I got a reader question today from a hearing-impaired reader:

I have the iPhone 4S and would like to use the earphones with remote & mic but I wear in-the-ear hearing aids.

Does Apple have an alternate version for folks like me - that would go around the ear or a headset version?

Apple itself doesn't offer alternate versions, they only provide the white earbuds, but luckily plenty of other manufacturers have filled this important gap.

There are four types of solutions I can think of:

1. Buy an adapter which offers the inline controls and microphone and lets you plug in whatever headset you like.
2. Buy a pair of headphones or a headset which includes the inline remote in a single unit.
3. Use bluetooth headphones which have inbuilt controls.
4. Use a hearing-aid specific Bluetooth adapter, if your hearing aid supports this.

All these solutions have different plusses and minuses, unsurprisingly.

Buy an Inline Control Adapter

These are some examples of an adapter with the inline controls and microphone which plug into any regular pair of headphones:

• iLuv iEA15BLK Remote with 3rd-Party Headphone Adapter
• Belkin Headphone Adapter with Remote
• Griffin Technology Auxiliary Audio Cable with Inline Remote Control
• Scosche Control Adapter
• Headset Hands Free 3.5mm Adapter + Microphone
• Monster iSoniTalk Microphone Headphone Adapter - Microphone with Headphone Jack

In the past I have tried several of these type of "inline" adapters with my existing headphones, including the Belkin and Griffin remotes and several "no-name" brands. In general I found none of them lasted beyond about 6 months of daily use, which disappointed me. The amazon.com reviews seem to suggest that other customers have had a similar experience with the adapters not lasting a huge amount of time. On the other hand they are generally fairly cheap so buying a new one every six months or so isn't a huge hardship, it's just annoying.

The other issue I found is that different types add different amounts of length to your headphones - this can be annoying if your headphone cable is already longer than you want it to be, as long cords get tangled more easily.

If you are an iPhone user you will need to check that the device you purchase puts the microphone where you need. The Apple earbuds (and most others with inbuilt remotes) have the microphone section positioned so it will hang close to your mouth for easy and mostly-hands-free use - but if you purchase an inline remote you'll have to hold the microphone up near your mouth to use it.

Purchase Headphones With An Inbuilt Remote

These are some examples of around-the-ear headphones/headsets which have built in remote controls and microphones:

• iLuv iHP615 Mega Bass Pro Headphones with Remote
• NoiseHush NX26-11778 3.5mm Stereo Headphones with Neodymium Magnet Drivers Medium
• Sennheiser HD 218i Supra-Aural Headphones
• AirDrives INA099210 for iPhone (these have been recommended on the Inky Ed blog as their "Best Ever Headphones")
• Sennheiser PX 100-II i Light Weight Supra-Aural Headset

These headsets have built in controls for iPod and iPhone, which tends to leave the microphone in a more convenient place and saves you from over-long cords.

Since most iPod/iPhone users apparently prefer in-ear headsets, it can be annoyingly tricky to find these over-the-ear type by searching online. I found these by searching on amazon.com for variations on the phrase "wired stereo headphones" and then scrolling through many pages of results to find the ones that weren't in-ear types and did have remotes - a fairly slow process. Another method is to find a dedicated headphone site and search for headphones with apple controls.

Use Bluetooth Headphones

Bluetooth headphones are wireless headphones which are (generally) compatible with the iPhone and iPod's wireless controls. There are tons of them available, just a few include:

• Kinivo BTH220 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
• ARCTIC Sound ORACO-ERM28-GBA01 Headphones P311
• Motorola Black MOTOROKR S305 Wireless Stereo Headphones
• GOgroove AirBand Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset with Microphone (I have no idea how well they work but these look really cool!)
• GOgroove SolaceAIR Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset w/ Microphone + Extended 15 hr Battery

Again, I have no specific experience with the headphones in this list - I found them by searching for "Bluetooth stereo headsets" on Amazon and slowly grovelling through the results to find ones that weren't in-ear models.

I've used over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones with my iPhone and I really adored them for listening to music! Not having to worry about a cord is very freeing, but these tend to position the microphone a fair way from your mouth so they're a lot less useful for making phone calls. I found that with the cheap "no name" bluetooth headphones I purchased that people had trouble hearing my voice because the microphone was on the edge of the headphone and consequently a long distance from my mouth. It's something worth checking out if you want to make phone calls with them. For listening to music though, this is definitely my top choice.

