Cursor

The cursor has been disappearing while I browse the Internet. Any ideas as to how to stop this? I run Windows 98 with Internet Explorer 6. Let's start with the possibility that the author of a Web page wrote the underlying HTML code to make the cursor disappear when it moves over certain parts of a page. Tapping the Control key, which makes the cursor appear, usually can thwart this. Another possible issue is that your video card is making the cursor move so fast that you cannot see it. You can slow the cursor with the mouse control panel, which is reached in Windows 98 by clicking on Start, Settings and Control Panel.

CHICAGO -- With a tiny, electronic chip implanted in the motor cortex of his brain, a 25-year-old man paralyzed from the neck down for five years has learned to use his thoughts to operate a computer, turn on a TV set, open e-mail, play a video game and manipulate a robotic arm - the first successful steps toward using the mind to directly control machines. Two subsequent patients with the implanted brain chips - one at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago - have advanced their brain-computer interface skills even further, although all movements are still rudimentary.

Giant trackball takes it easy on your arm and hand, doesn't 0) gum upThe first thing you notice about the Trackman Marble FX is that it's freakishly large. At 7.3 inches long, 3.3 inches wide, and 2.5 inches high, it looks like a big plastic foot. The new trackball uses an innovative optical sensor technology that means there are no mechanical parts inside the unit to clean or get gummed up.The $99 Marble FX has four buttons for regular mouse functions and pop-up menus, shortcuts and macros you can program using the included MouseWare software.

When I purchased the Dell laptop, an Inspiron, I wanted that model because it had a nice full screen. However, when I go to my home page or play solitaire, the text and images are minuscule. I've tried to enlarge them, but I just get the background enlarged, not the items. The cards remain about a quarter-inch big, as opposed to my old workhorse desktop where the images fill the screen. Do you know how to enlarge these programs? Until I was 50 years old, I thought "presbyopic" meant a Protestant minister, and now that I am as nearsighted (presbyopic)

People often say to me: "Dave, as a professional columnist, you have a job that requires you to process large quantities of information on a timely basis. Why don't you get a real haircut?"What these people are really asking, of course, is: How am I able to produce columns with such a high degree of accuracy, day in and day out, 54 weeks per year?The answer is: I use a computer. This enables me to be highly efficient. Suppose, for example, that I need to fill up column space by writing booger booger booger booger booger.

Executives who use laptop computers and the Windows graphical operating system often have a problem. One can operate Windows software using typed keyboard commands, but Windows really requires a mouse.Mice, in turn, require room to roam, and the person sitting in the next seat on the plane or train might not understand why your hand keeps sliding over onto his or her thigh.The Microsoft Corp., which created Windows, has now developed a less peripatetic mouse for the traveling executive. The Ballpoint Mouse is a palm-size trackball that attaches to the side of most laptop or notebook computers.

I bought a computer from Gateway and am delighted with it, but I've realize that although I specified what size of hard drive, how much memory and what sort of Pentium chip it would have, I really don't have a way to check and make sure they shipped what I ordered. How do I know I have the specifications I agreed to buy? Actually, you've asked three great questions: 1. To make sure your hard drive is the size you paid for, click on the My Computer icon and move your mouse cursor arrow over the icon for the C: drive and right-click.

My friends complain of the long headers on the e-mail that I forward. Is there a simple, easy method of eliminating them?When you see something in e-mail that you want to pass on, use the mouse (or shift + cursor key combination) to paint the text you want to forward. Tap Control+C to copy and call up your e-mail software's new message module. With the cursor in the text area, press Control+V to paste the selected words. Add an address, a subject line and an explanation on top, then send.

When I purchased the Dell laptop, an Inspiron, I wanted that model because it had a nice full screen. However, when I go to my home page or play solitaire, the text and images are minuscule. I've tried to enlarge them, but I just get the background enlarged, not the items. The cards remain about a quarter-inch big, as opposed to my old workhorse desktop where the images fill the screen. Do you know how to enlarge these programs? Until I was 50 years old, I thought "presbyopic" meant a Protestant minister, and now that I am as nearsighted (presbyopic)

My Hewlett Packard DeskJet 2000C stopped printing, giving this error message: "Your black ink cartridge has expired." I installed a spare ink cartridge, but got the same message and could not print. HP software apparently reads a date code on cartridges and blocks their use after a set length of time. HP support said I could not bypass this. The best way to defeat such a software scheme that uses a computer's internal clock to enforce software copy protection or check expiration dates is to set the computer to a past year when the days of the week for every month fall on the same dates as this year.

