THINGS I WISH MY KIDS WOULD ASK ME
Editor's note: Barry Courter has a 22-year-old son who recently graduated from college and a 17-year-old daughter who is a senior in high school.
Q: Dad, someone who is close to me said something hurtful the other day, and I'm not sure they even know, or care, that it bothers me. What should I do?
A: You can ignore it and move on, which will likely cause you more grief, or you can talk to them about it. I always think it's best to deal with it as soon as possible. Dealing with it quickly prevents hurt feelings from growing so deep and strong they are harder to get over. Approach the person in a calm, mature way and talk it out. Try to explain your feelings. You'll both likely be better off for having had the conversation.
-- By Barry Courter
FAVORITE SCI-FI AND FANTASY BOOKS
After sorting through several thousand nominations and collecting over 60,000 votes, NPR has compiled a list of favorite sci-fi and fantasy books. "Harry Potter" fans may notg from their list of the top 100. NPR has an answer for you, "You'll notice there are no young adult or horror books on this list, but sit tight, dear reader, we're saving those genres for summers yet to come." Should "Potter" have been allowed in the arena? Maybe, but this is also a chance to spotlight some literature than might otherwise get overlooked. Here is a tease to NPR's top sci-fi and fantasy books:
"The Lord of the Rings Trilogy," by J.R.R. Tolkien
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," by Douglas Adams
"Ender's Game," by Orson Scott Card
"The Dune Chronicles," by Frank Herbert
"A Song of Ice and Fire Series," by George R. R. Martin
"1984," by George Orwell
"Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury
"The Foundation Trilogy," by Isaac Asimov
"Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley
"American Gods," by Neil Gaiman
Read the full list at www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books
TOP 10 GAMES
Game Informer Magazine ranks the top geptember.
"The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection," PS3
"NHL 12," PS3, Xbox 360
"God of War: Origins Collection," PS3
"Bastion," Xbox 360, PC
"NCAA Football 12," PS3, Xbox 360
"El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron," PS3, Xbox 360
"From Dust," Xbox 360
"Toy Soldiers: Cold War," Xbox 360
"Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet," Xbox 360
"Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten," PS3
-- McClatchy Newspapers
BROWSER REVIEW
Dolphin Browser -- our pick for the best Web browser for Android -- is available as a free download for the iPhone in the iTunes App Store. In addition to being a generally great alternative to the built-in Safari browser, Dolphin offers several new features, like gesture-based browsing, that sets it apart. If you're new to the party, the first thing everyone loves about Dolphin is its ability to recognize custom gestures that help you navigate a page faster or go to a specific site. For example, I wrote out "Lh" with my finger to instruct Dolphin to take mecker. You can create gestures for any site, as well as close tabs, clear history, toggle private browsing and more. Dolphin also conveniently hides a bunch of features in drawers on the left and right side of the screen. Swiping them open like drawers reveals them. On the left you have bookmarks, and on the right you have popular options like full screen mode, your downloads, gestures and more. While you'll generally use the bar at the bottom of the screen to access these extra features, opening the drawer on the right is particularly useful when you're utilizing full screen mode. Overall, Dolphin is a very simple browser that actually feels a lot like you're using Safari but with a lot of great additions. While it won't provide you with the immense number of features you'll find with some of the other options, it's a great, simple browser that feels more at home on a touch screen device than pretty much anything else you'll try.
-- By Adam Dachis, Lifehacker.com