Laura Rebecca

I’m from New York and I live in Los Angeles. I write mostly about technology and yoga, but sometimes other things too. Lifelong educator. Instagram: @laurateachesyoga

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My 48 Hour Digital Detox with the Punkt. MP01 Phone

For 48 hours I stowed my fancy Phablet in a drawer and popped my SIM card into the Punkt. MP01 “dumbphone” for their Digital Detox challenge. Here’s what happened:

Hour One: No Notifications!
I was relieved to be notification-free for the first couple of hours into my detox. We all know how those notifications BEG to be viewed immediately. See no notifications, hear no notifications, read no notifications. (This was also welcome the following morning, when I woke up icon-less.

Hour three: No Signal :(
One major drawback of the otherwise-perfect Punkt phone is reliance on 2G. In the US, 2G is has been all but retired, save for a few pockets of signal here and there. My carrier, Cricket, relies on AT&T’s towers...

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some blog sites I’ve tried…

I’ve been a blogger since 2003.

Blogs have evolved a great deal since then.
I’m not going to give you a history of blogs (back when they started, they were “weblogs”). Instead, I’m going to review some blog hosts I’ve tried recently; now that I’m, you know, blogging again…

Over the years, blogs have grown from online diaries to web-based writing that wields tremendous influence. In the wake of such growth, a number of free and not-quite-free web-based hosts have sprung up to provide emerging influencers a platform for their deepest, most riveting thoughts. This week’s sampling, critiqued through a very opinionated lens:

Wordpress: why does everyone love wordpress so much? I freakin hate it. That may be because I don’t need any of those fancy shmancy features, and other people do. I’ve tried to love it several times over the years, and I still can’t get past the confusing and complex...

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