• <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script> (unregistered)

    damn.

    where'd my previous comment go?

  • QQ (unregistered)

    hehe, actually the mouse trouble shooter in windows cannot be used without mouse :)

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    Officially, those are called "Trackpoint". I like them better than Touchpads :)

    Agreed. Does anyone else find that the cursor suddenly moves three paragraphs up when you are typing due to touchpads being way too sensitive?

    I think I'm just going to go on calling them clit mice. Mainly because of that old Thinkpad magazine advert.

  • Stefan W. (unregistered) in reply to Pete
    Pete:
    Voters can vote for or against the intended target. So if someone's quite hated, then they will get a negative score.

    So, yet again, no WTF. Just the submitter likely not reading how the poll works.

    No - negative percentages is blatant bullshit. It would only make sense for a comparision, (compared to last week: -23%, i.e.). The graphs are still broken.

  • (cs)

    And -37+44+2 still doesn't add up to either 0% or 100%.

  • (cs) in reply to <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script>
    <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script>:
    damn.
    I know. Feel stupid yet?
    <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script>:
    where'd my previous comment go?
    Learn how to work the Refresh button.
  • AdT (unregistered) in reply to QQ
    QQ:
    hehe, actually the mouse trouble shooter in windows cannot be used without mouse :)

    Yes, it can. (Tested on Windows XP Pro SP2 x64.)

    Pete:
    Voters can vote for or against the intended target. (...) So, yet again, no WTF. Just the submitter likely not reading how the poll works.

    Or, more likely, you're too damn lazy to follow your own advice, because if you had done so, you would have seen that the MSN Music Artist of the Month poll does not allow negative votes.

  • (cs)
    [image]

    Amber amber, red red red GREEN! Too late! You missed your chance to tell us. Better luck next time!

  • dkf (unregistered) in reply to lolz
    lolz:
    <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script>
    No, Alex allows dumbasses to post messages here. The rest of us just help out by mocking those who need it.
  • (cs) in reply to operagost
    operagost:
    That was only true for some of the early PS/2 boards. The AT keyboard (DIN-5) and very recent PS/2 interfaces DO allow you to plug in after power-up.
    The oldest keyboards just had no circuitry needing to initialize; you plug in, it starts receiving power and is ready to start sending characters, and the host is all ready to read them. It's only when they got newfarngled and intarnational that all this initialization business appeared.

    I don't know about very recent, I think it's soley based on whether or not the bios/chipset maker cares. I shared one in the late 90's that could be plugged in anytime after startup, but none since then.

    All of the can't-hotswap paranoia everyone's spouting sounds like classic case of urban legends based on a single design mistake, here the original PS/2s.

    misha:
    Agreed. Does anyone else find that the cursor suddenly moves three paragraphs up when you are typing due to touchpads being way too sensitive?
    Open the driver and turn the sensitivity down, then. Basically every single one is Synaptecs, they all use the same driver that lets you set zones and sensitivity. Or get an - ugh - HP that lets you click it on and off.
  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    The IBM model-M clicky keyboard is the way to go. Form follows function; leave the glow-in-the dark LEDs for those who think they impress their gamer chicks.

  • (cs) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    The IBM model-M clicky keyboard is the way to go. Form follows function; leave the glow-in-the dark LEDs for those who think they impress their gamer chicks.
    Absoultely true: well said, that anonymous person of indeterminate gender.

    I got an IBM Selectric typewriter for my twenty-first birthday, and that was the defining moment when I realised that my parents really loved me.

    Since then, I have religiously carried around an IBM (I forget which particular Chinese company owns the brand for the keyboards now) keyboard to replace the sodden, brain-dead Dell/Compaq/Dooberry keyboards that most employers provide. It's not rocket science, guys -- the damn things only cost $20, and the productivity/happiness gain is enormous.

    I don't care about the PS2/USB/Wifi/Bluetooth "interface." I just don't care. Let the fucking motherboard go up in smoke, for what it's worth. The real interface is between the artist, his/her brain, his/her fingertips, and a proper keyboard.

    (Now all I have to do is to become an artist.)

    Well, just out of interest, I'm going to try this on preview.

    [script]alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!")[/script]

    Nope, doesn't work. Damn that BBCode. Maybe if I tried it with an IBM keyboard...?

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to misha
    misha:
    WTF are you supposed to call those things anyway?
    http://xkcd.com/243/
  • Alcari (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    misha:
    WTF are you supposed to call those things anyway?
    http://xkcd.com/243/

    Curse you, stealing my XMCD linkage. For me, it will always be the "nipple mouse" unles it's for someone i don't know. then it's the "Little knob in the middle of the keyboard you controll the pointer with.

  • Gerald (unregistered) in reply to Jon
    Jon:
    Adhominem:
    Sigh. I hate that "Press F1 to continue"-joke, because what the message actually means is "Attach keyboard and then press F1 to continue", which makes perfect sense. Now clicking somwhere to connect the mouse...

