To design a computer mouse, you may face some difficulties on drawing the shape, and adding the reflection effects. In this tutorial, it will show you an efficient way to do the mouse design and how to add the reflection effects for the object.

(View This Tutorial)

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His simple methodology?

1. Get a toilet paper tube and crease two lines to form a flat sided tunnel.
2. Put a treat on one end of the tube: A cracker and dab of peanut butter works great.
3. Get a tall (at least 20 inches) bucket. A trash can works well.
4. Balance the tube precariously on the edge of a table or counter with the treat hanging directly over the tall sided receptacle.
5. The mouse will scurry to the treat (they like tunnels) and fall into the trap.

Set the fella loose at least a mile away from your abode.

Postnote: It worked within the hour.

You can’t argue with success.

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The rumble mouse is an electronics project from Make Magazine Vol. 06, put together by Greg Lipscomb. In the video below, Kip Kay demonstrates the process of taking an old cellphone, pager, or other small vibration motor and wiring into a basic $20 mouse.

It’s a pretty neat project, although it does have one shortcoming—there’s no way for the computer to send unique feedback like a game console does to a controller. You’ll get vibration for your own gaming actions, but when things happen to you in the game (like getting shot at instead of doing the shooting), you won’t get impact rumbles or the like. Still, in light of the coding you’d need to do to get it working with different games, this is a fun little hack. Check out the link below to see the digital edition of Make and find additional instructions and schematics.

Have a fun peripherals-hack of your own to share? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

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The new Windows MultiPoint Mouse Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.5 will allow software developers to create interactive applications that enable up to 25 students, each with their own mouse, to use a single PC at the same time.

Also introduced was Microsoft Mouse Mischief, a MultiPoint-enabled tool that teachers can use to create interactive PowerPoint classroom presentations.

The two solutions are aimed at helping schools get the most from shared computer resources, says Ira Snyder, general manager of Microsoft’s Startup Business Group.

“Around the world, most PCs in the educational environment are shared,” Snyder says. “Our focus is on making technology accessible and affordable to as large a number of students as possible, and Windows MultiPoint SDK 1.5 and Mouse Mischief will help us deliver on that.”

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I am a big fan of using custom events where it makes sense in applications. I took it too far in the early days of Bespin, but I really enjoy them where they make sense.

Chris Vanrensburg was talking to me about Virtual DOM events, and when I asked him about them he told me this:

there are not enough juicy real DOM events, and the DOM standards process is slow moving. It’s long been a bone of contention that the mouseover and mouseout DOM events will fire for a node for which a handler is wired – even when the user mouses around inside the node and is mousing over and mousing out of child nodes. Internet Explorer was a pioneer in supporting the onmouseenter and onmouseleave events, and mouseenter and mouseleave are part of the DOM Level 3 events spec. Until browsers universally support these incredibly useful events, various frameworks abstract them into existence via their event wiring methods. This is a most basic case of frameworks presenting virtual DOM events as real DOM events to an application developer. In this case, of course, the events in question are likely to become real DOM events for all browsers.

However, another interesting case is a mouse rest type of event. Requiring a node to remain in a specific event state for a set amount of time before firing an event is a helpful indicator of the user being truly interested in something (as opposed to just “wandering through”). Consider the classic case of the user mousing over a node and then resting the mouse for a certain period of time over that node. You might like to know if the user does this for a specific node, because this may be an indication that the user is interested in what clicking the node might do, and one may wish to present them with a helpful tooltip that is implemented using HTML and that provides them more information about what they’re considering clicking on.

In such cases, you probably don’t want to trigger the display of an elaborate info tooltip based merely upon the user mousing over the node, since this may hamper the page’s performance – especially if displaying the tooltip requires an Ajax request – and displaying and hiding chunky tooltips as the user moves the mouse across the page may be a dreadful user experience, in any event. In such cases, it would be really nice to have an event that fires only when the user has actually stopped the mouse over a node. Back in August of 2008, a mouserest event was added to UIZE. This event accepts a duration parameter, to let you tune how long the user needs to keep the mouse rested over the node before the event is fired. Problem is, this was just one special-cased virtual event that was hacked deep into the event abstraction code.

The interesting leap that was made recently was to codify this pattern and create a formal construct in the framework of a virtual DOM event, with an extensibility foundation to allow modules to define new sets of these virtual DOM events. This opens up all sorts of possibilities for implementing more complex interaction logic and expressing patterns of user interaction using the event paradigm, and allowing the application developer to think of these interactions as events, just like any other events. Some of the more sophisticated kinds of user interactions that could be expressed using the event paradigm wander into the territory of gestures. For example, one might implement virtual DOM events such as “shake”, “flick”, “whack”, “crossOut”, etc. A “shake” gesture may involve clicking on a node, holding down the mouse key, and then vigorously moving the mouse back and forth. A “flick” gesture may involve clicking on a node, holding down the mouse key, rapidly moving the mouse in one direction, and then quickly releasing the mouse button before the motion is completed. A “whack” gesture may involve rapidly moving the mouse over a node at one edge, and then rapidly moving the mouse in the opposite direction and out of the node, as if to whack it on one of its edges in order to budge it. A “crossOut” gesture may involve moving the mouse diagonally from top right to bottom left, and then from top left to bottom right, without too much of a pause between the two diagonal motions, as if to gesture that an object should be removed.

