Marriage. Like death, it is inevitable. Ultimately you will encounter that one “right” person and make the leap, or maybe you will simply reach that point where it dawns on you that if you don’t hurry up and pair off with somebody you are going to grow old and die alone.

We are all selfish creatures, to one degree or another. Marriage will drive that last trace of selfishness out of you like nothing else. It’s like going from a dictatorship to a democracy, and those who aren’t prepared to learn the subtle arts of compromise and diplomacy are headed to divorce court. As Connected Internet’s primary focus is technology and the internet, I have compiled a short list of Tech And Internet Don’ts For The Newlywed Or Soon To Be:

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The world is a big place. The more you see of it the more you realize how little of it you truly know. In such a vast sea of humanity, will we ever be able to get past all of our cultural and religious baggage to really understand each other?

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You are really into something. So much so that perhaps your friends and family joke about your “obsession”, or ask why you aren’t making a career out of it. You know that for the majority of us, the quickest way to suck the fun out of something you love is to make it your job. You also know that there are plenty of people better qualified than you out there that are already making a living in that area, and besides, you wouldn’t know where to begin.

Maybe, just maybe, your passion exceeds it’s object and you feel compelled to take it to the next level. A website? Hmmm. A website! I can indulge in this passion and create something in the process that will be of use to others who share my enthusiasm. Brilliant!

This thought process may or may not be familiar to you, but many of us start down the road of website or blog creation with a similar motivation. The pitfalls for the many who pursue this is that, well, websites require a lot of work. Like everything else, it’s easy to start hard and then taper off. Perhaps your site got off to an incredible start, but now it’s in the tank and not growing, or worse, traffic has decreased. Man, this sucks. Everyone knows that on the internet if you aren’t growing you’re dying, right? Well before you call it quits it’s time to stop, take a deep breath and decide if you’re really finished after all.

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Affordable big screen televisions and high definition have changed the average person’s attention level when it comes to their home video and audio components. It’s hard to walk by a large high def display at an electronics store and not want that experience in your home, and the masses have jumped in head first.

Once you’ve augmented your home video capabilities, the thoughts of many turn to improving the audio experience. For many of us, the audio end of the home theater experience is even more important than the visual experience. After all, the driving motivation behind better audio is music, and even less musically obsessed individuals are sure to figure out that their new system changes their level of aural interest once they hear some of their favorite music on more capable equipment.

Just throwing money at better equipment doesn’t guarantee satisfaction, and some care needs to be taken to make sure that you are giving your equipment the initial attention it needs to provide you with the best performance it is capable of. Here are some tips that will help you squeeze the best performance you can out of your new audio equipment, for both movies and music.

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I’ve got 14 years left of raising kids and working for the man. I’m fortunate, in that I’ll be able to retire at a relatively young 56, hopefully before I’m all used up. More and more my thoughts about what that life will be like have switched from a quiet, pastoral rural retirement, with the occasional vacation thrown in to break up the monotony, to the prospect of starting a brand new adventure in the twilight of my years and retiring overseas as an expatriate American.

I have always been a hedonist. I love good food and spirits. The problem is that I am also obsessive-compulsive, as evidenced by my 13+ years abstaining from strong drink. They better have a good bottle of Scotch waiting for me at the pearly gates, because I have missed it dearly. I am 42 haven’t gotten (too) fat yet, and love food. No, food is more of an obsession. I drive 34 miles to eat at my favorite Chinese restaurant, when there is a Chinese restaurant 3 blocks from my house. I drive 164 miles to Kansas City to have real barbeque instead of eating at the barbeque joint 3 blocks from where I work. To me a vacation destination is more about the food than the sights. If you’re anything like me and think that Anthony Bourdain has the world’s best job, I don’t need to say another word.

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