From the Serious Insights Archives: Neil deGrasse Tyson Interview I had the pleasure of hanging out with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson at the San Diego Comic-Con Cosmos: Possible Worlds press room. We were in a shared roundtable in our little corner of the press room. This is a complete transcript with just a few minor edits for clarity. Our thanks to Neil deGrasse Tyson for the opportunity and to the other members of the press for their questions. Neil's comments are just as relevant today as they were in 2018.

HyperPack Pro Review I’ve been watching “smart” creep into bags the way it crept into headphones: first as a gimmick, then as an expectation. HyperPack Pro’s offer is simple: integrate Apple Find My tracking into a well-organized, travel-ready backpack, and make the anti-theft story feel native, include wired charging routing and a deep, very easy to open design, and we have my backpack for CES 2026. Note that the water bottle pocket and MagSafe pocket are flipped in this illustration. What we like Pros Apple® Find My™–compatible location module is built in…

Targus Avila Convertible Tote/Backpack for 15–16” Laptops (French Oak) Review Laptop backpacks have evolved into personal infrastructure: light protection for expensive objects, fast access when the day turns into a hallway sprint, and enough organization to prevent “bag archaeology.” That mix, utility plus restraint, shows up across the accessories reviewed on SeriousInsights.net, where everyday carry either reduces friction or adds to it. The Targus Avila Convertible Tote/Backpack is a tidy expression of friction reduction. It’s a tote-and-backpack blend with tuckaway shoulder straps, a protective laptop cradle with magnetic closure, and a compact capacity that keeps the bag from becoming a roaming storage unit.

Dan will be attending CES January 4-7. The show runs through the 9th. Daniel W. Rasmus: 2026 CES PreGame Panel (Video) Dan was invited by the Virtual Events Group (VEG) to participate in the 2026 CES PreGame Panel. I cover AI to look forward to at the upcoming CES 2026 in Las Vegas. Watch the video below. Dan was joined by fellow CES veterans John T. Kelley, Sr. VP and Show Director of CES, Jeremy Kaplan, Content Director of Future, Meredith Perry, Co-Founder & CEO, Elemind Technologies and Steward Wolpin, CES historian.

The Agentic Operating System: How the Next 3-5 Years May Spell the Death of Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome as Anything More than Legacy Interfaces I recently posted a Microsoft-centric view of my analysis on the disruption of Windows at Techspective.net (Why Windows Just Became Disruptible in the Agentic OS Era). The following analysis is more inclusive of other operating systems and offers a suggested framework for the design of an agentic operating system. Images generated by ChatGPT unless otherwise noted. My Windows-centric analysis at Techspective. Microsoft just crossed a line it has tiptoed around for decades: Windows is no longer just for people.

AI Trends 2026: Likely AI Conditions That Will Make AI in 2026 Feel Different I don't like the idea of trends (see Stephen Jay Gould on Trends and Progress: The Problem With Trends), but that doesn't stop people from searching for the term, or search engines indexing for it because of that, I use it in the title but with the caution that many factors can derail "trends" and a bias toward seeing a trend can blind trend watchers from recognizing other oatterns, especialy contraditory ones.. In that light, let me say that year-end trend posts are less about prophecy than pattern recognition.

Levoit Sprout Evaporative Humidifier Review Humidifiers sit in that odd space between comfort tech and household infrastructure: rarely glamorous, occasionally life-saving (at 3 a.m.), and always judged by the one thing they can’t fake: how the room feels the next morning. In the Serious Insights universe of small, practical devices that shape daily work and rest, the Levoit Sprout Evaporative Humidifier attempts to make humidity control into a modern appliance rather than a seasonal annoyance tucked away in a closet until the next chest cold or runny nose. Sprout’s bet is simple: evaporative humidification (no visible mist), a sensor that can be placed where humidity actually matters, and enough smart control to turn “set it and forget it” into something closer to “set it and verify it.” The result targets nurseries and small-to-medium rooms, not entire.

How a Taxonomy Becomes an Ontology in the Real World Cynefin’s Dave Snowden was right to call on philosophy when he pushed back on my claim that a conference lanyard and badge formed a “living ontology.” Under classical definitions, what hangs around a participant’s neck at KMWorld looks more like a taxonomy: categories and labels, color codes and groupings. But knowledge management rarely lives inside classical definitions. It lives in practice, in movement, in context. In that sense, a KMWorld lanyard is not just a taxonomy of roles and affiliations, but instead behaves like an ontology, enacted and negotiated in real time.