To get the ball rolling, I implemented some of the more basic kinds of virtual DOM events, such as parameterized remain-in-state events like mouseRemainDown, keyRemainDown, remainFocused, etc. Also, I created some click-with-modifier-key dedicated events. These can all be previewed here…

Then, as part of my further exploration of this construct, I implemented a suite of edge virtual DOM events, such as mouseEnterLeft, mouseEnterTop, mouseExitLeft, mouseExitRight, etc. These can be seen in action here…

I’m quite excited by the potential of this construct to provide a way to encapsulate wiring logic for more sophisticated user interactions with DOM nodes, and provide a model for re-usability of such logic, which often otherwise spills out into the application code and doesn’t have a good place that it can call home.

What do you think about the idea? Would you like to see events like this?

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Lifehacker reader R1P5AW has a simple but tidy workspace. You’ll be hard pressed to see so much as a single cord on his triple Dell monitors. He used black foam pipe-insulation to keep the cords tightly managed and out of sight behind the monitors. Complimenting the “Where are the cords?” motif of his workspace, his keyboard and mouse are wireless, resting on a spacious XTRAC XXL mouse pad. Check out the pictures below to see how he keeps the cords out of sight:

If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool. Include some details about your setup and why it works for you, and you just might see it featured on the front page of Lifehacker.

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It simply checks the mouse movements & catches them if they follow any given route.

The library is very customizable. Variables like:

• miliseconds mouse movements will be traced
• interval of the number of mouse steps
• errored movements to be ignored (in pixels)

can be defined.

With the help of a direction pad, new gestures can be created by simply mentioning their numbers in an order like:

gstr.addGesture([4,3,2,1,0,], functionName); would be a "u" character.

The Moousture is also compatible with most of the mobile devices (including iPhone).

The library website includes a demo worth-checking which can display a menu with a mouse gesture.

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• Wrap Content Around Images: jQSlickWrap

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Let’s be honest here: There’s absolutely no real need to control your iPhone with a mouse. The device is tailored to be used with your fingers, and — thanks to the ingenuity of Apple’s engineers — it works quite well.

However, the iPhone is actually a small computer, and as such, one should be able to control it with peripherals such as a mouse and keyboard. And the nerd/hacker in you simply has to see it.

That moment has arrived. In the video below, you’ll see the BTstack project in action, showing a Magic Mouse and a Celluon CL800BT virtual keyboard happily interacting with a (jailbroken) iPhone. The day is drawing near, my friends, when we’ll be able to control the iPhone with a bunch of peripherals that a). Are at least as big as than the iPhone itself, and b). Make you look like a complete dork.

Tags: iphone, Mobile 2.0

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Folks from Logitech Korea have added to their premium wireless mouse collection with the new Anywhere Mouse M905. Featuring the company’s latest Darkfield Laser Tracking technology, the new Logitech M905 will “turn the world into a mouse pad” that will  work virtually everywhere, and yes that includes even that stylish glass desk of yours that grabs everyone’s attention when getting into your office.

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So what’s next?

Technology is always evolving – and none quite as fast as the Internet. Here are some predictions for what may be yet to come!

A quick preface

OK Internet, let’s call a truce for a minute or two.

As anyone who has spent time on a site’s comment section knows, the Internet can be a cruel place. Articles with the word "Prediction" in the title can invite some pretty terrible and/or amusing flame wars, but I want this article to be just friendly enough that you, the reader, are feeling comfortable enough to jump in with some predictions of your own! There are no wrong answers in a brainstorm.

1. Audio web surfing

Dick Tracey was ahead of the curve

Building the web with standards and accessibility in mind brings the Internet to as wide an audience as possible. With the importance of accessibility getting the recognition it deserves lately, I think screen readers will soon take a front seat as a common means for surfing a site for a much broader audience.

I’m calling it: people on the train with headphones attached to their mobile device while Text-to-Speech reads them the latest articles from their favorite sites. HTML5 is a step in an awesome direction with regards to easy reference points; header, footer, nav, section, and article could be logical jump-to points by audible instruction. Rather than reading and clicking, the audience can tell the browser where they want to go with spoken commands.

From an input standpoint, speech recognition has come a long way in the last decade. Bell Canada has been playing with the audio-attendant "Emily" since 2003. When you call, Emily will give a familiar greeting and ask how she can be of assistance. By simply telling her what you want – it can range from simple commands like "Billing" to more complicated sentences like "I want to talk about my Long Distance package" – she will direct your call accordingly.

It’s not perfect: about a quarter of the time, she’ll reply that she didn’t understand my request. While it can still be awkward, it works. Six years after first encountering this on the phone, I can actually say I prefer telling "her" what I want to the old "Press 1 for…" menu. It’s not an Internet application; but it shows that audio navigation works well, and can be efficient.

