keyboards

Keyboard and Mouse Cleaner 1.0 Review

We had to smile when we read about Keyboard and Mouse Cleaner and the one thing it does because it's such a simple and neat answer to a universal problem. Namely, how to clean your keyboard and mouse without either shutting down your PC or clicking and typing a lot of random keys (never a good idea).

This free app from Gromicho AF Systems turns off your keyboard and mouse for 60 seconds when you click its broom icon. That's enough time to blow out that crumb catcher you call a keyboard or clean the dust from your … Read more

Use Ctrl-Shift-Esc for quick access to the Task Manager

Windows Task Manager is a useful tool to monitor your system and quit applications that are not responding. If you are using the tried-and-true Ctrl-Alt-Delete to access the Windows Task Manager, you are taking the long way there. Instead, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-Esc to access the Task Manager directly.

In Windows 8, Ctrl-Alt-Delete calls up a menu, of which the Task Manager is one option. This means it's a two-step process to get to the Task Manager. With the Ctrl-Shift-Esc shortcut, you call up the Task Manager directly, giving you quicker access. It may seem like a trivial … Read more

Quick tip: Launch a pop-up compose window in Gmail

Google first introduced the new Gmail compose window last October. Users were encouraged to try out the new "compose experience," with the option to revert to the old compose method. Just a couple of weeks ago, Google announced that the new compose would now be the default and that it'd be rolled out to all users.

If the new compose window feels a bit cramped to you, we've got a tip that'll let you stretch it out a little while composing your e-mails. Instead of being stuck to the inside of your browser, you can … Read more

Easy Keyboard v1.03 Review

Finding the perfect keyboard for your smartphone can be a challenge. Easy Keyboard offers a whole new way to look at texting on your phone. The only problem is that it's not one of the most convenient ways to text.

As with any other keyboard app on Android, your gadget tells you that the app can track what you type and more. During testing, there was no indication that Easy Keyboard was actually doing that, though. Once you get it up, it takes up almost half of your screen. To type anything, you need to touch the key you … Read more

Hack your old Mac's ADB keyboard to bring it up-to-date

If you are a longtime Mac user who simply could not bring yourself to throw away your old systems, then you may still have an old Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) keyboard such as the Apple Extended Keyboard II lying around. Despite being an older style, many of these keyboards were quite well-made and if only they had USB connectors instead of their ADB connections they could be put to good use on modern systems. It turns out, this is quite doable.

Recently tech hobbyist Scott Vanderlind found that by adding a small USB controller to the keyboard, he could tap … Read more

How to set up the ultimate home theater PC

At some point, you've probably considered hooking your computer up to your TV. Maybe you even purchased a video cable, only to realize that being hunched over your computer and tethered to the TV is far from the awesome setup you had in mind.

Hooking up your computer to your TV can be as simple or as complex as you want. A basic setup lets you stream the occasional Web video, while a more advanced rig lets you access movie and music files from computers across your home network.

But the most brag-worthy home theater PCs (HTPCs) include all … Read more

QWERTY Sofa: The comfiest keyboard you'll ever nap on

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I sure wish I could type with my butt?" No, we haven't either, but that hasn't stopped us from admiring the QWERTY Sofa by Italian firm ZO-loft.

Alas, you can't actually type with it (otherwise you'd probably get something that looked like your cat had been sitting on your keyboard every time you offered guests a seat), but it does look pretty sleek.

ZO-loft says of the sofa:

… Read more

Shred your e-mails with a typing guitar

Having already conquered the complex process of separating the cream from an Oreo cookie, physicist David Neevel has turned his inventive eye to the issue of typing on a computer while shredding on a guitar.

Neevel connected together a Flying V guitar, an Arduino, a custom relay board, and a Roland GR-33 guitar synthesizer to turn the notes played on a guitar into a working keyboard recognized by his laptop as a typing input device. The Email Guitar lets the user rock out while getting work done.… Read more

Navigate your Facebook News Feed with keyboard shortcuts

Facebook doesn't have a large collection of keyboard shortcuts and many of them require browser-specific modifiers. Still, if you spend a lot of time in Facebook, using the keyboard shortcuts can be time-savers. The News Feed navigation shortcuts in particular, are convenient and easy to remember because they work the same in every Web browser (no modifier required).

To scroll through your News Feed, just use j to scroll down and k to scroll up. To comment on the selected story from your News Feed, use c. To like or unlike a selected story, use l.

Keep in mind … Read more