Typewriter keyboard mod

I even doesn't know what to say. I just want a such retro-style keyboard.

found this miracle on makezine

13 Incredible Computer keyboards

1. The roll-up keyboard

These keyboards feature 104 keys in a standard QWERTY layout, but with a nifty twist of being the most portable keyboard seen to date. Simply roll the unit up when you’re done with it! A great tool for laptop users who miss their full-sized KB when on the road, or LAN party warriors looking to lighten their load.

2. The virtual laser keyboard

The I-Tech Virtual Keyboard uses a light projection of a full-sized computer keyboard on almost any surface. Used with PDA’s and Smart Phones, the Virtual Keyboard provides a practical way to do e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet tasks, enabling users to leave laptops and computers at home.

3. The wrist keyboard

Completely sealed, it can operate in the rain and other harsh environments. A curved back provides a secure and comfortable placement on the wrist. The keyboard layout is optimized to provide alphanumeric entry. Carefully positioned arrow keys ease menu-oriented tasks. The WristPC keyboard comes with an optional wrist strap to provide the capability of attaching it to your wrist.

4. The frogpad

The FrogPad mobile keypad with its innovative 20 full-size key layout optimized around the most frequently used characters sets a new standard in information access with superior portability and ergonomics, global adaptability, rapid learning and ease of use. Its unique patented keystroke algorithms enable it to be used in either a right or left-handed mode and with any international language set.

5. Maltron 3D Ergonomic Keyboard

These fully ergonomic two handed keyboards fit the shape of hands and the different lengths of fingers to reduce movement and tension.

6. The Orbitouch Keyboard

The orbiTouch Keyless ergonomic Keyboard creates a keystroke when you slide the two domes into one of their eight respective positions. You type the different characters by sliding the domes to create letters and numbers. The orbiTouch Keyless ergonomic Keyboard also has an integrated mouse, so moving the domes gives you full mouse and keyboard capability!

7. The Tidy Tippist

The marriage of eating and tipping: the decorative tablecloth, made of felt, contains a textile keyboard. The electronic is woven into a fabric, which finds itself between layers of water resistant felt as sandwich material. The soft felt surface makes it a pleasure for fingers to tip a cozy keyboard.

8. The SafeType keyboard

This well thought at keyboard will allow you to type in a relaxed position, saving you the pain. All that despite its futurist look. The supplementary keypad allows the user to position the 10-key numeric pad with arrow keys anywhere that is most usable and comfortable. It can be on the left or the right, or even in your lap. We are constantly amazed by the tremendous variation in challenges and how people find solutions for their own problems.

9. The Twiddler 2

The Twiddler2 is a pocket-sized mouse pointer plus a full-function keyboard in a single unit that fits neatly in either right or left hand. The Twiddler2 plugs into both keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports (USB port with the PS/2 to USB Adapter) on any computer that accepts standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard (or USB input). Combining major innovations in pointer and keyboard technology, the twiddler is designed to bring renewed enjoyment to current computer users and to attract newcomers to the world of personal computing.

10. The datahand keyboard

The DataHand ergonomic keyboard offers a total of 132 keys (more than even extended flat keyboards) through the use of five key switches clustered around the tips of each of the fingers. With four modes, shifted by the thumbs, hand movement is no longer required to perform keyboard work. Hand support results in the elimination of the major source of muscular-skeletal stress in hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, backs, and necks.

11. Optimus Keyboard

Each and every key on the Optimus Keyboard is a stand-alone display that shows you exactly what it is controlling at the very moment.

12. Das Keyboard

Where is the letters? Das keyboard believe with no keys to look at when typing, your brain will adapt and memorize the key position thus increasing typing speed.

13. AlphaGrip

Claimbled to the most comfortable computing device. It is a gaming pad, a keyboard also comes with a mouse trackball.

from here

Worst hi-tech products

by Tim Moynihan, Michelle Thatcher, and Peter Butler

Calling a piece of tech the "best" often starts an argument, but just about everyone knows a lemon when they see it. December is a long way away, but we couldn't wait to put together a list of the worst tech, tech events, and downloads of 2006. If there's a particularly horrendous gadget or tech happening you think we've missed, let us know in our TalkBack section. Here we go, in no particular order...

Worst product demo:
Intel's voice-activated remote control

As this video shows, Intel's Don McDonald had quite a bit of trouble getting his company's voice-activated remote control prototype to listen to him during an Intel Developers Forum demo. Yes, yes, it's only a prototype. But it also makes us ask: "Exactly how lazy do you have to be to use a voice-activated remote control?"

Worst MP3 player named after a legume: Sony Walkman Bean
Thanks to hissy audio, a weird interface, and stupid controls, we'd rather listen to a plate of three-bean salad than to Sony's bean-shaped player. For what it's worth, the Sony Walkman Bean is also the best MP3 player named after a legume. But there isn't much competition in that category.

Worst-kept secret: Microsoft Origami
"We're working on a top-secret project that will blow your mind, and we won't give details until next week. Except that it's bigger than a handheld and smaller than a notebook PC. Oh, and it has tablet functionality. And we're calling it the ultramobile PC. But that's all we're saying!" Ooh, mysterious.

Most overhyped announcement: Apple's "fun, new products"
Media and fans alike worked themselves into a froth of excitement over the possibilities of Apple's February 28 announcement of "fun, new products." But alas, the iPod Hi-Fi, leather Nano cases, and an Intel Mac Mini were nowhere near as fun or as new as the stuff in our imaginations. Now our imaginations are filled with images of Apple jumping the shark.

