With all the swirl about H1N1, you may not have picked up on anything about H3N8.
No this is not another swine flu for humans but a horse flu for dogs. Apparently the equine flu, transmitted to some dogs, has mutated into a canine flu. It's a...

The next time you go grocery shopping you may notice little green checkmarks popping up on an increasing number of food products. The checks are accompanied by the words "Smart Choices." Other than the manufacturer telling you you're smart for buying its product, what do these labels really mean?

The...

Let's admit it, our dogs are our children with less backtalk. Our own personal canines are always glad to see us, we don't have to worry about their friends or more importantly who they marry, unless of course we're breeders, then we care a lot.

That being said watching...

What do you remember the most about your college orientation? Was it stopping by one of those folding tables and signing up for your first credit card with a free T-shirt thrown in? This yearly ritual at many campuses is about to become a thing of the past, to be...

Should you ever hit an elephant? If so, how hard, and with what?

The reason I ask these questions is because I recently viewed a video of circus handlers beating their elephants before performances of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus. The pictures clearly show the handlers using...

Just when you're tired of hearing about new apps for your iPhone, here's one that can actually help out a New Yorker underground. A brother and sister team by the name of Jonathan and Ashley Wegener tell me they spent months checking out subway stops to better inform you where...

Where were you July 20th, 1969?

Were you glued to your TV set? Did you get together with friends for a moon-landing party? Were you even born?

If you weren't, it may be hard to fully appreciate just what a global event the lunar landing was. It is still considered...

What is it about coffee that frequently evokes a visceral response in people?

I have my favorite caffeine retailers too, but I willingly admit I have received a bad cup of coffee from the same. The fact that others and I keep going back probably says more about habit than...

I admit to a bit of morbid curiosity. I was not only interested in finding out what kind of Michael Jackson memorabilia has been selling since the death of the pop icon, but was also curious about their price and potential value as investments.

To that end I picked...

Michael Jackson had a reputation for being very generous with his autograph. While that endeared him to fans in life, it does them no favors in death. Simply put, celebrity autographs are worth more posthumously when there are fewer of them.

"Michael was very kind about signing things...

A vacation is supposed to be fun, but if you have to worry about every penny you spend, it's not worth a cent. On the other hand, with current economic uncertainties in mind, it's just plain foolish to come home from your vacation in debt.

There are...

I walked into a Manhattan Cadillac dealership not really knowing what to expect in the wake of General Motor's chapter 11. The first person I encountered was a woman and her son purchasing the Cadillac they had been leasing. I asked her if she had concerns about any fallout from...

Parents picking up their college student for the summer face the dilemma of what to do with all of their stuff. Remember all those living essentials for which you shelled out a fortune in the fall? Guess what: you now have to reclaim it for the next few months. So,...

There are some tall stories about short sales that have crept into real estate lore during the housing crisis. These tend to give both buyer and seller a false sense of hope when quite the reverse may be true.

As what is traditionally home-buying season, the...

I recently covered a story that started me thinking a little more seriously about identity theft. Apparently some very daring and technically astute thieves rigged some ATM machines at two bank locations and swiped half-a-million dollars from account holders.

Now mind you, they had to go into...

Nicole and Bryan are buying a house. I hear about this a lot since I work with Nicole and I've bought three times and refinanced six. The other day, Nicole mentioned that she thought the bank liked them because they were first-time buyers. And guess what: she's right.

Not...

After all the photographs of people wearing face masks and stories about runs on Tamiflu and hand sanitizers, we may be overlooking one very personal defense against Swine Flu or any other infectious disease. That defense is our own immune system, which is directly related to how well we take...

The next time you take your pooch to the groomer for a shampoo or cut, make sure you ask whether the places uses drying cages or boxes. Though widely used, these devices are controversial because they have been linked to a small number of deaths in dogs.

Most recently perhaps...

On or about April 17, 1524 Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered what is now New York Harbor. That's Verrazzano spelled with two "z's". So why does the famed Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island have only one? The monument honoring Verrazzano in the city's Battery Park has...

A woman can never be too skinny unless it's her eyelashes. Until now, those so deprived had only
mascara, "falsies" to glue on and potions that made promises. Now lash-lean women are beating a path to the dermatologist office asking for "Latisse." You probably heard all about...