Ideas and insight

Tools and tech

For our latest articles and podcasts, visit alexandrasamuel.com and robcottingham.ca.

Tools mac Google drupal iphone software email gmail mac-ify Basecamp netbook gtd productivity evernote task management workflow tripit apple os x google docs iGoogle dropbox firefox voodoopad skitch inbox zero mail.app rememberthemilk HP Mini iPad web applications WIDget api browser mobile WiFi Flock microsoft manymoon toolbox howto review tutorial privacy security scraping design web design ux usability css interface graphics developers

2005

10 tools that tap the power of blogsAlexandra Samuel · 21 May, 2005
Organizing notes with VoodooPadAlexandra Samuel · 21 August, 2005
10 ways to keep online dialogue on topicAlexandra Samuel · 18 November, 2005

2006

Privacy, security and aggregation in the new webRob Cottingham · 26 March, 2006
A directory of the best in Web 2.0 applicationsRob Cottingham · 3 April, 2006
First look: Google Page CreatorRob Cottingham · 4 April, 2006
Monster mashup: get the latest on the programmable WebRob Cottingham · 14 April, 2006
How your organization can use Drupal to monitor social and mainstream mediaAlexandra Samuel · 24 April, 2006
Rewarding public-interest programmersRob Cottingham · 8 June, 2006
MacBook with tag cloudAlexandra Samuel · 19 September, 2006
Drupal module allows you to build your own homepageRob Cottingham · 20 October, 2006
Online participationRob Cottingham · 27 October, 2006

2007

Tracking tasks with Remember The Milk: Dairy delight or lactose intolerance?Rob Cottingham · 2 January, 2007
Matters of taste: When Second Life gets too explicitRob Cottingham · 19 January, 2007
LinkwadAlexandra Samuel · 30 January, 2007
Podcast episode #2: Should you test your site for usability?Rob Cottingham · 14 February, 2007
Lijit: a social web search widgetRob Cottingham · 27 February, 2007
Does your organization have a Wikipedia entry? Start monitoring it now.Rob Cottingham · 13 March, 2007
ChangeEverything.ca: Setting the stage for participationRob Cottingham · 29 March, 2007
How social networks (especially Facebook) bring value to your online outreachAlexandra Samuel · 28 April, 2007
Searching for a CRMPravin and Rob · 2 May, 2007
Apparent hoax hits FacebookRob Cottingham · 4 May, 2007
How to make friends on social networksRob Cottingham · 6 May, 2007
DrupalCamp Toronto: we were there in spiritRob Cottingham · 17 May, 2007
Floatleft's new storytelling siteRob Cottingham · 24 May, 2007
Supporting non-profit innovation through NetSquared: a Drupal module for NewscloudAlexandra Samuel · 29 May, 2007
Skitch: suddenly, screenshots are simplerRob Cottingham · 22 June, 2007
Cartoon: Primary coloursRob Cottingham · 27 June, 2007
Skitch invitesRob Cottingham · 6 July, 2007
Usability tip: "cancel" isn't the same as "no"Rob Cottingham · 22 August, 2007
The kid inside you may be Apple's secret weaponRob Cottingham · 2 October, 2007
BC Hydro's Green Gifts: harnessing Facebook gift-giving energy for conservationRob Cottingham · 16 October, 2007
How to add an authenticated RSS feed in Mail for OS X 10.5Rob Cottingham · 20 November, 2007
Nudging participation along at ChangeEverything.caRob Cottingham · 22 November, 2007
Bridging the virtual world and your information in DrupalRob Cottingham · 26 November, 2007
These week's vendetta: OS X 10.5 Leopard's imperfectionsRob Cottingham · 28 November, 2007
Run IE on your Mac with free ies4osxRob Cottingham · 30 November, 2007
Vendetta of the Week: When branding trumps usabilityRob Cottingham · 11 December, 2007

