Don’t you hate it when you procrastinate? You have to write that email, blog post, or what-have-you and you keep putting it off. Maybe it’s because you don’t want to think about it. Or you’re a little scared of not doing it well… or the response you’ll get. Or maybe you’re “too busy” (if it’s important – you’re not too busy).

Well, I came across this great site called Write or Die. You set a writing goal for yourself and if you don’t meet it the site “punishes” you. It could be as low-key as an annoying pop-up or as extreme as erasing you work. All you have to do is set your goal and start writing.

And, ok, this isn’t really an end to procrastination. For instance, I’ve been procrastinating trying it out all day. But, look, it made me write something. Success.

Originally published on the Huffington Post.

So everyone’s buzzing (excuse the pun) about Google’s new social feature. Is this the best thing since sliced bread or is it going to go the way of FriendFeed? If you’re not familiar with it, Google Buzz is a social sharing service that allows you to post “buzz” to your followers and publicly, and is now integrated into Gmail.

According to Google’s official blog post on the subject, their goal is “organizing the social information on the web.” Now, that’s a pretty lofty objective, but I gotta call BS on that. Google Buzz isn’t about organizing the information already out there, it’s about Google getting in on some of that content creation for itself. It wants to own the next Twitter or Facebook instead of sitting on the sidelines. Not that I blame them, but there it is.

So how is Google Buzz different? It doesn’t have a character limit and conversations are threaded so you can comment below the original post. (OK so there’s actually a few more differences and you can check out Monica O’Brien’s ode to Buzz for the play by play). But, honestly, that’s pretty much it and neither of these ideas are really new. Google Buzz is decidedly unoriginal (for more on this check out TechCrunch’s superbly titled If Google Wave is the Future, Google Buzz is the Present). There’s nothing new here. Threaded comments have been around since online forums, the idea of social sharing is so 2005, and choosing who to follow is, well, have you heard of Twitter?

Despite this though, Google Buzz has one huge advantage over other up-and-coming services – its huge built-in user base. If it weren’t for Gmail integration, Google Buzz would be a goner. As is, Google Buzz has million of users from the get-go who have been trained to pay attention to that bolded indicator that there are new things to be read. We just can’t help checking it out.

Yet, Google Buzz’s unoriginality is not its downfall. It’s a nice amalgamation of some other social services and because of the comment threads, it really allows for multi-person conversation in a way that Twitter doesn’t. Integration with Gmail makes it easy for users to instantly find people they want to follow and share with. It’s like taking a shortcut to a community, and who doesn’t love shortcuts?

Follow me on Google Buzz.

I’m editing some videos right now for Mobclix of interviews we did with iPhone developers at Macworld. I’m having a hard time crediting some of the developers from videos taken by my coworkers. Amazingly, there are iPhone developers who are there at Macworld to market their product and spread the word but who will agree to an interview and not say who they are, plug their product, or even insure the interviewer has the correct info to credit them correctly. How is this possible?

So the rule is:

Introduce yourself! Say who you are, who you’re affiliated with, and why you’re there, but keep it short and sweet.  If it won’t fit into the final product these plugs can be easily edited out, but it might make it in, so say it.

And in case you’re curious about how else you can improve your short video technique, how about:

• Be friendly. Smile.
• Speak up. Please, please, please speak up.
• Don’t be afraid to ask to redo your video (or a part of it). It’s okay if you got nervous and most people who will take the time to interview in the first place won’t mind redoing a certain part if you’d like (there are some exceptions, but if so they’ll probably tell you ahead of time).

Originally published on the Huffington Post.

I predict Apple’s iPad will be a big success… by the second or third generation. I think this initial version will perform moderately, but won’t knock it out of the park — since Apple’s been knocking everything out of the park lately, this in of itself, may seem like a failure, but that’s another post all together.

So, why don’t I think it’ll make it big right now? It’s a big idea. The iPad is not a computer or a smartphone. What do I even need it for? It’ll take people time to figure out how the iPad can best be used. But, I don’t think it’ll flop either because, let’s be honest, it’s pretty darn slick. I don’t know how I’ll use it, but I’d love to have one.

