blindness

Leopard looks great. But what if you can't see?

Leopard is Apple's best-looking operating system yet, from its breezy Cover Flow file browsing to the starry-looking Time Machine backup. It's no wonder visual artists love Macs.

But how well does Leopard work for blind users?

"[Vision-impaired] people who use Macs are mostly in the category of, "My boss says we have to use Macs," or "I'm a teacher and that's what I'm stuck with,"" said Crista Earl, director of Web operations at the American Foundation for the Blind.

Among 10 million visually impaired people in the United States, … Read more

Power Downloader customizes his desktop

While Power Downloader was sifting through criminal case files recently, he received an e-mail from Kitty Kilobyte who had gone back to school. After telling him of her latest "impossible" assignments and new "amazing" friends she had made, Kitty had an interesting software request. Kitty wanted some way to make her computer stand out from the rest of her classmates. She figured, if she's the niece of a famous software superhero, it should show--perhaps even if it's just in her computer's interface.… Read more

Interface the way you want with WindowBlinds

If you've been dying to give your Windows XP machine a Windows Vista makeover without the pain of upgrading, WindowBlinds' latest offering will probably seem like a gift from the interface fashion gods. Or, if you're into pain and you'd like to cover up that snazzy Vista interface with an XP look, you can do that, too.

Heck, you can even add a flaming-spewing, animated dragon if your desktop skin is crying out for some orc-love.

Going backward for car safety

Car makers are increasingly looking backward in their visual safety features--as in Webcam screens built into their rear-view mirrors in an effort to eliminate blind spots once and for all. While we're all in favor of the idea, for some reason we have a feeling that the cost of such add-ons will involve bodily appendages such as arms and legs.

But SkyMall, of all places, is offering a "Wireless Backup Camera" that plugs into the license plate light socket and feeds video to a 2.5-inch color display that can be fastened to a visor or the … Read more

This makes us wish for gray PCs again

If you're not sure whether an outfit's colors go together, we've always been told, don't take a chance. But, as this PC ensemble proves, the monochromatic look isn't a slam dunk either, unless it's all black.

The "Diablo" custom gaming system from Smooth Creations can be ordered with a matching monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and iPod, according to Chip Chick, in the hues of your choice. But we do hope that the color pictured here doesn't become too popular, as it appears to have produced the computing incarnation of Goldmember.

No … Read more

A flashlight for self-defense

If this looks like something that was made for military specifications, there's good reason--it was. But despite the macho appearance, it's not as exciting as an assault-rifle scope or anything. (Unless, that is, you get excited by flashlights, in which case we already have way too much information.)

The waterproof and shockproof "Tactical Blue-Dot" series from Bright-Strike Technologies--the proud manufacturer of "tactical illumination products"--was originally designed for law enforcement. And though it may not be a weapon per se, it can be used as a defensive device: "When set to high, these … Read more