Oh, No! It's the Return of the Keyboard Shortcut!

The conventional wisdom is that icons are pretty and shiny and that keyboard shortcuts are ugly and scary. But for applications or Web sites used every day, keyboard shortcuts are far more appealing in actual practice. The reason is that keyboard shortcuts become habits that you can do without even thinking. Muscle memory takes over, and they become second nature. But icons always require mental processing and time-consuming, spastic lurching from mouse to keyboard and back. This is a nugget of geek wisdom lost to the sands of time.

Fast forward to 2008 and the era of online productivity applications, which are on balance even more icon-happy and less keystroke-friendly than the world of Windows, Mac and Linux desktop applications.

I have, however, been gravitating lately to two sites that I use all day, every day, which are by far the most powerful and fastest sites I’ve found. One is an online to-do list called Todoist, and the other is a search site called Quick.as.

Besides being super fast to use and ultra minimalist in design, these two sites have something else in common: their power comes from the use of KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS.

New Jeans With Built-In Keyboard Repel Women

Designer Erik De Nijs has invented pants with a fully-functional BUILT-IN-KEYBOARD, which is great for fast-typing and repelling women.

Google Maps Street View Snaps Stunt Gone Bad

Google Maps Street View, which shows street-level photographs, captured a SPECTACULAR BIKE STUNT GONE WRONG. As the photo-truck passed by, it captured before, during and after shots of a kid having a horrible bike accident.

Lamest Security Gadget Yet: GPS Tracker Defense

The GPS Tracker Defense will disable any GPS tracking device within range. It does this by disabling any GPS gadget's ability to connect with satellites -- INCLUDING YOUR OWN! Its limited, 16-foot range guarantees that trackers will be safe, while your own GPS is disabled. The GPS Tracker Defense has the exact same effect as simply turning off your GPS.

New iPod Cover Looks Like Raw Meat

Japan's Solid Alliance is now selling an Apple iPod cover that's designed to look like RAW MEAT. It comes in a cellophane-and-styrofoam package just like meat does. It's what's for dinner.

Brainwave Headset Needs No Batteries

A new brainwave-reading headset needs no batteries -- it's powered by BODY HEAT AND SUNLIGHT. Called a portable electroencephalogram, the headset could be used for seizure patients or as input devices for computer games -- you control them with your mind. And when they figure out how to get people to control simple text using brainwaves, we'll have telepathy. The headset was developed at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre in Belgium.

Gamers More Social than Non-Gamers -- Study

New research shows that GAMERS ARE MORE SOCIAL THAN NON-GAMERS. A report on the study says the research is "government backed" and conducted by somebody named Lawrence Kutner. The study explained the reason for the differece between gamers and non-gamers: Games build confidence, which help social interactions. Hmmm. I'd feel better about all this if there were a university involved.

U.S. Video Game Sales Not Affected By Recession

Despite the economic downturn, video game sales in the United States are soaring. Console sales have grown 57% in the past year. Americans spent $1.7 BILLION on consoles, games and accessories during the month of March alone.

Ferrari Go-Cart Features Dashboard Computer

The $2,400 Ferrari FXX Exclusive is a go-cart with serious, albeit diminutive, power. Spoilers, 7 gears, 12-inch lightweight metal wheel rims, and, the piece de resistance: A DIGITAL DASHBOARD COMPUTER for monitoring speed and lap times. (props to Born Rich)

Tiny 'Tweezers' Can Pick Up, Move Individual Cells

Tiny ROBOTIC TWEEZERS with their own "sense of touch" can pick up and move individual cells without damaging them. A team at the University of Toronto led by uber-egghead Yu Sun, have created the "microgrippers" to solve the problem of cells and other objects being damaged by comparable instruments. With special software, the tiny tweezers can work without human control and much faster than humans could.

A Buddhist Cell Phone Hits: One With Everything

I told you about the Muslim cell phone in September of 2005 and the Jewish wristwatch in August of 2005. Now, the Buddhists have their own phone, and this may be the most stylish yet. The phone is apparently a customized Nokia N70, and has been sighted in China. Every square inch of the phone has been decorated with BUDDHIST AESTHETICS, and it even has Buddhist software customization and ringtones. Want to get one for yourself? Ha! The phone is real but the self is a delusion! Be careful in China -- the government will crack your head for even thinking about Buddhism. I want one!

World's First GPS Digital Camera Coming In June

A Taiwanese company called Altek unveiled what it claims is the world's first DIGITAL CAMERA WITH BUILT-IN GPS, and said shipments could begin by June. The 8-megapixel camera automatically geo-tags photos, which can later be displayed on Google Earth, Google Maps or Flickr's geo-tagged photos site. The company first demonstrated the camera in late January.

