Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
5 commandments for your digital fast this Lent
I'm not really a Lent kinda gal. (It may have something to do with me being Jewish.) But for the past few years, I've felt increasingly Lent-aware, because of the sheer number of people who now seem to give up Facebook for Lent (but then tweet about it), email for...
Tweet if you like to procrastinate
I am always amazed at how much I get done on my focused writing days -- the days when I leave the office and camp in one of the cafés or restaurants where ambient noise helps me concentrate and write, write, write. But it's not my word count that amazes me: it's all...
Taking a Pinterest in Emily Carr University, in & out of the bathroom
Emily Carr University has birthed a couple of major obsessions for me over the past year. Online, I have explored ways to use Pinterest, an image curating site, thanks to Emily Carr student (now alum!) Samantha Lefort. Offline, I have delighted in our bathroom...
4 last-minute social media valentines
Congratulations to all those who woke up this morning with their Valentine's cookies baked, their kids' class valentine cards addressed and boxed, and a dinner reservation in place at the romantic restaurant of your choice. You have got your Valentine act together,...
6 qualities to look for in an online date or offline mate
[Online dating] sites tend to emphasize similarity on psychological variables like personality (e.g., matching extroverts with extroverts and introverts with introverts) and attitudes (e.g., matching people who prefer Judd Apatow’s movies to Woody Allen’s with people...
5 online calendars your family can’t live without
If you think online calendaring is for scheduling business meetings, appointments and the occasional lunch date, you're missing out. Online calendars can also be a great way to bring order to the chaos of family life -- if you create or subscribe to the essential...
Focus on your priorities with O.M.F.T.
Last night I was delighted to participate in a panel hosted by Canadian Women in Communications, speaking alongside Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss 604) and Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun. CWC President Stephanie MacKendrick did a terrific job of eliciting our...
For Harvard Business book: How do you reward yourself at work?
How do you reward or motivate yourself to complete a task or project? I'm tackling this question in one of my pieces for a forthcoming edition of Harvard Business Review's Getting the Right Work Done. And I'd love your help. Maybe you're the kind of person who takes a...
Does social media have to make you happy?
At Simply Zesty, Lauren Fisher asks a provocative question: why happiness? Her point is that social media is frequently challenged for its (purportedly) negative impact on happiness: What’s also strange, is the idea that social media in some way owes us happiness,...
How to find a great domain name (or Twitter handle)
The Harvard Business Review
5 commandments for your digital fast this Lent
I'm not really a Lent kinda gal. (It may have something to do with me being Jewish.) But for the past few years, I've felt increasingly Lent-aware, because of the sheer number of people who now seem to give up Facebook for Lent (but then tweet about it), email for...
Tweet if you like to procrastinate
I am always amazed at how much I get done on my focused writing days -- the days when I leave the office and camp in one of the cafés or restaurants where ambient noise helps me concentrate and write, write, write. But it's not my word count that amazes me: it's all...
Taking a Pinterest in Emily Carr University, in & out of the bathroom
Emily Carr University has birthed a couple of major obsessions for me over the past year. Online, I have explored ways to use Pinterest, an image curating site, thanks to Emily Carr student (now alum!) Samantha Lefort. Offline, I have delighted in our bathroom...
4 last-minute social media valentines
Congratulations to all those who woke up this morning with their Valentine's cookies baked, their kids' class valentine cards addressed and boxed, and a dinner reservation in place at the romantic restaurant of your choice. You have got your Valentine act together,...
6 qualities to look for in an online date or offline mate
[Online dating] sites tend to emphasize similarity on psychological variables like personality (e.g., matching extroverts with extroverts and introverts with introverts) and attitudes (e.g., matching people who prefer Judd Apatow’s movies to Woody Allen’s with people...
5 online calendars your family can’t live without
If you think online calendaring is for scheduling business meetings, appointments and the occasional lunch date, you're missing out. Online calendars can also be a great way to bring order to the chaos of family life -- if you create or subscribe to the essential...
Focus on your priorities with O.M.F.T.
Last night I was delighted to participate in a panel hosted by Canadian Women in Communications, speaking alongside Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss 604) and Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun. CWC President Stephanie MacKendrick did a terrific job of eliciting our...
For Harvard Business book: How do you reward yourself at work?
