This holiday geek-giving season is proving to be my most challenging one yet. Prices for the best toys are high, and the availability for some of them is iffy.

  Personal care I have been avoiding the dentist, telling myself my hi-tech toothbrushes are doing the hygienist's job, deleting any evidence of my coffee and cigar consumption.

  HANDS-FREE CALLING I always try to get my wife Lisa off the phone when she calls me from the highway on her commute home from Providence. (Rhode Island drivers make their Massachusetts counterparts seem downright cautious on the road.) "It's OK," she always says. "I've got my headphone in."

  Wearable displays Myvu's new headset for video iPods makes you feel as if you are sitting in front of a large TV, in a darkened room, rather than staring at a tiny screen in the palm of your hand.

  Google Inc., whose corporate motto is "don't be evil," created a research group to develop cheaper renewable energy sources, focusing on solar, wind, and other alternative forms of power.

  If soaring oil prices don't provide enough encouragement to develop alternative energy, MIT has come up with an extra incentive: $200,000 in cash.

  A Nigerian entrepreneur based in Natick says the One Laptop Per Child Foundation of Cambridge stole his company's design for a multilingual keyboard.

  Hateful text messages, abusive e-mails and cyber-gossip are giving bullies new power over their victims -- even in the supposed safety of their own homes, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

  WASHINGTON - The country's top communications regulator scrambled to save face yesterday as fellow members of the Federal Communications Commission scuttled his effort to expand government control over cable programming.

  Verizon Wireless plans to open its network to devices and software from any company, becoming the first US mobile-phone service provider to promote unrestricted access.

  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Dubai International Capital, an investment company owned by the ruler of this booming Persian Gulf city-state, has acquired a stake of undisclosed size in the Japanese electronics and media company Sony Corp.

  Japanese already use cell phones to shop, read novels, exchange e-mail, search for restaurants and take video clips. Now, they can take a university course.

  Video game maker Nintendo Co Ltd <7974.OS> and telecoms operator NTT's <9432.T> regional units said they would cooperate in Japan to promote the broadband Internet access of Nintendo's hot-selling Wii game console.

  Sanyo Electric Co <6764.T> and Japan's No.2 retail group Aeon Co <8267.T> will jointly develop home electronics to sell under Aeon's private brand as Sanyo aims to revive its struggling business.