Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Making room for messiness
For the past two weeks we've been in the middle of our semi-annual domestic meltdown. Meltdown features include: emergency school visits necessitating precipitous departures from work implementation of new household rules precipitating epically draining tantrums...
What you can learn by NOT throwing your child out of a window
A few years ago I found myself comparing vacation plans with a colleague — a single guy about a decade older than me. His upcoming vacation? A month-long backpacking trip to Hawaii, totally off the grid. When I marvelled at his bravery, he offered this wisdom: “Every...
Breaking my personal record for Craziest Apple Store Visit
Yesterday, 10 minutes into my flight to Toronto, my MacBook Pro's screen died. completely and dramatically. So when I hit the ground in TO, the first thing I did was called the nearest Apple store to see if I could get into the Genius Bar for a short-term fix. All...
Online Security as Herd Immunity
Privacy is available, but only if a critical mass of companies make the effort to protect it.
Established Companies, Get Ready for the Collaborative Economy
This post originally appeared on The Harvard Business Review website. As more and more startups like Airbnb, Etsy and Kickstarter crowd into the space of the collaborative economy, big brands are starting to get in on the action, too. Staples sells products developed...
Announcing Work Smarter, Rule Your Email
There's no part of online life that has a bigger impact on our productivity — and our happiness! — than email. But most email productivity guides focus on getting control over email, when what we really need is more control over our lives and our work. That's why I'm...
7 ways you can learn to love reading ebooks
About a decade ago, somebody gave us our first crock pot, also known as a slow cooker. For months we feasted on the remarkably easy, delicious dishes it could produce: chicken tagines and chilis, beef briskets and vegan stews. Then I made the mistake of discussing our...
It’s monkey see, monkey do over here
And you know, you usually don't let monkeys hack firmware.
The family that hacks together….
Saturday morning at our house: the kids are programming our new Lego Mindstorms robot. I'm installing Xcode on the Mac home media server...step one in the long road to controlling our Mini with our Kinect.
How to use your Facebook restricted list
This step-by-step guide shows you how to use Facebook’s restricted list to control who can see your posts.
The Harvard Business Review
Making room for messiness
For the past two weeks we've been in the middle of our semi-annual domestic meltdown. Meltdown features include: emergency school visits necessitating precipitous departures from work implementation of new household rules precipitating epically draining tantrums...
What you can learn by NOT throwing your child out of a window
A few years ago I found myself comparing vacation plans with a colleague — a single guy about a decade older than me. His upcoming vacation? A month-long backpacking trip to Hawaii, totally off the grid. When I marvelled at his bravery, he offered this wisdom: “Every...
Breaking my personal record for Craziest Apple Store Visit
Yesterday, 10 minutes into my flight to Toronto, my MacBook Pro's screen died. completely and dramatically. So when I hit the ground in TO, the first thing I did was called the nearest Apple store to see if I could get into the Genius Bar for a short-term fix. All...
Online Security as Herd Immunity
Privacy is available, but only if a critical mass of companies make the effort to protect it.
Established Companies, Get Ready for the Collaborative Economy
This post originally appeared on The Harvard Business Review website. As more and more startups like Airbnb, Etsy and Kickstarter crowd into the space of the collaborative economy, big brands are starting to get in on the action, too. Staples sells products developed...
Announcing Work Smarter, Rule Your Email
There's no part of online life that has a bigger impact on our productivity — and our happiness! — than email. But most email productivity guides focus on getting control over email, when what we really need is more control over our lives and our work. That's why I'm...
7 ways you can learn to love reading ebooks
About a decade ago, somebody gave us our first crock pot, also known as a slow cooker. For months we feasted on the remarkably easy, delicious dishes it could produce: chicken tagines and chilis, beef briskets and vegan stews. Then I made the mistake of discussing our...
It’s monkey see, monkey do over here
And you know, you usually don't let monkeys hack firmware.
The family that hacks together….
Saturday morning at our house: the kids are programming our new Lego Mindstorms robot. I'm installing Xcode on the Mac home media server...step one in the long road to controlling our Mini with our Kinect.
How to use your Facebook restricted list
This step-by-step guide shows you how to use Facebook’s restricted list to control who can see your posts.
