Give a smiley face to the emo keyboard

From the "how is it that this is coming out of Italy and not Japan" part of the Web comes the Emoticon Keyboard, or as it's formally known, "Bajca: The Emotional Communication."

This is basically a keyboard that plugs into your USB slot and can be used to type emoticons. I mean why waste time typing out carats, colons, dashes, and parentheses when one button from the emo keyboard can do it all for you?

Also, depending on how sturdy these things are, you could even smash your emotions out if said emotions call for it.

Also, in a crazy, quirky, multipurpose turn of events, each emoticon ball can be removed from the keyboard and used as jewelry.
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The why of Wi-Fi

CNET readers and my friends often ask me if they should upgrade their home network to a Wireless-N (802.11n) router or wait till the current Draft-N 2.0 specification is ratified by the IEEE.

The answer is: There's no reason to wait, and here's why.

Wireless-N routers offer much better throughput performance than Wireless-G routers (up to 300Mps as opposed to 54Mbps). They are also offer significantly longer range and better signal stability. Most importantly, they are backward compatible with existing wireless adapters.

What you should make sure, though, is that the router has the Wi-Fi certification, a sign that it has been tested and certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance for interoperability.

To be certified, a wireless network device has to go through hundreds of tests to make sure that it offers security, protocol, and performance adherence. This means it will not have any problem working well with any other Wi-Fi-certified products, from any vendor.

So far, the Wi-Fi Alliance has tested and certified over 5,000 products. According to the organization, the majority of wireless network equipment on the market is now Wi-Fi certified, and about 50 percent of those are based on Draft-N 2.0 specifications.

It's rumored that the final 802.11n standard will be ratified by mid-2009 or early 2010, though personally, I wouldn't bank on this. By that time, it's highly likely that existing Wi-Fi-certified routers will be upgradable to the final specification via a firmware upgrade.

Last but not least, Wireless-N routers are also much more affordable than they were a year ago.

Via CNET Crave

Microsoft: IE 8 won't be done until 2009

Microsoft plans to offer one more public test version of Internet Explorer 8 before releasing the final version of the updated browser, the company said.

The next test, essentially a "release candidate" version will come in the first quarter of 2009. That means the final release won't hit Microsoft's initial goal of finishing the browser this year.

"Our next public release of IE (typically called a "release candidate") indicates the end of the beta period," general manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a blog posting. "We want the technical community of people and organizations interested in Web browsers to take this update as a strong signal that IE8 is effectively complete and done."

Microsoft first demonstrated the browser at the Mix conference in March. Among its improvements are malware protection, better standards support, and the ability to carve off a piece of a Web page, known as a Web slice. It also supports having private sessions that don't get logged in a browser's history.

The first beta version was released in March, with a second beta arriving over the summer.

Hachamovitch said that Web site developers should test their sites and report "any critical issues" to Microsoft.

"We will be very selective about what changes we make between the next update and final release," he wrote. "We will act on the most critical issues. We will be super clear about product changes we make between the update and the final release."

Hachamovitch also called on technical users to download the current beta 2 version and let Microsoft know how that goes.

Via CNET News

Seagate FreeAgent Go external hard drives taste the rainbow

We loved the Editors' Choice winning Seagate FreeAgent Go external hard drive for its modern design and inexpensive cost per gigabyte, so we're even happier to report that they now come in a wider variety of colors. Just in time for the holiday season, Seagate just announced 10 exclusive shades: Think pink, ruby red, solar orange, spring green, forest green, royal blue, sky blue, champagne gold, titanium silver, and tuxedo black. They're available in 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB capacities.

Check out our full review and stuff a stocking with one for the holiday. Isn't expansive data storage the most rewarding gift of all?

Via CNET Crave | Photo credit: CNET

Are dual-band routers must-haves?

It's been about a year since the debut of dual-band routers, those that support both the ever-popularly used 2.4GHz and the newer, less busy 5GHz frequencies. This was very exciting news at first, but after having worked with a few of them, I wonder if they are really worth it.

If you turn on a wireless network scan in a neighborhood of a big city, chances are you'll find multiple existing wireless networks.

Wireless routers are so popular now. Up till about a year ago, they all operated in the 2.4GHz frequency, which is shared by many other home appliances, such cordless phones or Bluetooth devices. This, in crowded areas, could potentially create interference that adversely affects your wireless network's performance.

This is the main reason why wireless networking vendors have turned to the cleaner 5GHz frequency, thus the birth of dual-band routers, such as the Linksys WRT 610N or the D-Link DIR 855.
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