A radical pessimist's guide to the next 10 years - via TheGlobeAndMail.com - Depressing, but lots of points in this list are probably pretty accurate.
 
How writing by hand makes kids smarter - via TheWeek.com - Makes sense.
 
Couple sell their $6000 home to Apple for $1.7 million - via DailyMail.co.uk - Notice to Apple:  At this kind of mark-up, my house is for sale, too.
 
7 Essential Skills You Didn't Learn in College - via Wired.com - Save some time for this one.  It's a bit long and has lots of links to supplementary information, too.

If you do this in an email, I hate you. - via TheOatmeal.com - Read this.  If any of them apply to you, die.  Except you, Mom.  Keep sending me those funny cat pictures and email hoaxes that have been circulating since the 90's.
 
Why Comcast can (but probably won't) read your e-mails, IMs - via ArsTechnica.com - This could also be titled "Another reason why lawyers suck." or "If you're THAT worried, use encryption!".  The end of the article sums it up perfectly - "...take comfort in the fact that your activities are (probably) boring enough that they will never bother to [read your email]".  Think about how many billions of emails are sent daily.  Are yours so important that anybody will give a shit what they say?  Doubtful.  If you are that important (or that paranoid) then there are commercial encryption solutions available to safeguard your email.  Just get it before the U.S. government legislates their way in the back door.  What difference does it really make, anyway?  Everybody knows the tech support guy has been reading your email for years.  
Clive Thompson on the Power of Visual Thinking - via Wired.com - Although it boils down to "A picture is worth a thousand words" this is still an interesting article.  The comments underneath it are also becoming a decent debate.
 
Duke Nukem Forever Demoed - via MaximumPC.com - Duke Nukem 3D was released in January of 1996.  The sequel, Duke Nukem Forever, has been rumoured and promised since April of 1997.  It has been vaporware for so long that it's actually been retired from some lists.  I'm still expecting this to all be part of an elaborate scam for the publisher to rake in millions of dollars in pre-orders, then disappear.
 
Google TV may finally get TV right in the online video age - via ArsTechnica.com - If Google pulls this off, expect big changes in how people use their computers AND their TVs.  The evolution of on-demand content is getting very interesting.  I wonder how internet service providers who also provide cable TV will treat this new technology and lost ad revenue.
 
Toshiba to Launch Glasses-Free 3D TVs Later this Year - via HotHardware.com - I can't wait to see this technology in action.  Too bad it's tiny screens and huge price tags.  Must have patience.
 
Anti-Government Sovereign Citizen Movement Makes a Comeback - via AlterNet.org - I'm really not sure what I think of this one.  On one hand, I agree with the idea that the government should stay out of the lives of private citizens.  On the other hand, if you want to be part of a society, you have to live by its rules.  I do admire the way they stick to their principles, though, because I don't care how many guns you have, the government has more.
 
The Office Worker's 101 Guide to a USB Thumb Drive - via MakeUseOf.com - This article has some handy tips.
 
And The Bonus!
Oral and Anal Sex Are Becoming More Popular - via Asylum.com - Several interesting statistics.  I found a certain inequality to be of particular interest.  According to this study, "85 percent of men claim they gave their partner an orgasm during their latest sexual event, whereas only 64 percent of women said they achieved orgasm during their most recent sexual encounter."  Congratulations, ladies.  21 percent of you are very good actors!  Well played.

TX Watch Company - I saw their 700 Series featured over on GearPatrol.com the other day and was compelled to dig a bit deeper.  I gotta say, for their price range (they run in the neighbourhood between $450 and $600) they make a damn fine looking time piece.  TX is a branch of the Timex family, but seems to be shooting a little higher with this line.  Sexy timepiece on a budget.
 
21 Ways to Shoot Better Photographs - via BlueGlass.com - Not a whole lot to add on this one.  It gives a pretty good rundown of the basics and even some more advanced skills that are essential for beginners and veterans alike.  Definitely worth a look if you're interested in getting into photography.
 
Why your job is making you depressed - via CNN.com - Live to work or work to live?  If you dread going to work every day and have yet to discover the key to independent wealth, then this one may be for you.
 
25 Cool Windows 7 Keyboard Tricks... - via MakeUseOf.com - There's more to Windows than what you see in the right-click menu.  Quit fondling rodents and use the keyboard.
 
Intelligent Individuals Don't Make Groups Smarter - via Wired.com and Social sensitivity trumps IQ in group intelligence - via NewScientist.com - 2 links for the price of one - A study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania seems to indicate that the level of success achieved by a group of people shows no direct link to either the average intelligence of the group or the highest IQ of any individual within that group.  There aren't a huge number of details given about the qualitative measurement of group performance, so I hope to find a more detailed article.  An interesting find none the less.

