Gadgets

Road trip. Those two words might bring up old memories of endless hours in the backseat of a station wagon with your parents. Or it may conjure up fantasies of hitting the open road on a motorcycle. If you are a computer professional, you may think it will be a break from the keyboard and other electronics. Maybe not. My vacation was going to be a relaxing two-week lap around the middle of the country with my wife in our Miata. For those of you not familiar with the Mazda Miata, it's a two-seater convertible that's long on fun and woefully short on trunk space.

A few years ago, when Janese Swanson and her daughter, Jackie, then 8, searched the Internet for the word girl, they came up with nothing but pornography. At the same time, Swanson was doing doctoral research on gender differences and the use of technology. She came across a troubling study: Both boys and girls feel that boys are valued more by society. The computer programmer and former educator set out right then to change that. With a few friends and a fistful of credit cards, she started Girl Tech, first with a Web site for girls ages 8 to 14, and then with technological toys and gadgets geared toward girls.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Nintendo/Sega [Wii and Nintendo DS] Rating TBD There's more For more on tech, including Mike Himowitz's column, tips on troubleshooting your computer and the lowdown on new gadgets, check out the Plugged In page today. In Business

Name: : ReSource Power Station Traveller What it is: : A soft carrying case that hides a power strip for your car, boat or RV. Charge as many as three hand-held gadgets while you drive (you can use the devices while they charge). When you reach your destination, the lightweight Traveller easily hauls your gear and the messy cords to your hotel room, where you can continue to charge your gadgets if you buy the optional DC-to-wall-outlet adapter. How it works: : You will need to buy a car adapter for each of your gadgets.

Today you'll find a redesigned Taste section with new features joining old favorites. Among the changes you'll see are a new weekly feature called Burning Questions, which answers your questions about cooking, Sloane Brown's Table Talk column giving a behind-the-scenes look at the latest restaurant news and In Season, which offers advice on how to select and use the produce in your grocery store. In addition, you'll find expanded Takeout and Bookmark columns. In the coming weeks, look for Rob Kasper's new beverage column and a test kitchen feature that will evaluate kitchen gadgets.

There is a plane the soldiers truly love, the taxpayers should like and the enemy really fears, but it is not being built anymore because the Air Force didn't want it in the first place. Americans who debriefed Iraqi officers said it was one of the two planes they most did not want to see coming (the other was the B-52).The plane is the A-10, which was made in Maryland. What the Air Force doesn't like about it is that its mission is to support ground troops instead of engage in high-speed aerial combat.

The approach of cooler weather no longer is a signal fo Carroll County golfers to put away their clubs.Golfers throughout Maryland used to consider the golf season to start on Memorial Day and close on Labor Day. Now the season extends through Halloween and often through Christmas.With few exceptions, county courses remain open on a year-around basis.Improvements in lightweight clothing that supply both warmth and freedom to swing are important factors in keeping players on the course in colder months.

Linkspiration 3/15 Quick links to interesting stuff around the Internet. 1. "Reinvent Your Stuff: 21 Fun DIY Projects"  New uses for things you already own via Sunset.com. 2.  "Grant Achatz: The Chef Who Lost His Sense Of Taste" Can you imagine? Inspiring story. Head chef of Alinea in Chicago talks about his battle with tongue cancer on NPR's Fresh Air. 3. Recoveringlazyholic.com For everyone who experiences bouts of laziness. Myself included.

A NEW nationwide survey shows that nearly a third of all Americans have mental health problems at least once a month.Of the 45,000 people included in this survey, 31 percent claimed to suffer from depression, stress or emotional problems at some time during the month, while 11 percent said they had problems eight or more times each month.So what else is new?Life is often difficult and straining on the human psyche. It has always been thus. Imagine what a similar nationwide poll would have found in this country a hundred years ago:"Over half of all Americans say they suffer from depression, stress or emotional upset, according to a new poll conducted by The Evening Sun. The problems are especially noticeable in rural America, where life can be lonely and the work awfully grueling."

TEN YEARS AGO, when computers were simpler and people asked me for help, I could usually offer some informed advice. Today's PCs and operating systems are so complex that I can barely figure out what's going on with my own machine.But occasionally, serendipity strikes, as it did last week when I got e-mail from a reader who complained that graphics and photos disappeared when he scrolled through Web pages with Microsoft Internet Explorer.As it turned out, I'd experienced the same glitch with a new Dell computer.