Review of the Genius Ergomedia 500 USB Gaming Keyboard

Are you a compulsive PC gamer? Or do you just hate PC gaming because you hate using keyboard during game play and you're fixed to playing games on a dedicated console? Ergomedia 500 USB Gaming Keyboard (read Keypad) from Taiwan based Genius is the gadget which will change the way you game on a PC.

I just received my piece from Amazon and I was so much fascinated with the ergonomic design of the keypad, it really looks good sitting on my desktop. Alas I can't click a pic of it as my camera phone is under repair. But here I have some photos from the official website of Genius, for you to see. The unique hand friendly design ensures that there is minimum amount of hand movement and maximum comfort. It helps support your palm to avoid discomfort and fatigue when playing for longer periods. It also gives a very good feel and control over the game with the mouse in the right hand and the Ergomedia in the left.

Ergonomic palm rest design to support your hand for long time playing.

The eleven keys on the keypad are programmable and supports one touch recording and playback of macro sequences. Apart from that there is a 4 way direction button. The blue keypad back-lighting makes sure all keys are highly visible even in darkness.


Installation, like most other USB devices, is easy. Just plug and play. However, it comes along with an inbuilt sound card, earphone and microphone jacks (for in-game use and chatting online). So if you prefer to use your own sound card and audio setup, you have to enable them again in the Windows sound settings configuration as the installation process disables these by default.

Mic in and speaker out jack - great feature to eliminate inconvenient cable switching.

On the cons side, the Ergomedia 500 lacks the facility to print macros that you record. The only option would be to write them down unless you have a very sharp memory.

Ergomedia 500 is an additional peripheral rather than a keyboard replacement. You may still need the standard keyboard to type in messages, entering an IP address or dropping out of the action as there is no ESC key on the Ergomedia.

On the whole, it is a must buy for all compulsive PC gamers. It can also change the perception of those who are hooked to dedicated gaming consoles, like Playstation, Xbox or Nintendo Wii, towards PC gaming. So here is the link to the amazon store where you can get your Genius Ergomedia 500 for just $34.99 USD. » Continue reading

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All the juice on the gossip grapevine

Do you remember all the more mundane details about your friends' lives, or are you more likely to remember juicy gossip? UK-based researchers Alex Mesoudi and Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews and Robin Dunbar of the University of Liverpool used a "Chinese whispers" style of experiment to find out, and it seems gossip wins hands down.

The researchers gave ten people four different passages to read, then asked them to write down what they could remember. Then their writings were passed to another five rounds of volunteers. Not surprisingly, the researchers found that gossip-like information involving deception and infidelity was remembered and transmitted in far greater quantity and with greater accuracy. In a separate study, a British market research company called 72 Point surveyed 2000 volunteers and found 97% of women and 93% of men admitted they like spreading tittle-tattle. Their favorite topic? Information about friends and family, closely followed by details of office affairs and celebrities' lives. » Continue reading

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Is your cell phone Germ-free?

Your cell phone is probably covered with bacteria, says University of Arizona microbiologist Charles Gerba. "Everywhere we go, we can contaminate them," he says. In a study of 50 phones, all had bacteria; two had bugs that can cause skin infections -- a risk if you share your cell. To clean your stuff, use disinfecting wipes or buy Motorola mobile phones because some of its phones have an anti-microbial coating, which prevents bacteria from growing. » Continue reading

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Can dogs watch TV?

Many people contend their dogs watch TV. But don't run out and buy Lassie to entertain your pooch just yet.

A dog's eyes are specially designed to pick out motion. At the level of a single cell in the eye, a moving target appears as a flicker. The average human doesn't see flickering above a speed of 55 cycles a second (55 Hz). The image on a television is redrawn at a rate of 60 Hz. Humans don't see this flicker, and the image appears continuous. However, because many dogs can resolve images at higher speed, the TV screen probably still appears to them as a rapid flicker, making the images look less real. Thus, many dogs don't direct much attention to what's happening onscreen. Some dogs ignore the flickering and respond to interesting images on screen. These dogs often follow the images, even looking behind the TV to see where something went after disappearing from view. However, since a dog's dominant sense is its sense of smell and objects onscreen have no scent, most dogs will quickly lose interest and wander off. This might be a blessing. Imagine Rottweilers defending their owners from the criminals in a police drama!

By Stanley Coren in PETS Magazine » Continue reading

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Chow Soup for the Soul... oops! Sorry, for the Bank Account

How healthy is your Bank Account? Not very? Get some Chow Soup from JohnChow.com to help you make money online!

