keys

With Twitter Peek getting the ax, you're probably wondering, "Now what will I use to post my tweets?" How about the Tworse Key?

Yes, forget your smartphone, tablet, and laptop. The telegraph key is the wave of the future for sending tweets via Morse code. We jest, of course, but this hack is seriously one of the coolest things we've ever seen.

Tworse Key is the brainchild of Martin Kaltenbrunner, who submitted this amazing project to Hack A Day. Kaltenbrunner created the standalone device using a built-in Arduino Ethernet board and an integrated standard LAN cable (cleverly covered in cloth to give it a more old-fashioned look) to connect to the Web. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As helpful as the original Cobra Tag was for a forgetful guy like me, it had one fatal flaw: I kept forgetting to recharge the darn thing!

The new Cobra Tag G5, set to be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, now only needs charging twice per year. Cobra is claiming more than six months of monitoring between recharges of the new Tag G5 thanks to its implementation of Bluetooth 4.0 technology. However, in order to achieve this astronomic battery life, the phone the Tag G5 is paired with will also need to support Bluetooth … Read more

Not all is doom and gloom in the security world. Facial recognition security program KeyLemon now offers a simple way to create a time-lapse video of your face in the latest update to its free eponymous program.

The new optional plug-in, called LemonDay and available today exclusively from CNET Download.com, takes a photo of your face when you log in to your computer and stitches these photos together into a slightly self-indulgent video.

No separate download is required to install LemonDay. Simply upgrade the free version of KeyLemon for Windows (download) or KeyLemon for Mac (download) to the new … Read more

Keyboard shortcuts are useful for quickly accessing common functions, such as saving files (Command-S), or quitting programs (Command-Q).

In addition to universal commands like saving and quitting, most applications will have unique hot keys for their own functions, even if they are the same key sequence. For instance, Command-I in TextEdit toggles between normal and italic text, but the same command in Preview brings up the inspector window.

Since hot keys can be very useful, Apple has a built-in option to set custom hot keys for a number of system and application functions. To do this, open the Keyboard system … Read more

In a note to investors, Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar claims that Apple's supply issues regarding the iPhone 4S are due not only to extremely high demand but also a key component not being readily available.

That component? Kumar isn't telling. Or, doesn't know. Either way, there's no telling what the "key component" in the iPhone 4S that is causing supply issues is. According to AppleInsider, Kumar claims the low availability of the iPhone 4S will continue through the holiday quarter, generally Apple's busiest and most lucrative time of the year.

A … Read more

Computer experts will tell you of the importance of performing regular backups to save your personal or work-related data in case of a system failure. Simple backup methods such as burning the data to a CD are perfect for archiving data that you put on your computer, but less effective when it comes to backing up installed programs. Installed programs usually require product keys to prevent software piracy or copying, and a misplaced or illegible key can lead to software becoming unusable to you in the event of a crash. Fortunately, NirSoft has a product that can retrieve the product … Read more

Jake Frey is only a third-year student of industrial design at Philadelphia University, but he's already marketing his simple, but smart, solution for misplaced keys.

Frey's modified light switch cover places a high-powered magnet on the back of the base plate, giving your keys a dedicated landing pad when you arrive home.

The $24.95 price tag sounds like a lot for a magnet, but it's still cheaper than other key-locating solutions like this wireless key finder from Brookstone, which actually worked for my mom until she lost the transmitter that went with it.

Jake Frey's Magnetic Switch Cover is available now at TheFancy for $24.95.… Read more

Keyloggers are sneaky little programs that can record everything you type, including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information. Although antivirus software is often able to detect and eliminate such programs once you're infected, they're not foolproof. KeyScrambler Personal promises to encrypt your keystrokes at the level of your keyboard driver and decrypt them when they reach your browser so they're visible to you. Sounds good in theory, but does it work? We can't guarantee that it's perfect, but we can say that it worked just fine when we tried it.

Obviously, if … Read more

Check out these keycap sculptures made by South African visual artist and cultural activist Maurice Mbikayi. Trained in graphic design and visual communication at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in France, Mbikayi's unique mixed-media collages and the keycap skulls represent the artist's thoughts on the impact of technology on Africa and the Earth's dependence on natural resources.

Mbikayi sourced the keycaps from piles of discarded technological remnants left around the streets of South Africa and are used in his works to question their original destination and intent.

Click through the break for more pictures of Maurice Mbikayi's works of art.… Read more