Post #76,431
1/23/03 3:37:48 PM
8/21/07 12:42:48 PM
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All that money and they still cant get a decent UI onto it
I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customer got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don't think we are. I think we're responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun. Above all, I hope we don't become missionaries. Don't feel as if you're Bible salesmen. The world has too many of those already. What you know about computing other people will learn. Don't feel as if the key to successful computing is only in your hands. What's in your hands, I think and hope, is intelligence: the ability to see the machine as more than when you were first led up to it, that you can make it more.
--Alan Perlis
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Post #76,433
1/23/03 3:48:22 PM
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Nope
Even KDE is a 5-year old attempt to copy MS's 10-year old UI solution to the 15 year-old WM problem on a 20-year old graphics system.
When disgusted, start over.
-drl
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Post #76,573
1/23/03 11:08:57 PM
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Well, I was given the opportunity to use...
...two of [link|http://www.apple.com/displays/acd23/|these] with one of [link|http://www.apple.com/powermac/|these] 1.25GHz dualies... and Aqua.
I sat for ~6 hours at it, I banged the hell out of it... 10.2.3 Jaguar. Does a nice job. The crystal mouse has got to go though... plug *shudder* an Optical 2-button wheelmouse from Microsoft into it... it'd be good to go.
Comments on the UI, well, too sweet for my tooth. Lots of neato features, the animations and dockings and attachings and overall quality is excellent, far better fit and trim than I have seen in a LONG time... *IF* ever. For me, tooo much eyecandy... Sure I like the desktop being that nice, but gosh it almost made me sick from the sugar coating.
Now, *IF* I could get that fit and trim, feel and crispness (yes it was crisp also) in GNOME or KDE or FluxBox or XFce, blackbox... what have you... THEN and ONLY then will the Desktop quest be able to done. As *THAT* would be a start to build upon. Integration using OPEN APIs and such would be a plus.
Oh, BTW ya'll... OSX 10.2.3 *IS* indeed a rootless-mode UNIX. Everything I needed I installed using fink and a bit of bandwidth. With OODLES of Memory and those 1.25GHz processors... Hell *EVEN* WindowsXP would be quick and fast on it... if WindowsXP supported PowerPC arch.
| [link|mailto:curley95@attbi.com|greg] - Grand-Master Artist in IT | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] [link|http://pascal.rockford.com:8888/SSK@kQMsmc74S0Tw3KHQiRQmDem0gAIPAgM/edcurry/1//|ED'S GHOST SPEAKS!] | Heimatland Geheime Staatspolizei reminds:
These [link|http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberstrategy-draft.html|Civilian General Orders], please memorize them.
"Questions" will be asked at safety checkpoints. |
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Post #76,645
1/24/03 8:57:35 AM
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Sweating the details
Might have mentioned this already, but a friend recently bought an eMac on my recommendation. As an example of thoughtful touches: When I started to do something that required a password there was a small note under the password field that told me "Caps Lock" was on. The keyboard was just different enough from mine that I had fat-fingered the tab and caplock keys. The nice little touch kept me from making a typical newbie mistake.
===
Microsoft offers them the one thing most business people will pay any price for - the ability to say "we had no choice - everyone's doing it that way." -- [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=38978|Andrew Grygus]
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Post #76,671
1/24/03 10:54:46 AM
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Check out Logitech.
I'd given up on their mice a bit back, but we recently got some of their opticals, and they are actually VERY nice.
Any deity worthy of a graven image can cobble up a working universe complete with fake fossils in under a week - hey, if you're not omnipotent, there's no real point in being a god. But to start with a big ball of elementary particles and end up with the duckbill platypus without constant twiddling requires a degree of subtlety and the ability to Think Things Through: exactly the qualities I'm looking for when I'm shopping for a Supreme Being.
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Post #76,740
1/24/03 2:21:32 PM
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Second on Logitech
I have one for my G4 tower and it works a treat right out of the box.
For a laptop, look into the Kensington Pocket Mouse Pro. The cable reels into the mouse case when not in use. I've gone through two of them already on my TiBook, though, so they could probably be sturdier. (Or I could just treat them with more care, I suppose.)
My wife still likes the Apple Pro ('crystal) mouse since she can't remember when to click which button on a multi-button mouse. She also has MS with accompanying loss of manual dexterity and the Apple mouse is essentially one big mouse button so you just squeeze it anywhere to click.
Takes all kinds, I say.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #76,769
1/24/03 4:30:48 PM
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Thirded
I'm using a Logitech optiocal 2 button w/scroll wheel at work. Very nice.
