“I’m fairly sure that if you took porn off the internet,
there’d only be one website left and it’d be called, ‘Bring Back the Porn.’”
— Dr. Perry Cox, Scrubs

So it’s time for a little honesty, even if it’s a little painful.
This may come as a shock to some of you, particularly of the female variety, but when men are left alone with the computer long enough, we will eventually go look at things we shouldn’t look at.  It doesn’t require any level of unhealthy obsession, nor do I refer to those …

I have a very important piece of advice for you that could save you a great deal of money in 2009.  The advice comes as a result of my dealings with the New AT&T.
It has been three weeks since my last update — and I had hoped it would be the last update — about the company’s series of screw-ups.  Over the Christmas weekend, they managed to score yet another blunder.  Maybe they were feeling neglected here?
This saga began with lackluster service and a billing error in which they suspended …

…this is a pretty interesting story.  A mom who wouldn’t give up on her daughter in ICU sees a chilling image on a hallway surveillance camera at the hospital.  The Palmetto Scoop has, er, the scoop.

There’s a big part of me that thinks blunders of this magnitude should suspend one’s right to a fair trial.  I mean, really…he used his own pay stub???

…television makes the switch from analog to digital.  I know, I know…you’ve heard all of this before.  Yet experts estimate that there will be home after home that will suddenly stop getting any television reception at all.
The Federal Communications Commission has been requiring local television stations to remind all of you to make sure you’re ready.  I, for one, will be glad when the switchover happens, so I can stop running promos for it.
In the meantime, go here to get all of your DTV questions answered.

I’ve just learned that some local writers who belong to a writing group I’ve attended are planning a sequel (or perhaps replacement is the better choice of word) for “NaNoWriMo,” the nickname for National Novel Writing Month, which is held during every November.
The idea is that over the course of those 30 days, you produce a 50,000 word manuscript.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a finished novel, but you must write enough every day to fill the pages.
These local writers are planning to do the same thing in January.  …

Back during my college days, a close friend invited me to her place for a little get-together to watch one of the hit shows on the air at the time. It was a quirky little show about a mysterious murder in an even more mysterious place.
As soon as I walked in the door, I was offered black coffee and a doughnut, to the approving laughter of everyone in the room. I immediately glanced down to make sure my fly wasn’t open, because coffee and a doughnut didn’t seem …

People around Mt. Pleasant were calling all of the local stations this afternoon asking about a mysterious boom that seemed to originate over water.  A similar boom occurred a couple of weeks ago, and days later a 3.6 Magnitude earthquake hit.  Does this mean we’re due for another quake?  The Digitel quotes someone who heard the sound and suggested it could be Seneca Guns.  I think I like this idea a little better.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas last week, and that you got everything you were asking for.  I had a nice holiday, using up the last two days of 2008 vaction time on Wednesday and Friday of last week, giving myself a nice 5-day weekend.
Everyone should get a five-day weekend for Christmas.  There ought to be a law.
Over the years, one of the Christmas traditions I’ve come to look forward to is spending time with the Hansen family.  Chip and I met in college and have known each other …

Here’s the third edition of a new weekly feature that I call Tweets of the Week.
A tweet, for those who don’t know is one of those little “status updates” people post on sites like Twitter or Facebook.  Maybe you’ve got some ultra-creative Twitter friends who make you chuckle with their short bursts of life.  If you do, feel free to leave me a comment with some of the tweets that have made you smile.
Here is this week’s collection of five.

A man in Philadelphia wounded another man inside a movie theater after an argument about making too much noise during the film.
It makes perfect sense, because people who talk during a movie are so much louder than, say, a gunshot.
The movie that was playing during all of the commotion was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which stars Brad Pitt as a man who, according to my interpretation of the trailer, seems to be getting younger rather than older.  Goodness knows, a storyline like that should earn everyone’s undivided attention.  …

A strong logo is good for any business, but a good sound — a sound effect, catch phrase or musical signature — can also help customers identify a business.
Recently, the magazine mental_floss, which is one of the greatest magazines ever made, came up with a list of the 17 Most Recognizable Trademarked Sounds. Their number one is mine as well.
You don’t have to rely solely on their list this time: come up with the seven sounds identified with businesses that are most recognizable to you. If you’re not …