[Tfug] Speaking of desktops (little 'd')...

[Bexley Hall]

--- On Wed, 11/12/08, Rich <r-lists at studiosprocket.com> wrote:

> > The phone/calculator keypad always bugs me.  Someone (some *two*!)
> > obviously made a concious decision to layout the keys for one
> > in one order and the other in a different order.  Was the first
> > "arbitrary" and the second, "Oh, boy! We sure goofed on that first
> > one!  Let's fix it for *this* one..."?  Were *both* arbitrary?
> > Or, were both *deliberate* with studies of their respective
> > uses?
> 
> Ever gone into a bank to change your PIN? I remember PINs
> by shape, not number.

<frown>  Not sure I follow... perhaps you mean you are used to
plopping your hand on the (raised) keys of the ATM and using
"muscle memory" to type your PIN?  I.e., not even the equivalent
of "touch typing" (where you conciously know which keys you
are pressing)...?

> The ATM uses 0 at the top; but they

<!>  I hadn't noticed that.  I will have to be more observant.  :<

> have you enter it into a USB numeric keypad -- 0 at the
> bottom. So I have to think of a "shape", work out
> what numbers it's represented by, then type in those
> numbers. I mentioned it -- the banker told me she'd
> never noticed.
 
> > ... I don't like having
> > controls that can do "bad/big things" next to controls that
> > are more forgiving. ...
> 
> Precisely my point. "Close window" is a
> terminating event -- it should not be placed directly next
> to other controls.

OK, agreed.
 
> Does anyone feel comfortable resizing a window from the top
> right corner?

<grin>  No.  But, it's often easier than calling up the "Window Ops"
menu... :>

Your point is taken.
 
> > I've found focus follows (mouse) cursor can be annoying as it
> > requires you to leave the mouse *in* your current window.
> 
> Not so: with sloppy focus (the usual implementation of of
> ffm), so long as your pointer doesn't enter any other
> window, you're fine. I.e. the root window isn't
> counted as a window.

My desktop usually has very little of the root window exposed.
Certainly not in a place that I would be able to ALWAYS call
"convenient" for any particular window I might be in.

E.g., when I need to access the root menu, it's a rather
precise/focused action.  OTOH, when I click in a window to
set focus, I can just slap the mouse out of the window without
worrying about where it ends up.
 
> > I run <mumble> which hides the mouse cursor after some period
> > of inactivity.
> 
> On other platforms, typing will hide the cursor immediately

Yes, but often I need to know where the "insert cursor" is *and*
the "mouse cursor".  If they overlap, they are hard to distinguish.
<mumble> solves the problem of letting me find the insert cursor
by getting rid of the mouse cursor each time I move my attention 
away from the screen.

It's not a perfect solution, by far.  I end up having to nudge the
mouse to then figure out where the mouse cursor is hiding...

I suspect it is a consequence of having too much text on the screen
at any given time.  :<

> (Mac, I'm looking at you). This is handy, because
> I've noticed that, if I'm entering text into a text
> widget, about 4/5 of the time, I blunder a keystroke at the
> point *directly* under the pointer. It can't simply be a
> coincidence, so I wonder if it's psychological.
> 
> > YCHCYAQFTJB
> Sorry, I'm too slow to get this...

<grin>  It's a large sign over a bar I know.  Invariably, patrons
ask (often when tipsy) "What's that sign mean?"  At which time,
the barmaid leans over and says: "Your Curiosity Has Cost You A
Quarter For The JukeBox".  And, when you look down, you notice
her hand in front of you, palm up... (i.e. you *will* pay!  :> )

Everyone asks that question *once*... EXACTLY once!  :>
 
> >> On Mac (I mention it only because it's my non-work
> >> machine) there is a plethora of text editors that use their
> >> own screen to reduce distractions. Every few months, someone
> > 
> > Huh?  "their own screen"?
> 
> "Their own virtual screen" then. They go full
> screen. I still use the word "screen" the way I

Ah, OK.

> learnt on the Amiga, where you could drag the desktop
> titlebar (constrained to vertical) to reveal other virtual
> screens. Pretty much every Amiga application ran this way,
> and it's only now that I realize how hugely productive
> it was, because I wasn't being distracted with the
> previous and next stages of my workflow. Now on every
> platform, I find I can be distracted by other, highly
> important, but highly disruptive tasks.