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Mac Keyboard With Touchpad
Problem with Window resizing
Re: Capitalism, China, Consumer Electronics, and iPhone Price Inflation
Music Piracy
Firefox update question
Mac Keyboard With Touchpad
From Lund
Mr. Moore - read an article by you on Applelinks where you review an ergonomic keyboard with built-in touchpad compatible with Mac - I am pasting that article below:
FenTek Ergonomic USB Keyboard with Touchpad For your USB Macintosh
This split-key, contoured ergonomic keyboard that integrates a Cirque Glidepoint Touchpad (se separate description in the mouse section below) in the center of the wrist support. The graphite color is extremely rich looking, stays clean and blends with most work environments.
Features:
• Cirque Glidepoint USB Touchpad centrally positioned below spaces bars.
• 100% USB Compliant (Full compliance with USB and HID Class Definition 1.2)
• Incorporates the latest chipset for reliable performance.
• Compatible with all USB Macintosh computers.
• Rich graphite color stays clean.
• Two Bus-Powered USB Ports
• Power Switch on Keyboard
• High-quality membrane keyswitches for longer life.
• 106-key extended layout featuring separate numeric and cursor keypads.
• Dual space bars, one for each hand.
• Dual COMMAND, CONTROL, OPTION and SHIFT keys.
• FCC Class B approved
• Three Year Manufacturers Warranty
• Dimensions 21-3/8 x 10 x 2-3/4”
Price: $124.95
For more information, visit:
http://www.fentek-ind.com/mac-keyboards.htm
When I go to the website, this product is not listed. Do you know a source to purchase?? I am in desparate need of this type of keyboard!
Hi;
As you say, the FenTek Mac keyboard page no longer comes up, which may indicate that they have discontinued Mac support.
They do still offer a variety of Windows keyboards with touchpads:
http://www.fentek-ind.com/trackball-keyboard.htm
The only alternative in a Mac 'Board with a touchpad that comes to mind is the Adesso Tru-Form. For more information, visit:
http://www.adesso.com/products_detail.asp?productid=42
The Tru-Form USB Touchpad Keyboard is a split-key, contoured, ergonomic keyboard. The rich graphite color stays clean-looking and blends nicely with most work environments. Compatible with all USB Macintosh computers, this keyboard incorporates an advanced chipset for reliable performance. High-quality membrane keyswitches maintain a longer keyboard life. Its 106-key extended layout features separate numeric and cursor keypads, and includes dual space bars, command, control, option and shift keys. The keyboard also has its own power switch, plus two bus-powered USB ports.
Hope this helps.
Charles
Problem with Window resizing
From Dolna
Hi Charles,
Another problem, for when you get time:
I like using Firefox but a while ago a small but annoying problem developed... I can't remember anything that could have triggered it.
Firefox windows are always slightly taller than my screen, making it so that I can't reach the bottom right corner with my cursor. This means that I can't shrink the window (e.g. make it narrower by dragging the lower right corner to the left).
In other words, below the blue scroll bar there should be an up arrow, a down arrow and the bottom grey bar which with other browsers I can grab to shrink the window. But all that's visible is the top half of the up arrow.
I went into Firefox preferences and tried changing a few settings but couldn't see any obvious setting to adjust the height of the page.
BTW I love my sons' new MacBooks.... when I need a new computer, after this eMac dies, I'll probably get one, and use with a normal keyboard.
Thanks.
Dolna
Hi Dolna;
This isn't so much a Firefox problem as a lameness in the Mac OS X Finder problem.
OS X’s window management sucks in some ways, such as the fact that you can resize a window only via the small triangle in the lower-right corner, and can only move a window only by dragging the title bar or the brushed-metal window border. With the Classic Mac OS, you could drag windows by their side margins, so if a window was resized too large for the current screen resolution, you could easily slide it up to acces the resize handle.
This issue crops up (no pun intended) quite often for folks who say, move files between a desktop computer with a big display and a laptop with a smaller screen and discover than on the latter the lower RH corner is off the bottom of the screen and they can't get at the resize handle.
The solution is usually to hold down the Shift key and click the green "zoom" button in the upper left of the window's title bar, which will usually bring bringing the window's bottom edge up.
IMHO laptops (or "notebooks" as Apple now insists on calling them) are the way to go. I keep mine on laptop stands and use external keyboards and mice mostly.