Martin Aircraft's commercial jetpack looks to take flight - via DigitalTrends.com - Got $100,000 and nothing to do with it?  Soon you'll be able to buy a fucking jetpack!  It's not exactly the Rocketeer, but it would beat the shit out of sitting in rush hour traffic.
 
Carry-on liquids could return for air travel - via CBC.ca - As someone who flies frequently for work, let me just say that airport "security" is a fucking joke.  Fortunately for me I'm a thirty-something white guy so they tend to leave me alone.  Here's a riddle of sorts...
     Guy (unsuccessfully) tries to blow up plane by lighting shoe-bomb on fire.  Solution - No lighters allowed and every passenger has to take off their shoes for x-ray.
     Guy (also unsuccessfully) tries to blow up plane by bringing "liquid bomb" onto plane.  Solution - No liquid/gels/aerosols allowed.
     Guy (note: UNSUCCESSFULLY) tries to blow up plane with an underwear bomb.  Question - How long until the TSA wants to x-ray my boxer-briefs?  Answer - Some airports already are. 

'Star Wars' saga set for 3D release starting 2012 - via HollwoodReporter.com - No surprise here.  There's new technology available so that means it's time to yet again re-release the Star Wars movies.  Not only is George Lucas going to make a shit-ton of money from all the fanboys who buy the super-mega-deluxe remastered Blu-ray edition, but you'll also get to see Jar-Jar in all his 3D splendor when the movies are released in 3D starting in 2012.  The joke is on George Lucas though, because the world ends in 2012.  Sorry George.
 
Internet disconnection 'like being imprisoned' - via Telegraph.co.uk - OK, I wouldn't exactly say it's like federal "pound me in the ass" prison, but it would make finding porn more complicated.
 

Urban Park Elementary is Academically Acceptable... - via DallasObserver.com - Can you use the word "studant" in a sentence, please?
 

Beyond God and atheism: Why I am a 'possibilian' - via NewScientist.com - An interesting opinion piece on the nature of science, faith, atheism, religion and the spaces in between.  I'm not sure I like the term "possibilian".  It sounds like an invading species of alien reptiles...like on "V".
 
Malware running on graphics cards - via Slashdot.org - Contains a link to a .PDF outlining the feasibility of malware running on a GPU to bypass antivirus software.  I don't think it's as big a deal as the study makes it out to be, but it's an interesting concept anyway.  I don't see a reason why antivirus software couldn't be adapted to protect against this.
 
102 Year-Old Lens on Canon 5D mkII - via Wired.com - A century-old lens mated to a modern digital camera with interesting results.
 
Saskatoon schools go easy on plagiarism - via CBC.ca - A ridiculous new trend in education that I really hope doesn't catch on.  The article states that "As long as a student hands in an assignment at some point, no marks are docked.  The same applies to students caught plagiarizing."  Is anybody else concerned about how this will condition kids to behave once they move beyond high school?  Imagine their surprise when they go to university and learn that they can't submit someone else's work as their own.  Better yet, what will they do with work deadlines when they get a legitimate job in the real world? 
 
U.S. Wants Broader Internet Wiretap Authority - via FOXNews.com - No shit!  This actually came from FOX News.  I was surprised too.  Oh wait, nevermind.  It actually links back to an article in the New York Times.  Long story short, the U.S. government wants back doors built into any encrypted digital communication for wiretap purposes.  No big deal on its face, but it never takes very long for this kind of master key to either be leaked or hacked.  I can't see any encryption having this sort of back door built in being very trusted or secure in the long term.  Watch for this one to be sold as necessary to fight the terrorists who hate our freedom.

Arse-puckering news out of the U.K. recently. Noteworthy articles can be found (here) and (here). In a nutshell, there are plans in the works to allow government and law enforcement entities to collect, catalog, and monitor personal information from various internet services including instant messaging, gaming, and social networking sites. It should come as no surprise that the idea of someone looking over their shoulder the whole time they're online pisses a lot of people off, but this isn't the only reason to worry about this kind of surveillance.

Now I'm not saying that it's not important, but I'm going to try to sidestep the whole George Orwell/1984/Big Brother side of the discussion. Issues of privacy as a fundamental right are absolutely important, but the first thing anyone ever points out is that this kind on monitoring of the public is a slippery slope into an Orwellian dystopia. So for shits and giggles (and a brief thought experiment) let's assume that your government loves you, terrorists really are using Facebook to plot global annihilation, and this proposed project has nothing to do with targeting legitimate political dissent and freedom of speech. Warm and fuzzy? Off we go...