A person who is 5 feet 8 inches tall and stands at the edge of a large body of water will see the horizon at just about three and a quarter miles distant. Owing to the curvature of the surface of the Earth, farther than that he cannot see. So he cannot determine by sight whether the body of water is a largish lake or the Pacific Ocean.

One might liken this situation to that of a young person beginning a career, perhaps a college graduate with a diploma still warm in his back pocket but not much useful knowledge in his head.

When it comes to the digital networks that now surround us, the fact is that most us can’t just GTFO, even if we wanted to. The sooner we move beyond the addiction metaphor, the sooner we’ll be able to see, with some clarity and honesty, the extent and implications of our dependency on our networked computing and media devices.

What happens to the human self as it comes to experience more and more of the world, and of life, through the mediation of the screen?

On Mother’s Day, we find ourselves thinking about the relationship that started it all; and about our need to honor the woman who helped to build our world, whether our mother is still with us, or if she has passed.

Indeed, perhaps the greatest partnership of all, and one which aids most in the replenishment of the world, is the relationship between mother and child.

In honor of Mother’s Day, celebrated in scores of countries this Sunday, we highlight the forgotten moms behind history’s pioneers. The video is by JibJab, those animators of fun.

Each Saturday we highlight a video, comic, or skit concerning different “careers,” past and present. From W.C. Fields to Rowan Atkinson, from classic films and commercials to Monty Python—all and everything will be tapped for this look each week at various professions and pastimes.

Click here for all of the videos and careers highlighted to date.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) is famous for having quipped, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Trouble is, Twain didn’t actually say it.

But he did say many other witty and worthy things about the skies above, and we bring some of them to you here.

When the counting and tabulating for the first decennial census in the United States was finished, the total recorded population came to 3,893,874 persons in the 13 states. (Note, however, that the land area covered by that census would eventually comprise 16 states with the admissions of Vermont, Kentucky, and Maine.)

And then the other day a very pleasant young woman rang the doorbell and, when I opened the door, showed me her official U.S. Census badge, confirmed the address of my house, confirmed that it is a single-family dwelling with but a single family in it, and then handed me my official United States Census 2010® self-reporting form.

DALLAS, Texas — “Kim Welch and Sally Bradley are two of the best at what they do. They are … Injectors! And today, they are making a house call …

The video explains more about the new “Cosmetic Care Concierge.”

We all procrastinate once in a while, I imagine. It’s only those who do so habitually and to the detriment of themselves and others who give an otherwise innocent foible a reputation hardly better than outright vice.

I did not know, however, that there is an identifiable class of persons who put off, not irksome chores, but pleasures. But there is, as reported lately in the New York Times.

Though not its creator’s favorite moment, A Christmas Story is a fine if bittersweet piece of Americana, a near-classic film, and worth another viewing this holiday season.

Here’s writer A. J. Jacobs in a recent interview, discussing what he’s retained over the years since his reading of Encyclopaedia Britannica’s print set for his book The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (2004).