I often see clients struggling with trackpads on their laptops, and it gets me every time.

Why not get a small mouse to go with it, instead of contorting your hands with those trackpads?

OK, so maybe lugging a mouse with you doesn’t appeal to you, since a laptop is portable and it’s more weight and bulk. But really, have you SEEN how small the travel mice are these dasy?

I’ve got a Logitech one I wouldn’t be caught without!

I was even at a customer’s house when his cordless mouse gave out, and using keyboard shortcuts gets real old, real fast. So I got my little mouse out of my car, and was good to go in a few minutes!

Check out mine:

It’s about the size of the palm of my hand.

I’ve been meaning to write this one for quite some time.

What’s on YOUR keychain?

I’ve had useful stuff on mine for a long time now. I only keep two keys on there (car and apartment), so it’s way too small and I’d lose it unless I had something weighty on there.

For a few years I had a mini Maglite torch

But then I got a cell phone with a flashlight, so I removed it and put a mini leatherman knockoff on there.

Then i lost that one, and had a regular pocket knife for a while.

Finally I switched cell phones (anyone else get tired of using the same for more than a year?), and once again needed a flashlight handy.

This time I find a mini leatherman knockoff locally, with a mini led torch hidden in one of the handles. It’s slightly larger than I like, and comes in a small pouch, but I’d rather be caught WITH a Phillips screwdriver and a torch, than without…

So, what’s on your keychain?

And since so many geeks would say: USB thumbdrive, I’ve included a link to a discussion about what geeks keep on it:
What’s on your USB drive
The main link there is to a list that’s wonderful for IT support people. It’s just amazing how poor shape regular users leave their computers in, and I think I need a larger thumbdrive in order to be able to fit all this stuff:
http://www.miketechshow.com/2005/09/mike-tech-show-podcast-30-09-24-05.html

Finally, I think the time for me to only have a USB thumbdrive is over (or even worse, I usually only have an MP3 player filled with music).

I think I need to get my boss to shell out for one of these:
eMagic hard drive enclosure