Worst battery life: Acer Aspire 3000
We couldn't measure this laptop's mobile performance because its battery life was well short of the 90 minutes that it takes to run the benchmark. But you can use it as long as you want while it's plugged in. Which is totally the purpose of owning a laptop. If you live in the magical realm of Electro-Outlet Land.

Worst use of fire-engine red (MP3 player division): Wolverine Data MVP (120GB)

A portable media player that holds 120GB of music, video, and pics? Awesome! A "portable" media player that's roughly the size of the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey and available only in fire-engine red? Not awesome! This feature-packed player has a lot going for it, but we resent these facts: we need a wheelbarrow to lug it around, and everyone can see us doing it because it's bright freakin' red.

Worst use of fire-engine red (laptop division): CyberPower Xplorer
We haven't carried around anything this red since we played with Tonka trucks. For the record, that was a while ago. This CyberPower laptop makes up for it a bit with decent performance, but anything this red should have a tourniquet wrapped around it. Still, it's probably smaller than the Wolverine Data MVP.

Worst name for a product that's supposed to go in your living room: Biohazard Media Center Xpress
This rack-style Biohazard multimedia PC will look great next to your LeadPaint-brand A/V receiver, Asbestos-brand speakers, and Steaming Pile of Human Waste-brand HDTV! Hazmat suit sold separately.

Worst-rated product that CNET readers love: Nokia 770 Internet Tablet
This thing, it surfs Internet. You want to make phone call? You can't make phone call. You like Ethernet? No Ethernet. You get Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is nice. No wires! You like slow load times? Yes? It is good for that. You like battery that lasts more than three hours? It does not have one. Nice screen, though.

Worst product that can get you arrested and ruin your PC: Kazaa 3
The latest version of Kazaa's P2P file-sharing app is loaded with all the fixin's! Unfortunately, those fixin's include system-gumming spyware, ridiculous flashing ads, and useless toolbars. Is the RIAA in on this? It should be, because this P2P app is the best argument against illegal downloading we've ever seen.

from here

Top 10 best MP3 players

by Edvarcl Heng

2006 was an eventful year. Every MP3 player manufacturer had something to say. Apple had its iPods, Creative went with the Zens and iriver turned miniature.

To date, MP3 players had never looked as gorgeous. The fashion bug has really bitten with the Samsung and Apple paving the way with designer styles. The Samsung YP-K5 and YP-T9 certainly look chic in glossy piano black, while the new slim Apple iPod nano can give any waifish supermodel a run for her money.

The hard drive MP3 player is definitely on its way out, with most of the new models introduced in the latter half of the year using flash memory. Video playback is still not the big hunky-dory feature it was supposed to be as most consumers seem to be contented with a player that meant mainly for audio.

Samsung once made a promise it would overtake Apple in the MP3 player market by 2007. Along the way, we have seen it progress from crudely designed Yepps to its more modish iterations. Come CES 2007, Samsung will unveil the YP-K3--a svelte, voguish number that seems to be the most credible challenger to the iPod nano to date.

It has been a bumper year for Creative as it took the mickey out of Apple with its Zen patent amidst the shadow of its losses. However, revitalized with a renew partnership with Apple for iPod accessories, Creative looks ready for a better year ahead. It has been traditional for Creative to launch a powerful product at CES and we looking forward to a new Zen that incorporates Creative's unique Xi-Fi audio enhancement technology.

Though Sony has not made much headway in the market, it still retains nostalgic value for its former audio prowess. 2007 may prove to be a crucial year for Sony to regain its former glory before it's really too late. The NW-S705F looks extremely promising with Sony's trademark ingenuity in play. Packaging noise-canceling technology into an MP3 player itself? Unheard of and more innovations in the same vein may push the former Japanese doyen of portable audio back to the top.

iriver really shocked the world with the S10. Before its appearance, nary had anyone imagined a functional color-screened MP3 player to reach such a minuscule size. In the MP3 world, iriver may be the new king of miniaturization. But product launches has been scratchy for iriver. While there is the E10 and the S7, there has been precious few offerings in comparison to other big name manufacturers. Is iriver branching out to another field, much like how Apple intends to move into the cellular phone realm? Only time will tell.

Top 10 best MP3 players of 2006 year

1. iriver E10 (6GB)
2. Samsung YP-Z5 (4GB)
3. Samsung YP-Z5F (4GB)
4. Apple iPod (30GB, video)
5. Apple iPod nano (2GB)
6. Apple iPod nano (4GB)
7. Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB)
8. iriver S10 (2GB)
9. Creative Zen Vision W (30GB)
10. Sony NW-E005 (2GB)

from here

Asimo the first advanced humanoid robot

ASIMO was the world's first advanced humanoid robot and in many respects the beginning of what we here at Communist Robot fondly refer to as "The Future."
 

ASIMO, the worlds most advances humanoid robot makes its debut in the year 2000. The name ASIMO stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, and is pronounced "ashimo" in Japanese, meaning "legs also" (from Japanese "足も"). This little robot is the result of 14 years of dedicated scientific research done by Honda into the mechanics of bipedal locomotion. About 40 of the old 2000 model ASIMO's are currently touring the world in promotional capacity.

 

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