A young man wearing a VR headset and reaching out. From Ready Player One, cyber-dystopia.

Living in a cyber-dystopia

At the start of the year, I set a reading goal based on how many books I read the previous year. I don’t define what kinds of books I’ll read, but a pattern sometimes emerges. This year is turning out to be a year of dystopian fiction and cyberpunk, not just in books, but also …

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Beyonce in concert with the words "Run the World" across.

Lessons from Run the World 2018

This weekend I had the privilege to attend Run the World 2018, the League of Extraordinary Women’s annual conference for female entrepreneurs. And I mean privilege because tickets for this event started at $105 and my complimentary VIP ticket was about $375. More on that later. First up, the speakers lineup. Lola Berry – Nutritionist, …

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Darth Vader holding flowers for post on how to be a critic.

How to be a critic without being a racist, sexist neckbeard

Everyone’s a critic nowadays. Or a troll. Actress Kelly Marie Tran has deleted her Instagram posts following months of abuse. Tran has been the subject of online abuse since she appeared as Rose Tico, the scrappy Resistance hero in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The film was a critical and box office success. Critics and …

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White smartphone face down.

Why I didn’t buy a new iPhone and the smartphone I bought instead

On most weekday mornings, I get a coffee on my way to my office. The barista knows how I like my drinks. My flat whites and lattes with one sugar. My hot chocolate extra hot. My chai lattes extra spicy. Usually small, occasionally medium. Because of my hot beverage infidelity, he waits until I place …

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A woman's hands using a laptop, on Facebook.

What does Facebook know about you?

I’ve been working in digital communications for about eight years. I’ve spent most of that time as an online community and social media manager. Family and friends often ask me questions about Facebook. As I scroll through conversations, I also spot naive comments from users about what Facebook does and how. For example, in response …

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