We've touched on some ideas regarding the future of clothing already in this space, but a recent report in Popular Science got me thinking about it all again. There's growing interest in the concept of nanotextiles, clothing and materials that incorporate a dusting of nanoparticles for various purposes.

I've become something of a sucker for industrial design ever since I split a Brooklyn coldwater flat with Raymond Loewy back in -- well, it was a while ago. Ray was a good guy. Clearly brilliant, but very … meticulous is the polite term, I think. He could not abide an apartment that was anything less than completely spic-and-span at all times. We had an Oscar and Felix thing going. Rumor has it he designed the Leisurama style of prefab housing just to get me out of the apartment. Anyway…

Even those who are not at all handy -- or into gadgets and general tech-fetishism -- dig the Leatherman tools. They're just so cool -- an entire toolbox in your pocket, with enough options to fuel dozens of MacGyver daydreams. I once escaped from a maximum security prison in Kiev using only a Leatherman, a fax machine, and a contact lens. Long story. Still on file at Interpol, actually, so I can't go into details.

Something about the concept of alternative batteries appeals to eco-friendly tech-nerd inside of me. We recently discussed the paper battery initiative , and now I come across this new prototype initiative by Sony concerning batteries that run on sugar .

In Nürnberg hat eine Art Geisterrestaurant eröffnet: Bestellung und Lieferung laufen darin vollautomatisch ab. Oops, wait a sec. Wrong language. Sometimes I slip into German when perusing source material. Or Korean. Or Maori or Gaelic or Latin. Sucks to be icosalingual sometimes.

I so admire initiative in the young people today. And so I'm pleased to report on the ongoing development of a next-generation home-brewing machine designed to streamline the process of making your own beer.

Laundry has forever been an occupational hazard for me. Back when I did contract work for the Hanso Foundation , I used to come home covered in voracious little nanobots that liked to eat the stitching out of my lab coats. They also preferred corduroy, for some reason. I had to design a sub-molecular dry-cleaning machine to eradicate the little idiots. My patent application was denied, however, when the machine somehow caused a temporal rift near Alpha Centauri .

Every time I think I'm making a fashion-forward joke about modern technology, reality beats me to the punchline. As loyal readers are aware, I tend to make many memorable, high-quality quips about dentists, dentistry, and dental technology. Like the amazing iToothpick, or the greatly anticipated Cybermolar Initiative.

The stalwart and doughty researchers over at Philips have been working on an interesting project for a few years now. It's called the iCat, and though it looks similar to the menagerie of virtual pets that have come and gone, it's actually a refreshingly practical research endeavor.

It's hard to fathom now, but many years ago, I was but a youthful undergraduate with a triple major in Physics, Mathematics and Toxicology. (Actually, the Toxicology curriculum was more like independent study, conducted in the various taverns and inns of our quaint college town.) I remember at one point becoming aware that the university offered a degree in Packaging. This was amazing to me -- you could actually major in gift-wrapping?

I can't prove this, but I have a working hypothesis that fluorescent lights , of the variety typically deployed in offices, are more than simply depressing -- they can actually suck the life-force right out of you. I did some work for Quantico back in the 1970s, and for security reasons was assigned to an office approximately 17 doors away from the closest natural sunlight. The overhead fluorescent lights gave everyone a delightful corpse-like glow, and began my lifelong hatred of argon plasma.

The history of consumer electronics is littered with failed gadgets, crazy inventors, and breathtakingly bad ideas. Then there's the iShave. I'm not saying these two sentences have anything to do with one another; they just happen to be adjacent.

According to some TV ads aired over the weekend, and Apple's website, the much-heralded iPhone will officially hit store shelves June 29. Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at last January's MacWorld Expo, where it was unveiled with a reverence and awe typically reserved for Biblical artifacts.