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Turn on the closed captioning

Dear Heloise: Enabling closed captions on television has greatly improved our viewing experience. Whether a character whispers, the music becomes loud, or the audio is unbalanced, captions help us follow the story. Finding the setting takes about 2 minutes –– dig into your TV’s accessibility or main settings menu and look for “closed captions” or “subtitles.” Most sets also allow you to adjust the font size and background color so that you can make the captions as easy to read as you need them to be. We went with a slightly larger font and a dark background, and they’re ...

Upper class played table tennis dating back to the 19th century

Tennis, anyone? How about table tennis? The tabletop version of the sport is believed to have begun in Victorian England as a parlor game played by the upper class. Early equipment was improvised; instead of a net, players are said to have lined up a row of books across a table and hit a golf ball, or possibly a champagne cork, over it. Cigar boxes or more books were used as paddles. The game caught on quickly. Companies started making and selling nets, paddles, and balls for indoor use. An early set of four rattan rackets in a wooden box marked for “Spalding’s Game of Table ...

Tale of two voices contrasts humanity

His voice vibrated with anger. It was contained, waiting for the release of the hello that never came, and my voicemail message forced him to change his tactic. He knew he had to keep that lid on to get a return call, but there was a Tupperware burp at the end, when he spat out an ask on what my plans were to enact the change he wanted. He wouldn’t have been happy with any answers. Generally, I’m at that fabled 30,000 feet view of solutions. With speeding on streets, my role was repeatedly emphasizing in two meetings that staff specifically put the phrase “traffic calming” on a ...

It’s on us to choose how to use freedom

Coincident with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence is the 250th anniversary of the publication of “The Nations.” The full title of Scotsman Adam Smith’s book, published in 1776, is “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” One might say that in that one year 250 years ago, the American Declaration of Independence provided the road map for political freedom and Adam Smith’s book provided the road map for economic freedom. The result was a great new achievement in the history of human ...

Horoscope: Friday, May 29

Love’s many facets will reshape your life. Aries (March 21-April 19) Fortune favors following obscure interests. There’s a subreddit for everything. Today brings a stronger flavor, as though your dial skips the mild settings. You’ll love something or strongly oppose it, immerse yourself in it or ignore it. Taurus (April 20-May 20) The fun part of dancing, conversing, playing ball and so many other things we do in life together is the slightly unpredictable nature of the volley. Today it’s less about the skill and grace involved and more about reciprocity. Gemini (May ...

Heart attacks not ‘rare’ at age of 57

Dear Dr. Roach: I’m always saddened when a young person dies of an old person’s calling. I read about an actor dying of a heart attack at age 57. Apparently, he was athletic and in otherwise good health. Why do healthy young people suffer from unexpected heart attacks? — A.C.G. Answer: A heart attack is very rare under the age of 30 — in the order of about 2 men per 100,000 per year. But this number continues to increase throughout lifetime. (Women also get heart disease but at a lower rate than men do at any given age. Roughly speaking, a woman’s risk for a heart attack is ...