technology

I won’t have a computer, an iPod or even a cell phone on my nature trip. So don’t e-mail, voicemail, Facebook or even try to call me. Don’t even phone me on a landline. I can’t be reached. When I travel, I purposely sever all lines of communication with my everyday life. I think you should, too. Because when you don’t, I get annoyed.

Ford, Chevy, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have all announced plans to release fully electric cars in the coming years, which means we’re going to have to have charging stations available for about a million all-electric cars by 2014. So, how’s that going to work?

Good question. Here’s your cheat sheet on what they’re calling electric vehicle “smart charging.”

I knew I had a problem with my Facebook addiction when I kept thinking of last weekend’s camping trip as a series of status reports:

Wendy Worrall Redal

… swore she would not camp in a tent in the rain again, and here she is.

Take a look at a pile of food scraps, and most eco-minded folks think “compost.” And sure enough, that’s a great way to recycle. (Or is it “reuse”?)

In any case, there’s another use for your rotting apple cores and moldering orange peels: Energy. A few municipalities have started setting up facilities to capture the biogas that escapes as organic matter decomposes and turn that gas into energy.

Maintaining a clean computer is not just a matter of aesthetics or even hygiene, although both are improved when you do this regularly. A regularly cleaned computer can actually last longer than one that is allowed to fester in dust, crumbs and other debris from your daily work habits. However, one wrong move – too harsh a cleaning product, too wet of a rag – and you’ve got trouble which may drastically shorten the life of your computer. Proceed at your own risk!

Where would we be without the Internet? I find it hard to remember how I used to do research for my writing, or how I ever kept in touch with my friends and family without email. And my Scrabble game has gotten infinitely better thanks to the multiple Scrabulous games I’ve usually got going on.