commands

For those who have trouble finding their old commands in Office's new Ribbon interface, Microsoft has a new option: search for it.

On Monday, the company is releasing an Office add-on called Search Commands that lets users type the function they are looking to do. After months of testing it internally, Microsoft is ready to give the public a chance to try it out. But the new tool won't be found on Microsoft's main Web site.

Rather, it will be available via a new effort, dubbed Office Labs. Spearheaded by Microsoft veteran Chris Pratley, Office Labs is … Read more

Apple’s iPhone SDK Strategy Both Promotes and Stifles Innovation http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030700060.html

iPhone SDK, Apple’s Touch Platform, and The Next Two Decades http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/ 900-iphone-sdk-apples-touch-platform-and-the-next-two-decades

FAQ: What does the iPhone SDK mean? http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9888281-7.html

Rumor: Sprint will spin off Nextel http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9888321-7.html

Air Force Cyber Command Wants Intarwebs Supremacy (Thanks Jacob!) http://gizmodo.com/365042/ air-force-cyber-command-wants-intarwebs-supremacy

Analysts say T-Mobile may acquire Sprint http://www.kansascity.com/382/story/519407.html

Report: Google, Microsoft, and two … Read more

I'm a big fan of using keyboard shortcuts to get more work done in less time. But there are only so many Ctrl and Alt key combinations available for creating your own shortcuts. Also, the ones I don't use regularly are difficult to remember without using a cheat sheet, and the time spent looking up the ones I can't remember on my own negates the productivity boost I'm shooting for.

That's why I find myself relying increasingly on Windows' Run dialog and command line to open programs. Vista puts a pseudo-command line one click away: … Read more

Microsoft and Ford bought a lot of advertisements on NFL football broadcasts over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. The companies are pushing Sync, which is the latest outgrowth of Microsoft's decade-long effort to provide software for use in automobiles.

In this case, Microsoft might actually succeed. Simplicity is the key: unlike past scenarios floated for the Windows Automotive platform, Sync isn't intended to help control your car (leading to the inevitable blue screen jokes) or connect to the Internet or serve as the back-end for an in-car control panel. Instead, it gives you voice command over Bluetooth-enabled phones and … Read more

It's clear there's a core group of computer enthusiasts who still love the command line, 1984 Apple advertisements notwithstanding.

Ever notice that most screenshots intended to show off Linux user interface bling still sport a terminal window, usually with some green text on a black background? Or that one of the shiny new technologies coming out of Microsoft is the scripting and command environment called Monad? (It's officially called Windows PowerShell, but I like Monad better.)

The latest example of new-meets-old: the gcalcli command-line interface to Google's online calendar application. It's an open-source utility that … Read more

At this rate, the smartest technology in the household won't be the computer or the entertainment center, but the massage chair. We've already seen versions with features ranging from multimedia equipment to lie-detecting sensors, after all, and now we have a chair that will cater to your kneads by voice command.

Luxurylaunches says the "ROBO Chair" will customize your position up to 170 degrees while working you over with a "3D roller mechanism," whatever that is. There are tons of massage chairs on the market, so why is this one being featured on a … Read more

In case you missed it--or don't own an Xbox 360--Missile Command is now available for download as an Xbox Live Arcade game (the full version is $5). The game includes both the old-school and the modern, "completely restylized version featuring evolved graphics and the newly introduced Throttle Monkey mode." If that Monkey Mode isn't enough for you, there's always a little wide-screen HD and Dolby Digital surround sound to amp up the action.

If you've ever found yourself lusting after a workstation with multiple monitors or other multi-tasking command centers, wait till you get a load of this futuristic creation from Microsoft. The "DigiDesk" literally turns your desk into a desktop with a dual-pane workstation that features touch-screen surfaces to control everything from documents to workflow, according to SlashGear. Alas, it's only a prototype, which the guy in the video says is one of just two in existence. We applaud the concept, but we're still waiting to take it even one step further, throwing entertainment into the mix … Read more

The old way is to shove a pallet of beans and bullets tied to a few parachutes out the back of a C-130 Hercules and hope it lands in one piece. The new way is to release the CQ-10A SnowGoose from 18,000 feet and allow the 110-horsepower Rotax 914-driven prop and laptop-programmable navigation system to land the payload within 50 meters of a customer up to 500 miles away.

Manufactured by Canadian company Mist Mobility Integrated Systems Technology, the SnowGoose represents the latest in a class of guided parafoil systems that are blurring the line between unmanned aerial vehicles (… Read more