Mophie Powerstation Wireless 5K Slim 15W Power Bank with Stand Review Placed against other portable batteries I’ve examined, Mophie Powerstation Wireless 5K Slim 15W Power Bank with Stand lands where compact design meets modest, everyday performance. The very usuable built-in stand sets it apart in a market of commodity chargers, shifting a simple utility item into a slightly more functional companion. Its 5,000 mAh capacity is at the lower end of what modern smartphones demand, but the Qi2-certified 15 W magnetic wireless charging and 20 W USB-C PD output provide a respectable cross-section of convenience and speed given the size and form factor.

CASEKOO Magic Stand Pro case Review CASEKOO Magic Stand Pro The CASEKOO Magic Stand Pro series sits at the intersection of protective case, MagSafe accessory, and always-available stand. The Titanium Magic Stand Pro variant, in particular, wraps a 360-degree spin stand in aerospace titanium, pairs it with a high-transparency TPE back, and claims 16- to 18-foot military-grade drop protection depending on model. That combination positions it as a flagship option for those who treat the stand as core hardware rather than an add-on. Across the family, CASEKOO pushes a consistent story: serious drop protection, a fully adjustable ring that locks in multiple directions, and magnets strong enough to anchor to MagSafe and Qi chargers, car mounts, and even metal gym equipment.

Plaud NotePin Review: An Excellent Wearable Capsule that Transforms Sound Into Meaning I carried the Plaud NotePin through my day at the Henry Stewart Semantic Data Conference, eventualy creating a personal archive of the conference that included audio, transcripts and analysis. I also carried it across the sprawl of KMWorld and Enterprise AI World. Those environments are unforgiving test beds: large conference rooms, hallway conversations, overlapping voices, and the relentless cadence of back-to-back sessions. The device was worn, clipped, pinned, and occasionally set on a table, shifting between intimate discussions and cavernous ballrooms without ceremony.

Anant Kale, CEO and Co-Founder of AppZen on AI and Fraud in the Back Office: A Serious Insights Interview Anant Kale ChatGPT drawing from LinkedIn profile portrait. Generative AI has shifted from novelty to infrastructure, and as it evolves, it is rewriting the risk profile of basic finance workflows. Expense reports and invoices once felt like back-office hygiene; now they sit on the front line of an AI-versus-AI contest where synthetic receipts, invented vendors, and subtle document edits can be generated with a prompt. The skill barrier to fraud has collapsed, but the accountability expectations for finance leaders have not.

Nashay Naeve on Career, Global Manufacturing and AI: A Serious Insights Interview Nashay Naeve drawing by Gemini from LinkedIn portrait. I recently had the opportunity to interview Nashay Naeve, President of the Engineered Plastic Components Business Unit at Tsubaki Nakashima. Our interview explores how a global manufacturing leader thinks about the real constraints and levers in front of her: a worldwide shortage of skilled labor, shifting tariffs and regulations, and uneven ESG expectations across the U.S. and Europe. She traces how lessons from Caterpillar, DuPont, Redwood, and now Tsubaki Nakashima have shaped a view of manufacturing in which engineering, operations, and people systems must move together or not at all.

"The Future of AI Isn’t What You Think" from Foxit Featuring Daniel W. Rasmus I had an opportunity to chat with Charles Verhey, Group Manager, Digital Media Production & Web Content • Marketing at Foxit, to explore the future of AI. Here's our YouTube conversation, followed by an overview. Foxit Daniel W. Rasmus Interview Overview AI keeps getting sold as if it has one destiny: an inevitable curve up and to the right. That story may be comforting, but it is also wrong. The futures of AI are multiple, contested, and highly dependent on forces beyond the technology itself—governance, energy, geopolitics, economics, and culture.

Kuxiu S2 Qi2 Portable Charger Review Over the last couple of years I’ve looked at a steady stream of MagSafe and Qi2 batteries. Most share the same basic formula: 5,000mAh, 15W wireless charging, 20W USB-C, a magnet, and a little plastic box. The Kuxiu S2 Qi2 Portable Charger takes a different path by bringing semi–solid-state battery tech into that familiar form factor. That shift isn’t cosmetic; it meaningfully changes safety, longevity, and how often the pack will need to be replaced. Against other mobile power gear I’ve used, the Kuxiu S2 Qi2 Portable Charger sits at the intersection of “daily carry” and “tech experiment.” It’s still a straightforward 5,000mAh MagSafe puck, but the semi-solid-state chemistry, Qi2 certification at 15W, and very slim 0.39-inch profile make it feel more like a next-generation reference design than a commodity accessory.

Karpul Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Review My children will tell you I have a thing for vacuum cleaners. I was always buying smaller, more agile, less hair-tangely versions as they grew up. While I'm not an expert, I do know what I like, and this new generation of powerful, lightweight, rechargeable and reconfigurable models is just what I've always wanted. And so far, devices like the $159.99 Karpul Cordless Vacuum haven't disappointed. As a reviewer, I treat budget-minded hardware as a test of promises. The Klarpul cordless vacuum cleaner arrives with big promises: 50KPa suction, a 600W brushless motor, up to 60–65 minutes of runtime, and a relatively small price.

