A spectacular jailbreak in June highlighted the Afghan government’s frailty and the security situation has only worsened since then.

A human rights report said that the air strikes last week were the deadliest case of civilian casualties caused by the U.S. in Afghanistan since 2001.

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators besieged government offices in Bangkok and briefly shut down a television station.

Three gunmen attacked the vehicle carrying the chief American diplomat in the northern city of Peshawar on Tuesday morning.

The United Nations said the tide of opium that has engulfed Afghanistan is showing signs of ebbing.

Six people were killed when Hindu and Christian groups clashed Tuesday in eastern India.

North Korea said that it had stopped disabling its main nuclear complex and threatened to restore facilities there, accusing the U.S. of not keeping its promise to take the country off a terrorism blacklist.

You can't get much greener than photosynthesis, and if you own a house you can take advantage of it. Plant some greens on your roof and you'll have a rich harvest, an insulated (and better looking) roof -- not to mention a cleaner environment. Stop wasting sunlight and green your roof.

I do not, as of yet, own an iPhone. However, soon my cellphone provider will be unlocking the door, shooing away the rats, taking off my shackles and releasing me from my contract.

At that point I will be buying an iPhone. Not because it's a shiny new Jobs-job, not because several of my friends have it and keep waving it at me, but because I clearly need it. I require its functionality for such important business purposes as having an iPhone.

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In the past, technology has often taken me by surprise. I go over to a friend's house to see this new "TiVo" device they've got ("It's what? Like a VCR? I already have a VCR.") and before I know it, I'm refusing to watch television shows during their scheduled time slots just on principle. I find out about geocaching, pick up a GPS to give it a go, and in no time a stoic, computerized voice is telling me to drive through a 6-foot-wide alleyway on the way to San Diego's only In-N-Out Burger.

This time, though, I'm not going to be taken by surprise. These are my last few weeks before I have an iPhone, and I'm going to make sure I cherish my ignorance.

Right now, I can have a thought like, "I wonder who had a hit first, Chuck Berry or Little Richard?" and allow that question to wander around in my head. Maybe I'll remember it and look it up when I get the chance; maybe I'll just let it go. I suspect that this time next month I'll be pulling over to the side of the road -- I hope I'll pull over to the side of the road -- to get the answer immediately.

Right now, my friends are not subjected to photos of every "witty" stop sign annotation I encounter. In fact, they can actually hang out with me with no fear of showing up in my Flickr stream with basil in their teeth.

Right now, I do not post to Twitter every time I see a dachshund.

While I long ago surrendered my right to stride the world undistracted by phone calls, right now I at least do not compulsively grab for my cellphone whenever someone friends me on Facebook.

Right now, sometimes I have ideas for columns, and they slip my mind before I can write them down. I like to think they go to Idea Heaven, where they become a much better essay than they would have been if they had been brought to life by my mortal fingers. Once I have my iPhone, none will escape.

Right now, I am capable of referring to my cellphone without actually telling people what brand it is.

Right now, although I sometimes regale my long-suffering non-gamer friends with tales of the latest gear to drop from Kara, I do not actually pull up The World of Warcraft Armory and force them to look at my Cyclone Helm.

Right now, I do not appear to bystanders to be speaking into an ice cream sandwich.

Right now, I rarely, if ever, use the phrase "awesome new app."

Right now, I would be surprised if using the phrase "awesome new app" in public did not result in mob justice.

Right now, I understand that there is absolutely no reason for me to watch an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter in the bathroom. In fact, I realize that the very fact that this is an option is, in some indefinable way, a sign that our civilization is doomed to collapse in flame and sorrow.

So goodbye, non-iPhone Lore. It's nice having been you in a simpler world. These were the days.

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Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, Lore Sjöberg eventually overcame these handicaps to become a telecommunicator, a telecommuter and a teleconverter.

The country’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim easily defeated his opponent from the country’s ruling coalition, making a return to Parliament after a decade-long absence.

Before renovations began at Izumo Taisha, one of Japan’s oldest and most famous Shinto shrines, it opened to the public for the first time in six decades.

Fighting in the southern Philippines between government troops and Islamic separatists is growing, with the number of the displaced now reaching 300,000.

Researchers demonstrate a serious eavesdropping risk in the internet's fundamental infrastructure, putting proof to a theory that's long been whispered about in national security circles.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of Lego's introduction of the "minifig," the friendly yellow characters that add a human element to those iconic, plastic bricks.

The Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America are well-known for their thousands of copyright infringement lawsuits. But they're also Hollywood's biggest lobbying organizations. The pair have descended upon Denver for the Democratic National Convention and are headed to the Republican's convention next week in Minnesota -- in a likely move to bolster proposed legislation creating a cabinet-level copyright czar.

The Red Lady by Cecile Dreesmann. Made With Ore, Diamonds, Freshwater Pearl Blown Glass and Gold from the series "Dream Beings"Cecile Dreesmann was born and raised in Amsterdam Holland. Exhibited in Brussels,Hamburg,Cape Town,Singapore,Bangkok, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Palm Beach "The Potted Orange" Gallery, Hammond Museum NY, England, Canada, Mexico, Holland, Paris, and Germany. When she held a two week exhibition in picturesque Laren, just outside of Amsterdam 12,000 people came and it was a complete sell out. H. R. H. Prince Bernhard spent several hours at the exhibition, followed a few days later by his daughter the Crown Princess Beatrix, both collectors of Miss Dreemanns work. She authored countless books and articles on embroidery and related subjects. The precious and semi precious stones are all set in gold and cut to her specifications,drilled and or set so that the could be stitched on the background material,which was woven especially for her in Italy. She receivedus from a local estate that purchased it years ago from an important Paris dealer that acquired it directly from and important Paris family. top with another compartmented section excellent original condition. It came top us from a local estate that purchased it years ago from an important .

Adobe announced new versions of its Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements suites for editing, cataloging and sharing digital photos and home videos on Tuesday. The tools are aimed squarely at novice users and budding hobbyists, yet they deliver much of what's available in more powerful, pro-level applications.

Mozilla released a new, experimental add-on for Firefox Tuesday which adds a human-language text interface to the web browser. Now users can manipulate web services by typing one line of text, setting a whole new paradigm for how we interact with applications on the open web.

Vaporware becomes corporeal at last, but this supposedly liberating keyboard-and-mouse combo for gamers fails on a variety of levels.

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