Atticus   

At this point it’s nothing short of embarrassing. I’ve gone pretty much four months without any activity on the blog. I’d planned to shift to Wordpress, but pulling all the previous posts from all of the previous sites became time-consuming. So things fell apart.

I’m no longer sure what I want this blog to be. Wait—that’s not true. I want it to be something that attracts readers because readers find it worth their time and effort. But now that every topic known to man is covered by multiple blogs, I’m not sure what the appeal would be to keep coming back to this tiny corner of the Internet.

Your thoughts? That is, if there’s anyone else left.

A great friend of mine, Eddie, has been kind enough to host this blog for the last couple of years. But I’m thinking about moving to WordPress so I can (1) have all my old posts on one blog and (2) have more control over widgets, images, etc. The guy is raising two kids and tackling a whole new level of responsibilities in a bigwig job in D.C., so I can’t exactly expect him to drop what he’s doing to tinker with this modest venture. Stay tuned.

I’m paying for some overpriced item at the convenience store in my building when the customer behind me in line says to the clerk, “So somebody won the big jackpot, huh?”

On the wall behind the cash register, a sign displays a much smaller amount for the would-be winnings for Powerball. The clerk replies, “Yep, somebody down in New Mexico.”

After a couple of disparaging remarks about the Land of Enchantment from other patrons, the first customer says, “Well, you just saved me a dollar. Isn’t worth playing when it’s that low.”

I can’t help myself. “Yeah, who could live on $15 million? I mean, c’mon.”

She, a fellow city worker, looks at me with the most serious expression. “You know your odds are much better when it’s high, right?”

If the “American empire” is indeed at its end, as Iran’s president claims, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.

What are CNN.com’s most popular stories six weeks from the election for president, in the middle of one of the country’s biggest financial situations, during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Lindsay Lohan and Clay Aiken coming out of the closet, the first couple to get booted from the new season of Dancing with the Stars, Nicole Kidman’s pregnancy and a chain of Christian bookstores not selling a book about female pastors.

Nothing to see here, folks … Bread and circuses for everyone … Carry on …

The average young person spends more than eight hours each day using technology and much less time engaging in direct social contact. Our UCLA brain-scanning studies are showing that such repeated exposure to technology alters brain circuitry … Instead of the traditional generation gap, we’re witnessing the beginning of a brain gap that separates digital natives, born into 24/7 technology, and digital immigrants, who came to computers and other digital technology as adults.

This perpetual exposure to technology is leading to the next major milestone in brain evolution … Today, video-game brain, Intenet addiction and other technology side effects appear to be suppressing frontal-lobe executive skills and our ability to communicate face to face. Instead, our brains are developing circuitry for online social networking and are adapting to a new multitasking technology culture.

—Gary Small, M.D.
Director, UCLA Memory
& Aging Research Center

Related: “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”