December’s begun. This time of year, we’re all pulled so many ways: shopping, work, Christmas parties, events at the kids? schools, volunteering, and the need to make the holidays more spiritual than stressful are all clamouring for our attention. And on top of our ever-lengthening holiday to-do lists, many of us have final exams and… Read more »

The scene: a parking lot. The time: this morning, before dawn. Although most us were still snuggled into our comfortable beds in our warm houses, tens of thousands of people across the United States were sitting out on the concrete, huddled against one another and wrapped in quilts and blankets to keep warm in those… Read more »

Last weekend, an article in an independent newspaper made waves in the academic world. The Chronicle of Higher Education published a personal account written by ?Dante,? a writer who makes a living composing custom university term papers. The catch: all those essays are paid for, and submitted to professors by, other students. The article and… Read more »

“This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit Time: the very word is an enigma, and the concept has intrigued thinkers and artists since the dawn of history. Writers, poets, and musicians… Read more »

When my friend began dating her now-husband, the first thing she and I did was run an Internet search. What kind of a guy was he? Short of waiting to find out?and who wants to do that??our next best bet was to check out the online trail he’d left. He passed muster, and now they’re… Read more »

Ever felt as though the weight of the world rested on your shoulders? It happens oftener than we’d like. The closed-in world created in part by our obsession with online media frequently makes us feel as though we’re operating in a vacuum. One area in which this is particularly discouraging is the environmental movement. It’s… Read more »

The other day, I received a wave and a friendly smile from the driver of the car that pulled out of a parking lot in front of me. At the time, I largely ignored it, since I was more interested in learning why three police cars were flashing their lights in the adjacent parking lot… Read more »

Recently, local lawmakers in my area put the kibosh on texting while driving?or tried to. Although the law’s been in effect over a month now, I haven’t seen much difference. I’ll glance out the window and still see the college-aged woman steering with her knees while madly texting on her phone, or the businessman who… Read more »

In this issue’s ?Green Light,? I highlighted the debate over compact fluorescent bulbs (?CFLs?) and their effect on electromagnetic fields. Although the information’s been out there for some time, it only came to my attention this week. I’m intrigued to learn about the ?dirty electricity? phenomenon. I’m awed at how little we really do know… Read more »

Hand someone a sales contract, and she’ll probably give it a quick scan to make sure there’s nothing amiss. But let that same person make an online transaction with a similar set of terms and conditions, and chances are good she’ll click ?accept? without giving the contract a further thought. Case in point: an April… Read more »