Mighty Microsoft this week ships its Wireless Desktop. It arrives as computer users flock to free themselves from the tangle and tyranny of mouse and keyboard wires with short range radio operated mouse/keyboard combos like Logitech’s iTouch line.
It’s a rare hardware project for the software giant, but a buck’s a buck and radio-driven mice and keyboards are hot items.
The $74 Microsoft product shines with a wide variety of custom programmable keys that let you hit favored sites and call up frequently used programs. It takes two AA batteries and two AAA batteries (included) and the broadcasting unit connects to the PC for its power.
A 6-foot range lets one settle in well back from the screen but, for some reason, the device doesn’t have controls for volume.
Maybe Bill Gates just wants to encourage use of Microsoft’s own Media Player that mutes with F8 and gets louder/softer with F9/F10.
WRITING ONLINE
Webby wannabe: Keep it simple
Web Word Wizardry ($11.95, by Rachel McAlpine, Ten Speed Press, 264 pages) proves that good writing elsewhere quite often is bad writing on a Web site. A Web-speak savvy New Zealander, McAlpine has lots of advice:
Use short words.
Keep sentences brief.
Eschew metaphors.
Avoid two words when one will do (“collect” instead of “pick up”).
Watch out for clusters of “mini words” like a, an, and, the, is, his, her, it, but, of, off, etc. since they mess up the look of a page.
And there’s lots of other potent advice for the world’s wannabe Webbies here.
Visit www.tenspeed.com for details.
BIG BROTHER
Web-enabled court clicks on e-verdicts
Maybe someday judges will hear cases from their homes using Internet enabled Web cameras to view defendants confined to their homes with electronic shackles. Maybe the city council will stay at home in their bathrobes.
Why bother with government brick and mortar buildings for license plates, drivers’ tests and library books when citizens can click and order?
On March 4-6 in Washington, industry players like EDS, SAP, Microsoft and Crunchy Technologies will sponsor the second Web-Enabled Government conference to discuss how to use government intranets to perform the actual functions of each agency online beyond just posting a Web site. For details, visit www.e-gov.com.
Too bad George Orwell didn’t live long enough to see this.
