IT Insights Blog — CompTIA A+

Lots of things in life have expiration dates. Food and drink items that you buy at the grocery store, for example. The expiration date is printed right on the side of that carton of milk in the back of your fridge. You don't even have to take a sniff to know whether it's still good. (Once in a while, of course, you should probably still take a sniff anyway.) Can't remember when you bought those hot dogs in the cheese drawer? Just check the package.

Does anyone else remember the days when most (if not all) of the things that you could "subscribe" to were printed on paper and delivered either a) to the front porch (or the driveway, the rosebush next to the picture window, the low-hanging branches of the maple tree on the front lawn — it's hard to aim things from a bicycle seat or the back of a station wagon), or b) to your mailbox? Newspapers, magazines, catalogs, or maybe the latest selection from Book of the Month club.

Here we are in the last few days of January and winter, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, is about as cold as it's going to get. Although according to the people in charge of forecasting the weather, that could be about to change — and not for the better. (Topic: Would you enjoy working as a weather forecaster? You'd get a lot of ridicule for all those time when projections don't pan out. On the other hand, algorithms and databases would do most of your job for you.)

Once upon a time one might have supposed that flamboyant singer and songwriter Elton John, 71 and still not letting the sun go down on he, would someday be best-remembered, years after his death, for one of his soaring rock ballads: "Candle in the Wind," "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man." Then in 1994 the energetic performer and eyewear pioneer collaborated with Walt Disney Studios on an animated movie about animals roaming free on the African savannah and "Circle of Life" was born.

For most people here in the United States, during most of the calendar year, the Internal Revenue Service taketh away. Tax withholding, for nearly all Americans, is as automatic as pouring milk on cold cereal, or contributing to a 401k. It's practically the same thing as contributing to a 401k: you agree to give someone else money with the expectation of getting some back later on.