When it comes to output, Text-to-Speech is getting better all the time, a vast improvement over the last decade or so: Speakonia 1997 vs. the more modern Kindle and OSX. It has gone from lifeless and robotic to something a lot more palatable in the last few years, and seems to continue to improve.

Hal 9000

Audio surfing could be perfect for the aforementioned commuters, children learning to read, step-by-step tutorials as well as the casual multitasking user. While it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, any traffic to a site by an audience who cares is welcome.

For web developers, there may be new accessibility opportunities especially for multi-lingual sites. Who knows, this might be another nail in the Flash coffin.

If you think audio surfing could hit the mainstream say "amazing" now – and don’t forget to add my site to your playlist.

2. Web surf on any device

It seems the tech industry is eager to integrate the Internet into every device these days. It’s the equivalent to adding a digital clock to a coffee maker. Why not? Adding a touch-screen to your fridge and other appliances might create new opportunities and challenges for interfacing.

Wifi Predator

Content is king – no matter what. As seemingly redundant or over the top it might seem to have a screen built into the kitchen counter – if it doubles as a cutting board, all the better.

Dishwasher Safe

More widespread Internet delivery will mean reaching a wider audience – like the elusive "Mom" demographic. An issue keeping some users away is that the Internet can be a vast and scary place. These everyday devices married with technology don’t have to serve all of the web’s content though. They are niche items, and as such, they can deliver relevant niche content. The cutting board doesn’t need to be able to easily reach unrelated sites like LOLCats or Ebay, if it had a cooking oriented home screen complete with grocery list, meal suggestions, links and unit conversions, it would be less daunting and far more appealing to the target demographic of the product – even to those who don’t consider themselves to be Internet savvy.

The major weakness to the increase of connected devices comes in the same flavor as the raging Net Neutrality issues being discussed today. If the Internet is tied into content devices like televisions, broadcasting companies might start pulling more of their annoying control-freak shenanigans in an attempt to capture a greater audience. This will be temporary; the battle of old-media vs. the Internet has only one ending (hint: the loser starts with the letter "o" followed by the letters "ld-media").

I hope that with the advent of new devices comes an easier way for developers to "browser sniff" their traffic and serve up the appropriate content. If device manufacturers adhere to accessibility standards, the results could be amazing.

3. Input revisited

The recent boom in smartphone devices has shown us that tiny screens and suddenly awkward digits can sometimes make for a cumbersome user experience. Our traditional concepts of input applied to the next generation could be confounded more as the devices and environments change. At 6′ 4", I don’t relish the idea of hunching over a wall-mounted screen that has my 5′ 2" coworker in mind.

10/GUI

Recently, Clayton Miller shared his concept for multi-touch computing, the 10/GUI (here’s a video). This video bears watching, drooling over, and retweeting with the word "Want".

From the movie, Minority Report

He quickly illustrates the point that a mouse, as ubiquitous as it is, weakly offers only two sets of coordinates, while the users are capable of so much more. Touch screen technology is only scratching the surface on intuitive approaches to interfacing. There is lots of room for growth here. Simple Gesture implementation on the trackpad in OSX is so good that using gestureless laptops becomes unthinkable. The new Magic Mouse may be just the beginning.

I think we’re all ready to compute better, but this could easily be a disaster. If the new input technology is universal like the mouse was, everyone wins. I think it’s more likely that many hardware manufacturers will try to invent their own GUIs. This would mean many learning curves, and would be generally painful to deal with.

4. Mobile networking

Bluetooth is known for allowing wireless communication, like with hands-free systems in cars, and the some of the latest mice and keyboards (like the aforementioned Magic Mouse). It also may be the future for mobile networking and P2P interactions. Check out this Android 2.0 "Pong" demonstration:

Does that blow your mind? Imagine interacting on a website with a friend, or with the advertisement at the bus shelter. The possibilities become staggering.

Source: Tom Bielli

Some non-gaming applications come readily to mind:

• Simultaneous dual login for greater site security
• Online training sessions and remote-access troubleshooting
• On location interactions with stores, tourist attractions or public services

For years, the Internet has been about serving the singular user. With the growing need and importance of online community, multiple-user experiences seem like the next logical step.

5. The end of .com domination

For as long as the Internet has been around, .com has been the assumed default extension for websites (regardless of whether or not the site was "commercial" or not). For a while, there was almost a negative stigma to not having the .com for your brand, company or personal site. How many times has traffic meant for your site ended up at the .com equivalent?

With all common words and combinations taken (even just parked on), people turn to other extensions, invent words, or turn to crazy spelling.

In the very near future new extensions will be popping more often. Not only that, but I think trending may follow in that vein. I also predict that Domain Service giants like GoDaddy will start selling "Extension Subscriptions" where you can guarantee yourself the various extensions for your domain name.

More extensions have some definite advantages, and some drawbacks. On the plus side, when adding a link to some print materials, maybe we’ll be able to drop the "www", which is often used now as a cue that "this is in fact a URL". One silly drawback could be the increase in convoluted sub-domain cleverness like "del.icio.us".

