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8:30 AM EST, Tuesday, September 11, 2007: Six years after that horrific event. Time to ponder our good fortune. All the ominous forecasts of dirty nuclear bombs in New York City subways have come to naught. People still live here, still enjoy the city. Real estate prices are way up. And my out-of-town friends think I'm less crazy for living here. Some have even overcome their fear and come to visit our museums and theaters.

The BIG news is that technology continues its vaunted explosion, conferring benefits on us all in the way of gloriously wonderful products to buy and neat companies to invest in. Google wasn't even public in 2001. Its IPO was August 19, 2004.

This week's Economist has its technology quarterly, which, as usual, is worth devouring. The cover story is the comeback of nuclear power.

My friend likes Uranium Resources (URRE). I prefer some of the Australian companies, including Metex Resource (MEE). The Economist's Technology Quarterly has stories on:

* Free-space optics. Sending information through the air.

* Everlasting light. Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly light bulb that uses very little energy and should never need changing.

* Old clean coal. Using photosynthesis to capture exhaust gases from power plants could reduce the emissions produced by coal-fired stations.

* Sea change. Offshore technology: Rising costs and clever kit are transforming the oil platform—and could even do away with it altogether

* Piecing history together. The German Democratic Republic bequeathed a 600m-piece puzzle to the reunified country. It is about to be solved using software

* What is this that roareth thus? he untold story of a failed attempt to introduce electric buses in London a century ago offers a cautionary technological tale.

* A plane that thinks it's a boat. After a long gestation, ground-effect vehicles that fly on cushions of air could finally be ready for take-off

* A car that runs on water. Would you pay $85,000 for a car you could take into the ocean?

* The ultimate game gear. New furniture, controllers and screens are helping to make video games even more immersive and realistic

* Zap! You're not dead. Medicine: A new approach to proton-beam radiotherapy, which allows treatment to be precisely targeted, could make it more widely available.

* Hearts and minds. A new device detects heartbeats and brain activity at a distance, doing away with uncomfortable electrodes

* Health 2.0. Technology and society: Is the outbreak of cancer videos, bulimia blogs and other forms of “user generated” medical information a healthy trend?

* The world on your desktop. As the Internet becomes intertwined with the real world, the resulting “geoweb” has many uses.

* The trouble with computers. They may be powerful, but computers could still be easier to use. Might new forms of interface help?

* Nuclear dawn. Attitudes to nuclear power are shifting in response to climate change and fears over the security of the supply of fossil fuels. The technology of nuclear power has been changing, too

* A patent improvement. Intellectual property: A new scheme will solicit comments via the Internet to improve the vetting of patent applications

* Borrowing from nature. Clean technology: Architects believe that biologically inspired designs can help to reduce the environmental impact of buildings.

* Ideas worth stealing: Grimshaw's proposed indoor rainforest.

Pick up a copy of the Economist on your local newsstand. It remains my favorite magazine.

From the 60s to Your 60s. This is perfectly wonderful for those of us who were there.

THEN: Long Hair
NOW: Longing for hair.

THEN: The perfect high.
NOW: The perfect high-yield mutual fund.

THEN: Acid Rock.
NOW: Acid Reflux.

THEN: Moving to California because it's cool.
NOW: Moving to California because it's warm.

THEN: You're growing pot.
NOW: Your growing pot.

THEN: Trying to look like Marlon Brando or Elizabeth Taylor.
NOW: Trying not to look like Marlon Brando or Elizabeth Taylor

THEN: Seeds and stems.
NOW: Roughage.

THEN: Popping pills, smoking joints.
NOW: Popping joints.

THEN: Being caught with Hustler magazine.
NOW: Being caught with Hustler magazine.

THEN: Killer weed.
NOW: Weed killer.

THEN: Getting out to a new, hip joint.
NOW: Getting a new hip joint.

THEN: Rolling Stones.
NOW: Kidney stones.

THEN: Being called into the principal's office.
NOW: Calling the principal's office.

THEN: Peace sign.
NOW: Mercedes logo.

THEN: Parents begging you to get your hair cut.
NOW: Children begging you to get their heads shaved.

THEN: Take acid.
NOW: Take antacid.

THEN: Passing the driver's test.
NOW: Passing the vision test.

THEN: "Whatever"
NOW: "Depends"

This column is about my personal search for the perfect investment. I don't give investment advice. For that you have to be registered with regulatory authorities, which I am not. I am a reporter and an investor. I make my daily column -- Monday through Friday -- freely available for three reasons: Writing is good for sorting things out in my brain. Second, the column is research for a book I'm writing called "In Search of the Perfect Investment." Third, I encourage my readers to send me their ideas, concerns and experiences. That way we can all learn together. My email address is . You can't click on my email address. You have to re-type it . This protects me from software scanning the Internet for email addresses to spam. I have no role in choosing the Google ads. Thus I cannot endorse any, though some look mighty interesting. If you click on a link, Google may send me money. Please note I'm not suggesting you do. That money, if there is any, may help pay Claire's law school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.
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