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Troubleshooting calendar syncing with Google Calendar, iCal, MobileMe and BusySync

September 8, 2011

A couple of nights ago I spent an hour cleaning up what I initially alleged to be a problem with Google’s calendaring servers, but which closer examination revealed to be a case of user error. And I must reluctantly admit that user was me: in my infinite enthusiasm for all available technologies, not to mention [...]

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5 surprising facts about my OS Lion install

August 10, 2011

Last night I finally installed OS X Lion. What makes this surprising: I waited three whole weeks from the time of release! A new record of personal restraint in holding off from the pain and suffering of early adoption. The tipping point for me to finally make time for an install was a Facebook update [...]

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Diary of a yak shave: Or, How to get an Excel file into Scrivener

March 4, 2011

I need to write a draft document that borrows from my previous blog posts. A sane (non-techie) person might just write the freaking document, already. But that is not the Geek Way. So I’m now in the middle of an epic yak shave: Installed a WordPress plugin that allowed me to export my blog archive [...]

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Mac users, meet your menu bar

February 9, 2011

Can you recognize the signs of SMBB? Selective Menu Bar Blindness affects millions of Mac users, but has yet to be widely recognized as a chronic and debilitating condition. Patient X — let’s call her “Shmalexandra” — was treated for a classic presentation of the disorder. SMBB typically presents as occlusion of the left peripheral vision, causing [...]

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Using Syncplicity and Dropbox to put Google Docs on your desktop

January 18, 2011

One of the biggest contributors to e-mail clutter are those messages you hang onto not because you need to read them (again) but because they are acting as de facto task reminders. Indeed, many of these implicit tasks don’t need to hit your inbox in the first place: with a better workflow, you can ensure [...]

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9 essential tools for getting tasks out of your inbox

January 7, 2011

If you want to try out my system for moving Google Docs notifications or other “task” e-mails out of your inbox and into a better context — perhaps your task management system — you may want to start by downloading or signing up for some or all of the tools I’ve used for this purpose. [...]

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Ingredients for a Mac home media center (or two)

November 30, 2010
TV in cardboard box

As part of my 2010 Home Media Center Overhaul and Documentation Festival, I’ll begin by summarizing the current components of our all-you-can-watch emporium. I’m actually documenting two media centers here: the main living room setup, and then a similar setup in the bedroom (albeit on a smaller scale, with no videogames). Hardware Mac Mini + [...]

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Should you buy an iPad?

April 12, 2010
Thumbnail image for Should you buy an iPad?

Last weekend we made the great pilgrimage across the border so that we could get iPads on the day of their release. The iPad won’t be available in Canada until the end of the month, and it seemed unfathomable to wait 20 days for a product that actually describes itself as “magical”. As we cruise [...]

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2008 Presentation at Oberlin Symposium on Social Entrepreneurship

January 15, 2010

I just discovered that my presentation at Oberlin’s 2008 Symposium on Social Entrepreneurship is on YouTube. I talked about how the lessons of building social networks parallel our experience as entrepreneurs.

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The geek’s guide to child-proofing: how to keep your tech safe from baby

November 30, 2009

With the wisdom earned from six years’ of childraising, two destructive children and four or five figures’ worth of maimed technology, I’d like to weigh in on the neglected side of childproofing. Because once you’ve figured out how to keep your baby safe from your stuff, it’s time to figure out how to keep your stuff safe from baby.

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Watch and record HD TV on your Mac — now in Canada!

November 3, 2009

If you want to turn your Mac into a TV set or PVR (personal video recorder) you have a few good options — unless you want to record in High Definition (HD). HD recording takes advantage of that large TV or LCD you’ve plugged into your Mac, and is the only option for recording shows [...]

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