I would also like to raise the question, how long will we need these addresses? Remembering and using URLs to point at sites works well, but doesn’t seem the most efficient way to bring site users to websites. One day, search engines, RSS readers, communities and networks may reduce direct traffic to a trickle, making the .com even less important.

6. IE6 stops being used

I’ll admit this seems like the most unlikely out of all the other predictions. Maybe it won’t happen in our lifetime, but it is somehow feasible that it could happen.

Here’s how it could go down: in the distant future, some impending disaster will cause mankind to have to abandon Earth and head for a planet light years away. The question of who and what can go to the new planet will of course be a major issue, and sadly IE6 won’t make it off of the doomed Earth. The escaping web designers and developers will enjoy a short-lived period of joy as there will always be some misfit version of Internet Explorer to support.

Today the Internet is about consuming and creating information. How do you think we will use it in the years to come? Make your predictions known in the comments.

Related Content

• Five Technologies That Will Keep Shaping the Web in 2010
• The History of the Internet in a Nutshell
• The Evolution of Web Design
• Related categories: Web Technology and User Interface

About the Author

Arley McBlain is a web designer, web developer, and Founder/Creative Director of Debut Creative based in Ontario, Canada. If you’d like to keep in touch with the author, check out his personal site, ArleyM, and follow him on Twitter as @ArleyM.

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Some uses the stop() method to prevent animation queue buildup. While this helps solve the initial problem, it introduces another: When you now do a fast mouseover/-out, you will see no animation at all or just a part of the animation. This behavior seems somehow unnatural.

The HoverFlow Plugin is the solution, which honors a single mouseover/-out with a full animation cycle while preventing animation queue buildup. A queued animation will only run if it corresponds with the current mouse position at “runtime”. That is, a mouseover animation will only run if the mouse is currently over the element, and a mouseout animation will only run if the mouse is currently not over the element. Otherwise, the animation queue is emptied.

Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://www.2meter3.de/code/hoverFlow/
License: MIT and GPL License

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The OpenOffice Mouse was a hideous 18-button white mouse that was designed by ‘the open source’ community and was endorsed by the OpenOffice.org people behind the great free open-source office suite. After some backlash over the circa-1993 design and some legal questions involving the OpenOffice name, the 18-button mouse has resurfaced as the WarMouse Meta, and with a redesign.

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Do you have a geek in your life? Someone who is incredibly hard to buy Christmas presents for that has no idea what they want and a wardrobe full of unwanted/unneeded jumpers? If the answer is yes then read on for Think Vitamin’s top five gifts for geeks.

1: The Mifi

The Mifi comes strongly recommended by our friend and mobile guru Sam Machin.

The Mifi is an “intelligent mobile hotspot” that creates a local “cloud” of high-speed Internet connectivity which can be shared between users and Wi-Fi devices, a maximum of 5, such as laptops, cameras and gaming devices. A big win for train journeys, meetings in the coffee shop and BarCamps.

Available in the US ($299) and Europe (£209) from Amazon

2: Apple Magic Mouse

Multi-Touch in a mouse, how very handy. We have heard great things about the new wireless mouse from Apple. Increase your productivity by “scrolling vertically, horizontally, and diagonally  simply by touching anywhere on the top surface.”

$69/£55 from Apple

3: Dot Grid Book

One for the UX designer in your life. The Dot Grid Book from Behance makes a nice change to your trusty Moleskine. Complete with 50 dotted pages and a semi-hard suede-touch cover it makes a great starting point for your next web project.

$14 direct from Behance

4: Chrome Messenger Bag

Instantly identifiable by the airplane seat-belt buckle strap Chrome bags appear to be the geeks messenger bag of choice. Made in San Fransisco they come in various shapes and sizes and are a perfect fit for laptops as well as leaving ample room for books, clothes and whatever other accessories you might need. They must be cool, they even have a “design manifesto“.

Buy direct from the Chrome website, from $120

5: The Eye-Fi

Who hasn’t got an online photo sharing account? Photos and videos are geek currency these days but who honestly likes the upload process? The Eye-Fi takes away that pain and will automatically upload photos and videos to your computer and to the web.

The Eye-Fi card looks, stores media, and fits into cameras just like a regular SD/SDHC card. On top of that, the Eye-Fi card has built-in Wi-Fi that uses your wireless network to effortlessly transfer photos and videos to your chosen web site, including Flickr, Facebook, Picasa and more.

Check out the options at http://www.eye.fi/

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Originally posted at Relevant Results

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This is an interesting philosophy, because it certainly grabs your attention when you move the mouse and and a bunch of new stuff appears. Perhaps, the move is really designed to draw attention to Google’s other services.

"Since most users who are interested in clicking over to a different application generally do move the mouse when they arrive, the ‘fade in’ is an elegant solution that provides options to those who want them, but removes distractions for the user intent on searching," Google says.