2008

Google docs: now in SafariAlexandra Samuel · 31 January, 2008
Introducing Bedtime with Rob and AlexAlex and Rob · 5 February, 2008
Target V.P. Michael Axelin on the seven components of successful innovationAlexandra Samuel · 8 February, 2008
Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 5: the vintage episodeAlex and Rob · 20 February, 2008
How the iPhone can have a big impact on busy livesAlexandra Samuel · 21 February, 2008
Podcast: Online tools and gadgets that keep you current at work and at homeAlex and Rob · 21 February, 2008
User-friendly online tools make managing information easy - inside and outside your teamRob Cottingham · 28 February, 2008
Podcast: Tools and strategies for staying updated and afloat in your busy lifeAlex and Rob · 1 March, 2008
Ep. 16: the hexiversary episodeAlex and Rob · 14 March, 2008
ChangeEverything.ca gets a Webby nomination... and some big-league peersAlex and Rob · 15 April, 2008
Flock: a deserving Webby winner, and a ground-breaking browserRob Cottingham · 7 May, 2008
Supporters show love for ChangeEverything at the Webby AwardsRob Cottingham · 7 May, 2008
Dealing with scrapers: when people steal your contentRob Cottingham · 5 June, 2008
Bookmark Devil readers, please enjoy this stolen postRob Cottingham · 7 June, 2008
This bathrobe stolen from the Holiday InnRob Cottingham · 9 June, 2008
A final dig at our website thievesRob Cottingham · 10 June, 2008
Customers throwing themselves at you? Might be nice to get their names.Rob Cottingham · 11 June, 2008
A little ambiguity gets Google off the hook over TaiwanRob Cottingham · 16 July, 2008
Online collaboration for your right brain, part 1: an introduction to digital mind mappingAlexandra Samuel · 23 July, 2008
Online collaboration for your right brain, part 2: MindMeister at Social SignalAlexandra Samuel · 24 July, 2008
Take note of Evernote (especially if you're an iPhone user)Alexandra Samuel · 18 September, 2008
Status update: Twittering your way to effective (and expressive) communicationAlexandra Samuel · 17 October, 2008
Reframe it offers collaboration in contextAlexandra Samuel · 27 October, 2008
Respect your customers' data in your web application information policiesRob Cottingham · 3 December, 2008
It's lonely at the topRob Cottingham · 5 December, 2008

