My PC by SkinsFTW (Flickr)

More is always better, right? Jeff Maehre kicks off this week’s speedlink by explaining how a dual monitor configuration may not actually be helping your productivity at all. In fact, it could be hurting it. Splitting your attention across two monitors can give you a false sense of improved multitasking. That said, it can be helpful when you’re performing a single task, like writing a post on one screen while accessing reference material on the other screen. And yes, my home office has dual monitors.

Beer companies are always trying to come up with new ways of convincing us to buy their product. Jordan St. John isn’t convinced by one of the latest efforts, Sleeman Lift with coconut water. He feels like Sleeman is trying to trick us into thinking this concoction of beer is healthy and hydrating, because it contains coconut water. I’m not all that convinced either. Drink it if you like how it tastes, but realize that beer is never going to be a great idea (from a health standpoint) as a post-workout beverage.

I’ve learned to be pretty efficient with my travels, trying to pack as lightly as possible while planning ahead for airport security. Marc Smith provides some useful tips if you want to travel with just carry-on luggage for as long as two weeks. Far too many people bring way too much luggage on their trips when doing a little bit of laundry and packing efficiently can be so much more effective. And when you only use carry-on, you don’t have to wait at the luggage carousel either.

Unsurprisingly, the construct of traditional gender roles has become a big focus for me ever since our daughter entered our lives. I’ve become much more aware of the general perception that fathers don’t know how to take care of their kids. Roo Ciambriello challenges that perception, reminding us that dads don’t babysit, they’re simply parenting. Dads should be equally responsible for their children, just as women should have equal opportunity in the workplace.

And finally, we end on a particularly eerie note. Daniel De Guia has reasons to believe that his apartment is haunted. He’s been living there with the wife and kids for a number of years and they’ve experienced some very strange phenomena. They’re hearing sounds and noises with unknown origins, for example, and he’s been getting inexplicable bruises on his wrists. Is this the stuff of Paranormal Activity? Does Daniel have a Toby in his home too?