Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
There goes my teleportation concept.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                                     

Desktop Reminder MouseTrail

  (+4, -1)
(+4, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

When at the desktop a mousetrail is displayed, the mousetrail being a string of words. The words come from a program that you type in things you need to do at certain times, such as "Dentist appointment! Leave now!" Or "Pick up drycleaning!". Any useful little reminder. Works in a web browser, too.
DesertFox, Jun 23 2004

these are great. http://www.btinternet.com/~tom.revell/
nice idea, DF. +1 for you [po, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

the original http://www.3m.com/m.../psnotes/index.html
but your idea is slicker + [brodie, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Happy Trails. http://www.kunarion.../amoskito/trail.htm
[Amos Kito, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]


Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.



Annotation:







       Very nice, much better than those disruptive dialog boxes.
kbecker, Jun 23 2004
  

       I like it... and will install it when somebody goes about making it. Any tips on how to 'ok' the trailing text?
Cheekio, Jun 24 2004
  

       nice one. (+)
xclamp, Jun 24 2004
  

       I really like this idea and shame on the other (currently) 6 who don't. Thwipptttth +
sartep, Jun 28 2004
  

       Great idea. There must be a way to combine this with (the start of) clipboard entries so you know what you have available to paste before you do it too.
originalsen, Jun 29 2004
  

       +
DrBob, Jun 29 2004
  

       How come this idea has got 6 fishbones without one comment saying why? Shame on you, whoever you are, and a bun for the idea.
spacemoggy, Jun 29 2004
  

       I once made a hide the active screen interface based on shaking the mouse left & right in rapid succession. This could be used to shake off the message (confirmation that you got it) no clicking needed ! Hope my suggestion makes it into the beta version... (+)
PainOCommonSense, Jun 29 2004
  

       Good link po - I wrote a program that did exactly the same thing when I was learning to program in windows (that's windows 3.1). No class libraries, no MFC, no C++ just raw C and the windows API. compiled to about 25K I think! I also added netwrok features so you could send them to other people and they would automatically appear on their desktop - just like going round and stiking a real one there!
goff, Jun 29 2004
  

       [DF]: Like on your geocities site? You know how to do this, don't you?
What's stoppin' you from makin' the dough that's a little more tangible? [+]
yabba do yabba dabba, Jun 29 2004
  

       //Any tips on how to 'ok' the trailing text?// "Stop mouse tail" could be added to the right click menu, or go to the icon on the task bar.
kbecker, Jun 29 2004
  

       step on mouse tail...
po, Jun 29 2004
  

       Good Call. Must be Do-able.
[po]"But if you think that because I am small I am puny
You are wrong, I stood my ground
I did not move - I could not move
The picador's horse was standing on my tail
So swiftly I turned and I nipped him in the fetlocks
He was most embarrassed, but for the moment I was free!"
gnomethang, Jun 29 2004
  

       I'd like to nip someone in the fetlocks but another story...   

       & make that a painful nip...
po, Jun 29 2004
  

       Easy Tiger!
gnomethang, Jun 29 2004
  

       Does anyone actually *use* mouse trails?
RayfordSteele, Jun 29 2004
  

       Yes.
DesertFox, Jul 01 2004
  

       I still think that users will like the shaking mechanism to acknowledge the message and loose it. You could make the letters of the message fall away (matrixesque) once you read it. This way the messages don't interfere with your normal clicking & stuff.
PainOCommonSense, Jul 02 2004
  

       I'll hazard a guess that the negative votes are somehow related to the fact that mouse trails are horrible. Mouse trails absolutely must be stopped. They drive me pig mental. I hate them.   

       I take it these mousetrails are triggered to appear, rather than having a distracting wiggle of nag hanging off your cursor all frigging day? If they're not time triggered and temporary, I may have to fishbone.
calum, Jul 02 2004
  

       I voted +, but on the condition that the trails are easily removed and not spammable.
I'd hate to have a mouse trail suddenly pop up saying "v1agra, n0 pr3sc1pt10n n33d3d!".
evilmathgenius, Jul 02 2004
  

       Fair points by both [cal] & [EMG]. Assuming the mouse is static then the user is out to lunch or possibly attending the meeting which the mouse is trying to inform him about. Once the user is back and after a 10 seconds of normal mouse movement presumably the message would disappear. My guess is that it would be controlled by things like Outlook. Still [+]
PainOCommonSense, Jul 02 2004
  

       I'd suppose the theory is, a mouse trail so so annoying that you can't ignore it. So it appeals to folks who would otherwise miss an on-screen message box.

A simple mouse trail is here [link]. It would need improvements, such as making it stand out from the other text, and keeping it in view. This utility would cause problems in many programs (web editors, graphics software, games, web sites that have mouse trails, etc.), so I'd refuse to use it. But for some people, the novelty never wears off.
Amos Kito, Jul 02 2004
  

       Arg, [Amos], a webpage with a mouse trail and nothing else! Conceptually, that's the worst page on the whole damn internet.
calum, Jul 02 2004
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle