It's not even just specialty breeders or celebrities. The one that made me heartsick was looking at the trend in german shepherds that basically exploits a genetic hip issue. They're now being bred to stand in basically a crouching position. It's horrifying.

I think they always made it more about the fact that Jessi was the youngest and newest student, not so much her skin tone. I remember getting sad reading one of the early books, though, in which Jessi gets a part (Coppelia, maybe) and says that of course she wasn't perfect for the part, as there was no way that her…

One quick thing: Focus on the patient as a whole (though I'm sure you already do). At every appointment, before even looking in my mouth, my dentist will ask if I'm happy with how my teeth look and feel, or if there's anything I'd like to discuss. That opened the door for restorative work on one tooth that no other…

I'm pretty sure this enterprising young woman just revolutionized methods of obtaining data for an undergrad thesis.

I think that's fair. I don't think Apple is anywhere close to being as innovative* as they were even a few years ago, and I think you've targeted the reason as to why.

I'm with you on the absurdity of the giant phone, but at what point does "responding to market trends" turn into "stealing" or vice versa? Does it make more sense for Apple to stick with their previous form factor and potentially lose a lot of customers?

Not sure if this would help you, but gmail does let you see when and where your account logins have occurred. I think it's called "Security Events" and is in the same section as where you change your password. If someone else has been logging in, you should be able to see the discrepancy.

I'll just point out that Judy Blume had one of her protagonists do this in a kids book she wrote back in the 70s. Interesting that the concept might actually prove useful.

If you don't happen to have a bread knife on hand, use the point of the knife you're using to poke through the skin of the tomato where you want your cut to be, then slice as normal. Poking it will break the surface tension that leads to most squishing.

How it's processed can make a difference, too. The camera and photo shop near me will only hand-process larger prints. Anything smaller than an 8x10 is machine processed, similar to how it'd be printed in a 1-hour-photo place. The larger prints they do are often spectacular, while the smaller are nothing special.

Every year I feel more and more like a scolding schoolteacher: "No, Christmas. Christmas, NO! Wait your turn. YOUR turn, not Halloween's."

The funny thing to me with Brady is that he seems really socially awkward. His IQ is actually pretty high, but he's definitely not the most articulate guy around.

Louis' Lunch, disputed original hamburger stand, refuses to serve ketchup. For what it's worth, they don't serve fries or anything that would really taste better with ketchup.

I actually only started using it once I hooked my scanner up for a few things, a couple of months after I had gotten my Mac. I think iPhoto starting up as the default prevents people from looking for other stuff. Alternatively, someone who actively doesn't want to use iPhoto will likely already have another photo…

If you remember the Bowie bit in Extras, Gervais apparently wrote the lyrics and gave them to Bowie to work into a melody. I've always kind of figured that the lyrics were a bit more about Gervais than the character he played.

I feel like Gervais has always wanted to be seen both ways: brazenly cruel and "anti-PC" as well as introspective and well-meaning. The issue is that he doesn't seem to understand why certain things he's produced are funny or well-liked, so he shoots in the dark to try to replicate his previous success. I've liked a…

It sounds like he went into the project with the idea of showcasing the decent options, though. Many people already have the idea that frozen dinners are bad, unhealthy, or unpalatable. He probably got frustrated at the realization that he wasn't informing a lot of people and was instead largely seen only as someone…

One of the books I read when I was about 15 or 16 featured a character that decided to get an abortion, and it was dealt with in such a matter-of-fact way that it actually surprised me a bit. A few humorous bits along the way, and the only character that did some overdramatic handwringing was called out on the…

I'm wondering if swallowing the ring was only the plan once the police actually caught up with them, though. I doubt she swallowed it just for funsies.

Fact that weirded me out: The youngest member of NKOTB is younger than the oldest member of BSB.