The Top Ten Ways Scenario Planning Can Go Wrong: 10 Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them Scenario planning is a powerful tool. When it works, it rewires how people think about the future. It invites leaders to confront uncertainty, question their assumptions, and build more agile strategies. I’ve seen scenarios help organizations avoid big bets on bad assumptions — and uncover opportunities they didn’t know they were looking for. (Serious Insights) I’ve also seen scenario projects go sideways. Not because the tool is flawed, but because of how it’s framed, governed, or executed.

This article examines why documents are only fragments of knowledge, how generative AI exposes brittle content, and why access alone never guarantees understanding. It argues for context-rich knowledge practices: better scaffolding and metadata, explicit assumptions and confidence levels, and stewardship that retires or renews aging content. The piece introduces the “knowledge sculptor” as a new role that shapes AI-generated output into meaningful, trusted artifacts. Rather than idolizing archives, organizations are urged to build active, social, and contextualized knowledge systems where AI augments human judgment, surfaces patterns, and keeps knowledge aligned with changing realities.

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SoundPEATS Clip1 is a lightweight, open-ear clip-on earbud that prioritizes comfort and awareness while still delivering a surprisingly dense feature set: Hi-Res Wireless with LDAC, Dolby Audio, DynamicEQ Pro, AutoSense channel detection, multipoint, low-latency gaming mode, IPX5 water resistance, and up to 40 hours of battery life. The trade-offs are typical of the form factor—limited deep bass, no ANC and minimal accessories—but the combination of design, smart features, and aggressive pricing makes Clip1 a compelling everyday audio companion for those who value situational awareness over isolation.

If AI is to succeed in reshaping work, it will reshape all kinds of work. I recently had the opportunity to interview Rafsan Bhuiyan, who. While his new endeavor, OrionQ appears focused on traditional marketing and lead generation, Rahsan would rather talk about AI in construction sites, garages, and service vans. OrionQ builds AI agents that pick up the phone when a plumber’s under a sink, or schedule jobs while a roofer’s on a ladder. He sees AI as the difference between winning a contract or losing it. Rafsan believes trades may turn out to be the most important proving ground for AI adoption.

Status Audio Pro X Earbuds Review I have been on the road. And the Status Audio Pro X earbuds have been with me every mile. They have blocked noise, communicated insight, and offered hours to pleasant, and sometimes disturbing audio from television shows and movies, and bouncy pleasure from and soothing interludes from music. Many wireless-earbuds focus on brand prestige, design flash or broad marketing claims. The Status Audio Pro X emerges as being less about flash, more about feature-rich substance and acoustical ambition wrapped in an elegant package. They sits squarely in a space where audiophile ambition meets real-world wireless convenience.

Lumary 56FT Smart Landscape Lights Gen2 Review This is the introductory paragraph with formatting. The Rasmus home taking on a decidedly Halloween look with greens and purples via the Lumary 56FT Smart Landscape Lights Gen2 . (Source: Daniel W. Rasmus. ©2025 Daniel W. Rasmus and Serious Insights LLC. The Lumary 56FT Smart Landscape Lights Gen2, 6 Pack RGBAIWW offers an integrated, pre-packaged, fully featured, ready-to-deploy outdoor lighting system. I approach this system not merely as a set of spotlights, but as a bounded digital canvas, examining how its closed architecture serves the creative impulse of dynamic exterior illumination versus the long-term strategic needs of home automation integration.

TOZO Open EarRing Review Open-ear devices have been appearing alongside the more traditional sealed earbuds reviewed at Serious Insights. Products like the Tozo Open EarRing represent a design philosophy shift: prioritizing awareness and comfort, trading the sealed-ear “wow” for a safer, more social listening stance. We look at the Tozo Open EarRing as a wearable that optimizes for use cases where isolation is a hindrance rather than a feature.   From a market-watch perspective, this segment is getting crowded as brands chase commuters and fitness-minded listeners with IP ratings, long endurance, and companion apps.

Enterprise AI Insights from the Field: Success Factors and Waiting for ROI I had the pleasure of listening to leaders discuss their firsthand experiences with AI deployments and how organizations are implementing AI. I learned from Saanya Ojha of Bain Capital Ventures, who spoke with Moveworks President Varun Singh, and from several thought leaders during a KMWorld-hosted webinar that brought together TigerGraph (Victor Lee, PhD), Semedy (Charles Lagor), and TopQuadrant (Steve Hedden). I'll keep the takeaways simple. They all align with my experience: design for success, including how to measure ROI.