Every once in a while, there is a certain synchronicity in the world, when we see a rash of coincidences that seem related, but generally aren't. We obsess and then we move on (mass animal deaths, anyone?). Sometimes these are more subtle, and there is no greater meaning nor conspiracy, but they are still interesting nonetheless. For me, I noticed a certain surge in stories that fall into the "ironic" category.

Everyone has been watching Egypt with nervous anticipation, wondering where the standoff between Mubarak and the angry citizens of that country will end up. The recent surge in violence from the pro-Mubarak crowd (aka: mercenaries) is particularly disheartening, considering so little violence has occurred up to this point.

Given that, how absurd is it for Mubarak to claim that if he resigned today, there would be chaos? Has he looked at the streets of Cairo?? That is the definition of chaos. His resignation would likely bring peace to the country he purports to love..

The protests in Egypt pushed the previous big story from the front pages. That story was Wikileaks, the leaked documents, and Julian Assange, the man behind the site. He made his name leaking government and business documents that were thought to be private. How ironic is it then, that the documents in his rape investigation have been leaked onto the web? Apparently, they disprove his assertion that the charges are part of "dirty tricks" campaign against Wikileaks. I believe the saying is: "it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy".

Speaking of Wikileaks, one of the documents leaked by the site describes how that much-vaunted and politically protected missile defense system can't detect nuclear weapons, the very weapons it was originally supposed to stop. It seems it's only good at stopping the kinds of weapons that are not a threat to us anyway. Better start studying your "duck & cover" pamphlets.

Speaking of studying, two separate studies have revealed some interesting information. The first one shows that college students are not learning to think critically. One would hope that learning to think was the primary reason kids go to college. Rote memorization just long enough to pass a test will not prepare kids for real life. Another study has shown that ogling women makes them worse at math. So when Barbie says "math is hard", it's only because you're staring at her boobs. This is not a joke.

Finally, just as Verizon releases the iPhone, and smartphone apps and iPads are replacing standard computers and programs, with the internet-connected and "cloud-based computing" beginning to transform how we work and communicate, we are about to run out of IP Addresses. This has been reported with the incorrect labeling of the internet running out of websites. For those non-technical types, an IP address is a unique identifier for a device connected to a network. That could be a website, your home computer or laptop, or any other device. Sure some devices share addresses from a pool, but essentially this means that no new sites can be created without "reusing" addresses from defunct sites. There is a plan to address this, but it's not quite ready for prime time.

Better hold off on that iPhone purchase.