The cursor has been disappearing while I browse the Internet. Any ideas as to how to stop this? I run Windows 98 with Internet Explorer 6. Let's start with the possibility that the author of a Web page wrote the underlying HTML code to make the cursor disappear when it moves over certain parts of a page. Tapping the Control key, which makes the cursor appear, usually can thwart this. Another possible issue is that your video card is making the cursor move so fast that you cannot see it. You can slow the cursor with the mouse control panel, which is reached in Windows 98 by clicking on Start, Settings and Control Panel.

My Hewlett Packard DeskJet 2000C stopped printing, giving this error message: "Your black ink cartridge has expired." I installed a spare ink cartridge, but got the same message and could not print. HP software apparently reads a date code on cartridges and blocks their use after a set length of time. HP support said I could not bypass this. The best way to defeat such a software scheme that uses a computer's internal clock to enforce software copy protection or check expiration dates is to set the computer to a past year when the days of the week for every month fall on the same dates as this year.

I use Windows 98, and I can't find an item after I moved its shortcut to one of my folders. Can that be corrected? In other words, if I have accidentally removed the icon to a folder somewhere, can it be found? Click on the Start button and look for the Find Files and Folders item. If you can remember even a partial bit of the program's name, Windows will find the lost icon and the program. You either can use the icon there or drag it to the desktop so you won't lose it again. My scroll wheel has quit working when I am in Windows Explorer searching the Web. It still does when I am not using the browser.

I bought a computer from Gateway and am delighted with it, but I've realize that although I specified what size of hard drive, how much memory and what sort of Pentium chip it would have, I really don't have a way to check and make sure they shipped what I ordered. How do I know I have the specifications I agreed to buy? Actually, you've asked three great questions: 1. To make sure your hard drive is the size you paid for, click on the My Computer icon and move your mouse cursor arrow over the icon for the C: drive and right-click.

It's B-Day. May 6, 1997. Bozlo's public debut. Marc Singer holds his breath. He is confident that Bozlo is entertaining. But will anyone outside the office of togglethis, his Internet start-up in Manhattan, care? If the launch is unsuccessful, will togglethis run out of money before producing and distributing another interactive character? What if Marc has ruined his credit rating and wasted two precious years of his youth for nothing? The stakes are not only about business. They are personal.

My friends complain of the long headers on the e-mail that I forward. Is there a simple, easy method of eliminating them?When you see something in e-mail that you want to pass on, use the mouse (or shift + cursor key combination) to paint the text you want to forward. Tap Control+C to copy and call up your e-mail software's new message module. With the cursor in the text area, press Control+V to paste the selected words. Add an address, a subject line and an explanation on top, then send.

* Peter Lewis is now covering the cyberspace beat for the New York Times. Joshua Mills has taken over his column on computers and business. People who use a trackball for desktop computing are passionate about the advantages of the device, a sort of inverted mouse. Like a mouse, a trackball uses a roller ball to control the cursor on the computer screen, but unlike a mouse, the device sits still: Only the ball, firmly cradled in a base, is moved.Trackballs, their fans say, provide more precise cursor control, are easier on aching arms and wrists and take up far less space on a desk than a mouse, which needs a meadow at least 6 by 8 inches to roam.

It's B-Day. May 6, 1997. Bozlo's public debut. Marc Singer holds his breath. He is confident that Bozlo is entertaining. But will anyone outside the office of togglethis, his Internet start-up in Manhattan, care? If the launch is unsuccessful, will togglethis run out of money before producing and distributing another interactive character? What if Marc has ruined his credit rating and wasted two precious years of his youth for nothing? The stakes are not only about business. They are personal.

Giant trackball takes it easy on your arm and hand, doesn't 0) gum upThe first thing you notice about the Trackman Marble FX is that it's freakishly large. At 7.3 inches long, 3.3 inches wide, and 2.5 inches high, it looks like a big plastic foot. The new trackball uses an innovative optical sensor technology that means there are no mechanical parts inside the unit to clean or get gummed up.The $99 Marble FX has four buttons for regular mouse functions and pop-up menus, shortcuts and macros you can program using the included MouseWare software.

People often say to me: "Dave, as a professional columnist, you have a job that requires you to process large quantities of information on a timely basis. Why don't you get a real haircut?"What these people are really asking, of course, is: How am I able to produce columns with such a high degree of accuracy, day in and day out, 54 weeks per year?The answer is: I use a computer. This enables me to be highly efficient. Suppose, for example, that I need to fill up column space by writing booger booger booger booger booger.