Hearing-aid Specific Bluetooth Adapter

While researching for this article I discovered that some hearing aids have specific adapters which make them bluetooth-compatible. This seems to mostly apply to more modern and "up-market" hearing aids, and each type is specific to the hearing-aid manufacturer.

The devices are generally small pendant-type things worn around the neck which connect wirelessly to your existing hearing aids and pipe the sound directly into the aids. For those with compatible hearing aids this is definitely the solution which will give you the clearest sound quality!

One device mentioned to me specifically by a happy user was the Phonak iCom, for those with Phonak hearing aids. Oticon offers the Oticon ConnectLine Mobile. There are even Bluetooth options for Cochlear Implant users. I'm sure that most other hearing aid manufacturers have their own bluetooth adapters too - check the website for your hearing aid manufacturer, and have a chat to your audiologist if you aren't sure.

Caveats 'n Other Things

Some of these remote controls offer one button control only, which lets you play/pause audio but doesn't let you change the volume, others have the full 3-button controls which lets you change the volume. Also, different controls will have buttons of different sizes and shapes and sensitivities, and placed in different places, so make sure the buttons are usable to you before you purchase them.

When you are buying anything, most importantly make sure to check that they are compatible with the device that you want to use them with - not all of the controls work with all Apple devices! The description for each item should clearly state which device they work with. I suggest also reading reviews for each device on Amazon.com or similar, as there is a lot of really useful user feedback there which can help you choose the best device for your needs.

My current earphones of choice are an in-ear model, the Etymotic Research MC3 noise-cancelling earbuds which have in-line iPhone controls and a microphone. The regular Apple earbuds don't fit in my tiny ears but these ones fit just right and I'm really happy with them.

Which headphones, earphones, or audio adapter do you use and does it meet your needs well? Leave a comment below!

- Ricky Buchanan

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Recently I've stumbled upon a new holder for the iPad that I hoped would end up being the missing link I've been looking for in my quest to find a way to make the iPad work for me. It's called the "Hand-e-holder" and it's unlike any other holder I've seen thus far.

The Hand-e-holder was developed by Burns Computer Services. The intent was to make an easy-to-use, versatile holder for the iPad and other similar devices. The description from the website is as follows:

The Hand-e-holder allows you to hold and view your iPad/tablet device comfortably in your hand, while providing a 360° rotation.

I've been using an iPod Touch for over two years but I've always been restricted to using it in portrait mode because that's how it's mounted on my wheelchair armrest. While this has worked out fairly well for me I've always hoped to find a method that would allow me to easily rotate my iPod Touch to either portrait or landscape mode without assistance from anybody else. Having the ability to do this would seem to be of greater importance with an iPad, which has been one of the obstacles preventing me from getting one.

When I first saw the Hand-e-holder I immediately noticed the "adapter plate" portion of the device. It's like a miniature turntable attached to the holder itself which allows the 360° rotation. I figured if I could somehow mount the adapter plate on my armrest that I might have the solution I've been looking for. I spoke to Mike Burns, the founder of the company, and he was gracious enough to send me a slightly modified Hand-e-holder to see if it would work for me and my iPod Touch. As it turned out the straps on the Hand-e-holder were long enough that I could fasten it to my armrest by just wrapping them around the armrest securely with the adapter plate portion sitting squarely on top of my armrest. Then it was only a matter of attaching the "Dual Lock Ring" to the back of my Ipod Touch. The adhesive on the ring is quite strong but can be removed without damaging your device. Once the Dual Lock Ring was attached I was able to mount my Ipod Touch to the Hand-e-holder (which is attached to my armrest as in the picture) as often as i like. In other words, the iPod Touch can be removed from the Hand-e-holder as often as needed. This is useful because there are times when friends or family want to use it, which would be kind of difficult if it were permanently stuck to my armrest. At first it was hard to believe how secure the Ipod Touch was sitting on my armrest like this but as long as you press hard enough when remounting it the Dual Lock Ring really does "lock" it back in place. If you check out the video on their website you'll see this clearly demonstrated with an iPad. I must note however that i had to place the Dual Lock Ring directly onto the back of my iPod Touch for it to function correctly. At first I had tried attaching it to the back of the cheap rubber case my iPod Touch had been encased in but it didn't stick well at all. Once the rubber case was out of the equation that's no longer an issue. In fact, it sticks so well that I really don't see a need to find a case that would work with it. However, if you feel more comfortable using a case there is a video on their website that shows you how to modify your case to work with the Hand-e-holder.

