Computer manufacturers save every dime they can on computer parts to maximize their profit.  Unfortunately, this often means we are stuck with crappy keyboards with our shiny new machine.   When IBM had a near monopoly and personal computers were high priced, well engineered devices they gave their users one of the best input devices to come with any machine--a IBM Model M keyboard.  I liked it so much that I kept an original hidden away from all the geeks at the office.

Now DAS Keyboard makes an updated mechanical keyboard that is a worthy successor--actually they make four models"

• DAS Keyboard Original Professional
• DAS Keyboard Model S Professional
• DAS Keyboard Model S Ultimate (the uber geek keyboard--the keys are plain black--no labels)
• DAS Keyboard Model S Professional Silent (with slightly more quiet keys)

They keyboard fit and finish is reminiscent of a fine musical instruments--the keys are surrounded by a polished black surface. Like the IBM keyboard the DAS keyboard uses its best-in-class mechanical gold-plated key switches provide a tactile and audio click. The company does have a sense of humor, it sells earplugs as a "peace offering" to your cube mates who are bothered by the clicking.

My Nikon D70 has been sitting around unused since I bought a Nikon D300.  To make it useful again I decided to convert it to an infrared camera.  After doing some research, I found that Lifepixel.com will convert your camera for you or sell you a filter to do the conversion.  Feeling adventurous, I decided to do the conversion myself.  Life Pixel's site offers decent directions and assures you that the Nikon D70 is relatively easy to convert.

Digital camera sensors are inherently sensitive to infrared light--they have a low-pass filter that block most of the infrared light from reaching the sensor.   You can take infrared pictures by putting a filter in front of the lens that block the visible light and just lets the infrared light through to the sensor.  The disadvantage of this is that so little light reaches the sensor that you end up with a very long exposure times.  Also, with SLR's you can't really compose using the viewfinder anymore since so little light is going to the viewfinder.  Life Pixel replaces the infrared filter in front of your sensor with a visible light sensor so the camera's viewfinder still works and the exposure times are normal.

Life Pixel offers 3 different Infrared filters, Standard IR, Enhanced Color IR and Deep BW IR. They also offer clear sensor filters and original Low-pass filters in case you scratched your filter and wanted to replace it. I chose the standard infrared filter. The filter replaces the stock low-pass filter that the camera comes with. By removing the Low-pass filter and replacing it with an IR filter, the camera is as sensible to IR as it was for normal photography. The major benefit of this is that you can see through the view finder and easily compose your shots. There is also no need for long exposure times, and no need for a tripod. This is a huge advantage over the standard way of doing Infrared photography. Life Pixel has filters for quite a few cameras. For the complete list check out their web site.

As you know we are big fans of Leatherman multitools--they are well made and handy. Now Leatherman has come out with a series of pocket-friendly, hard-anodized aluminum Leatherman Serac LED Flashlights.

TextMarks is a FREE service that allows you to create a subscription code via the TextMarks website www.textmarks.com so that anyone who text messages that code to the TextMarks number 41411 will subsequently be registered as a part of your distribution list. Then whenever you need to send out a text blast, everyone who has signed up will receive the messages you send.

This is a really useful service with lots of real-life applications, especially if you help coordinate medium-to-large groups of people during short-term events. Think disaster recovery situations (Sanjay?), church mission trips (Chuck?), big scavenger hunts, competitive events,...basically any event during which you may need to send out impromptu instructions or alerts.

I learned this system at a seminar from leadership/productivity guru Paul Burton--his website is http://www.visionmechanix.com/QuietSpacing_agenda.html He calls the system "QuietSpacing," and it is an order of magnitude better than the previous productivity/organizational/time management system I had been using: The Franklin Covey Planner (adapted for use with Outlook and a PDA, of course).