keyboards

Make those function keys work for you

While few keyboards have reached the high level of customization or the exorbitant price of the Optimus Maximus, not to be confused with Optimus Prime or Fortress Maximus, KeyboardLink is a great little open-source tool for turning your standard Windows keyboard into not just a program launcher, but also a program controller.

Compatible with Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, and Vista, and using a scant 3MB when in use, KeyboardLink gives you the power to set nearly any hot key combination for launching programs and controlling your media player.

To get started, once you've installed it, you need to … Read more

What's choking your computer?

Editor's note: The topic of this Spyware Horror Story submission isn't among the usual culprits of computer stop-ups, but it was too amusing a story to pass up.

Published by Penny; Fallon, Nevada

My computer was running slower and slower, but it said I still had 75 percent hard drive space. I should have been suspicious when I started digging the ultra-fine undercoat hairs of our long-haired dog out of the keyboard as a way to fix my having to pound on it to get a response! I gave up, sent the computer in, and waited for the … Read more

EPA fines Iogear over 'germ-free' claims

Bad news for the germaphobe community: Iogear's Wireless Laser Mouse and other peripherals, touted as being "germ-free," have resulted in a $208,000 fine by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA fined the company for what it called "unsubstantiated public health claims regarding unregistered products, and their ability to control germs and pathogens"--an offense that the agency says violates the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Engadget says the company no longer makes the claims about the products' germ-nuking powers. Apparently the only sure-fire way to make your mouse squeaky-clean is old-fashioned soap and water.… Read more

Whatever happened to carpal tunnel syndrome?

Remember when carpal tunnel syndrome was looking to be the big bad wolf that would blow down the IT industry with a gust of wrist injuries?

While some people have certainly and unfortunately been afflicted with it, it has not become the epidemic that so many predicted.

An Associated Press article on Sunday looks into what happened with the repetitive stress injury washout:

With the personal-computing boom of the 1990s came thousands of repetitive stress injuries or repetitive strain injuries. RSI became the hip medical acronym of the keyboard era, with subset carpal tunnel syndrome the diagnosis of the day.… Read more

New ways to input (finally) arriving

We put stuff into computers (and, for that matter, get stuff out) in pretty much the same way we have for a good couple of decades.

Of course, we still use keyboards of a fairly standard design as our primary mechanism to feed words into a computer and mice are well-ensconced as the navigational tool of choice. Over in the gaming world, it's the familiar two-handed game controller that predominates. In fact, I sense that one sees fewer joysticks, steering wheels, various oddball keyboards, and trackballs than one saw in the past. This probably reflects that "productivity" … Read more

'Optimus Maximus' keyboard finally shipping

We're almost reluctant to post this because it's been promised (and not delivered) for so long. But, with our luck, the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard will come out on schedule, and we'll be lambasted for not having passed along the news.

"We begin shipping Optimus Maximus keyboards to those who ordered it last year," creator Art Lebedev announced today on its Optimus Project blog. To further show they mean business, according to Gizmodo, the first "Optimus Configurator" software is now available for download, for both the Mac and PC. All hail the most-hyped keyboard … Read more

Keyboard can work in silence with two PCs

Thanko is one outfit we'll never be able to figure out. Just after releasing its latest example of inanity, a vacuuming mouse, it comes out with a product that might actually be practical.

The new version of the Japanese company's self-described "Silent Keyboard" allows you to pound away in the middle of the night without waking the neighbors or, if you work the night shift, your co-workers in the next cubicle. There are others that make the same claim, but Akihabara News says this one can be used with two PCs, alternating from one to the … Read more

A glimpse into Microsoft's keyboard plans

Peripherals developers must be working overtime at Microsoft. Apparently on a roll after announcing its new wireless mice, the company has reportedly filed its plans for a matching wireless keyboard with the FCC.

The Wireless Laser Keyboard 7000--like its partner, the Wireless Laser Mouse 7000--has a touch of style, this one with a swanky glass frame, according to Engadget. Of course, where desktop aesthetics are concerned, beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder.

Tweak Ubuntu for peak performance

One of the first things I noticed after using Ubuntu for a while was how snappy the OS is, especially compared to Windows Vista (which in my experience can't even keep up with its predecessor XP). Then I poked around the Linux forums a little bit and found out that I could work even faster in Ubuntu by changing some default settings, and using a few of the OS's unique keyboard shortcuts.

Start at the beginning by disabling the auto-start Ubuntu apps that you don't need. For example, the ancient laptop I run Ubuntu on has no … Read more