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touchpad side guard

fits on palm of hand and stops unintended laptop touchpad invokation
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Description appears above, in the name and summary.
pashute, Mar 19 2014

patent http://www.google.com/patents/US6756971
although I was thinking of something MUCH simpler [pashute, Apr 06 2014]

[link]






       I've noticed that various types of gloves don't work with some touchpads. I wonder if there is a type of glove that doesn't work with ANY touchpad. If so, get a pair, cut the fingertips off, and wear.
Vernon, Mar 19 2014
  

       I normally disable my touch pad, but this is a better alternative. You'd need a few pairs, otherwise the glove is going to start to smell like a ripe sock.   

       (Actually I prefer to just get RSI on a Twiddler2 most of the time, but the touchpad is still less random, off -- or glove-or-pad-protected.)
skoomphemph, Mar 19 2014
  

       Am I the only one who never has this problem?
DIYMatt, Mar 20 2014
  

       What would be cool is if touchpads were operated not by physical contact but through a ghostly intermediary, whose fleeting faintly ectoplasmic touch activates various apps and videos or whathaveyou, all at the somewhat inexpert command of the medium / applefan.
calum, Mar 20 2014
  

       //Am I the only one who never has this problem?//   

       I don't know, but I suspect it's connected to galvanic skin response; the stronger the electric charge in your skin, the more likely you are to trigger "phantom clicks" on the touch-pad. It used to happen to me a lot when I was stressed and couldn't afford a lie detector.
pertinax, Mar 21 2014
  

       //Am I the only one who never has this problem?//   

       Nope. No idea what these folks are on about.
ytk, Mar 21 2014
  

       Guess what I found!! (see link)
pashute, Apr 06 2014
  

       Yours is better, because it's on the hand, and is thus marketable as an accessory (sadly, at a loss, like many good ideas, I fear). This keeps you from having to sell to laptop makers. You can just sell it to us with the defective typing technique or triggery palms.   

       Of course mums the word about the alternative of just using garden gloves.   

       And oddly enough, at first blush (as judges like to say), anything making this easy to sell should be regarded as disadvantageous, and all obstacles in your way are to your benefit, actually, simply because it's probably going to sell at a loss. So on second thoughts, cut the losses, and mention the garden glove alternative on all the packets. Yes, that will reduce sales, but then you'll be able to reduce output, thus reducing losses, just as you'd desired. (Good idea that it nonetheless is.)   

       Maybe I just wanted to try to concoct something counter-intuitive there.
skoomphemph, Apr 06 2014
  

       The laptop we use as a server for our veterinary admin network has an extremely sensitive touchpad, and I have this habit of staring into the middle distance when I type; almost every day I look at the screen and realize that the damn thing has moved the cursor to another line as I kept typing or highlighted and moved/deleted several lines of text because the heel of my palm was hovering a couple of mm over the touchpad.   

       I think a raised rubber bumper around the touchpad would be more convenient than something I have to wear on my hand, especially since I use 3-5 different computers on busy days and only one has this problem. You could make it removable or collapsible to accomodate closing the laptop.
Alterother, Apr 06 2014
  

       I can offer you a solution to your immediate problem. On a Lenovo laptop it's called Fn--F6. Go online or look up your manual to find the "disable touchpad" shortcut, and either get a drawing tablet (if you like to doodle) or a wireless mouse. I hardly ever use the built-in keyboard, and still often accidentally reposition the cursor when I've forgotten to do the Fn-F6 trick.
skoomphemph, Apr 06 2014
  

       I know how to disable the touchpad. In fact I know how all the function keys work. The vet admin program is based on the Microsoft Office '07 template, so it's very mouse-heavy. You type a little, click on this, type a little, click on that, etc. Constantly enabling and disabling the touchpad while talking on the phone with a client who's asking me irrelevant questions faster than I can answer them is...irritating.
Alterother, Apr 06 2014
  

       I've forgotten how all the other function keys work.   

       So why not use a wireless mouse (or trackball if space is an issue in the cases where you're using the laptop) ? If those are not solutions, it looks like the mouse guard patent has lapsed/been abandoned ...   

       ... so you could go out into the woods, gather some toadstools, and make a nice spongey one out of those.   

       Or make it out of wood.   

       Or dried afterbirths if you want a novelty piece.
skoomphemph, Apr 06 2014
  

       Actually, I'm thinking about molding one out of silicone, now that I've been given the idea. The computer in question is hardly ever shut, and even then it's just to carry it up and down stairs so it doesn't matter if it won't shut all the way.
Alterother, Apr 07 2014
  

       I might actually try one myself. I'm just waiting for a lazier construction method to occur to me. Had to go into town today, so carried on with the computer to the beach to see how well I could stick to a task down there. Turns out it only took about 15 minutes to become oblivious to the surroundings, so I can try it again. Trouble is I have to use my enemy, the touchpad, for unavoidable mouse movement. That means a protector would be very handy. Either that, or maybe take the wireless mouse, carry it in my pocket, and use my belly as a mouse pad when I have to.
skoomphemph, Apr 07 2014
  

       I'll be putting this up on Quirky.com   

       I'll post you guys when I do, and if anyone can help with a drawing, or version of idea - you get to join in with me on it.
pashute, Apr 08 2014
  
      
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