Hi!

I'm Gina Trapani, and I make stuff on the internet.

Currently I lead development on ThinkUp, an open source crowdsourcing platform the White House uses. I also co-host weekly web show This Week in Google with Leo Laporte and Jeff Jarvis, where we talk about everything Google, web, and cloud-related. I built Better Gmail 2 and other Firefox extensions which make some of my favorite webapps easier to use, as well as a command line task manager. These days you can find me blogging about software and technology at Smarterware, and tweeting at @ginatrapani. I'm probably best known for starting mega-blog Lifehacker.com in 2005 and leading the editorial team there until 2009. I live and work in sunny San Diego, California, by way of Brooklyn, New York.

Here's my formal, complete bio. You can send me an email, but be warned: most days I receive more messages than I can respond to. Thanks for understanding.

Current Projects

• Developing
  • ThinkUp, a web-based platform for crowdsourcing insights on social networks like Twitter and Facebook
  • Better Firefox Extensions, including Better Gmail 2, one of Mozilla's Featured Add-ons
  • Todo.txt Command Line Interface, a simple shell script for managing a text-based task list
• Writing
  • Smarterware, daily blog on great software
  • Work Smart at Fast Company, a twice-weekly video blog and column on personal productivity
  • @ginatrapani on Twitter, one of The New York Times' "Nine to Follow Among Millions"
  • Scribbling.net, a personal tumblelog
  • Lifehacker, daily group blog I founded in January of 2005 and led until January of 2009, where I now contribute occasional posts
• Co-hosting
  • This Week in Google (TWiG), a weekly web show on cloud computing

Recent News

• December 2010
  • Announced the upcoming third edition of the Lifehacker book, due out in 2011.
  • iTunes includes This Week in Google on their Best Podcasts of 2010 list. Thanks, iTunes!
• November 2010
  • Attended the Federal Communication Commission's first ever Open Developer Day at FCC headquarters in Washington, DC. O'Reilly's Gov 2.0 correspondent Alex Howard interviewed me for the FCC Tech Cast. Watch the video.
  • Met with several groups at the White House, including the New Media team responsible for whitehouse.gov and beyond, about how social media can become a useful part of the democratic process, with my new co-worker, Andy Baio. Here's Andy's writeup on our DC trip.
  • My book, Upgrade Your Life, is now available in Chinese.
• October 2010
  • Code for America releases their customized ThinkUp installation.
• September 2010
  • Released ThinkUp's first beta, along with a completely revamped project web site, thinkupapp.com.
  • Inspired by The Complete Guide to Google Wave, Kevin Purdy publishes The Complete Android Guide, a print book, e-book, web site, and community for and by Android enthusiasts.
• August 2010
  • The Great Work Blog interviews me about twisty career paths, pro blogging, and ThinkUp.
  • Google pulls the plug on Wave, and I talk to InformationWeek and Network World about it. As the author of one of the only books on Google Wave, here's my full take on the shutdown.
• July 2010
  • ThinkTank gets a new, punchier name: ThinkUp.
  • Mashable includes me on their list of 15 Developer/Hacker Women to Follow on Twitter.
  • Presented "How to Open-Source Your Webapp" at BarCamp San Diego 7 using ThinkTank as an example. Here's the public wave I used during my talk.
• June 2010
  • Bob Walsh and Patrick Foley interview me about ThinkTank and tech in general on an episode of The Startup Success Podcast.
• May 2010
  • Attended the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, CA.
  • Jerry Brito interviews Anil Dash and me on an episode of the The Surprisingly Free podcast about ThinkTank and using insights from social media to shape policy.
• April 2010
  • Fast Company includes me on their Most Influential Women in Technology 2010 list. Thanks, FC!
  • Published Who said tweets are trivial? on CNN.com.
  • Computerworld's Mitch Wagner does a great writeup about ThinkTank, and interviews me about it, self-publishing, and tech in general on his podcast, Copper Robot.
  • Dan Benjamin interviews me on his excellent podcast, The Pipeline, about Lifehacker, ThinkTank, and book publishing.
• March 2010
  • Published the cover story in the April issue of Maximum PC magazine, The Power Users Guide to Google Apps.
  • Spoke on the "Coding for Pleasure: Developing Killer Spare-Time Apps" panel at South by Southwest Interactive with Adam Pash and Matt Haughey.
  • Published Google Wave for Meeting Professionals in the March issue of One+ magazine.
  • Happy to receive a Happy Webbie.
• February 2010
  • Joined Expert Labs as their first Project Director. I'll lead development on ThinkTank, an open source crowdsourcing platform whose first client will be the White House for the Grand Challenges initiative. Here's the full announcement.
  • Launched my new Work Smart video series and column at Fast Company.
  • Voice of San Diego profiled me in an article called "A Geek Sensibility." Here are some outtakes from the photo shoot for the story.
  • Featured in a short blurb in the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.
• January 2010
  • Had the privilege of being one of the first ever civilian bloggers to go out for a dive in a Los Angeles class fast attack Naval submarine. Here are photos from the trip.
  • Android and Me interviews me about my own Android use, space travel, cloud comforters, third-party ROMs, and my favorite gadgets.
  • The New York Times includes @ginatrapani on their list of "Nine to Follow Among Millions" on Twitter.
• More...

Web Show

Now co-hosting a new weekly podcast This Week in Google (TWiG) alongside tech guy Leo Laporte and journalist Jeff Jarvis, which covers the latest Google and cloud computing news, stats, and tips. Watch live and chat with listeners as we record each episode via Skype on the TWiT Netcast Network at 1PM Pacific/4PM Eastern time every Wednesday. Otherwise, download or subscribe to new episodes, or watch on YouTube.

---

Books

My latest book, The Complete Guide to Google Wave, is the missing user manual for Google's new real-time collaboration tool and an experiment in independent book publishing.

Read the book for free online, follow @gwaveguide on Twitter for Wave tips and news, and contribute your Wave expertise to the text.

The Complete Guide to Google Wave is an ongoing, iterative text which will update and change as Google Wave evolves and rolls out to more users. The first edition is available for purchase as an electronic book or full-color softcover; half of the purchase price of the paperback book supports a local charity in San Diego.

---

My book, Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better, is a compendium of all the best hacks from Lifehacker.com's archives, and my personal manifesto on working more efficiently in the digital age.

Upgrade Your Life (and its first edition, Lifehacker) has been translated into Dutch, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese.

Check out the official web site of Upgrade Your Life to browse the table of contents, download a sample chapter, and join the mailing list.

---

Elsewhere

• GitHub--See all my coding projects and activity
• FriendFeed--See my activity on various social media sites in one place
• Mozilla Add-ons contributions--Firefox extensions I've authored
• Userscripts.org contributions--Greasemonkey user scripts I've authored
• Userstyles.org contributions--Stylish styles I've authored
• My Wikipedia entry
• My Wikipedia contributions

Thanks for your interest.