2009

ManyMoon offers collaborative task management that project managers can loveAlexandra Samuel · 19 January, 2009
10 ways to use numbers in your blog post titlesRob Cottingham · 2 February, 2009
Social network invitations: Rules for services and usersAlexandra Samuel · 22 February, 2009
Responding to online criticismAlexandra Samuel · 24 February, 2009
From the Northern Voice pipeline: suggestions for dealing with negative commentsJessica Robinet · 27 February, 2009
Designing for Democracy: Thursday, March 5 in VancouverRob Cottingham · 28 February, 2009
Enrich your content with ZemantaAlexandra Samuel · 28 February, 2009
Security and social media in an age of disclosure and aggregationRob Cottingham · 6 March, 2009
Social media tips for business travel, today in Harvard Business onlineAlexandra Samuel · 6 March, 2009
10 steps to get your e-mail inbox to zero every dayAlexandra Samuel · 8 March, 2009
How I got to inbox zeroAlexandra Samuel · 8 March, 2009
10 tools from 2005 that tapped the power of blogs - where are they now?Karen Fung · 9 March, 2009
DoodleBuzz offers a new way of visualizing the newsAlexandra Samuel · 14 March, 2009
How to display a Google Form in a particular languageRob Cottingham · 17 March, 2009
Handling your identity across many online profilesRob Cottingham · 18 March, 2009
Veerle Pieters at SXSW on colour and the Social Signal web redesignRob Cottingham · 23 March, 2009
Building your social media teamAlexandra Samuel · 26 March, 2009
Rob in Vancouver Sun story on Facebook "Photo Stalker" appRob Cottingham · 26 March, 2009
Inviting positive customer feedbackAlexandra Samuel · 28 March, 2009
6 essential social media tools for your business or organizationAlexandra Samuel · 30 March, 2009
3 steps to jumpstart your corporate Twitter account by moving friends and followers from other accountsAlexandra Samuel · 4 April, 2009
Speakers: how to use Twitter to magnify your speech's online impactRob Cottingham · 10 April, 2009
Social media strategy and tech tips, now available through Firefox searchAlexandra Samuel · 11 April, 2009
How to remove the DiggBarRob Cottingham · 13 April, 2009
Twitter quickstart: Your first 21 tweetsAlexandra Samuel · 20 April, 2009
Twitter quickstart: Effective twittering in 5 minutes a weekAlexandra Samuel · 21 April, 2009
Twitter quickstart: 10 ways to make time to TwitterAlexandra Samuel · 22 April, 2009
12 kid-friendly iPhone apps for toddlers and young kidsAlexandra Samuel · 29 April, 2009
5 time-wasting Internet rules that you should think about breakingAlexandra Samuel · 6 May, 2009
Doors are finally opening to public dataRob Cottingham · 22 May, 2009
Getting the most from your new MacAlexandra Samuel · 23 May, 2009
The 9 software choices every Mac user needs to makeAlexandra Samuel · 23 May, 2009
18 tools for effective social media participation on blogs and beyondAlexandra Samuel · 30 May, 2009
5 ways to protect your Mac's looks and performanceAlexandra Samuel · 30 May, 2009
4 Mac applications that make you more productiveAlexandra Samuel · 2 June, 2009
Getting to know a tool before pigeonholing itRob Cottingham · 2 June, 2009
6 ways to customize your Mac's Finder and user experienceAlexandra Samuel · 8 June, 2009
Censorship isn't the only problem with China's new Internet blocking softwareRob Cottingham · 10 June, 2009
5 ways to think like a Mac userAlexandra Samuel · 30 June, 2009
Make the most of your conference sponsorshipRob Cottingham · 7 July, 2009
Surefire ways to send would-be LinkedIn contacts fleeing in terrorRob Cottingham · 14 July, 2009
Google Reader: the first social newsreader?Rob Cottingham · 20 July, 2009
Best tech gadgets of 2009 (so far)Alexandra Samuel · 23 July, 2009
The 10 ingredients that make a great wifi caféAlexandra Samuel · 27 July, 2009
Vancouver's 12 best wifi cafés and restaurantsAlexandra Samuel · 27 July, 2009
Seven ways to break the habit of compulsive e-mail and Twitter check-insAlexandra Samuel · 10 September, 2009
Making a Mac netbook, part 1: Why I Mac-ifiedAlexandra Samuel · 30 September, 2009
Making a Mac netbook, part 2: How to install the Mac OS on a Windows or Unix netbookAlexandra Samuel · 1 October, 2009
Making a Mac netbook, Part 3: How to migrate your current Mac setup to your new Mac netbookAlexandra Samuel · 1 October, 2009
Part 4: My $400 MacBook Air LightAlexandra Samuel · 3 October, 2009
Part 5: How to decide if you should install the Mac OS on a PC netbookAlexandra Samuel · 11 October, 2009
Part 6: A checklist of steps to take before installing the Mac OS on a PC netbookAlexandra Samuel · 11 October, 2009
How to enable sleep on your HP Mini hackintosh netbookAlexandra Samuel · 12 October, 2009
Google profiles Social Signal's project management processRob Cottingham · 10 December, 2009

