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Use visual screen beeps in noise sensitive areas System

As a regular laptop user I often find myself in public places doing work -- usually in the vi editor in a Unix shell. And usually I've got my computer muted, just so I don't disturb my fellow students or the other patrons in the Starbucks with various beeps, whistles, and sound effects.

However, this means that I'm often unaware of the various beeps that go off in the course of using the computer -- if you've ever used vi, you know that it's a very noisy little program.

To avoid missing those important beeps, I've set my computer to flash the screen whenever it beeps. Here's how you do it:

  1. Open System Preferences and select the Universal Access panel.
  2. Select the Hearing tab.
  3. Check the box "Flash the screen whenever an alert sound occurs."
  4. Ta da! You can test it via the button "Flash Screen"

TheUniversal Access preferences are full of useful functions -- even if you don't have a hearing disability. Ignore the part that says When using the computer, I have difficulties with: -- these settings can be used by everyone to good effect.

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Use visual screen beeps in noise sensitive areas
Authored by: yellow on May 05, '03 11:09:13AM

Alternately if you use the Terminal app, hit the Terminal Pull-
down menu, choose Window Settings, change the select bar to
Emulation and checkmark the box Visual Bell (and/or turn off
the Audible Bell negating the need to mute the computer since it
won't be nearly as noisy.



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Use visual screen beeps in noise sensitive areas
Authored by: ptwithy on May 05, '03 12:17:44PM

Under OS 9, didn't this happen automatically when you
muted your sound?



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Use visual screen beeps in noise sensitive areas
Authored by: bluehz on May 05, '03 01:24:12PM

Yes it did happen by default in pre-OS X when you turned to
volume all the way down. I haven't tested to see if thats true in
OS X.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Use visual screen beeps in noise sensitive areas
Authored by: feelgood on May 06, '03 12:54:12PM

Alternatively, if you use screen, use ctrl-a ctrl-g to toggle between audible and visual beeps in all screens



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vi is noisy?
Authored by: a1291762 on May 05, '03 08:06:31PM
If you've ever used vi, you know that it's a very noisy little program

Actually, vi is only noisy if you press the wrong buttons. The beep lets you know you did the wrong thing and if you're getting lots of beeps, you're using the editor in the wrong way. I don't get many beeps from vi :)

I think the single most "noisy" thing I see people doing in vi is pressing Esc before every "command". You only need to press Esc if you're in input mode. Depending on the version of vi, you can :set showmode or :set ruler to get a visual indication of your mode (either command or input). Put that in your .exrc to make it the default.

If you don't know the keys, learn them. Vi wasn't designed to be used with arrow keys, it was designed to be used over a slow connection. There are many quick ways to get around a file. For example, holding the right arrow key to get to the end of the line will beep when it gets there (since you'll be trying to move past the end of line). Pressing $ takes you to the end of line without beeping.

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vi is noisy?
Authored by: yellow on May 05, '03 09:12:20PM

My favorite way to use vi is :q
Then /usr/local/bin/pico
:)



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vi is noisy?
Authored by: bluehz on May 05, '03 10:52:28PM

I would have to agree - my favorite way to use vi is :q then joe!

I am all for the unix side of OS X and I am getting more and
more away from the GUI end of OS X the more I learn... but for
the life of me I can not figure out peoples love affair with vi.
You know your in trouble when you try something out and you
have to get the manual out and read before your can do the
most basic things... like backspacing. We're talking standards
that have been established and observed for the most part
across all platforms. Yet vi appears to come from some era
BEFORE these standard were established. I learn a lot of stuff, I
try to learn somthing new each day - but when I tried using vi I
found it to be the most frustrating, bassackwards app I had ever
used in my life. Why! Why! Why! When there are so many other
options... in all jest - I have this mental image of a yearly
convention of vi users right next door to the Quark
convention.... and they PARTEEEEEE!!!!



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vi is noisy?
Authored by: Accura on May 06, '03 04:20:52AM

VI is the most horrible program to learn, its all wrong! tho i use it to much that i installed VIM native in osx so it can be my default editor on the gui as well as the cli.

When u have learnt vi u can do things faster than u can think. i have problems keeping up with vi, its makes so much sense when u know it. I actually have problem using textedit or work or anything like that these days because it takes so long to do every thing.

if u find our self in the cli lots using pico (or even joe, tho thats not to bad an editor) make the effort to learn vi, its on eery unix system, and it works, quickly, effortlessly. Beware tho that you will HATE all other editors after you learn vi. Tho its a pain to code in unless u install some of the language tools (thats not there name but it sounds good)

James O'Farrell

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"The time has come," the walrus said. "To talk of many things..."



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vi is noisy?
Authored by: Kynn on May 06, '03 12:13:18AM

Oh, come now. vi is an inherently noisy editor, and often the only indication of state (modulo turning on the mode display) is how many times it beeps.

I know the commands just fine, been using them for -- gads -- 17 years now. Oh my god. I've been a vi user for HALF MY LIFE. Geez, that's inherently pathetic, isn't it?

Plus, I wrote a book on it. ;) [well, in part]

--Kynn

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http://www.maccessibility.com/

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