Improper word usage

There are some common word errors that people make that should be stressed more in elementary school. I don't pretend to use correct grammar all of the time, and I have as many typos as the next guy. However, there are a few common mistakes that I try to never make. Here is a list of these mistakes with correct examples:

1.) There, They're, and Their
This is probably the most common error. People can not get these right, but these
words can not be used interchangeably.

There should be used as follows:
"There is a place we can meet."
"My hat is over there."
"Did you know there is a cat on your back?"

The word "They're" is simply the words "They" and "Are" combined. If you can't substitute those words in the sentence then you are not using "they're" correctly. It's just that simple. Here are a few examples:
"They're going to the mall."
"Do you know where they're going?"
"They're here with me."

Finally, the word "their" is the possessive form of they. It says that something belongs to "they." That's the only way it should be used, ever. Here are some examples:
"Their dog ate my cat!"
"Have you been inside their house?"
"Wow, their shoes have pumps on them!"

2.) It's and Its
This is another common word usage error. These two words aren't that hard to use correctly. One is a conjunction and the other is possessive. "It's" is just short for "It is", while "its" means that something belongs to it.
Examples for "it's":
"It's going to be a hot day today."
"Do you know why it's so cold in this room?"
"Your gun sucks. It's killing me."

Examples for "its":
"This Dell no longer works. Its hard drive crashed."
"Its speakers aren't turned on."
"Where are its peripherals."

3.) Could Care Less
This one I hate. I'm not sure what point in time the "not" was dropped, but people say this incorrectly all the time. It should be "Couldn't care less" or "Could not care less." It should never be "Could care less" and here is why.

"Could care less" doesn't make any sense what-so-ever in the context. The phrase is meant to exclaim that you don't care. That's the whole point of the phrase. If you say "I could care less" you aren't making that point at all. If you could care less, then how much do you care? If you say "couldn't care less", then you are stating that you are at the bottom of your caring for that particular subject. You could not care any less...YOU DON'T CARE AT ALL.

So always, always say "couldn't care less", please!

There are plenty more of these, but these are the issues I see the most. Look, communicating through only written language already has its downsides. It's very hard to convey emotions. Don't make the communication less effective by making these errors.

I Hate Typical Laptop Touchpads

I remember when the first touchpads came out. I believe sometime in 1995 was the first time I'd ever seen one. I could be wrong. I may have seen them prior to that, but I know that was first time I'd ever used one. I liked it, and thought it was need. Of course, back then it was a great new idea.

The problem with the touchpad is that it never really changed much. The only things that have changed about them since 1995 is 1.)They are predominantly on laptops now. The first one I tried was a desktop peripheral. 2.)They have different surfaces. Other than that, they are the same device I first tried in 1995. I would even venture to say that some of them aren't as good as the device I tried in 1995.

There is a great exception to this, however. There is one touchpad that truly redefined the touchpad industry. Many of you may be perking up and ready to say "the multi-touch pad by Apple." This was indeed the direction I was heading but there's something important to note. You could buy the multi-touch pad for the PC prior to Apple acquiring the company that first manufactured them.

FingerWorks was the name of the company. The iGesture was the name of the pad. It was a multi-touch gesture pad that could have been great for PC users. It just never took off. It didn't have the right marketing. Thus, Apple now owns the technology and you can no longer buy it for your PC.

The technology went straight into the Macbooks and the iPhone/iPod Touch. You can still buy an iGesture and it may actually be a collectors item one day. A quick browse to here: Fingerworks iGesture Pad shows that it goes for around $1000 on Amazon. That goes to show that they are collectible. The original price was around $100 if I remember correctly.

So, while I had most laptop touchpads, there's one that I love. It's one of the main reasons I just purchased a Macbook Pro. The pointing interface is amazing. I prefer it to a mouse actually. It responds better than any touchpad I've ever used. It mades the touchpad on my Acer look like crap. Don't believe me? Go try one for yourself.