2010

Finding and Keeping Love Online: A video ValentineAlex and Rob · 11 February, 2010
Little disclosures can add up to big exposuresRob Cottingham · 28 March, 2010
New Twitter feature lets you embed tweets in your blog posts with original formattingRob Cottingham · 5 May, 2010
Northern Voice: Rachel Smith on graphic recording on the iPadRob Cottingham · 7 May, 2010
Northern Voice: Alexandra Samuel on coping with social mediaRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2010
Northern Voice: Chris Messina on the open web - and what threatens to close it upRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2010
With great market share comes great responsibilityRob Cottingham · 8 May, 2010
Why Quit Facebook Day didn't workRob Cottingham · 1 June, 2010
Could a simple code ease conflict over email marketing?Rob Cottingham · 3 June, 2010
Five ways to work on your blog when you aren't onlineRob Cottingham · 19 July, 2010
Protecting yourself from an online service's shutdownRob Cottingham · 20 July, 2010
Flipboard could gently challenge your intellectual comfort zoneRob Cottingham · 27 July, 2010
What you don't need in your Twitter biographyRob Cottingham · 9 September, 2010
Defend your email inbox from a Facebook Groups barrageRob Cottingham · 7 October, 2010
Can't get an answer from Google Analytics? Ask your users.Rob Cottingham · 27 October, 2010
How to get your Wikipedia entry changed... without breaking the rulesRob Cottingham · 5 December, 2010

2011

Social media in 2010: a cartoon year in reviewRob Cottingham · 3 January, 2011
Adding an RSS feed to your iGoogle pageRob Cottingham · 26 January, 2011
Google Circles is great. But I'm waiting for Google Venn Diagrams.Rob Cottingham · 8 July, 2011
Three handy tools for engaging on Google+Rob Cottingham · 12 October, 2011
Use tags to replace the RSS feed from Google Reader's "Share" buttonRob Cottingham · 1 November, 2011
Gmail's new design offers plenty of white space... and a good exampleRob Cottingham · 5 December, 2011
The social speech: How your friends and followers can help you write your next presentationRob Cottingham · 7 December, 2011

2012

A social media ValentineAlex and Rob · 14 February, 2012
Why you should help users recover gracefully from their mistakesRob Cottingham · 15 March, 2012
Social Speech Podcast, Episode 4: David EavesRob Cottingham · 10 April, 2012
A bookmarklet to hide the Drupal 7 administration toolbarRob Cottingham · 11 May, 2012
How right-sized graphics can lend a whole new dimension to your online appearanceRob Cottingham · 10 December, 2012
Terms of service changes deserve more than just a shrug and a clickRob Cottingham · 18 December, 2012

2019

What Autism Can Teach Us About Overcoming Digital BurnoutAlexandra Samuel · 30 January, 2019

2020

The productivity app that will change your lifeAlexandra Samuel · 8 January, 2020
What I’ve learned from two decades of remote workAlexandra Samuel · 29 March, 2020

2021

Put the audience first. Keep it simple. And other lessons from helping to run myRob Cottingham · 25 February, 2021
How Working From Home Has Changed EmployeesAlexandra Samuel · 12 June, 2021

2022

Meet the Dirty Digital DozenAlexandra Samuel · 26 July, 2022
What's your hybrid plan for 2023?Alexandra Samuel · 13 December, 2022

2023

Inbox overwhelmed? Here’s how I kept mine empty for a yearAlexandra Samuel · 8 August, 2023

2024

How to train your own AI in 15 minutesAlexandra Samuel · 30 January, 2024
4 ways to make work funAlexandra Samuel · 26 March, 2024
How to solve your work problems with AIAlexandra Samuel · 21 May, 2024
Inside You There Are Three A.I.sAlexandra Samuel · 2 July, 2024
4 Ways To Make Work Fit Your Unique BrainAlexandra Samuel · 3 September, 2024

2025

The workplace needs your quirks—not your apologies.Alexandra Samuel · 4 March, 2025
Beat AI sycophancy with my “team of rivals” promptAlexandra Samuel · 18 October, 2025

2026

The five work habits I used to write my next bookAlexandra Samuel · 19 March, 2026
Five insights into our AI future, from FutureproofAlexandra Samuel · 6 November, 2026

Undated