Latest publications
Read my latest stories for The Wall Street Journal, Passcode, The Harvard Business Review, JSTOR Daily and more.

Social media for political scientists: monitoring with iGoogle, Google Reader and Hootsuite

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

4 ways your computer can help you to protect your time
Feel like email and social media are stealing your time? Great news: your communications technologies can give time back, too. I'm not talking about productivity boosters or clever ways of getting even more work done in even less time. I'm talking about protecting...

Back to school at the juncture of art & social science
Walking through the front doors of Emily Carr today after a few days in political science land was a reawakening to the extraordinary.The gallery by the front doors was bursting with fresh pieces, including something that requires you to put on headphones and look at...

Social media for political scientists

Live blog: Cyber Security in a Wikileaks World
I am at the APSA panel on Cyber Security in a Wikileaks World, which I will be live blogging for the next couple of hours. Tweet me your questions aboutany of the papers (you can download them, or just follow along here) and I will happily ask them when the time...

10 ways to tell the difference between APSA and SWSWi
I am spending this week at the

Anticipating the virtual wedding
Today's Globe & Mail features a story about the "iPad bridesmaid": the woman who attended her friend's wedding via iPad. Since Renee Armstrong couldn't make it the wedding in person, a groomsman carried an iPad to which she was connected via FaceTime (Apple's...

Respecting the billable hour
Can I have $500? One of the interesting things about being a consultant or entrepreneur is that people ask you for that kind of money all the time. I was reminded of this recently while catching up with a friend who (unlike me) is still involved in the daily work of...

An online cure for an unsustainable model of leadership
Jack Layton's death has me thinking back over many years of NDP activism, going back to the very first campaign I ever worked on: Dan Heap's 1984 election campaign, when one of the most tireless presences in the committee room was that of Dan's young constituency...