease of task capture, and for your promiscuous spreading of my tasks across the cloud to computer, laptop, tablet and smart phone alike– you saucy service, you.  I’ve trumpeted about my love for you here, and verily…

  • WSJ misses the point of “Recipe Rehab” going to ABC

    This morning’s Wall Street Journal has a informative piece by Amir Efrati about how Everyday Health’s popular YouTube show “Recipe Rehab” is heading to syndication on ABC stations and how the YouTube and ABC incarnations of the show will cross-promote each other. Most importantly, the Journal reports that YouTube is hoping that it’s $150 million original…

  • “Dark Knight Rises” Thoughts & Spoilers

    Despite my sadness at the Aurora shootings and a little bit of anxiety about copycats, I went with a friend to see the 9:30pm “Dark Knight Rises” last night. Warning: Massive Spoiler Alerts. The movie held my attention and adeptly concluded the trilogy of Bat-movies.  It’s compelling, well-shot, well acted and even has a vestigial…

  • Short Post: “Newsroom” Annoyances

    Compulsively watchable?  Check. Smug as hell?  Check. Probably not able to hold up in the long run?  Check. But here are things about the new HBO Aaron Sorkin drama “The Newsroom” that are annoying me today: Why are Jim & Maggie the junior varsity version of Will and MacKenzie?  What is that parallel buying the…

  • 11 “Change Your Life” Productivity Apps & How to Use Them

    Note: I’ve revised and updated this post here. Over the last year or two I’ve been tweaking the suite of applications and services I use to keep my head above water– here are my 11 “Change Your Life” apps and how I use them. Please tell me about new ones in the comments. In alphabetical…

  • Why Avengers ROCKS + Top 5 Superhero Movies

    Yesterday my almost-seven-year-old son and I took in a 3D matinee of “The Avengers” and had a blast. We loved it so much that we plan to see it again in iMax. The movie has everything—Joss Whedon directing off a terrific screenplay he co-authored, a huge budget with huge stars, and, startlingly for a popcorn…

  • Amazon.com answers your questions!

    I’m thrilled that Amazon.com VP Lisa Utzschneider is opening ad:tech San Francisco next week with her keynote address, “Amazon: It’s Day 1 for Advertisers.” At the end of her session I’ll ask Lisa questions posed by readers of this blog– so ask away in the comments! Background: Amazon first transformed book buying, then all retail,…