Liquid Keyboard Makes Touch Typing Easier

 Liquid Keyboard Makes Touch Typing Easier

Liquid Keyboard Makes Touch Typing Easier   If you've ever tried to transfer your touch-typing skills onto a touchscreen tablet's virtual keyboard, you'll know what an impossible task that can be. Apart from the fact that there's no tactile guide to tell you where keys are in relation to each other, placing all of your fingers onto the screen almost always causes accidental activation of unwanted keys. Researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) claim to have overcome such issues with the development of a QWERTY keyboard interface that should allow touch typists to tap away without needing visual prompts.  Early versions of the LiquidKeyboard system were developed using HTML and JavaScript, and are said to have been inspired by a virtual keyboard from Microsoft that used a split keyboard approach. Creators Christian Sax and Hannes Lau went on to develop the system for Apple's iOS operating system for the iPad, but say that the software could be adapted for use on other operating platforms. They chose the iPad believing it to have superior multi-touch capability, and because the cost of the hardware met their strict budget criteria.  Touch typing on a physical keyboard is more than just having a mental map of key location; it's also about getting some sort of tactile feedback from pressed keys, and about getting a sense of where keys are relative to others. While LiquidKeyboard can't do much about the physical typing sensation, it splits the QWERTY keys into allocatable groups and assigns sets to individual fingers – the upshot being that when the software detects four fingers being placed onto the surface of the display, it creates a fluid keyboard underneath the fingers.  When a finger is moved, the assigned group of virtual keys moves with it. The system is said to be capable of automatically adapting to a user's hand physiology (such as different hand sizes and finger positioning), and also responds to pressure. Keys are rotated based on wrist position and the system is said to offer the same sort of key familiarity allowed by a physical keyboard, but, according to Sax, "tries to create an input method that is adapted to the platform rather than recycling an old paradigm from the physical world."  The researchers from the Engineering and Information Technology department at UTS are currently working on refining the prototype. I think that this has obvious potential for touch-typers like me, who find themselves craving a physical keyboard when typing on tablet devices. However, it could also open up new and interesting usage possibilities for note-takers in the business and student world, designers and modelers and, of course, gamers.

Life insurance death benefit feature becomes controversial

 Life insurance death benefit feature becomes controversial

During the summer of 2010, a sleepy feature available to beneficiaries of life insurance policies for over 20 years came into focus. The issue, retained asset accounts (RAAs), and whether and how they should be made available to those receiving funds after a loved one dies continues to generate discussion both at the state level and in Congress.

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an RAA is meant to be a short-term repository for a life insurance death benefit that gives a beneficiary time to consider the financial options available. An RAA allows a beneficiary to draw from the death benefit proceeds by using bank drafts, which are similar to checks but different in a few ways.

What consumers advocates are saying about RAAs

Consumer advocate Daniel Schwarcz, an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School and a funded consumer representative with the NAIC, Kansas City, Mo., says "If it were me, I'd take the money and put it in a bank account."

Schwarcz says that one of the important points a consumer should double check before agreeing to an RAA is the ability to immediately draw on funds using the checks a company provides.

Another important point to keep in mind, he says, is that the accounts are not protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the entity that acts as a backstop in the event a bank fails and cannot meet its obligations. He affirms that insurance companies have guaranty fund associations, state entities that step in when an insurer becomes insolvent and assumes the role of making sure that policyholders are paid. But, Schwarcz adds, they are run individually by the different states and are not as reliable as the FDIC.

Other insurance industry experts state RAAs may have benefits

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Tom Sullivan, one of the commissioners spearheading the NAIC examination of the issue, disagrees, noting that most state guaranty funds offer at least $300,000 in protection and in some states such as Connecticut, up to $500,000. The NAIC is wrapping up a survey of the largest companies on the issue to examine practices, such as defaulting a beneficiary into an RAA account and what disclosures are provided along with this option.

Robert DeFillippo, a spokesperson for Prudential Financial, Newark, N.J., says that there is a lot of good that comes out of the RAA, and counters criticism of the RAA feature by noting that beneficiaries have immediate access to their money and can write a check for the whole amount of the death benefit if they choose.

DeFillippo adds that allegations that RAA checks are more difficult to cash, has not been Prudential's experience. Of 500,000 drafts written in 2009, he points out that the "vast majority have had no problems." He says that when an RAA is opened at Prudential, disclosures clearly explain how it works and the fact that the money is available immediately. While the death benefits are in an RAA, they are drawing interest.
  

Life insurance beneficiaries seem to make use of RAAs

According to Prudential, about 40 percent of the money held in its RAAs is withdrawn in the first two months and typically, 70 percent of account holders write at least one check within the first three months after an account is opened.

During a hearing by state insurance regulators in August 2010, MetLife testified that a third of those who have accounts with the life insurance company close them within two months, and 60 percent withdraw all the funds and close them within a year. Interest on the balance of RAAs begins to accrue right away and ranges from 3 percent to 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent--depending on the age of the policy. Nearly half of those who have these accounts with MetLife are earning 3 percent on their money and 80 percent are earning at least 1.5 percent, according to information presented during the hearing.