It’s too bad that they are constantly pressured to share their personal information with strangers on social networking sites.

Along with their private — or even intimate or embarrassing — photos.

And every detail about where they go, what they do, who they’re friends with, and much more.

But now, some teenagers are putting a whole new kind of pressure on each other. [more...]

I used to keep a light-up pen on my bedside table, so that if I woke up from a dream that gave me an idea for a story or a song — or just a cool idea about life — I could immediately write it down.

I’ve had a lot of those types of dreams.

But I think I only had the presence of mind to write something down once.

Last night, I had a dream in which I was hanging out with former [more...]

Yeah, we know — this year, you’re finally going to lose weight.

And exercise more.

And stop smoking.

Those are all great New Year’s resolutions — for you.

But none of them [more...]

How much does it cost to go to the movies these days?

I’ve been told that, around here, it’s normally about $10 (USD) per ticket, but you have to pay about $8 more if you want to see a 3D movie.

That’s $18 per person. I just can’t imagine any movie that my wife and I would be willing to pay $36 to see.

In fact, the last time we went to a movie theater, it cost [more...]

A few days ago, I described the methodology that I would follow if I wanted to try to predict the next few years of technology.

in a nutshell, look at what’s currently out there, and think about where it appears to be heading — sort of like aiming a gun ahead of a moving target.

I presume that financial speculators use that same basic methodology to help them decide which new companies to invest in.

And it sure looks to me like [more...]

When I was a kid, that’s what all of my friends would ask after Christmas every year.

Then we’d all describe the coolest new toys we had received.

And ridicule the relatives who had cluelessly given us clothing or pajamas.

When I became an adult, important Christmas activities quickly evolved from “What’dya get?” to “What’dya give?”

That’s when I learned [more...]

It seems logical that my background would have caused me to be suspicious of — and distant from — other people.

A socially awkward geek.

But, instead, ever since my mid-teens, I’ve been a socially aware, popular person.

Who’s always been [more...]

When she was a teenager, my wife worked as a waitress for a couple of summers.

So she is very sensitive to the needs of waitresses — and whenever we go out to eat, we always overtip.

Starting the summer of my twelfth year, I had several different labor-intensive jobs, including installing and removing huge circus-sized tents, caddying, doing lawn care, bagging groceries and [more...]