Feature Articles

The Great Indoors

Boston Magazine, June 2006

Children are stepping from the schoolhouse door into a more sinister kind of summer vacation, thanks to two tiny critters that have invaded our physical and psychic space--the deer tick and the EEE-infected mosquito.

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Adventures in Suburbia

The Improper Bostonian, December 21, 2005--January 10, 2006

You grew up there, you moved away as soon as you could, and someday, like wild salmon back from the sea, you'll return there to spawn.

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Green. Peace.

The Improper Bostonian , June 1-14, 2005

It's never too late to grab yourself some instant karma. Herewith, we take pity on your sorrowful self and share with you some of our favorite peaceful places.

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Birth Control’s Invisible Mommy Majority

Brain,Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, Fall 2006

Was it my fault I was still using the same method I picked out when I walked into the Planned Parenthood clinic in Ithaca, N.Y. at the dawn of the '80s?

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Taking Liberties with Harry Potter

The Boston Globe Magazine, June 29, 2003

Fanfic didn't start with Harry Potter or the Internet, but that combination has brought it as close as ever to the mainstream, where it's raising a host of legal, moral and creative questions.

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A Star-Studded Kid-Lit Scam

The Boston Globe Magazine, February 23, 2003

What do Spike Lee, Lynne Cheney and Jerry Seinfeld have in common? Along with other celebrities, they write children's books that shoot to the top of the bestseller list no matter how bad they are.

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The Writing on the Wall

The Boston Globe Magazine, December 7, 2003

At Hamilton's Winthrop Elementary School, Mark Williams is known as one tough teacher, a man fond of two-minute math drills and killer book reports. But the subject dearest to his heart, the only one with the power to reduce his third-graders to tears, is one that's slipping ever further from America's collective consciousness: cursive handwriting.

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Revising Ophelia

Brain,Child, Winter 2005

We can't help today's teens by relying on old information. It's time to thank Ophelia for all her good work and then come back to our own decade.

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Inside a Colic Clinic

Child.com, March 2007

Difficult to define, even harder to treat, colic can turn a family's life upside down. In Rhode Island, one center is paving the way for new thinking about how to treat crying babies and the parents who are desperate to help them.

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Andrea Barrett: The Science of Her Art

The Boston Globe Magazine, February 29, 2004

Barrett returns frequently in her stories and novels to the unspoken disappointment of science: Research is stolen or lost, specimens painstakingly collected at great personal expense wind up at the bottom of the ocean, changing mores leave a life's worth of work irrelevant.

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Earth-Friendly Families

Child Magazine, June-July 2005

Thanks to a soulful new mindset about our environment and a wealth of resource-saving household options, green is becoming the new red, white and blue.

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Poop Taboo

Brain,Child, Fall, 2003

Encopresis is one childhood medical condition you won't read about--except here

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Essays and Funny Stuff

Prayers for a Young Mother

Brain,Child, Summer 2007

Please give me the clarity of mind to remember that, like the animals on the ark, good things come in pairs: the peanut butter and the jelly, the bagels and the cream cheese, the Fresh Step and the Meow Mix.

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Losing My Religion--Pushcart Prize winner!

Brain,Child, Winter 2003

My son lost his innocence in the back seat of our beat-up Volvo station wagon. I never dreamed he'd take me down with him.

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Kiss Harry Potter Goodbye

Salon.com, November 6, 2001

Harry on the Coke can. Hagrid in FAO Schwartz. Wizards by the dozen on your Halloween doorstep.

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When Good Moms Go Bawd

Brain,Child, Spring 2000

When it comes to strong language, in my house the children certainly do need to be protected . . . from their mother.

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Bad Mother=Good Kiddie Lit

Brain, Child, Spring 2001

What gives old Mrs. Rabbit the right to let her only son run off and play in the very field where his father was murdered?

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Scream Yourself Hoarse No More

Brain,Child, Winter 2002

Yes! I want to become a dulcet-voiced Stepford Mom while still giving my family the quality haranguing they need.

