Brighter Evening is a podcast and blog where we explore various ideas that I find interesting. The range of topics spans a range of topics. These include political ideas with an emphasis on understanding rather than taking a positions, technology in society, junk food and things that are fun and bring joy.
I invite you to join me as we explore these topics.
Latest Posts
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Brighter Ideas: Measuring and Numbers
We usually take base 10 as being the natural way to look at numbers but is it? How are other types of numbers used in measurement units?
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Brighter Ideas: The Simulation Hypothesis
We discuss the simulation hypothesis - the idea that our percieved universe may be the simulation of a more advanced version of ourselves. We look at some of the evidence...
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Bite Brighter: Popeye's Sandwich
I tried the famous Popeye’s chicken sandwich and share my thoughts and reaction.
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Getting Brighter: The Miracle of Transportation & Communication
We reflect on the tremendous growth in capability in two key categories of technology. We try to put this growth into perspective by looking at how we have reduced costs...
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Brighter Ideas: Lies We Tell and Are Told
In having discussions about difficult topics, people often shut down conversation though the use of a logical fallacy. We discus a few of the ones that I often see.
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Brighter Ideas: Would you be a good time traveler?
If you could travel back in time without worrying what your changes would cause, how could you improve the world?
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Getting Brighter: The Future We Lost, today... (part 2)
We’ve lost a future that promised greater capability as computers became ubiquitous. While computers are better, faster, easier and cheaper than ever, something has gone wrong. Look at the present...
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Getting Brighter: The Future We Lost...
We’ve lost a future that promised greater capability as computers became ubiquitous. While computers are better, faster, easier and cheaper than ever, something has gone wrong. We start exploring the...
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Getting Brighter: Computer Code As Speech: DeCSS and the DMCA
At the end of the 90’s, the DMCA was passed and a program called DeCSS was released. DeCSS decrypted region-encoded DVD’s to allow copying and as well as playback in...
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Bite Brighter: Tots, Wings and Nachos
We explore the history of some common appetizers/snacks.
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Brighter Ideas: Permanence
We explore the idea of permanence vs the human timescale. We talk about what it takes to have a permanent, or at least long-lived, effect on the world.
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Bite Brighter: Regional Sodas
I share my experiences with various regional sodas.
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Getting Brighter: Economy: The Gold Standard and Federal Reserve
We discuss the Gold Standard, why it is used and what its drawbacks are. We also discuss the creation of the Federal Reserve System and how we slowly moved to...
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Staying Brighter: COVID-19 - Predicting The Future
COVID-19 is an on-going pandemic. We talk about how to understand models of the progression and what changes are likely to happen as a result of this experience.
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Getting Brighter: Economy: What is money?
We explore the purpose of money, how it is valued and how it came to be.
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Brighter Ideas: How would a Mars Colony Work?
We explore what it would take to make a Mars colony, what challenges it would face and what it might be like
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Brighter Ideas: Healthcare Reform Part 2
Continuing our discussion from part 1, healthcare reform is a perennial topic because it touches everyone. We talk about the various ways that healthcare is delivered and paid for. We...
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Staying Brighter: COVID-19 - Stay Safe Out There
COVID-19 is an on-going pandemic. We talk about how and why to stay safe while this is an on-going problem.
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Brighter Ideas: Healthcare Reform Part 1
Healthcare reform is a perennial topic because it touches everyone. We talk about the various ways that healthcare is delivered and paid for. We also look at the cost drivers.
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Brighter Ideas: Rebuilding - Last Man On Earth
In the show Last Man On Earth, almost everyone died from a virus. We discuss what one could do to help ensure that the world gets rebuilt and that we...
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Bite Brighter: Wendy's Breakfast Edition!
Wendy’s is just launching its breakfast menu. I give my review and talk about some of the other menu items.
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Getting brighter: Copyright Part 2: What went wrong with Copyrights
Copyrights are commonplace in our world. We continue our discussion on their purpose and current state.
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Bite brighter: Donuts
A discussion of types and history of donuts along with some stories and my preferences.
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Getting brighter: Copyright Part 1: The history and why it exists
Copyrights are commonplace in our world. We explore where they came from, what their purpose is and how to understand the tradeoff they represent.
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Bite Brighter: Retired Snack Club
We talk about four snacks that have been retired and the stories behind the retirement.
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Getting brighter: Digital Freedom and Broken Devices
We review a recent news story that demonstrates the risk of not having digital freedom.
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Getting brighter: Social Ratchets - The Ratchet Effect
There exist social concepts which can only move in one direction, like a ratchet. We explore where this concept can be seen.
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Brighter Fun: Travel Like A Pro, Airplane Edition Part 2
We talk about how to make fun travel cheap.
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Getting brighter: Data freedom
Each day you create data that’s important to you. We explore what freedom means relating to that data and give you tools to analyze how free your data is.
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Getting brighter: What is Encryption and why should we care?
Encryption has been in the news. We talk about why it’s important, what it is, how it works and what you should know.
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Getting brighter: Voting Districts and Gerrymandering
We talk about voting districts and gerrymandering. We explore why gerrymandering is a problem and some solutions to it.
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Brighter Fun: Travel Like A Pro, Airplane Edition Part 1
We talk about how to make fun travel cheap.
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Bite Brighter: Arby's Adventure
My review of some Arby’s foods from a recent trip. Also, some cool Arby’s/food trivia.
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Getting Brighter: Digital Freedom - Protocols & Products
We talk about the history of the Internet and how focus on the right technologies can bring Digital Freedom.
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Getting brighter: Voting Systems
We talk about different voting systems in use, the problems with them and some positive alternatives.