boarding

No matter what you've got on the carving board, it always seems to slide around. You can wind up awkwardly trying to pin a roast in place with one hand while carving off slices with the other. The Gripper Carving Board can make the project easier: it's designed to hold food in place as you slice. A removable metal ring sits in a groove built in to the center of the cutting board. The ring has four points that sink into your food, anchoring it into place. It works well with meat and poultry, but the points will … Read more

While keyboard layout seems like something that is (or should be) set in stone, Guru'board's Miniguru is trying to shake the keys up a bit.

I'm all for anyone trying to improve upon previous technologies, but typing is something that is so natural to me at this point that changing functions and placements makes me nervous. (At least on U.S. keyboards; it took me a long time to become fluent on a French one.)

But maybe the Miniguru (PDF) deserves a chance. This keyboard's goal is to keep the user's fingers on the home … Read more

Facebook has formed a safety advisory board comprised of five Internet safety organizations that will consult with the social-networking site, the company said Sunday.

Facebook said it plans to meet regularly with the advisory board to review the existing safety resources it provides its users, develop new materials, and seek advice on best practices for safety in general.

"We believe that the only way to keep kids safe online is for everyone who wants to protect them to work together," Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of global communications and public policy, said in a statement. "The … Read more

I love tools that are all about providing people with information they want, and on Tuesday, the video game industry's official ratings board got my attention with something awfully useful.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) announced on Tuesday its new iPhone app, which is designed to put the board's full written summaries of more than 2,500 video games right at parents' fingertips.

The idea is that with the app--officially called ESRB Rating, and available now, for free, in Apple's App Store--parents can punch in the name of any game rated by the board after July … Read more

Back when I used to work at Sony Online Entertainment many, many years ago, I became a board game geek. The game designers and producers gathered once a week to share their sizable collections and obscure finds up in Mira Mesa, Calif., and I got hooked. The fact that the Game Keeper chain of stores was simultaneously going out of business and liquidating their supplies encouraged me to start building my own game cabinet, and I profess without shame that I rapidly became a full-blown board game geek.

I still like hunting for new games, and a few years ago at the New York Toy Fair I came across the brilliant and simple tile-based game called Hive.

Like a cross between chess and dominos, Hive's hexagonal pieces are shaped like insects, each of which can move differently on their mission to surround the opponent's queen bee. I tried to order Hive online but it wasn't available, and no local game retailer would stock it. I finally found the game in a small town in Devon, England, while visiting my in-laws, and paid close to $35 for it.

This long story comes to a quick point: I found Hive on the iPhone App Store last week for $4.99, and instantly bought it. I hope this trend continues, and it should.

Hive joins my collection of Settlers of Catan, Go, Mancala, and what I'm sure will be many, many more board games shrunken to pocket-size on my iPhone. It's wonderful, and I feel like it's groundbreaking, too.

While game systems like the Nintendo DS and PSP have had a variety of fantastic titles, they'd certainly never proceed into European board games. The low overhead and microprices on Apple's ever-enormous App Store becomes, for both developers and consumers, a great live petri dish to grow a new legion of board game fans. … Read more

Quick Timer High provides an impressive collection of timers to aid with scientific experiments. While there's a lot to manage, the timers are simple to operate and will help store data.

The program's interface was a breeze to understand, even though we'd never used any scientific timers before. We were able to jump directly into using all the timers without consulting the program's basic Help file tutorial. Quick Timer High is laid out in 16 stopwatch-like timers. You can start and stop all at once or activate them individually with a click on a specific timer. … Read more

Molly's out of the office with the swine flu. In her honor, we cover the tech that allows you to keep yourself germ free. Don't worry. Even if you end up with the flu, we also cover the tech that will keep you entertained while you recover.

Want to steer clear of N1H1? Stay off the couch

Self Sanitizing Keyboard (thanks David!)

Keep your arms dry while you wash dishes (or while you wash everything in your house.)

Designer hand sanitizer

Ericsson’s Spider PC projects the keyboard, screen

or baseball

or even basketball… Read more

I'm always in need of just a few more feet of countertop. Whether I need to put down a cutting board or just have somewhere to put a mixing bowl, even another foot would make my life a bit easier. The Instant Counter provides a way to turn your stovetop or sink into a little more counter space. The tempered glass makes for an ideal cutting surface, which can eliminate the need to devote part of your counter to a cutting board. Its legs will hold it two inches over burners or a sink. If you choose to use … Read more

First, let's be clear on what Mahjong Epic isn't: it isn't Mahjong. Rather, it's Mahjong solitaire, which is something else entirely. If you're looking for Mahjong, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a Mahjong you can play alone, however, we think you'll be pleased with this program.

The program's interface is quite sleek and attractive, with all of the features and options arranged neatly with rounded buttons. The program offers 100 different tile arrangements, as well as the capability for users to create their own arrangements with as … Read more