So now the big question. Does this allow me to independently rotate my iPod Touch? I'm happy to say the answer is most definitely YES. I can't do it as easily as somebody with a fully functional hand, which isn't a surprise, but the important thing is I can now do it all by myself. So now if I want to do something on my iPod Touch that works better in landscape mode, like watch a YouTube video or play a game, I can put it that way. If it's not something that's already in landscape mode I only need to tilt my wheelchair back a little bit to get the iPod Touch's accelerometer to do it's thing and change the orientation. It's pretty awesome and after only a few days it's demonstrated how much I've been missing by not having this capability. I can even leave my dock connector plugged in constantly as before (my iPod Touch receives a constant charge from my wheelchair battery) no matter what orientation it's in.

These encouraging results gave me some hope where the iPad is concerned. However in my case there was also the question of whether there's enough space for me to mount it in the same location as my iPod Touch. They also offer various iPad stands and clamps that are compatible with the Hand-e-holder and further improve its accessibility and usefulness. My hope was the clamps could take care of the space problem, if there ended up being one. Fortunately I ended up getting a golden opportunity to answer all these questions regarding the iPad as Mike Burns was gracious enough to offer to send me some of the clamps and a loaner iPad to test things out! So I got to see first-hand if there's some way this can work out for me.

Upon receiving the iPad I immediately discovered, as expected, that it is much too large to mount directly on my armrest in the same fashion that my iPod Touch is. So that left me with the clamps. I tried several positions and locations to no avail. No matter where I placed the iPad with the clamps it either prevented me from using my wheelchair controls, or messed with the width of my wheelchair for doorways and such, or both.

However it became readily apparent that the clamps he sent me are incredibly versatile. They can be placed just about anywhere and at any angle. The problem for me though is that my limited arm movement just doesn't allow for many potential locations on my wheelchair. In all honesty the perfect location would be right where my wheelchair hand controls are and they obviously can't be moved. To Mike Burn's credit he's determined to make this work for me so as of this writing the book isn't yet completely closed on the iPad and my wheelchair. So if they come up with another solution that works I will be sure to update this article.

But despite the inability (thus far) to get this to work for me it occurred to me that this COULD work very well for other physically disabled individuals. It perhaps could even be the difference between getting an iPad and not getting an iPad. I mentioned above how versatile the clamps and stands they offer are. So versatile that I really believe that others would be able to successfully mount an iPad on their wheelchair in an accessible position. You can get a good idea about this versatility with the pictures below. You'll notice this versatility extends beyond the wheelchair as well. I was able to easily mount the iPad to my kitchen counter and the side rail on my bed, both of which made the iPad easily accessible to me at those locations. And even when attached to one of the clamps it's still possible to easily rotate the iPad between landscape and portrait orientation. The possibilities are really endless here. Being able to use the iPad in bed so easily, especially with a modified mouthstick, was a surprising revelation for me. My iMac can't really be moved around very easily so whenever I lay down in bed, to watch TV or take it easy, I'm pretty much cut off from the Internet and anything computer related. I have tried to use my iPod Touch in that position but the screen is just too small to make it practical. The iPad, however, works extremely well in that position. And since the iPad can do so many of the same things that a computer can (and as I learned in some cases can do certain things a little better) it was like my computer was right there with me! It's so useful and convenient to have that capability that I'm now seriously considering getting an iPad of my own. It would certainly be a lifesaver whenever I get sick or have some other type of medical problem that keeps me bedridden for any length of time.

So if you have some way to interact with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch (like with the Pogo Stylus or the mouthstick solution I spoke of) but are unable to actually hold the device the Hand-e-holder may be the solution you're looking for. There are actually other potential solutions out there, like the ones from RJ Cooper, but none are as simple and inexpensive as the Hand-e-holder solution. I can really see the Hand-e-holder potentially making a huge difference for physically disabled people such as myself. So if you think this may be of any benefit to you I encourage you to check out the Hand-e-holder. You could even contact them and they will help you choose the best solution for your needs.

