By JOHN TIERNEY Just be yourself. The advice is as maddening as it is inescapable. It’s the default prescription for any tense situation: a blind date, a speech, a job interview, the first dinner with the potential in-laws. Relax. Act natural. Just be yourself. But when you’re nervous, how can you be yourself? How you can force […]

By LAUREN MARKOE Religion News Service You may know the basic props of Hanukkah: a menorah, a dreidel and chocolate coins. But here’s the inside story on Hanukkah, which began Tuesday at sundown. Q • Isn’t this a no-big-deal Jewish holiday that’s pumped up just because it falls so close to Christmas? Hanukkah is considered […]

By Karen Gullo  Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s changes to iTunes in 2006 were like a new-and-improved candy bar that’s bigger, has more chocolate and contains a toxic preservative making it lethal, a consumer lawyer said in a bid to convince a jury the iPod maker wanted to kill competition and not upgrade its music service. Patrick […]

By Anthony Breznican  Luke Skywalker was a huge part of Mark Hamill’s past, and although he still can’t talk about the plot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the actor has opened up to EW about the emotional experience of returning to that far-off galaxy. The first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens roused extreme feelings from fans around the world, and Hamill says […]

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter.Discover the history of the Christmas tree, from the earliest winter solstice celebrations, to Queen Victoria and all the way to the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center tree. HOW IT ALL GOT […]

Phishing emails have gotten so convincing that even the experts can be taken in by a well-crafted fake. That’s what executives at Intel Security discovered when they circulated a version of their Email Phishing Quiz to 100 attendees at the RSA Internet security conference earlier this year. The quiz displayed 10 real emails collected by analysts at […]

As the countdown to Christmas draws ever closer, there is something harrowing looming on the horizon, the metaphorical iceberg of faux-pas – the Office Christmas Party. A whole year’s hard work, character-building and unblemished office reputation can be destroyed in one false move, one wrong word or one ill-informed tweet. There’s numerous real-life horror stories that are scarier […]

by Robert Reid Who does Christmas spirit better than New York? The famous poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ was supposedly inspired by the festive atmosphere in one of the city’s downtown markets in 1822, and, according to Miracle on 34th Street, yes, there is a Santa Claus, and he presides at Macy’s.  Unsurprisingly, some of New York’s Christmas landmarks […]

Holidays are one of the most special— and stressful— times of year. The magic of the holidays is all too often coupled with anxiety, sleep deprivation, and a struggle to meet work and family obligations. The next time you feel holiday stress creep up, eat your way calm by incorporating these seven foods in your […]

The 2014 Customer service Hall of Fame – 24/7 Wall St. commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct an on-line national survey in which 2,500 randomly chosen respondents rated Customer service at 150 of the best-known companies in the country. Fifteen industries are represented in the study. It probably won’t surprise you that for the fifth consecutive time, […]