Excerpted from 3/00 issue of Scientific American. The article dicusses the frustrating problem of kitties on the keyboard and reviews a new software program from a Tucson software company called BitBoost. The article goes on to say . . .

[snip]

I recently tested PawSense, using a borrowed cat named Schrier. The software worked surprisingly well, blocking Schrier from her attempts to improve sketchy works of questionable literary value. Once the software makes its decision that a cat has commandeered the keys, the monitor screen turns gray and boldly warns, "Cat-Like Typing Detected". It also runs a choice of incredibly annoying sounds, such as a harmonica, bad operatic song stylings, and general hissing that, at least in theory, may drive a cat away from the computer.

A human has two ways to reestablish keyboard dominion. One may type the word "human" to prove that one in fact is one. Or, based on the assumption that a cat cannot manipulate a computer mouse with anything resembling the decapitating dexterity the species exhibits with an actual mammalian mouse, a person can click a bar on screen that reads, "Let me use the computer!" An added benefit of the software is that it may train your average human to be at least a slightly better typist - I triggered the program once when I mashed a bunch of keys typing this story.

[snip

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), March 14, 2000

Answers

Hehe, I could use that! My cat loves to climb on the keyboard, but only if I happen to be using it. She doesn't type on it though, she just lays on it, purring,... Why do cats do that? She has to be on the newspaper if I am reading it, on the crossword puzzle I'm working on while laying in bed, and on the dining room table to "help" me eat whatever it is on my plate. (Cat almost made off with an entire package of bacon yesterday...caught her red pawed!)

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), March 18, 2000.