ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210015
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Computer Bits
EVER USE A CD-ROM for a coaster for your Bud? Start your e-mails with ``Howdy y'all?.'' Well, this column may be for you, cousin.
You know you're a high-tech redneck if....
You connect to the World Wide Web via a ``Down Home Page.''
Your laptop has a sticker that says, ``Protected by Smith & Wesson.''
You've ever doubled the value of your truck by installing a cellular phone.
You've ever used a CD as a coaster to set your beer on.
Your screen saver is a bitmap image of your favorite farm animal.
You start your e-mails with the words, ``Howdy y'all.'' -Knight-Ridder/Tribune Pension news
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has a new Home Page at http://www.pbgc.gov that offers information for pensioners, plan sponsors, retirement and employee-benefit specialists, actuaries, lawyers or anyone else who wants to check it out.
The page can be accessed with any personal computer that can use Internet browser software and has either a monochrome or a color monitor.
PBGC is a federal corporation created under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to guarantee payment of basic pension benefits earned by nearly 42 million American workers and retirees participating in private-sector defined benefit pension plans. PBGC insures about 55,000 pension plans. -Staff report Feel-good non-furries
Who would ever have thought that so many of us would be so eager to find a first-rate mouse? But since the kind we're searching for is the easy-click and good-feel type and not a furry rodent, it's more understandable.
Among the latest mouse efforts is one by Kensington Microware, which has retooled the Turbo Mouse (about $110, 1-800-535-4242) and its PC cousin, the Expert Mouse (about $100).
The biggest change falls in the why-the-heck-didn't-you-think-of-this-sooner category: Instead of two buttons on either side of the trackballs' large rollerball (which can be an awkward arrangement) the trackballs now have four large buttons arranged in a diagonal compass-like arrangement. The buttons are positioned so exquisitely that two of them always lie beneath the fingertips and thumb regardless of whether the user is left- or right-handed.
But the devices still have a major ergonomic flaw: There's no place to rest the wrist while manipulating the ball, and that can cause fatigue and, possibly, lead to repetitive stress disorders. This deficiency can be corrected with a cushioned wrist pad that is wide enough to accommodate a trackball and keyboard, but some people might chafe at the extra expense.
The Expert Mouse quickly became my input device of choice when using Windows 95 on a PC (It eliminated all that awful mouse gripping). The Kensington Mouse Control software (which also works with Windows 3.1) let me assign left-mouse-button, double-click, click-lock and right-mouse-button functions to the four trackball buttons. Customizing cursor ``tracking'' was a breeze.
Turbo Mouse users have a couple of additional perks. The Mac trackball has two ports so you can plug in another input device, such as a mouse or graphics tablet, and the control software allows you to fine-tune cursor tracking for both devices.
Minor inconsistencies aside - some buttons were hard to press on my Expert Mouse, whereas the cursor tended to skip on my Turbo - these products surpassed my expectations. -JULIO OJEDA-ZAPATA Knight-Ridder/Tribune Win95 manual
A good Win95 reference manual geared to the more sophisticated user is Microsoft's own ``Windows 95 Resource Kit,'' available in book stores and other retailers. The 1,300-page manual, which comes with several floppy disks, is a valuable tool for network administrators, management information personnel, computer professionals and the Windows 95 power user who wants a more comprehensive look at the operating system. It sells for about $50.
If you have a contribution or a question, call 981-3393 or 981-3237 or send an e-mail to skelly2180@AOL.COM.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Web siteby CNBhttp://www.highridge.com/village/holiday/easter/ is a source for
Peter Cottontail stories, instructions for decorating Easter eggs
and puzzles. The site uses Java. color