Gifts

When was the last time you were able to give someone your complete attention without the distraction of some sort of device or phone service? Seriously. Being present is perhaps the rarest, most valuable gift you can give someone today. We tend to privilege whomever or whatever is happening virtually rather than the individuals in our physical midst, despite the significance of the body in forming bonds and communicating most effectively. Opting out of our immediate context has become an epidemic. A few remedies: Engage in a game of phone stacking next time you're out with friends. And being a so called business professional does not excuse you from not being able to shut your phone off. You need to be able to take care of business beforehand and just say no to whoever feels that they are important enough to wake you up in the middle of the night or interrupt your dinner with your family.

Energy Efficiency

The USB is used mostly everywhere. You use it to store data, charge your gadgets, and transfer data. The Economist has written a lengthy report about the potential of USB cables to deliver an energy-efficient alternative to standard power cords once the new USB Power Delivery (PD) standard is ready for primetime next year. USB PD will give USB cables a major power boost of up to 100 watts and will let users power their laptops, low-voltage LED lightbulbs and even some internet phone systems. What makes USB PD such a potential game-changer, writes The Economist, is that it can “carry direct current and also data,” meaning that it “can help set priorities between devices that are providing power and those that are consuming it,” which should go a long way toward consuming power more efficiently. The first USB PD devices are expected to trickle into the market in 2014, although the technology likely won’t be widely adopted in consumer electronics until 2015.