Hardware Upgrade Tip of the Day #16



*1. KIDS AND COMPUTER HARDWARE--PART 1 OF 5          
  
Are your children already involved in computing? With the help of 
their parents, children are starting to work with computers at 
younger and younger ages. While it's easy to find volumes of 
information about software for kids, you'll have to search far 
and wide before finding information about the hardware setups 
most appropriate for children. Over the next few days, we'll 
mention some tips to keep in mind when setting up a 
kid-friendly computer. 

First, the right mouse is vital to a child's computing 
experience, and your regular adult mouse is almost certainly 
inappropriate. Mouse devices were designed for the fine motor 
control of the adult wrist and fingers. Children's control of 
their wrists and fingers is still developing at younger ages, so 
most kids would end up using their whole arm to move your mouse. 
They'll find this action both tiring and frustrating. 

A more appropriate pointing device for children is a 
trackball-style pointer, like Logitech's Marble Mouse. A 
trackball lets a child move the pointer with a minimum of arm 
movement. Logitech can be reached at 

http://www.logitech.com


*2. KIDS AND COMPUTER HARDWARE--PART 2 OF 5          
  
You may be worried about repetitive stress injuries when your 
child starts to use a computer. Good. You should be worried. 
Above all, limit your child's time in front of the computer. 
Secondly, make sure the entire setup is ergonomically appropriate 
for children.  

You may be surprised to know that most ergonomic keyboards are 
not suitable for children. Many split keyboard designs spread a 
child's arms and hands too far apart. To our knowledge, there 
aren't any ergonomic keyboards for children available at the 
moment, so you may find that a standard, flat 101-key keyboard is 
best for your child. Remember, touch-typing is a fairly advanced 
skill more appropriate for teens than younger children. It's OK 
for kids to hunt and peck at the keys.


*3. KIDS AND COMPUTER HARDWARE--PART 3 OF 5          
  
To avoid neck strain, your monitor should be placed at 
approximately head height. The same is true for your child. If 
you don't want to adjust the position of your monitor, you may 
need a booster seat to raise your child up in her chair. 
Otherwise, think about investing in an adjustable monitor stand 
or monitor arm, like those available from ModernSolid at  

http://mosolid.com.tw


*4. KIDS AND COMPUTER HARDWARE--PART 4 OF 5          
  
Thanks to cable television, video movies, and set-top game 
players, children spend plenty of time in front of a cathode-ray 
tube. To avoid additional eyestrain, place limits on the time 
they spend in front of a computer monitor. Also, run through the 
calibration guidelines provided in your monitor's documentation 
and use the monitor's menu settings to make appropriate 
adjustments in brightness, focus, and contrast.


*5. KIDS AND COMPUTER HARDWARE--PART 5 OF 5          
  
Double-check your computer's speaker setup; it may be too loud 
for your child. With the advent of higher-quality computer 
speakers, many of us have turned up the volume on Internet music 
and computer games. Doctors recommend that parents limit the 
decibels to which young children are exposed, since their hearing 
is still developing. So adjust the volume settings and perhaps 
even reposition the speakers so they are not pointing at your 
child's head.


*6. COOL WEB SITES--PART 1 OF 4          
  
If you can't find a reason why you need a Web-ready PC camera, 
then you just haven't looked hard enough. For inspiration, try 
browsing EarthCam's new Web storefront, the WebCamStore, at 

http://www.webcamstore.com 

Whatever your needs--from spying on your nanny to tracking remote 
construction projects--you'll find a "solution" at this site. For 
those not interested in shopping, check out the site's excellent 
tutorial on Web cameras, which explains resolution, video 
streaming, and hooking up a Web camera. Also browse the glossary 
of Web camera terminology.


*7. COOL WEB SITES--PART 2 OF 4          
  
Computer audio is no longer a joke. In some homes and offices, 
the computer offers higher fidelity than the stereo sitting 
across the room. But this quality comes at a price: You must 
manage this audio by containing loud sounds and keeping out 
unwanted noise. For tips, suggestions, and a list of products 
that can help, browse SoundProofing.Org at 

http://www.soundproofing.org


*8. COOL WEB SITES--PART 3 OF 4          
  
Have you heard about Bluetooth? It's a technology specification 
various players in the telecommunications biz are hammering out. 
The goal of the project is to create short-range radio links 
between mobile devices, so that when you walk into a room with 
your mobile PC or cell phone, you're instantly connected to all 
the other mobile devices in the same room. Plus, you can share 
notes, transfer contact information (instead of paper business 
cards), and exchange files with those around you. For the latest 
Bluetooth news and specifications, browse Bluetooth.com at 

http://www.bluetooth.com


*9. COOL WEB SITES--PART 4 OF 4          
  
Finding drivers and troubleshooting hardware installations on 
Linux systems is still a work in progress for most people. If 
you're investigating this alternative operating system, you might 
want to communicate with a user group so that you don't have to 
relive hardware nightmares others have already survived. For a 
list of Red Hat Linux user groups around the country, check the 
Community section of the RedHat.Com Web site at 

http://www.redhat.com/community/namerica.html


*10. BIGGER LCD FLAT PANELS          
  
Until now, the latest wave of LCD flat panel desktop displays was 
limited to a 15-inch viewable area (across the diagonal). For 
many users, this meant dropping down in size from a 17-inch 
monitor to a 15-inch flat panel display for the switch from CRT 
to LCD--not a clear benefit. Now, two display makers, Princeton 
Graphics and Viewsonic, offer 18-inch flat panels. But you will 
pay a lot more for these larger displays (about $3000 each) than 
for their smaller cousins.
