Podcasts from How Stuff Works: They Make Long Family Road Trips Seem Shorter

If you're going over the river and through the woods these days, it seems like you have to have an iPod, Zune, or video player on hand. If you're tired of being disconnected from each other on family outings, I highly recommend How Stuff Works, especially Stuff You Should Know and Stuff You Missed in History Class.

On a recent family outing, we listened to a story about Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution, followed by How Whale Sharks Work, ending with the riveting and sad tale of Into the Ghastly Blank with Burke and Wills.

The stories are five to 30 minutes long, and most are 10-20 minutes in length. I get mine free from iTunes. Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, the amiable hosts of Stuff You Should Know, tell their tales in a relaxed yet compelling way, and the topics are engrossing. Katie and Sarah's cheeky take on history brings old stories to life. Listening to either podcast series is a great way to break up a traffic jam or generate conversation on a long road trip, while learning a little something.

So, turn off the talk radio, stow the iPod, and find out about the 1916 shark attacks that were the basis for the book Jaws. Learn whether Nazi criminals are still walking free. Find out about "Harry Houdini, Master Mystifier." Is there is a worst way to die? Why do people blush? Was there really an Atlantis? It's a safe bet these guys have the details about something you did not know, but want to learn.

Mail Goggles make sure you don't hate yourself in the morning

Have you ever played Drink and Dial? Had that irresistable urge after a few too many mojitos to call someone you've not spoken to in ten or twenty years and share your great mood? Or get that deep dark secret off your chest? Tell your boss what you really think of him or her? Woken up the next morning wondering why you're feeling crummy and then remembered with that sinking sense of dread just exactly what you shared in your tipsy candor?

I haven't ever been that silly, of course. I am a staid and pragmatic marketer. I did have a friend- yeah, that's the ticket - who, long ago when she was single, after a dinner of more wine than food, while at a conference in a city not her own, found an ex-boyfriend's number in the local phone book and gave him a call at or about midnight. She just wanted to catch up and reminisce about past good times, as I recall, but his wife was not as jovial as she expected her to be when she answered...but I digress.

In today's digital world, you don't have to fumble through the phone book. You can text or email whomever you wish from your contact list and bare whatever soul-searing secret you want. Google Labs has something on tap called Mail Goggles to save you from yourself. It forces you to do a few simple math problems to make sure you are coherent enough to get that email off your chest. It looks like, should you not pass the math test, Google won't send the mail.

Worth a look, but far better simply to just stay completely away from the computer in the wee hours after a few drinks. If you cannot say Google Goggles three times really fast, don't touch your email.