Hopping into lefties’ hearts
FrogPad Inc. and Gennum Corp. recently introduced a version of FrogPad’s one-handed keyboard for the “usually neglected” left-handed user population. In a statement, the companies pointed out that past U.S. presidents such as Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton were all left-handed and that now the FrogPad has joined this “illustrious group” with its new product, Lefty. The statement continued, “FrogPad does not discriminate between right-handed, left-handed or ambidextrous people — all are welcome to Frog.” To further support its involvement with the left-handed population, FrogPad said it will be sponsoring Lefthanders Day in the U.K. on August 13, which is geared toward raising awareness of the challenges caused by living in a right-handed world as well as to educating manufacturers and designers to accommodate left-handers’ comfort and safety.
Weh’s father knighted
The man credited with inventing the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, was officially made a Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire (KBE) by the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth II last month. Berners-Lee, 49, the director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), was granted the second-highest rank of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his “services to the global development of the Internet” through the invention of the Web. The KBE is just the latest honour collected by Berners-Lee. In June, he received the inaugural Millennium Technology Prize in Helsinki, Finland, from the Finnish Technology Award Foundation. The group said the award was an “international acknowledgement for an outstanding innovation that directly promotes people’s quality of life, is based on humane values and encourages sustainable economic development.”
Jewel cases going hi-tech
In response to what it calls “growing consumer concerns” about disc longevity and the “numerous shortcomings” of regular hard plastic jewel cases, San Clemente, Calif.-based Greywolf Marketing recently introduced Podz sealed disc storage cases. “Jewel cases crack, shatter, lose lids, flip open and offer only minimal protection for CD and DVD discs,” explained Greywolf’s president Dave McMichael in a statement. However, according to the firm, Podz cases are made of lightweight, flexible, shatterproof polypropylene. Their “signature feature” is called Surround Seal Technology, a design that seals the entire perimeter of the case with a 360-degree protective ring to help keep out dust, dirt, grime and water — some of today’s top “disc demons,” the firm said. The cases also feature Floating Disc Suspension to help protect discs’ top and bottom surfaces from abrasion.
