As part of it's pilot program, Google recently started distributing close to 60,000 laptops to it's users. Google's unbranded laptop is called CR-48, which has a pre-installed version of the infant, Chrome OS. Axleration has a short and neat review of CR-48, if you're interested.

More than the announcement of this pilot program, What matters more to FYI, is the fact that the Beta CR-48 doesn't have a Caps-Lock key! Can you imagine a laptop without a Caps-Lock key? Well, I know you can even imagine a laptop with no keys. But, there's a different name for it - a tablet - completely touch-driven.

So, CR-48 does not have the Caps-Lock key (I don't know yet, what else is missing). Brilliant! Why? Read on. Instead of the Caps-Lock key, it has a dedicated Google search key. Nice, but why do-away with the Caps-Lock key? Won't we need it? Not at all.

If you give it a serious thought, you'll concur with Google's underlying idea; you can still achieve capitalization of letters, using the shift keys. Unlike typewriters, wordprocessors have tons of styling features, which can make your headings stand out. You will never need an all-caps sentence for a heading. Well, if you still do (say, you use Notepad), why not use the SHIFT key instead? Like how I just typed it in the last sentence *grin*? Why do you need Caps-Lock?

Moreover, in the web-world, TYPING SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS CONSIDERED VERY RUDE. So, please refrain from using an all-caps sentence. By the way, Sorry about that. If you wish to show excitement, you always have the exclamation mark! yay! Why use Caps, when an exclamation sounds equally exciting?

I completely second the idea of abandoning the Caps-Lock key - not just in CR-48, but also in other Windows, Linux, and Mac based laptops and desktops. Infact, there are a bunch of keys that I think laptops and keyboards can do away with. The following are my nominations.

Keys We Won't Need In a Keyboard

Shift
Do we really need two of these? Ambidextrous people shouldn't have a problem, if we discarded one. Others, can get used to working with one shift key! Isn't it?

Ctrl
Same as above.

Alt
Same as above. Here, I have a preference though; I can live without the 'Alt' key on the right, but not without the one on the left - 99% of my keyboard operations involve Alt+Tab. The remaining 1%, comprises of breaks.

Pause/Break
Pause? It should rather be called Passe'. I don't remember the last time I used this key.

Insert on/off
This is the most annoying key. If at all I press this key, it'll be accidental. I'll have to press it again, to start typing normally.

Spacebar
We cannot live without this. Understood. But why should it be sooo lengthy? Can't it be cut short? What if we size the space bar into two small pieces, and place them on either ends of the keyboard? We could accommodate a couple of more new keys in it's original space.

Can you think of any other key that is redundant or unnecessary?

What Other Keys Do We Like To Have?

Getting rid of the keys mentioned above would certainly give room for many new keys; some that I can think of, are as follows.

Help
I'm not saying we should get rid of F1 (we do use the function keys on a Mainframe system, even today!), but it doesn't hurt to have a dedicated key, called Help.

Currency
This would vary, based on the geography. For instance, keyboards in India will have Rs. and Ps. keys, instead of $.

@
Who doesn't send emails these days? Infact, I use the @ key more than the spacebar (well, that was an exaggeration). How about having a dedicated @ key, for typing e-mail IDs with ease?

Recycle bin
Won't you rummage your trash can if you accidentally dropped a lottery ticket into it? If so, where would you like to see your trash can? At an easily accessible place, or buried under a pile of clothes? I demand a dedicated key that'll take me right into the Recycle Bin!

Chat related jargons
Would you complain if you had keys such as BRB, LOL, TTYL, GR8, etc.?

One single key for Ctrl+Alt+Del
Why let your fingers dance on your keyboard, when you can have one single key that can lock your system?

Now, stop reading, and get creative. Tell me more!

Yesterday, I was ransacking my cell phone's inbox to find an information that my friend messaged a couple of weeks ago. To my horror, I had 1200 messages in my inbox, which I never realized until I started searching! By searching, I just meant a human-eyeball search. That was the only way I could search through a high profile PDA like Nokia E71x. How unfortunate! Yeah, I'm not kidding. I had to literally sift through each and every SMS in my inbox to locate the message. Nokia E71x wasn't powered with an SMS search. Infact, I've not seen this feature in any of the cell phones I've used in the past.


Though I did find a few SMS-search apps for Android and iPhone (noted below) as I was googling, I wonder why this feature isn't one of the basic features in any cell phone. What does it take for the cell phone manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, and a whole bunch of other mobile players to include this as a basic feature in their phones? I agree that it's got to be a feature of the OS, but how difficult is it to incorporate the same in a Symbian or a Windows Mobile? The Android-based app that I've listed below, is hardly 65KB, and costs $0.99!


Anyway, if any of the big players out there are reading this post, the following are some of the default features that I'd personally like to have, in any phone that is capable of messaging:

• Search the inbox and email messages using keywords such as name, phone    number, venue, etc. 

• Include an option to bookmark searched messages

• Enable tags to group similar messages

• Block messages alone, from a particular cell phone number

• Lock selected messages - make it password protected

• The phone should get locked automatically, when an SMS with a unique code is sent from a pre-configured cell phone. This will make the phone unusable, if it gets lost or stolen. 

• Any other ideas, dear readers? :)

Maybe also have SMS-Search powered by, say Google Mobiletop*? This will be the Google Desktop for cell phones. If google comes up with something like that, it'll add yet another feather to Google's cap, I'm sure. Perhaps, Google will also take the search to the next level - search SMS by voice! Google already has a mobile app that does a similar thing. Check out this link, and grab your free download, if you're not already aware: Google Mobile 


Coming back to the SMS-search apps for Android and iPhone, click on the following links, and enjoy your downloads!

• SMS Search Pro, for Android 
• Search 1.0, for iPhone

Note: FYI doesn't guarantee the credibility of the above-mentioned links.


* Google Mobiletop is an imaginary name




Imaginatively yours,
G U R U

Though there are several gadgets available in the marketplace to chop onions, the most reliable, popular and widely used gadget is the knife. Anything in this world may change, but I believe people won't stop using their hands and knives to chop onions! Never! No matter how much they make you cry! So, here's a cool tip that I'd like to share that might prevent your eyes from getting flooded with tears, while chopping onions.
It's pretty simple -- No, I don't suggest that you eat chocolates or chew gum *grin* during the process! 


Just follow this simple procedure:


1. Cut the onion into two.
2. Run it under a tap of water as you peel the skin (yay! you've passed the first hurdle)
3. Take a large vessel (large enough to accommodate your hands, an onion and a knife),
place a cutting sheet within, fill it with little water.
4. Soak the cut onions into the water and start chopping to glory!


It takes a bit of practice and some patience to do this, but eventually it'll give you a tear-free chopping experience! Now, wipe your tears and smile please!


Now, if you'd like to dig more on which chemical property of onions make you cry, or why do people even cry in the first place, check this link out: Click here to get redirected. But, don't forget to come back to FYI!


Did you like that tip, or have a better one? Why not share your thoughts in the discussion box below?