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Bedtime with Rob and Alex

Join Social Signal's Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham for their last conversation of the day, about social media, social change... and a little socializing.

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How to skillfully manage community enthusiasm

This episode finds Alex and Rob with some company in bed: the kids. (Parental discretion advised: contains explicit sounds of complaining toddler.) We talk about what happens when your favourite online community members participate just a little too much... and what you can do about it.

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Podcast: Tools and strategies for staying updated and afloat in your busy life

This episode, Rob talks about the release of Google Sites... which Alex hasn't had a chance to check out yet, leading her to ask, how do you keep up with the news in your field when everyone's so busy these days?

We come up with six questions to ask about keeping up to date with the latest developments, and propose that Feb. 29 become World Catch-Up Day... when everyone has a chance to catch up on the reading they've missed, and the creation of new content is strictly prohibited.

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Best practices for using wikis in mass collaboration

This episode, we take on wikis: when you should use them, and when you should try something else.

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Overcoming challenges to using humor in promoting your cause

In a nutshell, Alex wants to know why the left doesn't have more really funny stuff up on YouTube.

Rob suspects fear has something to do with it... and, judging by some of the stuff passing as funny, lack of practice.

But we both salute the lefties who are out there - often independently - creating genuinely bust-a-gut-funny stuff.

And then we go to sleep.

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Exploring intention and its role in everyday action

Rob has had it, had it, had it with multiple versions of the arbicidal Yellow Pages showing up on our doorstep. Alex confesses a shameful Luddite secret.

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Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 8: the little-of-this-little-of-that episode

This time out, we talk about the kind of writing that makes good blog posts, telling stories and finding a conversational voice.

That, oddly enough, leads us to a new speech recognition option for the Mac. Alex notes that Richard Powers, the author of The Echo Maker and Galatea 2.2, uses speech recognition to write. And Rob launches a passionate defence of video walkthroughs.

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Podcast: Online tools and gadgets that keep you current at work and at home

Break out the propeller beanies: it's a gear-heavy episode this time. It starts with Rob talking about the swishy new voice recorder that will soon be replacing the combination of a 4th-generation iPod and Griffin iTalk. That'll mean much nicer sound... and the end of that hard-drive-spinning-up whine that we're guessing you won't miss at all.

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Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 5: the vintage episode

We actually recorded episode 5 last week, just as various colds, flus and what appeared to be the Phage descended on our humble household.

But our household was also invaded by a more benevolent intruder: Alex's new iPhone, which works in Canada thanks to some startlingly well-written instructions she found online. (Link coming soon! Thanks, Hack that Phone!)

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Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 6: the back-in-the-saddle episode

Valentine's Day has come and gone, but we're not going to let an arbitrary deadline conspire with the flu to rob the Internets of the chance to hear a few more bedtime conversations from Alex and Rob.

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Bedtime with Rob and Alex ep. 4: the long-distance episode

Okay, so Alex is in Oberlin, Ohio while Rob holds down the fort in Vancouver, BC. You think we're going to let a little thing like 3,300 kilometres of distance keep us from our just-before-sleep banter?

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