2015! Twenty fifteen sounds like the title of a sci-fi movie. Sometimes I feel like I am living in the middle of such an epoch. Every day, advances in technology expand way beyond my understanding. On some days I shun the newest and latest gadget simply because I cannot allow one more thing to direct my day from some unseen cloud. (My e-mails keep asking if I want to connect with the cloud. I keep telling it to leave me alone; I just want to stay here on earth.)

I rejoice when I can send a message to friends in Kenya and get a response in a few minutes. Such communication used to take...