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Or double-click the button
Authored by: googoo on Sep 26, '07 10:29:40AM

A shorter way is to double-click the trackpad button to select the word, and then drag the trackpad with the button still depressed. This also works whether or not you have Trackpad Clicking enabled (I do not use it, myself).

-Mark



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Or double-click the button
Authored by: acaltabiano on Sep 26, '07 10:40:40AM

yes that works too, but then you have to do "finger gymnastics," which I hate (and is the reason I prefer a mouse in the first place). This hint allows you that same functionality without the inconvenience of doing those finger gymnastics. But hey, there are other ways, such as yours, and to each his own!

I despise the hard button on the trackpad, because then I either have to use two hands for a one-hand task, or make sure I've done my finger stretches for the day & then get into my gymnastics routine (to keep the button depressed as I move the rest of my hand around to move the pointer).

---
timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a raindance
http://www.randombob.net



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Use your thumb
Authored by: hamarkus on Sep 26, '07 11:22:08AM

In short, use your thumb for the trackpad button. No acrobatics needed at all. Constantly moving between the keyboard and the mouse (instead of the trackpad and the mouse) is much more movement.

(And there is simply no space on my desk for a mouse.)



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Use your thumb
Authored by: acaltabiano on Sep 26, '07 12:23:28PM

Yeah I know how to use a thumb; I came equipped with two of them and have used them successfully for many years ;-)

BUT, you STILL have to actually keep this key depressed at all times to use it in this manner, thus requiring "Finger gymnastics" to ensure you're keeping enough pressure on the key all the while having to move your other finger(s) relative to this point in order to select what you were attempting to select.

Hey, I used to use this method too, until I stumbled upon my "hint" method. I MUCH prefer to use tapping on the trackpad, as it kills two birds with one stone: you already have your finger on the pad to direct the pointer, so why not use that as the pressure-point to enable dragging as well, instead of splitting the focus between two: 1 being the pressure point of your thumb on the button to keep it depressed, the 2nd being your finger directing the pointer to where you want it using the trackpad.

Like I said, it's not for everyone, which is why the Sys. Prefs have the option of enabling trackpad tapping or no, dependent upon personal preferences. if you're a button-pusher, by all means continue your current path; this won't save you any time. however, if – like me – you prefer the trackpad tapping instead, then this hint means you can completely ignore the button now, it no longer does anything that you can't do with the trackpad alone. For me (and possibly others), this is much easier to do. I HATE the damn trackpad button, and I'd always, ALWAYS accidentally relieve a little too much pressure at a bad time and undo what i was trying to do. Now i don't worry about that!

That's all I'm sayin'!

---
timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a raindance
http://www.randombob.net



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Use your thumb
Authored by: hamarkus on Sep 26, '07 03:04:24PM
My comment was probably a bit terse. It is just that I have seen a lot of people using two hands operating a trackpad (one hand for the trackpad, the other for the trackpad button) or lifting their index finger from the trackpad to press the trackpad button. That is what I understood under 'finger acrobatics' as I had not realised that the comment I was replying to came from the same person that submitted the hint.
I HATE the damn trackpad button, and I'd always, ALWAYS accidentally relieve a little too much pressure at a bad time and undo what i was trying to do.
With the Al-Books that happened to me initially as well (I 'dropped' things in inconvenient places). I now happens to me very rarely, I just managed to train my thumb to always press hard enough. Whenever I try to use a computer where clicking on the trackpad is enabled I constantly (like several times per minute) click into the wrong places. Even just descending my index finger onto the trackpad to start moving the cursor, or just flicking the cursor in one direction is causing clicks. Not even talking about typing, if every fifth word causes you to accidentally click somewhere, then this is not a sustainable situation.

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