New AIM Plug-In Sends IMs that Self-Destruct

A company called BigString unveiled a free new plug-in for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) that offers IMs that SELF-DESTRUCT and are impossible to copy or capture. You can also send IMs from the company's web site without using AIM.

Women Give Up Passwords for Chocolate - Report

Women are four times more likely than men to give you their passwords in exchange for chocolate, according to a "study" by Infosecurity Europe conducted on the streets of London. Nearly half -- 45 percent -- of women targeted were willing to give up their passwords to strangers in exchange for a BAR OF CHOCOLATE. Just 10 percent of men were so willing. I wonder if liquor is quicker?

Craigslist, eBay Offer Illegal Military Gear

Craigslist and eBay offer "sensitive," stolen and illegal-to-export military gear to anyone worldwide, "NO QUESTIONS ASKED," according to a congressional investigative organization. Anyone with a credit card can buy F-14 fighter jet parts or night-vision goggles, chemical weapons protection gear, Kevlar vests, flak jackets and more, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The Lego People Must Be Stopped: MP3 Player

Brando is selling a LEGO MP3 PLAYER that comes in all the standard bright Lego colors.

God Uses Firefox? Logo Forms In Space!

It's a "variable star" called V838 Monocerotis, but it looks just like the FireFox logo. (props to Gadget Lab)

Two Chinese Men Caught With 10 Military Cameras

Two Chinese men were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport trying to smuggle 10 "sensitive thermal imaging cameras" out of the country to China. The men told authorities that the cameras, which cost $5,000 each and have clear military uses were INTENDED FOR PERSONAL USE.

Buy a 'Surface' Computer, but Not From Microsoft!

While Microsoft simultaneously promises an accelerated deployment schedule for a consumer version of Surface and delays shipping the non-consumer version, a company called GstureTek is ALREADY SHIPPING something that looks a lot like a Surface PC. The Illuminate Multi-Touch Table has a 50-inch multi-touch screen, which you can use to "interact with multi-media content, access information, play games, create special effects, manipulate art and photographs, even view advertising in a truly unique and compelling way." (props to Born Rich)

Australia to Get Censored Grand Theft Auto IV

Rockstar has reportedly developed a CENSORED VERSION OF GRAND THEFT AUTO IV for Australia that tones down the "strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references."

Scientists Teach Computer to Identify Hot Women

Tel Aviv University researchers claim to have successfully "taught" a computer to recognize whether or not a female face is HOT OR NOT. After schooling the computer on such attributes as face geometry and symmetry, skin quality and hair color, the computers generally agreed with humans when judging women's faces on a scale of 1 to 7.

Killing XP: Microsoft's Fatal Error Message

On June 30, Microsoft will do something quite ordinary -- the company will stop selling a 7-year-old old product. Microsoft has killed off many versions of Windows in the past. But there's a difference with the retirement of Windows XP: Most users HATE WINDOWS VISTA.

AT&T Buys "Surface" -- Won't Advertise iPhones

AT&T and Microsoft announced today that Surface computers will be used to market eight different phones, but -- SHOCK! -- not the Apple iPhone. The company will allow customers to place a phone on the screen, then use their fingers to DRAG-AND-DROP RINGTONES AND GRAPHICS onto the phone. They'll also be used to let people interactively explore the features of phones. Surface is the first commercially available full-size next-generation computer (the Apple iPhone was the first overall). Whoever is first to send me a picture of a Surface "blue screen of death" wins a prize.

Washington D.C. to Install Cams On Sweepers

I told you October 20 that Chicago considered the installation of hi-rez surveillance cams on street sweeping trucks. Now the Washington D.C. Council has unanimously passed a new law that will result in cameras that can SCAN LICENSE PLATES and ticket illegally parked vehicles.

Thieves Use 'Craigslist Hoax' to Cover Tracks

A recent "Craigslist hoax" -- where someone posted a Craigslist item that said anyone could take anything from a Oregon home -- turns out to have been a diversion to cover the tracks of thieves. The crooks, Brandon and Amber Herbert, had come by the victim's house because it was advertised for rent. They apparently saw some horse saddles they wanted to steal, so they placed the ad, then joined the mob of people ransacking the joint. Unfortunately for the thieves, investigators TRACKED THE IP ADDRESS of the computer that placed the ad back to the Herbert's house, where cops found the computer and recovered deleted files that prove they placed the ad.