Does anyone here know what the best conditions may be?  Seems like all
the commercial (sorry to ruin your appetite) bananas around here never
ripen enough on the shelves, and a meal without a banana, to me is
incomplete. ;)   My guess would be the higher the temperature the
better.  How will putting them in the sun work (while it's still summer);
what about winter-time?  Any other good methods?

While I'm at it, I know that fruits (as opposed to veggies) are better
kept outside the fridge (why exactly, anyway?).  I wonder, what would be
the best conditions to keep them in then? Room temperature?  What if you
want to have, say, apples ripen quickly?  I'm not trying to play God with
fruits here, but my instincts are mostly interested in very ripe things
these days.