Ted J. Bloom, MLS., MSEd., CPL.Cellphones and PDAs (Portable Digital Assistants) have changed life. I have been driving for more than 30 years and consider myself a safe driver. I am a native New Yorker, and if you can drive in New York City, you can drive anywhere. The other day while driving in a busy section of Downtown Brooklyn, on a main street with four lanes in each direction, I almost killed a police officer crossing the street against the light. She was talking on her cellphone instead of watching her surroundings, that’s when I swerved and just missed her.
Ever lose your cellphone or know someone who has? At the library recently a student lost his phone and contacted our staff. I said to another colleague quietly, “It is probably in his coat.” We called his phone, and it was in his coat pocket. Leave it to the Net to come up with www.icantfindmyphone.com.  Please note there is no apostrophe in the URL.  This site works, just find a way to get online, go to the site and enter the number in question. When you answer the lost phone, an announcement identifies the service. If you get creative here, you can get yourself out of boring meetings. Be careful whom you give your phone number to with this site.
Furthermore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Tunisia are in the news due to historic, massive protests, resulting injuries and unexpected casualties. Even in the United States the political climate is volatile with Wisconsin and Indiana, the latest hot spots due to anti-union legislation.  Therefore, if you want to voice your opinion to your elected representatives in Washington and locally, www.Congress.org lists your elected lawmakers, the president, governor, etc. by zip code and is a tremendous time saver.
Lastly, Somali Pirates recently gunned down U.S. tourists off the coast of Africa, as discovered by our Navy.  If you do not have the money to hire bodyguards 24/7, why not be your own bodyguard?  Krav Maga is one of the newest forms of self-defense as it was invented in 1948 when Israel became a State, mainly to fight the nefarious and deadly Nazis who killed over 10-million innocent men, women and children in the Second World War. Krav Maga, which translates to “contact combat” in Hebrew, is pure self-defense with no sporting aspects.
It was designed to be used quickly and effectively with no wasted movements. We have one of the best Krav Maga schools in the tri-state area, if not within the nation, solely devoted to Krav Maga-they teach no other martial styles. Visit them, at www.KMLI.com.
Kombat Masters of Long Island in Syosset has a team of seasoned instructors. Besides being a martial expert and gifted communicator, the school owner is a professor, University Department Chair and published author. 

Ted J. Bloom, MLS., MSEd., CPL., has been a published columnist in New York since 1999. A college librarian in Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan with two graduate degrees, some of his credentials include creating and running a career preparation computer lab for at-risk youth through the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as being a SUNY Communications Instructor and a YMCA Director.