Writer & Tech Journalist
This week the world of consumer health technology got a rude shock, when the FDA warned personal genomics company 23andMe that its marketing was in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act). The FDA seemed most concerned about the potential for 23andMe customers to misread their DNA results and take unnecessary or ... Read more
Today I completed the first, rough, draft of my book about consumer health technology. I've now got a 70,000 word document sitting inside my computer. 12 chapters. A friend suggested I print it out, so it feels like a real book. I think I'll do that, to feel the weight of paper on my fingertips! ... Read more
This morning I completed the ninth draft chapter of my book, on the topic of consumer health technology. I've now written 55,000 words, so I'm roughly 3/4 of the way there. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made since my previous Writer's Log at the end of June. My goal at that point was ... Read more
We're halfway through 2013, so it's a good time to update you all on my book project. My book is about how Internet technology is revolutionizing the health and wellness industries, by empowering you - the consumer - to take control of your day to day health. I've had fun researching and writing it. I've ... Read more
It’s been nearly a month since my last Writer’s Log update, when I reached the 20,000 words mark in my book. Today’s update is focused less on word count and more on the work I’ve been doing interviewing people, editing, and iterating on the book’s structure. For those people who don’t know, I’m writing a ... Read more
Ten years ago today, I started a blog called Read/Write Web. It's the tech blog you now know as ReadWrite. Over the following decade, I put my heart and soul into the site. With the help of the good people listed below, I grew it into an independent media company that employed over 20 people. I sold ... Read more
I just went past the 20,000 words mark in my book. It took me about 3 weeks to write the first 10,000 words, but just over half that (8 working days) for the second 10,000. And yes, I am tracking my daily book progress too, amongst all the other self-tracking I’m doing! I’ve now written ... Read more
When I began my book project on consumer health technology, I had two classes of technology in mind for particular attention: Quantified Self (a.k.a. self-tracking) and personal genomics. I’ve found plenty of material to write about in the Quantified Self area. However I’ve been disappointed in my findings about personal genomics. I’m also not so ... Read more
Today I reached the 10,000 words mark in my book. 10,335 words, to be exact. I’ve finished the first draft of one chapter and am about 75-80% of the way through a second. I actually started the latter chapter first, but I’m waiting on some extra information from the company I’m writing about. So I moved ... Read more
At the start of this year I noted the return of the watch to technology innovation. The renewed interest in watches is largely thanks to Pebble, a crowdfunded smart watch that got a lot of attention at CES this year. It's looking increasingly likely that watches are going to be a big driver in the ... Read more
Industry analysts at Altimeter, Chris Silva and Jeremiah Owyang, did a welcome overview post of the technology that mattered at SXSW this year. Welcome because nearly every other SXSW post I saw was about the parties and corporate concerts...although I have been extremely guilty of that too at past SXSWs! I didn’t miss going to ... Read more
This week I decided to make a change in my diet. In order to measure how my body reacts to the new diet, I’m logging the food I eat - at least for the next week in the adjustment period. There are no shortage of apps and websites that enable you to log your food. ... Read more
It’s been over a month since my last ‘Writer’s Log’ entry. Partly that’s because I’ve been experimenting with other methods to keep my social media profile active. Also I began a private book journal this year. Perhaps that pushed the public one to the background. However, a friend reminded me this week that it’s been ... Read more
When I was a professional blogger, December was one of my favorite months of the year. Because December is when I rolled out the year-end Best Of and Top 10 lists on ReadWrite. It’s a tradition dating back to 2004. While that’s only 8 human years ago, in Internet years it’s about 3 eras. Consider ... Read more
In the recent Dominion Post newspaper profile of me, I told the interviewer that I wished I’d known my increased risk of getting diabetes type 1 *before* I got it five years ago. DNA testing service 23andMe launched at the end of 2007, about a month after I discovered my diabetic fate. So if it ... Read more