I always thought it just depended on which surface of the paper you prefer to touch your tuchus; most papers have different textures on each side. If you hang it over the top, and draw the paper across your knees, folding backwards, you will get the surface that faces inside the roll. If you hang the paper towards the…

Yes, by "GPS" I meant Google Maps and location-finding via iPhone; I don't have an actual GPS unit. I now have local maps stored offline that do work with the service, though I didn't at the time.

Yeah, the data stayed up, and wasn't even noticeably slow. I guess the data system just generally gets consistently high…

Phone and SMS down but data OK is definitely a thing that happens: in the wake of the 2011/3/11 quake & tsunami here in Japan, both SMS and phone connections were totally jammed up. 3G data connections, however, were somewhat surprisingly fine. I was able to use my GPS (allowing me to walk home from work — a two-hour…

In the wake of the 2011/3/11 quake & tsunami here in Japan, both SMS and phone connections were totally jammed up. 3G data connections, however, were somewhat surprisingly fine. I was able to use my GPS, and communicate via Facebook and Twitter the whole time.

Eye exercises. Look left, right, up, down without moving your face. Look straight ahead and engage your peripheral vision. Look at something far away, then close up, then far away again. Squint tightly and release. It's amazing how much tension we carry in our eyes.

Commercials? You actually watch TV in real-time?

I've been shaving in the shower for so long I'd forgotten there was any other way, and I'm kind of peeved when I can't do it for one reason or another. Shaving in the shower is the best.

I've never tried brushing my teeth in the shower, but I don't find brushing my teeth that problematic. I can watch the news or…

A company called Now & Zen also makes a battery-powered non-illuminated one that does the same thing, physically striking a metal rod for a very pleasing "ping" that increases in frequency. I've had one for years and love it. I rarely sleep past the first ping, though...

I have long legs, so it's a bit of a toss-up for me. Window seats: don't risk getting bashed by flight attendants or other passengers, and can rest my head on the window, but the curve of the hull usually means significantly reduced legroom, plus I have to climb over two people (or ask them both to get up) if I need…

If it's just a few hours of domestic flight I don't really care, but on an intercontinental flight, "economy plus" type seating is a no-brainer for me. I have long legs, and the extra hundred bucks or whatever is nominal considering the price of the ticket. The additional room isn't that much really, but for me it is…

Yeah, I don't think Wigwag means right after 9/11, but for a good number of months afterwards, definitely, lots of empty seats and flights were dirt cheap. I took I think three or four discretionary international trips in that time. People were always asking me "Aren't you afraid to fly?" and I was like, "No, not…

They generally have tray tables that swing up and out from between the seats, at least on international flights. If the video consoles are on the backs of the seats in front, they can be a little hard to see, though (I usually load up the iPad with movies anyway). And if sleep is your objective, you shouldn't be too…

Nope. My Notifications Settings page doesn't look like that. No box to uncheck. I only get pings when people comment on my posts, fortunately, but it's still massively annoying. I was able to turn of the pings for chat messages in the chat box settings, which I momentarily thought had fixed the whole problem, but…

"In my opinion,.." is not the same as "For me, ...". If you are giving your opinion, in general that will be taken to mean your considered thoughts on a topic as applied broadly, not just to your own individual case. "In my opinion, X is stupid" certainly sounds like it means X is stupid in all cases – this is my…

"I'm just not good in the mornings," sounds suspiciously like "I can't be bothered to figure out how to deal with mornings, so I'm happy to make you suffer for my ignorance."

Perhaps you could direct your significant other to some of the very plentiful research showing that snooze-buttoning is simply…

Good lord. What on earth was her rationale for doing this?

Agreed. I'm also a regular meditator and a huge proponent of meditation, but that graphic doesn't explain anything at all.

I see "work", generally, as whatever you need to do to make money (or, more philosophically, whatever you see as your life mission to accomplish). A "job", on the other hand, usually implies work that somebody else gets to tell you to do, day after day. I'm fine with work. Work is a good thing (in moderation, of…

I think that's primarily an issue when squatting under load. You probably get better workout for the postural muscles if you maintained a neutral spine while doing the squat, but I can't see any actual danger in rounding the back when unweighted like this.

Turkey is a larger country than you might expect. Attempt at ingestion is discouraged.