OneZero
Why and How to Yes (and Yes Yes)
Yes and Yes Yes is an extraordinary gathering. Here is why I want to go back next year — and how I plan to make the most of it.
How digital tools can manage your kids’ schoolwork and activities
Staying on top of school emails and field trip permissions is a huge headache. Here’s the setup that could make it easier.
14 reasons not to allow your kid to fall asleep in your bed
Trying to convince your kid to stay in her own bed? Here’s a handy list of reasons.
Hey Vancouver: It’s okay to be boring
“Work-life balance”, “relaxed lifestyle”, “not Toronto” — these are the phrases Vancouverites use to describe what makes our city different from other cities. And not coincidentally, they are all ways of saying we’re a city with a slower pace than the vast majority of major North American cities.
How to Find Online Support During Life’s Biggest Milestones
Tech expert Alexandra Samuel helps you find online support when you are going through life’s biggest milestones.
Source: How to Find Online Support During Life’s Biggest Milestones
Using Online Resources to Stay Focused on Your Goals
Tech expert Alexandra Samuel shares six new strategies for using online resources to stay focused on your goals and inspired in your life.
Source: Using Online Resources to Stay Focused on Your Goals
5 Ways the Web Can Help You Celebrate Dad
Technology expert Alexandra Samuel shares five ways the web can help you celebrate dad this Father’s Day.
Living Low-Tech – Go Online and Get Crafty
Just because you live a high-tech life doesn’t mean you can’t go low-tech with great results. Alexandra Samuel shares a few places you can go online to get crafty.
JSTOR DAILY
Why and How to Yes (and Yes Yes)
Yes and Yes Yes is an extraordinary gathering. Here is why I want to go back next year — and how I plan to make the most of it.
How digital tools can manage your kids’ schoolwork and activities
Staying on top of school emails and field trip permissions is a huge headache. Here’s the setup that could make it easier.
14 reasons not to allow your kid to fall asleep in your bed
Trying to convince your kid to stay in her own bed? Here’s a handy list of reasons.
Hey Vancouver: It’s okay to be boring
“Work-life balance”, “relaxed lifestyle”, “not Toronto” — these are the phrases Vancouverites use to describe what makes our city different from other cities. And not coincidentally, they are all ways of saying we’re a city with a slower pace than the vast majority of major North American cities.
How to Find Online Support During Life’s Biggest Milestones
Tech expert Alexandra Samuel helps you find online support when you are going through life’s biggest milestones.
Source: How to Find Online Support During Life’s Biggest Milestones
Using Online Resources to Stay Focused on Your Goals
Tech expert Alexandra Samuel shares six new strategies for using online resources to stay focused on your goals and inspired in your life.
Source: Using Online Resources to Stay Focused on Your Goals
5 Ways the Web Can Help You Celebrate Dad
Technology expert Alexandra Samuel shares five ways the web can help you celebrate dad this Father’s Day.
Living Low-Tech – Go Online and Get Crafty
Just because you live a high-tech life doesn’t mean you can’t go low-tech with great results. Alexandra Samuel shares a few places you can go online to get crafty.
THE VERGE
Why it pays to blur work and home
The less we see each other in the literal sense—the less time we spend co-working in the same physical location—the more our culture and bonds depend on seeing each other in the metaphorical sense, as full humans. And we can’t do that if we continue to patrol the...
How Hybrid Work Solves the Resilience Gap
Nothing is more essential to personal or professional success than resilience: the ability to rethink, reorganize and recover when your plans go awry. Resilience is what allows us to find another path forward when we hit a roadblock; to let go of what we expected and...
The hybrid worker’s guide to screen time
How do you keep screen time intentional, healthy and rewarding? It’s a question many of us ask about our screen-glazed kids, but it’s also a question we need to ask of ourselves. Phones, computers and other gadgets are easy to overuse, not simply because we are frail...
No, Coda didn’t pay for that post.
No, Coda didn’t pay me to write that last post. But a few people wrote to ask, so I want to share the incriminating truth: I wrote that ode to Coda because I’m geeky, enthusiastic and incredibly bossy. I’m geeky enough to love a really good piece of software the way...