Your Technology

By M.M. Buechner and Anita Hamilton

FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION

Nobody likes being accosted by a clipboard-carrying activist, however noble the cause. But now you can weigh in on an issue in peace. A visit to www.e-thepeople.com (it launches Aug. 1) lets you search by topic for a petition you might want to sign, start your own petition or send a letter to almost any official, from a local parks commissioner to a U.S. Senator. Not sure to whom to vent? Search for the right recipient; if that office doesn't have an e-mail address, your message is faxed. Afraid of spam? Don't be: your e-mail address remains secret.

COOLING YOUR HOT SPOTS

Fans and air conditioning work just fine on those sweltering weekend days when you can hibernate indoors, but eventually you need to venture outside. The Personal Cooling System from the Sharper Image ($49) may look like a whiplash collar, but it works. Just wrap it around your neck and let its aluminum plates, cooled by water and a fan, refresh you.

MOTOROLA THINKS SMALLER

The sleek Startac phone has long been the envy of every mobile exec saddled with a larger, less attractive cell phone. Early next year, Motorola will give folks something new to covet: its V-series phone (approximately $500 to $600) will be a tad shorter, 25% narrower and a third lighter than the Startac. The best news: the V-series' talk time reaches a comfortable 160 min., with up to 160 hr. of standby.

--By M.M. Buechner and Anita Hamilton