Google has been testing similar designs for several months. The company explains:

All in all, we ran approximately 10 variants of the fade-in. Some of the experiments hindered the user experience: for example, the variants of the homepage that hid the search buttons until after the fade performed the worst in terms of user happiness metrics. Other variants of the experiment produced humorous outcomes when combined with our doodles — the barcode doodle combined with the fade was particularly ironic in its overstated minimalism . However, in the end, the variant of the homepage we are launching today was positive or neutral on all key metrics, except one: time to first action. At first, this worried us a bit: Google is all about getting you where you are going faster — how could we launch something that potentially slowed users down? Then, we realized: we want users to notice this change… and it does take time to notice something (though in this case, only milliseconds!). Our goal then became to understand whether or not over time the users began to use the homepage even more efficiently than the control group and, sure enough, that was the trend we observed.

Judging from conversation on Twitter, opinions of the new page are pretty evenly mixed. Some think it’s "snazzy," while others feel it’s distracting." Some don’t like that you have to move the mouse to know where specific links are.

As with any design change to a popular site, there are going to be critics and supporters. The Google home page affects a great deal of web users. What is your opinion of the new change? Share your thoughts.

Related Articles:

> Google Testing a Revamp of the Search Results Page

> Facebook Tests "Many" New Design Changes

> Microsoft Unveils Big Redesign of MSN

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It’s been spotted in the wild before, but today Google is officially unveiling a new and minimalist version of the classic Google.com homepage.

There’s literally not much to it, as it simply sports the Google logo and two search buttons: Google Search and I’m Feeling Lucky. But don’t worry, everything you’ve come to expect from the homepage is still there, but the features are hidden until you move your mouse, at which point they fade in.

Google explains the decision to scrap the additives with this statement on their blog:

“For the vast majority of people who come to the Google homepage, they are coming in order to search, and this clean, minimalist approach gives them just what they are looking for first and foremost. For those users who are interested in using a different application like Gmail, Google Image Search or our advertising programs, the additional links on the homepage only reveal themselves when the user moves the mouse.”

Apparently Google has attempted to master the fade-in effect, as they tried 10 different variations of it, ultimately landing on one that a majority of testers had positive and neutral reactions to. Interestingly enough though, the fade-in approach they picked also slows down the time it takes for users to take their first action on Google.com. While this would appear to be troubling, Google says that, “we want users to notice this change… and it does take time to notice something (though in this case, only milliseconds!).”

So there you have it. Your Google experience will now be a tad slower and much sparser. Is it UI genius? We doubt the new design will have too much impact immediately, but should there be a net gain or less, we’ll let you know.

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The mouse has become standard equipment for almost all of us and unless you are an ultimate laptop whiz, chances are you’re using it everyday. And as technology evolves, chances are even higher for you to be using a wireless device that keeps clutter away from your office desk. Speaking of which, if you’re in the market for a new thing to browse the web with, we just caught wind of a crazy deal that you can’t refuse, for the Microsoft Wireless Mouse 4000.

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No, the Imperator isn’t a mid-1990’s SUV from an American car company. Instead, it’s the new gaming mouse from Razer. As you can see above, it’s a (typically Razer) sharp-looking design. The real attraction here is the customizable ’sliding’ side buttons that can accommodate any and all gamers and their sweaty grips.

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Engadget has reported on a sleek new wireless travel/mini mouse that’s coming out of Japan. It’s named the ‘Like A Spoon’ Mouse (I’m sure it sounds better in Japanese), and as you can see, is a sleek little wireless number. It runs off a single AAA battery and weights on 115g, and connects to your computer via a very discreet USB knob.

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Read the rest of Straight From Japan, Sleek ‘Like A Spoon’ Mouse [Japanese Gadget Company Elecom Releases 'Like A Spoon' Mouse]

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If you’ve been lusting over Apple’s mulittouch capable Magic Mouse (we’re with you on that, incidentally) but you’re a Windows user you may have consigned any thoughts of using the Apple Magic Mouse with your current setup to the back of your mind but now, thanks to a strictly unofficial hack of Apple’s latest Bluetooth update, you can happily pair up the Magic Mouse with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.
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Read the rest of Apple Multitouch Magic Mouse Gains Windows Compatibility [Magic Mouse Windows Drivers Now Available in 32 & 64 Bit Versions]

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Just when we thought the OpenOffice Mouse debacle and the Sony Vaio X “dead rat” are going to be the most popular models this month, we laid our eyes a new mouse introduced by the folks from Smartfish Technologies. The Smartfish Ergomotion mouse functions like any other run-of-the-mill wireless laser mouse, with some pretty large left and right buttons and a big scroll wheel.

(more…)

See: Smartfish ErgoMotion Mouse With Raised Platform for “Natural” Movement [ErgoMotion Wireless Laser Mouse Looks Badass, Numbs Your Hand?]

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After last week’s OpenOfficeMouse debacle, it’s Sony’s turn with their new VAIO Bluetooth Laser. Although it’s not going to going to win any beauty contests, the new Bluetooth Laser Mouse VGP-BMS80 is a multifunctional mouse, that can be connected to either a PC or a PS3  and can operate both as a mouse or as a trackpad-like thingy in its “air mode”, which by the way, doesn’t require a surface.

