Five simple steps to get your workweek and task list back under control

Flickr photo via Courtney Dirks

Good intentions don’t always lead to effective execution.  And how you plan your workweek on a Sunday evening or Monday morning rarely reflects how things actually take shape. You may start Monday morning with a tight to-do list, a clear desk and Inbox Zero.  But then other people show up.  Start building your list of… Read More…

Am I nuts if I don’t want a tablet?

surface55

I have a confession to make. The Surface is here, the iPad is everywhere, Jeff Bezos is promoting Kindle Fires again and tablets of all kinds are guaranteed to fly off the shelves on Black Friday and beyond. But I still don’t want one. Am I nuts? I’ve heard the arguments for a couple years… Read More…

5 ways to watch the election without turning on the TV

Image via Tumblr.

This morning I woke up, turned on my computer and within minutes sat staring at a map of people voting around the country. Live. Hello, and welcome to Election Day 2012. Back in 2000, 2004 and even 2008, following the election live meant turning on the television. I switched from CNN to MSNBC to Fox… Read More…

Austin here we come: ‘Don’t die’ and other SXSW goals

Crazier or craziest? Shauna Causey, Monica Guzman, Amy Lakhani and Maya Bisineer at one of many SXSW parties.

I’ve got three simple goals for my trip to Austin’s geektastic South by Southwest Interactive Festival this year: To have a great time, to meet people who do amazing things in the digital space, and to not die. I got sick for four straight days after SXSW last year. Not just a little sick. Stay the hell… Read More…

Thank you, body scanners: Why airport pat downs suck for humanity

TSA photo

The technologies that bring us together are making me more resentful of the ones that tear us apart. Red light cameras. Metal detectors. Running counter to the technologies of unity are the technologies of distrust. Are they necessary? Sure. And usually removed enough to be bearable. It’s when you’re forced to interact with the people… Read More…

7 Tips: Convert readers of your blog into paying customers

blog-bigstock11_A_Blog_Sign_1944622

Blogs are great at making your Web site visible and findable on search engines. Most entrepreneurs can do the work themselves or hire talent to make that happen. What’s a little more difficult to pull off is actually converting those visitors and readers to customers. I understand, because when I started off in this business… Read More…

Know your phone, or else: The case of the philharmonic interruptor

gilbert3

Did you hear the one about the conductor who stopped the orchestra because a cell phone wouldn’t stop ringing? It’s no joke. And when you get all the details, it was anything but comic. It was tech tragedy at its most shrill. On Tuesday in New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, a packed house listened as… Read More…

7 proven steps for turning your vision into a startup

Flickr photo via Chris M.

If you’re like me, you probably see opportunities for new products and businesses all the time. Over the past 10 years I’ve created many businesses, and in that time I’ve learned what you need to do and don’t do to take those ideas and visions and turn them into a successful startup. In fact, I’ve… Read More…