Every four years we find ourselves back here, don’t we? Our TV’s spew angry ads and our radio’s hurl insults. Internet bloggers chortle with delight at the latest nominee faux pas or bristle at perceived slights. It’s a free-for-all of who can convince the most people that their lot in life is terrible – and it’s the OTHER guy’s fault. Most of the population ducks and takes cover for the 4-6 months preceding the November general election and I admit that’s my basic strategy, too. It’s not that I don’t care about the country — on the contrary, I really, really do. But I had a whole class on rhetoric in grad school and…
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Kindle Fire Review: It’s hawt!
My mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year (well, last year) and without having to think too much I jumped at the idea of an e-reader. I have friends who have them and love them and now that I was officially graduated and had time to read again I gazed on them with longing in shop windows. In particular the highly publicized release of the new Kindle’s were making my mouth water. In a technology kind of way. Now when my mother asked which Kindle I wanted I naturally set about the process of rigorously examining all the options, weighing the cost-benefits, and examining which device would be best for…
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Lit Review
As some of you may know I have been working on a masters degree in Technical Communication for about eight thousand years now. Happily I’m on my last class – an independent study course – and finishing up the menial tasks required to receive approval in the form of a very expensive and official piece of paper. I might actually frame this diploma – I’m not even sure where my undergrad one is… Despite the required work still to be done on my final class, I don’t actually have to be in a classroom this semester so it feels very much like… well, like I’m free! And so I’ve turned my attention…
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Put the “social” in social media
Anyone who is using social media without investigating the local component is missing a huge piece of what this technology has to offer. Location-based tools like Foursquare have clearly shown that social media provides value in the way we get to know our communities and companies like Groupon and Living Social are getting us deals on our local adventures. Twitter is no different - there are many local groups who have routine “tweet-ups” to facilitate connections in the community. Whether you’re new to town or just want to learn a little more about the area, staying connected with these groups is a great way to make new friends and expand…
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All-Star City
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I heart beer
I was raised on beer. Literally. My dad began making beer before I was born and has continued, off and on, through the years; he now has a brewery in the basement. I’m a child raised with hops in my back yard, who crushed malt in the kitchen and sampled beers before it was technically legal. I love beer. So being both a beer lover and a girl I was intrigued to hear that several breweries have plans to release new beers targeted towards women. I probably should have been wary – my favorite beers tend to have lots of hops, yielding an often strong and slightly bitter flavor that…
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Chain Letter Wannabe
My mother is a wonderful, near-perfect human being but there is one aspect of her personality that makes me wake up in a cold sweat: she has the tendency to send chain letters. Well, chain emails but it’s the same thing. Actually, chain emails are worse – I like getting mail that isn’t a bill but a chain email is one step above SPAM. One teeny, tiny, oft-abused step. So when my cousin, Jellybean Mama (a.k.a. Cate) tagged me in what is essentially a blog chain letter I sighed dramatically and resigned myself to my fate. But I was secretly a little happy 1. for the excuse to blog and…
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All-Star City
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Under the Weather
Side effects. We’ve all had ’em. You start a new drug or maybe a diet and BAM! – all of a sudden you’re dizzy or hungry or tired or have the ability to levitate. Ok, I haven’t seen any evidence of the last one but I don’t want to limit the discussion. The problem is, no one really likes side effects (although if the levitation is available, I’m interested). They’re the unexpected, and generally unwanted, elements that come from trying to get something you DO want. You want to get rid of migraines and you end up with insomnia. Or you want to be able to meet a nice a…
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Geek Girls Unite
I recently attended BarCampRDU for the first time. I’m not going to go into detail explaining the concept behind this event but in a few words it’s a tech-heavy un-conference that takes place annually in the Raleigh area. It was a great event. Circumstances being what they were I was only there for half of the day but it was well organized, the sessions I went to were great and there were some really cool people there – kudos to the planners and participants! As the day began to wind down I noticed some dissent in the #barcampRDU twitter stream that I thought was very interesting. tesmith #BarCampRDU feels like…
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Consider me ignited, Raleigh
Way to go Raleigh! Last night’s Ignite Raleigh event was a very entertaining blend of technology, entertainment and education. I could go on and on about the awesomeness of the event but let me try to keep things brief by highlighting a couple of particularly fantastic contributions… Everyone Needs a Dumb Guy Chris Moody (@cnmoody) did a presentation about the “dumb guy” in the office who asks the often dumb and difficult questions the client will ask. It was a very quick look at the benefits of broadening your advisers; diversity of POV leads to more information and better decisions… sounds like he’s read ‘The Wisdom of Crowds‘! Chris did…
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National Pride
On a snowy morning in April, my Canadian-born mother and American-born father struggled through the final hours of labor. At 7:35am on April 5th, I was born in a small apartment in Belleville, a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For five years my family moved: in and out of three Canadian cities and two provinces, until finally, shortly before I entered kindergarten, my father was offered a transfer. My dad was an employee of the Toronto-based Northern Telecom (later known as Nortel) and he and my mom jumped at the opportunity to try a warmer climate and better cost of living. We moved to Nashville, Tennessee. I have not lived…
