The Internet

Editor's Note: Before I returned full-time to a 25-year career at Time magazine, I took a holiday job at a Bloomingdale's. Many of us take a detour at times into retail, regardless of low salaries, including those of customer service reps. There are part-time jobs, jobs close to home, somewhat flexible hours and a post-retirement dip into the job field. The US Labor Department has just produced a realistic look about this venerable employment field — regardless of what you've seen on Mr. Selfridge and The Paradise. more »

The more pictures women share through their mobile phones, the more emails they send and receive, and the more frequently they use Twitter, the lower their reported stress. Compared with a woman who does not use these technologies, a women who uses Twitter several times per day, sends or receives 25 emails per day, and shares two digital pictures through her mobile phone per day, scores 21% lower on our stress measure than a woman who does not use these technologies at all. more »

Wu, lead author of the study, explains that the plot behind a movie like Her (released in 2013) becomes increasingly realistic. The film involves a man who strikes up a relationship with an advanced computer operating system that promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right."The ability to judge personality is an essential component of social living — from day-to-day decisions to long-term plans such as whom to marry, trust, hire or elect as president," said Cambridge researcher Stillwell. more »

Forty percent of adult internet users have personally experienced some kind of online harassment, most of it involving things like name-calling or attempts to embarrass someone. But there are also more menacing forms of harassment such as physical threats, and the Supreme Court has heard a case that weighs when threatening speech on social media breaks the law. more »