List of Publications

10 ways to Sign Your Name — from Pen to Browse-Wrap, TechRepublic.com, 1/16/2014.

Signing a contract has a long tradition, but it’s changed a lot recently. Electronic signatures have made it faster and easier, but when you get to “I Accept” buttons on the web, and those “By browsing this site you accept … ” claims, the law is murky and the ethics as well.

10 ways Tech Support has Changed since the 1980s, TechRepublic.com, 8/9/2013.

With the evolution of computer technology, increasing standardization, the development of networks, and more informed users, what once required a personal “computer guy” is well on its way to becoming just another part of the infrastructure.

10 things I’ve learned about Twitter as a late adopter, TechRepublic.com, 4/2/2013.

A novice’s review of Twitter in which I likened it to a gigantic cocktail party in which everyone is blindfolded.

10 things I don’t miss about Big Iron, TechRepublic.com, 7/8/2011.

Computer operations in the late 1970s wasn’t all groovy, man.

10 arguments for and against WikiLeaks, TechRepublic.com, 4/11/2011.

When WikiLeaks gave thousands of pages of classified U.S. military and diplomatic communications to media outlets, were they engaged in espionage or whistle-blowing?

10 things I miss about Big Iron, TechRepublic.com, 12/14/2010.

A nostalgic look back at computer operations in the late 1970s — the era of Big Iron.

Memristors open new possibilities in storage and computing, TechRepublic.com, 5/18/2010.

An information piece on Hewlett-Packard’s progress in the development of the memristor, a fundamental electronic circuit element which retains its 0-or-1 state even when powered down.

10 common user questions – and some analogies that help clear things up, TechRepublic.com, 12/28/2009.

This article includes questions and analogies culled from numerous responses to an earlier TechRepublic article by Toni Bowers. There are also some good analogies in the responses to the piece itself.

10 habits of superstitious users, TechRepublic.com, 8/24/2009.

More evidence for the validity of [Arthur] Clarke’s Third Law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

10 things that drive your users crazy, TechRepublic.com, 6/10/2009.

Originally titled “10 Buttons Not To Push,” this article describes ways computer support professionals can unintentionally turn a computer problem into a personal conflict.

“One-way Doors, Teleportation and Writing without Prepositions: an analysis of WWW hypertext links,” Words on the Web: Computer Mediated Communication, pp. 4-12, Lyn Pemberton and Simon Shurville, eds. Exeter: Intellect, 2000.

Originally a paper presented at the Writing and Computers conference, in Brighton, England, on September 17-22, 1997.