Tag: trackpad

Love Linux but sometimes…

DELL XPS13&XPS15_29

Sometimes I come across simple things which just need someone to think about it from a user point of view.

One such example is adjusting the sensitivity on my XPS 13 trackpad. The XPS 13 has a widescreen trackpad which is good (although I do miss the Thinkpad pointer) but the right hand tends to hover around the edge, as there isn’t much room to rest my hand due to the keyboard and trackpad. The solution is to adjust the sensentivity of the trackpad, so I get less hover mistakes trigger from my thumb. Simple!

On my ubuntu setup, the trackpad driver is called synaptics and it can be configured anyway you like. Except to do so, you need to mess with the terminal and maybe even log out and in for the changes to stick.

If I was doing one #lazyweb request, it would be to automaticlly create a gui/wrapper for terminal operations like changing your mouse settings.

Using some generic machine for presenting

https://twitter.com/danachis/status/665976105715781632

I have to agree, my machine runs Ubuntu which makes using Windows or OSX  weird but its everything else which is important.

For example…

  • I turn off my trackpad and use the trackpoint (nipple if you prefer), so I don’t have to worry about accidentally pushing the pointer when presenting.
  • My mouse pointer has a certain amount of acceleration and is very quick, I hate trackpads with no acceleration.
  • I usually have my own bluetooth clicker because then I know exactly how smooth I need to click and the response my machine should give me.
  • If something goes wrong, I know how to fix it or can debug it.
  • I don’t use presentation notes, and its a pain to use real estate with them.
  • The text is usually too large, mine is tiny because I have great eyes
  • I also hate those bright screens and have to turn it down instantly, plus I have redshift/twlight running usually so I’m not blinded by the screen
  • I can make changes to the slides right up to the last moment
  • Screensavers are disabled meaning nothing will lock, unless I want it to.

I know what its like for the organising team but I have VGA and walk around in my bag with Mini-Display port to HDMI. Its rare my machine doesn’t work with the external projector or screen. I’m responsible for my machine and my presentation, relying on the conference organiser to remember to copy everything and make sure everything works good on the generic machine is unfair in my mind.