What! Never heard of John Chow? You must be kidding...

This Chinese born, living in Vancouver-Cananda, is not just a self proclaimed Dot Com Moghul but is quite popular in the blogosphere for his creative rather than evil ways to make money online.

John Chow started The Tech Zone back then during the dot com boom and heavily cashed-on on it. Now that the dot com boom is over, he still continues to take advantage of the various opportunities that the Internet offers to make money online, blogging being one of them.

His personal blog "John Chow Dot Com". Yes, literally "John Chow Dot Com" -- I know how funny and unprofessional it sounds, but don't go by the name! It ranks 157 on Technorati at the time of this writing and grossed $8,000 USD in the month of March. So no matter how unprofessional he might be at his job, he has got some real good stuff to offer for you to prosper.

John Chow already leads a retired life - Yes, retired! Even though he still actively blogs and helps thousands, if not millions, to make money online. According to him retirement is the freedom to do what you want, when you want, at your own pace.

The best part is John and I have very similar interests -- computers, cars, traveling and anything that has to do with the Internet. Not just that! My blog, like his, does not follow any niche... So am I the next Dot Com Moghul?

By the way, if you remember, John Chow has been really very creative in attracting readers from other A-list blogs. Take a look at his love for Darren Rowse and helping him make money, as though Darren needed his help desperately.

Another of John Chow's evil but creative idea, which he is rather proud of than being ashamed of, is his "Review my blog" campaign. In this campaign he offers to link to your blog in return for reviewing his blog. Yes, that is why you are reading this post here! Well actually he wants to be listed No.1 on Google for the search phrase "make money online" and hence to amass links to his blog with that phrase. Hope that reminds you of my own review my blog campaign. » Continue reading

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Click a photo from your window and win a digital camera!

If you are a pro photographer or if you have ever freakishly clicked a pro photograph of something from a window, this is your chance to get your hands on a digital camera worth several hundred dollars.

FuelMyBlog with Sponsorship from Sportingo is running a competition, where in you can submit a photograph that you have taken from a window of your home, office, car, hotel room or even a stadium and win a digital camera -- however which camera is not very clear, all they mention is a "digital camera worth several hundred dollars".

In order to enter the competition, you need to have a blog and write about the photograph you want submitted, in the competition, on your blog and submit the link to the post along with the photograph (sized 300x225 pixels) and a short description of why you took it and where.

Wanna go for it? Hurry up, submit now! Contest ends April 20, 2007. » Continue reading

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India should be prime intermediary between Sri Lanka and LTTE

To do or not to do' is the dilemma that has been plaguing India's policies in Sri Lanka for 17 years, ever since Prime Minister V.P.Singh decided to call the Indian Peace Keeping Force back. We were nearing a solution to the ethnic problem and the negotiated devolution package would have given the Tamils everything, except independent statehood. But V.Prabhakaran could not see through the guiles of President Premadasa who cunningly supplied him arms to fight the IPKF. Prabhakaran assumed that with Indians out of the way, his position would become unassailable. Instead, the Sri Lankan military and hardliners have regained dominance.

The attack on Katunayake airport was more sensational than devastating, but the very fact that something like this could happen is worrying. Aircraft cannot be procured over the counter. They and those who fly them, are registered and licensed and their whereabouts well monitored. Clearly, the LTTE wanted to delivery a message. Unconventional incidents, more traumatic in their impact, cannot be ruled out.

Nevertheless, fears being expressed that points in southern Tamil Nadu are now vulnerable to LTTE air attacks do not carry conviction. The LTTE's military power has diminished and the Sea Tigers have suffered sever losses, too.

On its part, India neither wishes the LTTE to be able to threaten the integrity of Sri Lanka nor wants it so weakend that the Sri Lankans begin to feel that they can resolve the problem militarily. Our interests require that the Sri Lankan Tamils get their due rights within Sri Lanka. Therefore, any process in which India does not act as the prime intermediary can never succeed.

Sri Lanka is critically important in India's strategic concerns and even a partially hostile stance can be damaging to our interests. For example, the present Pakistan High Commissioner in Colombo is a former air force officer; his predecessor was an ISI officer. Even as we fight shy of providing military hardware to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and China have no such inhibition.

In short, it is time for India to awaken. A serious confrontation is imminent in Sri Lanka and we will be forced to take sides. It is in our interest that such a stage is not reached. We now stand at the crossroads, and as the Mad Hatter told Alice, the road to be taken depends on where we want to go. » Continue reading

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