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Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

natestedman.com

31–40 of 57 posts

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#31
post #21

Funny joke and all, but it got me thinking. Why not some sort of gesture for undo like a multi finger scribble (similar to 'rubbing something out' with an eraser)? Then I tried a bit harder & thought why not just use cmd-Z ;)

Hmm. Shake to undo, drop to delete? :-)

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#33
post #28

While a pretty funny article, I disagree with the underlying message that Apple is making Lion too similar to iOS in ways that decrease its functionality. For me, launchpad has been perfect for organizing my apps because just clicking the applications folder presents me with too many unrelated options. For example, my second launchpad window is only apps I've downloaded, so it's obvious to me how I would launch Starc…

Launchpad may be useful (though between Stacks and Quicksilver, I don't need it), but there are other areas where Apple made changes that they shouldn't have, even by their own standards. For example, the new full-screen mode nice on a small screen, but is detrimental to anyone who has multiple monitors, and Apple didn't even ensure that the transition animates smoothly with their own apps. Mission Control is at leas…

I'm actually a big fan of the full screen mode. I spend about half my time on a 13" screen, and the other half on 22.

I actually like the auto sort mode for fullscreen/desktops as well, which surprised even me. But I like being a swipe or two away from my browser or email or vm.

That said, I am frustrated that I can't bend the rules a little and bring a terminal up on another app's fullscreen. Many times I'm following an example and have to take whatever browser I'm using out of fullscreen. Dterm helps a little.

I like launchpad, but I don't use it much. It does a good job of staying out of the way.

I do miss the old expose, and mission control's reduced expose is not adequate to replace the old. I almost never need the single app expose, if anything I wish they had dropped that and kept the 10.6 expose as well as mission control.

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#34
post #29
post #14

Oh my. The internet is a strange place. Digging up things weeks after they were made in an hour, sent jokingly to a few close friends, and mostly forgotten, and throwing them all over Twitter and the Apple blagoblag.

My only disappointment is that they didn't report on Shell of Disapproval instead, which is a program that I actually use daily. http://i.imgur.com/qjPSR.png https://github.com/NateStedman/shell-of-disapproval

I like it, but my tastes prefer something a little more subtle: https://gist.github.com/1199925

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#35
post #2

I just hope this doesn't inspire people to really shake the macbooks so hard to cause a disk problem or any other hardware issue. I advise you add a disclaimer for this? ;)

That's actually why the sensor is in there in the first place: to let the hard disk shut off if it detects that the laptop is falling.

It actually makes the HD parks the heads out of the platters in a really mean way. It's better than having heads collide with the platters but it's a wear sensitive operation designed as an emergency countermeasure. Doing it repeatedly on purpose is certainly a bad idea.

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#36
post #21

Funny joke and all, but it got me thinking. Why not some sort of gesture for undo like a multi finger scribble (similar to 'rubbing something out' with an eraser)? Then I tried a bit harder & thought why not just use cmd-Z ;)

Hmm. Shake to undo, drop to delete? :-)

Hi five to save :P

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#38

While a pretty funny article, I disagree with the underlying message that Apple is making Lion too similar to iOS in ways that decrease its functionality. For me, launchpad has been perfect for organizing my apps because just clicking the applications folder presents me with too many unrelated options. For example, my second launchpad window is only apps I've downloaded, so it's obvious to me how I would launch Starc…

Launchpad could be pretty nice but it’s half-baked. One big problem is that it ignores OS X conventions. Organizing it is a pain. One example: It makes sense that iOS only allows you to drag one app at a time. Making it possible to select more than one app would only complicate things and confuse. It absolutely doesn’t make sense to have the same limitation in Launchpad.

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#39
post #8

I am guessing this is a nice little joke, BUT... If the sensitivity was just right, and it only measured a shake like smacking the monitor on the side, it might actually make a nice UX. Think of typing away at this message and then deciding, "never-mind", and reaching up with your right hand and smacking the screen on the edge. Could be a very natural feeling undo.

I'm pretty sure there was a virtual desktop manager for OS X around 10.3 or 10.4 that, in one fork, supported smacking each side of the laptop to cycle left or right. I also recall being able to use the ambient light sensors under the speaker grills for the same thing: Cover one with your hand, and the desktops move that way. It was pretty fantastic.

It was called SmackBook:

http://blog.medallia.com/2006/05/smacbook_pro.html

Re: Shake to Undo (for Mac OS X)

#40

I am guessing this is a nice little joke, BUT... If the sensitivity was just right, and it only measured a shake like smacking the monitor on the side, it might actually make a nice UX. Think of typing away at this message and then deciding, "never-mind", and reaching up with your right hand and smacking the screen on the edge. Could be a very natural feeling undo.

Surely smacking the left hand side of your monitor should produce a line return, typewriter style? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A-R1koiUv4

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