Open Apple Control

As many of you may know by now, I am a big fan of easier ways to do routine tasks on my Macs. I don't feel that this necessarily makes me a "power user," rather I see myself as wanting to eliminate as many extraneous movements as possible. Call it constructively lazy.

One of my favorite ways to eliminate unnecessary caloric exertion is by minimizing the movements from the keyboard to the mouse and vice-versa. While surfing the wonders of the World Wide Web, I begin to experience Web whiplash from switching back and forth from the keyboard to the mouse in order to pull down the bookmarks menu and bookmark a site, then back to the keyboard, and over to the mouse again, and back, and forth and back... You get the idea. There is a quicker and easier way, O fearless readers! Take heart! The heavens opened, the angels sang, and there was the Apple key!!! With this slick little tool, all one has to do to bookmark a site is merely press the key (I use my middle finger, but your mileage may vary), and while holding the Open Apple key, press the "D" button. Now why the "D" button, rather than "B" for "Bookmark?" My theory is that if your fingers are already on the home keys, trying to reach the Open Apple with one finger and the "B" key with another begins to look like mini yoga. Some of you may be that flexible, but I get cramps trying to do things like that. Your fingers are already on the "D" button, so that saves another step at the expense of mnemonic recall. However, "D" sounds just like "B," making the recall easier. Try it--there's no substitute for a good mouse, but sometimes it's just too far away. [Britt Godwin]