caps

Unlike classic keyboards where characters were small decals stuck on generic keys, many modern keyboards, such as those in Apple's laptops, have keys built for the specific characters. The keys are made of translucent plastic with a black coating so the character can be illuminated with a backlight.

This approach to keys offers great advantage in low-light situations, but it also can be a bit of a burden if the key begins to wear out. While the keys ought to last, after extensive use you may look down to see some of the characters fading away.

When key wear … Read more

The Sims Social was once heralded as Electronic Arts' "most successful Facebook game," but now it's being laid to rest along with SimCity Social and Pet Society. These three social games will be extinct from Facebook as of June 14.

The game maker made the announcement today, saying that it was a hard decision but had to be done in order to "reallocate servers and resources to more popular titles," according to the FAQ section of its Web site.

"Today we are informing players of the difficult decision to retire some of our Facebook games: The Sims Social, SimCity Social, and Pet Society," EA wrote in a blog post today. "After millions of people initially logged in to play these games, the number of players and amount of activity has fallen off."… Read more

How much do you value your productivity? If you're smack in the middle of an important work or school project, or you've got important life events to deal with -- eating, drinking, and so on -- you might want to steer clear of this deal.

Because I warn you: once you start playing Peggle, you won't want to stop.

Don't believe me? Peggle comes from PopCap Games, makers of such addictive pastimes as Bejeweled, Bookworm, and Plants vs. Zombies. And I'd say it ranks just as high as those classics on the time-suck scale.

It'… Read more

YOKOHAMA, Japan--Most photographers will misplace their lens cap at some point. The Flip Cap could help.

The Flip Cap's name speaks for itself. It's a lens cap that flips up and out of the way when you want to take a picture. You attach the contraption to your camera lens via the filter thread and press a button to make the spring-loaded cap to flip open. A product of Kenko International, which also makes lens filters and bags, the Flip Cap will be available in plain black, or in a set with interchangeable panel designs. There will be two sizes available to fit 49mm and 58mm lens filter threads. … Read more

Plants vs Zombies is one of the most popular games on the Windows, iPhone, and iPad platforms, and now it's on the Mac. The goal of Plants vs Zombies is to stop zombies from marching across your lawn or roof and eating you. To defend yourself you have to put various plants in their way, each plant having special skills. Plants vs Zombies installs easily.

The plants in Plants vs Zombies get laid out on a grid. Some plants shoot peas, which injure zombies, some plants eat zombies, and so on. There's about a dozen different plants that … Read more

Enter our week-long Threadless contest for a chance to win one of three Threadless T-shirts -- one lucky winner will receive a $30 gift certificate to the Threadless Web Store. Just follow us on Twitter and @reply us a photo of your favorite T-shirt along with the hash tag #404Threadless. We'll select the winners next Monday. Good luck!… Read more

In May 2010, Apple attained a ranking long thought unthinkable -- the world's most valuable technology company, a position it achieved by dethroning longtime rival Microsoft.

Apple still sits atop the throne. But in the meantime another company has come along to kick Microsoft down a peg: Google, which capped off a summer surge in its stock price by overtaking Microsoft today in market capitalization. In the technology sector, only Apple has a bigger market value.

Google closed the day at $761.98, up 0.99 percent. Microsoft closed at $29.51, down 0.82 percent. And just like … Read more

With T-Mobile USA poised to offer its own truly unlimited data plan, Sprint Nextel is no longer the only game in town.

The move underscores the competitive environment in the wireless industry, with T-Mobile and Sprint required to go the extra mile in their struggle against larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, both of which have piled more limitations and restrictions on their own data plans. Sprint has said that its unlimited data plan has been a key differentiating factor against its competitors.

T-Mobile believes it has a strong counterpunch for its rivals with its latest option, but … Read more

Move over, Microsoft. Your record as the most valuable public company ever has been topped.

Apple today set a new mark as the most valuable publicly traded company of all time, reaching more than $622 billion in market capitalization, a measure of a company's stock price times the number of shares it has outstanding.

Microsoft had long held the record for the most valuable public company, having hit $618.9 billion at the end of 1999. Since then, the software giant has watched its market cap fall to its current $258.2 billion.

Apple reached the $600 billion market … Read more