The Hillary Clinton DNC speech: more hope and a bit more substance
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The Hillary Clinton DNC speech: more hope and a bit more substance

Today, I deconstruct Hillary Clinton’s convention speech, just as I did last week with Donald Trump. Clinton is much more about hope, compared to Trump, who emphasized fear. And her speech featured more real policy, but not by much. One thing I’ve learned from this exercise is how challenging it is to understand a political…

A low weasel density makes AirBnB discrimination post credible
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A low weasel density makes AirBnB discrimination post credible

AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky’s latest post responds to accusations from last December that its hosts discriminate based on race. Chesky’s post reads as sincere because of the low density of weasel words, even though he starts off with a huge faux pas. AirBnB’s first response AirBnB first responded to this issue on its blog in May. David…

Private email is an oxymoron: lessons from the DNC scandal
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Private email is an oxymoron: lessons from the DNC scandal

I once had a cool, but ethically questionable business idea. I asked my boss if I should go ahead with it. “Ask yourself this,” he suggested. “How would you feel if everyone, including your mom, knew what you were doing? Then decide.” I decided not go ahead. That’s the same question the Democratic National Committee staff…

Donald Trump convention speech is 8% policy, 92% fluff
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Donald Trump convention speech is 8% policy, 92% fluff

Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention was only 8% specific policy promises. On the other hand, by my word-for-word calculation, 20% of it was criticism of Trump’s opponents, 21% was fearmongering, and the rest was mostly vague generalities and cheerleading. Based on this speech, you really can’t identify what you’ll be getting if…

How to be as clear as Elon Musk
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How to be as clear as Elon Musk

While others write bullshit-filled press-releases, Elon Musk tells you exactly what he’s planning, in plain language. Here’s what you can learn from Musk: write directly to the reader, be clear, be organized, and be engaging. Elon Musk’s Master Plan, Part Deux Yesterday, Elon Musk posted “Master Plan, Part Deux” on the Tesla site. It begins like this:…

Hanlon’s Razor, not evil intent, explains Melania Trump’s plagiarism

Hanlon’s Razor, not evil intent, explains Melania Trump’s plagiarism

Melania Trump’s speech just keeps getting more interesting. Now we know how it happened and why some Republicans say it’s as inconsequential as My Little Pony. But no matter how you spin it, this is a disaster, not a nefarious conspiracy to make Trump’s wife sympathetic. The original speechwriters leak that they’re not responsible The New York Times…

Lessons from the plagiarism in Melania Trump’s speech
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Lessons from the plagiarism in Melania Trump’s speech

Parts of Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention are strikingly similar to Michelle Obama’s speech from eight years ago. How does this happen? Plagiarism at this level is typically the result of sloppiness, not outright theft. If you don’t want this to happen to you, then you need to change how you work. What…