    Erm, no it doesn't - Old-style keyboards (non-usb) are NOT hotswappable so I doubt your bios would tell you to risk frying your board (not that it's very likely).

    The problem it points to is a Keyboard error, this is not always a not connected keyboard. If for example you have a box of waffles [c.] on your numpad it gives an keyboard error. Remove the waffles press F1 and everybody is happy.

  • Synonymous Awkward (unregistered) in reply to misha
    misha:
    SomeCoder:
    Officially, those are called "Trackpoint". I like them better than Touchpads :)

    Agreed. Does anyone else find that the cursor suddenly moves three paragraphs up when you are typing due to touchpads being way too sensitive?

    Yes. Maybe I'm crazy for resting my wrists where... where the wrist rest usually is. I dislike trackpads/touchpads/Rectangles-O'-Stupid for other reasons, like the way you typically have to "loop" over it when moving all the way across the screen. With trackpoints, you just lean slightly more heavily in the appropriate direction, it's extremely simple and effort-saving (being the lazy individual I am, I'm a big fan of effort-saving).

    Actually, this reminds me that I need to get a replacement "thimble" for my trackpoint, it's starting to wear smooth.

    Anonymous:
    The IBM model-M clicky keyboard is the way to go. Form follows function; leave the glow-in-the dark LEDs for those who think they impress their gamer chicks.

    Glow-in-the-dark LEDs? Whatever will they come up with next?!

  • (cs) in reply to Synonymous Awkward

    Speaking of trackpoints and touchpads, why did laptop makers stop using trackballs? I know I'm not the only one that highly prefers them over the other two (or 3 - I think I've seen a hybrid between a trackball and touchpoint once - looked like the tip of a ball-point pen and felt the same way when used).

  • NeoMojo (unregistered) in reply to Serpardum
    Serpardum:
    I started working at one company that had a pc dedicated for tracking their trucks (pre GPS but same method).
    It wasn't GPS but used satellites in orbit of earth to get the position of the trucks? Did the company own the satellites? Did you work for NASA? I'm intrigued to find out about a company with the financial and political clout to put a satellite system into orbit before the US put its system up there, just to track trucks.
  • Cloak (unregistered) in reply to QQ
    QQ:
    hehe, actually the mouse trouble shooter in windows cannot be used without mouse :)

    Sure, you can. This is called "Windows compliancy". Even though MS themselves are not always compliant, most Windows programs are. This includes that every menu and every button or any other active control on a form can be reached by (usually) simple tabbing. Change between windows with ALT+TAB, TAB to the control and then press either the space bar (does not work on hyper-links) or hit enter.

    QED

    PS: Usually it's faster anyway to use the keyboard. You don't need to search (and find) the mouse then move it's pointer to the control and finaly click or double-click on that control.

  • Cloak (unregistered) in reply to <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script>
    <script>alert("The real WTF is that I can do this!");</script>:
    damn.

    where'd my previous comment go?

    "<script>alert("The real WTF is that: I didn't know you can do that!");</script>"

  • Cloak (unregistered) in reply to Synonymous Awkward
    Synonymous Awkward:
    misha:
    SomeCoder:
    Officially, those are called "Trackpoint". I like them better than Touchpads :)

    Agreed. Does anyone else find that the cursor suddenly moves three paragraphs up when you are typing due to touchpads being way too sensitive?

    Yes. Maybe I'm crazy for resting my wrists where... where the wrist rest usually is. I dislike trackpads/touchpads/Rectangles-O'-Stupid for other reasons, like the way you typically have to "loop" over it when moving all the way across the screen. With trackpoints, you just lean slightly more heavily in the appropriate direction, it's extremely simple and effort-saving (being the lazy individual I am, I'm a big fan of effort-saving).

    Actually, this reminds me that I need to get a replacement "thimble" for my trackpoint, it's starting to wear smooth.

    Anonymous:
    The IBM model-M clicky keyboard is the way to go. Form follows function; leave the glow-in-the dark LEDs for those who think they impress their gamer chicks.

    Glow-in-the-dark LEDs? Whatever will they come up with next?!

    Glow-in-the-light LEDs, what else?

  • Ben (unregistered) in reply to Worf
    Worf:
    XT/AT/PS2 ports are not designed to be hot-swappable, and if you do, the device that most likely goes is your keyboard controller. In a modern PC, that means... your chipset.

    I plugged/unplugged my 386 and K6-2 keyboards all the time (both AT connectors). My 486 used PS/2 connectors and unplugging/plugging while on would freeze it but a reboot was fine. If hotswapping something as simple as a keyboard would fry the computer then it is a serious design flaw. (Even freezing is a design flaw IMO.) It's just a glorified COM port.