Charles
Re: Problem with Window resizing
From Dolna
Thanks for the tip, it works!!
Re: Capitalism, China, Consumer Electronics, and iPhone Price Inflation
From jbelkin
You cover a lot of ground but as for pricing - first the iSuppli guys are only guessing (they did in January also!) because what were Apples R&D;to this point? As much as I like my iPhone, it is just a phone, it's not an oxygen regulator or electricity. The price is given upfront and in many aspects, it's not cheap but I also had to buy a new water heater - not cheap and not much fun to buy but what is cheap? Now I can spend a couple hundred dollars for dinner and while I don't do it every night, it's fine ... but in college, that might've been my food budget for a month or 6 weeks so price is subjective and as a consumer, you decide exactly what is worth to you.
As for the pricing of suppliers and who gets what, we live in a world where commodization is the keyword and the point of a company is to rise above it and as for those who make less in the commodity market, that is how capitalism works but more importantly when it works correctly - those are beginning steps ... if you look at toys, the last 40 years ahe pretty gone from MADE IN JAPAN to MADE IN HK to MADE IN TAIWAN TO MADE IN CHINA. But as their economies went from assembling toys to transitors to video game consoles to TV's to computer chips and cars and so forth, each small steps is required before they acquire the skills to build larger commodity items and later assembly and later the marketing and building a brand. You can't just spring up overnight and start cahrging to tier pricing - just look at the Korean car manufacturers just as in 1971 if you Toyota could sell millions of cars in the luxury marlet, you would laugh but now, 35 years later, no one in Detroit is laughing.
Same with the workers of the US & Canada from 100 years ago - factory workers under trying conditions and you could say they were exploited but better wages and a better life than on a farm ... and from that, their kids went to college and became middle class ... just like in China. Maybe the wages appear low now but the next gen? And the next? It's a start and what they make in a month is about what they might make a year as a farmer, that's 12 times the income! It looks low when compared to US wages but if you can eat a full meal for $.50 USD (as I did in China), that salary with housing is NOT an equivilent match because lifestyles are just different.
Hi jbelkin;
I pretty much agree with your comments, although the last water heater I bought (two years ago) was about CAN$220 I think - not too bad. I shopped around.
As I said in the article, I'm a fan of capitalism, and I think free markets result in the greatest benefit to the largest number.
I do , however, believe that consumers can influence and enhance the value they derive from the market by informing themselves and buying smart.
As for China, my point was mainly that while some players are doing very well from Chinese outsourcing, the preponderance of what you pay for Chinese-made commodities is not going to Chinese entrepreneurs of workers, and while they are still benefiting from the arrangement, I have a nagging sense that it isn't quite justice.
I agree that the cost of living and lifestyles are different in China, but I expect that's not by choice, and that Chinese workers would very much desire to enjoy the standard of living North American workers take for granted, given the wherewithall.
Were they to realize that objective, it would be disastrous for the environment, for instance, but that should make North Americans a bit uncomfortable.
Charles
Music Piracy
From Chris Merron
Hi,
I read your article regarding music piracy as research for a coursework assignment that I am currently working on. I found the information at: http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/pirate.shtml very interesting indeed and has been very useful. I was just wondering if you had any more research information that you could possibly provide, possibly more recent?
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris;
Glad you liked the article. Check out these two more recent ones on the topic.
Why The DMCA Must Die:
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/weblog/more/why_the_dmca_must_die_opinion/
Copyfights And The Age Of Digital Convergence:
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/weblog/more/copyfights_and_the_age_of_digital_convergence/
Charles
Firefox update question
From Cathy
Hi Charles,
I have a question related to Firefox updates, and haven't found an answer yet on the Web, so I thought I'd check in with you since you use the browser.
Firefox notified me through automatic updates that its 2.0.0.6 version was available, so I clicked on the button to download and install it. So far so good. The Firefox icon in my iMac's dock shows the correct version number. But when I checked the icon in the Applications folder, it's still showing version 2.0.0.5.
Do I need to restart the computer to get that version to change?
Hi Cathy;
Try relaunching the Finder. You don't have to restart or log out, and you can leave your applications open.
Just bring up the Force Quit panel from the Apple Menu, select the Finder, and click the Relaunch button.
