Massachusetts,United States

Sometimes I'm shocked that these things aren't already being done. I mean, almost every restaurant in the world has a dumpster filled with fuel in the back...why not just put a generator there instead! Vegawatt, a Massachusetts-based company, is doing just that. They've created a fry-oil generator that deals with the waste while producing energy.

Jennifer Wunder, an associate English professor at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Ga., says she likes to keep her college-provided cell phone handy to send text messages and e-mails to students.

Wunder, 38, says her interaction with students is way up because she's reaching students on the same device they use.

"It's an incredible educational opportunity," she said.

On Jan. 7, she'll join about 75 fellow employees who will unplug their office phone and go wireless for good, said Lonnie Harvel, the school's chief information officer.

The recent snow and ice storms in the northeast left hundreds of thousands of residents without power. In Harvard, Massachusetts, however, one Prius owner found a way to keep the lights and electricity going by using his hybrid as a backup generator.

If you had to make a list of US states leading the green tech revolution, who would be on the list? Probably West Coast states like California and Oregon. Maybe Texas, with its burgeoning wind industry. Maybe even Massachusetts, which is becoming a center for developing battery technology. But no matter who you put on your list, don’t leave out Hawaii.

The evolution of libraries from public houses for books to public houses for information took another step forward Thursday as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $6.9 million award for a pilot initiative to improve public access to broadband Internet.

The award was made to Connected Nation, a nonprofit that promotes broadband Internet, and to the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) to improve connectivity speeds for public libraries in Arkansas, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Virginia.

An under-$100 price for Apple's iPhone remains a wish, but the buzz about the iPhone being available at Wal-Mart may be true -- for $197.

Calls to several Wal-Mart stores in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island confirmed that the iPhone will be available at the end of the month. One sales representative who handles wireless products said stores haven't been given an exact date, but the iPhone will be available by the end of the year.

Microsoft has tapped RSA, the security division of Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC, to help protect its enterprise customers from sensitive information leaks.

The companies announced a collaboration where RSA's Data Loss Prevention (DLP) technology will be used in Microsoft's Rights Management technology found in Windows Server 2008, which helps guard digital information from unauthorized users and security threats from both inside and outside a firewall.

With the holiday season approaching, the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child is looking to use advertising and an alliance with Amazon to provide more low-cost laptops for children in developing countries.

To promote this year's version of its Give One/Get One (G1G1) program, the Cambridge, Mass.-based OLPC has arranged for donations of television time, billboards and magazine ads by such major media companies as the News Corporation, CBS and Time Warner, according to a story in Sunday's New York Times.

Amazon Fulfillment

Dell Inc. and office-supply vendor Staples Inc. are working together to offer free recycling for Dell computers, printers and other products.

Under the partnership announced Wednesday, people can drop off any amount of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice and other accessories at any of Staples' 1,500 U.S. stores for recycling, without having to make a purchase.

Framingham, Mass.-based Staples started selling Dell computers last year as part of Dell's expansion from made-to-order sales on the Web into retail stores.