Blackout

 After a day of temperatures in the high 60s on Friday, a thunderstorm tore through our city during the night.   We woke to freezing temperatures and no electricity. 
The winds were 60 to 80 miles an hour and tore down trees and knocked down power lines, including a couple of poles on a nearby street.  Some [...]

Merry Christmas from Nikola Tesla

Forget Albert Einstein. Forget Thomas Edison.  It’s Nikola Tesla you need to thank for many of the revolutionary contributions to physics we use in our daily life.  I’m talking about almost everything you use in your daily life that requires electricity, including the current that runs your television, the lights that brighten your home and even the remote [...]

My Run for President

My friend Anita sent me a humorous video of her internet campaign for president.  Computer technology is so amazing that it can make anyone a candidate.  In true political fashion, I’ve thrown my hat in the ring on top of hers and have hijacked her campaign.  You can see how successful I’ve been by clicking on this link Catherine Sherman [...]

Astounding Technology

Beloit College in Wisconsin recently released its annual Mindset List, which shows the kind of world that incoming freshmen grew up in. For example, to the class of 2012, GPS has always been available, phones always had caller ID and tax returns could always be filed online (not that these students were doing their own taxes.)  You can [...]

Fauxtography

 

                                                                                                                                                                        My friend unveiled her family portrait at a neighborhood party.  In the photograph, she, her husband and their five beautiful children – teenagers and young adults – were bathed in a glow of filtered sunlight as they casually stood in a courtyard.  They looked so happy to be there together.  
There were oohs and ahs all around, but this [...]

Googleganger

We all suspect we have a double out there in the world, but the internet makes it easier to find dozens of them.  A couple of years ago, I googled my name to find one of my articles so I could email it to an editor.  Dozens of Cathy and Catherine Shermans appeared.  Only three of them were me, but some were so [...]

Ouch!

New Media Douchebags Explained

Just when I get the hang of blogs, MySpace and Facebook, I now find out that I’m in danger of becoming a New Media Douchebag!  I promise not to complain (too much) or whine (too often) or be a Debbie Downer or a Cathy Crybaby on all of [...]