Bruce Watson: OMG! Texting can be harmful to your brain

?4U (LOL) RU Txtng? E1 Txts Y Not U?

Texting, the art of typing a cryptic message with your thumbs and sending it to a friend, is the hieroglyphic of our age. Bored in class? Send a TXT. Stuck in your cubicle at work? GFI! (Go for it!) Have a few lax moments before the anesthetic kicks in and your open heart surgery begins? DLMSY, d00d!!

Marietta Pritchard: Real live social networking works best for me

Recently I stuck a toe into the waters of social networking. A younger relative made me an offer I didn't think I could politely refuse when I received an email inviting me to be her "friend" on Facebook. Others had suggested this before and I had simply ducked their invitations. After all the invitation doesn't, in fact, come directly from the person, but from Facebook itself.

Bruce Watson: The truth is out -- scientists are scammers

This just in. A mere 57 percent of Americans now believe that global warming is a reality. The other 43 percent apparently believe melting ice caps, searing temperatures and that day last month when California burst into flames are just nature's way of having fun.

Bruce Watson: Confessions of a perverse pedaler

Facing down fat and fatigue, I joined a gym last summer. But for months, the only fun I had there was finding someone in some tortured position, legs twisted, arms strung out, face straining. Walking up to them, I'd say, "I know exactly how you feel."

Marietta Pritchard: A radical proposal -- doing just one thing at a time

I was saddened at the recent death of William Safire, the New York Times columnist. I admired him not so much as a political pundit, but as a language maven. His witty, timely, erudite "On Language" column, which he continued writing almost until the end of his life, was one of my favorites.

Bruce Watson: Key to success? Cashing in on fears and formulas

So the new novel by Mr. DaVinci Code sold a million copies in one day. Now there's a mystery to make a struggling author take notice. What do millions see in Dan Brown's paranoid pseudo-histories? Are there really secret orders of all-powerful men who control the world? If so, how can I make a buck off them?

Bruce Watson: Cats and dogs provide lessons in getting along for Congress

With Congress back in session, Republicans and Democrats are going at it like cats and dogs. Growling, hissing or sometimes just sniffing around, politicians from rival parties are proving themselves natural enemies, feral and rabid.