User Friendly: The heart of the matter

I dreamed last Sunday night that the world was attacked by a group of computer hackers and every computer everywhere suddenly sparkled with the kind of static that was common in the '50s and '60s on TV sets when the dial (Yes, Virginia, there was a dial) was between one of the four stations that most people could get. I picked up my phone to call my colleague, David, to ask if his Mac was equally affected or was it just a Windows thing.

Eureka!: Do toads have a sixth sense - aka proprioception?

There is now scientific research behind the old saying does a toad bump its rear when it hops?

Gary B. Gillis, a Mount Holyoke College biology professor, has concluded that terrestrial hopping toads have the ability to anticipate how hard they are going to land after a jump and adjust their muscles to absorb the impact accordingly.

FCC ready to expand broadband

WASHINGTON - In an acknowledgment that high-speed Internet has joined telephone service and electricity as essential tools of modern life, the federal government will unveil an ambitious blueprint this week to extend broadband to virtually all Americans.

User Friendly: Beauty rest

Murphy slept in this morning. He missed a chance to start my day in typical fashion.

User Friendly: Recipe for disaster

Norma Sims Roche of Northampton responded to my request for readers' questions with a few that, in her words, she hasn't "found a straightforward answer to."

Herbicides turning male frogs female, study shows

WASHINGTON - A new study shows that male frogs exposed to the herbicide atrazine - commonly found in U.S. rivers and streams - can make a startling developmental U-turn, turning female so completely that they can mate with other males and lay viable eggs.

User Friendly: Soul mates

The other day a friend of mine was shouting, actually shouting out loud about how much he hates, really hates, all the email spam he gets. I told him that I enjoyed mine.