Leslie Meredith

With all the talk about the first generation of "digital natives" -- kids who grew up surrounded by computers, smartphones and other tech gadgets -- let's not forget the millions of moms who raised these children. Happy Mother's Day to tech-savvy moms.

There are more than 82 million moms in the U.S., and they wield a lot of influence when it comes to buying tech-based products -- moms are involved in 89 percent of all consumer electronics purchase decisions.

Facebook has never been known for simple privacy controls. But to be fair, you can put a ton of data into your profile and specify who can see each item if you're willing to do the work. However, giving users granular control still isn't enough.

Facebook last month issued a revamped Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and opened a comment period, which was extended through April 27. Recently, the company invited more than 2,000 users to comment on the statement -- selected because they had "liked" Facebook's governance page and represent some of the social media site's most vocal critics.

Supply and demand? That old economics rule doesn't seem to apply to the cable industry. More people are cutting their cable services and prices for cable TV service are expected to keep rising.

Cable TV service is expected to rise from today's average of $86 a month to more than $100 by 2015 -- $200 by 2020, according to a new report from analyst firm NPD. Meanwhile, 3.58 million U.S. cable subscribers will cancel their service, an increase of 35 percent over cord cutters in 2011, reports Convergence Consulting in its annual study "The Battle for the American Couch Potato."

What's happening? The licensing fees for movies and shows continues to rise and the cable companies pass the cost along to you.

If you've had enough, you can quit cable. The transition may be tough for ardent HBO fans, but others may find they can get as much entertainment as they want for less than half the cost of cable. I know, I did it and that's with a houseful of teenagers.

Instagram isn't just for hipsters. The iPhone-only photo app is getting ready to take off in a big way, and you might enjoy giving it a try -- even if your kids, like my daughter, say it's really only for people under the age of 25.

Tax season is here. The IRS expects to receive more than 144 million individual tax returns this year and has set the filing deadline of Tuesday, April 17. It also expects a surge in tax scams.

"Scam artists will tempt people in person, online and by email with misleading promises about lost refunds and free money," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. "Don't be fooled by these scams."

Last week, a New York Port Authority officer's relative posted that a plane arrived at JFK with secret cargo from Apple. No one was allowed near it -- only the U.S. president commands higher security, her brother-in-law said.

Then Best Buy dropped the price of Apple's iPad 2 by $50.

And finally, email invitations arrived for Apple's iPad 3 media event to be held this Wednesday, March 7. Of course, the invitation didn't actually say that the new generation iPad would be unveiled, but the cover photo showed a corner of an iPad and referred to "something you really have to see and touch."

We won't really know anything about the iPad 3 until after the event. And there still could be some surprises once the device reaches the hands of buyers

If you're one of the millions of Americans whose wireless contract will be up for renewal this year, you will have new options to consider.

A lot has changed in two years. We've seen the spread of 4G service. We've seen wireless carriers expand their offerings to include tablets, laptops and USB broadband devices. AT&T lost its exclusive on the iPhone, which is now available at Verizon and Sprint.

More changes are on their way.