11 Things We Didn't Know. 2014 Predictions

News, discoveries and fun ...

1 ... That science fiction author and futurist Isaac Asimov got it right 50 years ago when he wrote: "Communication will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone." (Learn more at Buzzfeed)

2 ... That about half of us think 2014 will be a better year overall than 2013. (Learn more at USA Today)

3 ... That some things will be more expensive in 2014, including beef, bread, houses, stamps and chocolate. (Read more at Today)

4 ... That Bitcoin, the controversial virtual currency, will be a great investment. (Learn more at MSN). Or a lousy investment. (Learn more at Washington Post)

5 ... That, 75 years after The Wizard of Oz made history on the big screen, the animated musical Legends of Oz will score big at the box office, and the book Dorothy Must Die will make the bestseller lists. (Learn more at movieinsider.com and Goodreads).

6 ... That Cate Blanchett will win the best-actress Oscar for her performance as a modern-day Blanche duBois in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. (Learn more at AARP)

7 ... That former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was more than a little bit optimistic when he predicted in 2004 that "by 2014, Americans will have their health care managed through a fully integrated, privacy-protected electronic system."  (Learn more at Washington Post)

8 ... That the hot tech fad in 2014, thanks to Edward Snowden, will be data scrambling and encryption - or, as some will call it, "NSA-proofing." (Learn more at Daily Beast)

9 ... That the social media syndrome FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) will give way to JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) as more people opt to unplug. (Read more at MSN)

10 ... That, 100 years after World War I began, people will continue to ask why the "war to end all wars" didn't. (Learn more at About.com)

11 ... That 2013 was "the best year in human history" - at least according to one blogger - and therefore, the New Year can't possibly be better than the Old. (Learn more at ThinkProgress)

Learn something this week? Mail your ideas to  11things@aarp.org, and we'll try to include your story next time.

On Twitter, we're using the hashtag   #11things.

Let us read 11 Things to you:

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Images: Picturephone/Gizmodo.au; Cupcakes: iStock; Dorothy Must Die Cover: Goodreads.com; Doctor, tablet and patient: Blend Images/istockphoto; Edward Snowden via WikiMedia, screen capture from interview with Laura Poitras and Praxis Films; Before Cell Phones: Old Economy Steve via Quickmeme.com; Archduke Ferdinand/WikiMedia; Girl in polka dots: Gregg Westphall/Flickr

Music - Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra plays Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra - Blue Blazes by Sy Oliver, Creative Commons, courtesy of Smithsonian Remix project.

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