I know it’s a little early for All Hallows’ Eve, but I like to plan ahead. GlowBrick is an environmentally friendly incandescent bulb of light, or at least it looks like one. Inside, a strangely lovely phosphorescent light bulb is entombed in a clear acrylic brick, which lounges about by day, quietly soaking up solar energy, then takes center stage by night. Eerily, it glows (green or blue) releasing the soaked up solar energy.

On a functional level, it makes a handy, low-maintenance security light. On a frivolous level, it’s a great center piece for wizards and warlocks. Gandalf would love it!

Life carries on aboard the ISS amid failure to get a crashed Russian computer system back on-line.  The system is responsible for keeping the space station’s solar panels pointed toward the sun, among other things.  Oxygen generation has been halted, as that system has also been affected.  Reportedly, there is enough oxygen currently to sustain life for 90 days.

Troubleshooting continues and the problem has not been pinpointed, nor have engineers been able to reboot the system.  In related news, I have this weird thing where Safari really slows down if I have too many job-seeking sites open.  Weird.

Read the full story from the BBC here.

There are a lot of solar powered WiFi available, but none as cheap and easy as this. The Meraki outdoor WiFi repeater is designed to work with their $50 indoor repeater that we covered in May, and is able to broadcast a signal “up to 700 feet away,” although half that might be a bit more realistic if you’ve had any experience with wireless routers. The antenna is a flat panel that has a 180 degree spread. The repeater is, of course, designed to withstand the fury of the elements, and comes with a special “outdoor” Ethernet cable. By itself it’s only about $100, but for an unreleased (but supposedly low) price you can add a solar panel and battery pack; there’s some included software designed to manage the repeater’s power so that it’ll have enough reserves to work at night and when it’s cloudy. Part of the attraction of the whole package is also Meraki’s software, which lets you regulate the public aspects of your network, and if you choose, start charging your neighbors when they mooch off your bandwidth. The kit is expected to start shipping later this summer.

The Voltaic Daypack Solar Backpack can be very handy for hiking or camping. It generates up to 4 watts of power to charge cell phones, and a lot more, but not a laptop. A Li Ion battery is included to provide a power supply even when the sun goes down. At $199 it’ll be the most expensive backpack you’ll ever buy, but it could be worth it if you take a wrong turn.