Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Santa goes to Best Buy
Early adopters are the hardest folks to shop for. As an early adopter married to yet another early adopter, we struggle to find good gifts, since we own every gadget we need, and many we don't. That's why you've got to surprise us with something so new that it hasn't...
Making sense of the Wikileaks backlash
The past week has seen a series of denial-of-service attacks on services like Paypal and Amazon, which have been characterized as a hacker retaliation for how these services have treated Wikileaks. Since I wrote my dissertation on hacktivism -- politically motivated...
The 5 questions to ask about online distraction
Whether you’re worried about the Internet’s impact on your attention span, or tired of hearing about how life online is driving us to distraction, these 5 questions will help you think more deeply about online distraction.
Social media insights from recent research
The more time college students spend online, the worst they do in their first semester....but they end up with better social lives. Facebook activism doesn't detract from offline activism: people who are politically active on Facebook are actually more politically...
Star Trek for kids
Many parents focus on preparing their children for a digital future by working on their basic math skills, helping them use a computer, or even teaching them the basics of programming. These parents are fools! If there is one thing I have learned from working with...
How your Facebook presence can inspire your friends and family
Over at The Hookup Column, Anna Lind Thomas concludes her list of Dos & Don'ts for Facebook status lines with the following: DO inspire, uplift, support and spread love. Anna's suggestion is a refreshing departure from the all-too-common focus on social media as...
The suffering of technology users
I love this paragraph because I think it distills and represents the pain and suffering so many people now feel around the role of technology in their lives: I like technology just as much as the next person, but sometimes I find myself feeling overwhelmed with it...
“Since I started blogging…”
I overhear more and more conversations about how people cope with their lives online. We talk about our day-to-day strategies for coping with e-mail overload. We gossip about our friends' Facebook profiles and worry about whether we should be joining the latest social...
Can documentation save the world?
Yesterday I wrapped up my 2010 Home Media Overhaul and Documentation Festival with a blog post on why to watch TV. But I left another unanswered question on the table: why document your TV setup? Documentation is somewhere between a neurosis and a calling for me. As...
Why on earth would you want to watch TV?
The Harvard Business Review
Santa goes to Best Buy
Early adopters are the hardest folks to shop for. As an early adopter married to yet another early adopter, we struggle to find good gifts, since we own every gadget we need, and many we don't. That's why you've got to surprise us with something so new that it hasn't...
Making sense of the Wikileaks backlash
The past week has seen a series of denial-of-service attacks on services like Paypal and Amazon, which have been characterized as a hacker retaliation for how these services have treated Wikileaks. Since I wrote my dissertation on hacktivism -- politically motivated...
The 5 questions to ask about online distraction
Whether you’re worried about the Internet’s impact on your attention span, or tired of hearing about how life online is driving us to distraction, these 5 questions will help you think more deeply about online distraction.
Social media insights from recent research
The more time college students spend online, the worst they do in their first semester....but they end up with better social lives. Facebook activism doesn't detract from offline activism: people who are politically active on Facebook are actually more politically...
Star Trek for kids
Many parents focus on preparing their children for a digital future by working on their basic math skills, helping them use a computer, or even teaching them the basics of programming. These parents are fools! If there is one thing I have learned from working with...
How your Facebook presence can inspire your friends and family
Over at The Hookup Column, Anna Lind Thomas concludes her list of Dos & Don'ts for Facebook status lines with the following: DO inspire, uplift, support and spread love. Anna's suggestion is a refreshing departure from the all-too-common focus on social media as...
The suffering of technology users
I love this paragraph because I think it distills and represents the pain and suffering so many people now feel around the role of technology in their lives: I like technology just as much as the next person, but sometimes I find myself feeling overwhelmed with it...
“Since I started blogging…”
I overhear more and more conversations about how people cope with their lives online. We talk about our day-to-day strategies for coping with e-mail overload. We gossip about our friends' Facebook profiles and worry about whether we should be joining the latest social...
Can documentation save the world?
Yesterday I wrapped up my 2010 Home Media Overhaul and Documentation Festival with a blog post on why to watch TV. But I left another unanswered question on the table: why document your TV setup? Documentation is somewhere between a neurosis and a calling for me. As...
Why on earth would you want to watch TV?
OneZero
Real innovators don’t hold grudges
Are you using the Internet to monetize or to enlighten?
Blacksburg reminds us how to worry about our kids
What you choose when you choose a network
When I went to work for the Rae government, I thought the choice of which computer to use was a choice of Mac vs PC. But what I was really choosing was a connection to a group of people who would change my life, and the future of our country.
Finding the soul of the web in HTML
Search party: 10 tips for better searching on Google and beyond
Online innovators turn foresight into insight
Quiz: What level of online security is right for you?
JSTOR DAILY
Real innovators don’t hold grudges
Are you using the Internet to monetize or to enlighten?
Blacksburg reminds us how to worry about our kids
What you choose when you choose a network
When I went to work for the Rae government, I thought the choice of which computer to use was a choice of Mac vs PC. But what I was really choosing was a connection to a group of people who would change my life, and the future of our country.
Finding the soul of the web in HTML
Search party: 10 tips for better searching on Google and beyond
Online innovators turn foresight into insight
Quiz: What level of online security is right for you?
THE VERGE
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.