Touchpads

ditto that

(I've got no idea who said this, since the attribution was lot before I got to it)

Somebody who listened to customers instead of doctors. I pick up the correct (front) edge of keyboards; I have yet to encounter a second person who does so without previously having been diagnosed with carpal tunnel stress-related problems.

H,mmmm, can I plug a usb cable into one machine, a hub into the other, and then plug the USB from the one machine into the USB hub in the other?

Well, yes, I can, but will it work the way I want it? I'd really hate to find I'm dividing by zero and creating a black hole or a Higgs boson generator, or some other minor catastrophe.

- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!

Cant say they arent out there..but Ive never seen USB used that way before.

Network ports..shrug..always. Serial ports, rarely

Gunner

over cable.

I have a special USB to USB cable (with a processor in the middle) made to transfer data between computers. It takes less time to install a network card or two, and transfer the data over my network.

Hmmm... I LIKE playing with cli****i, much better response than the little eraser nubs on laptops.

David

a cross over cable.

USB doesn't work that way - it's a master/slave arrangement. There are special cables that do the translation (far more complicated than a simple ethernet crossover).

OTOH, IEEE 1394 (Firewire) is peer to peer, and you can simply plug a cable into each computer and they'll see each other.

over cable.

How fast is it compared to networking via 10/100?

Gunner

I like the Logitech Marble Mouse, not sure if it's still in production, haven't seen one on the shelves for awhile. Used to be about $20, probably tons more now. Ha, they've still got it as the Trackman Marble. The ball itself is captive, snaps in and out, so doesn't roll under the furniture if the unit gets tipped over. Ball is at the front of an oval hand-sized lump with two buttons on either side. Kensington also had a cheaper trackball, kind of had a manta ray or batwing configuration. Looks like they still have it, the Orbit. Both of these have golf-ball sized balls. For the main machines, I use the larger(and expensive) Kensingtons. Not sure what you mean by too much hand movement, just the fingertips of index and middle fingers do the job for me, thumb and little finger on the buttons. Hand hardly moves at all. I like the larger pool-ball sized balls for more precise movement on my big machines. Good for graphics. Except for finish wear, all of them are good for years of service assuming the usual accumulation of dust bunnies is cleaned out and the works are degreased once in awhile. The ball sockets are a magnet for just about any trash, not to mention cat fuzz.

There is also a cordless mini-keyboard with a ball built in, I picked one of those up for a media machine. Ball is in the right spot for grabbing the unit with both hands and operating with the right thumb, about the size of a marble. Not so great for heavy use, but OK for picking selections off a list of files and the like. Mouse buttons are split between right and left and are on the bottom and edges. A relatively recent purchase, they've probably discontinued it, was too well designed.

If you want something with absolutely no contact with anything except your hand, look up a Gyromouse. Can be used as an optical mouse on a flat surface, but mainly you hold it up and twist and turn it. It's wireless and rechargeable. Has a three-axis accelerometer inside, a trigger for the index finger, a scroll wheel and a couple of buttons on the top. Not so hot with laptops unless the cursor travel rate is turned way down, though.

Stan

cross over cable.

Slow. The only advantage is that 'John Q. Idiot' can plug it in and load the software without opening a computer case. It was in a load of computer debris that was donated with a computer, several years ago. The only thing useful is the long USB cable with a built in repeater.

I'll see if I can find it, and who made it.

Actually, you can't. The cables are designed with an upstream and a downstream end; a hub will only have a single upstream port. This isn't the place to get in to a long discussion of the USB protocol (there's an introduction at

There are devices called USB bridges that can be used to connect two computers, but they are almost entirely unlike hubs.

Gunner Asch on Tue, 04 May 2010 08:36:15 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Oh, you're responding to someone else. But I can set up a sneakernet in less than an hour - including the debugging. I'm a half hour minimum from the nearest store, or friend with a "parts drawer", so, it currently works for me. Nota bene "for me".

- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!

"RAM³" on 04 May 2010 00:14:45 GMT typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

"relatively little" depends on whose relative just died. B-)

Wally world wants $40 - I said "I'm sure I can find a less expensive alternative". Sneakernet has served me well over the decades.

- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!

Order up an item# 3638535 Ethernet crossover adapter from Frys.com for $3.99. This is a little female-male RJ45 block with crossover wiring so you can put it on the end of any normal Ethernet cable to make it a crossover cable. You can also buy dedicated crossover cables for $6-$10 in normal and retractable versions, but the little adapter will be the cheapest and most versatile.

I would suspect you would have strong preferences in a keyboard since it is obvious, you can write and I know you get paid by the word. ;)

I keep an old dead keyboard around just to remind me what a good one feels like. It is one of those that go click before the key bottoms out.

I hang out at a local library near work when my gun club has a meeting to kill time between getting out of work and meeting time. The LT keyboard is good enough for that since I'm usually surfing or drawing something which is mostly mouse driven. For some reason my optical mouse doesn't like their table surfaces. Only place I have had that problem so far.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

"Pete C." on Tue, 04 May 2010 14:29:30 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Cool. Now I've a reason for a field trip.

- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!

Yeah. I used a Northgate Omni Key 101 for years, a writer's favorite, until it finally died. It clicked. I miss that sucker, but I've gotten used to the run-of-the-mill Dells, and I have a Logitech compact, but full-sized one that I keep in my bag. They're good enough.

I have a glass-topped dining room table, and whenever I try to use the optical mouse on it, I'm reminded that light goes right through glass.

I've found a few surfaces that don't work with the optical. It needs some texture or color contrast.

RJ45 plugs are about $0.12 each and Cat5E cable is about $0.06 a foot.

One end is orange/white orange, green/white blue, blue/white green Brown/white brown, and the other end has the orange and green pairs reversed. (one is wired to "A" and the other to "B".

I can buy 8 foot ready made crossovers from my supplier for $8. Same price as a straight through.