While Edward Snowden continues to live a productive life in Russia, he remains an outlaw in his own country.  If he were to return to the United States, he would be prosecuted for revealing government secrets even though a federal court has ruled that the National Security Agency (NS

Given the complications that arise with electronic software and hardware — its cost, its unpredictable level of service, its arcane instructions, not to mention the cost of maintenance and repair — it’s a wonder that electronics are so popular.  Imagine how many vacuum

If a robot can become a financial planner, (Blog 4/15/15) can other robotic services be far behind?  House cleaning is a candidate.  A personal secretary is likely.  Maybe even a cook.  How about emotional needs where touch is so important?. (Blog 4/22/15).  Yes, I’m alluding t

Checking my email this morning, I found a message from a blog reader which wasn’t his usual fare.  Instead of an article about writing, he’d sent me an ACLU petition in support of a state House Bill to secure a citizen’s right to film or take pictures of police actions.  The c

I’ve never been comfortable with the electronic age — the effect of having been born before television.  As a consequence, I spend my days being rattled when my computer screen freezes or I get an “undeliverable” message for an email address I know is correct.  Dante had

The last time I went to my hairdresser, she told me a story with a curious ending.  Her cell phone was lost or stolen.  She wasn’t sure which, so she did what she had to do to protect her private information then bought a more expensive model.  After using it a while, she discove

Reading the news each morning takes raw courage.   “If it bleeds, it leads,” is the media’s mantra.  Disaster draws eyeballs and that means an uptick in readership numbers which can attract advertisers.  Even though I understand the motive, I wonder if the media ever contemp

Edward Snowden’s leak about NSA data collection has raised a question for Americans to consider:  “In a technological world how do we defend our right to privacy?” But Sarah Ellison’s article, “The Man Who Kept The Secret,” raises a more pertinent one. “Are we fools to

I came across another example of the way our government parses words to obscure rather than clarify meaning.  In the past, readers may recall I had an exchange with a former staff member for Under Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz, who served in the George W. Bush administration.�

Not long ago, a reader sent me an article from The New York Times, “Among the Disrupted,” by Leon Wieseltier.  He was writing about the many ways  technology invades our culture, calling the effect a tyranny of technology. (Click)  Below are two examples of recent advances.  I