Ideas from Mark Stout

I expected all sorts of headlines because of Hurricane Sandy, but here is one I did not expect to wake up to : " HMS Bounty Abandoned ". No, the Bounty did not miraculously rise out of Bounty Bay on Pitcairn Island where Fletcher Christian and other mutineers burned and sank it in 1790.  The HMS Bounty now apparently lost off Hatteras is a replica built for the 1962 movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando. According to its website it was on its way from Connecticut to St. Petersburg, Florida. I always wanted to visit this ship since I have enjoyed reading about the mutiny.  Even though I have traveled to Florida often, where it was based for many years, I never did.  Ironically, I did cruise Sydney Harbor on the replica built for the Mel Gibson version of the movie when I visited down under in 1996.  That replica is now based in Hong Kong I believe. Note: In finding links for this post, I discovered one I did not know about: a digitized...

In part two of the series on choosing a new cellphone, I wade into the dangerous territory of what is better, the iPhone or an Android phone. This week's Family Tech column.

Everyone's Facebook stream in the US is now littered with friend's political posts.  I do not mind original, thoughtful, researched, fair, and coherent political posts even if they are for the party I do not lean towards.  In fact I'd welcome original, thoughtful, researched, fair, and coherent posts about the opposing point-of-view.  How else can I learn, and maybe even shift my position? Instead, what I mostly see are regurgitation from the propaganda machines on each side.  Posts are too often not sourced at all, or sourced from such a highly partisan site as to be utterly worthless. Too many political arguments can be blown out of the water with ten seconds of Googling.  That does not make me feel warm and fuzzy about the merits of that person's views. It saddens me to constantly be reminded to for too many Americans, they regard themselves as Patriots for supporting their party before their country.  And regard those in...

Your cell phone contract is up.  Now what?  Should you just renew? Family Tech this week (and next) discusses your options.

There are spy cams everywhere.  Would they help in your home?  Are you being recorded in meetings? All this in this week's Family Tech column .

This topic was on my mind since September was the best sales month for my book ever. This week's Family Tech:  Self Publishing .