How do you reward or motivate yourself to complete a task or project? I'm tackling this question in one of my pieces for a forthcoming edition of Harvard Business Review's Getting the Right Work Done. And I'd love your help. Maybe you're the kind of person who takes a...
Does social media have to make you happy?
At Simply Zesty, Lauren Fisher asks a provocative question: why happiness? Her point is that social media is frequently challenged for its (purportedly) negative impact on happiness: What’s also strange, is the idea that social media in some way owes us happiness,...
How to find a great domain name (or Twitter handle)
OneZero
More jobs of the future: essential staff for your tech lifestyle
A while ago I blogged a list of anticipated jobs of the future: new categories of employment that will be necessitated by our increasingly plugged-in lives. Now it's time to add a few to the list: Update concierge: 2 laptops + 2 home computers + 1 ipad + 1 iphone + 2...
Of shoes and men
I have a dear friend who used to say that a woman should always have three men in her life: the one currently in her heart, a second recently dispatched, and a third waiting in the wings. I now have a comparable philosophy about shoes. Every woman should have one...
7 ways to enhance your vacations with Facebook
How Facebook can help you plan a better trip — and help you remember it.
Take a one-way road trip with Ridejoy
Ridejoy is a social network that helps you share rides. Here’s how we used it to take a fantastic one-way road trip.
Better vacations with social media
Social media services made our blissful vacation possible. This series will give you tips on using Yelp, Ridejoy, Evernote and other tools to enhance your future travel.
For a magazine story: seeking business leaders suffering from tech pain
I'm writing a story for a leading business travel magazine and I'm looking for interview subjects. Do you have a tech pain point -- whether it's email overload, scheduling, or just finding a way to unplug -- that I can help you solve? If you are the CEO of a...
8 hot ways Evernote can spice up your sex life
"For doing your taxes". "For shopping and to-do lists". "For home improvement projects". These are three of the very practical suggestions the Evernote blog has to offer as part of their 8 great ways couples can use Evernote shared notebooks blog post, which I just...
Magic browser plugin for retroactive logins across open tabs
JSTOR DAILY
More jobs of the future: essential staff for your tech lifestyle
A while ago I blogged a list of anticipated jobs of the future: new categories of employment that will be necessitated by our increasingly plugged-in lives. Now it's time to add a few to the list: Update concierge: 2 laptops + 2 home computers + 1 ipad + 1 iphone + 2...
Of shoes and men
I have a dear friend who used to say that a woman should always have three men in her life: the one currently in her heart, a second recently dispatched, and a third waiting in the wings. I now have a comparable philosophy about shoes. Every woman should have one...
7 ways to enhance your vacations with Facebook
How Facebook can help you plan a better trip — and help you remember it.
Take a one-way road trip with Ridejoy
Ridejoy is a social network that helps you share rides. Here’s how we used it to take a fantastic one-way road trip.
Better vacations with social media
Social media services made our blissful vacation possible. This series will give you tips on using Yelp, Ridejoy, Evernote and other tools to enhance your future travel.
For a magazine story: seeking business leaders suffering from tech pain
I'm writing a story for a leading business travel magazine and I'm looking for interview subjects. Do you have a tech pain point -- whether it's email overload, scheduling, or just finding a way to unplug -- that I can help you solve? If you are the CEO of a...
8 hot ways Evernote can spice up your sex life
"For doing your taxes". "For shopping and to-do lists". "For home improvement projects". These are three of the very practical suggestions the Evernote blog has to offer as part of their 8 great ways couples can use Evernote shared notebooks blog post, which I just...
Magic browser plugin for retroactive logins across open tabs
THE VERGE
Telling tales about my autistic son
Introducing The Peanut Diaries: dedicated to sharing the experience of raising our gifted, autistic son.
Now on JSTOR: A Novel Defense of the Internet
Like the Internet, the novel was once viewed as a colossal waste of time. My post for JSTOR Daily looks at how fiction became respectable — and how the Internet can, too.
How people feel about sharing a name online
Thanks to the Internet, more and more of us have digital doubles: people who share our name, and may often be confused with us. I try to keep track of all the other people out there named "Alexandra Samuel", and yet I also feel vaguely uncomfortable with the fact that...
TV for every occasion: shows for family viewing, multitasking and more
The problem with the golden age of TV is that with so many choices, it’s hard to know what to watch. This guide and cheat sheet helps you choose the right shows for four different occasions: dedicated viewing, multitasking, working out and family viewing.