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The Write Time

Salon.com, June 29, 1999

I felt a kind of sick little bump when I realized literary fame wasn't going to happen for me, not in this century at least.

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Technology and Business

Real Businessmen Play with Dolls

CIO Magazine, February 15, 2005

Zurich North America makes good money in a tough market thanks to a traveling CEO and a smiling green-eyed doll.

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Banks Get Hip. No, Really!

Deliver Magazine, December 2006

Gone are the days of toaster giveaways. Banks are getting hip with innovative marketing ideas.

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Little Fish, Big Pond

Electronic Business, April 2005

How to partner with the big boys without being eaten alive.

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Targeting Perfection: Six Sigma Comes to IT

CIO Magazine , December 1, 2003

Six Sigma is a defect-reduction methodology that forces organizations to focus on the quality of the customer experience. And it can most definitely be applied to IT.

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The Next Chapter

CIO Magazine, September 15, 2000

Books aren't going away. But new technologies are sparking changes for a centuries-old industry—and pushing CIOs from the backlist to the spotlight.

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Value Made Visible

CIO Magazine , May 1, 2000

Determining the bottom-line contributions of all those intangible IT benefits may not be easy, but it's possible.

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Gaming for Grownups

Connect Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2

More adults are tuning out TV for a better reality show: interactive games online

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Blogging for Business

Connect Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 3

Done right, a Web log can be a potent way to capture and cater to customers

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A Buyer’s Guide to I.T. Value Methodologies

CIO Magazine , July 15, 2002

It's entirely possible to quantify, qualify and prioritize the ways IT contributes to the bottom line. Here's a roundup of several tools to help you do just that.

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Making the (Up)Grade

Connect Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 4

Determine when it is right for your company to upgrade systems or equipment, and how to go about it correctly

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Rough Patch

Connect Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 1

Keep your corporate software updated and minimize security risks with active patch management

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Invasive Procedures

CIO Magazine, January 15, 2001

Electronic medical records promise to transform the health-care industry--if security and privacy afflictions don't kill the patient first.

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Radio Revisited

Connect Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 3

Podcasting brings radio back to its (grass)roots

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Shiny Bait for Big Fish

Deliver Magazine, September, 2006

One commercial realtor is using the right medium to get the attention of C-level executives.

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Wi-Fi Hot Spots Heat Up

Electronic Business, May 1, 2003

Intel and pals kick off a major marketing push. Who stands to gain?

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Seeing Through the Crystal Ball

Electronic Business, October, 2001

There's a right way and a wrong way for a company to use analysts

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Making Their Mark

Electronic Business, January 2, 2002

Electronics companies seek recognition, attention and protection amid a stampede of trademarks and branding campaigns

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Ideas You Can Steal from Six Sigma

CSO Magazine , December, 2006

Six Sigma is notorious for complex and arcane jargon. But listen to a few well-respected security veterans, and you might just be willing to give Six Sigma a try.

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More CIOs Checking Out ITIL Library

CIO Magazine, May 1, 2004

As far as British imports go, the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) may not be as big as the Beatles. But the methodology is gaining adherents among CIOs who want to better manage the quality of the services they deliver.

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Invasive Procedures

CIO Magazine, January 15, 2001

Electronic medical records promise to transform the health-care industry--if security and privacy afflictions don't kill the patient first.

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Break Handle. Pull Glass. Call FBI.

CIO Magazine, June 1, 2001

If you're the victim of a security breach or a virus attack, get the feds on your side.

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From Private to Public

CIO Magazine , May 1. 2003

Private-sector CIOs are bringing new levels of expertise to government IT. And public service teaches CIOs skills that the private sector is finding ever more essential.

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For Sale by Web

Connect Magazine , Vol. 2, Issue 5

Net-based house hunting empowers buyers and sellers alike

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Crash Course

CSO Magazine , Fall 2003

How do universities cope each fall when students stream back to campus with infected, unpatched PCs? CISOs say it's (almost) all about the education.

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Goin’ Mobile

CMO Magazine, June 2005

The potential of mobile marketing is huge, but is there more to it than just fun and games?

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