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Posted - December 03 2010 : 07:01:34
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Question: Bro. James asks, "My keyboard and mouse seem to have quit on me. What can I do?"
Answer: Great question, Brother. Bro James had two questions last week, so I split them. OK. Here's the answer. First, determine whether your keyboard and mouse is USB or PS/2. Look where they plug into the computer. If they're round in shape, and purple or green in color, then they’re PS/2. Now, it might be that the keyboard and/or mouse are USB, but plugged into purple or green adapters, and then into the computer. If that's the case, try taking them out of the adapters and plugging them into USB ports. That ought to get them to work. Try this: shut down your computer. Unplug it. With the computer unplugged, push the power button. That'll fully discharge it. Plug it back in and turn it on. If the keyboard and mouse work then, it was just a glitch. Otherwise, if it's PS/2, then your motherboard has issues. You can replace the keyboard and mouse with a USB keyboard and mouse. That's the least expensive solution, but I can't guarantee how long your system will continue to work.
Cool Site: MedHelp.org: This week's site is MedHelp, which stands for medical help. You've heard of WebMD, well there's a lot of good info there, but when you either sign up for an account at MedHelp, or use your facebook account, you get access to a lot of medical information and more. See, yesterday was Thanksgiving and we've been feasting, and people tend to gain weight during the holiday season, well the reason this site makes the cut is that they have several online applications that let you track your weight, track what you eat every day and the calories you're consuming (you might be surprised), blood pressure, diabetes, blood counts, sleep, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, allergies, asthma, the list goes on and on. It really does. There's a symptom search, a drug interaction checker, a pill finder, and iPhone apps including a version of the sleep tracker. You'll even find info for the four-legged family members, with an Ask-A-Veterinarian section.
Cool Gadget: Nostromo Gaming Keypad: If you've got a gamer on your Christmas list, then this week's gadget is for you. Razer and Belkin have teamed up to create a special keypad that lets gamers get that extra edge while playing against others, especially in multiplayer online games. This ergonomic gamepad has a thumb operated 8-way joystick with fire button, a rubberized soft touch wrist rest, 16 programmable buttons and configuration software that lets you program the buttons according to your needs. You can also switch the key mapping on the fly from any one of 8 stored maps. You can program each button for an unlimited number of steps, and you can program it for up to 20 games. The keypad is backlit so you can see the keys even in the dark. It runs $70 from Razer.
It's All "Geek" To Me: Drag: This week's term is a drag; literally. Drag is a term that describes a mouse gesture where you first point at something on the screen, then press and hold the left button. You then without letting go of the button, move the mouse and the object you were dragging will follow. When you position it where you want, release the button to drop the object. Dragging is usually used to copy and move things around.
Internet Exclusive!
At the end of this week's show, I outlined (badly, I thought) a bit of the story behind the first Thanksgiving celebrated in America. The story itself came from Rush Limbaugh's book, See, I Told You So. He himself reads it on his own show the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, as well as George Washington's first Thanksgiving address. With all apologies to Mr. Limbaugh, I'd like to include here (without any intent of copyright infringement), the story from pages 69-72 of that book. Please note that because this book was written during Bill Clinton's presidency, it contains references to him.
Links
Tech Tip Friday's Show Notes RSS Feed:
http://www.daconsult.com/downloads/rss.xml
MedHelp:
http://www.medhelp.org
Health Tools at MedHelp:
http://www.medhelp.org/health_tools
Nostromo Gaming Keypad at Razer Zone:
http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.221675100/parentCategoryID.35156900/categoryId.53491100
Drag at TechTerms:
http://www.techterms.com/definition/drag
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