23andMe was founded by Anne Wojcick and named for the  23 pairs of chromosomes that comprise the human  DNA.  She created the company because she believes people should have access to their biological  data.  The FDA disagrees and now her company is in a tussle with the governmen

Feeling out of control in your life?  Join the club.  Not only is there a growing gap between rich and poor around the world, but the gap between society’s leaders and the man in the street is enough to leave anyone queasy.  Take, for example, the gap between the way scientists v

One day at lunch, recently, a resident at the retirement center where I live was kind enough to compliment me on my play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, which she’d seen the previous night.  Her companion hadn’t attended the performance but was quick to remind me that my small trium

I’ve written a good deal about the impact of robots and the electronic world on everyday life.  (Most recently Blogs 10/2/14,10/15/2/2/15)  Like Bill Gates, who helped develop and advance computer technology, I fail to understand why people aren’t more worried about where it is

We hear a lot about crowdsourcing these days — the seemingly democratic, web friendly enterprise that brings small contributors together with small entrepreneurs to promote new businesses or to  help people who need surgeries raise the funds —  a pitiful way to provide h

My computer is behaving badly this week.  It’s not anything I’ve done.  I haven’t stuck my tongue out at it.  I haven’t kicked the thing.  It’s having a fit on its own and I’ve got 3 experts working on the problem.  That a computer can upset a person’s life in a na

I’m sure most of us have made a computer mistake similar to the one I made recently. You punch in a password to a secure site and the computer spits it back as invalid.  You try again, thinking you’ve mistyped a letter, but the machine doesn’t budge an inch.  “Have you forgo

Recently, I arranged for a taxi to take me to an evening event.  Having called early in the morning, I didn’t anticipate any problems, but when the time set for my pick up passed and no cab was in sight, I dialed the company’s number to see what had gone wrong.  The reply I rece

I’ve always been fascinated with Astronomy.  As a teenager I helped put together a monthly  astronomer’s newsletter supported by the Griffith Park Observatory in Southern California and meant for amateur enthusiasts.  When I got to college my interests took a different turn, bu

Whenever my co-host, Susan Stoner, and I sit down to discuss the venue for another of our YouTube book review series Just Read It,  the air crackles with good vibes.  Collaboration is something novelists seldom get to experience and while I enjoy the contemplative times of writing a