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When I first read about the computer designed for the One Laptop Per Child project, I wanted one. Not because it was adorable, cheap or a means of doing good (to buy one you had to buy a second for a child in a poor country). I coveted its screen, designed for use in full daylight. Even my Apple MacBook Pro, with all its clever tricks, can’t manage that. Add the LifeStraw water filtration system to the list of do-gooder objects I crave. This little wonder, a water filter outfitted with a straw, made the cover of the Design for the Other 90 percent show catalog at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum last year.

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As Apple rolled out its newest iPhone on Friday, dealers and buyers were anticipating the popular device in Asia’s thriving underground marketplace in as little as a few days. The iPhones are nothing new to Asia, where enthusiasts from Bangkok to Shanghai already sport fake and unlocked versions of last year’s models — unlocked so they can work with any carrier, not just the Apple-authorized ones. Now, electronics markets are preparing for an influx of iPhones capable of 3G, or third-generation, cell phone technology.

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As Apple rolled out its newest iPhone on Friday, dealers and buyers were anticipating the popular device in Asia’s thriving underground marketplace in as little as a few days. The iPhones are nothing new to Asia, where enthusiasts from Bangkok to Shanghai already sport fake and unlocked versions of last year’s models — unlocked so they can work with any carrier, not just the Apple-authorized ones. Now, electronics markets are preparing for an influx of iPhones capable of 3G, or third-generation, cell phone technology.

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As the heated Democratic primary race came to a conclusion last month, much discussion centered on presumptive nominee Barack Obama’s superior fundraising. Hillary Clinton started the race with an edge among deep-pocket donors, but Obama roared to the nomination finish line with a substantial fundraising lead. Much of that money came in through the Internet, a trend that experts say will figure prominently in the general election to come.

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When I first read about the computer designed for the One Laptop Per Child project, I wanted one. Not because it was adorable, cheap or a means of doing good (to buy one you had to buy a second for a child in a poor country). I coveted its screen, designed for use in full daylight. Even my Apple MacBook Pro, with all its clever tricks, can’t manage that. Add the LifeStraw water filtration system to the list of do-gooder objects I crave. This little wonder, a water filter outfitted with a straw, made the cover of the Design for the Other 90 percent show catalog at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum last year.

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In cyberspace, no status update is too small to share with friends, family and strangers, including this: In Franklin, Tenn., an office worker reports that he just shuffled over from his desk to the couch. A biker in Orange, Calif., is headed to Starbucks. Elsewhere in California, someone just got coffee up his nose. You might think no one would care — but on the Internet someone might. Thanks to “microblogging,” the slightest bits of detritus from people’s lives are steadily flowing into the maw of the Internet.

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A Kmart advertisement is a strong indication that the rumors about a possible price cut for the Xbox 360 might be right. The discount chain’s sales ad for the week of July 13 lists a $299 price for the 20 GB Xbox 360. It represents a $50 decrease from the $349 Amazon.com lists as the price for the console. When asked to confirm the price drop, Microsoft spokesperson Katie Abrahamson declined to do so. However, Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, said the $50 drop is not a surprise — though it comes a bit earlier in the year than he had anticipated.

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Advocates of Net neutrality are preparing to chalk up their first victory following press reports that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has recommended prohibiting cable giant Comcast from blocking Web traffic between peer-to-peer networks. The recommendation, which still requires action from the full commission, could be precedent-setting; all Internet service providers would be prohibited from prioritizing certain Web traffic in their efforts to manage the flow of Internet data.

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Even though the sun is up at 5:30 a.m., it’s darn cold when you’re waiting for an iPhone 3G in the shade of the AT&T store in Moscow, Idaho. I should have worn pants, not cargo shorts. Still, I had the forethought to snag a chocolate chip cookie from the kitchen before I left the house, but by the time I started eating it, it was already hard from the early morning chill. The store was set to open at 8 a.m. and if early reports were true, it only had 40 iPhone 3Gs in stock. By the time I got there, I was 15th in line.

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The secret to affordable fuel-free energy may lie in some pretty-looking glass. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to use dye-colored glass to harness clean and renewable energy — and to do it in a practical and cost-effective way. The research, published in Friday’s Science journal, builds off ideas first tested in the ’70s. The work back then, however, never found a way to effectively absorb the light without losing its energy. The MIT procedure uses something called a “solar concentrator.”

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