Unicode Consortium, inventors of the ubiquitous emoji, have announced the most popular one of late: the crying with laughter face. Runners up: the single heart and the happy face with hearts in its eyes. That’s great news, right? It means love and laughter prevail over expletives and a pile... »

Bruce Hollywood, a Colonel in the United State Air Force, was adopted by an American couple in 1960. Until his heart attack in 2005, he never thought much about his birth parents, but his near-death experience sparked a pang of regret that he had never pursued any information about... »

I don't know about you, but lying under a cozy blanket with a good book and some hot chocolate sounds like the perfect holiday gift--and one that almost every person in Iceland is going to enjoy this Christmas Eve. Each November, The Iceland Publishers Association distributes the Bokatidindi--a catalog... »

It's a Friday, everybody's just back from summer vacation, you're feeling buried in demands, and the weekend can't come quickly enough--that is, if you don't have to work through it. Sound familiar? Sometimes we can't help thinking "if only" we'd gone into another profession. One that wasn't wrought with... »

North Korea.  Harvey.  Irma.  The Middle East.  Your daily subway commute.  Dan Rather recently posted to his Facebook page a reminder that sometimes pausing to enjoy life’s simple pleasures helps us cope. His preferred method is enjoying a glass of whiskey (which he takes neat with a water chaser).  Rather... »

It is only recently that we have been confronted with planning our digital afterlives, yet as technology advances at an alarming speed, there seems to be more and more to plan for. Services like IfIDie have emerged, sending passwords, notes, and even automatic Facebook posts in the event of... »

In early 2013, actress Sofia Vergara and then-fiance Nick Loeb had two of her eggs fertilized by his sperm and then frozen. After an acrimonious split in late 2013, Loeb initially filed a lawsuit in the state of California to preserve the embryos, later amending his complaint to sue... »

Are you considering getting a family dog this holiday season? Or perhaps gifting a dog to an elderly family member or friend with the best of intentions, i.e. to give them companionship? While New York City may be one of the friendlier dog cities in the U.S., with off-leash... »

Housing in New York is a big cost for just about anybody, but imagine if you were a student. The loaded cost of a year at NYU--including tuition, fees, room and board--is about $66,000. At that rate, which would come first, death or the payoff of your students loans?  Using... »

Don't.  Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, from Besunder... »