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Resistance is futile: A success story
Nov 3, 2016 | The Peanut Diaries
Sometimes success looks like a little boy sobbing his eyes out. This success story begins yesterday morning, when Peanut showed up at school in his Halloween costume: a Borg cube. For those of you who aren’t Star Trek fans, let me explain that the Borg are a race of...
In The Orange Dot: Is my kid addicted to tech or am I just old?
Oct 31, 2016 | Published elsewhere, Self
Even adults can get obsessed with their social media analytics. So what do you do when your kids start measuring their every online move.
Rock Bottom
Oct 25, 2016 | The Peanut Diaries
When we finally pulled Peanut out of public school at the end of Grade 2, I thought we’d reached rock bottom. We had a 7-year-old with a basket of diagnoses and labels: anxiety, ADHD, sensory processing issues, tic disorder, fine motor lags and a 99.99th percentile...
Telling tales about my autistic son
Oct 21, 2016 | The Peanut Diaries
Introducing The Peanut Diaries: dedicated to sharing the experience of raising our gifted, autistic son.
Now on JSTOR: A Novel Defense of the Internet
Aug 16, 2016 | Published in JSTOR, Lifestyle
Like the Internet, the novel was once viewed as a colossal waste of time. My post for JSTOR Daily looks at how fiction became respectable — and how the Internet can, too.
How people feel about sharing a name online
Jun 28, 2016 | Published in JSTOR
Thanks to the Internet, more and more of us have digital doubles: people who share our name, and may often be confused with us. I try to keep track of all the other people out there named "Alexandra Samuel", and yet I also feel vaguely uncomfortable with the fact that...
TV for every occasion: shows for family viewing, multitasking and more
Apr 29, 2016 | Family Tech, Lifestyle
The problem with the golden age of TV is that with so many choices, it’s hard to know what to watch. This guide and cheat sheet helps you choose the right shows for four different occasions: dedicated viewing, multitasking, working out and family viewing.
How to tone down your tech
Apr 27, 2016 | Published elsewhere, Self, Productivity
If you’re looking for a little online sanity, there are better options than a digital fast. My first post for the Headspace blog shares five great alternatives.
How to raise a white hat hacker
Apr 25, 2016 | Family, Published in Passcode, Family Tech
Today in the Christian Science Monitor’s Passcode, I look at what it takes to turn a curious, tech-minded kid into an ethical hacker.
A Robot By Any Other Name
Apr 19, 2016 | Published in JSTOR
What the research on artificial intelligence tells us about why and how we humanize the devices in our lives.