(more…)

See: Sony VAIO Bluetooth Laser Mouse Caught in the Wild [Multifunctional Bluetooth Laser Mouse VGP-BMS80 Lacks in Design, Costs $80]

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We’ve seen some great gadgets and equipment for designers. So many cool stuff, that we could actually assemble infinite perfect office spaces! Every week we’ll assemble a perfect office, and we’d like you to help us. What equipment would the perfect office have?

<!–break–>

Not only gadgets and equipment, but also furniture, sound system, gaming stuff (for lunch time!). A designer is totally allowed to dream with the perfect office, and that’s what we’re gonna do here! Comment telling us your suggestions, or even better, you may tell us via twitter (mine and fabio’s), using #abdz_ofc so we can check it. Alright? I hope you guys enjoy this brief selection. Cheers!

Edda table light

Edda is a functional family of lights which stand out through contrasting materials.
Their big, conical shades made of painted steel house most commercially available CFL bulbs invisibly. The concrete base provides stability and creates an optically and tactilely unfamiliar character in the working or living space. (via Designspotter.com)

Domo chaise lounge

Library and chaise lounge. Enjoy your reading. (via Designspotter.com)

Custom Head Phones

Super cool, stylish, custom head phones by Skullcandy. These are a must have! (via Eu Quero!)

Monster Monster Laptop Stand

Who would have thought that six acrylic limbs could transform a MacBook into something so evil…so powerful? Luckily the designer hasn’t designed the legs as articulating and retractable, or we’d really be screwed. (via Gizmodo)

Gigabyte Booktop M1305 ultraportable

… Nothing about the 13.3-inch rig seems too special at first glance — after all, a Core 2 Duo, GMA 4500MHD graphics set, 1,366 x 768 panel, 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 320GB or 500GB HDD won’t set any carpets on fire — but it’s the docking station that makes this one special. When situated in the dock, the M1305 can take full advantage of the discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT220 GPU that’s squeezed within, making it entirely more capable of pushing out 3D graphics or HD multimedia to connected displays. We know, docking stations are all but dead outside of the enterprise, but who’s kvetching about more power once your portable gets home? (via Engadget)

Revo’s retro-styled Heritage radio

The outfit’s latest, which is up for pre-order right now at £229.95 ($382), is easily one of the sleekest, most vintage-looking we’ve ever seen it produce. The aptly-named Heritage sports a wood and aluminum motif, room for your iPod or iPhone to dock, and support for DAB, FM and WiFi radio signals. There’s also an OLED display to keep you informed, support for wireless music streaming from your Mac or PC, a 3-inch neodymium speaker driver, 7-watts of power, a 3.5 millimeter headphone connector and even an iPod video output. (via Engadget)

Raptor M3x Gaming Mouse

The Raptor M3x Gaming Mouse features a laser senor with a dpi range from 400 to 4800, it also features a built in weight adjustment system so you can customize it. The Raptor M3x Gaming Mouse has a 2 meter USB cable and a gold USB plug, plus seven programmble mouse buttons including the scroll wheel. (via Geeky Gadgets)

10 Port USB Hub

It must be time for a new USB standard if people need things like this 10 Port USB Hub. It comes with it’s own power supply and there’s a port selector switch which allows you to disable the last 4 ports. Useful if you don’t want certain things to connect but can’t be bothered unplugging them. Priced around US$55. (via The Red Ferret Journal)

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The product in the picture here is about as real as it gets. It’s a mouse officially unveiled in Italy called the OpenOfficeMouse. Yes, that’s a more than strange name for a mouse but the device is meant to work with OpenOffice.org, that free software solution that helps you manage all sorts of documents.
(more…)

See: The OpenOfficeMouse Gets Official [Multi-Button Mouse Available Ready to Handle OpenOffice Documents and Not Only]

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With the newest Grand Theft Auto V just around the corner and ATI’s 5700 series graphics card to deliver crystal clear renderings for some of the most demanding games out there, it’s only natural that you’ve been looking for a little rodent to get the job done for you. So how about you check out the recently released Raptor M3x gaming mouse before actually getting worried.

(more…)

See: Raptor M3x Gaming Mouse Announced [M3X Customizable Mouse With 400 - 4800 dpi range & Weight Adjustment System]

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“With Magic Mouse, Apple has brought Multi-Touch technology to the desktop mouse, giving you a new and more intuitive way to interact with your computer. Just as with iPhone, iPod touch, and MacBook Pro, the Bluetooth Magic Mouse adds gestures and swipes to the usual clicks to bring more functionality and help you get more done with less effort.” – via Amazon

How to Enter

Quite easily; simply make a tweet linking to your favorite tutorial on web development, whether it be from Nettuts+ or any other site. At the end of your link, add the #nettuts hash so that we can track it. Then, on Monday, I’ll sort through the tweets and select the winner!

Note: Envato staff and those who have written more than two articles for Nettuts+ are ineligible to enter.

• Follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to the Nettuts+ RSS Feed for the best web development tutorials on the web.

