Email madness; Ralph Nader; Farewell to the upright piano; Gopnik on being a parent

So now email's out of date too?! - Michael's essay: Here's an excerpt - "If email is now old-fashioned, the mailed letter is as ancient as a dinosaur's tooth — pre-prehistoric. If email is old-fashioned, I must be this year's Edsel — note to my children, look it up." Ralph Nader on the state of the States: The former presidential candidate and long-time consumer crusader says it's wrong to call a third party candidate a "spoiler." Mr. Nader is a fierce critic of international trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he says will empty jobs from the U.S., raise drug prices and reduce sovereignty over consumer, labour and environmental protection. 100 years ago, Canada produced beautiful pianos — now we send them to the dump: Once upon a time, Canada boasted a huge piano-making industry, and 1 in every 3 families had a piano at home. The industry is long gone...and now the old wooden upright is on its way out. It's hard even to give them away. From Vancouver, Willow Yamauchi's documentary is called, "End Notes." When it comes to raising children, be a gardener, not a carpenter: Psychologist Alison Gopnik says parents should put down the flash cards and stop stressing about things like "co-sleeping". Children don't need more structure, she says — they need more freedom. And if they get it, they will thrive in unexpected ways. Music this week by: the Penguin Cafe orchestra, the jazz group "Great Uncles of the Revolution", Laura Crema, Shelley Posen, Frederick Chopin, Janina Fialkowska, Stephen Foster, Fats Domino, Billie Holiday and Lester Young, Joseph Haydn and Lenny Breau.