Technology help
for people and small organizations
Computers, phones, TVs, Wi-Fi, accounts, and business tools - let’s align the technology in your life with how you live, work, and create. I can help you purchase, set up, and make better use of your devices.
Services
Improving Your Personal Technology & Digital Life
- Devices Purchasing, setting up a computer or phone
- Accounts Apple ID, Google, subscriptions
- Home office Wi-Fi / LAN, printing, scanning, ergonomics
- Workflows Shortcuts, shared calendars, digital organization
- Families Elders’ tech support; kids’ apps & permissions
- Projects Personal publishing; digital archives for writers/artists; family photo books or board books
- Security Password manager, backups
- Finance Personal finance software setup
- Media Smart home, AV, consoles, car infotainment
- AI What can you do (better) with AI?
Supporting Small Organization Systems & Communications
- Online identity Web design, Blog setup, Google Business, Apple Maps, Yelp
- Social Media Presence design, posting tools and protocols
- Email Google Workspace setup, Mailchimp, Klaviyo campaigns and flows
- Customer Service Zendesk, Zoho, WhatsApp, SMS
- Commerce E-commerce setup, merchant processing guidance
- Ops Point-of-Sale, scheduling, booking tools
- Admin QuickBooks, Gusto, Slack, Project Management
- Comms Presentations, video production, speeches/articles
- Data Leveraging data, Analytics, Drive/Dropbox sharing
How it works
Intake
Let’s have a free initial phone chat to discuss your goals. If it’s a fit, we schedule a live work session.
Work session
On-site or remote.
Follow up
You should be feeling empowered. I’ll follow up to be sure. I'm happy to show you how to use off-the-shelf AI to reduce future support needs.
Rates
| Service | Rate | Description |
|---|---|---|
| On-site service | $180/hr | Billed in 30-minute increments ($90) with a 1-hour minimum charge ($180). |
| Remote / phone support | $180/hr | Billed in 15-minute increments ($45). No minimum charge. |
| Travel (outside local area) | $3.00/mile | Mileage is calculated in advance using Google Maps. |
If cost is a barrier, ask anyway - sliding-scale slots are available for individuals and community organizations.
Past Clients
Writer: digital archive
- Built out a digital archive organizing decades of written and painted works to be donated to a University library.
Retiree: accounts migration
- Consolidated key logins, account information, and subscriptions for a Gmail migration from an email address associated with decades of work.
Event venue: calendar + reservations
- Launched a public events calendar plus an internal booking workflow.
Small business: ecommerce + payments
- Set up an online store with credit card processing and fulfillment systems
Various: online presence + digital culture
- Journalism: New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired Magazine
- Arts: SF MOMA, South by Southwest: Interactive, Sundance Film Festival, Lollapalooza, Flying Robot International Film Festival, Webzine, XOXO, SIGGRAPH
- Corporate: Creative Artists Agency, Microsoft Xbox, Nokia, Boston Consulting Group, Xerox PARC, Rand Corporation
About
I’ve worked with technology and communication systems for several decades, across personal, creative, small-business, and startup contexts. My background spans hands-on technical work, systems design, and helping non-technical people make informed decisions about tools and workflows. This practice focuses on practical support making your devices easier to use for your benefit. Read more
My first job was selling software over the counter when I was 13 in 1988. Customers started asking me if I could come to their house and teach them to use the software they'd just purchased. I ended up being a middle school and high school computer consultant, installing networks, setting up printers, teaching software. I could help people understand these powerful creative machines. I loved making these tools I loved more accessible to people. I still love it.
Between when I started in tech support and now, I've been exploring tech culture. I published an early expansive personal web site. In 1994 I worked as an editorial assistant at Wired Magazine when we launched HotWired, the first commercial online magazine. I worked as a journalist covering technology. I traveled the world giving speeches about online life and media-making. I lived in Tokyo in 2001 when the world's first 3G phones launched with video chat. I got an MFA in Interactive Media and Video Games. I produced a massively-multiplayer online game in a Firefox toolbar. I produced a top eight grossing iPhone game about a virtual cat. I produced "overshare" - a documentary about the internet. In 2018 I co-founded a legal cannabis delivery business on bud.com, a domain I had registered in 1994 when I was 19 years old.
I find this emerging digital technology world so stimulating and fascinating; I can't stop experimenting. My hope is that these machines of connection can ultimately amplify our empathy and awareness. I'm not so sure all the time. I know I enjoy being creative with technology - making things. I've spent decades exploring these mind amplifiers and I love seeing what other people do with them. Let's see what I can help you do!
More specifics on my professional background are available at linkedin.com/in/justin.
Contact
Service area: Berkeley and nearby communities. Remote support available.