At home I'm still using my Kensington Expert Mouse trackball. It's the older serial/ps2 one, not the newer PS2/USB one. I even picked up some replacement balls for it - a "crystal ball" from third party(can't find a link) that looks like it's glowing when the light hits it right and a blue one that Kensignton put out. The blue one reminds me of a bowling ball, the way the colors shimmer when you turn it.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://www.spiceware.org/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #76,788
1/24/03 5:37:49 PM
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What? Still using corded mice?
A couple companies are making mini mice for laptops with small transmitters. [link|http://www.targus.com/product_details.asp?sku=PAUM005U|Targus mini mouse] I went for the Micro Innovations mouse; the transmitter is a bit bigger, but it included a rechargeable NiMH battery. So far it's been good.
For desktop systems, I use Logitech.
Tony
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Post #76,808
1/24/03 7:02:34 PM
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Yup
I didn't want to fuss with batteries and I get at least some of the same convenience from the retractable cord. Fits nicely into my laptop bag without tangles.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #76,778
1/24/03 5:12:24 PM
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Switch to graphite mode
OS X can run in aqua or graphite (no colors - only grayscale stuff in the ui components).
I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customer got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don't think we are. I think we're responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun. Above all, I hope we don't become missionaries. Don't feel as if you're Bible salesmen. The world has too many of those already. What you know about computing other people will learn. Don't feel as if the key to successful computing is only in your hands. What's in your hands, I think and hope, is intelligence: the ability to see the machine as more than when you were first led up to it, that you can make it more.
--Alan Perlis
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Post #76,810
1/24/03 7:07:22 PM
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Other desktop theming options
Use the Universal Access preference pane to switch your desktop to grey scale. It also allows you to zoom in on any area of the screen and even invert the color scheme to white on black. Makes a nifty demo, too.
I've also played with the various third party UI themes ([link|http://www.resexcellence.com|http://www.resexcellence.com] is a good source of information.) There are some very nice ones along with tools to make changing them out very easy.
The downside, of course, is that these third party themes are not officially supported by Apple and the usual warnings and disclaimers apply.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #76,827
1/24/03 9:27:48 PM
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Vive la NeXT!
-drl
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Post #76,844
1/24/03 10:54:05 PM
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It's not really a matter of Color...
... It's more a matter making sure the floor in underneath my feet.
I play FP shooters that rock my world or anyone's for that matter. I play Zero *G* games and all too. Never loose my sense of the horizon... But for some reason... I just can;t seem to not feel a bit nauseus with all the movement and animations and other such eye-candy.
The layout is bar-none the best *DEAL* I've seen... I use very similar things in GNOME and FluxBox... but they don;t make me feel queasy... I can;t put my finger on it... something just makes me woozy. Even with the 3840x1200 desktop I had... wasn;t enough to launder that feeling. Could have been a refresh problem... active TFT Display.
It was something like the fluid movement... like when you are using a rubber band to move everything... a slight bit behind your expectations... but wasn;t a response issue... it was "deliberate" settings or something. It's not a matter of the interface being bad or what... just that me being who I am I have certain tendancies... this is one I didn't expect. Maybe that's why.
| [link|mailto:curley95@attbi.com|greg] - Grand-Master Artist in IT | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] [link|http://pascal.rockford.com:8888/SSK@kQMsmc74S0Tw3KHQiRQmDem0gAIPAgM/edcurry/1//|ED'S GHOST SPEAKS!] | Heimatland Geheime Staatspolizei reminds:
These [link|http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberstrategy-draft.html|Civilian General Orders], please memorize them.
"Questions" will be asked at safety checkpoints. |
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Post #76,856
1/25/03 12:31:52 AM
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I entered a room where the floor was so cunningly laid...
that no matter where you stood, it was always under your feet.
-- Goon Show, The China Story
Have fun,
Carl Forde
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Post #76,884
1/25/03 9:40:59 AM
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Always one in every group!!! ;)
| [link|mailto:curley95@attbi.com|greg] - Grand-Master Artist in IT | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] [link|http://pascal.rockford.com:8888/SSK@kQMsmc74S0Tw3KHQiRQmDem0gAIPAgM/edcurry/1//|ED'S GHOST SPEAKS!] | Heimatland Geheime Staatspolizei reminds:
These [link|http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberstrategy-draft.html|Civilian General Orders], please memorize them.
"Questions" will be asked at safety checkpoints. |
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