“This Fourth Down Conversion Attempt Brought to You By [Your Company Name Here]” Inspired by the “Allstate Catch of the Day,” I’m going to see if the cable channel carrying the University of Minnesota football games will consider creating something called “The Ross Kaplan Extra Point Attempt” (I’m game if the price is right). If...Read More
How to Time-Shift (Just a Little) “Synch-ron-ate” (verb): taping a TV or cable show, then watching it ” without commercials ” so as to finish at the same time as the live telecast. — Proposed addition to English language; Ross Kaplan. Almost four years ago, I proposed a new word, “synchronate,” to describe the practice of...Read More
Led Astray By Still-Fallible Technology “If all your friends all jumped off a bridge . . . would you, too??” –Moms to their kids, circa 1970. “Never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to.” –Advice to trial lawyers cross-examining witnesses. Once upon a time, Mothers countered foolish, me-too behavior in their...Read More
