From the category archives:

Work/Life

New York City Daytrip

by Dave Atkins on August 28, 2010

in Creative Life, Essay, Urbanism, Work/Life

I’m not sure what starting me thinking about New York City again, but yesterday, somewhat impulsively–but with a little planning–I decided to visit. By myself. Cheaply. Without a concrete plan, I did a lot and spent just a little over $100.
I’ve been to NYC about half a dozen times. As a freshman at MIT, I [...]

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Career Arc

by Dave Atkins on August 3, 2010

in Advice to Unemployed, Creative Life, Essay, Work/Life

My career is a search for opportunities to use my talents to help make a difference in people’s lives. My resume does not adequately make that connection. Much of what I enjoy writing involves connecting the dots between related but nonlinear ideas, so today I apply that to my own story:
I began with an interest [...]

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Yesterday, Patch (the hyper local news publisher funded by America Online) launched a Westwood, Massachusetts site–the 11th town so far in Massachusetts. I met the editor and am impressed that they are making an effort to cover the news in this town of 15,000–potentially filling the void left when the Daily News Transcript stopped being [...]

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Electric bikes have been around for years but recent advances in battery technology and Bedford, Massachussets company Pietzo, may have finally made them practical for commuters seeking an environmentally-responsible alternative to gridlock. I test rode several today, and I encourage others to hop on one of these bikes and learn how it could change your [...]

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And the Oscar Goes to…Apple

by Dave Atkins on June 8, 2010

in Creative Life, Parenting, Work/Life

The iPhone 4 is out and while mobile and tech gadget gurus will analyze its features, this 2-minute video describing the “Facetime” feature deserves the Oscar. The video pulls all the right heartstrings and makes the case for why you just have to buy your grandparents one of these NOW. From the Apple website:
People have [...]

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DaveWrites: A New Look

by Dave Atkins on June 7, 2010

in Creative Life, Work/Life

This blog started in 2006 as the writing anchor to many of my endeavors. I am simplifying, consolidating and focusing my online presence to more clearly define the DaveWrites “brand” around what I do best:

notice opportunities to use technology to make our lives better,
research how it works, and
write about it in a way that everyday [...]

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Race Timing Simplified with RFID

by Dave Atkins on June 7, 2010

in Technology How-To, Work/Life

Saturday, I ran the Harpoon 5-miler here in Boston. Thanks to a new technology, this was the simplest and easiest race ever for tracking my time. The race bibs had ChronoTrack B-Tag strips–completely eliminating the hassle of a timing chip. I did OK:
Nettime Pace Name [...]

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Comment spammers are relentless. I spend time every day just deleting the comments that make it through Akismet and other spam filters.
The spam-filtering service Akismet defeats most automated spam, but I suspect there is a class of low-wage human-powered spamming going on based on some internet marketer’s idea of link building.
The reason some people post [...]

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As I formalized the business organization for Dave Atkins Media, Inc., I learned a few things I am going to share here–sort of a corollary to my popular post on What I’ve Learned about Unemployment in Massachusetts.
But First Things First
Until you are seriously committed to starting a business, you don’t need to do anything more [...]

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Last Friday night, I attended an unconventional book-signing/networking party in Boston that brought together Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeff Cutler, and Mike Langford along with the usual suspects of the Boston social media scene. I picked up a copy of Gary’s book and then–because I missed the earlier train home, had an hour and a half to [...]

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