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Portfolio d’Intelligent Design / Prix annoncé : 800 euros

Previously on Fubiz

• Pixelized Facade
• Apple Magic Mouse
• Rlos Design

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About a week ago the Apple store went down to prepare for an interesting new announcement that included updated MacBooks, iMacs, Mac Minis, time capsules and a new mice. Speaking of the little rodent, Cupertino is putting them into the box with their new iMacs and have announced that it’s not going be available for standalone purchases until the end of October. Well here we are, it’s the end of October and word is that orders for the new Apple Magic Mouse started shipping.

(more…)

See: Apple Multi-Touch Magic Mouse Orders Shipping [Apple's Magic Mouse to Right All Wrongs With the Mighty Mouse]

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As we reported earlier today, Apple’s online store went down for updates earlier today, amidst rumors of new products and product updates. Now that the store is back online, the new products up up for display.

So what’s new? Well, as usual, intricate accuracy of the rumors proved to be true: new iMacs with slight redesigns and brighter, larger displays, updated Mac minis (including a Mac OS X server option), a newly designed MacBook and a new multi-touch mouse (which was rumored early in the month) that will finally free Mac users from the Mighty Mouse’s impossible-to-keep-clean clutches.

New iMacs

The new iMacs feature larger, 16:9 displays (previous displays were 16:10) in either 21.5″ or 27″ in size. The new displays are brighter and use high-end IPS panels and LED backlighting.

The new iMacs also feature faster processors (including the ability to use the Intel Core i5 or i7 in built-to-order models shipping in November), more RAM and better connectivity options.

The 21.5″ iMac starts at $1199 US.

New MacBook with 7-hour Battery

Although the MacBook has had its share of hardware updates over the last three and a half years, the design for the entry-level white MacBook has remained unchanged. Today Apple has updated the MacBook from top to bottom.

The new MacBook features a built-in battery that last up to 7 hours on a single charge (the same technology is available in the MacBook Pro laptops) and now features an LED backlit screen and the glass mutli-touch trackpad also introduced in the unibody MacBook Pros.

The price is still $999, but it sports a faster processor and larger hard drive, in addition to the new design.

Magic Mouse

Apple bills the Magic Mouse as the world’s first multi-touch mouse. It is included with every new iMac and available separately for $69.

The Bluetooth mouse has a multi-touch top surface and the mouse itself is the button. From the video demonstration, it looks like they’ve take then multi-touch gestures from the iPhone and the unibody MacBook Pros and translated it into a pointing device.

What Do You Think?

In yesterday’s earnings call, Apple executives stressed that the new products in the pipeline would be value-driven and that gross margins were expected to be lower (meaning Apple would make less money on each item). The new products announced today have more features and newer technology, but remain priced the same as the older products.

As for me? I can’t wait to see if this guy comes to Starbucks with a new 27″ iMac.

What do you think of the new Apple products and design revisions? Does this change your holiday buying plans? Will you be buying a new Magic Mouse later today? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: apple, gadgets, iMac, macbook, magic mouse, Mighty Mouse, new products

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Previously on Fubiz

• Artime Project
• We Were Once A Fairytale
• Nocturne by Vincent Laforet

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Apple rumors are never clear-cut, but they’ve never been as weird as they are today. It all started when Dan Lyons, a.k.a. Fake Steve Jobs, dared Daring Fireball’s John Gruber about a host of new Apple products due to be unveiled today.

Gruber quickly replied with a short tongue-in-cheek article, listing some interesting products Apple may or may not have prepared for us, depending on whether you buy into the whole rumor game. The list is as follows:

- redesigned plastic MacBooks
- redesigned iMacs,
- updated Mac Minis, including one that’ll ship with Mac OS X Server
- multi touch Magic Mouse
- a new multi-touch trackpad gadget for desktop Macs

Although an Apple Tablet is nowhere in sight, this list contains some pleasant surprises, especially the multi-touch Magic Mouse (remember Microsoft’s concept multi-touch mice we’ve written about recently? It seems that Apple has one-upped Microsoft once again). Is it all true, or is it just an elaborate pun set up by Lyons and Gruber? We’ll have to wait a couple more hours to find out.

Tags: apple, iMac, macbook, rumor

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We’ve seen some great gadgets and equipment for designers. So many cool stuff, that we could actually assemble infinite perfect office spaces! Every week we’ll assemble a perfect office, and we’d like you to help us. What equipment would the perfect office have?

Not only gadgets and equipment, but also furniture, sound system, gaming stuff (for lunch time!). A designer is totally allowed to dream with the perfect office, and that’s what we’re gonna do here! Comment telling us your suggestions, or even better, you may tell us via twitter (mine and fabio’s), using #abdz_ofc so we can check it (thanks to @gariphic for helping us with some suggestions!) Alright? I hope you guys enjoy this brief selection. Cheers!

