When Santayana coined the phrase, “he who does not know the past is condemned to repeat it,” he had no idea it would apply to the internet. And when JFK (supposedly) said “if you don’t know where you’ve been, how can you know where you’re going,” he couldn’t possibly have been referring to the World Wide Web. Or could he have known anyway? Remember that bit about “we will put a man on the moon by the end of the decade”? Both those adages – plus another one, …

You never know loss until you experience it. Data loss, that is. While certainly not as traumatic as other kinds of loss, you feel as if a part of you has disappeared when your hard disk or your computer gives up the ghost. It’s about more than just having to make up work you lost, or pulling things back onto the disk from the backup (you did make one, didn’t you?); it’s like a piece of you – your personality, your very being – disappeared along with your desktop wallpaper. …

You know what they say about summer – it’s the most expensive time of the year! Our kids’ “free” school is expensive enough, but there’s no free summer camp! There’s no free lunch either, and now the kids are home for that meal – and that tuna sandwich that kept them going the rest of the year can’t compete with the mall, with its pizza and burgers – not to mention the movies, pool, and vacations we have to shell out for. Peering down into the pit of …

Digg it. Blog it. Youtube it. If you’re the type that has to know what’s going on today, right now, this minute – you have a problem. Just how are you supposed to keep up with what’s going on? Of course, you could just shut off the stupid computer, draw the shades, and curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. I’ll admit it sounds tempting! But such is life today; the action is online, and chances are something is happening somewhere right now that …

It’s high season for “gifting.” This time of year, there’s a holiday for everyone, no matter what your taste, or “persuasion.” And what a coincidence – they all require the presentation of expensive “presents” to loved ones. Or so the retailers would have you think! Personally, I prefer to give “the gift of love,” when called upon to step up to the plate. At least I did, until I told my wife that once on our anniversary. Let’s just say she taught me a “life lesson” I’ll never …