- Paul Natsch

If you have a iMac or Macbook manufactured in 2005 or later, it will come with an Apple Remote and the infrared receiver to let it function. The Apple Remote is great for controlling the computer when you're not at the keyboard, such as giving presentations or watching DVDs. A remote control can also be a great (and cheap) accessibility aid - it has a lot fewer buttons than a keyboard so it can be useful for those who can't type. It's smaller and lighter than a keyboard and needs less finger movement so it can be useful for people with certain movement disorders.

But different people have different needs, and the Apple Remote may not be right for you. So what's available for those of us who have a Mac that didn't come with a remote but want these bonuses? And what's available if you have an Apple Remote but need something different for accessibility reasons?

The System

A remote control system actually needs two parts - the remote that you hold, and a receiver on the computer to receive and decode the signals. The computers that come with an Apple Remote have an an Infrared (IR) receiver built into them somewhere. For others, you can either purchase an IR receiver known to be compatible with Mac OS X, use one of the remotes listed below that doesn't need an IR receiver or comes with its own IR receiver.

Irfrared (IR) Versus Radio Frequency (RF) Remotes

There are several important differences between Infrared (IR) and radio frequency (RF) remote controls. This table describes some of the most important differences:

Griffin Technology's AirClick USB

• Works via RF signals, and can be used from up to 60 feet away.
• Needs a spare USB port to plug the RF receiver into, but doesn't need a built in IR receiver.
• Has 5 buttons which are rubber and significantly raised from the casing. They should be easy to feel and identify without looking.

Keyspan's RF Remote For Front Row

• Works via RF signals and can be used from up to 60 feet away.
• Needs a spare USB port to plug the RF receiver into, but doesn't need a built in IR receiver.
• Has 9 buttons which are rubber and significantly raised from the casing. They should be easy to feel and identify without looking.

Keyspan's URM-15T Remote For PCs and Macs

• An IR remote which comes with its own IR receiver.
• Has 17 raised rubber buttons arranged in a non-symmetrical pattern (see picture).
• Comes with buttons already programmed for using with common programs like iTunes, QuickTime, and PowerPoint, and a control panel where you can add settings for extra programs.

Keyspan's RF Presentation Remote

• RF remote control works up to 100 feet from the computer.
• Needs a spare USB port to plug the RF receiver into, but doesn't need a built in IR receiver.
• Provides complete cursor control and two-button mouse capabilities.
• Works with Keynote, PowerPoint, iTunes and QuickTime. Doesn't appear to be able to be programmed for other software unless the other software uses the same key presses as these.

Other Keyspan Remotes

There are other Keyspan remotes - there's a full list of Keyspan Remotes available. Just check to make sure the ones you're looking at works with OS X - not all of those on the list do.

EyeTV Remote Control

Elgato's EyeTV television receivers all come bundled with an IR-based remote control. Generally this remote only works with the EyeTV software, but if you run a program called RemoteBuddy you'll be able to use the remote just like any other.

iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad Remote

The iPod Touch/iPhone come with an app called 'Remote' already on them, and you can use this app to control iTunes on your computer. But so much more is possible - there are many apps which will allow your iTouch device to function as a full-fledged remote control for your Mac. Some, like iTap can emulate a keyboard and/or trackpad to let you access anything, but others such as RowMote just emulate a remote control on the device's screen.

These remote emulators use a local wireless network to function. If your computer isn't already using a wireless network, you can set up what's called an "Ad Hoc Network" just to join the iTouch and the Mac - check out the article Using Apple Keynote Remote Without Wifi - the same network you set up there can be used for the regular remotes too.

Wii Remote

Using a program like RemoteBuddy will allow you to use the Wii remote control with your Mac. If you also have the IR "sensor bar" that the Wii uses you can use RemoteBuddy to emulate a mouse as it does for Wii games.

The Wii remote works via a Bluetooth connection which means it's mostly like an RF remote control, but will use a lot of battery power - so get a recharger and have a spare set of AA rechargable batteries handy.

SiK Rex Remote Control

The Sik Rex is a small 6-button remote which exactly mimics the functions on the regular Apple Remote except it's a lot smaller - see photo. If you have a MacBook Pro with an ExpressCard/34 slot it can actually be stored in the slot!

Being an IR remote control it has all the usual limitations that infrared brings, but I must admit it's cute!

Conclusion

With so many options out there, there's got to be the perfect remote for everybody somewhere.

