Nuggets is a daily update on the latest software and hardware releases provided by our very own gadget man, Mr Justin Pearse. At the end of the month we will provide a roundup of our favourites which you could win in our monthly Nuggets competition. Heard a rumour about a plan for a new gadget or software? Seen a device on your travels you'd like to know more about? Tell 'Nuggets' and we'll get you the facts. African culture on a disk The latest release from Microsoft's Encarta product line is the Africana CD-ROM. This is a multi-media encyclopaedia covering the historical and cultural achievements of Africa and people of African descent worldwide. There are over 3000 articles on African related topics, virtual tours of important locations in African history from Brazil to Harlem, an interactive map of Africa and videos of historic sites. This is the first encyclopaedia of its kind - nice to see something truly ground breaking from the company everyone loves to hate. The Encarta Africana is available now for £69.99, with a £20 cashback rebate available until the end of the year. New standard in mices...eeek! The blurb says this is the mouse to be seen fiddling with if you're a notebook user. Even more worrying is the claim ‘everything you can do with a mouse, PLUS all the things you can't'. Well that's a lie because we tested to see if it could swim and it couldn't. The PalmPal reckons it's the smallest pen tablet on the market -- 12cm x 10.5cm - and it certainly is light at only 100gms. But size apart this little rodent boasts "absolute coordination" which means the active area replicates the size of the monitor screen. In other words wherever your mouse is, your cursor will be in the same spot, only on the monitor. It also recognises your handwriting and acts as a post it note. All in all, one very clever little critter. £29.99 available from Trisys - 0181 808 2130 Good News Want to try an drown your own PalmPal? Trisys has agreed to offer a few models for grabs in our first Nuggets giveaway. Watch this space.