Paul and Courtney Elliott had a sick 2-year-old and Kim Hartzog was on vacation in Tennessee - reasons, ordinarily, to miss Sunday morning services at their local church. But in the Internet age, even "going to church" is no longer so ordinary.

For students who plan to work or study in Boston after they graduate, a new social media Web site offers a way for them to network and connect to the city even before they leave Penn.

Students and adults around the area will soon be able to pick up a copy of the Ripple Effect's "community read" book, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury. The project's theme this year is looking at the future.

We've been stuffed with fresh blueberry pancakes and perfectly-crisped bacon, tempted with salads and pork in barbecue sauce and home-baked focaccia, sated with all the steamed lobster and corn-on-the-cob we can manage in a single sitting.

For boardrooms and public spaces in need of a LCD conversation piece, the Dell Crystal might find a home. For those not operating on a bloated corporate budget, however, there are plenty of other 22-inch LCDs that cost a fraction of the cost.