The iPad is a true revolution in computing. It’s a new kind of device that will be easy to use, truly intuitive, beautiful, and relatively cheap. I foresee a huge market for them in tech novices, people who want to be able to use email, and surf the web, but don’t need the computing power of a full machine. Macworld has an awesome article pushing this idea even further called “The iPad isn’t a a third device, but a third revolution.” The iPad runs on the iPhone OS and uses iPhone/iPad apps instead of normal computer programs, and, although this will bother power users, many mainstream users will find they don’t need anything else. Furthermore, it’s got a pretty appealing price point, that starts at just $499.

The iPad needs more features and time to truly become mainstream. Where’s multi-tasking, a camera, and a usb port? I predict they’ll be included in the next generation. Also, it will take time for people to realize the true value of the device. Just think about the iPod — it wasn’t immediately popular but now it’s a cultural icon.

So what do you think? Let me know if you agree, and especially let me know if you disagree.

Originally published on the Huffington Post on 1/22/09.

As I grew up, in my mind, I saw the idea of a glass ceiling or a gender gap in the workplace as a relic. It was for the history books, something my mom and grandmother had to deal with, but never something I would encounter. In my generation – I’m 22 – women sometimes even take equality for granted, grumbling about a bygone era when guys used to be (chauvinist) gentlemen.

But, is the battle really over? Can we rightfully declare victory and move on with our daily lives? Lately, I’ve been thinking the answer’s no. If you look at the actual statistics, they show we still have a ways to go.

While women account for 57% of all college students, only 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women according to a 2008 PEW Research Study. Only two percent? It’s easy to rationalize away differences in women’s outcomes as differences in choices not opportunities. Women make less than men (76.5% of what men earn, according to a 2004 study), but maybe it’s because of the choices women make. Many choose to slow down their careers to have children. Women often value having a little more free time rather than working longer work weeks. Women choose to go into “pink-collar” careers like sales and PR that pay less than more technical options (and I’m a little guilty myself since I’m on the marketing side). But if the choices are causing differences this stark we need to look at what’s causing them.

Working in the tech industry in the Silicon Valley, I see the biggest divide in my daily life. I regularly go to iPhone and Android developer meetups and am one of the few girls there (and sometimes the only one). At the tech startup I work with I’m the only full-time female employee. But having been involved some in the recruiting process myself, I know the answer isn’t sexism. Men are simply much, much more likely to apply for these jobs.

What is it about women or our society that makes tech seem so unattractive to the female gender? Perhaps I’m the wrong person to ask, since in many ways I’m the exception to the rule — I had my own domain name by age 11, was programming websites by high school, and am currently working for a tech startup.

Instead of looking for issues in hiring or the workplace, I think we need to look at attitudes. A report was recently released from the New Image for Computing project that found that 45% of boys thought computer science would be a “very good” major for them compared to only 10% of girls. Girls need role models to show them that the tech world is not a boys only club. Our society makes it all too clear that everything “techie” from computer games, to programming, to gadgets, are centered around boys (just take a recent Droid commercial as an example).

Women need role models to show them that being involved in tech isn’t a bad thing (my dad and siblings are the ones who encourage me). Yet, with such a huge gender gap, all women see at tech events and in tech companies is that tech is all about men. Only 5 percent of computer programmers are women, and women lead only 5 to 6 percent of major high tech companies in the Silicon Valley (source). That’s part of the reason I’ll be going to the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference next week because there simply aren’t enough times when girls in technology get a chance to form a common bond.

I don’t have the solution. I wish I did, but I think the answer lies in bringing the issue out into the open. Let’s not pretend that everything is completely equal and no work’s left to be done. But let’s also not simply blame the system and deem the situation impossible. Let’s talk.

