A Love Letter to My Daughter
 The Dubsie Chronicles – Energy journalism is interesting, sure, but can it compare to the experience of raising two-year-old? Not even close. In 2015 I've committed to writing a blog post every week to chronicle the life of Dubsie (her nom de internet, not her actual name). This is part documentary and part playground, where I experiment with techniques of storytelling that I can't use at work. Enjoy the results at theferrisfiles.com/blog/. (Dedicated readers: I recommend scrolling down to the Jan. 3 post and reading forward from there.)
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Vladimir Sends His Regards – I received an email last fall asking if I'd like to speak at a tech conference in Moscow. Must be a scam, I thought -- but it was for real. I  boarded an Aeroflot jet and embarked on a 2.5-day whirlwind trip through Moscow, courtesy of Vladimir Putin's government. Most exhilarating: a morning run through Red Square where everyone stared (Muscovites don't jog, apparently). Most nerve-racking: moderating a 90-minute session on the arcane topic of energy storage, conducted half in Russian, in a room with horrible acoustics. It is a testament to Russian stoicism that almost no one left until it was over. (Pour a generous shot of vodka and watch the session here.)
 Why He Won't Invite Me Back – The trip produced a bonanza of reporting material and led to two groundbreaking stories you won't read anywhere else. One proposes some answers to the question, Why isn't Russia part of the modern digital economy? The other is a survey of the country's old, creaky and strange power grid -- a Soviet relic that seems to operate on pure Slavic grit. I suspect Vladimir won't be pleased.
 Reach for the Light – Why is it that office buildings always have the lights on, even if there's daylight pouring in? I asked the question and uncovered a fascinating story that stretches from New York City to cloudy Seattle. I found out why America's big buildings began to turn away from sunlight, and how they are slowly learning to again embrace that big light bulb in the sky.
 Other Cool Stuff – The energy intelligentsia among you may enjoy some other recent features, about Microsoft's novel experiment in powering data centers, about how vulnerable we are to a rare-earth panic, and a profile of Bill Watkins, a millionaire energy entrepreneur who says some crazy things.
 It's a Tie! – Readers, you have spoken. I received many responses to my query in the last newsletter about whether I should wear a tie in future television appearances. And as you can tell from this interview I did on Friday, the knot won.
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