If that doesn't work, it may take a restart.
Not a bad idea once in a while anyway. My PowerBook is overdue, with 2 1/2 weeks of uptime. It's still working fine, but the pageouts when switching programs are getting pretty sluggish.
Charles
Re: Firefox update question
From Cathy
Well, in trying to fix a small issue, I think I borked something else. Relaunching Finder didn't update 2.0.0.5 to 2.0.0.6; neither did a restart. So I right-clicked on the dock icon to get the contextual menu and chose "Show in Finder," then dragged the 2.0.0.6 icon and dropped it into the Applications folder. Finder asked me if I wanted to replace the "newer" item in Applications (which didn't make sense because it was 2.0.0.5), and I said clicked OK because I thought it was just confused. (Well, evidently I was confused!).
Afterward, Finder showed 2.0.0.6. But when I launched Firefox from the dock, only a partial home page came up with lots of stuff missing. So I went to the Mozilla site to just download the whole thing again, installed it, dragging the icon in the package to the Mac hard drive/Applications, and it asked me this time if I wanted to replace the older item with the newer one, which made sense, and it seemed to take this time.
Clicking the dock icon launches the right page with everything visible. Except that I can no longer launch the browser from my Web button my the keyboard, nor can I launch Mail from its dedicated button. Also, the FireFox disk and package pop up every time I click the dock icon. I repaired permissions but still no joy with the keyboard launchers.
The other funny thing is, I was asked if I wanted to install the Firefox application, but I wasn't asked for my password. Do you know what I might have done wrong and how I can fix it so the keyboard works again and the FF disk and package stop popping up? I guess I still haven't mastered the delicacies of application installation. They all seem to do it differently.
Hi Cathy;
Now I'm confused too.
You seem to have proceeded correctly. When I update Firefox, or any other browser, I download the disk image, mount it, and drag the newer version from the open disk image to the Applications Folder. The dialog appears asking if I want to replace the older version with the new one. I affirm, the substitution takes place, and I'm away to the races.
I don't know about your keyboard buttons going west. I'm guessing it's some sort of multimedia keyboard. Is there driver software for the button programming that might need a reinstall?
One alternative might be to just reinstall Firefox 2.0.0.5 if you still have the installer around. I never throw 'em away untill I'm well and truly sure that the new version is stable.
Note that if 2.0.0.6 has mucked up the application preferences, you might have to trash them as well to get back to where you were with 2.0.0.5 and create a fresh profile, although that should be a lst resort. More info on profiles here:
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile
Make sure you're not running Firefox from the copy on your disk image (eject the disk image once you've dragged the new version to the Applicaiton Folder.
For a new tutorial on installing OS X software, see:
http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/installing-downloaded-mac-apps
Charles
Re; Firefox update question
From Cathy
The application preferences seem to be OK since I downloaded 2.0.0.6 from the main Mozilla site. And I also repaired permissions just in case that was something different.
The keyboard is a Microsoft Wireless laser Desktop for Mac and it's worked flawlessly through several other Firefox updates, as well as Apple's own updates. It has several buttons I use all the time, a zoom slider to quickly zoom the size of small text, the e-mail launch button for Mail and the Web launcher button for Firefox. They're not absolutely necessary, of course, just convenient. I just can't figure out what could have happened.
Perhaps it traces to the first time I thought I was replacing 2.0.0.5 with 2.0.0.6, but the question asked me if I wanted to replace the "newer" application. It asked the correct "new replacing old" question the second time I downloaded the FF update. Guess I'll search for updated drivers on the MS Web site Wednesday.
Hi Cathy;
Worth checking out the MS driver status. However, if this is soome new incompatibiltiy introduced with Firefox version 2.0.0.6, the driver may not have been patched yet.
However, I took a look over at MacFixIt, and there doesn't seem to be any buzz about this sort of issue with 2.0.0.6.
There may be some sort of ideosyncratic set of circumstances affecting your machine. One thing you could try is re-running the Mac OS X 10.4 Combo update installer for whatever version of Tiger you're using. That sometimes can clean up problems. Perhaps However, before doing that, I would run the maintenance scripts and a system optimization using OnyX or one of the other system maintenance apps (you've already repaired permissions).
Charles
***
Charles W. Moore
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