Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 34

D-2 SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL Sunday, September 26, 2004 PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY New computer mice nibble at cutting edge play, pause, forward and back. The software works with media players including Windows Media Player and RealPlayer. Buying a MediaPlay mouse gets you 10 free downloads from Music-match. A button just beneath the scroll wheel launches Logitech's MediaLife software, which gives you more free music and video. MediaPlay comes with a desktop USB stand, two AA batteries and a wireless mini receiver the size of a flip-out car key that plugs into a USB port.

MediaPlay has an easy-to-grip hourglass shape and contoured base so it easily doubles as a remote control. Its rubber ridge felt grippable and firm better than standard-issue, straightedged remotes. This mouse won't spend its life on your desk. point or click, even on a daunting obstacle course of reporter's notebooks, a cookie sheet and a pile of stamped postcards. It even performed admirably though not flawlessly on the rubberized, curved arm rest of my office chair.

It worked up to a distance of about 5 feet. I also tried the $50 MediaPlay Cordless Mouse, designed for people who listen to music and watch videos on their PCs. MediaPlay is a wireless mouse that doubles as a remote control to adjust volume, forward and rewind digital media programs up to 10 feet from the base station. The mouse works with Windows 98 or newer operating systems on IBM-compatible PCs and requires a USB or PS2 port. The slick design includes six backlit media buttons, such as ly 20 times more sensitive to surface details.

The laser beams through a silver ring on mouse's belly. The light bounces off the surface of your desk (or filing cabinet, or piece of cardboard, or slab of marble) and signals a sensor that captures 5.8 megapixels of detail per second. That lets you click and point over most flat surfaces, such as glass, tile or lacquer a boon to graphic artists, Web designers and others in the Bang Olufsen crowd who disdain plebeian wooden desks, But you don't have to be a fash-ionista to appreciate the MX1000. From sticky tabs to manila folders, crumbs and dog hair, so much junk clogs my desk that old-fashioned mice trip more often than track. The MX1000 never missed a I tried two new models from Logitech the Swiss technology giant that has sold more than 500 million mice since 1981.

Doug Engelbart, who invented the mouse in 1962, still maintains an office at Logitech's office park in Fremont. My favorite was the $80 MX1000 Laser, billed as the world's first commercial laser mouse. It comes with a built-in, rechargeable lithium-ion battery that requires a recharge every three weeks in its docking station. It works with Windows 98 or Macintosh OS or newer operating systems and requires a USB or PS2 port. The MX1000 tracks movements using Agilent Technologies' short-wavelength laser instead of a typical optical mouse's light-emitting diode, making the MX1000 rough By RACHEL KONRAD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN JOSE If you're still pointing and clicking with the factory-issued mouse that came with your computer or, heaven forbid, if you're still using your laptop's barbaric touch pad it's time to upgrade.

A new generation of cordless mice debuts this month, featuring lasers and rechargeable batteries. They even provide a modicum of relief to carpal tunnels and aching fingers. Eat your hearts out, co-workers. The sleek new gizmos that now pass for computer mice look more like miniature spaceships or palm-sized remote controls than gray rodents whose roller balls choke on dust even if they do set you back at least $50. Ljs, Ik Br Stormtroopers storm Cloud City types.

There's a sniper for long-range covering fire, a heavy artillery troop for blasting turrets and a pilot that dispenses health supplies and ammo and can rebuild damaged vehicles and other machinery. "Battlefront" lets you control much of the battle machinery, but I particularly enjoyed playing as some of the more ominous robots. Rolling into war at high speed, I flanked the hapless Republican Clone Army on Naboo before unleashing a hailstorm of laser fire and securing a checkpoint. While trying to protect the power generator on Hoth, I patrolled the icy landscape in a snowspeed-er, tripping up a towering, four-legged AT-AT walker just like Luke and his ragtag rebels did in "The Empire Strikes Back." fef The Associated Press Logitech's MX1O0O Laser mouse uses a short-wavelength laser instead of a typical optical mouse's light-emitting diode. the top model of the new iMac has just 256 megabytes, when 512 megabytes is common on high-end Windows consumer machines.

Apple charges $75 extra to bring the iMac up to 512 megabytes. That brings us to price. Consumers perceive Mac desktops as pricey, partly because the company doesn't play in the very cheapest segment of the PC market, and partly because Apple's prices include built-in monitors that are often unlisted extras in ads for bargain Windows machines. But the new iMac actually costs less than comparable Windows machines. For instance, Gateway's all-in-one Profile 5 model, with a built-in 17-inch flat-panel screen, costs $1,499, compared with $1,299 for the 17-inch iMac, and the Gateway is much thicker and lacks a dedicated graphics card like the iMac's.

