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Vioguard: A zap a day keeps your keyboard germ-free
Here's what the doctor would prescribe for a sick keyboard: the Vioguard keyboard. Though not cheap at $499 to $599 when it rolls out later this year, this contraption may be worth looking into if you consider the fact that the keyboard may have even more germs than a toilet seat.
Setting that image aside, the Vioguard system is an idiot-proof one-button process. Once initiated, a motorized drawer will retract the keyboard into an enclosure and put it through a bath of germicidal ultraviolet light. That's some powerful medicine. Now if only this'll zap our hands clean … Read more
White chocolate keyboard a sweet idea
Some people love white chocolate. Others think it shouldn't even be called chocolate because it insults the category. Whatever the case, I think the white chocolate keyboard as shown is super-cool, just for the geek factor alone.
This isn't an actual product you can buy--not yet at least--but rather a digital rendering. Nonetheless, companies like Hershey and Cadbury should really capitalize on the idea and bring us a line of nerd confectionary shaped like this. I personally wouldn't eat this keyboard because I prefer real dark chocolate, though I wouldn't mind a chocolate mouse (the pointing … Read more
TigerDirect.com has the Adesso 2.4 Ghz RF Wireless Mini Keyboard with Optical Trackball for $64.99, after $14.96 Instant savings.
Begone Virtual Keyboard: iPhone Meets Apple Wireless Keyboard
Ingenious hackers have linked an Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard with a jailbroken iPhone via the creation of a new Bluetooth stack developed by researchers at ETH Zurich according to a blog post.
The software, which was created to interface the two devices, is intended to be used within any applications that would use the onscreen keyboard, but with much better results using a keyboard that is both efficient and comfortable to use.
Keyboard shortcuts speed Word, Excel work
If you're familiar with keyboard shortcuts, you probably know that you can cycle through your open windows by pressing Alt-Tab. But you may not know that pressing Alt-Esc moves between your open windows in the order they were opened.
There are simply too many useful key combinations to remember, which is why I described how to create a keyboard-shortcut cheat sheet last April. Then a couple of months later I added key combinations for moving and resizing windows.
My shortcuts.txt file is getting overloaded, but it doesn't include any of the handy keystroke combos available in Word … Read more
Scrabble keyboard gets winning score
The Scrabble keyboard could be a bit dangerous for Scrabble nerds like me. I suddenly imagine myself dropping words like "quixotic" and "evzone" into e-mails and blogs just to up my score.
If I could avoid such Pavlovian point-chasing behavior, I'd really like to get my hands on this cool-looking wood peripheral from Datamancer.net, a purveyor of custom steampunk keyboards. Most of the keys are made from real Scrabble tiles that were hand-beveled and built onto a USB, clicky, mechanical-switch keyboard. LED lights shine through the Num, Scroll, and Caps keys.
The keyboard was … Read more
Give your Apple keyboard a total makeover
If you are unhappy about Apple's new two-tone keyboard design, you are not alone. And there's not much you can do about it, either, unless you are creative.
Designer Steve Lee decided to take matters into his own hands, and with just a cheap can of white spray paint, he transformed the keyboard into something he calls "possibly the most pretentious keyboard in existence."
These pictures are for your viewing pleasure and hey, now you know what you can do with that keyboard of yours. Oh, and if you are wondering whether Lee took the keys … Read more
Computer newbs kick QWERTY to the curb
Say goodbye to QWERTY because a new revolution of keyboards has begun. Call her crazy, but Faith Quintavell, the creator of the Fast Finger Keyboard, has released a keyboard whose keys are in the order of the ABC's.
After she noticed a store clerk use what she calls the 'hunt and peck" method of typing, she was inspired and created this intuitive keyboard. The Fast Finger Keyboard is especially helpful for beginner typists, as they can simply plug in the keyboard, and begin typing (assuming they know their ABC's) Like the Keyboard for Blondes, this keyboard has … Read more
Shortcut and fix for Outlook's autocomplete feature
A couple of weeks ago, I described how to disable the feature in Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007 that automatically completes addresses as you enter them in the To:, Cc:, or Bcc: fields.
As I stated then, I've come to depend on Outlook's address-autocomplete feature, though it's far from perfect. First, editing the list isn't easy. You can delete an entry you no longer need by pressing Delete after you scroll to the address in the drop-down list that appears as you type the name in one of the above fields. But there's no simple … Read more
