Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
There are two types of holiday card recipients — those who display them well into the new year, and those who throw them away the second after they’ve opened the envelope. If you don’t want your card to fall into the latter category, try sending something a little different this year: cards you’ve made yourself.
If someone leaves a voicemail message, but you don’t hear it because you’re online, does it really count? Of course it does, but depending on the urgency of the call, it might be too late.
With Memorial Day just around the corner, you’re probably thinking about picnics and–if the weather ever cooperates–heading to the beach or pool. Those of you who thought those collapsible chairs with built-in cupholders were the be-all, end-all are going to love the latest trend in portable chairs: the multitaskers.
Beyonce Knowles is doing it. So are Richard Gere, Brendan Fraser, Dustin Hoffman and Howard Stern. They’re all taking pictures with Polaroid’s latest instant camera–the Polaroid One ($49.99).
To print or not to print. That is the question for a lot of digital camera users who’ve stashed hundreds of images and aren’t sure what to do with them. If you’re like many Americans, you may store them on your computer or a CD. You may even e-mail a few images to your friends and family. But print them out? What a hassle, right? Not really.
When it comes right down to it, geocaching is just a high-tech version of hide and seek. Someone hides a box full of “treasures” in a public place–usually a park or forest–inputs the coordinates online at www.geocaching.com and then waits for people like you and me to go hunt for them.
Summer finally is here and we’re ready to hit the road. Whether it’s a drive to the Wisconsin Dells with the kids or a flight to Paris with the main squeeze, there’s one thing we’ll all pack for the trip: a camera (or two). With so many options to choose from, we decided to test some of this summer’s most popular cameras. Our operatives? Some of the winners of the Van Kampen Funds’ Portraits of True Wealth student photography competition.
When Tom O’Brien crossed the U.S. border into Canada to pick up a copy of a new game called Trivial Pursuit, he had no idea it would help him win major bucks nearly two decades later. “Before Trivial Pursuit came out in America [in 1982], it was released in Canada,” says O’Brien, 46, of the Loop. “I was living in Seattle at the time and remember running up to Vancouver to get the game. I thought it was great and loved it. It got to the point where I got so good no one would play with me anymore.”
Pencils. Check. Paper. Check. Books. Check. Computer? Wait a minute. A computer is a handy gadget to have around the house for games and bookkeeping, but families increasingly view it as a must-have for school. In fact, computer classes are a part of kindergartner Sean Hlavin’s curriculum, say parents Debbie and Brian.
You can’t press it into a scrapbook or frame it. But voicemail messages offer the gift of forever–something Lynn Petrak cherishes. Petrak has one of the last messages her mother left for her before she died six years ago.