Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Twitter and the Temblor: Managing a social media emergency
Yesterday morning I gave a talk on social media to a group of Canadian government employees. The talk was organized…
Today on HBR: A hard look at the hard bodies promised by Tim Ferriss
My latest post for Harvard Business Review takes a hard look at hard bodies: specifically, the hard bodies promised by Tim Ferriss in his book, The 4-Hour Body. In the post I quote three experts I asked for insight into the book's recommendations: Dr. Tieraona Low...
Predicting the future of the “personal brand”
Yesterday Dan Schawbel published an interview with me on his Personal Branding blog. I have previously criticized the "personal branding" vogue both on this site and on my HBR blog, so I warned Dan he might be in for a rough ride! Much to his credit, he didn't shy...
The 8 stages of professional commitment: social media edition
I've recently crossed the commitment threshold. Not the romantic commitment threshold -- heck, that's easy, considering how little software is required (usually). I'm talking about the professional commitment I make to each project I take on, and to each partner,...
11 ways Twitter can change your life, as told by its users
Online conversations change lives. That belief drives most of my work and writing, which is why I'm always so interested to hear people reflect on the ways that social media affects their relationships, career or self-image. A few months ago I collected some of these...
Does the Internet eradicate barriers or perpetuate them?
The Guardian published an interesting story this weekend about the Internet's impact on disability. Aleks Krotoski writes that her masters' thesis in social psychology demonstrated two ways the web benefits people with physical disabilities: First, the web offered...
Diary of a yak shave: Or, How to get an Excel file into Scrivener
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...
Singing goodbye to a Facebook “friend”
This week I participated in a fireside chat with Rochelle Grayson for Canadian Women in Communications, on The Pros and Cons of Social Media Marketing. It was the scrappiest conversation I've ever had from a (notional) podium, probably because Rochelle and I know and...
Status report on the perpetual home media overhaul
Gillian Shaw's delightful weekend story in the Vancouver Sun covered online alternatives to cable, and outed me once again as the World's Most Committed Cross-Platform TV Consumer: And then there are the techno geeks like Vancouver's Alexandra Samuel opting for a...
Create a category-specific series box with WordPress, Thesis and Organize Series
I use the terrific Organize Series Plugin for Wordpress, which I highly recommend for anyone who regularly posts multi-part blog series. You can see it in action on series all over this site, such as my recent series on 7 days to inbox zero. It lets you easily add...
The Harvard Business Review
Twitter and the Temblor: Managing a social media emergency
Yesterday morning I gave a talk on social media to a group of Canadian government employees. The talk was organized…
Today on HBR: A hard look at the hard bodies promised by Tim Ferriss
My latest post for Harvard Business Review takes a hard look at hard bodies: specifically, the hard bodies promised by Tim Ferriss in his book, The 4-Hour Body. In the post I quote three experts I asked for insight into the book's recommendations: Dr. Tieraona Low...
Predicting the future of the “personal brand”
Yesterday Dan Schawbel published an interview with me on his Personal Branding blog. I have previously criticized the "personal branding" vogue both on this site and on my HBR blog, so I warned Dan he might be in for a rough ride! Much to his credit, he didn't shy...
The 8 stages of professional commitment: social media edition
I've recently crossed the commitment threshold. Not the romantic commitment threshold -- heck, that's easy, considering how little software is required (usually). I'm talking about the professional commitment I make to each project I take on, and to each partner,...
11 ways Twitter can change your life, as told by its users
Online conversations change lives. That belief drives most of my work and writing, which is why I'm always so interested to hear people reflect on the ways that social media affects their relationships, career or self-image. A few months ago I collected some of these...
Does the Internet eradicate barriers or perpetuate them?
The Guardian published an interesting story this weekend about the Internet's impact on disability. Aleks Krotoski writes that her masters' thesis in social psychology demonstrated two ways the web benefits people with physical disabilities: First, the web offered...
Diary of a yak shave: Or, How to get an Excel file into Scrivener
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...
