My own mortality seems to have made me more aware of health news and reports. I even began a little blog, "Health Reports."

Aging causes enough strains on the body with all its new ailments and dysfunctions. The idea is to keep them at bay by spending your youth in healthy pursuits (sex, swimming, and soy-based foods might lead the list). There was a time (long ago) when we were told that masturbation would cause blindness. "They" dropped that nonsense when no one believed them.

Recently, someone in Blogcritics referred to blogging as "mental masturbation." He was, of course, basically correct. When I look at my site meters and comments on my BC articles, I see that I write to entertain myself. That is OK, since I am entertained.

Here, however, is the crux of the matter: blogging is fun. So is masturbation, of course, or so many wouldn't do it so often. The Internet is inherently fun. It is filled with ideas, information, entertainment (more and more), and the love of gadgets. But there are risks for the unwary. It is addictive, and addictions carry risks.

Medical News Today's website reported an excellent article entitled Caring For Your Eyes In A Digital World. The article warns of overuse not only of computers but also the growing number of information-laden small gadgets.

Staring at a computer monitor or the small screens on most devices can lead to a variety of ailments, including headaches, eyestrain, blurred vision, dry and irritated eyes, neck and/or backache and sensitivity to light. "Eye stress and strain may be caused by a combination of individual visual problems, improper viewing habits and poor environmental conditions, such as glare, improper workstation set up, dirty screens, poor lighting and viewing angles," explains Dr. Anshel, who has helped companies and government agencies, including Mitsubishi, American Airlines, 3M and the Department of Labor address the high stress area of vision demands in relation to working with computer monitors.

A study of optometrists found that "more than 14 percent reported eye problems related to computer use. Of contact lens wearers (2000 in the study) 41% reported computer use as a major cause of discomfort."