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Logitech Lift hands-on: A vertical mouse for the rest of us
Inspired by the MX Vertical, the Logitech Life is a slick new ergonomic mouse that's designed for people with smaller hands.
San Francisco's biggest Taxi company to file for bankruptcy
If the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's word isn't enough, take it directly from taxi companies: ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft are taking business from traditional cab drivers. According to a report from the San Francisco Examiner, Yellow Cab Co-op, the biggest taxi company in the city, is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy.
TwelveSouth defies gravity with HiRise for iMac and Cinema Display
Pop quiz: What's holding up your iMac? As handsome as the metal foot design may be, many deskbound Mac mavens eventually find that the fixed-height screen position isn't quite high enough for comfortable ergonomics. In my experience, the same goes for the Cinema Display -- up until yesterday, my office setup included a dusty box set of big band standards deployed as a screen lifter to give me a boost. I've retired the CD box, though, since the Apple-exclusive accessory studio Twelve South sent over the cleverly designed, sleek HiRise adjustable stand for iMac and Cinema Display. This self-assembled unit includes an adjustable internal shelf, which you place at the height you like for supporting your computer's stand. Underneath the shelf (indeed, if you slot it low enough in the enclosure, atop the shelf as well) there's hideaway room for sundry items like keys, cash, USB drives and the like. If you're lucky enough to have both an iMac and a Thunderbolt display, there's a shelf position that will align the two devices' screens exactly. The HiRise includes Mac Pro-style front and back grating covers, which attach via magnets or tiny hex screws (Allen wrench thoughtfully included). The suggested assembly is to permanently attach the back panel, but to leave the front panel removably affixed with the magnets so that you can pull it off, retrieve your stuff and put it back. The enclosure works equally well with a Cinema Display / Mac mini combo, with room at the bottom for the entire computer if you want to stash it there -- in that setup, you can screw the front panel closed as well. Here's the thing, though, and no disrespect to the Twelve South product team (their PlugBug adapter is one of my favorite gadgets). The HiRise is sturdy and well-built, with a true "works with Mac" look in a premium, attractive package. It is also retailing for $79.99. If you find that you're $80 worth of concerned about how well-balanced and clean your desk looks... well, you know who you are, and you're probably already ordering a HiRise at this moment. For the rest of us, if you're considering spending 80 bucks on a display stand that doubles as a storage drawer, how about throwing in a few dollars more to buy yourself some actual storage? OWC's Mercury Pro drives have the same cheesegrater aesthetics, but also have handy USB or Firewire ports to connect you to 500+ GB of external drive capacity. In fact, the Newer Tech MiniStack ships for $89.99 in a bare kit configuration; throw in a spare SATA drive and tuck it under the iMac, problem solved. The HiRise is available now direct from Twelve South, with free ground shipping in the continental US.
INCA offers up motorized pop-out TV mount
Joining the already crowded market of flat-panel mounts, INCA has introduced its 900810-5A-WPS, which is an elaborate way of saying Motorized Wall Mounted Pullout and Swivel. Said device is fully automatic and remotely controlled, can hold sets up to 100 pounds and should accommodate mostly any HDTV thanks to the optional mounts. You'll also find a built-in cable management system and the ability to manually override the "popping out" -- you know, in case you'd actually need to... for whatever reason -- but sadly, we have no clue how far this unit will set you back.[Via SlashGear]
WAR's Paul Barnett talks shop at Lift Conference
Did you ever wish you could sit down and pick the brain of a game designer to see what sort of world-views or models for the game industry are informing his design decisions? Truth be told, there are many designers out there, some in the MMO space, who would probably bore you to death with talk of convergence and design philosophies that would have you nodding off inside of ten minutes. Paul Barnett is not one of those designers. Whether it's his english accent, his frequent and strange metaphors, or just the fact that we know the success or failure of Warhammer Online is riding on his shoulders, Paul Barnett is a man worth listening to.So if you're at all interested in design, or even just interested in the creative philosophy that is going into Warhammer Online, Paul Barnett's speech at the Lift Conference in Switzerland is well worth listening to. Paul himself is a funny guy (though you'd never know it based on reactions of the crowd at Lift), but he's also got a good head on his shoulders. He explains the conventional American thinking that goes into design of taking an existing product and simply making it bigger, louder, taller, and crazier, simply doesn't work in the world of online games. There has to be room for new ideas, and it's the person with new ideas who is going to be walking away with the sacks of money. Considering Paul's new title is a Creative Director within EA, this is the sort of thing that's really refreshing to hear every now and again.