Nokia Booklet 3G

While Nokia might not be the first name you’d think of when shopping for a new netbook, the company is looking to change that with the Nokia Booklet 3G ($TBA). Running what looks like Windows 7, the Booklet offers solid specs, including an Intel Atom processor, a 10-inch HD display, integrated A-GPS, 3G/HSPA, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, a built-in SD card reader, HDMI output, webcam, an impressive 12-hour battery, and stylish aluminum chassis. (via Uncrate)

Talking Coffee Maker

This is the first voice-interactive coffee maker that asks, “Would you like to set the clock or set the coffee brewing time?” and operates in response to your verbal commands. Simply saying, “Set the coffee brewing time,” or “Set the clock,” will prompt the machine to reply, “Please say the time, including AM or PM.” It uses an advanced voice recognition system to identify any time of day you speak, eliminating the hassle of fussing with buttons. (via Gizmodo)

Herman Miller Setu Chairs

No matter where you plan to sit or what you plan to do once you get there, Herman Miller Setu Chairs ($580) will keep you comfortable. Designed with a breakthrough kinematic spine that bends and flexes with you without the need for adjustment, the Setu is one of the simplest and easiest office chairs we’ve ever come across. (via Uncrate)

Razer Mamba Wireless Gaming Mouse

Tired of using the mouse that came with that refurbished Dell your parents gave you? Completely unaffected by the current state of the economy? If so, then perfect, you’ll love the Razer Mamba Wireless Gaming Mouse! Outfitted with gaming-grade wireless technology and claiming to be the fastest performing mouse available, this is the mouse to trump all other mice. (via dtrndr)

NES cartridge external USB Hard Drive – 160 Gb

An unique item with big storage inside: 160 Gb! USB 2.0 Interface, Nintendo black box protection, it runs from USB power, so there is no need for external power. HDD is invisible: perfect enclosure in the Nintendo black box and no damage on cartridge. (via Etsy)

Sony NAS-Z200IR iPod Dock

The Sony NAS-Z200DIR has a built in iPod dock, Internet Radio, a CD player, a DAB/FM/AM Tuner, and also direct music streaming from your PC via WiFi. Other features include a remote with a 3.5 inch touchscreen LCD display that is used to navigate your way around the various menus, you can also see track information from your PC or iPod on the remote which is a cool feature. (via Geeky Gadgets)

Labware Lamps by Benjamin Hubert

Benjamin Hubert launched a variety of new pieces at 100% Design last month, including the Labware series of blown glass lamps (above). The three white glass shapes used for the collection are inspired by traditional laboratory beakers, but are heftier than most and are plugged with Portuguese cork. The hanging lamps join the Labware floor lights from last year. (via MocoLoco)

USB Illuminated Speaker with 3 Port Hub

The USB Illuminated Speaker with 3 Port Hub is a USB speaker with glowing blue undertones. The hub can power three devices simultaneously and it has a 3.5mm auxiliary input so you can plug in your MP3 player using its headphone socket. There’s even a volume control built into the lid. US$14 from Brando. (via The Red Ferret Journal)

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We’ve seen the multitouch capabilities of the iPhone; we’ve seen a similar thing on the trackpad of MacBook Pro, and we’ve seen a camera driven multitouch solution on Microsoft’s elusive Surface. Now, all those technologies suddenly seem to have converged in a bunch of conceptual multitouch mice, courtesy of Microsoft.

In the two videos below, you can see several Microsoft’s engineers showing off several entirely different devices. While one mouse’s surface detects touch and movement, the other does the same thing with a camera, and the weirdest of them all consists of several connected mechanical parts which you can move almost independently on one another.

For the end user, all of this means being able to do cool things like pinch, rotate, zoom, and flick on your desktop computer, just by using your mouse. While some of the gestures displayed in the videos look awkward, others seem quite natural; I’m sure we’ll see some of these technologies in the devices we use everyday really soon.

Tags: microsoft, mouse, multitouch

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If you’re an Apple iMac owner, you’re probably familiar with the Mighty Mouse, Apple’s buttonless device launched in 2005. The iconic white mouse with the squeeze sensors and the tiny clickable track ball may have been a unique direction in mouse technology, but it has frustrated many Mac owners to no end – the track ball especially is susceptible to breakage and dirt accumulation. Some have even resorted to using 3rd party or Microsoft-built mice to properly navigate their desktops.

According to a new report from AppleInsider though, Apple’s looking to deal with this problem by completely redesigning the mighty mouse. Among the rumored changes: doing away with the track ball, utilizing touch-sensitive technology, and adding multipoint touch detection technology. Oh, and you might see this new Mighty Mouse before the end of this year.

AppleInsider is short on specific details, but refers to recent apple patents that refer to a mouse that translates how you touch and and how you move your hand into movement on the screen. It would also translate into clicks, thus eliminating the need for most buttons or even a track ball. Apple has favored touch interfaces in the last few years, most notably with the iPhone, so this is not a huge surprise.

Adding fuel to the speculation fire, the current Mighty Mouse is on backorder across the country, meaning that Apple’s not shipping out the new models at the moment. This is the biggest sign that this rumored mouse upgrade is going to be arriving before the end of the year.

What do you think of this rumor: is it a good development? Would you want to use this mouse? Or are you a fan of the current Mighty Mouse? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of Andy Woo on Flickr

Tags: Aple, Mighty Mouse, mouse

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