The River https://the-river.net/ The personal professional blog of Pamela Parker -- musings on marketing, advertising, media and technology. Sat, 04 Nov 2023 20:24:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://the-river.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-SiteIconTheRiver-32x32.png The River https://the-river.net/ 32 32 In Defense of SEO https://the-river.net/in-defense-of-seo/ Sat, 04 Nov 2023 20:13:42 +0000 https://the-river.net/?p=1297 I'm not a search engine optimization (SEO) professional, but I know a lot of them. I've been lucky enough to attend dozens of search-related conferences (from Search Engine Strategies back in the day to SMX more recently), and, in the course of this, I've met some very talented, well-spoken, down-to-earth good people.

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]]> An Open Letter to FiveThirtyEight.com https://the-river.net/an-open-letter-to-fivethirtyeight-com/ Thu, 05 Nov 2020 17:20:01 +0000 http://the-river.net/?p=1272 I am so grateful that I felt compelled to pen this email to the reporters at FiveThirtyEight.com, praising them for their work on the Live Blog that has been my mainstay these past few days. I thought they deserved public recognition (such as it is on this badly-neglected site), so I'm reprinting it here.

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]]> The Digital Home Hub – Family Calendar https://the-river.net/digital-home-hub-family-calendar/ Sun, 04 Jun 2017 19:35:52 +0000 http://the-river.net/?p=1130 If your family is anything like mine, every day is aflutter with activities — Cub Scouts, Football Practice, Soccer Practice, Parkour Class, etc. And as our eldest enters Junior High next year, the number of goings-on is only likely to increase. With all this hubbub, we’ve experienced mornings when we’ve started hustling the kids out […]

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]]> Alexa as a part of the family: We got Skills https://the-river.net/alexa-part-family/ Sun, 15 May 2016 14:39:58 +0000 http://the-river.net/?p=1092 Since we added the Amazon Echo to the household last year, it’s been fascinating to see how my children (now 7 and 10) have adapted to “her” presence. The youngest delighted in asking Alexa to tell him corny jokes and, more practically, used the device to time himself when doing his homework. The oldest learned […]

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]]> How I made my drip irrigation system “smart” and automatic https://the-river.net/made-drip-irrigation-system-smart-automatic/ Sat, 30 Apr 2016 17:42:26 +0000 http://the-river.net/?p=1089 X-Post from my other personal site, Free-Range.org Though this site mostly chronicles my adventures in the natural domain, astute readers may have guessed what a tech dork I actually am. If you haven’t, you’ll be certain after this post. In my work life, I’m online all the time and I’ve seen software developers make great […]

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]]> On Apple: “Branding” Is More Than Just Marketing https://the-river.net/on-apple-branding-is-more-than-just-marketing/ Fri, 26 Feb 2016 14:45:56 +0000 http://theriver.caird.org/?p=1080 The Apple phone unlocking issue hit the Republican debate last night, with candidate Marco Rubio accusing the technology company of putting branding before patriotism. “They think it hurts their brand,” Rubio said. “Well, let me tell you, their brand is not superior to the United States of America.” It seems the presidential candidates have a […]

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]]> Teaching Kids STEM With Cooking https://the-river.net/teaching-kids-stem-with-cooking/ Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:40:44 +0000 http://theriver.caird.org/?p=1059 There’s no better way to really learn than to use your newly-gained knowledge in a practical way. Growing up, math was never very interesting to me, in part because I had zero idea of how this information would be at all useful. Now, as an adult, I find that in everyday life, I use my […]

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]]> Dispatches From A Standing Desk, Week 1 https://the-river.net/dispatches-from-a-standing-desk-week-1/ Sat, 14 Nov 2015 23:32:46 +0000 http://theriver.caird.org/?p=1049 It was somewhat shocking to learn how long it would take to fully recover from a dislocated toe — 6 to 8 weeks and, in my case, even a bit more. But, finally, I felt comfortable enough on my feet again to give the standing desk another shot. Last weekend, I set everything up again […]

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]]> Twitter: The Heart Is Smart https://the-river.net/twitter-the-heart-is-smart/ Wed, 04 Nov 2015 15:12:15 +0000 http://theriver.caird.org/?p=1038 https://twitter.com/twitter/status/661558661131558915 Since the announcement yesterday, there’s been a lot of discussion about Twitter’s decision to change its “favorite” icon from a star to a heart. So, I thought I’d join the fray with a brief commentary. I’ve been on Twitter a long time, but I wasn’t one of those who participated in crafting the way […]

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]]> A Week In Amazon’s Internet Of Things (IoT) – Alexa/Echo & Dash Buttons https://the-river.net/a-week-in-amazons-internet-of-things-iot-alexaecho-dash-buttons/ Fri, 18 Sep 2015 23:32:33 +0000 http://theriver.caird.org/?p=1001 Finally, I’ve gotten what I desperately need and truly deserve — a personal assistant at home. Sure, she doesn’t do windows (or dishes, or laundry, etc.) but I see great promise in our family’s relationship with Alexa — the “personality” behind Amazon’s Echo device. It feels a little odd to call a device “her,” but […]

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