    And on my XP1600+ (my current computer, yes I'm pov) I had a keyboard that always produced the "Press F1 to continue" error - pressing it allowed it to continue. A new (well, not brand new) keyboard fixed that problem. (PS/2 connector)

  • Miguelanxo (unregistered)

    About the poll... phpBB has (maybe had) a bug in which you could make a poll with only one choice. If you made a poll with only two options, one of it "0", that option got axed out and you remain with the other one. I found it after trying to make a "what's your favourite bit?" poll (don't ask)...

    see it here:

    http://foroteleco.uvigo.es/viewtopic.php?p=59164

  • (cs) in reply to Cloak
    Cloak:
    "<script>alert("The real WTF is that: I didn't know you can do that!");</script>"
    In his case, it's, "<script>alert("The real WTF is that: I didn't know you can't do that!");</script>"
  • Broken Arrow (unregistered) in reply to Serpardum
    Serpardum:
    I started working at one company that had a pc dedicated for tracking their trucks (pre GPS but same method). When I started the PC was not working. I asked someone who was there before me what happened. Seems the company that provided the tracking software came to do do an upgrade and the keyboard became unplugged. So they plugged in back in. And the computer was toast because they didn't turn the PC off first.

    (pre GPS but same method)

    True WTF material

  • s. (unregistered) in reply to Maarten

    [quote user="Maarten"][quote user="Jon"] In practice, most of them are hotswappable. I have had to reboot the computer in rare cases, but never ever blown up anything.[/quote]

    They are not meant to be hot-swappable but they are hot-swappable once properly initialized. Not once I had the PS2 of DIN connector fall off the socket, reattaching the keyboard worked. I would replace the keyboard on a running computer and it worked fine. Old IBM keyboards even had an extra socket/plug pair so you could replace the keyboard without unplugging the cable from the PC.

    The caveat is "once properly initialized". When the OS is running and the keyboard works, you can unplug and replug it and the risk is minimal. But if it's not found when you boot the computer, that's it - plugging it in won't help. The PC won't see it and won't register your F1. You must reboot.

  • s. (unregistered) in reply to Cloak

    [quote user="Cloak"] Glow-in-the-dark LEDs? Whatever will they come up with next?! [/quote]

    Glow-in-the-light LEDs, what else?[/quote]

    What else? I had one. I bought it as an infrared diode. But besides infrared, it would emit visible light, sound and smell.

  • Synonymous Awkward (unregistered) in reply to Broken Arrow
    Broken Arrow:
    Serpardum:
    (pre GPS but same method).
    True WTF material
    That is wisdom from Gary.
  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Stefan W.
    Stefan W.:
    Sigivald:
    Notice the bluetooth logo there?

    That's saying the bluetooth mouse isn't connected.

    Most people using a BT mouse are doing so on a laptop.

    Not on my laptop.

    Um, what? Most people using a bluetooth mouse are doing so on a laptop. Except for on your laptop, where... people using a bluetooth mouse... aren't doing it on a laptop? WTF? Did you mean you don't use a bluetooth mouse on your laptop, which has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the point in question?

    Stefan W.:
    Sigivald:
    A laptop that has an integrated pointing device, typically a touchpad.
    Which is typically disabled in BIOS if you use an external pointing device, because the reason, installing an external pointing device is: The touchpad is allways in the way, and causing funky text-removings.

    Because the average user totally knows what a BIOS is, and how to use it to turn off their trackpad, and at the same time don't know how to use they keyboard to navigate links.

  • zzo38 (unregistered) in reply to Russ
    Russ:
    VisualD:
    [image]

    Silly UI all around in setpoint. Horrible.

    How hard is it to tab to the link and hit space or enter? It's like ppl never used a computer without a mouse before.. .

    I think it would be better if one letter was underlined, so you wouldn't have to tab to the link

  • Jay911 (unregistered) in reply to Sigivald

    I have one of those Logitech keyboard/mouse combos and it's a desktop setup - wireless is done with Bluetooth and it gives you a BT hub if you don't already have one on your PC. So yes, the SetPoint screenshot is indicating that the user, most likely on a desktop machine, should click on the link to connect the only mouse available.

    That version of SetPoint is garbage. Every time I reboot the machine, I have to re-pair the mouse and keyboard, even if it's working fine - in fact, it works up until SetPoint loads, and then the connection is broken so that it can be re-paired.

    The worst part of all this is - of all the keyboard/mouse combos I've tried, the Logitech one is the best performer.

  • steve (unregistered) in reply to Brian C. Barnes
    Brian C. Barnes:
    Erm - Yes it does. I helped write the BIOS for the old Zenith Data Systems Z-150 computer (built in mid 1980) and that was EXACTLY the intent - the keyboard is not responding - plug the thing in, and then press a key to continue.

    Brian.

    Since you can obviously check to see if a keyboard is plugged in, I shouldn't have to press F1 to tell you that it is.

    Why not print "Plug in keyboard to continue" and then poll the keyboard port in a loop? Continue as soon as a keyboard is detected.

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