I must admit that I don't even use a remote control - my Mac is set up so I can almost always reach it! But I do use the iTap program on my iPod Touch so I can use it as a wireless external trackpad which I find invaluable since wireless external trackpads don't actually exist for Mac computers. Do you use a remote for your Mac?

- Ricky Buchanan

There have been a lot of articles on a lot of websites about accessibility and the iPad since the specifications were first released. Now that our USA readers and bloggers have begun to get their hands on the devices there are even more articles being written, and I'm sure more will follow as the 3G enabled devices are released in the USA and both models become available in other countries starting on May 28th. As an assistive technology enthusiast and disabled blogger, it's fantastic to see so much interest in the non-mainstream uses of these devices!

The iPad And Vision Impaired Users

The "Booked" blog from mainstream Forbes.com has written Apple's iPad Brings Easy Reading to the Blind which may help explain to able-bodied people who so many blind users are excited about the iPad.

Mac-cessibility has written about the iPad's use for those who will use its VoiceOver screen reader in a series of articles entitled "A First Look At The iPad":

• A First Look At The iPad: Overview
• A First Look At The iPad: Mail
• A First Look At The iPad: Safari
• A First Look At The iPad: iBooks

AccessWorld, a publication of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), has published a great article by Bradley Hodges about his first 24 Hours with the iPad.

The Mac-cessibility round table podcast special episode #5 discusses the iPad.

UNC's Brian Payst, in the Stuff blog has written about the iPad for blind users, particularly thinking of students, in The iPad And Accessibility and The iPad And Accessibility, Round 2.

The RNIB in the UK published first impressions of the iPad's accessibility (curiously, only available as a Word document) by a partially sighted user and a blind user.

The iPad and Deaf Users

The deafmac.org blog (which, by the way, has a new layout and a new editor) has published several posts about the iPad too:

• Thoughts on the iPad announcement, about why the iPad is both mind-blowing and disappointing for Deaf users.
• The iPad, Reviewed, by new editor Ryan Layton

The iPad And Mobility Impaired Users

Jane Vincent from Access On Main St (I think this is a cool blog name!) has written about the iPad as environmental control unit, and about possible problems with multi-fingure or multi-hand gestures in iPad Gives Users More Than One Finger.

The iPad And Communication Impaired Users

Kati, a frequent commenter here, has just pre-ordered her iPad. She plans to use The iPad As An Affordable AAC Solution for herself, as an adult with Ataxia.

Glenda from Do It Myself Blog has just bought herself an iPad while on a trip to America for a blogging conference. She reported:

My friend Hope was having trouble figuring out what I was saying and she asked, "Where's your iPad?" In that moment, I felt a sense of normalcy and acceptance. Using an iPad, which could become as commonplace as the Blackberry and iPhone, is not yet another thing that makes me different. I wasn't using a strange, unfamiliar device to communicate with this group. People were drawn to it because it was a 'recognized' or 'known' piece of technology rather than being standoff-ish with an unknown communication device.

How fantastic! You can read her excellent review here: The iPad as an Affordable Communicator: Initial Review.

Other iPad Information

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox released their First Findings From iPad Usability User Testing. Their findings are preliminary but disappointing:

iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems.

Hopefully iPad app developers will take these findings into account when developing future apps.

Glenn Fleischman at TIDBits reported that the iPad Camera Connection Kit's USB adapter works with USB headphones and headsets. At almost the same time, TUAW noted that at least some USB keyboards work on the iPad via the USB adapter too, although keyboards only work after displaying an error message. Since neither of these functions are officially supported by Apple they may stop working with any iPad upgrade, but for the moment they seem to be fine.

If you're willing to jailbreak your iPad (and thus void your warranty), you can also enable iPad voice commands and use a Magic Mouse with your iPad which have major accessibility implications. Unfortunately, Jailbreaking has been known to break devices in un-fixable ways though, so any of these things are definitely "at your own risk".

iPad Assistive Technology Accessories

It's also worth noting that as well as the huge range of general-audience cases, speakers, mounts, and stands for the iPad there are some specifically chosen for their accessibility potential. RJ Cooper has made available a great set of accessibility-friendly accessibilities for iPad users:

• iPad Stand suitable for desks, wheelchair trays, etc.
• Several iPad Wheelchair Mounting Solutions
• Super protective iPad Bumper Case
• Wireless iPad Speaker suitable for AAC users

Apple themselves have a keyboard dock available for the iPad and its keyboard has some keys that interact with the iPad specifically, as described in iLounge's iPad Keyboard Dock Review, but there is no full keyboard control or anything near it but The Apple Blog has a complete list of known iPad hardware keyboard commands which work with the bluetooth keyboard and are better than nothing.