Even if you increase the iMac's memory to match the Gateway's 512 megabytes, the iMac is still $125 cheaper. If you tried to match the specs of the base iMac G5 in a traditional Dell tower, you'd also pay more. A Dell Dimension 4600, with the best processor, Windows XP Pro, the best 17-inch flat-panel monitor, a CD recorder and the same graphics card, costs $7 more than the 17-inch iMac. And it's much bulkier and uglier. The iMac has some less tangible advantages, too.

It has a better, more modern operating system than Windows XP. It comes with a free suite of photo, video and music programs that can't be matched on Windows. And it frees users from the worry and expense of battling viruses and spyware, because there has never been a successful virus targeting the Mac operating system, and there is little or no spyware for the Mac. The many thousands of viruses and spyware programs that afflict Windows can't run on, or harm, Macs. The iMac G5 is another winner from Apple.

It's a computer that's a real pleasure, not a hassle, to use. Walter Mossberg is the technology correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. CONFORMING RATES RATE APR 30 YR FIXED 5.375 5.517 15 YR FIXED 4.750 4.984 JUMBO RATES RATE APR 15 YR FIXED 4.875 5.085 51 ARM 4.375 4.689 31 ARM 3.500 4.616 Pacific Properties AND FINANCE C831) 239-0055 'APR based on loan amounts of S333.700 lor conforming, and $650,000 lor jumbo. F1C0 score of 720. No potnl and no cosl options availaWf.

Rain effective mm and subject to change vnVxxrt notice. ON SAVINGS Mossberg Continued from Page Dl Apple has enclosed the computer in a gleaming white body trimmed with a clear border that gives the whole thing an airy, floating feeling. The machine sits atop a built-in, adjustable aluminum stand. A wide selection of ports and connectors is arrayed in a neat vertical lineup on the back. A hole in the aluminum stand feeds any cords away from the machine and out of sight.

You can actually reduce the whole thing to just two cords a power cord and a printer cord by adding a wireless keyboard and mouse, for an extra $99, and a wireless networking card, for $79. The new iMac has three fans, but they are so quiet that the computer was nearly silent in my tests, much quieter than my Windows desktop. The speakers are built in, but sound very good. The base 17-inch model -comes with 256 megabytes of memory, an 80-gigabyte hard disk and a DVD drive that can play and record CDs. The top-of-the-line 20-inch model has a slightly faster G5 chip, a 160-gigabyte hard disk and a drive that can record DVDs.

In my tests, the iMac G5 performed flawlessly and speedily. It worked perfectly on my broadband Internet connection, via my home Wi-Fi network, even though the network is powered by gear from Linksys, not Apple. It was easily able to transfer files over the network to and from Windows computers and other Macs. I installed Microsoft Office for the Mac, and it handled that perfectly. The G5 processor made the new iMac significantly faster at key tasks than my Apple Power-Book laptop, which runs on the older G4 processor.

Even though the laptop has more than double my test iMac's 512 megabytes of memory, the new desktop was able to perform tasks like opening large groups of Web pages and importing music CDs much faster than the laptop could. About the only important feature the new iMac G5 lacks is a built-in reader for memory cards used in digital cameras, PDAs and smart phones, which is becoming common in better Windows desktops. And Apple scrimped on memory even GARDEN WINDOWS The Skylight Place, Inc. 4850 Capitola Rd. Capitola (831)476-2023 Email: thtikyliehpfetfe WM TRU-FRAME lid SCREEN I I DOORS I I ai VIDEO GAME REVIEW 'Star Wars Battlefront' lets players relive movies By MATT SLAGLE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Luke Skywalker and Darth Vad-er may get all the glory, but a new Star Wars video game finally gives credit to the everyday grunts who couldn't summon the Force for help.

The aptly named "Star Wars Battlefront" takes you on a tour of duty through some of the fiercest fights in the movies, plus some you've never seen before. You'll take charge in epic conflagrations ranging from Hoth and Tatooine from the original movies to Geonosis, scene of heated clashes during the Clone Wars, and Kashyyyk, home world of the oversized Wookies. I've long wondered what it would be like to relive those silver screen moments. Based on my experience with the PlayStation 2 version (it's also out for Xbox and PC), life in the trenches is apparently fraught with frequent dying. At least there's no drama of finding out your attacker is your sister or father.

At its core, "Battlefront" is a team-based shooter like "Battlefield: 1942." You lead packs of warriors into battle with the goal of grabbing and holding checkpoints scattered across the theater of war. There are two ways to win: seize all checkpoints, or obliterate the hundreds of enemy combatants. Unlike the occasional Jedi or Sith warrior you'll see darting around with a lightsaber, you won't last long trying to be the lone hero. Bark orders at your comrades instead. They'll dutifully defend a position or accompany you on an assault.

