Chemi Techeblog

There are some keys on the keyboard, such as the caps lock and scroll lock keys, that can be annoying if they accidentally get turned on without you realizing it. When I found Keyndicate I thought it was pretty cool not only because it would indicate when one of those keys was pressed, but it also includes an option to “freeze” the current state of the keys so that they can’t be toggled.

The screenshot above provides an example of what it looks like with the caps lock and scroll lock keys turned on. There is a letter added to the System Tray icon for each of the keys that are on, and there would be another one for num lock if that was turned on. If the icon is too subtle you can even turn on the notifications to ensure you really know when the keys are toggled.

This is a very lightweight program that requires no installation, and uses less than 2MB of memory on my system. That means you can leave it running without it affecting the performance of your system.

Keyndicate Homepage (Windows only; 32/64-bit; Portable; Freeware)

Tablet buyers around the world eager to buy the new iPad will get a chance at 8 a.m. Friday.

Apple’s retail stores and online store will start selling the third-generation iPad at 8 a.m. local time Friday across several countries, Apple announced today. The shift represents an early opening for Apple Stores, which normally unlock their doors at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.

The new iPad will initially be sold in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the U.S., the new iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Target, and Walmart.

Buyers who snag a new iPad at an Apple retail outlet will be offered a free setup service from a store employee who can help them customize the tablet, set up e-mail, and load new apps.

A pickup service also lets customers purchase an iPad on Apple’s site and pick it up at a local Apple store.

I remember testing out the ImageGlass photo viewer last year and was impressed with the speed at which it could shuffle through photos, but I wasn’t very fond of the interface. When I recently checked back in on the project I noticed that a technical preview of ImageGlass 1.5 was available, and it is looking pretty good. Keep in mind that this is still pre-beta, but they’ve really cleaned up the interface which actually makes it a lot more likely that I’ll use this again in the future.

Because of how ImageGlass preloads upcoming images I’d have to say that this is one of the fastest apps I’ve used when it comes to flipping through a library of high-resolution images. If you’re reviewing a large folder of images this can alleviate the pains that Windows Photo Gallery causes due to the time you have to wait for some of the images to fully load. If that sounds like something you can relate to then I’m sure the speediness of ImageGlass will be awfully refreshing.

The only problem I have with the app is that while you can open a folder of images there is no option to tell it to look in subfolders as well, which means it will only display the photos at the root of the directory you select. Depending on how you organize your photos that might be a deal-breaker, but I wouldn’t rule it out yet because that should be an easy fix for the developer.

ImageGlass Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

It’s that time again, time for daylight savings. This also means that you should turn your clocks forward 1-hour today. According to researchers from the University of Alabama, "the abrupt change to a person’s daily schedule increased the risk of having a heart attack by 10 percent." 

This impact isn’t felt on the Sunday morning as most people adapt their weekend schedule and rise a little later. However, the risk peaks on Monday when workers have to get up at a set time to get to the office.

[via DailyMail]

It may not be practical, but if you’ve ever wanted to play a real-life game of Angry Birds, this would be the slingshot for the job. Let’s just say the pigs would not fare very well when hit by anything launched with this beast.

Unlike its standard, base model counterpart, Mansory’s Bugatti Veyron includes "a full aero kit and highly polished carbon-fiber body panels that include copper threads interwoven into the material for even more flash."

The Vincero d’Oro, unbelievably, upgrades with gold brightwork on the wheels, V-shaped grille, door handles, mirror housings, fuel filler cap, headlight washer nozzles, headlight surrounds and roof. Naturally, the interior has been subjected to the gilded treatment as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, the iPad 3 will be available in both black and white colors, possibly at launch. This new "photo clearly shows home buttons on both parts; presuming that the parts are legitimate, the photos should hopefully reduce the wild speculation that Apple’s media event invitations revealed an iPad 3 lacking a home button."

Apple’s media event is scheduled for next Wednesday, March 7 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The company is expected to introduce the iPad 3, as well as an upgraded Apple TV set-top box and perhaps enhancements to its content offerings in support of the iPad 3’s ultra-high resolution display and expected 1080p capabilities of the new Apple TV box.

[via MacRumors]

When using an Apple keyboard with your Mac the function keys take on alternate purposes. For example, if you press the F8 key it will play/pause your music instead of sending the F8 signal to the application you’re using. There may be some of those function keys you’d prefer to act like the F1-12 that they do on other keyboards instead of the special functions that Apple assigns to them.

If that sounds like something you want to do go ahead and grab the FunctionFlip app. It’s a free preference pane that will let you individually toggle how each of the special keys behave. For example, if you check the box for the F7, F8, and F9 keys they will, by default, act as the F key instead of controlling your media playback. You can still access the media options by holding down the fn key to get the special function back.

Before installing FunctionFlip you should navigate to the Universal Access settings on your Mac, and check the box to Enable access for assistive devices. Without that FunctionFlip won’t be able to operate.

FunctionFlip Homepage (Mac only; Freeware)

Everyone has probably heard of Pepsi, but not many realize that there are flavors outside of "diet", "cherry", "max", and "vanilla". We’ve rounded up some of the strangest flavors ever — which include "ice cream", "cappuccino", etc. — for your viewing enjoyment. 
[via Buzzfeed]

Measuring a svelte 10.3mm thick, the Meizu MX packs a 4.3in touchscreen, a dual-core 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos 4210 processor, 8.0-megapixel camera, 16GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM, and 3G w/HSPA+ connectivity :

Everything on Meizu MX is looking great! The display is beautiful, the color is sharp, comes in a good size. In comparison to its predecessor M9, MX is bigger and slimmer. The back cover is glossy but without cheap plastic feel. As a smartphone, the video and photos that produced by it are quite good.

[via MIC Gadget]