Singing goodbye to a Facebook “friend”
This week I participated in a fireside chat with Rochelle Grayson for Canadian Women in Communications, on The Pros and Cons of Social Media Marketing. It was the scrappiest conversation I've ever had from a (notional) podium, probably because Rochelle and I know and...
Status report on the perpetual home media overhaul
Gillian Shaw's delightful weekend story in the Vancouver Sun covered online alternatives to cable, and outed me once again as the World's Most Committed Cross-Platform TV Consumer: And then there are the techno geeks like Vancouver's Alexandra Samuel opting for a...
Create a category-specific series box with WordPress, Thesis and Organize Series
I use the terrific Organize Series Plugin for Wordpress, which I highly recommend for anyone who regularly posts multi-part blog series. You can see it in action on series all over this site, such as my recent series on 7 days to inbox zero. It lets you easily add...
OneZero
10 essential iPad and iPhone apps for your next road trip
Packing list: 11 tech accessories for your web-enabled road trip
5 surprising facts about my OS Lion install
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...
10 ways to save on roaming charges when traveling with your smartphone
Don’t blow the savings from your budget-conscious vacation on a whopping cell phone bill. These 10 tips will help keep your voice and data costs under control.
10 ways to save on hotels using your smartphone or tablet
Facebook dating: 8 tips for pickup artists (or how to avoid them)
The slender brunette in the airport lounge had just ended a cell phone call when a young man with heavily gelled blonde hair sat down next to her. "Do you have Internet on your phone?" he asked. "I'm trying to find out the weather." "Sorry, I can't get a connection,"...
Creating a visitor’s guide to your home tech setup
One of the joys of living in a multicultural society is the experience of welcoming someone from a different heritage into your home, and introducing them to the various artifacts, practices and beliefs of your own culture. It is in this spirit that we sometimes...
13 essential ingredients for your blogging setup
JSTOR DAILY
10 essential iPad and iPhone apps for your next road trip
Packing list: 11 tech accessories for your web-enabled road trip
5 surprising facts about my OS Lion install
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...
10 ways to save on roaming charges when traveling with your smartphone
Don’t blow the savings from your budget-conscious vacation on a whopping cell phone bill. These 10 tips will help keep your voice and data costs under control.
10 ways to save on hotels using your smartphone or tablet
Facebook dating: 8 tips for pickup artists (or how to avoid them)
The slender brunette in the airport lounge had just ended a cell phone call when a young man with heavily gelled blonde hair sat down next to her. "Do you have Internet on your phone?" he asked. "I'm trying to find out the weather." "Sorry, I can't get a connection,"...
Creating a visitor’s guide to your home tech setup
One of the joys of living in a multicultural society is the experience of welcoming someone from a different heritage into your home, and introducing them to the various artifacts, practices and beliefs of your own culture. It is in this spirit that we sometimes...
13 essential ingredients for your blogging setup
THE VERGE
Stop sibling conflict with a tech-inspired solution
Are you tired of listening to your kids argue? Does it seem like a single ill-timed comment can ignite a cascade of escalating attacks and complaints? Are you sick of playing referee? This weekend we came up with an innovative strategy for stopping the sibling...
Hey NSA, even my kids know snooping is creepy
This morning's breakfast conversation: ME: I'm feeling upset about how Barack Obama has been reading all the stuff we've been posting online -- everywhere except Twitter, which refused to cooperate. SWEETIE: That's creepy. ME: Good news, though -- I blogged your list...
8 kid-inspired features for Apple’s iOS 7
For the past couple of years, our kids' favorite bedtime stories have featured a feline protagonist whose best friend is Apple CEO Tim Cook. In each story, Tim Cook teleports this cat to Cupertino (Apple HQ), where Tim and cat work on various cat-friendly inventions....
Work Smarter with Twitter and HootSuite, new from Harvard Business Review Press
Do you feel like you could get more out of Twitter? Or are you a passionate Twitter user who wants to help your colleagues, friends and family use it and love it the way you do? Work Smarter with Twitter and HootSuite is for everyone who wants to get more out of...