Fear holds us back. Sometimes it holds us back for good reason, it keeps us safe. But it can hold us back from greater things as well. And with that I’ll leave you with more eloquent words than mine…

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

-Marianne Wilson (although often misattributed to Nelson Mandela)

This poem strikes a chord with me, but I’d love to hear what you think. What scares you? Does fear ever influence you in good ways? Ways you regret?

Early last year I was knee-deep in a job search and also a perhaps predictable crisis trying to “find” myself and figure out just what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

Luckily, I soon came to the much more manageable conclusion that while figuring out the rest of my life was dauntingly impossible, I could find what I wanted to do in the next few years (or attempt it anyway).

And indeed, I did finally find the right job for me. I started work for Mobclix, a mobile ad exchange, last July. As July approached I was both excited and a bit terrified of joining this “real world” I’d heard so much about.Was it really quite as devoid of fun as adults made it seem? Luckily, I’ve discovered the answer is no.

In fact, at times it seems just like college:

1. I’m surrounded by smart people, and they are all pretty close to my own age.
2. I always have too much work to do and not enough time.
3. I’m learning every day (many days, I’m learning much more than I did in college) — about social media, giving real life presentations (definitely different from school presentations), talking to developers (our target market), and how to best work together with colleagues.
4. There’s always junk food around (and this definitely isn’t always bad…)

Oh and in case you’re curious, here’s the ways the real world (or my real world to be more accurate) is definitely different from college…

1. Having a real job brings new meaning to the “I don’t have enough time in the day” problem. I thought I was busy in college. Now I know what busy is (and I’m sure my older sisters with kids will tell me I still don’t know what busy is, but luckily I don’t have to worry about that yet).
2. Evaluation isn’t so simple. You don’t just get a grade.
3. The gender balance is little bit different. At least in my case where I work with basically all guys since I’m in a tech startup. See my recent blog post on Huffington Post for my take on that.
4. There’s less room for perfection. I found in college I could study long enough to get everything done — definitely at the cost of my own free time, but it was possible. Now, I simply cannot get everything done and I have to try to get as much stuff done well as I can. Getting something done “perfectly” is a waste of time.
5. It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. In college people are always asking you “what do you want do after you graduate,” “where do you see yourself in 5/10 years?,” and generally debating the meaning of life. Work leaves less time for that. Occasionally, I have to take a step back and decide I’m still heading in the right direction. For now, the answer is definitely yes.

I’ll be the first to admit, I love planning. There’s something so satisfying about planning things out so you don’t waste time and you’re on track to reach your goals.

But, then this thing called life happens. Your plan falls apart and you have to start from scratch. Those are the moments that determine who we are as people. And let’s be honest, those are the moments you remember. Times like driving to Yosemite at 3AM, talking about life until the wee hours of the morning, and coming out ahead after 17 last-minute changes at work.

Maybe you already know this, maybe you’ve already found the perfect balance of spontaneity and planning to live a happy and fulfilled life. But, for those of you who, like me, suffer occasionally from over-planning, I have a few tips that might help…

1. Watch out for game changers. Some opportunities are so big, so cool, and so awesome you just can’t say no to them.  Most times it’s so obvious when that happens that you don’t need me to tell you anything. Watch out for the not-so-obvious game changers too – the networking event, the blog post or article – sometimes it’s the small things that determine where you end up in life.
2. Flash forward. Imagine yourself looking back at this moment 10 years from now or even on your deathbed and think about your decision from that perspective. It’s too easy to get caught up by what you wanted three months ago when you made the plan instead of what’s right for you now. Use the “am I going to kick myself later?” metric.
3. Don’t forget about fun. Are you missing out because you have your life so meticulously planned that you can’t even take a coffee break?  Seriously, you should ask this question. Life is not just about advancing your career.  And sometimes that break is just what you needed to get your work done.

So, how necessary is planning? How do you decide when to let go?

My slideshow of the 5 Best iPhone Apps to Take on a Date is out now, on the Huffington Post. Check it out.

Problem: New apartment that needs a couch when my car is a Mini Cooper.

Solution: Guy in Ikea ties a whole bunch of rope around the couch and I actually make it home. Nice.