Other Commentary

Suzanne from Abled Body pointed out the lack of accessibility about the iPad's keynote announcement and other accessibility deficiencies about the launch which really are inexcusable. If Apple's going to be promoting accessibility of its devices then accessibility of its web pages really is important too.

Have you read, or written, other articles about the iPad and how it could be used for a person with a disability? Contact me or leave a comment and I'll add your article to the list!

- Ricky Buchanan

I've been doing some experimenting recently and came across something that I thought might be useful for some people. If you're a digital cable TV subscriber in the United States you may have noticed the FireWire port on the back of your cable box. The most common assumption about this port is that it's something for service technicians only. This is not completely the truth and it's something your cable company doesn't advertise.

Back in 2004 a little-known ruling was made by the FCC that stated any cable customer that requests a FireWire-enabled cable set-top box must be provided with one. Chances are your cable box already has a FireWire port but whether it is enabled or not is another story. If it isn't then you can call your cable company or visit one of their service centers and request one. As stated above, by law they must provide one upon request.

So with a FireWire-enabled set-top box what can you do? The first thing you're going to need is a FireWire cable. You might already have one laying around but if you don't they're pretty cheap. I highly recommend MonoPrice.com for all your cable and adapter needs. You're also going to need to find and download something called "the FireWire SDK". This is the OS X Firewire Software Developer's Kit and is free to anybody who wishes to download it. If you Google this you should be able to easily find it. You can get it for free from the official Apple FireWire software development site but you have to sign up for a free account before downloading it. If you're persistent in your Googling you can find other locations to download it without having to sign up for a developer's account. but signing up only takes a moment. Inside the FireWire SDK are a few applications that will help you access your cable box and hopefully control it to some extent. There's even an application that will record unencrypted video feeds from your cable box!

This tutorial explains how to set this up and get it working so you can watch on your Mac - this is the first stop to using OS X to control your cable box for the TV, so follow the steps in the tutorial then come back here: Watch and Stream Cable TV with your Mac via FireWire!

Now there's some caveats to doing this. You obviously need to have a TV in reasonably close proximity to your Mac, or at least within sight of where you sit when using your Mac. There wouldn't be much point in doing this otherwise. Also, every cable company is different so it's really hit or miss as to whether the "AVCBrowser" OS X software from the SDK you downloaded will even recognize your cable box or not. I'm using a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4250HD digital cable box. For whatever reason it didn't work in the FireWire 800 port on my late 2006 24" iMac but it did work in the FireWire 400 port. If it does recognize your cable box then it's also hit or miss as to how much control you'll have over it. And if you want to try to get any of the HD video feeds on your Mac and record them that completely depends on how many channels your cable company provides "in the clear". Typically you should at least get all the major broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the CW). As long as your cable box is HD capable, any of those channels you get to successfully appear on your Mac look fantastic!

But the main focus of this article is not about watching and recording video feeds from your cable box on your Mac but rather controlling your cable box. As I alluded to above this is hit or miss meaning what you can do is going to be different with every cable company. In my case the only things that work are the "channel up" and "channel down" buttons, plus the field where you can type the channel number you'd like to go to works as well.

This doesn't sound like much but it's been incredibly convenient for me. Instead of having to reach for a mouth stick to use the cable remote or fumble around with it with my arm I can simply use my Headmaster Plus to do those few things. While it would be nice if the "mute" button worked, I've discovered a workaround for it. Channel "999" on my cable service puts up a silent service screen that actually turns into a screensaver after a short time. So if I get a phone call or something I quickly click over to that channel to mute the TV sound.

Now, if you're lucky you may actually get more functional buttons than I do. But if not you may, like me, find that just a few functional buttons are incredibly useful. And if you discover that nothing works for you at all, or the software doesn't even recognize your cable box, you've only wasted a few bucks on a FireWire cable (or if you already had a FireWire cable it didn't cost you anything at all!).

On a related note, if this kind of thing really interests you and you wouldn't mind spending some money on it then you could always check out something like The ZephIR. This will give you quite a bit more control over electronic devices which use a remote control, including cable boxes, and it's relatively inexpensive.

- Paul Natsch