91–100 of 147 posts
> I have a couple old kindle fire tablets lying around. One of them has a battery that lasts about ten minutes. You might want to check if the battery is going "spicy pillow".
Yeah for this reason I replace the battery of old tablets that I use as control panels, with a DC-DC converter. Simply removing the battery isn't enough because most tablets refuse to run on usb power alone.
> I have a couple old kindle fire tablets lying around. One of them has a battery that lasts about ten minutes. You might want to check if the battery is going "spicy pillow".
I don't know how folks can use a ton of screens like this. I had four 32" monitors at one place and it was incredibly overwhelming. I've been rocking a single 27" screen for years. Even that's too big. I prefer 24" screens but it's difficult to get a good one. I can hold context in multiple virtual spaces, and key bindings make switching between them super quick. I guess this is in the same camp as "I don't understan…
I agree. My opinion is that once you've trained yourself to use virtual desktops efficiently, multiple monitors becomes more of a hassle than a benefit. I think multiple monitors is the solution for people who would rather solve the problem by spending their money instead of the effort it takes to configure and become accustomed to switching between virtual desktops. Given that it is a strict biological limitation th…
There are some things that don't need to be actively looked at most of the time, but need to be visible so that you know when something happens that you do need to pay attention. You could do it by polling—put it on a virtual desktop and switch to it every so often—but that adds latency and can be even more distracting than having it visible in the corner of your eye. Think of things like Element or Slack or a dashboard that tracks bugs/issues/alerts.
Then there are reference displays that you look at on demand. Most of the time switching virtual desktops is good enough for this, but not if you're following along with a sequence while actively working.
Then there are things that are just big. Perhaps you're displaying an autogenerated graph, or you're using an information-dense tool (maybe with multiple relevant layers).
Not to mention wanting to consult things while on a video call, which constrains the screen to use based on camera positioning.
I very actively use virtual desktops, yet I have two external monitors in addition to my laptop screen. Most of the time, I really only make use of one of the external monitors, but situations arise that require both. They arise frequently enough that I notice the lack (eg when I'm fighting with my configuration and only one is working, or I've loaned one monitor to someone else). And when I'm mobile and down to just the laptop screen, I definitely notice and even adjust what I'm working on to avoid losing productivity.
I've used Weylus [0]. It works over LAN, lets you control the mouse from your tablet. Sometimes it's laggy, but you can configure the resolution so it's not using too much bandwidth. I'm not sure if it's stable at all. Haven't used it on a regular basis. [0] https://github.com/H-M-H/Weylus
[0] https://flathub.org/apps/com.github.unrud.RemoteTouchpad
Love this sort of hackery, but also -- it just kind of shows how very goofy all the limitations we have on this are. If you go with the idea that a computer should be a general purpose machine -- we have so many things that aren't computers. "Wireless external monitor" should be a trivially easy built-in to all operating systems, and that it isn't is kind of ridiculous.
RIP to FireWire target disk mode for Apple laptops and target display mode for iMacs. The new docs promote AirPlay screen mirroring and networked shares over usb-c but it’s nowhere near the same. :/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I collect and use as many input devices as I can, as a bit of a hobby. It all started when I was younger and got a CueCat. Now I’m up to webcams, microphones, fingerprint sensors, many keyboards, mice, trackpads, trackballs, many game pads, MakeyMakey, a VR system, CharaChorder, MIDI keyboard, floor dance pad, Wacom tablet, BlackMagic keyboard with jog shuttle, and HOTaS. I’ve still got my eye on a macro pad, MIDI Fi…
Heyyy, CueCat club! Funny that QR codes are everywhere these days and people actually scan them; Digital Convergence was just ahead of their time. I have keyboards with mag-stripe readers, keyboards with smart-card readers, keyboards with assignable and relegendable keys (meant for point-of-sale usage), 6DOF 3D "SpaceMouse" devices, a 5-axis Lexip Pu94 mouse, I've mapped an R/C quadcopter transmitter into a wireless…
If you are on Windows and have extra laptops of devices hanging around SpaceDesk https://www.spacedesk.net/ to a great free app (not open source). I use it with on my Windows Dev machine (WSL2 FTW) and use old laptops as external displays. It works well even on WiFI.
I do use the built-in iPad as a second screen thing in MacOS with a still supported iPad on occasion and that works quite well.
Love this sort of hackery, but also -- it just kind of shows how very goofy all the limitations we have on this are. If you go with the idea that a computer should be a general purpose machine -- we have so many things that aren't computers. "Wireless external monitor" should be a trivially easy built-in to all operating systems, and that it isn't is kind of ridiculous.
Any options for an ancient iPad?