Each faction four in all has a variation of the same basic troop Survey: Many THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Don't call brick-and-mortar retail stores irrelevant in this age of e-commerce: In a survey, 69 percent of U.S. online shoppers admit to browsing in traditional stores before buying over the Internet. That's an increase from 53 per- Tvnu dito cent in a simi" ItiLH Bllb iar study in 2000. Two-thirds of online shoppers say they now buy over the Internet some of the things they used to get in store visits. Yet the percentage getting information or shopping online prior to visiting a regular store remains steady at 75 percent.

"We do see more and more displacement from retail stores but it's absolutely not the death of the retail store," said Jeff Cole, who directed the study at the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. Americans remain concerned about the privacy of personal information when they shop online, but the intensity of such concerns has decreased. Those "very" or "extremely" concerned BOATS RVs Hie 1 in this screen shot from 'Star Wars i'As an imperial pilot with the Galactic Empire on the forest moon Endor, I sadistically blasted rebel scum and hordes of cute furry Ewoks with gleeful abandon at the controls of a two-legged AT-ST. You can pilot spacecraft such as X-Wings and Tie-Fighters, too, though you're limited to the horizon above the battlefield and can't take them into space. Side races from the Star Wars pantheon do their best to mix things up in some battles.

Jar Jar Binks' floppy-eared Gun-gan buddies back on Naboo toss exploding "boomer" balls at the marching droid masses. On the baking desert planet Tatooine, rag-wrapped Tusken Raiders swarm from their encampments with blasters firing. The game's single player missions are great for re-enacting the and humans to categorize Web sites. Brin and Page added relevance to search results by developing algorithms that automatically analyzed how sites link to one another. The greater number of links a site has to it, the more it is deemed popular and thus relevant.

The pair, who made millions from Google's recent IPO, will donate the prize money back to the Marconi Foundation, which sponsors seminars and lectures to explore the social dynamics of telecommunications technology. They will receive the award Oct. 8 in Bologna, Italy. Microsoft's flaws benefit rivals NEW YORK This summer's security troubles with Microsoft Web browser has benefited rivals, namely Netscape, Fire- Earn 13 yield -v The Associated Press movie battles, but the game's mul-tiplayer feature is what should keep this game fresh and interesting for months to come. The PS2 permits 12 fellow humans at the same time, while the more powerful Xbox boasts 24 simultaneous players.

The PC, meanwhile, can have as many as 32 players. LucasArts no doubt timed release of "Battlefront" to coincide with Tuesday's release of the original film trilogy on DVD. Those films will surely forever be an important piece of cinematic history. But for all their bonus features, all you can do is sit back and watch. For the same $50, "Battlefront" lets you decide whether the dark or light side of the Force prevails.

Three and a half stars out of four. fox and other browsers based on Mozilla. Microsoft's Internet Explorer saw only a dent in its market share to 93.7 percent as of Sept. 17, from 95.5 percent on June 4, according to WebSideStory a Web analytics firm. But because the share of other browsers was low to begin with, their increase was more significant.

The share for Mozilla browsers jumped to 5.28 percent, compared with 3.54 percent in June. Mozilla says downloads doubled in late June and early July at the height of the security troubles. A pair of virus attacks exploiting vulnerabilities with Microsoft software led some security experts to recommend that Web surfers consider such alternatives as Mozilla and Opera. Microsoft says many of the problems have been addressed in its "Service Pack 2" security update for Windows XP last month. Plans Affordable Housing 1st Mortgage Notes people still tepid about online shopping decreased, while the "somewhat" concerned group jumped.

The study, the fourth in an annual series conducted until this year at UCLA, was based on random telephone interviews with 2,009 households from July to September 2003. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Google founders awarded $100,000 NEW YORK Google Inc. founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page will share a $100,000 prize awarded annually to influential pioneers in communications technology. The two were picked from about a dozen nominees for developing "a revolutionary and the best way to make all of the Information on the World Wide Web accessible to the broadest number of people," said Darcy Gerbarg, executive director of the award's sponsor, the Marconi Foundation at Columbia University.

Before Google's birth six years ago this month, search engines depended primarily on keywords TRAILERS REAL ESTATE WE DO ALL DMV HUNNINQ OR NOT Ml Fully Secured Various Maturities Receive Monthly Payments 5K Minimum Investment Eligible for IRAs Retirement Tax Plans Cash Flow Cost Control SantaCmz 831.426.0600 WalsonvUle 831.724.2441 wwwJibllp.com HUTCHINSON w.d BLOODGOOD llp oMmMutMeowMirttMa eoMMUNtt 1 -jr- v. i Mr iir TAX DEDUCTION FAIR MARKET VALUE PER IR8 "The supply of affordable housing is dwindling. Our firm provides financing that's helped more than 500 families afford their own now you can help" Call or log-on to learn more! OOO 300-5251 Providing safety Information and aaalatlng tamlllaa In bringing kids homo aafely 'Restrictions Apply Kiaas Foundation.