Tag: MOUSE

Years of computer use have taught us that the mouse cursor is "above" the windows. It doesn't push anything around; at least not without you clicking anything. Balance takes that ingrained bit of knowledge and cancels it out. Suddenly your cursor (a blue dot) is solid – and if it touches the blue block, it pushes it around. Your job is to use your cursor to nudge the blue block over ...

Solipskier is a ski game with a twist: rather than control the skier, you control the slope. You click and drag with the mouse to draw the slope that your skier navigates. If you make it too hilly, the skier will slowly trudge up the hill. If you make it a gentle slope, you can see the little guy whiz along like there's no tomorrow! There are gates that you have to go through, and as you pass ...

It used to be that when I watched a movie with VLC, halfway through the movie the screen would suddenly black out. Too late, I would realize that the screensaver kicked in because I hadn't touched the mouse for a while. It was so irritating that I simply disabled my screen saver. I think VLC specifically addressed this issue, but I'm sure it still happens with other video players. Mouse Jiggler ...

Like to spend as little time as possible mousing around your desktop? Windows has a built-in feature called Mouse Keys which lets you move your pointer by using the numeric keypad, but not every keyboard has one. If you're using a netbook or laptop without a number pad and you like the sound of Mouse Keys, check out MouseFIGHTER. It's a free program which lets you use the arrow keys to navigate ...

Contentric is one of those super-basic Flash games where gameplay is really simple, and half the fun comes from how smooth things look and the nice soundtrack is. You need to use your mouse ("9" above) to collect the bright tokens ("10" above) while avoiding the black dots. These black dots flock around you -- they move just a tad slower than you but in a herd-like formation. They always surround ...

IOGraph is a Java application that traces your mouse movements while you work. The screenshot above shows about 1:20hrs of my work, during which I took a break (it shows up as the large blob near the middle). The reason there's a large blank area on the right side is that I have a dual-monitor setup. I usually use the right-side (secondary) monitor for displaying information, while keeping ...

Running dual (or triple, or quad) displays has gotten a lot more common of late, thanks in part to constantly falling monitor prices. Some things about multiple displays can be a little frustrating -- minding the divide, for example. If you have Windows set to extend your desktop, your mouse moves instantly from one screen to the next. That can be bothersome when a program's controls (like a ...

Touch Mouse [iTunes link] is a free iPhone / iPod Touch application from Logitech that turns your iDevice into a wireless keyboard and trackpad for your Windows or Macintosh computer. It's not a remote control application, so you don't get a view of the computer's screen; you simply get an alternative way to control the mouse pointer and keyboard. Touch Mouse works by relying on a small server ...

OS X's Spaces feature is a nice implementation of virtual desktops, but I find it can be awkward to move between spaces sometimes. As much as I'm a keyboard shortcut kind of guy, and enjoy the ability to use the keyboard to switch spaces, often times when I want to switch between spaces my hand is already on my mouse. Yes, you can switch spaces by clicking the spaces icon in the menu bar, but ...

Regardless of what browser their browser of choice is, many users consider a smooth scrolling add-on to be essential. For Firefox fans, Yet Another Smooth Scrolling Add-on is extremely popular. If you've been waiting for a remix to appear in the Google Chrome Extensions Gallery, you're in luck! Recently added was the Chrome Wheel Smooth Scroller, which brings the same highly-configurable ...

If you're using Apple's latest and greatest little peripheral, the Magic Mouse, you don't want to be without MagicPrefs. Our good friends over at TUAW stumbled on this free and extremely useful utility that gives you control over every aspect of your mouse experience. From adjusting your tracking speed to assigning functions to buttons and gestures, MagicPrefs has you covered. Because the Magic ...

It's hardly news now, but it hasn't been a great year so far for the Nintendo Wii. For two years it completely blew its over-priced competitors out of the water -- but it seems the tide has finally changed. 2009 hasn't been good to the Wii (though it is doing very well in the run-up to Christmas.) Basically, without getting all geeky, the problem is this: there's a lack of good games. Many of us ...

I can see the conversation now: Open Source Advocate 1: 'So, dude, we really should do something about this Godawful UI. I mean we tried our best to imitate Microsoft but it just... isn't working out.' OS Advocate 2: 'There must be some other way... some way we can avoid paying any kind of skilled user-interface master to actually develop a sweet-ass interface.' OS Advocate 1: 'I know! I KNOW! ...

Edgeless may be the hardest program I've ever had to screen capture. It's incredibly simple in what it does, but a static image just won't do it - hence the short YouTube clip. It's a small, single-function application that allows your mouse to wrap from one edge of your screen to the other instead of stopping abruptly when you reach the end. Edgeless can save a bit of wear-and-tear on your ...

If you're using a mouse with a slew of buttons, X-Mouse Button control provides a way to better utilize them in your favorite applications. Those of you with a crazy 38-button Razer, no, it won't support them all, but it can handle five buttons and a tilt wheel. You're not locked in to one configuration - add as many apps as you like, and tweak settings for each as you see fit. A large list of ...